Friday, June 10, 2011

My Garden at Home and Why I Love to Grow Food...

A lot of people think that growing your own food is difficult or time consuming.  I disagree.  I started about 14 years ago, by making a garden in my backyard and I was amazed.  I dove right in with very little knowledge of how to garden.  Plants inherently want to grow...and they did.  All that plants need is sunlight, water, and nutrients.  There was so much food to eat and share.  I was hooked from the start.

Every year my garden (yes I have made one everywhere i moved since 1997) is full of surprises, over and under achievers, and problems to solve, but as one gets more and more intuitive and in tune with plants, and gains more knowledge, one can streamline, prepare and set themselves up for success.  I am passing along my expertise and years of subtle observation, trial and error, and study: book knowledge and learning firsthand from other talented gardeners.  I can set you up with a garden bursting with potential.  Gardening is one of my passions.  The fresh food you'll eat will redefine what you think good flavor is.

Here I am in my current garden with my corn and a sunflower, and a wonderful avocado tree behind me.  They say corn should be "knee high by the 4th of July."  Because I grew up on the East Coast I can truly appreciate the magic and potential in a California garden.  This is an amazing climate to grow food in.

I tend to used a lot of recycled materials and incorporate sculptural objects.  Most of my clients don't share this aesthetic.  I am happy to help create the garden that best suits anyone.  This photo shows young Zucchini in a recycled Doug Fir box, with a headless statue that I got at the Sky Valley Swap Meet in Joshua Tree.

Cucumbers can be very prolific and they love to climb.  I created a teepee from six 6 foot bamboo poles and my cucumber plants are doing very well.  I love to eat Cucumbers fresh, makes pickles, and even juice them along with carrots, apple, ginger, etc.

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Now is a good season for tomatoes, squash, zucchini, peppers, basil, beans, okra, cucumbers, corn, many types of flowers and so many other delicious and beautiful plants.

Recent Work



These beds are constructed of 2 x 6 Redwood and filled with a super rich soil blend.  I was hired for this job because the existing soil was of poor quality.  Additionally with raised beds you barely have to weed: with most weeds, the seeds are in the soil, accumulated from many years.  Plus you don't have to bend over as far to reach the delicious fresh food you are growing.

Portfolio


For this project my friend Aaron and I built a lot of custom beds and benches according to the plans of a landscape architect.  Redwood slats, with a zen motif, then stained and sealed.  Here we are finishing the deal by planting the starts.  A new covenant with the land is forged.  Usually my projects are less fancy than this, but I can do a wide array of styles.