Videos of yours truly!

29. July 2011 by admin.

Finally! I get to explain “organic” so that it can be understood! Visit these links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG-hs5LnfIg

and others (see my Videos links, below, on your right).

Posted in Gardening classes and opportunities to learn | No Comments »

Tomato Workshop coming soon!

13. May 2011 by admin.

 

Mark your calendar! Saturday, May 21 at 2:00 pm, I am hosting another tomato workshop. Please inquire at judyfrankel@gmail.com to reserve a space.

Posted in Gardening classes and opportunities to learn, Vegetables and Fruit, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Meet me at the Healthy Living Festival!

12. May 2011 by admin.

Peggy Curry, my friend and founder of Growing Great, is hosting a Healthy Living Festival this Sunday, May 15th at 12pm-4pm at the Metlox and 13th Street Plaza in Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

This is their 5^th year hosting the Festival, and I will be there along with Deep Roots’ owner Jon Bell to “edutain” children and adults about gardening the organic way, how to grow your own fruits and vegetables.

We have fun activities for the kids so they can get down and dirty. Come join us! See this link for more information: http://growinggreat.org/about-us/healthy-living-festival/

Posted in Gardening classes and opportunities to learn, Everyday life, Vegetables and Fruit | 1 Comment »

Tomato Workshop

20. March 2011 by admin.

Mark your calendar: Saturday, April 30 at 2 pm at my “farmette”. Please RSVP to: 310-750-6686 and receive address/directions. $5.00 per person admission.

Learn about:

indeterminate vs determinate
How to plant a “start”
How to remove suckers
How to tie/stake/cage tomatoes
How to store tomatoes after harvesting
How to combat snails, green worms
How to stretch out the tomato season

 

I will be selling the following tomato plant varieties at the workshop for $5 each: (to learn more about each variety, click here: http://www.judyshomegrown.com/2.html)

 

Black Plum
Chocolate Stripes
Berkeley Tie Dye Heart
Marianna’s Peace
Tri -L-Crop
Peacevine Cherry
Super Snow White
Black Zebra
Chocolate Cherry
Eva Purple Ball
Paul Robeson
Arkansas Traveler
Brandywine OTV
Clint Eastwood Rowdy Red
Sungold Cherry
Brandywine Yellow
Beam’s Yellow Pear
Isis Candy Cherry
Japanese Black Trifele
Box Car Willie
Amy’s Sugar Gem
Sunset Red Horizon

Persimmon

Sugar Sweetie Cherry

Mexico Midget

Carmello

San Marzano 2 Plum

Purple Cherokee

Jelly Bean Grape

Milano Plum

 

Posted in Gardening classes and opportunities to learn, Vegetables and Fruit | 1 Comment »

“Secrets of Soil” Workshop January 29th 1 pm

31. December 2010 by admin.

Secrets of Soil Workshop

 

January 29 at 1:00 pm

 

By popular demand!

 

 

Learn:

·      how to use mulch, amendments and green manures

·      about soil microbes and how do I get some?

·      what a soil test report looks like and how to use one

·      how to increase a soil’s fertility

·      how to deal with pH (acidity or alkalinity)

·      solving difficult soils

·      the benefits of composting and vermiposting (worms)

 

$5 admission fee.

 

To reserve your spot, contact Judy at judyfrankel@gmail.com or join my Meetup Group at http://www.meetup.com/Homegrown-Organic-Gardeners/about/

 

Posted in Gardening classes and opportunities to learn | 1 Comment »

Cornerstone Elementary learns seed starting!

30. November 2010 by admin.

With the help of Sharona Byrnes, I assisted two classes of 5th grader volunteers in putting together a dozen flats for seed starting yesterday! Then we took the trays to the classrooms to plant winter crops. The kids had so much fun that they wanted to know if I were coming back every week. Here’s a poem I wrote to summarize the day’s learning experience:

We planted seeds to watch them sprout

The Master Gardener helped us out.

We started with seed starting soil and “flats”

And capillary action mats.

 

Because water molecules have an attraction

To each other, they cause capillary action.

 

So taking advantage of this natural phenomenon,

We placed wicking mats with the notch on

The side opposite the one where the mat flopped over

Into the tray below with the water.

 

We stirred seed starting soil with cottonseed meal

Then poured lots of water into the bucket to feel

The sponge-like clumps when kneaded well:

A mixture which filled each of 40 cells.

 

Placing one seed in each space with labels announcing

What veggies inside would soon be bouncing

Out of their seed coats, declaring their survival

And Cornerstone School Garden’s arrival!

 

How far the seed needs to go under

The blanket of soil is any wonder

Follow this rule and you can not miss:

How thick is the seed? The depth is this.

 

We learned some cool things, like how to promote

A parsley seed to burst its seed coat

With boiling water, then a soak overnight

To scarify and set it right.

 

We wanted to plant watermelons and such

We could not wait; we like them so much

But learned that with seed starting, the plan to uphold

Was to plant hot crops in hot weather, cold ones in cold.

 

So we planted our broccoli, Swiss chard, and kale

Our lettuces, dill, sage, cilantro without fail.

We planted collards, cauliflower, lavender too.

Artichokes, cabbage, and broccoli rabe for you.

 

What I wanted to know, but never asked

What the heck is Swiss Chard, please tell me fast!

I need to learn how to cook this weird thing

With foods like these, what does my future bring?

 

Chamomile tea dilution keeps away fungus

Called “damping off” which lives among us

And kills my sprouts, doing me no favor

Wherefore then I can’t taste the fruits of my labor.

 

There’s so much to know; so much more to learn

I can’t wait, so please Master Gardener, return!

I want to check the greenhouse and find out

What happened in my flat; did my sprouts sprout?

Posted in Gardening classes and opportunities to learn, Everyday life, Vegetables and Fruit | 1 Comment »

Order your fruit trees/brambles/bushes now!

8. October 2010 by admin.

Contact me immediately 310-750-6686 if you want to purchase the following fruit trees, vines, bushes:

Blueberries
Raspberries & Blackberries
Pome fruits: Apples, Pears, Asian Pears, Quince (but not loquat)
Stone fruits: Peaches, Nectarines, Plums, Prunes, Apricots, Cherries
Unusual varieties: Apriums, Pluots, Plumcots, Cherry-Plums, Nectaplums, Peacotum (order quickly for this new variety, which is a peach/apricot/plum cross with rich tropical and apricot flavors)
Pomegranates
Figs
Nuts: Almonds, Pecans, or Walnuts only
Cherries (I know I’m repeating myself, but did you know you can grow cherries here?)
Grapes (both wine and table grapes)
Jujubes
Kiwifruits
Roses
Ornamental flowering trees/shrubs

I will offer my expertise for free, provided you live within a 10-mile radius from me. You need to know what type of rootstock to get for your soil type, how tall you want the tree to get, and how much fruit you want it to produce. Also, you have to make sure to have the proper pollinators near your desired fruit. To space out your fruiting season, it helps to buy different varieties that ripen at different times. I can help you with all of that.

I’m placing my order no later than October 30th. If you want unusual varieties, something really special or new introductions, you need to have your order in by October 15th.

Posted in Gardening classes and opportunities to learn, Vegetables and Fruit | No Comments »

Peach/nectarine tree pruning workshop

14. September 2010 by admin.

On Sunday, September 26 at 3 pm, I will be holding a workshop to show how to prune a peach or nectarine tree. The best way to keep a tree small and manageable is to do an aggressive pruning in the summer months, after the fruit is gone but while the tree is still covered with leaves. For more information, email me at judyfrankel@gmail.com. The workshop costs $12 per person, and I am limiting the class size, so hurry and sign up now by emailing me your interest. I will give out my address to those who RSVP.

Posted in Gardening classes and opportunities to learn, Vegetables and Fruit | No Comments »

Upcoming Workshops

29. August 2010 by admin.

This Saturday, September 4th, I will be hosting two (2) Tomato Workshops, as I have mentioned in my last post. Just email me whether you want to come at 10 am or 11:30 am at judyfrankel@gmail.com. Hurry, as spaces will fill up quickly! The workshop costs $20 per person.

In addition, I will be doing a Seed-Starting workshop on Sunday, September 5th at 2:00 pm. If you want to learn how to start plants in your house, on a sunny window ledge, or in a dark garage to get a jump on the summer crops during winter, this is the class to take.

In addition, I will be hosting an upcoming Summer Pruning workshop for fruit tree enthusiasts. August and September are good months for pruning peach and nectarine trees, to help reduce the canopy and let more light into the center of the tree, providing you more fruit next year.

If you are interested in any of my workshops, please drop me an email and I’ll put you on my  list. Tell me which workshop you’d like (Tomato, Seed Starting or Summer Pruning) and what other aspects of gardening you’d like to learn. I will also be composing the course outlines for “Companion Planting” and “Soil 101” classes. Vote on your favorite topic by sending me an email with your requests.

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Tomato Lovers Listen Up!

24. August 2010 by admin.

New workshop!

Learn more about growing tomatoes throughout the winter!
I will be hosting a one hour workshop at 10 am and then again at 11:30 on Saturday, September 4th.

In this workshop I will discuss:

Indeterminate vs determinate
How to plant a “start”
How to remove suckers
How to tie/stake/cage tomatoes
How to store tomatoes after harvesting
How to combat snails, green worms
How to grow tomatoes during the winter

The workshop is near Crest Rd. and Palos Verdes Drive East in Rancho Palos Verdes. Exact address will be given out to those who RSVP as the date gets closer.

To attend, just contact me via email: judyfrankel@gmail.com and I will add your name to the list. Let me know which time you prefer: 10 am or 11:30 am. RSVP before September 2nd, to make sure you get a spot.

Posted in Gardening classes and opportunities to learn, Vegetables and Fruit | No Comments »