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 occupied it.
How to Grow Bottle Gourd (Dudhi / Lauki) in Southern California
Latest Posts
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 landscaping.
Fabulous Fabaceae: The Pea Family with Bean, Lentils, Pulses and More
Everything to know about the amazing nitrogen-fixing Fabaceae family.
How to Grow
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 dried and turned into containers or utensils. This is real, but misses the point. Bottle gourd is not a novelty crop. It is a workhorse. A crop used all over […]
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 get the most out of that tree!
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 hemp in the 2018 farm bill. Is it legal to grow at home, and why would you?
Grow Native
Native plants are the most sustainable type of plant you can grow wherever you live. They’ve spent thousands of years adapting to live there! Not only that, they are the most efficient providers of food and shelter to your native wildlife who have evolved with them.
Grow Food
Mass agriculture is a major polluter, spreads disease, and does a poor job rebuilding soil. Farmers are learning better ways to farm, but permaculture has taught us farming at home is far more sustainable, not to mention fun.
Purpose
We believe your garden is part of something bigger
Every space is connected. The soil, the insects, the birds, the water. Even a small garden sits inside a larger system, whether we notice it or not.
A lot of what surrounds us now looks clean but does not do much. It does not feed anything. It does not support much life. It just sits there.
This website is about doing something different. It focuses on using gardening and landscaping to bring life back into those spaces.
Growing native plants supports the ecosystems around you. Growing food connects you to what you eat and how it is produced. Both make your garden more active, more useful, and more meaningful.
The goal is simple. Help you turn your space into something that participates in the world around it.