Hanbury House:Hanbury House:

Colorful Inspiration for the Laundry Room Counter Top

Lianne — Tue, 14 May 2013 13:27:58 +0000

I am sorry to report, we still haven’t completed our laundry room/ mudroom remodel. It is usable, just not finished. Home improvement projects around here kind of take a back seat to other more important things, like family, the kids’ extra curricular activities, the garden, or just the daily running of our home. However, I am slowing moving ahead on the tile counter top. As you probably noticed from my other posts, I am a big fan of homes that still retain their original retro, vintage, or mid century design elements. Due to the many tile factories around … see photos and read more

Adding More Plants To The Edible Landscape

Lianne — Sun, 05 May 2013 14:02:31 +0000

I actually didn’t get as many new edible plants and trees this winter or spring as I have in past years, but I still probably got more than I really have room for. Basically, my small urban backyard is getting too full and the family isn’t ready to give up the front yard lawn yet. Since many of the neighbors on the block are changing over their lawns in the city’s Lawn to Garden program, our front yard has become one of the few left that are ideal spaces for kids to run and play on. At any given … see photos and read more

How to Gently Get A Brooding Hen to Stop Setting

Lianne — Sat, 04 May 2013 05:55:30 +0000

Bantam Cochins are one of the best breeds of chickens for small urban backyards, mainly because they are generally quiet, curious, very friendly, easy to handle, kids like their small size and docile nature, they don’t fly like other bantams do, and they do well with confinement to a small coop or tractor. Some people are reticent to keep them as part of their flock because they are also known for going broody often, just like Silkies. Well, the part about the broodiness is very true. However, after 5 years of keeping backyard chickens, I don’t feel broodiness, or … see photos and read more

Spring Update: Kiwis, Berries, Cherries, and More…

Lianne — Thu, 02 May 2013 20:57:26 +0000

By Southern California gardening standards, we are already half way through Spring, and as usual, the Hanbury edible landscape and ornamental garden continues to evolve. Every winter and Spring I change out things that under performed or plant new varieties of things I never tried before. For last couple of months I have kept pretty busy with chores in the garden, the kid’s activities, local plant shopping, two landscape designs for others, and with home improvement projects around the house. The chickens are laying like crazy now the days are long enough. Three out of four of them … see photos and read more

2013 Spring Horticulture Sale at LBCC

Lianne — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 18:46:32 +0000

One of my favorite plant sales of the year is almost here, the Long Beach City College Horticulture Department Spring Open House and Plant Sale. This year is they are celebrating their 41st Open House. I look forward to this plant sale every year, more than any other garden event. Although it is not near as big as some of the other Southern California plant shows, tours, and sales, like the Fullerton Arboretum Green Scene or the Spring Garden Show at the South Coast Plaza, it is always fun to the see the annual changes to the LBCC horticulture Dept. … see photos and read more

Free Reusable Storage Canning Lids that Fit Ball and Kerr Jars

Lianne — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 13:50:55 +0000

Once a jar of homemade jelly or jam is opened, reusing the same metal lid and ring that was used to can it can be difficult and messy. When my neighbor first starting teaching me to can a couple of summers ago, she asked if I had any storage caps or lids, and when I told her “no” she mentioned where I could buy the reusable lids at the best price locally, along with some of the other canning stuff I may need on a regular basis. Ball and Kerr each make their own brands of reusable storage lids for … see photos and read more

Low Sugar Kiwi Strawberry Jam from Home Grown Vincent Kiwis

Lianne — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 17:15:53 +0000

This past growing season, despite the fact we only had a half dozen male flowers on the Kiwi vines, we still had a bountiful crop of Vincent Kiwis, way more than the previous year when we only had two male flowers for cross pollination. Since we are limited on our cold storage space here at Hanbury House, rather than completely harvest all the fruit at once this year, I decided to let the fruit continue to hang on the vines, as long as none started dropping. It looked funny out there on the trellis with no leaves on the vines … see photos and read more

Making More Fig Trees – Stage Two Begins

Lianne — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 13:34:46 +0000

Here is a link to my first post about starting the new figs trees from cuttings. After storing the damp Black Mission Fig cuttings, wrapped in paper towels and a plastic bag for a few weeks, I took them out to check on their progress again. So far so good, for most of them. There are no signs of mold or mildew, and all of them still have signs of life in the nodes. Four of the cuttings have little roots at the end, like the one in the picture above. The rest are still working on their coarse bumps … see photos and read more

The High Cost of Sub-Urban Homesteading

Lianne — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 21:25:26 +0000

Am I imagining it or are edible plants at the nurseries going way up in price due to the increased popularity of backyard food gardening, sustainability, and homesteading? I was running errands this morning, and one of them took me past a Garden Center; it’s a chain, but I won’t name names. I love browsing at new plant selections and I am in process of helping a friend with a backyard garden design that includes some fruit trees, so I decided to stop inside for a few minutes to have a look around. It was sticker shock as I … see photos and read more

An Uncoventional Organic Method for Killing Root Knot Nematodes

Lianne — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 00:03:37 +0000

As you may have read in a previous post, root knot nematodes recently became public enemy number one in the Hanbury House vegetable garden. I was kind of depressed about it for a few days, struggling to decide what the best coarse of treatment was, if any. Being a home gardener, especially an organic one, there are few options for dealing with nematodes in the soil. One of the most commonly recommended organic methods to kill them is solarizing the soil, covering the area with plastic for 6 weeks to allow the soil to reach 120 degrees for an extended … see photos and read more