Over the last few months, I have written about tips for starting a vegetable garden and the basics of growing peppers. This time, I thought it might be nice to expand on this a bit and talk about five other vegetables anyone can grow. So, if you have been wanting to start a garden but are intimidated by the idea of actually having to keep things alive, or if you did start a garden and have not yet had much success, this one is for you. Starting with just a few easy-to-grow options allows you to build your gardening skills and confidence. It allows you to focus on really learning how to grow these few vegetables first before you expand your garden and increase the variety of food plants you grow. So, let’s get started with the first five vegetables you should plant in your garden. 1. Bell Peppers – Most peppers are easy to grow, but to help ensure your success even more, start with bell peppers and start with seedlings from a local nursery. You can start peppers from seeds, but bell pepper seedlings are inexpensive and easy to find, so get a jumpstart on your garden with starter plants instead. Pick a sunny spot, plant them about 18 inches apart, place cages to help support them as they grow, and water frequently until established. Once established, you can back off to watering once per week in most conditions. The plant tag will let you know when they will be about ready to harvest. For a more detailed guide to growing peppers, check out my column in the May issue, which is available online. 2. Radishes – Radishes are, hands down, the easiest vegetable to grow. They are great for beginner gardeners or for teaching kids about growing food, since some varieties go from seed to harvest in just three weeks. Plant your seeds one-half inch deep in rows that are about four inches apart. Once you begin to see growth, thin them to about two inches apart in each row. Water once or twice a week, and simply pull them up when it is time to harvest. Radishes are also great for practicing succession planting for a longer harvest. 3. Kale or Chard – Kale and chard are equally easy to grow, so choose whichever you like best and think you will use most. Either of these options can be grown from seed or from starter plants from a nursery. Plant your seeds or plants about one foot apart, water frequently until established, and then water once or twice a week depending on how hot and dry it is. Once the plants are producing well, you can start harvesting the outer leaves to use in soups and salads and to encourage the plant to continue producing leaves for later harvests. 4. Carrots – Carrots are just as easy to grow as radishes; they just take longer to go from seed to harvest. Plant seeds a few inches apart in rows about four inches apart – or, to make it even easier, lightly scatter the seeds in the area where you want your carrots to grow, and then thin them out to about three inches apart once they start growing. Water frequently at first, and then once or twice per week once they are growing well. The seed packet will tell you about how many days it will be from the time you plant them until it is time to harvest. When it is time to harvest, gently pull them out of the ground. This is another crop that is ideal for succession planting, so consider planting one row per week over several weeks to enjoy fresh carrots from your garden longer. 5. Green Onions – Green onions are easy to grow in containers, in raised garden beds, or in the ground. You can even grow them from the scraps of old green onions in a jar of water in your kitchen. If starting form seeds, plant the seeds about one-half inch deep and about one-inch apart. If you are starting from onion sets from a nursery, plant them about two inches apart. When planted in the ground or raised beds, you will usually need to water them once or twice per week. When it is particularly hot or dry, you will need to water them more often. You will also need to water them more often if you grow them in containers. They will be ready to harvest when the greens are about eight inches tall. AimeeJo Davis-Varela is a freelance writer specializing in real estate, sustainable home improvement, eco-friendly landscaping, green living and travel writing. She is also the owner of Mind Your Manors, which provides second home management services.
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Fall brings colder evenings and chilly mornings, so if you plan on continuing to enjoy your outdoor living areas once the days start getting shorter, you may need to make a few adjustments to keep you and your guests comfortable.
Here are five tips to help you prepare for outdoor entertaining this fall. 1. Clear the Summer Clutter Sure, folks lucky enough to live in SoCal can enjoy swimming pools and summer activities any month of the year. However, now that the kids are back in school, you probably won't be hosting quite as many pool parties in your backyard. This means you can go ahead and put away the pool toys and other summer clutter to make way for grown-up gatherings. 2. Prepare for Inclement Weather Fall festivities can quickly become much less festive if rain, wind or chilly weather forces you to take the party inside. It might be time to finally get that canopy you have been considering or invest in covering your patio, particularly since it sounds like we are in for some serious storms this year. If you do not yet have a fire feature, it is definitely time to consider installing a fire pit or patio fireplace, either of which can significantly increase your ability to enjoy your outdoor living areas. If you are not quite ready for a fire feature, you might want to at least look into inexpensive patio heaters to keep your guests warm. If you already have a heater, fireplace or fire pit, now is a good time to give it a good cleaning, check for safety concerns and stock up on fuel. 3. Check Your Landscape Lighting As the days grow shorter, gatherings are more likely to take place after the sun goes down. So it is definitely time to check your landscape lighting for bulbs that need replacing or fixtures that need repair. A little maintenance now will pay off later when you are not rushing around trying to fix your lighting before your next party. If your lighting is a bit lackluster, this is also a good time to finally install those pathway lights or hang some festive string lights. 4. Refresh Your Patio Make your outdoor living areas more inviting with new textiles to bring color, texture and warmth to the space. Cozy cushions and comfy throw blankets will make your patio a particularly welcoming spot for hanging out on chilly nights. Look for end-of-summer sales on deck boxes and outdoor cabinets to ensure you have a storage option to keep your cushions, pillows and blankets clean and dry when not in use. 5. Stock Up on Seasonal Party Supplies Make party planning more convenient and less time consuming by stocking up on the supplies you are sure to need throughout the season. Depending on the type of soiree you like to throw, this might include apple cider and cinnamon sticks, kids' craft projects and natural charcoal, festive harvest decor, or your favorite wine or beer. If mandatory water use restrictions looming yet again are not enough to convince you we all need to be conserving water, all you need to do is take a drive around Lake Casitas to see just how serious the situation is. Many folks in Ojai have already taken significant steps to save water, such as replacing lawns with drought-tolerant landscaping options, installing rain barrels to catch our infrequent rain, and choosing high-efficiency appliances.
If you would like to continue to grow food for your family but are looking for ways to save water in your vegetable garden, you might consider growing low-water vegetables and herbs. While deciding what to plant, consider this list of drought-tolerant herbs for inspiration. 1. Rosemary: This versatile herb is best known for its culinary and medicinal qualities and is often grown as a hedge in Southern California. It is also a great topiary option, a good addition to your container garden, an effective privacy screen, and a natural way to keep snails and slugs out of your vegetable garden. 2. Feverfew: Feverfew is probably best known for its use as a headache and migraine remedy, but throughout history it has been used for a variety of medicinal purposes. This drought-tolerant herb with white flowers reminiscent of tiny daisies has been used to treat anemia, allergies, fever, arthritis, and the common cold. 3. Oregano: This popular herb garden option is generally grown for culinary purposes, but oregano also has medicinal qualities and can be grown as an ornamental plant. Oregano can thrive with little water grown in the ground or in containers and can be particularly appealing for its ability to repel a variety of insects when planted around your outdoor living areas. 4. Echinacea: Echinacea is a member of the daisy family and can be found in all sorts of herbal and over-the-counter remedies for preventing and treating the flu and the common cold. It can be grown in your garden for use in making home remedies and teas or can simply be used as an ornamental plant. Pink flowers are the most common, but you can also find Echinacea with red, white, or orange blooms. 5. Thyme: Thyme is available in taller varieties that can be grown for culinary and medicinal use and low-growing varieties that can be used as a low-water ground cover. Ground cover varieties can handle foot traffic, so you can even grow them between stepping stones in walkways. Historically, thyme grown for medicinal purposes has been used to treat sore throat, bronchitis, fatigue, muscle pain, anxiety, parasites, and several other ailments. Herbs, in particular, can also be grown as a low-water border along a walkway or patio or can be used as a ground cover for larger areas. You can see examples of this with the varieties of lavender and sage commonly found in Ojai landscapes, but there are lots of other options from which to choose as well. Backyard chickens have always been popular in Ojai, but even more folks got small flocks during the pandemic. Some folks finally had time to build a coop and start the flock they had always wanted. Some were looking for a fun, family-friendly, outdoor hobby with the added benefit of fresh eggs. And some set up their henhouse as part of the simpler, small-town lifestyle they sought when they fled the city to join us in our little village. Your hens give you fresh eggs, help keep the insect population down, provide manure to spread in your garden, till the soil, and offer hours of entertainment. In return, it is our responsibility to take care of them the best we can and to keep them healthy, well, and comfortable. Chickens cannot handle heat well, so one of the biggest challenges you may face as steward of your flock is keeping them safe and comfortable when the temperature is regularly in the 80s and 90s -- or over 100. Some of the signs that your ladies may be too hot include reduced appetite, reduced egg production, standing or laying with their wings spread out, panting with their beaks open, and signs of general stress. If you do not take measures to keep your chickens cool, things can go bad quickly. You need to know these signs, and you need to be ready to act immediately when one of your hens is in distress. To try to avoid getting to that point, here are nine ways you can help your chicken beat the heat this summer. 1. Provide shade. First and foremost, your coop and run should be at least partially in the shade. If you did not build your coop under a tree, consider adding shade sails to provide plenty of shade for your girls. 2. Build a bigger run. Crowding is not helpful when the temperature rises. Your hens need to be able to spread out and there needs to be plenty of airflow to help keep the run cooler. If your flock is a bit big for the run, build them a bigger one. 3. Bring them inside. If you have the space, let your ladies ride out the heat in a dog crate or playpen in the house or some other climate-controlled structure on your property. 4. Improve ventilation. Create a breeze by setting up a fan near the coop to keep the air moving. Be sure your fan and its cord are a safe distance from the chickens. 5. Make sure they always have cool water. Cool water plays an important role in keeping chickens safe when it is hot. You can add ice cubes to their water to keep it cool longer, put a frozen water bottle in their waterer, or simply refill their waterer with cool water throughout the day. 6. Place frozen water bottles or jars of ice in their coop or run. When I was younger, we filled mason jars with ice cubes to help keep chickens and rabbits cool on hot days. This is one way to provide cooling stations in their coop, but you can also just freeze water bottles or jugs and set them around the coop for them to stand or lay near. 7. Create puddles or get a pool. Your girls might take advantage of a kiddie pool or a shallow pan with a couple of inches of cold water in the bottom. Some chickens are fine with wading to cool off, but others will want nothing to do with it. For those hens, you can make some puddles in their run (but don’t flood it) so that they have an option to walk in water and cool off. 8. Install misters. A gentle mist of water can make a big difference in your hens’ comfort. One of my clients had their caretaker install a misting system similar to what you might see in line at an amusement park. This has been great and her hens love it. If you are not quite ready to install this type of mister, you can also use the mist setting on your hose nozzle or you can get a plastic mister that attaches to your hose. I found these at Home Depot for about $10 when I was looking for options to cool off some clients’ chickens during the first heatwave this year. 9. Give them frozen treats. Just like humans, chickens love a cool treat on a hot day. Freeze chopped fruits and vegetables, such as watermelon, strawberries, peas, or corn, and keep them on hand to give your hens throughout the summer. AimeeJo Davis-Varela is a freelance writer specializing in real estate, sustainable home improvement, eco-friendly landscaping, green living and travel writing. She is also the owner of Mind Your Manors, which provides second home management services.
A low crime rate is just one of the many reasons folks are drawn to the Ojai Valley. Feeling safer at home and being able to walk around the village after dark are nice perks of living in a small town. But even if you live in a low-crime area, it never hurts to take a few measures to make you and your family feel even more secure at home. To help keep you, your family, and your guests safe, here is a checklist of easy steps you can take to increase security, as well as a couple of suggestions that take a little more effort but that are well worth it. 1. Check existing hardware. The first step is just making sure what you already have is working. Check all of your doors and windows to make sure they close, latch, and lock properly. Keep in mind that window and door locks are for keeping people out and keeping people in, so this is important to keep intruders out, but it is even more important to keep your little ones from accessing a pool or the street without you. 2. Add additional security measures to windows. Even if your windows close and lock properly, you can likely make them even more secure by adding a dowel in the track to keep the window from opening when locked or by purchasing window locks designed to attach to the track to allow the window to open only as far as you would like. 3. Add a video doorbell. Video doorbells are ubiquitous at this point and take almost no skills to install or set up. Rechargeable options mean you don’t even have to run wiring, and there are plenty of options available, including ones that allow you to have a conversation with someone who is at your door or gate or sending the video to police if a package is stolen from your porch. At the very least, the most basic models record who comes within range of the doorbell and allow you to see who is at your door before you answer it. For a low-tech alternative, you can install a peephole in your door, but this will not let you check out who is on your porch while you are traveling out of state. 4. Make your home a little smarter. Converting your house into a fully automated smart home might seem like a bit much, but you can increase security by making your home just a little smarter. For example, smart plugs placed in one or more rooms allow you to control lamps or other items plugged into them from your phone. For a lower-tech option, you can also just put some lights on timers, but controlling lights from an app on your phone is nice, especially when you are coming home unexpectedly late. 5. Install a security system and cameras. Advances in home security technology have made it possible to install a security system in a single afternoon without the help of professionals. This means that some kind of security system is accessible for most renters and homeowners. For intricate camera systems, you are better off hiring a professional who can help you choose the right system to fit your needs and advise you on camera placement. 6. Keep your family and guests safer with outdoor lighting. Adequate lighting makes your home and yards safer by guiding traffic, illuminating walking paths, reducing tripping hazards, and making sure first responders can see your address. Creative placement of landscape lighting and motion detector lights is also a great way to avoid shadowy corners and potential hiding spots for intruders. 7. Add landscaping features that enhance security. You can increase your home’s security with how you design and maintain your landscaping. For example, planting thorny bushes under windows and keeping tree branches trimmed to reduce access to second-story points of entry are helpful deterrents. Make sure you keep bushes and trees pruned to allow for a clear line of sight to your main entry and to avoid creating hiding spots in your yard. AimeeJo Davis-Varela is a freelance writer specializing in real estate, sustainable home improvement, eco-friendly landscaping, green living and travel writing. She is also the owner of Mind Your Manors, which provides second home management services.
Peppers are incredibly easy to grow, which makes them a good choice for beginner gardeners and seasoned gardeners alike. You can grow them in the ground, in raised beds, or in containers on your patio. I even have some growing in my dining room in a hydroponic system. If you were inspired to start or expand your vegetable garden after last month’s column, now might be the time to consider adding peppers to your garden plan. Now is the perfect time to plant peppers, which can be grown as perennials in this area. This means that if you are not growing them in containers that you can move around, make sure you pick a spot where they can stay and provide you with fresh peppers for years to come. To make sure your pepper plants will be happy, choose a spot that receives at least six hours of sun per day. Once you have picked a sunny spot for your peppers, the next step is choosing which varieties to grow. Do you prefer sweet peppers like bell peppers, cherry peppers, or banana peppers? Or do you prefer hot peppers like habaneros, jalapeños, or serranos? You may want to grow a combination of sweet peppers and hot peppers to better suit your tastes. It might sound fun to grow a super-hot variety – like Carolina reapers or ghost peppers – but I don’t recommend these for folks new to growing peppers, since you need to adhere to safety protocols when growing some peppers that fall high on the Scoville scale. Peppers can be easily grown from seeds or seedlings. Seedlings are always a good idea for beginner gardeners, since you get a head start on growth and can find varieties that you know will thrive in your area by purchasing them from a local garden center. If you are starting from seeds right now, you can plant them directly in your garden. If you live in an area that freezes, you will need to wait until after the last frost in future years. Alternatively, you can start the seeds indoors, and then transplant them to your garden in late spring. To plant your peppers, mix compost into the soil and space the plants about 18 inches apart. I like to support my peppers with stakes or tomato cages, but this is not absolutely necessary. After planting, keep the soil moist while your plants get established. Once established, you should be able to give your plants one good watering per week in most cases. Peppers grown in containers will need more frequent watering, and you will need to provide your plants with supplemental watering during the hotter weeks of summer. You can help your peppers thrive by adding a few inches of mulch around each plant. This will help with soil moisture retention and blocking weeds that will compete with your peppers for water and nutrients. When it is time to harvest, use garden or kitchen shears to cut the peppers from the plant. You can then store them in the refrigerator for about a week, or you can freeze chopped peppers for a few months. AimeeJo Davis-Varela is a freelance writer specializing in real estate, sustainable home improvement, eco-friendly landscaping, green living and travel writing. She is also the owner of Mind Your Manors, which provides second home management services.
Spring is here, and if you did not already start a vegetable garden while you were stuck at home for the last year, now is a great time to do so. Food you grow at home is fresher and more nutrient dense than grocery store produce. Plus, you cannot get any more local than your backyard, which means you can reduce your carbon footprint while enjoying the added benefit of knowing exactly how your food was grown and what products were used to grow it. If you are interested in growing some of your own food but have not yet dabbled in backyard vegetable gardening, here are six tips to get you started. 1. Choose the right spot. Most food plants do best with at least six hours of sun each day. It is best to choose a spot that receives morning sun but has a bit of shade to protect your plants from the afternoon heat. If possible, also choose a spot that is protected from the wind. 2. Choose your garden format. Choosing raised garden beds or container gardening allows you to better control the structure and content of the soil. These options generally also mean less weeding and may make gardening a little easier on your body. Or, if you have furry family members like mine, growing in raised beds and containers will keep your dogs from peeing on your food plants all the time. Alternatively, growing in the ground does not require purchasing planters or materials to build beds and may ultimately allow for more gardening space. 3. Determine what to grow. Growing food in a typical backyard garden is not going to replace trips to the grocery store or farmers market to stock up on produce. So, the best plan for beginner gardeners is to grow something that you eat a lot of or that is more expensive at the grocery store. For example, I like to grow some foods that are significantly more expensive when buying organic, since I can grow everything organically in my backyard. If you have never grown food before, start with something easy, like tomatoes, peppers, radishes, carrots, or just about any herb. For each of the plants you grow, you will need to research common pests and diseases, how best to care for them, what kind of support or protection they need, and whether it is best to start that particular plant from seeds or opt for seedlings. Therefore, it is best to start with just a few varieties while you are learning the basics of vegetable gardening. 4. Put it on paper. Making a garden plan helps you determine which and how many seeds and plants to purchase and where you are going to plant them. This is an opportunity to research which plants grow well together, how much space each plant will need, and the best time to plant different types of food plants. You can also use this planner to record planting dates and can refer to it next year to make sure you are rotating your crops properly. 5. Label the rows. Labeling your plants or rows of the same plant will help you easily identify them, know how much water each row needs, know the planting date, and know when it is time to harvest. I use paint stir sticks for this, since they are biodegradable and you can purchase them inexpensively in bulk. Write the type of plant, planting date and prospective harvest date on the row marker, and then stick it in the soil to mark the row. 6. Learn from local gardeners. As things begin to open again, keep an eye out for local gardening classes and workshops offered at the Ojai Community Demonstration Garden behind City Hall, Ojai’s Center for Regenerative Agriculture, Quail Springs Oasis & Permaculture Farm in Cuyama Valley, UC Hansen Agricultural Center at Faulkner Farm in Santa Paula, or Ventura College. You can also call the local Master Gardener Helpline at (805) 645-1455 with gardening questions and to learn about available gardening classes and resources. AimeeJo Davis-Varela is a freelance writer specializing in real estate, sustainable home improvement, eco-friendly landscaping, green living and travel writing. She is also the owner of Mind Your Manors, which provides second home management services.
As we move away from the rainy season (or not-so-rainy season) and the temperature begins to rise, it is time to prepare our homes for the next season. So, as you make your to-do list for this year’s spring cleaning, be sure to include these five home maintenance tasks to help you start the season right. 1. Service your HVAC system. It is a good idea to change your filters and service your HVAC system at least twice a year: once before winter when you will be using your heater more and once before summer when you will be using your air conditioner. Most homeowners can change their filters, but you should hire a local professional to service the system. 2. Clean and repair window screens and screen doors. As the weather warms up, you will likely be leaving your windows open more often to allow the fresh air and cool breeze to move through your home. So, spring is the perfect time to remove your screens, clean them with water and a mild detergent, allow them to air dry, and then reinstall them. While you are cleaning them, look for bent frames or holes in the screens. Even a tiny hole will allow insects to enter your home, so hire a handyman to repair them or pick up a screen repair kit at ACE Hardware to fix the holes yourself. If you are having your windows cleaned as part of your spring cleaning, make sure your window washer includes cleaning the screens. 3. Clean your gutters. Clogged gutters and downspouts do not function properly, attract critters and can result in damage to your home. Therefore, as the rainy season comes to an end, it is time to have them cleaned. Remember, in areas like Ojai, we keep our gutters clean to prevent damage from both water and fire, since dried debris can easily catch fire from errant sparks. 4. Clean your refrigerator coils. Cleaning your refrigerator coils is an easy home maintenance task, but most of us forget to do it on a regular basis. In most homes, it is a good idea to vacuum the coils about every six months, but if you share your home with furry friends, you will want to do it more often. So, while you are giving the interior of your refrigerator a thorough scrub down as part of your spring-cleaning routine, don’t forget to clean the coils as well. 5. Check your irrigation system. We are all about to start using our automatic irrigation systems more as the temperature rises and we move towards summer. This makes spring the perfect time to make sure your system does not have leaks and is functioning properly. If you have a landscape maintenance company that cares for your property, you can ask them to check the system for you. If you do not, you can check the system yourself. Manually run the system through all of the zones and walk through your property to check for leaks. While you are doing your walk-through, look for broken sprinkler heads and adjust any sprinkler heads that are spraying your driveway, sidewalks, fences, or structures. Irrigation leaks can waste a lot of water and cause a significant increase in your water bill, so be sure to check your system regularly. AimeeJo Davis-Varela is a freelance writer specializing in real estate, sustainable home improvement, eco-friendly landscaping, green living and travel writing. She is also the owner of Mind Your Manors, which provides second home management services.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), one in every 10 homes has leaks that waste at least 90 gallons of water per day. Across the country, we are wasting about one trillion gallons every year – just from minor water leaks. Every home is going to get a water leak at some point, which is going to increase your water bill, possibly result in a fine, and, of course, waste water. So, let’s go over some basic questions about water leaks to help you identify and handle a leak quickly. Whose responsibility is it to repair a leak? If the leak is at the street, it might be on the water company’s side of the meter, so you will need to call your water company right away so that they can assess the situation and complete a repair. If the leak is on your side of the meter, it is your responsibility to repair it. How do I know if I have a water leak? If you see standing water in an area where standing water shouldn’t be or an active drip coming from a faucet, this is an obvious indicator that you might have a leak. This also helps you quickly pinpoint the location of the leak so that you can address it right away. It would be great if all leaks were this easy to identify and find, but most are not. Sometimes, you may not see any indication of a water leak until you see an increase in your water bill. If you suspect a water leak, one way you can check is to turn all of the water off in your house and on your property. Then, go to your water meter and look for the low-flow indicator. If the low-flow indicator is spinning when all of the water is turned off, you have a leak. What do I do if I have a water leak? The easiest thing to do is to turn off the water and call your plumber or landscaper so they can come find it and repair it. If you have a serious leak, do not wait for your plumber or landscaper to arrive. Turn the water off as soon as possible. This is easiest if you have a customer service valve, which is located on your side of the meter and allows you to turn off the water to your entire property. If you do not have a customer service valve, I recommend installing one. For smaller leaks, you may be able to locate the leak and turn off the water just to that area. If your meter is spinning but you do not see standing water, start with your irrigation system. When one of my clients has a leak, it is almost always in their irrigation lines. Turn on all of the zones and walk your property to look for leaking sprinkler heads or drip lines. When you find it, turn off the valve going to that area until you can get the leak repaired. If the culprit is a leaky faucet or toilet, turn the water supply off at that location. This allows you to continue to use the water in the rest of your house while stopping the leak until you (or a handyman or plumber) can repair it. You may also locate interior water leaks by listening for water dripping or looking for wet spots in drywall or inside cabinets. If you hear water trickling in the walls or find moist, soft spots in your wall or ceiling, turn off the water going into your house until you can arrange for a repair. AimeeJo Davis-Varela is a freelance writer specializing in real estate, sustainable home improvement, eco-friendly landscaping, green living and travel writing. She is also the owner of Mind Your Manors, which provides second home management services.
As the weather warms and we move towards spring, it is clear that most of our entertaining still needs to occur outdoors. And, even for those of us who may be holding off on hosting dinner parties, being at home this much over the past year has certainly resulted in wanting to spend more time outside. So, as we prepare for spring, here are seven things you can do to make sure your outdoor living areas are ready to be enjoyed by you, your family, your pets, and your guests. 1. Remove the clutter. Removing clutter is always the first step. Before you can prepare any space for entertaining or comfortable, everyday living, you must first remove unnecessary items and put away any clutter that has collected over the last few months. Now is a good time to clean out and organize your garden shed as well, since that can free up space for some of the clutter currently hanging out on your patio. 2. Check your irrigation system. Doing an overall check of your irrigation system allows you to prepare for spring planting and to make sure that there are no leaks or wayward sprinkler heads affecting your outdoor living areas. Prune bushes blocking sprinkler heads, walk your system while it is running to look for leaks, adjust sprinkler heads to ensure the most efficient spray patterns, and check your rain sensor to make sure it is working properly. 3. Clean your home’s exterior and gutters. When the rainy season comes to an end, it is a good time to clean the gutters again, remove cobwebs from your fascia and eaves, and spray down the exterior of your home. The rain may have taken care of any accumulated dust, but it also may have splashed mud on the exterior walls, so a quick spray with a garden hose is probably in order. 4. Clean your outdoor kitchen. If you are like most folks in Ojai, you have probably been using your outdoor kitchen almost as much in winter as you do in summer. As the weather improves, you will likely start using it even more, so take this opportunity to give your grill a good cleaning, clean out the fridge, and get your servingware organized before your next al fresco dinner party. 5. Clean your fire pit, patio fireplace, or other fire feature. Since you have likely been using your fire features throughout winter, now is a good time to clean them, make sure they are functioning properly, and check for safety issues before the spring entertaining season begins. 6. Refresh your patio furniture. Clean metal or plastic patio furniture by wiping it down with a simple vinegar-water mix and a damp rag. If that doesn’t quite do the trick, make a paste by mixing baking soda with water to create a mildly abrasive cleaner for tougher spots. For wood furniture, use a wood cleaner followed by furniture wax to add a layer of protection. If a good cleaning is not quite enough to bring your patio furniture back to its previous luster, it might be time to give it a new coat of stain or paint to refresh its finish. 7. Clean or replace patio cushions and dog beds. Between the wind and the rain, patio cushions can get a bit worse for wear over the winter. Take the opportunity to launder or spot clean them as we move into the spring entertaining season. If they are beyond repair, or you simply want to freshen the look of your patio, you might consider replacing them instead. We mustn’t forget our furry friends when sprucing up our outdoor living areas. If you left your dogs’ beds out in the rain one too many times over the winter, it might be time to upgrade their outdoor living with new beds that match your patio cushions. AimeeJo Davis-Varela is a freelance writer specializing in real estate, sustainable home improvement, eco-friendly landscaping, green living and travel writing. She is also the owner of Mind Your Manors, which provides second home management services.
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