Laure's Garden

In just a few short weeks The National Heirloom Expositions second annual event opens at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, California, and I can’t wait to go again.Last year’s premier event opened as the first “World’s Pure Food Fa...

All last summer I kept hearing a strange buzzing coming from up in the trees in the backyard and there were creepy looking bug molts showing up on the outer walls and cinder blocks throughout my gardens. I wondered if a new resident was making its home...

As promised, I’m listing my favorite seed catalogs and some varieties I would recommend from them.  Although I’ve tried seeds from a number of companies over the last decade, these five companies have been the most consistent with delivery, ...

It’s not too late to put in an order of seeds from you favorite seed catalog.  But have you checked to see if the company has signed The Safe Seed Pledge?More and more of us are demanding to know where our food is coming from, how it’s being g...

As a follow-up to the previous blog on Galium aparine, also known by it's common name of 'cleavers', I decided to try some in a soup pot.  In my research, I found that cleavers has been used for centuries in herbal teas and as an addition to soups...

When we look at the weeds that show up in our gardens every year, most are easily recognizable like lambsquarters, bindweed, thistle, many of the sedges and spurges, and most of the grasses.  But last year a new plant started growing around my gar...

Part of the excitement of growing your own food is trying out some plants you haven’t tasted before.  We all love to try new varieties of tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins, zucchini’s, peppers, melons and other easy to grow vegetables to experienc...

It’s mid-season harvest time and the vegetable garden has been thriving, despite the unseasonably cool summer—and maybe because of it.    The front-runners are the vegetables with “big” seeds that were initially planted in 4” p...

The corn block is doing exceptionally well since I set up the woven containment system for each stalk.  In fact, the corn stalks have grown almost 1/2 foot since last weekend and are now up to 36" tall.   This won't be the end of my worr...

I know a lot of gardeners in the Sacramento Valley have planted corn as part of their vegetable garden mix.  But wind conditions on Sunday were really bad for the young corn stalks just getting going with our late spring heat.  Gusts of dry, ...