March 28, 2022
Native Demonstration Garden at Old Town San Diego
A park presented by the Kumeyaay, demonstrating the native plants that once dominated the region, and paying tribute to the indiginous population that...
Field Notes
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March 26, 2022
Balboa Park California Plant Native Demonstration Garden
Balboa Park hosts a small California Native Plant Demonstration Garden featuring many of San Diego’s native plants that are suitable for home landscap...
February 28, 2022
Fabulous Fabaceae: The Pea Family with Bean, Lentils, Pulses and More
Everything to know about the amazing nitrogen-fixing Fabaceae family.
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Grow Native
Native plants are one of the clearest ways to understand this place: climate, habitat, soil, season, and belonging.
Growing Native
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Grow Food
Food gardening brings that same attention home: soil, shade, seasons, and useful plants woven into daily life.
Growing FoodGrowing Guides
View all guidesApril 13, 2026
How to Grow Bottle Gourd (Dudhi / Lauki) in Southern California
Most seed catalogs do not really prepare you for it. They tend to show the more attention-grabbing forms, like the birdhouse gourds. Those can be drie...
February 8, 2022
Guide to Growing Citrus in Southern California
If live in a house in Southern California there is about a 50% chance you already own at least one citrus tree. Here is everything you need to know to...
January 26, 2022
Growing Hemp At Home
Hemp is an ancient crop, but there are a lot of myths about it. After about 100 years of oppression, the U.S. finally fully legalized the farming of h...
Purpose
Learning the place we live
Every space is connected. The soil, the insects, the birds, the water, the plants, and the people all tell you something about where you are.
That is why this site includes gardens, hikes, the LA River, native plants, and food gardening. They are different ways of paying attention to Southern California.
Native plants are the strongest thread because they reveal the place most clearly. They show what belongs here, what supports life here, and what a garden can participate in.
Food gardening still matters too. It brings that sense of place into daily life through soil, season, water, shade, and what we eat.
The goal is simple. Learn the place we live, and make gardens that belong to it.