It drizzled a little yesterday, and that moisture, combined with a good couple of days of rain earlier this month, has really helped with my plan to cover the yard in wildflowers this Spring. I've tried planting wildflowers in the past, but I didn't get the seeds scattered early enough and they failed to grow. This year, I was determined to get the seeds spread during LA's (very brief) rainy season, so they'd actually have a chance to germinate in favorable growing conditions. So far, it seems to be working.



The little green plants poking up through the leaves in the photo above are California native wildflowers, although I can't tell you exactly which varieties. I purchased a whole bunch of seeds from the Theodore Payne Foundation website a couple of months ago. After browsing through their giant catalog of seeds--both annual and perennial--and using Google image search to figure out what the flowers would look like, I ended up ordering 14 different types. I know, I went kind of overboard. I tend to do that with seed catalogs. Luckily, seeds are fairly inexpensive.

A few packets of Theodore Payne wildflower seeds went into my seed bombs, and the rest were scattered all over the front and back yards. The front yard wildflowers probably have a better shot, since they don't have to contend with curious chickens and their scratching claws. But, I think I spread my backyard planting locations around enough that I should get a pretty bunch of blooms all over both yards this Spring. I hope so, anyway.

The wildflowers will bring in native bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and other pollinators, which will help my fruit trees and garden plants. And, of course, they'll provide a fun Springtime burst of color. Once they've finished blooming, most of the wildflowers should reseed themselves, so I wont have to go on another seed spree next Fall.

If you're interested, it's not too late for you to plant your own wildflowers. The real rain should hit Southern California in January and February, so if you scatter some seeds soon, they will still get a good start. If you don't want to order online, most garden stores sell California Poppy and lupine seeds, both of which are natives that grow well in Los Angeles.

I made this year's holiday card with my Print Gocco, a Japanese mini-screenprinting machine I got as a gift a couple of years ago. It's so fun and easy to use, and I would really like to make cards and other prints more often. They don't sell them in the U.S. anymore, but you can get one pretty easily on eBay, and Paper Source sells supplies through their website.

I hope you're all having a good time with family and friends this holiday season. Around here, we're getting some much-needed rest. It's been a busy year, and there are even more home-improvement projects, garden plans and other exciting developments coming in the New Year.

Just before the rains earlier this month, I planted two artichoke seedlings. I grew them from seed purchased from Botanical Interests, and they were looking hearty enough to go into the garden bed. Plus, I figured the rains would help them get established.

Taking a tip from Eric at Ramshackle Solid, I dug a deeper hole than I usually would and then filled it up with compost. Eric mentioned that artichokes can have a 4 foot long tap root, so they need as much room to grow down as they do to grow up. I don't think I dug nearly deep enough, but hopefully the artichokes will dig the rest of the way on their own.

I also put up a ridiculous barricade around the artichoke seedlings to protect them from the evil claws of our local skunks and the curious beaks of certain chickens. So far, the barricades--made from tomato cages--have held and the seedlings are growing.

I will be so happy if we get to harvest fresh artichokes this Spring. I remember the smell of artichoke fields along the Northern California coast when I was in college, and it was amazing. Perhaps we'll have a bit of that scent in our yard next year.

Over Thanksgiving weekend, I finally got around to a project I've wanted to try for years: making seed bombs. I think I first heard about seed bombs in reference to the Guerrilla Gardening movement. The basic idea behind a seed bomb is that it allows you to easily spread native seeds--usually wildflowers--into places where you wouldn't normally have access, like vacant lots or the land beside highway offramps.

I walk or drive past countless vacant lots, empty hillsides and partially-completed construction projects (ugh) every day, and ever since I heard about seed bombs I've been itching to decorate these areas with a splash of Spring color. This year, I finally remembered to make them at the right time (late Fall) so that I can throw them throughout Southern California's all-too-brief rainy season.

The first step was to get the supplies together. The seed bomb recipe calls for compost, dry red clay powder and seeds. The compost was easy, but the clay was harder to track down. After calling around a bit, I found that the only place to get it locally seems to be Echo Ceramics in West Los Angeles. I was loathe to drive all the way over there, but, happily, Dakota had a job in that part of town so was able to drop by and pick up some clay powder for me.



Since I wanted to make sure I was spreading native California wildflowers, I purchased my seeds from the Theodore Payne Foundation. You can visit their facility in Sun Valley or just order online. For this project, I ordered some of their wildflower mixes. If you don't want to go to Theodore Payne, you could also go to the garden center and buy some California Poppy and lupine seeds, which both tend to be pretty ubiquitous.



Now, here's where I went a little off the standard instructions. Many recipes I found online recommended a ratio of 5-3-1 or 5-5-1 of clay-compost-seed. But then, I found a couple of posts on a website called Broken City Lab where they tested various seed bomb mixes to see which bombs had the most successful germination rate. They found that less clay was better (although they weren't using red clay), and recommend the following recipe: 1 part seeds, 1 part clay, 1 part coffee grounds, 8 parts soil and 1 part water.

After this research, I decided to go light on the clay at first and see how well the mixture bound together. I also added some granulated organic fertilizer to give the seeds a little boost. Here's my mixing bowl with the compost, red clay and canola meal fertilizer.



I slowly added water until I got a thick, sticky mixture. By the way, I recommend wearing gloves when you do this. It's messy work.



Once I got the clay, compost and seed mixture to a good consistency, I started rolling it into balls. I made mine about the size of a golf ball, for easy throwing. Each wet seed bomb was placed on an old nursery tray. I think I got about 40 seed bombs out of my first batch.



Then, the tray of wet seed bombs went into the basement (a cool, dry place) to dry for three days.

Here are the completed seed bombs.



They seem to have dried nicely and stayed together well, with no major cracks. So, I think I using less clay worked out. I didn't measure precisely, but I'd say it was about a 3 to 1 ratio of compost to clay.

Now comes the fun part: throwing the seed bombs. It's actually raining today, so maybe I'll chuck some on my way to and from work. Then, I'll have to keep tabs on those spots this Spring, to find out if I managed to grow some pretty native flowers in some otherwise boring vacant lots.

Last weekend, I started working on various Christmas gift projects. As usual, I'm starting too late, but hopefully I'll still manage to crank out some good stuff before it's too late. My goal is to not purchase anything and give only handmade gifts. We'll see how that goes.

One thing that may help me this year is that I learned how to sew. Previously, I was pretty much relying on knitting (and a little wood burning) for all my homemade gifts. While I'm not exactly a fast (or particularly competent) sewer, I can usually finish a project in a few hours, versus several days--or weeks--for a knitted item.

NOTE: If you are related to me and would like to be surprised by your Christmas gift, I urge you to not click on any of the links in this post. I will be vague in the text, but I am including links in case other people are looking for good handmade gift ideas. Anyway, you've been warned.

Last weekend, I sewed a couple of these. I highly recommend this project for beginner sewers looking for something cute and practical to make for their loved ones. I managed to make two in an afternoon, and I think they turned out pretty nicely. Who doesn't like a cozy plaid flannel, after all?



I also made some good progress on these. So far, I've found the pattern pretty easy for an intermediate knitter like me. And they're knitting up fairly quickly, so I think I'll actually be able to finish them soon if I can get up the energy to knit on weeknights. That would be good, because I've got a few other projects I'd like to knit for various family members.



That's what I've got going on so far. I'm also hoping to make something like this for a few friends. And I've got some nice fabric that would make excellent dishcloths, so if I can just manage to sew in a straight line, I think I could make some snazzy dishcloth sets for a few other people.

In addition to the knitting and sewing, I also hope to can something to give away this holiday season. I checked out a few recipes, and hopefully I can find some time in the next few weekends to fire up the water bath. Now that I've learned how to pickle things, I feel like I should use my skills to make some tasty, tangy gifts. Nothing says Christmas like homemade pickles, right?

It's actually possible that my all-homemade holiday goal will happen. I'll let you know if I make it, although I might end up caving and buying some things at a craft fair. That's almost as good as making it myself, I think.

The paperwhite narcissus I blogged about the other day have bloomed. Well, the ones in the bathroom have. The rest will burst open any day now. Narcissus are such a easy, satisfying flower. They're pretty, grow quickly and they smell great. Go get your blubs now. You won't regret it.