What a difference a year can make. Last year at this time it was raining just about every day and we, as well as most garden centers in northern California had one of the worst springs on record. This year we have had a lot less rain and it shows in people’s ability to get out into their gardens. March has turned out very busy and the forecast for April seems to be going our way. After two lousy springs business wise it a great feeling to gain some headway so early in the year.

Both Kim at A Study in Contrasts and Lisa at Millertime asked what I sold the vegan gardener who didn’t want to use animal bi-products in her soil. We recommended a combination of cover crops that can be tilled into the soil for nitrogen, such as various legumes. We can also feed with Kelp meal and/or Alfalfa meal. Raw rock phosphate can be used for phosphorus additions. We also sold her a soil test kit but I have not heard back from her yet.

My visit count for this blog just about doubled over the last week. It seems my post on The Parent Navel Orange Tree in Riverside is quoted as a reference for the Wikipedia entry on Orange trees. It’s very interesting to see how people end up at your site. I get quite a few visitors who are interested in where navel oranges got their start and it's fun to think that my post is where they end up.