Take Care of Yourself
Change is coming to Growing With Professor Brown. Starting next semester, I'm splitting things into a weekly student bulletin and a monthly newsletter for the whole community — with new ways for students to share their writing and their gardens. This week's issue has all the details, plus a reminder worth hearing if you're in a busy season: don't forget to take care of yourself. Issue 29 is up.
Slow Down and Think
What does a trip to the farmers' market really give us? This week's newsletter reflects on slow food, local food and health, and the connections we build with our community when we know who grows our food. Plus a look at what's happening in class — a winecap mushroom demonstration and a creek cleanup. Issue 28 is up.
Move at the Pace That's Sustainable
Field trips are here! This week we're visiting five different farmers' markets and farms across the San Gabriel Valley — from the tiny-but-mighty Villa Parke market in Pasadena to the massive Claremont Farmers' Market. Issue 27 has the full schedule, parking tips, meeting spots, and everything you need to know before you go. Plus a poem I keep coming back to when life gets busy.
The Good Kind of Tired
July is one of those months where the garden looks calm on the surface — but there's a lot going on underneath. This week in class: what to do in your garden right now, a summer field trip schedule with five dates to choose from, and a short piece on community gardens. Issue 26 is up.
The More I Learn, the Less I Know
This week I'm starting a new corner of the newsletter — A Few Good Things — and kicking it off with the books I recommend to my students again and again, from Fukuoka and Kimmerer to Leopold and Carson. Plus a reflection on something I keep relearning: the more I understand, the more I see how little I know. Come read with a humble mind.
When to Trust, When to Act
Six weeks ago I found an aphid infestation and chose to do nothing about it. This week I found out whether that was a mistake. Issue 24: the end of the semester, a packed garden update, and a Thought of the Week on knowing when to trust the system — and when to step in.
What World Do I Want to Live In?
This week I'm setting up my first-ever worm tea rig (the brewing comes in my next video!), getting honest with you about a very full summer ahead, and reflecting on a question I keep asking myself: what world do I want to live in? Plus it's potluck week, the plant raffle, and a stack of videos on the Honorable Harvest and the Three Sisters. Come grow with me.
What We Bring to the Table
This week we reach the last of the eight principles: ask what you can give, rather than what you can take. With our potluck two weeks out, it felt like the right moment to reflect on what we bring to the table — in the garden and in our communities. Plus a full preview of the summer Local Food Communities class.
The Limits of a Good Plan
I’m about to put a collection of new plants in the ground — most of them not for food at all, but for the jobs they do in the system. Comfrey for mulch, cowpeas to fix nitrogen, pigeon peas to shade my young fruit trees. This week's issue walks through each one, where it's going and why — and ends on the value of planning well and then letting go.
Assume It's a Good Guy
Most of the insects in your garden aren't pests — they're allies. This week we're meeting the beneficial bugs that keep things in balance in the Southern California garden, from the ladybugs you can buy at the nursery to the assassin bugs hiding in plain sight. Plus a thought on what it means to assume the best of something before you know it.
Everything Comes Back Around
This week's newsletter has a meaty deep-dive on drip irrigation math (with a worked example from my hugelkultur bed), a heads-up on spider mite season, and a recommendation for the green lacewings I use to keep tomatoes pest-free. I also share a beautiful afternoon spent at Manju Kumar's regenerative food forest — one of the most inspiring gardens in our area — and a Thought of the Week about kinship, gratitude, and serendipity that I didn't expect to write but couldn't put down.
The Time Is Now
Late April is the last call for warm-season crops — and a reminder that waiting for the perfect moment is the one mistake you can't afford to make. This week: vining plants, planting updates, and a thought on why starting imperfectly is always better than not starting at all.
Tending the Threshold
The cool season is winding down, the warm season is warming up, and the garden is full of transitions — new growth, final meetings, and big decisions about mulch. This week we tour six types of mulch, share a spring progress update from my parents' yard, and I pose a question about the future of the Monday livestream. Come tend the threshold with me.
The Garden as Medicine
What if the best thing you could do for your health this week was go outside and dig in the dirt? In Issue 15, I share a full update from my parents' garden — the fruit trees, the flower border, two new blueberries, and an herb spiral I built entirely by accident — plus a deep dive into the science of why gardens heal us.
I Have No Idea If This Will Work
What does it look like when you try to put every principle of regenerative gardening into a single raised bed? This week the hugelkultur bed at my parents' place is finished, planted, and full of experiments — worm bins, winecap mushrooms, companion planting, and four tomato varieties all sharing the same few square feet of soil. I have no idea if it's going to work. But that's kind of the whole point.
The Work That Fills You
Wine cap mushrooms, hügelkultur, and a full cubic yard of soil — this weekend I built the most complex garden system I've ever attempted. Plus, a live stream announcement and everything you need to know for Week 6.
When Nature Speaks, We Should Listen
Record-shattering heat across Southern California. A rock rose that bloomed white instead of pink. A viral short crossing 38,000 views. This week, Professor Brown reflects on what nature is telling us, shares his journey through the Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies, and looks ahead to a brand new regenerative gardening course launching this fall.
Before and After the Shade
This week’s newsletter includes a livestream announcement, updates from all three classes, a new YouTube video on California native plants, and major changes in the garden—including the removal of a century-old avocado tree. I also share some thoughts on upcycling and a personal reflection on tending landscapes across generations.
All Flourishing Is Mutual
What can corn, beans, and squash teach us about cooperation? This week we explore the story of the Three Sisters, new research on monarch butterflies and milkweed, and the idea that healthy ecosystems — and healthy communities — are built on reciprocity.
Things Don't Always Go According to Plan
This week’s newsletter is a quieter one. I’ve been recovering from a cold, which pushed back some garden plans and class prep. In this update, I share what to expect in the first week of the spring semester and a few thoughts on handling setbacks when things don’t go according to plan.