The Farmer Fred Rant

Every summer, I make the same promise to myself: "Next year, fewer tomato and pepper plants!" And every winter in late January, I try to start small. But somehow, things managed to get out of control...But not this year.I used to say that late Jan...

Should gardeners be concerned about global warming? Politics aside, climate change is already manifesting itself in our yards. The Climate Nexus think tank explains that what we are seeing is called “season creep”: winters are shorter and milder, c...

 The Heart Healthy Garden is a topic that is close to my heart, literally. After being diagnosed with four cholesterol-jammed heart arteries in March 2012, I underwent quadruple coronary artery bypass graft surgery in April. At the same time, I w...

 The National Weather Service has issued a hard freeze warning for many areas of Northern California for Saturday night - Sunday morning, January 13. Freeze Protection for Lemon TreeFrozen HostaHere is that warning, in its original ALL CAPS g...

   Here in California, bare root roses are filling the shelves at area nurseries and garden centers. Most of the roses you may be contemplating need more than six hours of direct sunlight a day to bloom well. What's a rose-loving garde...

Just as dependable as the January appearance of the fragrant, yet short-lived flowers on the winter daphne, some of the same New Year's resolutions keep blooming and fading, year after year. Learning a foreign language, cleaning the garage and masterin...

California's Central Valley is ablaze with the other orange fruit tree currently: the brightly colored persimmon. And it's not just the fruit. Persimmon tree leaves can turn a brilliant hue of red before the first big wind and rain storm of late Novemb...