Amaryllis and Narcissus in bloom.

50+ mile per hour winds tonite and tomorrow

Hi everyone just want to tell you to bring in your tender plants and umbrellas today because by this afternoon we expect winds that will topple trees and blow over patio furniture. Your gardens really need a good drink this morning to help them get through this adventure and don't forget to Check your houseplants as the humidity is already way down and they need a Drink too!!!

The snap beans are blooming

I planted snap beans in September and they are growing up a trellis. Today I discovered blossoms and the beginning of bean pods. It's so exciting because the eggplants tomatoes and bell peppers are dying from the cold nights while the kale bok Choy carrots and beets are going strong

In my garden today

I had a helper for harvesting in my garden today

7 Reasons Kale Is the New Beef

Kale is far more nutritious than other leafy greens, but these seven reasons why it is such an important futurefood may just surprise you.

Fall Trees in Lake Forest

The trees in Lake Forest continue to amaze me. Hope you all are enjoying the beauty

Christmas Garden gift ideas

Here is a great site with some fun ideas for the gardeners in your life or family and friends you want to inspire to grow their own in the new year...

http://shop.homegrownfun.com/

FRIDAY---Buy-Nothing-Day-Back-to-Natives

Here is a great idea for the day after Thanksgiving rather than shop with the millions, get out and hike some of those extra calories off .

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/FRIDAY---Buy-Nothing-Day-Back-to-Natives.html?soid=1102516354196&aid=Lon_Doetnt8

World Food Garden - Victory Gardens for the Whole World!

Be a part of this movement ... if you have a vegetable garden or a few containers of herbs and vegetables let the world know of your commitment to growing your own food.

World Food Garden - Victory Gardens for the Whole World!

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/TOMORROW---Greenhouse-Grand-Opening-at-the-Back-to-Natives-Nursery.html?soid=1102516354196&aid=KDrT0qVbmA4

Check this nursery out today if you can, they are having an open house for their new greenhouse . CA native plants source

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/TOMORROW---Greenhouse-Grand-Opening-at-the-Back-to-Natives-Nursery.html?soid=1102516354196&aid=KDrT0qVbmA4

November Harvest

In So Cal we are still able to harvest vegetables and flowers during November. Although most plants are heading into dormancy, some of our garden still produces because day time temps reach 65- 80 * depending on storm tracks. These mellow days cold nights, lull us into complacency thinking we don't have to worry about the plants but it's a month for starting to cut back perennials and to harvest the vegetables as they appear.

Don't forget to enjoy your garden and to be grateful for whatever you have.
Life is unpredictable as the weather so cherish the warm days and get outside!

Gardening is GOOD for you…in so many ways! « Home Grown Edible Landscapes

Gardening is GOOD for you…in so many ways! « Home Grown Edible Landscapes

For all of you who enjoy your gardens and wondered at the benefits...

November in the Garden and Fall Foods

Don't forget to plan on coming to this workshop this week for November in the garden tips and some fun fall harvest ideas to taste.

There is frost on the leaves this morning in SoCal... the plants in the outside garden are getting ready to hibernate thru the winter. If you have an outdoor garden most of your plants will stop growing until it warms up next spring. So now is when we start cutting back and cleaning up in preparation for the growing season next year. I love this time of year because you can make order out of the growing chaos. Questions on what to cut back and when? Come to the next workshop... Winter in the garden and fall foods .

Come taste and explore some great recipes for the harvest of Fall vegetables and herbs. Learn about Community Supported Agriculture and how you can have fresh vegetables deliveredust for you from local farms or at farmer's markets .

Gratitude in Hard Times

This is a really thought provoking article and worth passing on for its encouragement to "HOPE" even if times are bad.

Be grateful this year in even the little things like being able to grow a narcissus bulb for the first time or learning to use herbs in a new way making vinegar....

I'm grateful for all of you. For the chance to inspire you and to know you, and to see you every few weeks. Thank you for the journey and I look forward to lots of new adventures in gardening together in 2012.

A Guide for Herbs and Spices

Organic Gardener Magazine has a great guide for growing herbs and spice and is used all over the world as the "bible" of planting.

Winter in the Garden and Fall Foods from the Garden

There is frost on the leaves this morning in SoCal... the plants in the outside garden are getting ready to hibernate thru the winter. If you have an outdoor garden most of your plants will stop growing until it warms up next spring. So now is when we start cutting back and cleaning up in preparation for the growing season next year. I love this time of year because you can make order out of the growing chaos. Questions on what to cut back and when? Come to the next workshop... Winter in the garden and fall foods .

Growing Paperwhites | Horticulture - The Art & Science of Smart Gardening

Any questions about your bulbs can be answered here. Hopefully they have green leaves at this point and are in your windows getting sun!

Growing Paperwhites | Horticulture - The Art & Science of Smart Gardening

Check out Green Thumbs weekly newsletter and coupon

By E.W. Forsyth In the rush to celebrate Halloween, and do the early shopping for Christmas, often Thanksgiving becomes merely about football and feasting. We need to think ahead to be prepared not only with fine food and football snacks, but with an ambience that truly reflects the meaning of this holiday. So begin drying your lavender, hydrangeas, and herbs now by hanging them upside down in a warm, dry and dark location--first removing the leaves. Bunch them with seasonally colored ribbons, and hang them in unexpected nooks for surprise texture and aroma. Collect small branches, spray paint them white, and create a forest of "snowy" branches that can be tied with a bright ribbon and hung on the front door. Be plentiful with pumpkins, gourds, fall squash, and Indian corn on your front porch, and luminarias leading up the stairs; the party should start before the door is even opened! Take a walk around your home. Start collecting leaves from any colorful plants you have. They should be sturdy leaves with thick stems. When you've collected 30-40 of them, staple them to an orange or red ribbon and hang them across the front of your mantel. If you do any hiking, you can find pine cones, which can be used in your table's centerpiece; buy an inexpensive cornucopia made of woven reeds and fill it literally to overflowing with pine cones, gourds, mini-pumpkins, even pears, apples and citrus. The original cornucopias were made of a curved goat's horn filled with fruit and ears of grain, a decorative motif emblematic of abundance. Scatter cranberries on the table, and slice lemons and limes in segments, arranging them in an arcing form on one of your prettiest salad plates. Intersperse the citrus with blueberries, and watch how they will be used in various beverages on the menu. Keep the palette of your table colorful, and the dinnerware neutral. The goal is color and plenty. Don't wait until December to put your mini-lights to use; drape them across the center of your table, or along the top of your mantel. Curve the wires and in each "alcove" place a pine cone that you've spray painted white. Adorn with red berries that you've either found in your outdoor wanderings, or purchased in the craft department of your local garden center. Place cards may be fancy or a family affair. Print out personalized place cards that you can find on many websites. Or to give your guests a sparkly and homemade welcome, several days before feast day, write each guest's name in glue onto cardboard place cards. Then sprinkle the glue with glitter in colors of gold, bronze, or red. Tip to get rid of the excess glitter, and allow the cards to dry for at least 24 hours. Then sit the kids down with seasonal magazines and have them cut out the images that most remind them of Thanksgiving. Pasting the overlapping pictures around the edges of the guest's name card will give it the look of collage. Using the good napkins? Roll up each one and wrap it with some raffia rather than a traditional napkin ring. And here's a fun and fabulous family tradition to begin this year. At the beginning of November, buy a large piece of white poster paper and some brightly colored construction paper. Draw a tree with as many different branches as you can manage. Cut the construction paper into leaf shapes (the children can draw an outline of their hands for the perfect leaf). Every day, one member of the family selects a leaf, writes something he or she is grateful for, and pastes the leaf onto the tree. On Thanksgiving Day, the entire family may offer thanks for the items listed on the tree. In between the madness of removing and storing the Halloween decorations, and choosing and decorating the Christmas tree, take time this year to rediscover Thanksgiving, and celebrate it with the beauty of both handcrafted and store-bought decorations. Our garden center experts will be able to guide you towards the creation of what will become your favorite day of the year!

What’s Cooking at the Great Park? | Orange County Great Park

Here is a great follow up class to what we talked about in our workshop this last week... Go and be inspired to do more!

What’s Cooking at the Great Park? | Orange County Great Park

Fresh Herbs and Fall Cuisine
November 5, 12:00 pm

Check out Chefs Linda Lewis Elbert and Michell Betrall as they bring fall herbs to the table with Fresh Herbs and Fall Cuisine. The co-owners of The Basement Table will show you how to use fresh herbs to create a fresh herb risotto or herb syrups for teas, sauces or drinks.

The demonstration will begin at noon at the Farm + Food Lab, immediately after the Gifts from the Garden garden workshop.

Please be aware that there will be weather changes tonight through this weekend and prepare accordingly

See the following link and bring your herbaceous or soft stem plants under shelter so they don't get frost burned -

They can remain outdoors but need to be under an umbrella,piece of plastic, or garden cloth to protect the leaves and roots. This is a drastic change and our plants haven't had time to adapt yet to cooler weather...

A COLD WINTER STORM WILL ARRIVE FRIDAY...

Also Daylight savings begins on Sunday!!!

Here is List of Local OC Farmers Markets

There are Farmer's Markets almost everyday of the week.

So check one out!

How to start Seeds in bags

Check out this fun website for other fun things to do with kids in your garden and home.

Check out Roger's Gardens Tip of the Day

Roger's Gardens

Tip of the Day: A few perennials are cool-season plants in our climate and are just now beginning to enter their best, most colorful time of the year. Do not prune these now. Instead feed them a bit and they’ll be even better. These include alstroemeria (except in very cold inland gardens), armeria, euryops daisy, forget-me-not (myosotis), hellebore, marguerite daisy and viola (perennial types).

Great way to create an indoor garden during the winter

Kim Howes Roman

I used a cheap "over the toilet" shelf unit and $1 plastic shoe boxes to create a winter garden. There is enough room on each shelf for 3 boxes. For the outer 2 boxes I use the lids to catch drips (yes the boxes have drainage holes). The middle box sits inside a second (undrilled) shoe box.