I recently stumbled on an article comparing water filter pitchers, and surprise, ZeroWater came out on top. That wasn’t the notable part of the article, the notable part was that it did a comparison mash up of two very different filters: filters meant to remove as much as possible, and filters meant to maybe do…
Category: Gardening
Turn a single temperature dehydrator into variable temperature with a smart switch
I purchased this Presto Dehydro many years ago and have used it a few times. It works, and I thought I would be okay with the single temperature, but it was ultimately just disappointing. Foods tasted a little on the overcooked side rather than something, well, good. I mainly use it to dehydrate home grown…
Effective Spider Mite Control – Organic Recipe
Growing indoors, I am eventually plagued by spider mites at least once a season. It’s always discouraging when those small strands start appearing between branches. I usually start a new internet search, re-reading all the things I’ve already tried before, hoping to find something new. I tried all the concoctions that are safe for use…
Summary of growing onions in San Francisco 2017 – Ailsa Craig onion
For a history of this story, please see the previous post on planning. Overall growing onions in the fabric pots was fairly successful. There was one very obvious issue though: the major temperature swings in San Francisco this summer caused many of the onions to bolt much too prematurely. Some days it was roasting hot…
Gabriella F1 Onion
I started this onion from seed in November and harvested them in June (210 days). It’s a short-day onion, grows from 3-4.5″ in diameter. I grew them in my hand made grow pots custom sized for them. They worked quite well. From this variety I got 5 full sized, 4 medium sized, and 1 runt….
Gaviota – Favorite Kratky Hydroponic Lettuce
I’ve tried quite a few different lettuces using the Kratky Method, growing them in individual containers, and Gaviota is by far my favorite. Not only does it grow well in the nutrient solution, but it grows fast. The leaves are perfect for salads. If you just rip the end off of it, it breaks down…
2017 Onion Crop – Planning
After last year’s onion experiment I have wanted to try a much larger variety of onions for 2017, and expand on the growing conditions. I started several varieties mid-November and a few more mid-December. I started the seeds with my usual method of using a small container to start with a high density until they are…
Lettuce flowers, pod development & seed collection
I’m not one to harvest lettuce seed for reuse, as I like to try out new varieties but I have been curious about how the flowers look, and how the seeds develop so I let some go to seed. It took weeks before I caught some flowers actually open. Most of the day the flowers…
2016 Onion Crop
Back in February I started two types of onions, Ruby Red & Cortland. I started them in small 4″ containers in a flat to see how well they would grow given the limited root space. Along the way I harvested a few here and there, but left them alone to grow for the most part….
Easy Cutworm Collars for Lettuce
After losing several lettuce plants to cutworms severing the stem completely in my garden, I wanted to find a good & inexpensive collar. These Lil Red shot cups are the perfect size for plant starts that are started in the smaller version of seed starter cells. It works out to less than a quarter each, and…