Beyond the Garden Basics Podcast

In this episode of the Beyond the Garden Basics newsletter/podcast, we engage in an in-depth discussion about weed killers with Debbie Flower, America’s favorite retired college horticultural professor. We delve right into the complexities of weed management, addressing the various options available while navigating the maze of products at our local big box stores. As we stand before a daunting wall of weed killers, the conversation brings clarity to the overwhelming choices, shedding light on the distinctions between the products and their formulations.We start by tackling the widespread confusion surrounding Roundup, a brand historically synonymous with glyphosate. As glyphosate is being phased out, we explore the newer formulations that have replaced it. Many consumers may assume that Roundup still contains glyphosate, but Debbie explains that consumers must be vigilant in understanding the fine prints of these products. According to the University of Tennessee publication, “Update on Roundup-Branded Herbicides for Consumers”, Roundup weed-killing products now encompass a range of active ingredients that may vary significantly in toxicity and efficacy. We emphasize the importance of reading labels thoroughly, highlighting the legal implications of using herbicides incorrectly.Debbie expands on the shift in chemical composition within Roundup by introducing us to several active ingredients like Diquat, Fluazipop, and Triclopyr. We discuss the implications of using these chemicals, including their varying half-lives and their potential effects on soil and nearby desirable plants. Notably, Debbie reminds us that some products can render soil inhospitable for new planting for extended periods, which is crucial information for gardeners planning their next steps after weed control.Throughout our discussion, we touch on the critical aspect of safety. Both Debbie and I stress the significance of protecting oneself when applying any chemical herbicide. We explain how understanding the signal words such as “caution,” “warning,” and “danger” on product labels can help consumers navigate the toxicity levels of different herbicides. The conversation leads us to the point that, while chemical weed control can be effective, many gardeners often overlook traditional methods, like manual weeding and mulching, which can be safer and more environmentally friendly.We tackle alternative options popular on some Internet gardening sites, including vinegar as a natural weed killer but quickly highlight the hazards of using 30% vinegar, which is often found in the cleaning aisle rather than the gardening section. This topic was also covered in depth in the September 3, 2024 edition of the “Beyond the Garden Basics” newsletter. We caution gardeners about the need to treat such products with care, as they can be more harmful than conventional herbicides. This well-rounded dialogue between us brings to light both the benefits and the risks associated with various gardening techniques and products.As we progress, we dig into the technical side of weed killers—discussing how different chemicals are absorbed by plants, persistence in soil, and the necessary wait times before replanting. Debbie provides valuable insights into the environmental impact of chemicals leaching into the soil and waterways and how this can affect crops and landscaping efforts. Our conversation is not merely about identifying the right products but also understanding their broader implications on health and the environment.Finally, we encourage listeners to be proactive and informed gardeners by seeking out educational resources on reading and understanding product labels, as well as considering effective non-chemical alternatives to weed management. With all these insights shared, the overarching message is clear: informed decision-making is paramount in effective and safe gardening practices. We leave you equipped to tackle weed problems while fostering a safe and flourishing garden.And, one more excellent weed suppressant:(authors: Fred and his pal, AI)Farmer Fred's Ride For the Kids!I'm fundraising on behalf of the 2024 Sac Century Challenge on September 28th to raise money for the Sacramento Children's Home Crisis Nursery and I could use your support. Here’s the link for making a donation.On that date, I’ll be riding my bike, a Surly Midnight Special (NOT an e-bike) 100 miles along the Sacramento River to help out the Sacramento Children’s Home Crisis Nursery. I’ve ridden 100 miles in one day plenty of times…when I was younger. But at 73, I could use some moral support, and the Sacramento Children’s Home Crisis Nursery can use your pledge money. So, how about it? Maybe pledge 10 cents a mile (that’s $10) along with a hearty, “You go, Fred!” Or a more generous one dollar a mile ($100), to give me the mental endurance for the entire ride, to dodge the pothole-filled levee roads and pedal harder in the ferocious headwinds that makes this ride a real challenge!The Sacramento Children's Home Crisis Nursery is the only program of its kind in Sacramento County and directly prevents child abuse and neglect by supporting families with small children at times of crisis. The nursery allows parents to bring their children ages newborn to five for emergency hourly or overnight care during difficult times, with the goal of keeping families together and reducing the number of children entering foster care. To care for our community's most vulnerable children, we rely on support from community members like you. By donating, you empower us to provide a safe haven for children throughout the Sacramento area, offering respite to parents during times of crisis, and building a strong support system for the future. Your support helps provide a safe place to stay local kids in need. Again, here’s the link to make a donation to the Sacramento Children’s Home Crisis Nursery.Thank you for your support, and say "Hi!" if you see me pedaling like crazy into a headwind out there on Saturday, September 28th!Thanks for reading Beyond Basics: The Garden Basics with Farmer Fred Newsletter! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Thank you for also listening to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast! It’s available wherever you get your podcasts. Please share it with your garden friends.Fred Hoffman is also a University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener in Sacramento County. And he likes to ride his bike(s). This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardenbasics.substack.com

Autumn officially begins on Sunday. Fall planting season, however, is already here. The cooler air temperatures, combined with the still-warm soil, are the perfect growing conditions for a new plant. Increasing in popularity, thanks to increased production by wholesale nurseries and the plants’ needs for less water once established, are an increasing number of California native plants.From the garden e-mail, Evan of San Jose, California wants to know about an evergreen tree or shrub that is native to coastal Southern California but does well in most mild coastal areas of the West Coast that stay above 20 degrees in the winter:“I just ordered a Catalina cherry for my backyard,” writes Evan. “And I remembered that cherry trees need a pollinizing partner to produce fruit. Unfortunately, I can't find any information about which other cherry varieties are compatible with Catalina cherry. I was wondering if you could help me find a second tree to put in my backyard to pollinize the Catalina cherry. And I was hoping for more of an eating cherry other than the Catalina cherry. So, if there's a variety that my kids might like a little more that I can plant next to this one, I would appreciate it. This will be the first cherry in my backyard.”The Catalina cherry (Prunus illicifolia subsp. ‘Lyonii’) is a California native shrub or tree, and it does quite well in coastal zones up and down the Pacific coast from San Diego to Seattle (Sunset Zone 5). And perhaps even a wider range. The “Sunset Western Garden Book” says the Catalina cherry’s progenitor, the Prunus illcifolia (the Hollyleaf Cherry), has a range from Sunset Zones 5-9 and 12-24, which would include areas ranging from the hot valleys of California into the Sierra foothills. The tree can survive cold temperatures down to about 20 degrees. I know that some of you like to experiment with growing species that are outside of your area’s normal plant palette. This might be one of them. But, as always, gardener beware. I hope you have more success with this than I had, attempting to get rhubarb seed to germinate.Some specimens of the Catalina cherry on the coastal Southern California mainland tend to grow on slopes, and that might be a tip for where to plant it, in an area that gets good drainage. And cherry trees are notorious for needing good drainage.  The Catalina cherry can be a tree or a shrub, because it only gets 15 to 20 feet tall, in gardens; but it can get twice that size in the wild. And, it is a true cherry, even though the dark red-to-black cherries themselves are not very tasty. Calscape.org, which is a plant finder service of the California Native Plant Society, says that “the fruit on the tree is best left for the birds” and parts may be poisonous. From Wikipedia:The pulp of the (hollyleaf) cherry is edible.[4] However, the seeds of the hollyleaf cherry are considered to be toxic, and the plant must undergo certain leaching processes to make it safe for consumption.[24]Native Americans fermented the fruit into an intoxicating drink.[4] Some also cracked the dried cherries and made meal from the seeds after grinding and leaching them.[25] It has also been made into jam.[26]The method of preparation for the cherry was to first extract and crush the kernel in a mortar, and the resulting powder would then be leached in order to eliminate remaining bad chemicals. The final step was to boil the leached powder into an atole.[24] Once this process was completed, Native Californians would then make soup base, tortillas, or tamale-like foods using the resulting ground meal. Other times, the kernel would be kept whole, leached to remove its hydrocyanic acid content, roasted for a couple hours, and then used to make cakes or balls.[27]Aside from food, the hollyleaf cherry was also used for medicinal purposes by some Native Californian tribes, including the Diegueño and the Cahuilla. Specifically, infusions made from the bark and roots of hollyleaf cherry plants would be used as treatment for common colds and coughs.[27]However, the Catalina cherry tree is quite showy, with spikes of five inch-long white to cream-colored flowers in spring, followed by the cherries.As far as getting more of that fruit that the birds will enjoy, be aware of this: the fruit can stain many hard surfaces. So, plant it well away from the patio or driveway.What would be a good cherry variety to use as a pollenizer? As you are probably aware as a parental gardener, you never want your children to utter the phrase, “the cherries we bought at the grocery store are better than the cherries we're getting in our backyard”. So, get them a sweet, tasty cherry tree that is self-fertile, but also serves well as a pollenizer for other cherry varieties. And one of the best for doing that is the Stella cherry. The Stella cherry is a popular tree that does quite well throughout most cherry growing regions, such as ours. It's good for canning, preserves, cooking, and fresh eating. The Stella takes about two to five years after planting to bear fruit. The mature size of the tree isn't that large, perhaps 12 to 16 feet. As far as the watering requirements, it does need regular water, about 12 to 15 gallons per week, May through September.The problem with having a fruiting cherry tree where you're harvesting for the fruit versus a Catalina cherry where you're using it more as a beautiful, blooming, evergreen screening plant is the fact that the Catalina cherry is drought tolerant when mature. It doesn't like a lot of summer water once it's established, perhaps only once every three weeks or so during the summer. However, you will need to water it regularly to get it off to a strong initial growth through its first year. The Stella cherry tree, on the other hand, will need regular weekly watering during the dry season for its lifetime.So, what do you do? If that Stella cherry is upwind of the Catalina cherry, you'll be okay to plant it well away from the root zone of the drought tolerant Catalina cherry, on its own irrigation circuit, about 30 feet away.Farmer Fred’s Ride for the Kids!I'm fundraising on behalf of the 2024 Sac Century Challenge on September 28th to raise money for the Sacramento Children's Home Crisis Nursery and I could use your support. Here’s the link.On that date, I’ll be riding my bike, a Surly Midnight Special (NOT an e-bike) 100 miles along the Sacramento River to help out the Sacramento Children’s Home Crisis Nursery. I’ve ridden 100 miles in one day plenty of times…when I was younger. But at 73, I could use some moral support, and the Sacramento Children’s Home Crisis Nursery can use your pledge money. So, how about it? Maybe pledge 10 cents a mile (that’s $10) along with a hearty, “You go, Fred!” Or a more generous one dollar a mile ($100), to give me the mental endurance for the entire ride, to dodge the pothole-filled levee roads and pedal harder in the ferocious headwinds that makes this ride a real challenge!The Sacramento Children's Home Crisis Nursery is the only program of its kind in Sacramento County and directly prevents child abuse and neglect by supporting families with small children at times of crisis. The nursery allows parents to bring their children ages newborn to five for emergency hourly or overnight care during difficult times, with the goal of keeping families together and reducing the number of children entering foster care. To care for our community's most vulnerable children, we rely on support from community members like you. By donating, you empower us to provide a safe haven for children throughout the Sacramento area, offering respite to parents during times of crisis, and building a strong support system for the future. Your support helps provide a safe place to stay local kids in need. Again, here’s the link to make a donation to the Sacramento Children’s Home Crisis Nursery.Thank you for your support, and say "Hi!" if you see me pedaling like crazy out there on Saturday, September 28th!Thanks for reading Beyond Basics: The Garden Basics with Farmer Fred Newsletter! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Thank you for also listening to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast! It’s available wherever you get your podcasts. Please share it with your garden friends.Fred Hoffman is also a University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener in Sacramento County. And he likes to ride his bike(s). This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardenbasics.substack.com

Today’s newsletter podcast talks about a Crisis Nursery. No, it’s not an emergency room for sickly looking houseplants; although, the gardening entrepreneurs among you may be thinking…”hmm, that may not be a bad idea!”The Crisis Nursery we are talking about today deals with the safety of children, and the role the Sacramento Children’s Home has in its survival.Oh, listen! I hear my dead mother saying, “And what exactly does that have to do with the price of tea in China?” That would be her way of saying, “stay in your lane, Freddie Joe.” Adding, “stick to gardening.”Sharp-eyed readers of this digital scenic bypass-laden newsletter, ostensibly dealing with horticulture, may know that I include a picture of a bicycle in just about every issue. Because, if I am not in the garden, I’m on my bike.And sharper-eyed, highly caffeinated readers will recall that I have been plugging “Farmer Fred’s Ride for the Kids” for a few weeks now. At least, that’s what I’m calling it. The Sacramento Rotary Club would prefer to call it by its actual name, the Sacramento Century Challenge, a fundraising 100-mile bike ride (plus shorter rides) on September 28 to raise funds to support the Sacramento Children’s Home Crisis Nursery program.Now, I know you came for the gardening here. But thanks for letting me talk about the Crisis Nursery in today’s newsletter podcast with the Sacramento Children’s Home Director of Philanthropy, Todd Koolakian. And if you are adverse to listening to podcasts, a transcript of our conversation is below. The internet links mentioned in the podcast are underlined in the above paragraphs.And below the transcript, is my garden gift to you for sticking with me all these years: a chart from the UC Davis Post Harvest Technology Department, “Storing Fresh Fruits and Vegetables for Better Taste”, which answers the question: where do all the tomatoes and zucchini (and other backyard garden favorites) go when you bring them into the house? The counter, the refrigerator, or a combination of the two? You’ll want to print this chart out and hang it inside a kitchen cabinet door, for easy reference.At this point, the sharpest-eyed, super-caffeinated, hyper-critical readers of this newsletter might remark, “Didn’t you publish this in a newsletter two years ago?” Hey, quit waving your trowel at me, Columbo. That time around, it was only the first page of a two page document. Today, it’s both pages of information on storing fresh fruits and vegetables.But no matter your caffeine intake, thanks for listening and reading all these years.What is a Crisis Nursery? The TranscriptFarmer FredComing up Saturday, September 28th, I'm gonna be riding my bike. That is not so unusual. If I'm not in the garden, I'm usually on my bike. Well, on September 28th, that happens to be the date for the Sacramento Century Challenge. It's a 100-mile bike ride along the Sacramento River. It starts in downtown Sacramento (on Capitol Mall), heads south through the Delta Farmland region, and then back to downtown Sacramento.And yes, 100 miles is part of the challenge, as is the bike I'll be riding on. I'm not cheating you. I'll be on an analog bike, not an e -bike. It's my good, trusty, steel-framed Surly Midnight Special. And adding to the challenge, of course, is the route. It's not a very hilly route, the 100 mile route, but it goes along the river on the levee roads, which are full of potholes. And usually in past events in doing this ride, there are some ferocious headwinds, usually on the way back. And making it more of a challenge, and this is where you come in, folks, is helping out the Sacramento Rotary Club raise money for the Sacramento Children's Home Crisis Nursery by spurring me on with a donation for the Crisis Nursery. The Sacramento Children's Home Crisis Nursery is the only program of its kind in Sacramento County. Exactly what do they do? You probably saw the little headline in the newsletter or the podcast that asked the question, “what is a crisis nursery?” And you might be thinking, “some plants are in danger!” It's better than that. We're talking with Todd Koolakian. He is with the Sacramento Children's Home and the Crisis Nursery. And Todd, tell us a little bit about the Sacramento Children's Home and the Crisis Nursery. The Children's Home has been around since what, the 1800’s? Todd KoolakianThat is true. Yes, we've been around since 1867. We originated as an orphanage at that time. During the gold rush days, we were started by a group of volunteer women and we've been continuously operating for 157 years. First, thanks Fred, for having me on to share a little bit more about our events and the beneficiary, the Sacramento Children’s Home Crisis Nursery. I'm also a member of the Rotary Club of Sacramento and I am the immediate past president. So I had the pleasure of leading the organization last year and now in my retirement of being the president of the club, but still a proud member of the Rotary Club of Sacramento. And we've been doing this event in partnership together, our two organizations, for 11 years and so proud to benefit from this event and folks like you that are going out and raising money on our behalf. The Crisis Nursery is a fairly unique program. There's only five crisis nurseries in the state of California. We operate two of them here in Sacramento County. It's a 24 -7 program that serves families with young children that are going through a crisis. And that crisis could really be anything. It could be a medical or mental health emergency. It could be homelessness, an employment crisis, just going through a time of despair and not having somewhere else to turn.So the crisis nursery is there for families going through any number of those crisis. They can turn to the nursery as a resource to bring their children for anywhere from a few hours up to 30 days, completely free of charge. The nursery can take those small children into their care, providing all the essentials they need. Everything is free, from clothing, food. It’s just a warm, loving place to stay.And then during that time, we work with the families to help solve their crisis. A lot of the families that we care for don't have a great support system. There's that age old African proverb that says “it takes a village to raise a child”. For a lot of the families that we serve, they don't have that village. And so we provide that village for them and provide some of the supports that they need during their time of crisis. And it's a really great program.We operate the only crisis nursery in Sacramento County. And like I said, one of only a handful in the state of California. And we're really proud to operate that program. We started it in 1996 and have had it ever since. And we opened up our second location in 2002. So really, it’s a great program. And we really appreciate all the generous support that comes from the Sac Century Challenge. Each year it raises about $100,000 to support our program. Farmer FredThat's great. What age of children are eligible to be in the crisis nursery? Todd KoolakianGreat question. The idea behind crisis nurseries is to serve families with children, infant through age five. So a child from just a few days old all the way up to the day before their sixth birthday, all qualify to come and stay at the nursery. We can assist families with older children, with other resources. We just can't take them per our licensing in to stay at the facility. So some of the other resources we can provide families with older children, there is all sorts of other supports. You know, our organization, the Sacramento Children's Home, has programs that serve children of all different ages. So we have a lot of other resources, but as far as kids that can actually stay at the nursery, it is from a few days old all the way up to a day before their sixth birthday. Farmer FredYeah, it's interesting the number of reasons that people would want to avail themselves of your services. I noticed in your annual report that one of the stories cited was about a shooting outside of a bedroom window of a home where a family lived, and they wanted to get their children to safety. And they came to you. Todd KoolakianExactly. It really runs the gamut on the types of reasons that clients come and utilize the crisis nursery. And there really is no right or wrong reason. We are open to anybody and everybody that may need our resource. There's all sorts of scenarios. What I would say is the connection between all of the different reasons is wanting to ensure that their young children are safe and that they're in a safe place. I think we've all unfortunately heard about some of the terrible news over the years ofyoung children at times being left in vulnerable situations. That's what we're trying to avoid with the crisis nursery. And that's why the program's there. We don't want parents to be in a situation where they leave their child with unsafe people or in an unsafe environment. And so that's why the nursery is there. Really, there is no wrong reason to come to the nursery. There's no judgment on our part. Really, any reason is a good reason to come in and utilize that program.Farmer FredWhat do you tell the parents - or parent - when they come in with a child and want the child to stay there? Do you explain to them that if we see a situation where there's abuse, we will bring in the authorities? Or do you not do that? Todd KoolakianAll of our programs under the Sacramento Children's Home umbrella really are required to be mandated reporters. So if there's ever in any of our programs any sign of abuse, neglect, anything of that sort, we do have to report that to the authorities. What I will say though is the nursery is intended to be a program that families can use to avoid those situations to prevent child abuse and neglect. So we want the nursery to be a program that parents can use so that those sorts of things don't happen. And that's really why the nursery

With fall approaching, now might be a good time to invest in some equipment to ease autumn and winter chores as well as improve your soil: making mulch from tree branches with a chipper/shredder, or easing raking chores by gathering the fallen leaves with a device that blows them into a pile, sucks them into a 30-gallon bag, and chops them up into little pieces as they head to the bag, where you can then spread those chopped-up leaves as mulch. In today’s podcast (above) we talk with Brad Gay of JB’s Power Equipment in Davis, California about what to look for when shopping for a chipper/shredder as well as the niftiness of owning a piece of equipment such as a Shred n Vac that can reduce those piles of leaves into gardener’s gold: mulch! These segments were recorded during the first wave of Covid, so there may be mask references. However, I bet we all still have a box of masks somewhere handy.What You May Have Missed on This Week’s Garden Basics PodcastBut first, a not-so-subtle plug for the latest episode (#354) of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast, Lawn Substitutes.Ripping out or reducing a lawn come fall? In this episode, Fred and America’s Favorite Retired College Horticulture Professor, Debbie Flower, discuss lawn elimination and alternative landscape options. They address the challenges of transitioning from lawns to alternative landscapes, including weed management and aesthetics. They explore lawn alternatives that require less maintenance and water, such as no-mow lawns, fescue varieties, and ground cover like dymondia and clover. They caution against over-reliance on artificial turf and emphasize the importance of localized advice and education about plants that thrive in unique ecosystems. They also discuss the need for proper maintenance in all types of landscapes.Chipper-Shredder vs Rototiller Are you thinking about buying a rototiller? How about instead purchasing a chipper/shredder? Now, that's a machine that's going to make easy work of chopping up your garden clippings including tree limbs. it's going to make it into the greatest mulch you could possibly own. The latest research shows that rototilling your soil actually damages soil structure and doesn't do anything good for the soil biology. On the other hand, the end result of using a chipper/shredder is going to provide you with a quality of mulch that we like to call, "gardeners' gold".  Northern California Organic Gardening Consultant Steve Zien has some rather strong thoughts on this subject. Go back and listen to his comments back in Episode 89 of the Garden Basics podcast, from 2021.Thinking that perhaps his opinions may have mellowed on the chipper-shredder vs rototiller choice over the last three and a half years, I recently asked for his thoughts. Nope. No change. Here’s what he had to say (in bullets):Chipper shredderPros:• Eliminates or dramatically reduces green waste• Helps eliminate the need for a rototiller• Provides material for mulch or compost• When shreddings are applied to soil surface: • Feeds soil biology – resulting in improvements in: • Soil structure (pore space diversity) • Improve movement in soil by water, air, roots, soil biology • Soil water holding capacity (drought resistance) • Nutrient holding capacity • Biological diversity of soil microbes• Greater variety of nutrients, vitamins etc. available to plants• Improves pest resistance• Plant health improves (drought resistance, pest resistance)• Nutrient availability to plants improve• Availability of natural growth hormones, vitamins improves• Nutrient content of vegetables improves• Sequesters carbon – contributes to the reversal of climate change• Weed management benefits• Mulch created by chipper/shredder moderates soil temperatures• Erosion protection (mulch slows the force of falling rain)• Mulch created by chipper/shredder repels some pestsCons:• Expensive• Hard work. And, when done, you then have to apply the mulch to soil surface• Don’t chip diseased materialRototiller:Pros:• Get to smell actinomycetes• Mental connection to past horticultural practices (although no longer recommended)• Creates fine seedbed – but soil quickly becomes compacted making it difficult for sprouts to developCons:• It’s hard work• Expensive• Destroys soil structure• Compacts soil (reducing aeration, drainage, limit root development)• Fine clays quickly fill in pore spaces• Increases runoff – transporting soil, nutrients and pesticides into our waterways• Kills beneficial soil biology• Makes it harder for your plants to grow• Harder to obtain water, nutrients, growth hormones, vitamins• Increases pest susceptibility due in part to:       • Reduced crop health       • Pest management provided by soil biology      • Reduces nutrient content of food crops       • Results in the need for additional irrigation, fertilization, pesticides• Mother Nature’s natural rototillers (earthworms) are killed by the blades.• Creates biological imbalance - abundance of bacteria vs. fungi (raises pH)• Loss in biological diversity in the soil• Reduction of soil health (results in reduction of plant health)• Reduces ability of soil to function• Releases greenhouse gasses (CO2) to atmosphere – contributing to global climate change• Reduces organic matter content        • Reduces soils water holding capacity – need to irrigate more/more runoff….        • Makes plants more susceptible to drought        • Reduces food for soil biology• Reduces soil productivity• Reduces soil cover• People feel they need to till every spring because previous tillage created a compacted, dead soil below• Brings up weed seeds so they can germinateObviously, Steve has a bleak future as a salesman at Troy-Bilt.How to Choose a Chipper-Shredder(Originally aired in Ep. 51 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast, “Chipper-Shredder Basics”)Farmer FredWe're talking with Brad Gay, he owns JBS power equipment in Davis, California. What are the benefits of owning your own Chipper/Shredder?Brad Gay   The big, big thing if you're into gardening or if you're just starting out in gardening or whatever level of gardening you're at, the chipper shredder is going to give you a means of changing the soil quality of your garden and you're going to be able to get rid of stuff that you would maybe put in a container that the city or county would pick up; or you would have to haul it off. With this, you can maintain your yard and get rid of your trimmings, your limbs that have fallen down, and will chip them up to a size that is used as a mulch or as a top dressing. You can make your own mulch. If you're just even using them for small pots,  you can get mulch and create a good high quality mulch and I can't think of anything better to accomplish that then a chipper-shredder. Farmer Fred    Chipper shredders are great especially if you have a lot of trees on your property and you're constantly pruning your trees. Instead of throwing those branches away, chop them, shred them. Just add them to the top of your soil as a four inch layer of mulch on your soil. It moderates soil temperature, it inhibits weed production. As it breaks down it feeds the soil, making it richer. It's amazing too if you put four inches of mulch or even four inches of shredded leaves on your garden surface over the winter, and you go back in the spring you move it aside, and you dig down a few inches you'll be amazed at the number of earthworms that are saying thank you for doing that. And earthworms improve the soil too. Brad Gay   But that's the fun of it. I mean I've been doing my garden for 20-25 years and I can go out and see the change. I don't have weeds, that’s one big thing. But I can actually go into my soil even after it's been watered and planted in there, I can still take my hand and kind of move it into the soil because it's porous enough. That because of the mulch and all the good ingredients have been added to it. To be able to do that takes a while, so a good chipper shredder is like is a very good startup, getting good quality soil going for you.Farmer Fred    So let's talk about chipper shredder basics, what people should look for when buying a chipper-shredder. I would of course recommend buying it from a known entity, some company that you've heard of before, that has produced lawn and garden equipment as opposed to going online and seeing a bunch of names you don't know. But when you're looking at the specs of a chipper shredder, what are the specs you should pay attention to?Brad Gay  Well, the big one I look at is what's driving your chipper, what's driving the shredder apart. These are two different entities there that are combined and one is a wheel typically, that has a cutter blade. Probably about four inches long but it's very hard steel. Probably two of them on what I call a wheel. And then the other part is on the other side. It has a bunch of little edger blades that are on small half inch shaft that spin around, and they will shred leaves. But the chipper part is very important because that reel that you have on there that's holding those blades, you want that to have some weight, because when they have that weight on there, that's what's going to pull the limb in and chop chop, chop it up. If you notice if you have somebody in your neighborhood who has been around and you'll hear that whirring sound that's going on, they have this huge flywheel turning. That's probably a commercial chipper, and it has some pretty good sized blades in there that can eat up like a nine inch limb or something like that. But you can get that same technology as a gardener for your smaller chipper Shredder. And I usually recommend about a 40 pound flywheel will be just about a good place to start. You have to look in to see if that entity exists on what you're going to buy. And you're not going to get it in your cheaper versions, like you say, you'll get something that's labeled a chipper shredder, but you're talking

If you’re a transplant from a colder USDA Zone to a warmer zone, you may have fond memories of rhubarb pie, strawberry-rhubarb jam, rhubarb crisp, or something more exotic, such as Rhubarb-Blueberry Upside Down Cake. But if you now live in USDA Zones 9 or 10, you may be wondering, is it too hot here in the summer to grow rhubarb? Is it too warm in the winter here to grow rhubarb? Yes you can! But leave your rhubarb growing techniques back in Wisconsin. The trick to growing rhubarb here is: start from seed, not roots; use varieties that are developed for milder climates; and grow them in the shade.In the podcast above, we talk with Ronni Kern of the West Los Angeles chapter of the California Rare Fruit Growers Association. She has all the details for growing it successfully here in California and in other milder climates.But before we dive into the pit of endless rhubarb, a bit of business:“It’s All About the Soil (for a Successful Garden!)”Did you listen to Episode 353 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast? It’s entitled, “It’s All About the Soil (for a successful garden!)”. We chat with Kevin Marini, a community education specialist with UC Cooperative Extension in Placer and Nevada Counties, about the topic of soil and gardening. We discuss the pros and cons of using native soil versus commercial soil, the importance of improving native soil, the use of bagged mixes and raised beds, and the role of organic matter and fertilizers in gardening. We also touch on the benefits of mulch and the importance of proper watering techniques. Overall, the conversation emphasizes the importance of understanding and improving soil for successful gardening.You’ll want to listen to it twice, as well as reading the transcript, for all the handy gardening tips and tricks we mention to achieve an outstanding garden.The podcast (along with a transcript) is available now wherever you get your podcasts. But if you want an accurate, corrected transcript along with the podcast, go to GardenBasics.net . Thank you for listening (and/or reading!)Farmer Fred’s Ride for the Kids!I'm fundraising on behalf of the Sacramento Rotary Club’s 2024 Sac Century Challenge bike ride on September 28th to raise money for the Sacramento Children's Home Crisis Nursery and I could use your support. Here’s the link.On that date, I’ll be riding my bike, a Surly Midnight Special (NOT an e-bike) 100 miles along the Sacramento River to help out the Sacramento Children’s Home Crisis Nursery. I’ve ridden 100 miles in one day plenty of times…when I was younger. But at 73, I could use some moral support, and the Sacramento Children’s Home Crisis Nursery can use your pledge money. So, how about it? Maybe pledge 10 cents a mile (that’s $10) along with a hearty, “You go, Fred!” Or a more generous one dollar a mile ($100), to give me the mental endurance for the entire ride, to dodge the pothole-filled levee roads and pedal harder in the ferocious headwinds that makes this ride a real challenge!The Sacramento Children's Home Crisis Nursery is the only program of its kind in Sacramento County and directly prevents child abuse and neglect by supporting families with small children at times of crisis. The nursery allows parents to bring their children ages newborn to five for emergency hourly or overnight care during difficult times, with the goal of keeping families together and reducing the number of children entering foster care. To care for our community's most vulnerable children, we rely on support from community members like you. By donating, you empower us to provide a safe haven for children throughout the Sacramento area, offering respite to parents during times of crisis, and building a strong support system for the future. Your support helps provide a safe place to stay local kids in need. Again, here’s the link to make a donation to the Sacramento Children’s Home Crisis Nursery. Or do it because this newsletter is still free (for now).Thank you for your support, and say "Hi!" if you see me pedaling like crazy out there along the Sacramento River on Saturday, September 28th!Can You Grow Rhubarb? Yes!Here’s the transcript of the podcast (above) chat with Ronni Kern of the West L.A. California Rare Fruit Growers. There are lots and lots of hot links in the transcript to get you to more information about rhubarb and more!TRANSCRIPT - How To Grow Rhubarb in USDA Zones 9 and 10.Farmer Fred: As you are probably very aware, I've been answering garden questions here in Northern California for, well over 40 years, actually. And nobody ever asked me about rhubarb until I visited the eye doctor a few months ago. And besides her questions, which are usually, “Which is clearer, the first one or the second one?” “One or two?” Her other question was, “Can you grow rhubarb here?” And nobody in all those years has ever asked me about growing rhubarb before. And I mentioned that to her and I said, well, I'll look into it and see what it is. Now, this was back about five months ago. And since then, what an adventure it has been about the history of rhubarb, the history of rhubarb in California, and how to grow it, and all the varieties. And the short answer to my eye doctor's question is, “yes,” with a few reservations. But to even add more to this story, at a recent gathering of the Master Gardeners of Sacramento County, of which I'm one, I came across a Master Gardener who is growing it here in Sacramento, and she sent me a picture of it. And it is gorgeous. It is growing in full sun, which to find out, can be chancy. But it's doing great. It's a variety called “Success” that she found in Australia, in a seed catalog, French Harvest. We'll get into that, too, because this little voyage with rhubarb is going to take us around the world.Farmer Fred: It's an amazing journey, so stick around and you'll find out a lot. We are talking with Ronni Kern. Ronni Kern is with the California Rare Fruit Growers Association, and she is down in West Los Angeles for that chapter. And I'm very familiar with the California Rare Fruit Growers here in the Sacramento area. And one thing I know about them, they love to experiment. They love to try new things. That's the whole idea of being a gardener. And the California Rare Fruit Growers Association is full of very curious gardeners. And Ronni is one of those. Ronni Kern also had the same issue I had with finding rhe answer to the question, can you grow rhubarb in California?Farmer Fred: And for years, it was like, no, you can't. It gets too hot here. It doesn't get cold enough in the wintertime. Well, California has a lot of climates. And in fact, in her research about growing rhubarb in California, she discovered that actually it was a thriving crop at one time here. Actually, the rhubarb seeds that were developed here, that grew here, came from a very famous seedsman, and you know him well, Luther Burbank, who farmed in Santa Rosa, which, as you may know, gets rather hot as well, over 100 degrees in the summertime. And he was very effusive about the varieties of rhubarb that he was growing. When I start mentioning this about rhubarb to people, if they're from the Midwest, oh, their eyes light up because they remember, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I used to love rhubarb pie, fresh rhubarb, jellies and jams.Farmer Fred: And they're usually from the Midwest or back east, as is Ronni Kern. Ronnie, you were born and raised in Rhode Island?Ronni Kern: Well, actually, I was born in Brooklyn, but I was raised in Rhode Island.Farmer Fred:It sounds like your parents, though, would have no business being in New York City, considering how much they loved fresh picked fruit.Ronni Kern: Well, my mother loved fruit. My dad was the one from Brooklyn. My dad was not much of an eater until lwhen I was in my 20s, I had a huge organic garden in Vermont and suddenly discovered, oh, “vegetables have taste”. Because when he was growing  up, his mother didn’t cook. And my mother cooked frozen vegetables. So he basically was not an eater. My mother was. So it was my mother who was the fruit person. My dad, not so much. Steak, a couple of vegetables. That was it. And I went to college without knowing what a cauliflower was. I mean, to give you some idea of New England upbringing in the 50s. But no, I mean, fruit growing, fruit was a huge part of my childhood because of my mother and because of New England and where I lived. A lot of fruit grew there back then. And I guess it still does. I'm not there now, I've been in California for over 50 years.Farmer Fred:Well, rhubarb has sort of the same kind of legal history as tomatoes, in that it took a court in New York to decide that rhubarb should be considered a fruit, because it is primarily used in desserts.Ronni Kern:Right. Well, you know, the actual name they used to call it in England was “pie plant” because it was the first thing to come up in the spring when there was snow was on the ground. So people could make pies out of it. And yeah, they consider it definitely a fruit. Though one of my main propagator friends in the West LA chapter, Charles Portney, actually doesn't use it as a fruit because he is pre-diabetic. So he roasts it and cooks it with onion and garlic and olive oil. And he loves it that way. So you can consider it a vegetable. It isn't a vegetable. Burbank considered it a vegetable, but most of us consider it a fruit. And the California Rare Fruit Growers, all right, we're growing it as a fruit. Others grow it as a vegetable.Farmer Fred:  It has quite the history here in the United States. Allegedly, Ben Franklin brought it over from France. The history of rhubarb goes back to ancient China, where they found it in the mountains of China. So it has a very good cold tolerance. I think here in the United States, it can grow down into USDA Zone 2, which would be probably where my relatives were farming back in North Dakota. But  the problem with growing rhubarb, though, has to do with summertime heat,

In today’s newsletter podcast, fruit tree expert Ed Laivo of Ed Able Solutions gives us tips for dealing with varmints that get to your tree fruit before you’ve had a chance to sample it. And, he has tips for growing fruit trees in containers. I mentioned in the podcast that we would have a video link to Ed’s Harvest Day 2024 presentation at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center on August 3, which was about growing fruit trees in containers. That video is not yet available; but here, enjoy Ed talking about that topic on his YouTube page.In the typed remarks below, we get into another way to thwart the crawling, walking, hopping, flying pests that get into your fruit trees, and that is to skirt prune those trees that have low hanging branches, that reach the ground.For those of you who were hoping for stories of the high school girls at U.S. Grant High School in Van Nuys who would surreptitiously raise the hem of their mandatory skirts above the knee near the end of lunch period because the vice principal would leave the premises after one lap through the cafeteria area, sorry. And yes, it was a public school. And yes, skirts were mandatory for the female students. Except for one school day a year (Senior Day) in June, when the senior girls got to wear slacks (but not blue jeans!). How long ago was that? An up and coming band was the entertainment in the high school auditorium that Senior day, Three Dog Night.When to Prune, When Not to Prune, Citrus TreesIf your citrus trees – the oranges, lemons, limes, mandarins, grapefruit, and more – are looking a bit overgrown and bushy, pruning can help reinvigorate them to produce more fruit. But don’t prune them now.Cindy Fake is the Horticulture and Small Farms Advisor for the University of California Ag and Natural Resources in Placer County, who wrote their “Pruning Citrus” webpage. She agrees there are benefits to pruning citrus trees, but the timing is important.“Citrus trees are evergreen trees, generally requiring less pruning than deciduous trees. However, they do need to be pruned regularly for optimal fruit quality and productivity. Pruning can improve fruit quality through increasing light in the canopy. In some cases, pruning out water sprouts (vertical shoots) may improve yields. Reducing tree height facilitates harvesting as well as risk of injury from ladders.”However, Fake adds: “Pruning citrus trees is best accomplished in spring and early summer, after it sets flowers and then again when the small fruit appears.”Retired citrus grower Lance Walheim, author of the book “Citrus”, seconds that motion. “Late summer and early fall citrus pruning is discouraged. Late pruning often stimulates vigorous tender growth, which doesn't have enough time to harden off before cold weather, increasing chances of frost damage. Pruning in late summer, especially here, where triple digit temperatures are common, can cause citrus bark and fruit to become exposed to too much intense sunlight. Citrus bark is highly sensitive to sunburn. The bark can be killed, which can girdle the tree, especially if the tree is in a south or west exposure. Whenever bark is newly exposed to intense sunlight, paint the exposed area with a whitewash, made of 50% water and 50% interior white latex paint.”However, there are a few minor citrus pruning chores that can be done anytime of the year: removing the suckers that begin below the bud union just above ground level; and skirt pruning the citrus tree. “Skirt pruning” is exactly what it sounds like, removing any branches that reach the ground.“Skirt pruning facilitates weeding, mulch laying, and other cultural practices, as well as reducing risk of soil borne pathogens affecting the fruit,” explains Fake. “The pruning may also reduce insect and disease pest problems.”And, as Laivo points out in the podcast, netting the tree can be a somewhat effective pest deterrent, especially if you drape the netting completely over the tree to the ground, and tie it around the trunk of the tree. Try doing that with a non-skirted tree!Fake says to keep an eye out for low-lying branches on mandarin trees, especially. “Satsuma mandarins tend to have pendulous branches that hang to the ground. These are called skirt branches, and they can impede weeding, fertilizer, and compost application, as well as provide pathways for ant populations to use the trees. With heavy fruit loads, these branches can bend, and fruit may touch the ground. Fruit may then be contaminated by soil borne pathogens. These pathogens may be plant disease-causing such as Brown rot, or potential food safety risks.”The Department of Agriculture and Food in Western Australia (actually, it’s the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development) offers these reasons for commercial growers of citrus to skirt prune their citrus trees (warning: their dates are for the Southern Hemisphere, where summer there is winter here and winter there is summer here):Skirting (skirt pruning)Skirting is the removal of branches and limbs which hang down to the ground. It should be done as soon after harvest as possible.Skirting of Valencias and summer navels is more difficult as the trees are carrying two crops. Some crop loss is inevitable whenever late varieties are skirted. Skirting in October or November after fruit set is probably the best option.Mature trees should be skirted to a height of at least 75cm (29 inches). This allows for branches dropping lower when fruit develops. Machine skirting is quick and easy (I didn’t see any tree skirting machines on Amazon, but they did have a parking lot striping machine!).Skirting provides the following advantages:* better air movement under the trees* easy application of below-tree herbicides and fertilizers* reduced access into the tree for insects and pests such as Fuller’s rose weevil and snails* clear throw of irrigation water from mini-sprinklers and ease of checking on the operation of mini-sprinklers and drippers* no splashing of soil-borne fungi into the canopy from rain or irrigation* better access when harvesting* prevents lower set fruit from hanging in the dirt* required practice as part of the market access protocol for some export markets.Dress for the OccasionAs a general rule, Citrus trees should be skirted up about 18 to 24 inches above the ground every couple of years.And before you tackle any pruning chores with citrus, Walheim says to dress for the occasion.“Before you prune citrus, take measures to protect yourself from the sharp thorns, warns Walheim. “Wear thick gloves, a long-sleeved shirt (or thorn-resistant sleeves) and protective glasses. Wear a hard hat, too.”Young citrus trees are especially prone to gangly growth says Walheim. “These younger citrus trees produce highly vigorous shoots, the water sprouts, that give the tree and unkempt, out of balance appearance. These shoots can be cut back to maintain a more uniform shape. Also, remove suckers that originate from below the graft union, known as the suckers. They are nonproductive and only sap strength from the tree.”During prime citrus pruning time – late winter and early spring – that’s the best time to control the height of your citrus trees.“The most vigorous types of citrus trees, especially lemons, are often trimmed or cut back 20 to 30 percent every year or two,” says Walheim. “Keeping the centers of citrus trees open by selectively thinning branches (the total removal of the branch) can improve their health. Remove branches that crisscross or crowd one another; prune out any dead limbs. By allowing sunlight to reach the center of the tree, the inner portions remain productive.”Skirt pruning is also a good idea for deciduous fruit trees, as well, Removing low hanging branches as well as any rootstock suckers from peach, nectarine, pear, apple, cherry and more fruit tree varieties makes it a heck of a lot easier for monitoring your irrigation system, applying fertilizer, weeding, cleaning up fallen fruit, and spreading mulch.Thanks for reading Beyond Basics: The Garden Basics with Farmer Fred Newsletter! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Thank you for also listening to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast! It’s available wherever you get your podcasts. Please share it with your garden friends.Fred Hoffman is also a University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener in Sacramento County. And he likes to ride his bike(s). This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardenbasics.substack.com

Today’s Newsletter Podcast features Ann Ralph, author of the book, “Grow a Little Fruit Tree”.Fruit Tree Pruning, Step by StepLast Friday’s Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast, Episode 351 - “Honey I Shrunk the Fruit Trees” also dealt with the benefits of keeping the height of fruit trees to no taller than you can reach to the top of the tree to pick fruit. Because, who wants to fall off a ladder?UC Cooperative Extension Communications Specialist - and Consulting Arborist - Kevin Marini walked us through the steps of keeping your fruit trees healthy, and at a reasonable height (listen to the episode for his tree reduction tips).Among our topics:• Maintaining the height of fruit trees at a manageable level allows for easier fruit harvesting and reduces the risk of broken branches.• Thinning fruit trees is necessary to remove crowded fruit and allow the tree to breathe, resulting in bigger and juicier fruit.• Bringing down the height of a fruit tree can be done gradually over a few years to avoid stressing the tree.• Using the right pruning cuts, such as reduction cuts and thinning cuts, helps maintain the structure of the tree and promotes better fruit production.• Cutting newly planted fruit trees at the knees stimulates the growth of lower branches and makes fruit more accessible.• Rootstock selection is important for controlling the height and spread of fruit trees.• Thinning cuts are essential for improving air circulation within the tree and ensuring fruit production in lower areas of the branches. Pruning suckers and water sprouts is essential to maintain the structure of fruit trees.• Removing branches that grow towards the center of the tree helps prevent overcrowding and disease.• Cutting dead, dying, and diseased branches is important to maintain the overall health of the tree.• Proper pruning cuts, including the three-cut method for larger branches, help prevent damage and decay.• Using sharp pruning tools and cleaning them regularly improves the efficiency and effectiveness of pruning.You can listen to our complete conversation here.And one more pruning term, according to the U. Of Florida: Reduction CutA reduction cut (also referred to as a drop-crotch cut) shortens a branch by removing a stem back to a lateral branch that is large enough to resist extensive disfunction and decay behind the cut. This is generally interpreted as cutting back to a lateral branch that is at least one-third the diameter of the cut stem. Sprouts commonly follow a reduction cut. In most cases these should not be removed because they help the retained portion of the branch retard decay. When the branch that remains is less than about one-third the diameter of the cut stem, the cut is considered a heading cut. Heading cuts are not considered appropriate in most instances in the landscape. Heading cuts are sometimes necessary when attempting to restore trees following storm damage.Kevin Marini’s Steps for Pruning Your Fruit Trees For Better HealthFrom the Ep. 351 podcast transcript:Farmer Fred Kevin, you mentioned there are some steps, like four or five steps, when it comes to reducing the height of a fruit tree?Kevin Marini  35:28Yeah, well, let's start with  one that maybe doesn't reduce the height, but it's the easiest step. And everyone could do this any time of year. And they don't even have to be very careful about where they make the cut. And that is the suckers. Because fruit trees are grafted on to a root stock, you get suckers that grow up from the ground from the root stock. Believe it or not, this can be a big problem. Because if you let those suckers continue to grow, they can eventually convince you that they're part of your fruit tree until you actually see this weird looking fruit on them. And you realize, Wait, what's that all about? Prune out those suckers. Step number one, go out to your fruit tree anytime during the year. If they're shooting from the ground, obviously, from the root stock below the graft union, cut them out, do not let them take over your tree. So that's easy. Step number one.Farmer Fred  36:21Yeah,  let's define that. First. For people who are trying to find the bud union, if a tree was planted properly, that's going to be like a little lump or a little bump that should be just a few inches above the surface of the soil. And so anything that is emanating from below that point, can be removed completely and safely.Kevin Marini  36:39Yes, I'm actually glad you drilled down on that a little bit, because one thing that I have encountered quite a bit is that people bury the graft union. So they buy their fruit tree in a container. And the graft union is above the soil line when they bring it home. But when they pop it out of the container and put it into the ground, many times they'd bury it too deep. And if that graft union is subsurface, if it's underneath the ground, it can absolutely quickly rot. And then you can lose your fruit tree in a nice stiff wind down the road. That's super important, The graft has to be above ground. It has to be daylighted. You really have to take care of that, right? Ideally, you don't want it facing west, where the afternoon sun is hammering it, you kind of want it facing the other way. It's not a deal breaker, if you didn't do that. Don't worry, folks. But having that graft union up above ground and then controlling any sucker growth from below that coming from the ground, from the rootstock, or just beneath the graft on the stem, is important.Farmer Fred  37:44Yep, there are other suckers -  I don't know if this is unique to citrus or not - they're called water sprouts, that can just spring up almost anywhere in the tree. But the thing with them is they're growing straight up. And they're easy to spot and easy to remove.Kevin Marini  37:59So that is I would say your step number two. So you start with your suckers down below, get rid of all those, get them out of the way. Some of them can be quite thorny, and vicious as well, especially on citrus. And so then you're looking for these other type of suckers called water sprouts. They generally occur as vigorous vertical shoots on lateral branches. So branches that are going out relatively in a horizontal fashion, they will have these sprouts that vertically shoot up to the sky. On certain plums and cherries, sometimes these water sprouts can be seven, eight feet in length. I mean, they can completely destroy this beautiful structure that you're trying to work on with this fruit tree. Identifying those water sprouts and getting them out of there is super important. You know, some people will use water sprouts to rejuvenate fruit trees. That would be getting really technical here. We're not going to go into that, but I just want to point out that they could have a use in certain circumstances. But overwhelmingly in our backyard orchard, you see a waterspout, it should be taken out. So, let's talk about number three. Okay, so you've got your suckers, got your waterspouts right. So now you're going to start actually looking for some problem children. Okay, what are the problem children? Well, those shoots that are going into the middle of the tree that you spoke about earlier, are probably I call them problem children. By themselves. They're just little shoots the branches and you might not think anything of them. But for me, trying to maintain a certain structure to the fruit tree, those can really muck it up very quickly. They really  become cumbersome to deal with, if you really let them grow in there, you really have to get in there and find their origin and cut them out and yank them out. And it can be a little troubling. So I say, stay on top of this, those branches that are crossing, rubbing, and then going from branches into the middle of the fruit tree, get those out of there. They are pretty easy to identify and remove. Now, of course, there's also I mentioned the crossing, rubbing, those aren't necessarily only branches that are going towards the middle of the fruit tree, those are branches that are just growing too close together. And if they're touching already, with a fruit load, it's even going to be worse. And they can create wounds, which then of course lead to potential disease. So you don't want that.And then of course, the next step is those dead, dying, diseased branches. If you know a branch is dead, cut it out of there, don't let it be a host for  other bacteria or fungi that could reinfect the live tissue somewhere on the planet from the tree. If it's dying, if you see something dying back, sometimes the best thing  to do is to prune that puppy out quickly, potentially stopping the infection in its tracks. Right? Those four or five quick tips, if everyone just did those, the fruit trees would be in good shape. For the most part, you still would probably have to do what we talked about in the beginning, which is reduction cuts, and a mix of dormant and summer pruning to keep that height down. But those easy steps - like walk out to the tree - and take out suckers, water sprouts, branches going towards the center, dead, dying, diseased, crossing, rubbing. Five. So there it is, you do those five things, you are doing way more than most people do.A Few Q&A’s about fruit tree pruning:• How far back should I prune my deciduous fruit trees?The latest trend for backyard orchardists: keep your fruit trees no taller than you can reach. All the fruit above your extended arms, after all, is for the birds. For fruit trees five years old and less, this is fairly easy to do. For older, taller established fruit trees, remove one-third of the total tree height each year until the desired height (under ten feet) is achieved.• How much of a branch should I cut?Never cut back a healthy branch of any tree by more than one-third its entire length. Don't make a "flush cut" (removing a branch right next to the stem). Leave the nub or "branch collar" that protrudes out less than an inch from the stem. That ar

The newsletter podcast (above) is an excerpt from last Friday’s Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast, #350, “New Home? First Garden Tips”. America’s Favorite Retired College Horticulture Professor(℠), Debbie Flower and myself, help out a very rhythmic listener figure out how to prep a garden space at her new home. And one of the first steps to take is to do a home analysis of the soil, referred to as the “Soil Texture Triangle Test”.Although it might look like something designed by a Freemason on Acid, the Soil Texture Triangle is quite ingenious in its design, as well as the ability to give you an insight into many of the qualities of the soil you are attempting to garden in. But before we get into the “why” and the “how” of the Soil Texture Triangle, here’s what you may have missed if you didn't listen to Episode 350 of the podcast in its entirety:• Get a soil test done to determine the texture of your soil and its nutrient levels.• Plan your garden carefully, considering the spacing of plants and the eventual growth of trees.• Hydro-zone your vegetables in raised beds to meet their specific watering needs.• Limiting factors if using raised beds on concrete for gardening in partial sun spaces.The Soil Texture Triangle Test: Why do it?Ahhh, the things you will learn about your soil when you figure out if you have sandy loam, silty loam, clay loam, sandy clay (great name for a Top 40 DJ), something in between, or - Heaven forfend - all sand or all clay.Christine Anne Clark is a soil health specialist with the Crops and Soils Division of the Extension Service of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She works with farmers, researchers and agricultural industry experts, to help the farmers in Northeast Wisconsin better understand their soils. In this University of Wisconsin publication - “The important role of soil texture on water” - she points out the obviously most important part of understanding the Soil Texture Triangle right there in the title. Know your soil, and you’ll know where the water is going (or not going) in your crops:“It is not nitrogen, but water, that is the most limiting factor in crop production. Soil texture, structure, percent organic matter (OM) and management practices also influence the amount water and nutrients a soil can retain for crop use.  You can better understand your farmland’s strengths and weaknesses by digging deeper into the physical characteristics of your soil and where different soil types are located on your farm.Soil texture refers to the feel of soil. Soils are made up of different amounts of sand, silt, and clay. There are 12 soil textural classes according to the USDA classification system.  Each soil texture has varying responses to water, affecting major crops like corn, soybeans, wheat, and alfalfa differently. Here’s a general overview:1. Sand: Sandy soils have the largest particle size, which allows water to drain quickly. As a result, sandy soils tend to dry out faster. Sandy soils have low water and nutrient-holding capacity and struggle to retain sufficient amounts for crops. Shallow-rooted crops are more susceptible to drought stress in sandy soils, as they may experience water deficits that hinder their growth and yield.2. Silt: Silty soils have medium-sized particles, providing better water retention than sandy soils. They have moderate water-holding capacity and drainage characteristics. During drought, silty soils can retain moisture for longer periods compared to sandy soils.  Silty soils have more plant-available water capacity than clayey soils. 3. Clay: Clay soils have lots of small fine particles with many inner layers creating lots of surface areas that hold water and nutrients tightly. They have higher water and nutrient holding capacity but lower drainage, resulting in slower water movement and potential waterlogging. Also, they have lower plant available water capacity than silty soils because clays hold water tightly as they dry. During drought, clay soils can retain moisture relatively well, which benefits crops like corn, soybeans, and wheat. However, excessive water retention in clay soils can also lead to root oxygen deprivation and negatively impact crop growth in wet years. Any crop with a deeper root system may perform better in clay soils during drought as it can access the stored water.Water infiltration speed and plant water availability are dependent on soil texture. In coarse sandy soils the bigger pore spaces increase the rate of water movement and have higher infiltration rates than fine textured soils. Coarse soils can “soak” up a drenching rain or recharge quickly but is unable to hold as much water as finer textured soils. A coarse sand infiltrates very fast, up to 10 inches per hour, while a clay is the slowest can be less than 0.05 inches per hour. However, sandy soils have a low water holding capacity compared to loamy or clayey soils. On the opposite end, soils with very high clay contents hold water tightly and provide less water storage for plants than loamy soils. The table below illustrates the water that can be absorbed by soil that is available to plants, which varies with soil texture. Organic matter increases water retentionClark continues:Typical Wisconsin soils have 1.5- 4% organic matter. Peat or muck soils can be over 20%.  The organic portion of soil is important, it improves soil properties that help plants grow by promoting structure, pore space, and a home and source of food for soil life. Yet anytime you till and mix oxygen into the soil, organic matter is burned off a bit. Over time this can decrease the amount of organic matter in soil. Increasing soil organic matter can take 5 to 8 years depending on soil type, climate, and management.Organic matter has a natural attraction to water. Organic matter acts as a sponge in the soil, capable of holding and storing water. It has a high water-holding capacity due to its porous structure and ability to absorb and retain moisture, plus it helps aggregation and pore space where water can be stored. Here are some general examples of the impact of organic matter on soil water:  * For each 1 % increase in soil organic matter helps soil hold 20,000 gallons more water per acre.* An ideal soil with 4-5% organic matter can soak up a 4-6” rain event.* A 1994 study by Hudson showed that a silt loam soil with 4% organic matter holds more than twice the water of a silt loam with 1% organic matter. Understanding the role of soil texture in water-holding capacity, and that organic matter significantly improves water-holding capacity can help us understand the strengths and weaknesses of a field during rainfall, irrigation, and during flood or drought conditions. Wisconsin has a wide range of soil textures. The challenge in managing sandy soils is to improve water retention or water holding capacity. In fine texture soils, however, the challenge can be to remove excess water depending on drainage conditions. Both goals can mean increased profit.  Farmers cannot change the soil texture that mother nature has provided them. Although increasing organic matter content takes time, practices such as adding compost or manure, using cover crops, and practicing organic farming methods can enhance the soil’s ability to retain water and support healthy soil and healthy plant growth.”So, there you go. Even if you have achieved “Soil Nirvana” (see below), you would still need to regularly add compost, cover crops, mulch, and practice no-till gardening to keep the area thriving with microbial activity and a consistent supply of water that’s available for your plants.Marin County (CA) Master Gardener Nanette Londeree puts it succinctly in the UCANR Publication, “Garden Good Guys - Soil”:“An ideal soil would be made up of 45% minerals (sand, clay, silt), 5 % organic (plant and animal) material, 25% air and 25% water. The mineral portion would be loam (20 – 30% clay, 30 – 50% silt and 30 – 50% sand). It would be crumbly, relatively dark in color, smell earthy and rich, teem with microorganisms and earthworms, have plenty of nutrients and a pH between 6.5 and 7.5. This soil would be described as having good tilth. Tilth is to soil what health is to people. If you have this kind of soil now, you don’t need to read any further.”And now you know what “tilth” is! Memorize that. It might be on the Final. Especially if St. Peter is a gardener.So, How Do You Shake it Up, Shake it Up, Shake it Up, Shake it Up?For that, we turn to Clemson University’s College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences’ horticulture and natural resources agent, Andrew “Drew” Jeffers. This is from the aptly named publication, “The Jar Test.”Materials:* Straight-edged, clear jar* Permanent marker* Ruler* Watch or stopwatch* Mesh sieve or old colanderProcedure:1) Using a mesh sieve or old colander, sift the soil to remove any debris, rocks, and large organic matter (leaves, sticks, roots, etc.).2) Fill the jar ⅓ full of the soil to be tested3) Fill the remainder of the jar with clean water, but leave some space at the top. (At this point, I am sure Debbie Flower is mumbling at her phone: “And add a drop of dish soap!”)4) Cap the jar and shake vigorously (“For 10 minutes!”, yells Debbie) until the soil turns into a uniform slurry.5) Set on a level surface and time for one minute. (“Not two minutes?” questions Debbie)6) Place a mark on the outside of the jar, showing the coarse sand layer settled at the bottom of the jar.7) Leave the jar in a level spot for 2 hours. (“Finally! Something I agree with!”, says Debbie)8) Mark the top of the next settled layer with the permanent marker. This is the silt layer.9) Leave the jar on a level spot for 48 hours. (“I concur!”, says Debbie)10) Mark the top of the next settled layer with the permanent marker. This clay layer has settled on top of the silt layer.11) Using a ruler, measure and record the height of each layer and the total height of all three layers. Use the soil texture ana

If you’re wondering about blackberry discoloration this summer, you won’t find that information in the podcast (above). What you will find for your ears: great information about superior blackberry varieties to grow, along with tips for pruning and trellising blackberries.As to why you might start seeing some discoloration in your blackberry patch right now might be due to the weather. But before we shine a light on that, here’s what you may have missed in last Friday’s Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast, Ep. 349: “Stressed? Your Garden Can Help.” And haven’t we all seen an increase in the stress levels this past couple of weeks. One easy way to soothe the worried mind: single malt Scotch Take a whiff of the garden. Really! America’s Favorite Retired College Horticulture Professor, Debbie Flower, and myself sniff out the answers that may be in your own yard.• Gardening and spending time in nature can help reduce stress and anxiety.• Forest bathing, or enjoying a slow walk or sit in a natural environment, can have calming effects.• Having a garden or indoor plants can provide stress relief and improve mental well-being.• Aromatic plants, such as jasmine, lavender, and mint, can have a soothing effect on the mind and body.Why Are the Blackberries Turning White?From the garden e-mail bag, Teri asks: "What is wrong with my blackberries?"Dewey & Ann write: "What is causing this problem with my Chester blackberries? This is on the majority of them.  I had it last year too. I checked with the local Hmong community farmers, and they also had it and said it was the 111 degrees we had in Oroville. We are at 2500 feet and 10 degrees cooler, but it wasn’t this hot last year. My Black Satin Blackberries were forming and doing well and I thought the problem was only with the Chester. Well, pretty soon I see it on them also. Am I missing something in our soil? It’s not on every one of them. It’s a dried seed eventually, but goes from a pink to beige and then worse if you don’t pick them. I would like to get to bottom of this. Can you help me?"Your local Hmong are wise horticulturists. The recent week of very sunny 100+ temperatures, along with several of triple digit scorchers in the first week of July, could very well be the culprit.Usually when we think of heat stressed plants, the cool season ones that tend to croak when it gets hot come to mind, such as lettuce plants in early summer or snow pea vines by Memorial Day weekend.Even warm season vegetables that like sunlight, especially tomatoes, can be adversely effected by too much high intensity sun. Abiotic disorders such as cracking, solar yellowing or green shoulders are common this time of year on young tomato crops. One remedy for those tomatoes: don't prune off any of the leaf canopy of tomato plants; or, cover with a lightweight row cover to provide some more shade.And now, you can add blackberries to the list of crops that develop problems when it gets too sunny, too hot, dry and windy, especially because of extended heatwaves. The problem is known as White Drupelet Disorder (WDD).According to the UC Integrated Pest Management Guidelines for Caneberries:"White drupelet is a tan-to-white discoloration of one to many drupelets on the fruit. Most often, white drupelets will appear when there has been an abrupt increase in temperature accompanied by a drop in humidity; it is especially pronounced when there is wind. In the Monterey Bay area, white drupelet typically occurs when temperatures that are fairly steady around 70 degrees suddenly go above 90 degrees, and there is an absence of fog.While white drupelets may seem to be directly caused by weather, they are actually caused by ultra-violet (UV) radiation. Weather conditions modulate this by the effect they have on penetration of UV radiation into the fruit. Cool, humid air scatters and absorbs UV radiation, while hot dry air has the opposite effect and allows more direct UV rays to reach the fruit. The movement of humidity away from the canopy by wind only heightens the effect of hot dry air. Additionally, as humidity is moved away from the plant canopy, more UV rays penetrate the canopy and damage fruit that may not even have been exposed to the sun. Fruit inside of the canopy is not acclimatized to UV radiation and is subsequently more susceptible when it reaches them.Some growers of caneberries in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, where rapid changes from a normally mild climate to temperatures up to and above 100 degrees occur through the summer, use overhead irrigation to minimize fruit loss to white drupelet. This is not merely to mist the fruit; instead, large amounts of water are applied to thoroughly wet the canopy and maintain cool temperatures and high canopy humidity for as long as possible. Sprinkling is not done too late in the evening to allow fruit to dry before nightfall.While some varieties, such as Apache blackberry, Kiowa blackberry, and Caroline red raspberry tend to get white drupelets more frequently than others, almost all caneberry varieties are susceptible to white drupelet to some degree."From North Carolina State University:White drupelet disorder (WDD) is a discoloration of some of the drueplets on developing blackberry fruit. The drupes appear as tan to white and can be concentrated in patches or randomly distributed on the fruit. The causes of WDD in blackberries are attributed to multiple factors. Environmental factors include the exposure of the drupelets to ultraviolet-B (UV-B) light or high light intensities, low humidity, wind, rainfall, and interactions of these factors. WDD is often observed earlier in the fruiting season when the canopy is less dense. We know that there are some cultivars are particularly prone to displaying this disorder, so there is a genetic factor as well.  The blackberry cultivar Apache appears to be especially vulnerable. From the University of Arkansas:Thoughts on White Drupes on Blackberries by Dr. John R. Clark - Fruit Breeder“I would like to make a few comments on white drupes (WD) and related topics in the early part of this blackberry season in Arkansas. My experience is from the research plots in the Arkansas breeding program, based in West-Central Arkansas, and are based on observations from early June until June 17, 2013. I have seen more white drupes this year than normal, and I think it is due to several factors. A primary one is that our environment shifted quickly, from daytime high temperatures in the upper 70s and nights in the upper 50s to daytime highs near the mid-90s, with above 70 nights (all are Fahrenheit temperatures). I think the plants were rather shocked with this change and responded with more susceptibility to this increased heat and possibly sunlight. I also saw more true sunburned berries during this time –the whole sides of berries burned red or white. The problem appears to have lessened somewhat as fruit maturity has moved along, and I suspect the plants may have adjusted to some degree. One cultivar I noted to have no white drupes was Prime-Ark®45. As I was looking closely at cultivar and new breeding developments I could not find any white drupes on it while some selections were covered with WD berries. Natchez had a few white drupelets with the first ripe berries, while Ouachita had no ripe berries. Note this was in the floricane fruit of PA 45, and it began ripening about June 5 (our season is running 7- 9 days late this year).Prior to this heat, we saw a tremendous amount of dry drupe berries, often concentrated at the tips of berries. I am not sure if this was anthracnose or another problem, but the weather was very wet several weeks prior to this, the plants were only sprayed with liquid lime sulfur at bud break, and heavy foliar anthracnose was seen during this time. I don’t have a solution to this problem other than as a breeder to try to select and advance selections to release that have less or none of the WD problem, and not spraying to try to identify the most resistant plants to the dry drupe issue. I still feel this WD event is associated with wet periods and sunlight damage; it can be much worse on berries located lower on the plant and closer to the ground that stay wetter longer.”From the University of Missouri’s Integrated Pest Management Program:July is the prime time for harvesting and enjoying blackberries. The fruit is ripe when the drupelets are uniformly black. However, sometimes individual or multiple drupelets on a blackberry are off-colored. White, tan, red, or brown drupelet discoloration can be caused by various factors during the growing season.White drupelet disorder on blackberry often occurs during hot, dry summers. Although drupelets enlarge during the growing season, they fail to turn red. These white or tan drupelets can be interspersed individually among dark-colored ones or in groups. In the past, white drupelet disorder was attributed to stinkbug feeding. However, white drupelets are caused by ultraviolet radiation and high temperatures. In studies conducted on red raspberry, unpigmented or white drupelets developed when fruit was exposed to temperatures of 107°F or higher with four or more hours of ultraviolet radiation. In another study, researchers found that the use of 30% shade cloth during the growing season reduced white drupelet disorder by 63%, but the total soluble solids (i.e., sugars) concentration of shaded fruit was 1% lower than non-shaded fruit, which slightly reduced blackberry sweetness. Some of the older blackberry cultivars, such as Kiowa and Apache, are more prone to developing this disorder than others, but several are susceptible. While white drupelets on blackberries may not be aesthetically pleasing, affected fruit are edible.Interspersed red drupelets on ripe blackberry fruit can develop before or after harvest. Excessive rainfall before harvest has been associated with red drupelets that are soft and never turn black. In 2020, red drupelets were ob

Are you trying to grow a salsa garden? It's great that most of the ingredients for salsa ripen at about the same time in the backyard garden. The main salsa ingredients - tomatoes, peppers, onions, and garlic - are ready this time of year. And if you wait until September or October to make the salsa, there might be some limes ready from a backyard lime tree in citrus growing regions. But there is one ingredient that throws off that salsa recipe timing: cilantro. Cilantro is easy to grow in hot climates in fall, winter, and early spring. But in hot summers? You can forget about it being ready when the rest of your salsa ingredients are all growing fine. Because of the rising frequency of extended, triple digit summer temperatures (“heat dome” seems to be the 2024 phrase that pays), cilantro is going to turn bitter and send up flower stalks (which, by the way, the beneficial insects love).You could buy cilantro at the store or farmer’s market. But the aroma and tangy taste of fresh, homegrown, just-picked cilantro can’t be beat.Before we delve into the solution for getting fresh homegrown cilantro in the summer, here’s what you may have missed in last Friday’s Garden Basics with Farmer Fred Podcast, #348:Right now - mid-summer - is peach and plum harvest time for most of us. Phil Pursel of Dave Wilson Nursery talks about choosing the tastiest peach and plum tree varieties, along with care tips, including watering and fertilization. Phil points out the difference between freestone and cling peaches, the importance of chill hours for peach trees, and the major insect pests of peach trees. Phil’s favorite peach: the Red Baron. Fred’s favorite: a dwarf variety, the Garden Gold peach. Phil’s favorite plum: the Emerald Beaut. Fred’s tastiest favorite plum: The weeping Santa Rosa plum.We’ve talked in the past about ways to improve clay soil; but what about sandy soil? Maser Gardener Gail Pothour offers tips for a listener in Michigan on what to add to that sandy soil to help it retain nutrients and water. And it turns out, Gail is also knowledgeable about how parts of Michigan got its sandy soil to begin with!The episode concludes with our America’s Favorite Retired College Horticulture Professor, Debbie Flower, dissecting a listener’s plan for adding sticks to the bottom of a new raised bed. Even though it’s counterintuitive, that can actually slow down the flow of water through the bed, leading to possible wet soil problems for the plant roots. Unlike what water does above ground (fall through the air, downward). Underground, water must travel along soil particles, not air particles - to head downward. Thus, the importance of using a uniform soil type throughout the container or raised bed. Find out more when you listen to Ep. 348, The Tastiest Peaches and Plums. Improving Sandy Soil. Raised Bed Drainage Tips.How To Grow Cilantro in a Hot Summer ClimateThere is a solution for cilantro lovers who garden in a hot climate, according to Renee Shepherd, owner of Renee’s Garden seed catalog: Grow cilantro as a microgreen. “Pick it when it's very young, just a few inches tall,” advises Shepherd, based in Santa Cruz County, CA. “The hotter the weather, the younger you pick it. I have seen it growing that way in the Napa Valley. I work with a grower there who besides growing the cilantro seed for us, grows very fancy greens for upscale restaurants in San Francisco. And it's very hot in Napa, just as hot as where you are. He's successful growing cilantro as a microgreen. He uses row covers for protection and grows it in an area that gets afternoon shade through the summer.”Shepherd says it is a quick, easy crop to grow as a microgreen in just a couple of weeks. The seeds will sprout in five to ten days. But even though you're harvesting the cilantro at a very young age after just a few weeks of growing, you increase your chances of success by planting it where it gets afternoon shade.That’s just one of the crops Renee discusses in today’s newsletter podcast (above). At Renee’s Garden seed catalog, the Cut & Come Again Salad Garden is prominently featured.Here is a sampler of carefully chosen varieties for growing in the Cut & Come Again Salad Garden from Renee’s Garden, especially when gardening in containers or small space gardens:There are replacements for cilantro that may complement your homemade salsa. Some common substitutes mentioned online include mint, basil, parsley and chives, all of which grow well here this time of year. However, there are herbs that ripen in the summer that contain a more cilantro-like flavor. Most of these herbs originate in Southeast Asia, usually Vietnam, and they're available at better nurseries that have a wider range of herbs. According to Rose Loveall-Sale of Morningsun Herb Farm in Vacaville, CA: “One of the best cilantro substitutes is Vietnamese coriander (Polygonum odoratum), which is also called Rau Ram. The flavor is very similar to cilantro, with a hint of lemon and without the soap flavor that's often associated with cilantro. It makes a great cilantro substitute during the summer when other cilantro species suffer and die under the hot dry conditions.”Morningsun Herb Farm will be one of the participating vendors at the UC Sacramento County Master Gardener’s big free event, Harvest Day, at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center on Saturday, August 3.If you bought cilantro seeds today, you could be harvesting it by August for your salsa recipes, by growing it as a microgreen. The UC Master Gardeners of Sonoma County offer these cilantro microgreens growing tips:• Grow microgreens indoors in pots or trays that are a few inches deep; outdoors grow them in a flat that gets afternoon shade and is protected with a row cover.• Make sure all containers have good drainage.• Use a commercial seed starting soil mix to avoid soil pathogens.• Sow seeds 1/8 of an inch deep. Mix seeds with fine sand to help with even distribution.• Water regularly with a spray mister to avoid disturbing seeds. Maintain moist, but not wet, soil.• Growing indoors? You can start the seeds in a container in low light, but move the pot or flat to an eastern, western, or south-facing window after germination.• Provide six to eight hours of sunlight as soon as sprouts appear. Indoors, if lacking a sunny window, use specialized grow lights over the trays, about 12 hours a day, with the lights 6-12 in. above the sprouted greens.• Harvest microgreens after they develop their first set of true leaves and are about 2-4 inches tall.• Snip small clusters of stems with scissors a little above the soil level; rinse before eating.Thanks for reading Beyond Basics: The Garden Basics with Farmer Fred Newsletter! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Thank you for also listening to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast! It’s available wherever you get your podcasts. Please share it with your garden friends.Fred Hoffman is also a University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener in Sacramento County. And he likes to ride his bike(s). This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardenbasics.substack.com

Today’s podcast deals with any hot climate vegetable gardener’s dilemma: what greens can I grow in the summer that are bolt resistant and won’t end up tasting bitter? We talk with Sacramento County Master Gardener and avid vegetable grower Gail Pothour, who talks about the finalists in the heat-resistant greens growing trial held at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center. And the Fresh Physician (and avid gardener), Florida-based Dr. Laura Varich, who extols the virtues of a diet loaded with green, leafy vegetables. And she has a favorite leafy green vegetable that (in her own yard) can withstand the Florida summer heat.But before we delve into the delicious, nutritious, easy to grow world of leafy green vegetables, here’s what you may have missed in last Friday’s Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast, Episode 347: The Garden Basics travel playlist -“Top 5 All Time Episodes” (which was also featured in last week’s newsletter), “Growing Raspberries and Boysenberries”, and “Getting Rid of Slugs in a Compost Pile”.The Take-aways:• Proper spacing, irrigation, and pruning are important for growing berries successfully.• Slugs can be managed in compost bins by ensuring proper moisture levels and using barriers like iron phosphate or copper.Why, thank you, AI, for that succinct, bland recap of a 40 minute-plus podcast! Please, take a WD-40 break and I’ll add the flowers.The ever-ebullient and knowledgeable Master Gardener Pam Bone loves to grow raspberries and boysenberries. And with 40 years of backyard growing experience of those vining sweet treats, she’s got the keys to success down pat. Originally aired in April of 2022.Susan Muckey, Master Gardener and worm whisperer, volunteers at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center’s Composting/Vermicomposting Demonstration area. And she was surprised, amused and befuddled that a question from a listener asked: “There are slugs in my compost! How do I get rid of them?” We both wondered, how did those slugs get in there? We went through our litany of slug and snail control suggestions, although Susan has one unique take: “Turn the pile at night, so you won’t see them.”Again, all that, plus that Garden Basics playlist of 5 episodes for long car trips, is in last Friday’s episode 347 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast.In Search of a Heat Resistant Green (Today’s Podcast Transcript)Originally aired on Garden Basics Ep. 264, “Top 10 Homegrown Vegetables, Part 2”Farmer Fred   I have been on a lifelong garden search for a lettuce variety, a loose leaf lettuce variety, that can take the heat. Some are better than others as far as getting through July, perhaps. But it seems like when July turns into August, they all start bolting.Gail Pothour   Right. And actually, several years ago, we did an experiment two years in a row at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center. Because we get this question a lot, “Why can't I grow lettuce in the summer?”. So we thought okay, let's find some varieties, and grow them through the heat of summer and see how they do. First off, you need to start with some varieties that are heat resistant, like Jericho that was bred in Israel, so it's a little more heat resistant. And we tried half dozen or so different varieties we monitored when we planted them, how many weeks it was before they started bolting. Some did better than others. Some did pretty well. But what we found is you need to mulch heavily to keep the moisture in, to keep them well watered, provide shade during their entire lifespan in the summer, and then be prepared as soon as one starts to bolt, take it out and then replant with another transplant. So kind of a succession planting. It is possible but it's a lot of work. It takes a lot of water and shading and monitoring. Not sure if it's worth it or not. Grow it in the shade if you have a shady location but often it's not just the sunlight, it is the heat and that’s true even in the shade in Sacramento. We can be fairly warm in the summertime. So it's a tough thing to do.Farmer Fred   The closest green I found that can be grown year round and especially if you do it in the shade it does okay here, and that’s swiss chard.Gail Pothour   right yeah, that can be grown year round. I have done it in an area of my yard where it got some afternoon shade in the summertime. And it was able to survive over summer. But yeah, any of the other leafy greens are going to be a little tough. One of my favorites or absolute favorite lettuce is called Pomegranate Crunch. It's a red romaine. And it is very good. I get it as pelleted seeds, which makes it a little bit easier to germinate. Lettuce can have a difficult time germinating. Lettuce does need light in order to germinate. So don't plant the seed too deeply. Pelleted seeds don't have that problem. But I think sometimes if people have difficulty getting lettuce to germinate, it’s because maybe they buried it too deep. It needs light. It's one of the few vegetables that needs light to germinate.Farmer Fred   And I believe it's one of those seeds that will not germinate in heat.Gail Pothour   Right, right. If you tried sowing lettuce seed in the summer, maybe for a fall crop, it is difficult. If your soil temperatures are too warm, the lettuce seed can go dormant. So if you're also starting it indoors, whereas I use a heating mat to get a lot of my seeds to germinate, you don't use a heating mat for lettuce because the soil will be too warm and lettuce seed will go dormant in heat.Farmer Fred  Some of the varieties that have been recommended as heat tolerant lettuces that I've grown over the years, and they're barely heat tolerant, are Black Seeded Simpson and Amish Deer Tongue. They're pretty good. But like I said, they do eventually bolt. But  I think one good rule to remember is if you want lettuce to last in the yard as long as possible, grow loose leaf varieties, not head lettuce.Gail Pothour   Right. And of the ones that we did in our heat tolerant trial, the ones that did well besides Jericho was Year Round Bronze. It's an oak leaf variety, and it was late to bolt in the summer so it actually did very well. Red Cross is a red butterhead, Merlot is a dark red leaf lettuce, and “Paradai”, a red oak leaf. That's one of my favorites, but I can no longer find seeds for it. And then Nevada. It's a green loose leaf, kind of a semi heading type. So all those did well as well as completely expected in our summer heat. So they did better than a lot of other varieties.Farmer Fred  I'm glad you mentioned Nevada because I have grown that one before and it it was pretty good. But I think if you want a dependable green, do the Swiss chard.Gail Pothour   Right, I agree.Link: Sacramento County Master Gardeners’ Warm Weather Lettuce Trials============================Dr. Laura’s Tip for a Heat Resistant Leafy Green VegetableOriginally aired on Garden Basics Ep. 327, “The Heart Healthy Garden” Guest: Dr. Laura Varich, the Fresh PhysicianFarmer Fred I have been on a search for a bolt resistant lettuce, and you gave me that tip last year when we talked last June. I believe it was episode 269 about a healthy diet. You said you need to try the Chinese cabbage, the Tokyo Bekana Chinese cabbage. It is bolt resistant. It can take the heat. And I go, well, gee, I'll try that because I've been searching for years for a summertime lettuce, a green, that I can grow and have with just about every meal. And sure enough, that Tokyo Bekana Chinese cabbage, which isn't really a cabbage, it's more lettuce-like, it has a crunchy flavor, it's a loose leaf variety. Grow it in the shade in the summertime. Grow it in the winter in full sun. And it is delicious. It grows easily. You can plant a short row every month and you can cut it and it comes back and eventually it wears out.But you can still plant it several times a year. Try it. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much. And you even said to try it! it's a game changer. And it really is for anybody searching for a bolt resistant, leafy green that can take the heat. Try that Tokyo Bekana Chinese Cabbage.Dr. Laura Varich You get a nice big head of that growing and you could just cut off the outer leaves like you said and keep it going and keep it going. And for some reason, the cabbage pests don't seem to like it that much. I haven't had trouble with them, whereas I have trouble with some of the other cabbages. Another one I want to tip you off to, in case you haven't tried it, is one called Devil's Ear lettuce. Have you tried that? Farmer Fred No. OK, I'm writing it down. Devil's Ear lettuce.Dr. Laura Varich That's another one that I feel like it probably goes a lot longer before bolting than the rest of them. And it's kind of got a long skinny leaf. It's a smallish kind of head with a long skinny leaf. It's a loose leaf. And it's got some purple on the edges. Super wonderful, very nice flavor. And it doesn't bolt, at least not for a long time. So I love that about it.Farmer Fred They've done some trials out at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center, the Sacramento County Master Gardener Demonstration Garden, and  one summer they did try a lot of different heat tolerant lettuce or allegedly heat tolerant lettuces. And their final verdict was, well, they're barely heat tolerant. And they included things like black seeded Simpson, Amish deer tongue, Red Cross, Jericho, Year Round Bronze and a dark red leaf lettuce called Paradai, P -A -R -A -D -A -I, which is a red oak leaf lettuce. And also they tested Nevada, which is a green loose leaf. And it's kind of a semi -heading type. Again, they did as well as expected in summer heat, but as expected means, well, it might get you to August, but that's about it. So you think Devil's Ear lettuce can last through August? Dr. Laura Varich Oh, I don't know if I'd say that. But it seems to go longer than the rest of mine as far as before it bolts. Farmer Fred All right. Well, I will definitely pick up some devil's ear lettuce and give that a t

Before we start digging through the mulch looking for termites, here is what you may have missed in last Friday’s (June 28) Garden Basics with Farmer Fred Podcast, Ep. 346: All About Soil Thermometers, Soil pH, and Cardboard Mulch.• Soil thermometers are precise measuring devices that need to be taken care of properly. They should not be left sitting in the soil or exposed to direct sunlight.• The depth at which you measure soil temperature depends on what you are planting. For seeds, measure at a shallow depth, while for transplants, measure at a deeper depth.• Some soil thermometers have a calibration nut that allows you to calibrate the temperature reading. This can be done by placing the thermometer in a glass of ice water and adjusting the arrow to read 32 degrees.• Soil pH can vary at different depths, especially when using layered mulching techniques. It is important to wait for the layers to break down and mix together before relying on pH readings.• Professional soil tests from reputable labs can provide accurate information about soil pH and nutrient levels. It is recommended to follow the specific instructions provided by the lab when taking soil samples.• Cardboard can be used to smother grass and weeds when starting a new garden bed. It should be plain and unadulterated, and watered before being placed on the soil. It takes time for the cardboard to break down and create a suitable planting environment.=========After nearly five years of podcasts, here are the five most listened-to episodes of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast:#5. Ep. 263 The Top Homegrown Vegetables, Pt 1 Farmer Fred and Master Gardener/vegetable expert Gail Pothour discuss the top 5 homegrown vegetables. They cover topics such as growing tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet peppers, beans, and carrots. They provide tips for beginners, including starting with easy-to-grow varieties and using supports for indeterminate tomatoes. They also discuss favorite tomato and pepper varieties and share tips for growing cilantro in the summer.#4 Ep. 258 10 More Garden Quick TipsFred presents 10 more garden quick tips. The topics covered include creating a container garden, making a cheaper seed starting mix, storing and washing chicken eggs, taking better pictures of garden insects, growing small apples, and growing the Suncrest peach tree. The episode also features interviews with experts in the gardening field who provide valuable insights and advice. In this conversation, Fred discusses various gardening topics, including growing fruit trees in small spaces, warding off pests, propagating strawberry runners, improving drainage, and growing popcorn. He provides tips and advice on each topic, sharing insights from experts and personal experiences. The conversation covers a range of gardening techniques and practices that can be helpful for both beginners and experienced gardeners.#3 Ep. 256 Container Gardening BasicsFred interviews Pam Farley, author of the book 'The First Time Gardener, Container Food Gardening.' They discuss container gardening for beginners, including tips on choosing the right containers, ensuring proper drainage, and selecting the right plants. They also cover troubleshooting common issues in container gardening and provide a quick planting guide for vegetables, fruits, and herbs.#2 Ep. 266 Cucumber Growing BasicsThis conversation with America’s Favorite Retired College Horticulture Professor (and cucumber aficionado), Debbie Flower, covers topics such as cucumber varieties, growing techniques, harvesting tips, and how to prevent bitterness in cucumbers. The episode also touches on the importance of bees in pollinating cucumber flowers and discusses common pests and diseases that can affect cucumber plants. They provide recommendations for trellising cucumbers and share favorite cucumber varieties. In this conversation, Fred also provides recommendations for further reading and resources.#1 Ep. 319 How to Plant and Care for a Shade TreeConsulting arborist Gordon Mann joins Fred and shares his expertise on planting and caring for shade trees. They discuss the importance of choosing the right spot with good soil, proper planting techniques, and the long-term care required for tree health. They also emphasize the role of soil in tree growth and the need for organic matter and mulch. The conversation covers topics such as tree watering, root pruning, and the correct way to plant a tree. Overall, the episode provides valuable information for homeowners looking to plant and care for shade trees. They also delve into the topic of tree pruning, emphasizing the need for proper pruning techniques and debunking common misconceptions. The conversation concludes with a discussion on the importance of tree diversity and the role of water management in tree care.Mulch vs TermitesFrom the garden e-mail bag, Carol wants to know: “We mulch all over the place, but all those wood chips got me thinking about termites! Has anyone mentioned a problem with the little guys? We keep the chips away from the wood siding, but how far is far enough? Any thoughts?”My first thought is: mulch is good. A layer of organic mulch, such as wood chips, chipped/shredded tree limbs, compost, or straw, applied a few inches thick around (but not touching) the plants in your garden and walkways, has a lot of benefits.Mulch retains moisture; it keeps soil temperature constant; it reduces plant stress; mulch suppresses weeds; organic mulch will gradually increase soil organic matter; it attracts beneficial organisms that improve soil fertility and porosity; mulch encourages healthier plants; it reduces the needs for pesticides and fertilizers; mulch protects roots and plants from mechanical injury; and applied on a hillside to thwart the development of flammable weeds, mulch can suppress the spread of brush fires.Worrying about introducing termites to your yard via a load of mulch is a waste of worry wrinkles. Former college horticulture professor Debbie Flower and I talked about this in an episode of the Garden Basics podcast (Ep. 284 “Ranking Garden Mulches”), because it is a good question for anyone wondering if that load of chipped/shredded tree parts (my favorite form of mulch) that is dropped off in front of your house might contain termites.“There could have been a pest or disease in that plant that was taken down,” explained Flower. “But all research has shown that those diseases and insect pests, as well as fungus and bacteria, do not survive the process of the chipping and then the moving of the pile. They rely on the intact plant to live. Termites don't live in wood mulch. They rely on bigger pieces of wood, not on this chipped-up stuff that's piled up with lots of air between it. It gets wet, it dries out, it's a very different environment that termites don’t like. The diseases, as well as the insect pests that may have caused the demise of the tree do not survive this process, so they don't come to your house.” You can hear our entire conversation about mulch in today’s newsletter podcast (above).University research agrees with that assessment. However, there are some warnings.The University of Florida cautions users of mulch to only apply a thin layer of mulch – or none at all – next to the foundation of the house or outbuildings. Thick, consistently wet mulch can provide a living bridge from the mulch pile to the wood foundation of a house.Iowa State University points out a problem with termite species that might live in the soil in that state, but still say mulch is a good thing. “Does this mean, as some pest control advertisements claim, that mulch attracts termites to your home or that the mulch somehow causes termites? The answer to both questions is, ‘no.’ In the field, termites were detected with equal frequency beneath mulches of eucalyptus, hardwood, pine bark and pea gravel, as well as bare, uncovered soil. Sustained activity over time was significantly higher beneath gravel mulch.”Linda Chalker-Scott of Washington State University agrees, but also warns about using cardboard as mulch, which can attract termites: “Many people believe that they shouldn’t use wood chip mulches around their house for fear of attracting termites to their home. This is not true. Termites are not attracted to wood-based mulches, they prefer higher nutrient woody materials like cardboard. If termites were in the tree when it was chipped to make mulch, the termites would have died through the process and will not be introduced into your garden from the mulch. However, if you have an established termite population in the ground surrounding your garden, wood chip mulch can be a bridge from the soil to the structure. If you are concerned with termites around your garden, it would be best to consult a professional to set up monitoring or barrier control methods around your home.”I would add that keeping mulch 12 inches away from the foundation, allowing that area to occasionally dry out, will dissuade termites from entering that non-moist environment.Thanks for reading Beyond Basics: The Garden Basics with Farmer Fred Newsletter! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Thank you for also listening to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast! It’s available wherever you get your podcasts. Please share it with your garden friends.Fred Hoffman is also a University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener in Sacramento County. And he likes to ride his bike(s). This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardenbasics.substack.com

Before we delve into the sweaty details of getting your garden through the summer, here’s what you may have missed in last Friday’s Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast, the Heart Healthy Garden, recorded live at the Sacramento Rose Society in February of 2024:• Eating a heart-healthy diet and exercising regularly can help improve heart health and reduce the need for medications.• Fiber is an important component of a heart-healthy diet and can be found in a variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.• Growing your own fruits and vegetables allows you to have a constant supply of fresh, fiber-rich produce.• Choosing heirloom varieties of vegetables can provide higher nutritional content compared to hybrid varieties.• Seeking information from reliable sources, such as university websites, can help ensure accurate and trustworthy gardening advice.What’s in Today’s Podcast at the top of this page?The perfect companion piece to the information below, Debbie Flower and myself discussed more container planting tips, recorded last summer at Harvest Day at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center, a free community event held the first Saturday of August every year, including this August, on Saturday, August 3. Details here about Harvest Day. This segment originally aired in Episode 278 of the Garden Basics Podcast. Among its highlights:• Why you don’t want to use garden soil in containers. • The best potting mix to use for a container plant. • What’s happening to the roots of plants in containers on a 100-degree day.• How to better protect your outdoor potted plants in a heatwave.• The differences in shade cloth, and how to use it. • How to reuse old potting soil. • Are you watering your container plants effectively? Probably not.• What do you put in the bottom of a plant container to aid drainage? Nothing! We tell you why. • How to save garden seeds to last for years. • And, how to get pepper seeds to germinate in half the time. Helping Plants Cope with the HeatMuch like most of the country, our area here in Northern California just went through the first real heat wave of the season, with temperatures hovering around the century mark for several days this past week. The “Excessive Heat Warning” issued by the National Weather Service for Tuesday through Thursday predicted, “Dangerously hot conditions with temperatures 95 to 108 possible and widespread major heat risk.” As if that was not enough, try getting a good night’s rest with “limited overnight relief with temperatures in the 60s to mid 70s.” My apologies to those of you who normally try to sleep at night when summer nighttime temperatures are above 70.Several meteorologists are calling for more intense heatwaves for the United States this summer. What’s a gardener to do to make their lawn and garden more heat-tolerable? Here are some tips for having a thriving garden during the summer’s upcoming heat waves, as well as save water:• Mulch like mad. Create a one to three-inch layer of organic material such as bark, shredded leaves, or chipped/shredded tree branches, laid on top of the soil. This will reduce moisture loss from soil, moderate soil temperatures, control weeds which compete for water, and will return nutrients to the soil as it breaks down. Be sure to keep mulch a few inches away from the stems or trunks of plants.• Count on compost. Mix compost into the soil to increase the soil’s ability to absorb and hold water, and to slowly release nutrients to plants. This reduces stress, making them less susceptible to pests.• Plant early ripening varieties of vegetables that are mostly harvestable after only 60-65 days of growth. Plant in blocks instead of rows to create shade for roots and reduce evaporation.• Choose vegetable varieties that will produce a lot of food from one plant, such as tomatoes, squash, and peppers. Corn, on the other hand, is a thirsty crop that may only give you one or two ears per stalk, depending on the variety.• Hot afternoons can kill a container plant in a single day. Consider grouping potted plants together in an area that gets some afternoon shade. Or slip that pot into a larger pot so the sun isn’t beating down on the sides of the pot containing the soil.• If you feed plants, use a slow release, organic fertilizer to discourage excessive plant growth that attracts pests and increases water needs. • Hold off on major planting chores. When working on a large planting project, remember that the best time to plant is in the fall when the weather starts to cool. Winter rains will help these plants establish deep, healthy root systems before they are exposed to the summer heat.• The less lawn, the better. Lawns need more water than most other landscaping, so consider reducing or replacing your lawn with water-wise groundcovers, low maintenance perennials or a porous hardscape. If you plant a lawn, chose drought resistant varieties.• Mow lawns less often and raise the height of your mower blade to 3 inches. The longer grass will shade roots, lessen evaporation, and inhibit weed growth.• Get wise to the weeds. Keep up with controlling these unwanted plants since weeds compete for water. The combination of a drip irrigation system and several inches of mulch will help prevent weeds.• Go with the low flow. Use soaker hoses for irrigation. Or invest in a drip system or micro sprayers that can cut down on water waste. This allows the slower trickle of water to penetrate further into the soil without running off.• Consider installing a ‘smart controller’ for your irrigation system. This can save water by helping to calculate your water requirements and automatically adjust as the weather changes.• Irrigate early in the day. Watering early in the morning with cooler temperatures and lighter winds will minimize evaporation.• Go deep. Water less often, but more deeply. This encourages deeper root systems that can better tolerate dry periods.• Get in the zone. Group plants with similar water needs together to make watering easier and more efficient.• Go native. Consider replacing declining plants with a species better suited to your climate, such as plants native to your area. Once established, many of these plants can survive on rainfall alone.Thanks for reading Beyond Basics: The Garden Basics with Farmer Fred Newsletter! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Thank you for also listening to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast! It’s available wherever you get your podcasts. Please share it with your garden friends.Fred Hoffman is also a University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener in Sacramento County. And he likes to ride his bike(s). This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardenbasics.substack.com

Last week, we did a little podcast tour of my garden, with Debbie Flower asking the questions. Turnabout is fair play, so this episode features Debbie’s unique, water-saving landscape and her collections of plants and garden tools that have some very interesting stories.But again, an audio tour is missing the picture. Pictures, to be more exact. So, while you’re listening to this repurposing of Episode 343 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast, scroll down to enjoy the visuals that go along with the stories of Debbie Flower’s landscape. But first, here’s a link to what you might have missed on Tuesday’s Garden Basics podcast (Ep. 342) - our weekly Q&A session, this time tackling the challenges of planting carrots in hot climates; and, the pros and cons of using landscape fabric/weed cloth in your garden (the “pros” list will be quite short).Word of Warning: Latin Used Here TodayA word of warning: a lot of Latin-based botanical names are tossed around here. Some people think we’re just bein’ highfalutin’ elitists, jabbering in a dead language. Actually, the botanical names can be very accurate in pinpointing the exact plant. For example, according to the Sunset Western Garden Book, the plant known commonly as “Dusty Miller” could refer to any of five distinct plants with differing growth habits: Artemisia stelleriana, Centaurea cineraria, Lychnis coronaria, Senecio cineraria/Jacobaea maritima (old name/new name), and Tanacetum ptarmiciflorum. The “Dusty Miller” Debbie refers to as a plant she remembers from her youth in New Jersey was the Lychnis; and to avoid any confusion, she only used the term, “Lychnis”. Here in California, I grew up with Senecio cineraria in the front yard, which was always referred to as, “Dusty Miller.”“What Does That Have to Do with the Price of Tea in China?”That was a favorite saying of my mother, to prod me to get to the point of whatever I was talking about. OK, here’s the point: After listening to this, you may be intrigued by one or more of the plants in Debbie’s garden, perhaps the California native plant, Eriogonum grande rubescens that she mentions towards the end of our chat. But, just hearing her say, “Eriogonum grande rubescens” may have you wondering…“What the hell? How do you spell that?” At least, that is what I was thinking when she said it. But I’m too polite to interrupt. Besides, if I had asked the question, “What is the common name for that plant?” There’s a darn good chance the answer would be a variation of, “I don’t keep common names in my brain,” bringing the chat to a standstill, while we ponder the answer. In the interest of keeping the conversational ball rolling, I move forward, knowing I can solve this issue easily enough: CHECK THE OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT!Don’t check the Substack transcript. Don’t check the Apple or Spotify transcripts. Unless you want a good laugh. And it’s why I include my own edited transcript for each episode of the Garden Basics podcast available at either GardenBasics.net or via my podcast uploader, Buzzsprout. Not only will you get the correct plant spelling (usually), but you will also get the common name, usually (but not always) in parenthesis. For example, here is the portion of the Eriogonum plant chat from the transcript provided at GardenBasics.net:Farmer Fred  But this is quite the view, sitting here on your front porch, especially this time of year with the Palo Verde in bloom, and just the understory of all the plants and the flowers of the sage peeking up over the the wall.Debbie Flower  And the Eriogonum grande rubescens (red or rosy buckwheat) that's flowering red right now, with the lavenders in front of it. And then the yellow calendulas. I like that combination too. And the pink Pelargonium behind.Now, here is the same portion, generated by AI and used by many podcast transcription services:Farmer Fred  this is quite the view sitting here on your front porch, especially this time of year with the Palo Verde in bloom, and just the understory of all the plants and the flowers on the stage peeking up over the the wallDebbie Flower and the Areoginum grandrubescens. That's an flowering read right now with the lavenders in front of it. And then the yellow color Angelus. I like that combination too. And the pink Pelargonium behind, seeAnd this is why we are safe from world domination by Artificial Intelligence. It’s just a robot that has never pulled a weed or smelled a rose in its mechanical life. Nor, even after five years of manually correcting their transcripts to make them more gardener friendly, have they figured out the difference between “root” (as in, a tree root) and “route” (as in, “Get Your Kicks on Route 66”). Even though Oklahoma City is “oh, so pretty,” you’d think they could figure out after all these years, I am probably referring to that bulge in your lawn, not offering melodious praise to Amarillo, TX or Gallup, NM. Or Flagstaff, AZ. (P.S. “Angelus” is not a plant. It’s daily church bells at noon and 6 p.m.)Again, just punch play above, and begin scrolling through the pictures of Debbie’s Garden:“Native fescue lawn in foreground, Leymus condensatus ‘Canyon Prince’ grey-green grass behind. Pink flowering shrub is my neighbors. It’s probably an oleander”“Hollywood juniper at the end, far right, Matilia poppy next (Romneya coulteri) Butterfly weed with white blooms (Asclepia speciosa), Meyer Lemon on right, perhaps the dead remains of a young Tower of Jewel plant in the bottom.Three Tower of Jewel plants (2 in their second year, one in its first year) (Echium wildpretti). Scarlet Oak in back. Unnamed “Governor’s Mansion” pelargonium on left.Closer look at the “Governor’s Mansion” pelargonium.Palo Verde ‘Desert Museum’ tree“Fat Albert” Colorado Blue Spruce with Verbena bonariensis in front, desert willow on rightEleagnus x Ebbingei cultivar. Commonly called oleaster or Ebbing's silverberry, it’s a cross between Elaeagnus macrophylla × Elaeagnus pungens (according to the Missouri Botanical Garden) Eleagnus, Muhlenbergia rigens (deergrass), toyon, Fat Albert Colorado blue spruce In a hot climate, it makes sense to put a greenhouse in afternoon shadeAsparagus aethiopicus, Sprenger’s day (Sprenger's asparagus fern)Dymondia margaretae (Silver Carpet). An interesting story about this groundcover.Birdbath with high-spout dripper. Caged for cat deterrence.The gardener’s path. On right: calendula, abutilon, Eriogonum giganteum (St. Catherine’s Lace buckwheat). On left, around birdbath: liriope (lilyturf)Smart Pot with vegetable seeds planted and bamboo sticks to deter animals.Green Cone composter.  Strawflower and Borage behind. lavender, Eriogonum grande rubescens (red or rosy buckwheat) on right, calendula in back. Upside down wine bottle is in a small olla at base of newly planted lavender.closeup of wine bottle in olla.Counterclockwise from front left: Palo verde, Euphorbia charisma’s ‘Wolfenii’, Hesperaloe parviflora, sulfur buckwheat, white pacific coast Iris, salvia leucantha, another salvia leucantha. “This is one of the dryest parts of my garden,” says Debbie.Thanks for reading Beyond Basics: The Garden Basics with Farmer Fred Newsletter! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Thank you for also listening to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast! It’s available wherever you get your podcasts. Please share it with your garden friends.Fred Hoffman is also a University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener in Sacramento County. And he likes to ride his bike(s). This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardenbasics.substack.com

If this newsletter podcast sounds familiar, it should. It is also the current (Ep. 341) Garden Basics podcast where myself and America’s Favorite Retired College Horticulture Professor, Debbie Flower, take a late May stroll through my garden, discussing the plants, as well as gardening techniques. But wouldn’t it be nice to see those plants and garden accoutrements? Well, here you go.But first, a recap of what you may have missed on this week’s two Garden Basics podcasts:Tuesday, June 4:Ep. 340 -Q&A Cross Pollination Concerns. What is the Best City or State for Gardening?• Understanding cross-pollination and its implications for seed saving and plant breeding.• The importance of local conditions and location-specific knowledge in gardening.• The impact of climate and weather on gardening success.• Different perspectives on the best US cities for gardening, highlighting the influence of location on gardening success.Thank you, AI, for your dry summary. Debbie Flower and I are more warm and endearing than that.Friday, June 7: Ep. 341 - Fred’s Yard Tour with Debbie. Or, listen above and scroll below. But we are definitely more entertaining and informative than AI would have you believe:Takeaways• The importance of selecting heat-resistant greens for summer gardening• Strategies for dealing with garden pests like tomato hornworms and cabbage worms• Tips for growing determinate tomatoes and managing peach trees• Insights on using raised beds and root cellars for gardening• The benefits of using vermiculite for seed planting and the use of worm bins for fertilizer• The significance of providing shade for certain plants and the value of using row covers for protection. SmartPot compost sacks are a convenient and effective way to create rich compost for gardening (golly, AI, thanks for plugging the sponsor!)• Clover is resistant to dog urine and can be used as a ground cover in areas frequented by pets.• Fruit trees can be grown in containers, and it's important to control the width and height of the tree to manage root growth.• Different soil types, such as raised bed soil planter mix and pumice, can be used for gardening in containers.• Citrus, blueberries, and potatoes can be successfully grown in containers, providing a versatile option for home gardeners.Again, just punch play above, and begin scrolling here:Thanks for reading Beyond Basics: The Garden Basics with Farmer Fred Newsletter! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Thank you for also listening to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast! It’s available wherever you get your podcasts. Please share it with your garden friends.Fred Hoffman is also a University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener in Sacramento County. And he likes to ride his bike(s). This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardenbasics.substack.com