News — gardening
Improve Your Garden Soil with Cover Crops
Posted by David Grau on
Sowing seeds of cool weather cover crops in the fall is an excellent way to build your soil. During the winter a fall-sown cover crop will help hold the soil during winter rains (providing protection from erosion), help keep nutrients from leaching away, and add organic matter to the soil. The roots of a cover crop help keep an active exchange with soil microorganisms.
How to Grow Garlic
Posted by David Grau on
We have grand plans for a fabulous garlic garden at Valley Oak HQ. We can plant garlic well into the late fall (or early winter) here. David and Carla will be browsing catalogues for different garlic varieties, and they’ll plant a garlic garden, likely sometime in November.
Protect Your Garden from Harlequin Bugs
Posted by David Grau on
We recently met a gardener who had stopped growing tomatoes in his home garden because of the damage that bugs had done to his fruit in past years. A little questioning revealed that the insects his tomatoes were attracting were the ubiquitous harlequin bug.
Growing Melons on a Trellis
Posted by David Grau on
Melon plants can take up quite a bit of room in the garden, sprawling their way over pathways and into neighboring beds. We find that growing melons is such a treat. When that first ripe melon is ready for picking, at just the right time, we cannot resist but eat the sweet offering. Even in our small garden, our melon does not have to take over the whole garden because we are growing it a trellis.
Broadfork and Wheel Hoe Maintenance
Posted by David Grau on
Over the years, I have seen some Valley Oak broadforks and wheel hoes unnecessarily fall into a state of disrepair. Here's what you can do to keep your Valley Oak wheel hoe or broadfork operating like the champ it is, for many years to come: