Weed-Free Garden Watering Blanket

With the new water ordinance in place in Los Angeles, we're all getting seriously creative about saving H2O around our homes. (Check out our previous post on what and what not to do with water as of June 09.)

One tool to help you water wisely in your garden? The Weed-Free Garden Watering Blanket. It's a tricky tool that can save you 75% of your current water use while letting you water, weed, and feed your green all at the same time.

In a nutshell, it's a blanket that comes with built-in drip irrigation. The blanket's special weave blocks weeds from growing and the watering system is super efficient. Plus, the kit comes with organic fertilizer so your plants will not only be less weedy and water-needy, but healthier and more bountiful as well. (Full instructions come with the product.)

You can get on in our store or at All Shades of Green online.

See the Weed Free Garden Blanket for yourself here (now on sale!).

Organic Gardening Summer/Father's Day Weekend

Just in time for the double whammy weekend of Father's Day and the Summer Solstice, we've got a workshop for you to play in the dirt with your kids. Help us help you make growing your own a family affair.

Organic Gardening for Kids and Parents
Learn how to plant an earth-friendly garden with friends and family.

Saturday, June 20th

4:00 p.m.

At a Private Residence on the Eastside

Taught  by Sustainability  Coach, Deborah Tull

Adults: 20.00

Kids: 10.00

Additional kids: 5.00

*For more information and to reserve a place call 323-665-7454 or 

email creativegreen@hotmail.com.

"Those are the tomatoes I watered" and "I grew that squash" are only two of the many cool things you can brag about as you enjoy the fruits of your family's labor around the dinner table. And for inspiration, we want to share with you some photos of All Shades owner, Liza, and the beginnings of an organic garden at her daughter, Hannah's school in Israel. 

Once again, she shows us how it's done as Deborah will show us in person on Saturday. 

Hope to see you there!

Quick Gardening Tip from our Weekend Workshop

Last weekend, Deborah led another organic gardening workshop at a private residence.

Here's one word of wisdom she has for those of you beginning to care for a garden:

Gardening is as much about observation as it is about doing. Every day, take time to observe what is happening with your plants, how they are growing and what's going on with the soil. Are there aphids? Is the soil dry? What are the leaves doing? It is only through observation that we begin to build a relationship and can intuit what the soil and the plants need.

Happy Spring Digging!

Green Resolution: Growing Things

January may be over, but green resolutions never go out of style.  

Here's another one: organic gardening.

By planting something, almost anything, we get the pleasure of connecting to nature, to its cycles, and in the case of planting edibles, we get to connect more fully to our own food. Plus, the fruits of your own labor, fresh from the garden, always taste better than that which has traveled 1,500 miles to get to our fork.

So even if you don't have the gusto be an all-out organic farmer, you can continue to support them by buying from a farmers' market or CSA (which typically travel under 200 miles to get to cooks and eaters) while supplementing your produce with what you grow yourself as organic farmer in training. No land to speak of? Try containers for everything from rosemary to blueberries(!!) to squash.

All Shades owner, Liza, is growing some of her own food organically in Israel. Check out her soy milk carton containers for seeds that she's planted (with the help of her own home-brewed nutrient-rich compost).  When they've grown into seedlings, they'll be headed for the soil.

The containers: 

Planting seeds in soil/compost mix:

Water for the thirsty:

And wouldn't you know it, we've got a workshop that can help you on your path to a green thumb.  Once a month, sustainability coach Deborah will hold a weekend workshop in a local backyard for all gardeners in training to dig, plant, and talk shop about how to grow an organic garden.  And Deborah should know, she's been doing this for over a decade and is certified in permaculture design, bio-intensive organic gardening and compost education.

Organic Gardening Workshop

Saturday, January 31st

1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Los Feliz

*Please call (323) 665- 7454 or email creativegreen@hotmail.com for more information or to register.*

Introduction to Organic Gardening Workshop

This Saturday, our staff sustainability coach who has served as the organic gardener and cook at the Zen Monastery Peace Center is teaching a workshop for all of us who want to learn how to grow our own food.

Rising food prices and tough economic times are just two more reasons to start tending your own veggies.  Add to that keeping diverse seed varieties around, nourishing the soil, the joy of digging in the dirt (which studies show increases happiness and improves immunity), and enjoying delicious, organic produce and the benefits certainly abound.

The workshop will cover how to:

*double-dig

*create nutrient-rich soil

*build beautiful vegetable beds

*save water and energy

*utilize companion planting and crop rotation

*control pests

*compost

Introduction to Organic Gardening

Saturday, November 8

9:00 a.m. to noon

@ a private residence in Eagle Rock

**This extensive workshop is $35.00. Call to find out more and reserve your spot today! 

(323) 665 - 7454. **

CobraHead All-In-One Garden Tool

This garden tool is good for practically everything.  The CobraHead weeds.  It digs.  And it cultivates, edges, scalps plants, plows, harvests, transplants, and furrows.

You can watch a video of it in action weeding all sorts of problem plants and doing all sorts of digging feats here.

You can read customer testimonials here--one person even wrote an ode to the CobraHead.

And, you'll find it on our gardening table in the store now (26.50).

Personal Action: Planting

Sometimes news about climate change and environmental demise can bring a person down. At All Shades, our Sustainability Coach takes a completely positive approach, reminding us that given the state of things, we have the incredibly fun and adventurous opportunity to create well-being for ourselves and the planet with our everyday choices.

One huge impact we can make with a simple, daily act is to plant something, anything (well, almost anything).

At least that's what Michael Pollan suggests in this recent New York Times Magazine article posing the question, "Why bother?"

One thing he propounds we bother doing is growing edibles:

"But the act I want to talk about is growing some — even just a little — of your own food. Rip out your lawn, if you have one, and if you don’t — if you live in a high-rise, or have a yard shrouded in shade — look into getting a plot in a community garden. Measured against the Problem We Face, planting a garden sounds pretty benign, I know, but in fact it’s one of the most powerful things an individual can do — to reduce your carbon footprint, sure, but more important, to reduce your sense of dependence and dividedness: to change the cheap-energy mind."

Hear, hear. You can read the whole article here. 

And, as it's organic gardening month, we're here to help (all year long, actually).

Marilyn's Own Soil Conditioner

If you're looking for an easy, earth-friendly way to help your garden grow, let us introduce you to Marilyn from Chino and her Marilyn's Own Perfect Garden Soil Conditioner.

It contains only naturally occurring materials that give plants the nutrients they need.

You don't have to take it from us; just take a look at the stellar customer reviews the products get on Marilyn's website!

We've got My Perfect Garden at the store for you to try for yourself.

The Organic Gardener's Bookshelf

We invite you to come by and browse our bookshelves should you be interested in cultivating a library that will help you as you cultivate your garden.

Here are a number of invaluable titles for Los Angeles area organic gardeners:

Care and Maintenance of Southern California Native Plant Gardens

Produced by the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, this covers the basics of irrigation, soil, planting, weeding, and pest control, all for our neck of the woods.  (English-Spanish edition.)

Permaculture

This is the book from the man who helped pioneer permaculture, David Holmgren. Permaculture, in a nutshell, is about taking care in creating landscapes and lives that follow the principles and relationships in nature.  Read more about it here.

Perennial Vegetables

A so-called "socially engaged plant geek" tells all in the realm of how and what to grow that you can eat.  He even includes the antioxidant powerhouse from Nepal, goji berries in here!

California Native Plants for the Garden

500 plants with pictures and know-how on how to plant them and what will make them thrive.

Food Not Lawns

Heather Flores will help you start a revolution in your yard by following her nine steps of permaculture design that lead to a garden of food not grass. This is a great place to to start if you're ready to leave mowing behind and get growing instead.  Planting and reaping the fruits of your labor is a welcome revolution indeed.

The New Organic Grower

If you're well on your way as an organic vegetable grower already, or even want to pursue expanding your plot of soil or selling some of your produce, this book is for you.  Topics include sustainable growing practices, soil health, and marketing your produce.

All New Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening

The subtitle says it all: "The Indispensable Resource for Every Gardener."

Pot Maker

We can do so much good by planting native plants and edible goodies in our gardens. Unfortunately though, the norm is for starter plants to be grown by nurseries or individuals in plastic pots.

Here's a way to get around that.

The Pot Maker helps you make old newspapers into pots for your plants--they're compostable so when your seedling is ready to go into the ground, you can plant your pot along with it.

It's incredibly easy to use and doesn't require any glue to make perfect little pots for starters or transplants, just the palm of your hand and Sunday's paper.

We've got Pot Makers in the store now (19.99). 

And, here are 15 steps to growing from seed from Kitchen Gardeners International to get you started.

Seeds of Change

If you walk in the store this month, you'll notice that we're focusing on Organic Gardening--our table is filled with things to help you forge your way toward organic and beautiful shrubs, bushes, fruits and veggies. 

One thing we've got on that table is a basket of seed packets from Seeds of Change.

Seeds of Change produces over 600 kinds of organically grown seeds on its farm, preserving organic agriculture and plant biodiversity for all of us to enjoy.  This is such important work as many seed varieties are threatened by the monoculture farming methods that prevail in our times. If nobody preserves the seeds, those varieties of tomatoes, yams, and peas will disappear.

Here's what the folks there have to say:

"So, by us and you growing gardens rich in diversity, we improve our own health and that of the environment while doing our part to conserve our planet's and gardeners' genetic legacy for future generations. With diverse plantings, we provide habitat for beneficial insects and critical pollinators and give ourselves varied diets which provide more complete nutrition."

And as for growing your own organic produce, there's just nothing quite so satisfying.  Whether it's a Barbara Kingsolver-style garden, one container of zucchinis this summer, or a pot of basil on a windowsill, everyone can get in on the action in his/her own way. 

Sign up for the Seeds of Change e-newsletter to stay informed about organic growing here. 

And, give us a ring at the store to find out more about our Organic Gardening Workshop this Sunday at a private home in Los Feliz. (323) 665 -7454.

May Flowers

Since April Showers bring May Flowers, we'll be putting the spotlight on 

ORGANIC GARDENING all month.

We'll be keeping you posted here with tools and tips to make your garden grow greener, along with gifts for gardeners (and moms) as well.

In the meantime, here's our May workshop schedule for you to peruse. We hope you'll join us for one.

Creative Green: A Guide to Sustainable Living in Los Angeles
Wednesday, May 7th
7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
$20.00
@ All Shades of Green


In honor of Mother's Day:
How to Raise Healthy Kids in a Toxic World: A Workshop for Moms and Moms to Be
With our Sustainability Coach, Deborah Tull and Shelley Aronoff of Green to Grow
Saturday, May 17th
10:00 a.m. to noon
$25.00
@ All Shades of Green


Introduction to Organic Gardening
Sunday, May 18th
10:00 a.m. to noon
$25.00
@ a private residence in Los Feliz

The Non-Toxic Home
Wednesday, May 28th
7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
@ All Shades of Green
Price: $25