Introduction to Edible Gardening in Encino

More Encino families are growing vegetables and fruits than ever. But it's harder than it looks, especially when temperatures soar to 95 degrees.

For my part, the first 5 years were amazing as I grew buckets of strawberries and tomatoes, eggplants and zucchinis and then it all came to an abupt end. No matter how much fertilizer and water I added, the result was disaster. I read later about "virgin gardens" and how it's never the same once the soil is depleted. Nowadays I move the vegetable plants around into different locations, including the front yard (sacrilege!) and I use moveable 18"x18" redwood boxes from Home Depot. I use fresh enriched soil (the high quality kind, not planter mix or amendments), regular fertilizer in the early growing period and lots of water in summer, with up to 6 inches of mulch. I also strongly recommend composting - even if the quantities aren't huge, the soil is a worm-magnet and the richest you can find anywhere. This seems to work...