Back in March, I wrote about a new product I was trying out, Cow Pots. These seed-starting pots are made with cow manure from dairy farms and are marketed as an environmentally friendly and biodegradable alternative to plastic pots. Now that I've put them to work growing some summer seedlings, I wanted to write a quick review.

Overall, I was happy with my Cow Pot experience. They were easy to use, odor-free and didn't fall apart with frequent watering. As I suspected, the soil in these pots dried out more quickly than the soil in my plastic pots. Once I got used to the Cow Pots, though, I was able to keep the soil evenly moist most of the time.

Seeds seemed to sprout more slowly in my Cow Pots than in the plastic pots. I'm guessing that may have something to do with how hot the soil gets in each pot. Some seeds like very warm soil to germinate, and I suspect that the black plastic pots heat up faster than Cow Pots. Once the seeds sprouted, though, they were quite happy in the poop pots. I'm not sure if they seemed heartier than the plastic pot plants, but they did grow healthy and strong.

Planting the Cow Pots was great, since you just place them directly in the ground. I didn't have to worry about disturbing roots or transplant shock. All the in-ground Cow Pot plants currently seem very happy and healthy.

An unforeseen benefit of the Cow Pots came when skunks staged a late-night raid on some new plantings. When I came out in the morning, there were big holes all over my garden bed, but most of the seedlings were still inside their Cow Pots. The manure pot had protected the new plantings from damage, where an unprotected seedling would have been ripped from its roots and destroyed. After I replanted the seedlings, they grew as if the skunk incident never happened. For someone like me with a serious skunk problem, this is a great bonus feature of Cow Pots.

So, I plan to use Cow Pots in the future, and I'd recommend them to others. They work well and their environmentally-friendly mission is appealing.

Thanks for all your excellent advice in the comments of my Cranky, Broody Hen post. I briefly considered the ice pack method, but decided instead to just let Peggy set. It's been a week and a half, and she's still broody. I think I'll let her set for another week, and then try to break her if she doesn't quit on her own.

On the bright side, Peggy is still eating, drinking and leaving the nest on occasion. We know she must be getting up at some point during the day, because Tina somehow manages to get in there and lay an egg. I have been taking her out of the nesting box every morning to do some free ranging. So, she's at least stretching her legs and wings once a day.

The main problem is that it's hard to collect Tina's eggs with Peggy sitting on them. She gets really pissed when I try to reach underneath her. For a little, fluffy hen, she can be kind of scary. I have been painfully pecked several times. Eventually, I manage to get the egg away from Peggy, but it's not easy.

One funny thing I've noticed about broody hens: they make the craziest noises. There's the weird chicken growl I get when I'm lifting Peggy out of the nesting box, and this loud, crazy shriek she makes before running frantically around the yard after I put her out. Basically, Peggy sounds nuts. But maybe that's all just part of being broody.

Also, I recommend doing everything you can to avoid a broody poop. (That's the one giant poop a broody hen lets loose after she's been holding it all in while sitting on her eggs.) They are foul!

Hello. My name is Green Frieda, and I'm an overwaterer.

It's true. Not only do I water too frequently, but I also water too briefly. Only recently have I come to terms with my over-watering habit and resolved to change.

I think my obsession with watering comes from two sources: (1) the arid Southern California climate means that topsoil dries very quickly (2) I am a nervous and impatient gardener. Instead of giving my garden a deep soak every 5 to 7 days, I would give it a short spray-down every other night. This, as you might imagine, lead to some problems.

Here's one tell-tale sign of my watering problem: a deformed pepper leaf.



Pepper plants--even ones in containers--don't need to be watered very often. If you give them too much water, the leaves get all bumpy and twisty and the plants don't set fruit. Since I stopped overwatering, my pepper plants have made nice, symmetrical leaves and started flowering profusely.

I think my over-watering is also the reason why my corn stalks can sometimes be unstable and my squash often die on the plant before they even bloom. I'm hoping that new, better watering habits will provide me with a bigger crop this summer. According to my research, it should.

The other day, I was talking to my dad about my debilitating overwatering addiction, and he gave me a very helpful tip. As you probably know, many gardening books, including my favorite--Burpee's The Complete Vegetable & Herb Gardener--tell you to water a crop a certain number of inches per week. I wondered aloud to my dad about how I could know when I'd watered my squash an inch, since I'm using a hose with a spray nozzle. And he said, "Use a tuna can."

"What does a tuna can have to do with anything?" You might ask. Well, here's the deal: You place a tuna can in your garden alongside your vegetables. Then, if you need to give your crop an inch of water, you water it until the tuna can is full. Since the side of a tuna can is about an inch high, it's a simple way to measure how much you've watered. Nice, huh? (By the way, my dad attributes his knowledge of this method to Texas gardening expert Jerry Parsons.)



I didn't have an empty tuna can available at the time I needed one, so I used an empty hummus container instead. It worked just as well. If you want to be really precise, you can use a rain gauge or a sprinkler gauge. (But a tuna can or hummus container is free.) It's likely I am not the first person to hear about this tuna can method, but I wanted to pass it on in case it might help someone else.

For the last couple of weeks, I've been pretty good about watering deeply and infrequently, and that's not just because I had a business trip last week. I think I am seeing the results of my restraint in heartier, greener plants. Hopefully, I can keep my addiction in check, although the dry, hot month of August will be a challenge.

The first step is admitting you have a problem.

Bad news, chicken fans. Peggy has gone broody. Basically, this means that she's decided she wants to sit on the nest all day so she can hatch some of the eggs she's been laying. That's nice of her, but, unfortunately, her eggs are never going to hatch because we don't have a rooster. So, I'm going to have to figure out how to break her broodiness.

I noticed that Peggy was acting a little weird on Sunday. She seemed cranky and was fighting with Tina a lot while they free-ranged. I was a little worried that she was feeling sick or having a problem with her eggs, so I looked at her vent. Happily, it appeared normal and healthy.

I realized Peggy was broody when she didn't come out of the coop yesterday morning. Normally, she runs right out when I come up to the door and literally leaps out of the run and into the yard. Yesterday morning, I found her stubbornly sitting in the nesting box like this.



Peggy puffed up angrily and yelled at me when I opened the lid to the nesting box. I decided to leave her alone, in case she was just laying an egg. But, when I got home last night, she was still in the nest. This time, she had two eggs under her--one of hers and one of Tina's.

So, I decided to force her to go out. When I reached in to pick her up, Peggy shrieked and clucked. She pecked me (hard) when I touched her. Eventually, I lifted Peggy out of the nest and put her on the ground outside the coop. She sat there pouting, all puffed up and irritated.



After a couple of minutes, Peggy got over her anger and ran around the yard a bit. But, once I put the chickens in for the night, she got right back on her nest (despite the fact that there were no eggs).

So, I repeated the process this morning, lifting Peggy out of the nest and putting her out in the yard. She had a nice scratch in the dirt and stretched her wings but went back into the nesting box after a while. I did see her eat and drink a little, so I'm not yet worried about her health. Still, I would like to break her of her broody behavior.

This time of year it's tricky, because I hate to lock my girls out of the coop all day. It's probably several degrees cooler in the coop than it is in the run, and with temperatures in the 90s, every degree helps. I think I may have to, though, if Peggy continues her broodiness.

I have read various other methods online. Many people put their broody hen in a wire cage with food, water and no bedding for several days. Some others mentioned dipping your broody hen's butt in cold water, which sounds somewhat traumatizing--for the hen and the human. I also read on Feathersite that you can put several ice cubes under your chicken's butt in place of eggs. Maybe that sends the signal that the eggs are too cold and won't hatch? Anyway, I might try that one tomorrow if Peggy is still broody. At least that method has the added benefit of keeping her cool.

I'll let you know how it goes.

It's spider season at our house. To be honest, we have spiders all year long, but there are certain times of year when spiders just seem to be everywhere.



On Sunday morning, I came out to find that a spider had built its web in the middle of the living room! It stretched its silk from the ceiling fan switch all the way down to the rug. After admiring the spiders ambition, I unfortunately had to destroy it's web. It's one thing to have spiders in the garden--or even a windowsill--but quite another the have one blocking the way to the couch.



Our home hosts several different types of spiders. The ones in the corners of the window frame can sometimes make a bit of a mess. But, since we spend most hot days with the doors and windows wide open, I appreciate their help with keeping the flying bug population under control.



So, the house spiders and I have a certain understanding. They stay out of my way, and I keep the web disturbances to a minimum. It's working for us so far.

Last night, while digging through old photos, I found some great "before" shots of our front yard. Dakota and I xeriscaped the front yard in January 2004, removing the grass and putting in native plants from Matilija Nursery in Moorpark.

We started by digging up the pitiful grass lawn and pulling out all the grass clumps and runners we could. I remember the ground was exceptionally hard, and removing grass roots was extremely tedious. If I did this now, I would use the sheet mulching method.



After we removed the grass and loosened the hard-packed soil as much as possible, we put in our native plants. Some of them thrived, but others, sadly, didn't make it and were replaced by new drought-tolerant shrubs. The little plant on the far right with the yellow flowers is now a giant, bushy copper canyon daisy that nicely frames one side of the front steps. (You can see it on the far left side of the "after" shot below.)



In all, I think the original planting took two days of very hard work. This was followed by extensive grass removal for the next two years or so. I know, that sounds annoying, doesn't it? It kind of was. BUT, now the yard requires barely any maintenance. I just water it once every two weeks or so in the dry season and prune back some of the bushier plants when they grow too far into walkways.

Five years later, the front yard looks like this.



I'm pretty happy with our results. Xeriscaping can be hard work. But, spread over a number of years, caring for a garden of native plants is way less time-consuming than a grass lawn.

More on our drought-tolerant front yard here and here.

I know I've mostly been posting about problems with my summer garden, but it's not all floppy stalks and lazy cabbages. There have been some positive vegetable garden developments as well.

My first tomatoes ripened recently, and more are on the way. The little fruit below is an heirloom variety grown from seed called Mexico Midget. As the name implies, these tomatoes are quite tiny. But, they're tasty--kind of tart, actually--and very cute. I have several more plants of this variety with lots of green fruit, as well as some Hartman's Gooseberry tomatoes in the process of ripening. The Austin Red Pears are kind of taking their time, but they'll be along in a few weeks.



In addition to my tomatoes, I've harvested several handfuls of green beans. I'm growing a bush bean variety called Empress. The plants have been very productive, despite their small stature. I eat the beans raw, fresh from the garden, and they're crisp and delicious. Fresh green beans are one of my favorite summer foods.



Many other plants are blooming, and should produce fruit soon. My summer squash have made a few male flowers, and I might have a small golden zucchini harvest soon... if I'm lucky. Yesterday, I noticed the first white flowers on a few pepper plants. And, on Monday, my strawberry plant finally bloomed. This seems late for a strawberry, but I read somewhere that some varieties produce all summer. So, hopefully this one will make some nice fruit.



My corn is slowly but surely growing taller and the stalks are thickening. I hope to see some ears in the next few weeks. My winter squash is sprawling, but has yet to set any fruit. We'll see how that goes. And my eggplants are making lots of thick, fuzzy leaves, but no flowers just yet.

So, hope is in the air in my little garden. I think it's possible that I'll have some impressive harvests in the next three or four weeks. I shouldn't speculate, though. I don't want to jinx it.

This month has been a productive and exciting one in our ongoing kitchen project. The most exciting improvement, so far, has been the addition of much-needed countertops.

A couple of weeks ago, Dakota brought home the lovely, hand-made butcher block top pictured below. It's smooth and square and perfectly sealed, and I love it. Plus, the butcher block is a re-use, so the materials cost nothing. Dakota cut and glued together strips from a hard maple tool* left over from a custom table he made for a designer client.



The butcher block top sits on our kitchen island. It sticks out farther on one side, so that we can pull up a stool and eat, or just hang out in the kitchen while someone else is cooking.

Last weekend, Dakota cut the Richlite counter tops that we're using in the rest of the kitchen. Richlite is a sustainable building material that looks and works in a way similar to slate. Here's the description from the company website:

Richlite® is primarily paper treated with phenolic resin and baked to create a solid sheet. During the production cycle the layers of paper are gradually crossed-linked with each other to create solid, durable sheets... Richlite® paper comes from pulp that is derived from trees, which is produced from paper purchased from FSC-Certified sources and/or recycled paper.

In addition, if you're concerned about such things, Richlite doesn't off-gas and they create no hazardous waste during the production process. It comes in a variety of nice colors, it's scratch and stain resistant, and you can put hot pots on Richlite without damaging it. In the shot below, the countertop hasn't been sealed yet. In it's final form, it will be a bit shinier.



Dakota took great care in cutting our one sheet of Richlite because, besides being green, it's kind of expensive. Although, I believe it's pretty comparable, price-wise, with many other common countertop materials. My parents actually gave me this particular sheet of black Richlite for my 30th birthday. Great gift, huh?



Tomorrow, the painted cabinets are getting a layer of sealant. Once that's done, we'll be able to attach the countertops permanently. I am pretty psyched to have them installed. It's been okay working with cutting boards on top of raw plywood cabinet tops, but having the real surfaces will make cooking so much nicer. And, our green kitchen will be that much closer to completion.

* A "tool" in this context is a sort of mold around which a metal table top was spun and bent.

We've been lucky in Southern California this summer. So far, the temperatures have been relatively mild. But, the last week or so, it's been hot enough to weigh in on the effectiveness of our cellulose attic insulation. And my decision is... it's great!

During the day, the house is noticeably cooler than the outdoors. I haven't found myself sweating while doing light cleaning on a weekend afternoon. And when I come into the house after working in the garden, it's feels nice and cool--not stuffy.

That's all great, but the true benefit of the insulation comes at night. Previously, the house would feel warm and stuffy in the evenings. Now, it's just as cool as it is outdoors. On previous summer evenings, we would sit in the living room with as few items of clothing on as possible, trying not to sweat. Now, I wear thin sweatpants when relaxing after work. It's that much cooler!

My final piece of evidence is this: We have yet to dig out window air conditioner out of the garage. The insulation is working so well that our bedroom is cool enough to sleep in with just a few open windows and a ceiling fan. The cheapskate in me is delighted by how much we're saving on our energy bills.

So, with all this evidence, I can definitely recommend that everyone upgrade their attic insulation to R-30. The insulation, along with the solar attic fan and our indoor ceiling fans, has really made living in Los Angeles without central air conditioning easy. And even if you do have central air, I'm sure your energy bills will go way down with the new insulation.

Last winter was my first time growing cabbage, and I am not sure I really got it right. Most of my plants were destroyed in a particularly brutal soil-ravaging by the local gang of skunks. (Or at least that's who I've decided to pin the crime on. It could have been raccoons.) One hardy purple cabbage survived. It's been slowly and steadily growing over the past five--yes, five!--months.

Cabbage on February 15


Cabbage on March 7


Cabbage on May 4


Cabbage on May 31


Cabbage on July 3


So, as you can see, my cabbage has been growing very, very slowly and still has only formed a rather puny head. At this point, I'm thinking of just harvesting the damn thing. It's taking up a valuable sunny spot in my upper bed, and, at this rate, it won't have a sizable head until Christmas.

Odds are, the cabbage head won't even be that tasty since hot weather apparently makes cabbage bitter. But, I plan to eat it no matter what. I put in all this time growing it, after all.

I'm not sure if I'll grow cabbage in my next winter garden. They're pretty, but they take up a lot of space. If I do grow them, I plan to research exactly how to make them happy. Five months for one tiny head of cabbage is not an experience I want to repeat.

Since I'm new to potato growing, I am hoping someone with a bit more experience can help me figure out what--if anything--is wrong with these potato plants. They have been happily growing in their bags over the last month or so, but, all of the sudden, things seem less promising.

I have two primary concerns:
(1) Their stalks have flopped over.
(2) They don't seem leafy enough.

I had been trying to keep the soil in the potato bags moist, but I also don't want to over-water them. Now, I'm not sure whether I need to water more or less. I added about an inch more compost to the bags, in case that would help, and also fed the potatoes with some liquid organic fertilizer that is high in potassium. I haven't seen any bugs hanging around, so I don't think they're under attack by a garden pest.

I have removed quite a few yellowing, dying leaves from the stalks. And some of the leaves currently on the plants look like this:



Usually I don't worry too much about dropping leaves, but the potato stalks look really bare. Could they have some sort of leaf blight? I was thinking it might be too hot for them, but it's really only gotten into the 90s a couple of times this summer, and my gardening book says potatoes are pretty happy up to 85 degrees. So, what could be bothering my potato plants?

As you can see, I'm feeling a bit anxious about my potato crop. To be honest, I'm into the nervous phase with my entire vegetable garden. Everything is producing baby fruit, but nothing has ripened for harvest yet. I have had several experiences in the past where everything goes wrong at this particular phase--withering squash, pepper flowers that won't make fruit, blossom-end rot on tomatoes--so I'm worried. This is the phase where I start reading gardening message boards and getting confused by conflicting advice about nitrogen levels and how many inches to water your zucchini. Perhaps I just need to chill out.

But anyway... Does anyone have some potato growing advice? Should I be concerned about the floppy, spindly plants? Or should I just calm down and cross my fingers that tubers will eventually form inside those big green bags?

If you're growing a garden, one thing you can count on is that there will be bugs. If you're growing fruits and vegetables organically, there will be LOTS of bugs. Some will be friendly, many will be annoying and a few might be worth killing. Of course, the insects in any garden vary by region, crop and landscape. Here are a few I have encountered, and some lessons I've learned while trying to deal with them.

Did you know that you can grow your own exfoliating luffa? I only found this out last year. Before that, I was under the impression that luffas, like natural sponges, came from the ocean. Nope! Turns out, they're a gourd. So, of course, I decided to grow some. Unfortunately, it took me a little while to find and order some luffa seeds. I may be planting them too late this year, but maybe I'll get lucky.

To give myself a jump start, I tried sprouting some seeds before planting them. I put a few luffa seeds in a wet paper towel, slid them in a plastic bag and set it on a sunny windowsill. Apparently, luffa seeds really like the heat. In about a week, I had some nice little sprouted seeds.



I planted these seeds in some compost-rich soil in my Cow Pots. From what I have read, luffa doesn't like to be transplanted, so the Cow Pots are perfect since they just got directly into the ground with the plant. A couple of seeds have already come up and should be ready for in-ground planting next week.

Now I just have to figure out where to put them. Apparently, the vines get very big and like to climb fences. Perhaps I'll try them down at the bottom of the yard on our chain-link fence. The soil isn't great, but it's nice and sunny down there.

I will be very happy if I manage to actually grow and harvest some luffa this year. If I get enough, I could give them as Christmas gifts. I could even make some soap or candles to go with them. For a DIY gift-lover like me, that would be a dream come true.