Happy garden holidays to one and all!

I cannot begin to tell you what a joyous pleasure it has been to write this garden article every other week this year.

I am in awe of the magic of emerging seeds and enchanted by the early morning harvests when the beads of dew form on the squeaky cabbages reflecting the light of the world.

We are going to take a break over the holidays and resume the articles in late January. We are not going to repeat this year’s information; instead, we are publishing the entire set of garden articles in a small book, called “Organic Gardening Through the Seasons in Fallbrook.”

The book will be available within the next couple of months at Rocky Peak. Profits will be donated to the School Organic Gardens project to help expand.

Next year’s articles will cover an expanded area of subjects. We will cover bare fruit planting, varieties of fruits that do well in Fallbrook, pruning, tree and vine care, fertility of perennials and subtropical fruits.

If you see bare root berries in the nurseries, buy some boysenberries. Of all foods, they are highest in antioxidants. They taste great and they now have varieties that do well in Fallbrook. Plant them in a container on the porch if nowhere else is available.

We will get into deeper soil fertility and how to build the soil to last for 50 years, how to reduce animal manure input and still keep your soil fertility stronger, why cover crops are vital and compost teas that are all herb- and plant-based so there is no contamination from manure.

Also to be discussed: methods of organic gardening, including the Rodale Organic Gardening approach, till and no-till methods, permaculture, biodynamic and nature gardening.

I want to expand the plant varieties and how to prepare and eat them. Did you know there are 2,500 tomato varieties, though not all are worth messing with?

Let’s learn to grow lettuce year-round with season extenders and evolve our lettuce bed into a mix of baby greens so diverse that you will sound like a fancy restaurant describing them – Lacinato, Tres Fin Frisée and Tango – and Asian greens that will make you a gourmet chef by simply adding them to rice or miso soup.

Let’s get more into the discovering the treasure hunt pleasures of growing potatoes, an invisible crop that at harvest reveals multicolored tubers of Yukon Gold, Red Pontiac, Sangre and Yellow Finn.

Since water is in need of conservation, we are researching native plants for beauty, bird attraction and the fact that they are all drought-tolerant. We can incorporate these and herbs which can be culinary or medicinal and are mostly drought-tolerant.

We will, as gardeners and stewards of our land, help in the effort to expand the already available water yet not suffer for it.

Have a wonderful holiday season and a great New Year’s and be sure to get one more big planting of winter veggies to cover until we get back to work after the first of the year.

During January, get some bare root roses, grapes, vines and trees planted. In addition, weed, mulch and clean to make everything pretty for February, which brings us the beginning of springtime weather.

Thanks again for the pleasure of coming into your living rooms with what I consider one of the most beautiful experiences in life: observing plants, flowers, trees and nature in its full glory in our own backyards.