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David King

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Gardening 101 Field Trip

Just a reminder that today, Sunday, we are meeting at 2:00 at The Learning Garden for our first field trip. Call me if you are unsure of how to get there - phone number is on your handouts from class. I won't be reliably at a computer for the rest of the day. david Continue

Added by David King on June 1, 2008 at 10:57am — No Comments

Water Saving Plants Bibliography

California Native Plants for the Garden, Bornstein, Carol et al ©2005 Cachuma Press, Of all the books here, this is the one that illustrates a drought tolerant beautiful garden. Not only does it show the plants in their glory, but there are suggestions on how to use them with authority. The lists at the back of the book are worth the price of admission alone. California Native Trees and Shrubs, Lenz, Lee W. et al ©1981 Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden (out of print, but can be fo… Continue

Added by David King on June 1, 2008 at 10:54am — 1 Comment

Notes on Drought Tolerant Plants

NOTE: No plant is drought tolerant when young! Areas (Generally) From Which We Get Drought Tolerant Plants Parts of Australia’s west and south coast California Natives and the American Southwest Other desert species Parts of coastal Chile Mediterranean Areas Part of South Africa Characteristics of Leaves for Drought Tolerance: Hirsute (somewhat hairy) Whiteness or grayness Thickness Leathery Waxy High oil content Small size Needle-like leaves Water storing leaves (succule… Continue

Added by David King on June 1, 2008 at 10:50am — No Comments

More Books for Edible Gardening

Edible Flowers, From Garden to Palate, Barash, Cathy Wilkinson, © 1995 Fulcrum Publishing, This is the only really comprehensive book on growing edible flowers – it’s a fascinating cuisine we have largely lost through neglect. Have an adventure and a nasturtium for dinner! Heirloom Vegetables, Stickland, Sue, © 1998 Fireside Books, A wonderful introduction to heirloom vegetables and how and why to grow them! A fabulous read for all prospective vegetable gardeners. Sunset Weste… Continue

Added by David King on June 1, 2008 at 10:35am — No Comments

Edible Gardens Bibliography I

Designing and Maintaining your Edible Landscape Naturally, Kourick, Robert © 1986, Metamorphic Press, Santa Rosa, CA Probably the bible for this kind of garden. I own a first printing and a quick check shows that Amazon has it new for $33.46 (Permanent Publications; March 30, 2005), so it’s still a winner, after all these years. Designing the New Kitchen Garden, Bartley, Jennifer © 2006, Timber Press, Portland, OR Lots of wonderful ideas and source material for a good many daydrea… Continue

Added by David King on June 1, 2008 at 10:32am — No Comments

Gardening Class Schedule of Topics

Date Topic 01 May Soils and Soil Ecology 08 May The Beautiful Food Garden I 15 May The Beautiful Food Garden II 22 May Landscaping – Principles Design & The No Yard Yard 29 May Orchids, Greenhouses, and Sunporches 01 June Field Trip to The Learning Garden/ Propagation and Pruning 05 June Landscaping – Ornamental Plant Selection from Grass to Trees 12 June Roses 19 June Natural Pest Control/Maintenance 22 June Field Trip – California Natives/Drip Irrigation and Saving Water This schedule ca… Continue

Added by David King on May 2, 2008 at 12:28am — 3 Comments

Soils and Soil Ecology

We know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot. Leonardo da Vinci Soil Formation 1. Climate – including temperature and rainfall 2. Organisms – from the itty bitty (microscopic) to the biggies (macroscopic) 3. Topography – (the book calls relief) – land surface 4. Parent material – the original rock 5. Time – the factor that weathers us all. Components of Soil 50 % Water/air – in proportion to one another 45% Parent Material – underlying rock 5% Organic ma… Continue

Added by David King on May 2, 2008 at 12:26am — No Comments

Gardening Tools

Just Starting Out or for Containers: 1. Trowel* 2. Hand fork 3. Machete* 4. Grape shears* 5. Gloves* 6. Watering device or can* 7. Pocket knife General Gardening: 1. Fork* 2. Shovel 3. Rake 4. Hoe 5. More gloves 6. Pruners* 7. Loppers Hard Gardening: 1. Mattock 2. Digging bar 3. Wheelbarrow 4. Even more gloves Rose Gardening: 1. Special gloves* 2. Thorn stripper 3. Folding saw* Seed Starting 1. Dibbers* 2. Screen 3. Labels 4. Pencil* 5. Planting stick* 6. R… Continue

Added by David King on April 28, 2008 at 10:23am — No Comments

A General Gardening Bibliography

These are not textbooks – there will be no ‘required reading’ from them – but they are books most gardeners will find extremely helpful over the years. I recommend you put them on your shelf as they will answer most of your questions and give you new windows of opportunity for you and your garden. The books that follow are general garden books – usually each subject we will cover in class will have its own specific list of references. Do not feel obligated to buy each book, but if you are intere… Continue

Added by David King on April 24, 2008 at 2:07pm — No Comments

Real Men Don't Cry In Their Quiche

The Learning Garden is an acre project located on the grounds of Venice High School in Los Angeles, CA. We are just across the street from the suburb of Venice, CA, but take our name from being located ON Venice Boulevard, a major thoroughfare from downtown LA to the Pacific Ocean. At one time, what we have as center boulevard islands was occupied by the tracks of the long gone Red Cars, replaced by the RTD buses which in turn have been replaced by the MTA buses that roar their diesel engines up… Continue

Added by David King on February 25, 2008 at 4:31pm — No Comments

What Is The Best Food to Grow to Feed a Lot of People?

I have been a food gardener all my life - these last few years I have been the Gardenmaster at a project called The Learning Garden (which has its own page here at KGI, I hope you get the chance to check it out!). I have had my own little vegetable garden there in this time. I have never had to grow a lot of food, of course, because, it's just me so one cabbage there, a broccoli here and that's all I need. My vegetable garden has devolved, over the years, to being more a showcase than a working… Continue

Added by David King on February 18, 2008 at 10:30pm — 7 Comments

Earth and Life: A Garden Blog

I've just become a part of the KGI community. I will start blogging here soon, but in the meantime, I invite the KGI community to look at my Earth and Life blog at blogspot. Right now it's a lot of handouts from the courses I teach for UCLA Extension and others, but I'll soon take it back to being a collection of my writings that just don't seem to have a home.

I also write for… Continue

Added by David King on January 24, 2008 at 1:15pm — No Comments

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2008

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Latest Activity

laurent barbier, Helen Pereira, Sara Lim and 4 more joined Kitchen Gardeners
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1 hour ago
Amanda Williams left a comment for Maggie
5 hours ago
Glenn Fletcher commented on Glenn Fletcher's photo 'My Allotment'
Hi Maggie I hope you are well. I see most of the people on a Friday afternoon, when i do not have to go to work. Most of the other plot holders are retired so they go on weekdays when i am at work. It can be quite solitary, which i find quite plea...
5 hours ago
Mary Riekert left a comment for Sally Parrot
15 hours ago
Martha Hill replied to Janet Hoshel's discussion 'Vert Slightly sweet sauerkraut ????'
Thank you for the email addy !! I am always looking for variations on the food I preserve !! Let us know how yours turns out !! You can`t have too many recipes you know !! I don`t think that I would add sugar till after the brining process !! It c...
15 hours ago
Martha Hill replied to Chris Bocchino's discussion 'Been a while!'
Congrats on your new venture !!! Hope it does well !! Will be looking for you back in the future when you have things under way !!
16 hours ago
Martha Hill replied to Penelope's discussion 'Feeling Stuck'
You are forgetting one thing !! The person who will be eating the food you prepare !! Yourself !!! If it pleases you,,,I wouldn`t worry about anything else !! Cooking should be an adventure !! I wouldn`t make a comparison unless you have tasted th...
16 hours ago
Georg Strafella replied to Jeff St.Clair's discussion 'Compost news'
hi jeff, as i suppose you live in crete, do know anything more about the phrase "strafela", is this a usual word in greek?? or is it used just in certain parts of crete?? would be great if you could give me any info about it, thanks, georg
17 hours ago
Maggie left a comment for Amanda Williams
18 hours ago
Maggie commented on Glenn Fletcher's photo 'My Allotment'
Wow, they are good sized plots. I wish we had allotment areas here in Adelaide. Do you get to know the other allotment gardeners?. We have almost finished our composting, pruning back, seed saving and planting out of our seedlings. With a small ga...
18 hours ago
Glenn Fletcher commented on Glenn Fletcher's photo 'My Allotment'
Hi Kathryn This image is a screenshot from Google Earth. The only drawback with Google Earth is that you cannot zoom in as close as you would like. I have a greenhouse in the bottom right and a shed and covered compost bin at top right. A lot of t...
20 hours ago
Glenn Fletcher commented on Salma Kamal's blog post 'Pakistan: “Home Kitchen gardening to crush hunger”.'
Hi Salma I am lucky in that my allotment is only a short bicycle ride from my house. Some people in larger cities like London have to travel to theirs in a car. It is interesting to find out from you just how things are in your country. I think as...
21 hours ago
Bea Kunz replied to Roger's discussion 'Press inquiry: Women gardeners feeding the hungry'
Thanks for sharing Roger, I sent my info and will let you know what transpires. Have a Joyful day~ Bea Kunz
21 hours ago
Salma Kamal commented on Salma Kamal's blog post 'Pakistan: “Home Kitchen gardening to crush hunger”.'
How times have changed. There was time when there was no food shortage and agriculture was not a profitable business. The poor farmer was having a hard time. After toiling in the field from dawn to dusk he failed to generate enough money to suppor...
23 hours ago
Salma Kamal commented on Salma Kamal's blog post 'Pakistan: “Home Kitchen gardening to crush hunger”.'
Glenn!British allotment system is quite interesting. It should be initiated here in Pakistan. Is this alloted land close to your home? I mean you have to travel to your home kitchen garden to fetch your vegetables ??
23 hours ago
James R. McBride replied to PiscesGirl's discussion 'Seed Sources?'
I also recommend Seed Savers Exchange. Not only does Heritage Farm offer seeds they've grown, but you can become a member and exchange thousands of seeds with other gardeners. The beauty of seed savers is you can use heirloom seeds that you have g...
yesterday
Amanda Williams and Georg Strafella joined Kitchen Gardeners
yesterday
amna mufti commented on Salma Kamal's blog post 'Pakistan: “Home Kitchen gardening to crush hunger”.'
........So the story is that this land is under the unlawful use of big wigs.No body dares to touch them.As they are usually in govt.or are the relatives of those in power.That is why I was telling Salma,problem is not simple.It is so intricate,it...
yesterday
amna mufti commented on Salma Kamal's blog post 'Pakistan: “Home Kitchen gardening to crush hunger”.'
Glenn! we also have the same allotment system.In which about 550 square feet ,(if I am not mistaken) or so is alloted to a family to grow fuel wood on it .Govt. only plants the trees and then the family looks it aftern grow what everthey want alon...
yesterday
Mussarat Nadeem is now friends with Kathryn and amna mufti
yesterday

From the KGI Main Site

Gardeners Have the Power!

Braised brussels sprouts with pine nuts

Garden Q & A: extending the salad season

New White House kitchen garden videos

KGI is going to the White House (and we want to take you with us)

Optimal timing for your garlic harvest

Garden Q & A: Harvesting tomatoloons

Roasted potatoes with basil vinaigrette

Garden Q & A: Organic pest controls

Paella with tomatoes

Notes

HOW TO - ADD A LINK

Several people have experienced difficulty putting working links into comments and blogs etc and I know it is clumsy.... so here is how you do it.....

First type the text you want to appear....  ie  IAN'S PAGE

Then go back and highlight the link text.

Then hit the hyperlink button...a pictogram of a chain link.

Your browser may intervene and request permission to allow temporary scripting or some similar message.   Allow it and go back and highlight the text again

… Continue

Created by Ian Jun 7, 2009 at 7:28pm. Last updated by Ian Jun 8.

Forum Policy

Hi, I'm starting to put together a few guidlines on using the discussion forum on here.

I would be happy to hear any comments you may have.  This is very much a work in progress so plese feel free to ask me to add anything you think is needed.

I don't want to make our community hide bound by rules and regulations but I think that, as the community has grown, some explanation of what is expected is needed.

Administration

You can refer any que

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Created by Ian May 23, 2009 at 1:55am. Last updated by Ian May 25.

Climate maps

Hi following recent discussion I have put climate maps of the USA, Australia and Europe on here for reference..

 Climate map of the USA

Climate map of Australia

Climate map of Europe

 

… Continue

Created by Ian Sep 12, 2008 at 6:20pm. Last updated by Ian Apr 14.

Recipes, Recipes, Recipes

Hi Everyone,  I've started to collect together recipes from various posts on the site and put them all together here.

If you have a recipe you want to add on here, just post it on the site and leave a comment on my page telling me where it is and I'll go and fetch it back here.

They are organised in Contributor Order but I'm open to better suggestions!

BEVA'S RECIPES

… Continue

Created by Ian Jun 2, 2008 at 9:54am. Last updated by Ian Apr 13.

US STATES ABBREVIATIONS

 

US STATE ABBREVIATIONS

AK - Alaska               AL - Alabama              AR - Arkansas
AZ - Arizona              CA - California           CO - Colorado
CT - Connecticut          DC - Dist of Columbia *   DE - Delaware
FL - Florida              GA - Georgia              GU

… Continue

Created by Ian Jan 27, 2009 at 4:27pm. Last updated by Ian Jan 27.

HOW TO - MAKE COMPOST

Recently there was an excellent discussion about composting. I’ve pulled together all the various comments here. You can also watch KGI's video on composting here.

 

 

KATE’S ADVICE

I used to have a tumbler that we made from a wine-barrel but

1 you have to fill it up all at once

2. it seemed mostly

… Continue

Created by Ian May 30, 2008 at 5:29am. Last updated by Roger Jan 15.

Notes Home

Welcome to Notes.

To view notes that are in the system hit the "all notes" button above.

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Created by Ian May 28, 2008 at 12:10pm. Last updated by Ian May. 30, 2008.

A Note about Notes

I have just written this note so that I can see what we can achieve by using this new feature.

If you read this and have any suggestions then please leave a comment on my page or email me.

Ian

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Created by Ian May 28, 2008 at 6:19pm. Last updated by Ian May. 28, 2008.

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