A dogwood tree is easy to love: flowers in the spring, beautiful orange/pink/red fall leaf color; a small to medium height tree, perfect for a patio area. The University of Florida lists the dogwood tree’s strengths and weaknesses: “The state tree of Virginia, the flowering dogwood grows 20 to 30 feet tall and spreads 25 to 30 feet. It can be trained with one central trunk or as a picturesque multi-trunked tree. The flowers consist of four bracts which subtend the small head of yellow flowers. T...
Sep 01, 2023•11 min
Back in July, we discussed “Six Common Tomato Problems.” Among those maladies were abiotic disorders (problems that are caused by factors such as weather, soils, chemicals, mechanical injuries, or cultural practices; and, not caused by insects or disease). Tomato abiotic disorders include blossom end rot, fruit cracking, leaf rolling, solar yellowing, sunburn, and tomato flower drop…all related to weather or watering issues. In that column, I mentioned we would tackle an annual tomato-related is...
Aug 25, 2023•16 min
If you own a Japanese maple tree, or pass by one on your daily strolls, check the leaves. Are they getting a little brown around the edges? Are the leaves beginning to fall off? Welcome to late August and early September, where the quadruple whammy of triple digit temperatures, hot dry winds, reflected heat from a nearby wall/concrete surface, or irregular watering can make many Japanese maples start to suffer. Note the location of those Japanese maple trees. Are they in full sun more than six o...
Aug 18, 2023•6 min
In today’s Beyond the Garden Basics Newsletter podcast (above), Debbie Flower and I tackle a question from Liz, who asks: “I just purchased from the local nursery, a lavender plant and also a sage. I'm sorry, I don't know the exact name. But they're common. The plants were in pots. Each plant is about one foot tall. I already planted them in the yard early yesterday morning. They were fine all day yesterday. Everything was moist, the soil was prepped. Today is 100 degree weather. They are not lo...
Aug 11, 2023•12 min
In today’s newsletter podcast (above), Don Shor of Redwood Barn Nursery in Davis explains why now is the best time to be planting your vegetables for autumn and winter (in milder areas of the country). For those of you who live in the West, the South, parts of the Midwest and mid-Atlantic states, (USDA Zones 7, 8, and 9) we get down to specifics in this audio episode on the best varieties of vegetables to grow during the cooler months of fall and winter: lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, cabbage, C...
Aug 04, 2023•22 min
In today’s newsletter podcast, Debbie Arrington of the publication, “Sacramento Digs Gardening”, discusses why jalapeño pepper as well as other pepper seeds and plants may have been mismarked this year. Read her original story on the topic here. Did you ever grow a plant that wasn’t what you thought it would be, due to a mismarked tag or a seed packet that was incorrectly packed? It happens every year, with varieties of annual or perennial ornamentals that do not produce the exact color flower t...
Jul 28, 2023•12 min
Record-breaking heat waves have pummeled the world, especially during the last two years. What’s a gardener to do? In today’s newsletter podcast (above), Master Gardener Quentyn Young walks us through the fruit tree orchard at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center, discussing how a record heat wave adversely effected the trees and the fruit. Plus, he has tips for dealing with extended heat waves in the home orchard. Heatwaves vs. Drooping Leaves Here we go again. Another multi-day bout of triple dig...
Jul 21, 2023•11 min
Phosphorus, in the world of plant fertilizers, is considered a macronutrient, an important element used by plants. Phosphorus is used to promote root and tuber growth, as well as the production of flowers and seeds. But, do you really need to add it every time you fertilize? And why have 13 states - as well as several municipalities - placed restrictions on the use of phosphorus? Phosphorus is the “P” in “N-P-K”, the percentage of macronutrients found listed on the front of a container of fertil...
Jul 14, 2023•21 min
For those of you who did not receive last Friday’s Beyond the Garden Basics newsletter, here it is. My apologies. I will send the gremlins to bed without dinner. In today’s newsletter podcast (above), we chat with Don Shor of Redwood Barn Nursery in Davis, CA. Don is a big fan of growing tomatoes, and it helps that his nursery is located in a county that just so happens to be one of the top tomato producing regions in the entire world. In this conversation about tomato troubles (originally aired...
Jul 10, 2023•18 min
Trying to decipher the basics on how to sharp garden hand tools can be a bit daunting to understand in an audio format. Here’s Sacramento County Master Gardener Bill Black, with his YouTube video about garden tool sharpening. Every picture tells a story, don’t it? How to Care and Store Your Garden Hand Tools As the weather heats up, don’t ignore your garden tools after a hard day in the yard. A good habit to get into is to clean and store your garden tools correctly before you go indoors for the...
Jun 30, 2023•6 min
Today’s newsletter podcast (above) features Master Gardener/Vegetable Expert Gail Pothour, discussing her favorite cucumber varieties, as well as tips and tricks for their success. Originally featured in Episode 263 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast, in which we talked about the Top 5 favorite homegrown vegetables, according to the National Gardening Association. According to the NGA, cucumbers are the second most popular crop for home gardeners. Number One? Tomatoes, of course. A tr...
Jun 23, 2023•7 min
Where is the zucchini? That question is a popular one in the garden e-mail bag lately. Gardeners are fretting over a total lack of summer squash flowers. Other problems include zucchini flowers that drop off, or young fruit that dies back. A lot of it has to do with timing. Many gardeners tend to plant zucchini seeds at the same time as tomato and pepper plants, usually in April. That’s a bit too early. The heat-loving summer squash varieties get off to a better start when planted in May or June...
Jun 16, 2023•7 min
If you listened to this week’s Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast (Ep. 269: “Growing Your Brain Food Garden”), you heard Dr. Laura Varich of FreshPhysician.com tout the cholesterol-fighting qualities of many home grown vegetables. Lowering cholesterol levels is widely known as a key factor in reducing heart disease. According to Varich, you’re not only doing your heart a favor, but also your brain. High cholesterol levels can also lead to blockages in the brain which can lead to a stroke. An...
Jun 09, 2023•36 min
Recorded last week in front of a live audience at a meeting of the Sun City/Lincoln Hills (CA) garden club. Included a Power Point presentation, which I mistakenly referred to as “slides”. And yes, I still have a slide projector in a closet somewhere, along with a box of slides of my cross-country bicycle trip in 1988. It’s probably next to the Betamax VCR and the Sony 630-D reel-to-reel stereo recorder (sweet!). But, at least I know what a “podcast” is! 1. ALL GARDENING IS LOCAL. In your own ya...
Jun 02, 2023•50 min
Thinning Crowded Fruit on Fruit Trees, Shrubs and Vines A prolifically producing peach tree next to an often-used walkway in our narrow side yard serves as a not so-subtle reminder this time of year: thin the fruit before trouble begins. And if a glance up into the canopy of your peach, pear, nectarine, apple, kiwifruit, persimmon, apricot, or other deciduous fruit trees and vines (including table grapes) shows crowded young fruit, take action. Rubbing or tightly packed little fruit in a tree no...
May 26, 2023•4 min
(From a 2022 interview with Master Rosarian Debbie Arrington. Originally aired on May 20, 2022, Garden Basics podcast ) Farmer Fred What is America's favorite flower? Well, of course, it's the rose. Something like 85% of all Americans say their favorite flower is the rose. How do you grow them? Well, we've talked about that on this show. You can go back and look for various episodes of the Garden Basics podcast where we talked about planting roses and pruning roses. We've even talked about fragr...
May 19, 2023•43 min
As the weather warms, so do outbreaks of fleas and ticks. Today’s newsletter podcast features an interview with retired veterinarian and Master Gardener Heidi Napier, who talks about these pests, along with a scenic bypass about controlling slugs and snails using less toxic products that won’t harm your kids or dogs. Flea Control Tips This pest can live indoors and out, as well as on your pets. However, a combination of remedies can reduce a flea population. The trick, though, is to attack the p...
May 12, 2023•5 min
Interview with Robert Pavlis of GardenMyths.com : Can Human Food also be Plant Food? (It depends how you apply it.) (originally aired in Episode 126 of the Garden Basics Podcast) Farmer Fred: What do you give plants to drink besides water and plant food? This question actually has been asked on many social media outlets, and in many gardening groups. And you might be surprised at the number of household kitchen products that are given to plants. Are they worth it? There is one gentleman who actu...
May 05, 2023•19 min
For years (decades, really), I’ve been promoting April 28 as Official Tomato Planting Day* for our area here in Northern California (Southern Sacramento and Northern San Joaquin Valleys, low foothills, and East Bay). And this time around in 2023, the weather has been very cooperative to make this year’s April 28th celebration an excellent time to start planting tomatoes. Wherever you are in the country, you have your own Official Tomato Planting Day. And it may change from year to year. The fact...
Apr 28, 2023•12 min
The healthiest food you can eat is the food you grow yourself. It doesn’t get any fresher than that. In today’s newsletter podcast, we talk with two Master Gardener/chefs: Kathy Morrison of the daily “ Sacramento Digs Gardening ” newsletter, and Master Gardener and Chef/instructor Andi MacDonald . Kathy has several recipes using ingredients that just might be maturing in your garden right now. And that’s the thrust of what is published in each Sunday’s edition of the Sacramento Digs Gardening Ne...
Apr 21, 2023•22 min
For the best tomato growing season ever, we have tips. Just a few tips. Today’s newsletter podcast features excerpts from two episodes of the Garden Basics podcast, Episode 93 with America’s Favorite Retired College Horticulture Professor, Debbie Flower, and Episode 259 with Don Shor, proprietor of Redwood Barn Nursery in Davis, CA. two tomato chats with these scenic bypasses for tomato success. As the sign posted at Don Shor’s Redwood Barn Nursery proclaims: IT’S TOO EARLY. Wherever you live, w...
Apr 14, 2023•16 min
If the idea of raising backyard chickens appeals to you, you just might be mulling over the thought, “Well, why not raise backyard bees, too?” You may have listened to Episode 260 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast , featuring urban chicken consultant Cherie Sintes-Glover discuss beginning a backyard chicken raising hobby. Cherie, besides being an urban chicken consultant, is also an apprentice Master Beekeeper. In today’s Beyond the Garden Basics newsletter podcast (above), she talks...
Apr 07, 2023•21 min
Jumping worms, and the publicity about them , are spreading. Debbie Flower (America’s Favorite Retired College Horticulture Professor) and I talked about this in August of 2021 in Episode 126 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast. We provided an update on Episode 217 in August of 2022 (listen to that chat in today’s newsletter podcast). Jumping worms have been in the United States for more than a half century. And they’re moving around the country, with our unknowing help. As Debbie poin...
Mar 31, 2023•10 min
In today’s “Beyond the Garden Basics” newsletter/podcast, we revisit a chat we had three years ago with Linda Chalker-Scott , Washington State University Horticulture Professor, author of several outstanding garden books , and one of the forces behind the Facebook group page, “ The Garden Professors ”. Here, Linda discusses why loading up the bottom of planting containers with pot shards, gravel, styrofoam or other soil displacing items is not a good idea. It’s not even a bad idea. It’s a terrib...
Mar 24, 2023•13 min
One in every three bites of food you take comes courtesy of a bee. Without their pollination efforts, our diet and our gardens would be, to say the least, boring. In today’s “Beyond the Garden Basics” newsletter/podcast, we talk with Dr. James Nieh, of the School of Biological Sciences at UC San Diego. He and his team have been studying how honeybees communicate with each other, and how their elaborate dance moves are interpreted by the other honeybees in the hive. Basically, if you know where a...
Mar 17, 2023•19 min
In today’s Newsletter podcast, we revisit some advice given to us by America’s Favorite Retired College Horticulture Professor, Debbie Flower, on how to get your pepper seeds to germinate more quickly, which can take up to three weeks before you see green leaves popping up above the soil surface. We were talking to the Elk Grove Garden Club last month, a wide-ranging conversation, which included how to tell if those old vegetable or flower seeds you have tucked away in a drawer will germinate or...
Mar 10, 2023•5 min
In today’s newsletter podcast, we delve into the world of earthworms and red wrigglers with garden writer Amy Stewart, who authored the 2005 book, “ The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms ”. We recorded our chat back when the book was released, at her home (then) in Eureka, in northwest California. But we’re not here on the printed page to praise earthworms (although they are highly deserving of it), but to discuss their close relatives, the red wigglers, an excellent worm...
Mar 03, 2023•13 min
Here is Andi MacDonald’s “More Than Basic Split Pea Soup” vegan recipe. It serves 6-8 people. She explains its origins: “My Aunt Carol lived on the Central Coast of California. When we visited, my father took us to Pea Soup Andersen’s restaurant in Buellton, where we dined on endless bowls of pea soup. Ten-year-old me thought that this was the height of culinary genius. I went back a few years ago and concluded that the soup was okay, bit it needed more oomph. That’s what this version is: basic ...
Feb 24, 2023•6 min
Newsletter podcast excerpted from Episode 253 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast. Recorded live, at the Elk Grove, CA Garden Club. Please note that the words below originated as a recent garden column in the Lodi (CA) News-Sentinel. Those of you in Michigan, Minnesota, Maine and other states where there are hardware stores that stock snowblowers year round can quit snickering at our plant panic when temperatures dip into the 20’s. Still, the advice holds true for wherever you live: gi...
Feb 17, 2023•5 min
Rose Pruning Time is Here Mid to late winter is rose pruning time, wherever you can grow roses. Here in California and in other USDA Zone 9 areas, mid-December through Super Bowl Sunday (usually the second week in February) is ideal. For colder rose-growing climates, late February through the early rounds of the NCAA Basketball Tournament (mid to late March) is pruning time. Former sportswriter and current Master Rosarian Debbie Arrington supplied those dates. Listen to the above podcast for wha...
Feb 03, 2023•13 min
