User:Gardenmaster

Gardenmaster

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Raffi

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MusicLots

BooksLots

Video gamesNone

SnacksLots

Drinkswater; tea; coffee - lots of coffee

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Personal information

Real nameDavid King

LocationLos Angeles,

HometownSabetha,

BirthdayNovember 4th

OccupationGardenmaster: The Learning Garden at Venice High School, Los Angeles, CA

Author: Growing Food In Southern California Instructor; UCLA Extension, Gardening and Horticulture Program; Sustainable Living Program Founding Chair: Seed Library Of Los Angeles

Websiteshttp://www.lagardenblog.com/

http://www.beautifulfoodgarden.com/ http://www.thelearninggarden.org/ http://www.tlgdaily.blogspot.com http://www.SLOLA.blogspot.com http://slola.org

Places I have livedSabetha, Topeka and Lecompton, KS

Long Beach, Torrance, West Los Angeles, CA

SchoolsPierce College,

UCLA Extension

About meGrowing even a small portion of your food is not just healthier eating; it is a way to manifest your natural presence in a world of honking horns and carnivorous concrete. It is satisfying to the soul and brings a peace beyond the simple act of looking at a growing plant. Growing food brings a person into a harmonious circle that resonates with life and nature. No one more than modern 'civilized' man needs that blessing.

Southern California is the base for my work, growing good organic food in a way that is pleasing to the eye as well as the palate. With more than 20 years of gardening experience and ten years teaching about plants and growing them in this Mediterranean climate, I offer to fill the void of actual information on gardening that really works for us. This is the why, how and when of gardening in Los Angeles and environs.

And then you can add a new sense of community and we can now make our way in this world post cheap oil and other dilemmas that face us.

But it all begins with growing food...

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Raffi

posted 5039 days ago

Welcome back! The project sounds great, and it will be very helpful to add the seed sections for the vegetables. I've been on the road a lot, so sorry about the delay. Thanks very much for the good news, and hope you have a great year as well!

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Raffi

posted 5369 days ago

Yes, I know, there is always so much to be done! Anyway, if you get some breathing room and want to put some of it on here, I can suggest some new pages. I'm hoping to make it to Anza Borego as well, and want to catch the peak of the poppies. But I don't know if I'll be able to get out there or not yet. This is supposed to be a phenomenal year out there!

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Raffi

posted 5371 days ago

Hey David - you've been quite productive with the great advice on your blogs. You're certainly welcome to add some of that info on here, as you know. It is finally Spring again, and gardens are looking nicer already... if there's an ideal time for me to swing by your community garden in Venice, just let me know. It would be fun. Hope all is well...

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Raffi

posted 5394 days ago

Hey there, hope all is well... I have another propagation question (or two) and was wondering if you could help. I have some rooting hormone (Rootone) that's at least 5 years old now. It doesn't appear to have an expiration date, so I'm hoping that means it doesn't lose effectiveness with time. Do you know? I am also curious if you have tips on Aristolochia cuttings. Let me know if you can! Thanks...

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Raffi

posted 5425 days ago

No worries, I seem to have had some decent luck with transplanting them into soil. I've tried before, but I was having trouble keeping the right level of moisture in the soil, and it didn't help that they were outside during a cold snap. This time they're indoors (in LA) and seem to have taken to the soil pretty well so far. I had never tried water before for vines and shrubs, but I must say it was so easy to get the roots growing in the water, I couldn't believe it. I'd just change the water when it started to look a little old, and put in a drop or two of peroxide.

Glad you like the changes to the CA native trees page, and don't worry about formatting issues. That's the beauty of a wiki - it's collaborative :-)

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Raffi

posted 5432 days ago

I changed the formatting of list of Trees Native to California, but if you prefer the old way, we can change it back. It is now a table that is sortable either by latin name (by default) or by common name, which I think will make it easier for some people to find the tree they are looking for. I included the author name as a separate column, though it can be attached to the end of the latin name as well. Hope you like the changes. There's a lot of interest in natives these days, so this list will be great to have available.

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Raffi

posted 5447 days ago

Hi David - I was also worried about being too conversational with you, so it seems we have no reason at all to worry. Everything you're talking about sounds great to me, so please don't worry about writing to me about anything.

You are completely correct about the formal text vs. growing info. The site is first and foremost intended to be there to educate people on how to grow any plant out there, and that is the really big task that needs to be tackled. It would be so great to have your students create some propagation information for some of the plants. And you're right, they'll probably be quite happy that their paper is immediately going to expand the body of plant knowledge on the web, and if they want to come back to add more, they'll already know how.

The book reviews and a book of the month are also great suggestions that I couldn't manage to do on my own. I will be happy to create a page for you where you can put book-of-the-month, and it will show up on the main page of the site. You can also add all the book reviews you like, or send them to me to add if you prefer. Each book can have it's own page, or we can structure it however else works for you.

And finally, thanks for your invite to the Venice HS Learning Garden. I will have to take you up on that. I've already wandered through the Venice community garden, and I've also walked by a small school garden a few times, so the VHS would be a pleasure. I can also put some photos of it on the site, which the students will probably like as well.

So yes, please feel comfortable adding material, and don't worry about formality. This is a wiki, and texts will always be evolving, and hopefully becoming much less formal over time. They are only formal now because of the sources they are coming from being so.

Talk soon :-)

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Raffi

posted 5448 days ago

Hi again, Gardenmaster. I think a lot of people are going to be interested in the Cali natives and Chinese medicinals (I know I will). Also, I saw the new Quercus photo you uploaded and added it to the corresponding page :-)

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Raffi

posted 5449 days ago

Hi there Gardenmaster, it's great to have you here! The photos are quite helpful, I've added them to the relevant oak pages and Platycodon grandiflorus page - where they've really brought the article to life. I totally agree with you - everyone who can should try and grow some of their own food. There's nothing like it, and it's great for our health and the environment. Aren't we lucky to be living in Southern California where the climate is so great? I'm off to check out your sites now...

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