The Real Dirt

Flowers blooming

The Real Dirt blog covers regional gardening issues from soil health to planting for pollinators; from fire resistant landscaping to attracting wildlife. Read all about it!

Primary Image
Salad with microgreens, Kim Schwind
The Real Dirt: Article

It’s Easy to Grow Microgreens Indoors

May 22, 2020
You say you don't have a green thumb, or you don't have a yard for gardening? No problem! You can easily grow fresh, nutritious microgreens all year long in a sunny window in your home. All you need is soil, seeds, a container, and water.
View Article
Primary Image
No Till, 3 months after adding 3 inches chicken manure, wood chip and straw mix and keeping moist, Kevin Marini
The Real Dirt: Article

Work Less and Grow More Vegetables with “No Till” Gardening

May 15, 2020
In the wild areas on our planet, trees, bushes, and grasses grow on ground that has continual additions of new layers of dead and dying plant matter. Leaves fall from trees and shrubs, grasses dry in the summer: these materials cover the soil and gradually decompose.
View Article
Primary Image
Cutworm, Jack Kelly Clark, UC ANR
The Real Dirt: Article

CUTWORMS – Unwelcome Visitors to the Garden

May 8, 2020
Cutworms are moth larvae that hide in the soil during the day, and then come out at night to feed on plants. They get their name from their ability to "cut off" a seedling at ground level by chewing through the stem at or just below the soil level.
View Article
Primary Image
Elderberry flowers, Mike Flanner
The Real Dirt: Article

Elderberry

May 1, 2020
Gardeners looking for a drought-tolerant and highly disease-resistant native shrub might consider adding the blue elderberry (Sambucus cerulean also known as Sambucus Mexicana) to their landscape.
View Article
Primary Image
Garlic in raised bed, Kim Schwind
The Real Dirt: Article

The Resilience Garden

April 24, 2020
Butte County has had its share of disaster and turmoil. Now we face a virus that may not go away completely. Shopping for food has become a challenge. The stores are not always stocked the way they used to be. Times are challenging.
View Article