Thursday, December 31, 2015

Purple is the Color of My True Love's Leaves!!

Purple Kale - the colder it gets, the prettier
(and tastier!) it becomes! 

We are feeling purple in The Learning Garden these days!  

Starting on the 2nd of Janurary, we present the  Growing Food in Southern California class with the Gardenmaster.  Is one of your resolutions to make your garden more productive, and more satisfying for you?  Are you hoping to learn more about sustainability?  Get yourself on over here Saturday morning for this class at 10:00.  No need for an RSVP - we have the class regardless and there is always a theme.  This month, we hope that everyone has a desire to grow more food, so we'll address your needs, your questions specifically so you are on the right track from Day Two!  

A spiffed up Gardenmaster!
Don't be fooled, he still has dirt under his nails.
Attendees this month will get a baby PURPLE artichoke plant from a new variety being bred here locally, called Winetka Purple.  We're helping to make the variety become stable (the last part of creating a new strain of vegetable), which means, these plants are triply exciting to grow - you get to eat some, you get to watch some of them bloom (wow!) and then save seeds from those that look like we want them to look like.  It will be a fun and learning experience for everyone.

Later on in the month - as an added bonus, the Seed Library of Los Angeles has their first meeting of the year on January 16th, Craig Ruggless, the man who created Winnetka Purple Artichokes will tell us how he did it and what is left to be done.  These chokes are beautiful and have lots of the food parts we are all so fond of.  Especially if you got some of our seedlings on January 2nd, you really will want to be here on the 16th to hear the whole story!  

Make plans to be a part of these two events this month!  

January 2 - 10:00 to Noon, $20 at the gate or PayPal to greenteach@gmail.com - discounts for prepaying for five classes (one free).  

January 16 - 2:30 PM the monthly meeting of the Seed Library of Los Angeles (SLOLA) - free to attend - to join and check out seeds, $10 for your lifetime.  

Get your growing off right in 2016!  Grow some of your own food!

david



Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Perennial Foods for a Toasty Future

Mesquite Pods are one of the foods of the future!
No matter what it's called – Global Warming, Global Climate Change or, as I like to call it Global Weirdness – might be already influencing our gardens. 
  • Why is that our apple trees have not gone dormant for the past three years?
  • Why do we have really low temperatures (for Los Angeles) followed by a heat wave of unsettling proportions?
Honestly, I don't know if these are the effects of global anything – and in truth, we'll only see it in hindsight anyway. But, this topic is valuable for your garden today whether or not we'll be toasty.

Perennial food plants, giving you harvests year after year without being replanted, are less affected by bad weather or unseasonal storms or weather patterns. Some of our best food comes from these plants and most of them are easier to grow and maintain with only a little training.

This Saturday, December 5th! 10 AM $20 (No RSVP required!)
Pay by PayPal to greenteach at gmail dot com

david

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Summer's Other Awesome Veggies

OK! We've planted tomatoes – now what? 

Summer has loads of other edibles and let's give them some attention! This month, take home some seeds of other veggies that love the heat and you'll love to eat! Greek salads to combine the tomatoes with cucumbers.... Peppers and zucchinis to pop on the grill... And that's just the beginning!

Van Gogh's The Sower



We will cover all the other summer crops and save water too! You can grow vegetables on considerably LESS water than lawns! As usual, dress to get dirty in a gardening sort of way and show up with your questions!

Class is April 4, 2015, 10 to Noon at The Learning Garden

David King, Gardenmaster of The Learning Garden, teaches gardening classes for UCLA Extension and writes (some say excessively) about growing food in Southern California.  He is also the Founding Chair of the Seed Library of Los Angeles and led the fight to make Los Angeles a GMO Free Zone.  A gardener for over 50 years, he has answers to your questions (and if he doesn't, he'll make something up!).  Entertaining and knowledgeable about almost every facet or gardening, the $20 for this class will be the best twenty bucks you spend on gardening!

Monday, March 30, 2015

Spring Break! Potluck Returns to Noon:30 This Week!

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

The dog has nothing to do with it!  It is, however, a cute picture, and in
beginner blogging class they say to always include a cute picture.
Tra la! 
Because of Spring Break at Venice High School THIS week, our famous potluck returns to its Noon:30 time frame. Saturday, April 3rd, bring something to eat (vegan or vegetarian is not required) and your own eating utensils, plate and cup. Bring enough to help feed about 8 and prepare to enjoy yourself with good food and interesting conversation!

david