Author Archives: admin

sort of obligates one to pay attention to the environment a little bit. I like looking at the tracks on my driveway which is dirt. It finally dawned on me what this one was. Any guesses? Spread the Good News … Continue reading →

Here is another comment on my posting a while back about how a dwarfing root stock will cripple a tree and cause it to be more susceptible to diseases. The next time a nurseryman tells you that the smaller tree … Continue reading →

The title is bushtits except that the pictures are of my peas. Peas with funny marks on their leaves. Last year I saw the California towhees eating the new growth buds on my peas and commented here that I should … Continue reading →

I was looking at a big twisted branch on my pluot tree and realized that it had partially broken and twisted. It seems to me that it probably did it at the same time another branch broke off last year. … Continue reading →

I do not believe that permaculture is about instant gratification. I do not believe it is about who has the biggest or the most swales. I do not believe that it is about asking on a message board for “the … Continue reading →

I am always looking for stuff to help me with my trees __that is not designed to be toxic__ ie. is not a biocide, does not end with the four letters C I D E. Of course they have now … Continue reading →

Once again it is December, it is cold for a California boy (I think it’s supposed to be 60 tonight), my fruit trees are losing their leaves, and therefore it’s time again to consider chill hours. There is a calculator … Continue reading →

Like many others I decided I would try putting a layer of chicken wire down to prevent gophers from destroying plants (in my case trees) I tried two different ways and thank goodness I didn’t go whole hog and do … Continue reading →

Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny. An observation that a human’s developing embryo goes through stages appearing to be similar to stages in our evolutionary history. Early on we look like some very early chordates (sort of worm like). [and of course men … Continue reading →

A couple of months ago I attended a great class offered by the Southern California Rare Fruit Growers Association. It was on air-layering. Air-layering is a technique to propagate woody trees by tricking them into believing that a branch has … Continue reading →