Let the Rain Do the Work
Welcome!
This newsletter is a weekly space where I share class updates for my students, seasonal gardening tips, and thoughts on sustainability and regenerative living.
If you’re new here - I’m a professor in the Continuing Education department at Mt. San Antonio College, and my goal (both personally and professionally) is to make practical, accessible gardening, environmental, and sustainability education available to the community.
If you’re interested in free, in-person community classes, you can view my current class schedule here → [Class Schedule]
And if learning online works better for you, I also share educational (and occasionally silly) gardening and sustainability videos on YouTube here → [YouTube link]
For Students
Welcome to Week 1 of Winter 2026!
This week in class we will handle introductions. I will go over the class syllabus and discuss the schedule, as well as introduce you all to this website and how you can use it during the semester.
We will also take time for short student introductions. Please come ready to share your name, how you’re feeling, and what brought you to the class! (Of course, if you’re shy, we won’t force you to share.)
In the Garden
Boy, have we had a wet winter here in California! November was the 5th wettest on record since 1877, and the recent rain at the end of December and early January has only added to our totals.
Even if you don’t live in California, it’s important to know what to do - or perhaps more importantly, what not to do - when it rains.
This afternoon I went on a walk during a lull in the rain and came across irrigation running full blast. While we all know we shouldn’t water during the rain, please - don’t overwater your plants immediately after the rain either!
Rainwater is naturally oxygenated and is wonderful for your plants. After the rain, wait until your plants show signs of drought stress before you water again. Once the rains begin in winter, I rarely water anything again until spring.
Many, though not all, plant roots will grow deeper after rainwater if you just leave them be during this time of year. Constantly wetting the surface of the soil leads to plants with very shallow roots - and wasted water.
If you find that your soil dries out immediately after the rain and your plants start to show signs of drought stress, this is a strong indication that your soil is not healthy.
I recommend working on putting down some compost - or at the very least, a good layer of mulch, which will slowly break down over time, feed the organisms in the soil, and build up soil health. Just make sure not to mix it into the soil - just let it sit on the surface!
You might also consider planting a specialized cover crop like daikon radish if you have heavy, impenetrable soil, or the right kinds of grains and nitrogen fixers if your soil needs more bulk. I’ll explain all of this in more detail in a new video that will be released in just a few weeks.
Living Sustainably
Each week in this section, I’ll discuss different ways that we can live more sustainably at home, in the garden, or even in our businesses.
But first things first - what exactly is sustainability?
People have wildly different views of sustainability today. Some people only associate it with environmentalism, while others consider it a scam. And while you certainly have to be careful - sustainability is a term used by many companies to “greenwash” products that aren’t sustainable at all - true sustainability is something we all want.
The most widely accepted definition of sustainability comes from the 1987 Brundtland Report:
“Sustainability means meeting present needs without compromising future generations’ ability to meet their own needs.”
Put simply, sustainability is our ability to keep doing something.
When I say something is sustainable, I’m saying you can keep doing it without running into problems. When I say something isn’t sustainable, I mean that you are likely to encounter problems if you keep doing things the same way.
While sustainability does take the environment into account, there are actually three pillars we consider: people, planet, and prosperity (originally labeled as profit). This “Triple Bottom Line” was developed by economist John Elkington in 1994 and was seen as much an economic principle as an environmental and social one.
So what does it mean to live sustainably?
In the garden, it might mean… avoiding watering right after the rain! (You did read that section, right?)
It can also mean cutting back on other inputs - things like natural gas and electricity used to power our homes. A wonderful side effect of living more sustainably is that when we cut back, we often save money.
Each week, I’ll share a practical sustainability tip and explain how and why it helps - not just the environment and society, but your pocketbook as well.
Thought of the Week
At the start of a new year, it’s easy to feel pressure to set earth-shaking resolutions and make big, dramatic changes. But real growth usually comes from small, consistent steps taken over time.
James Clear puts it this way:
“If you get 1 percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done.”
To put that in perspective: if you walked 2,000 steps today and increased that by just 1% each day, you’d be walking around 76,000 steps on the last day of the year.
Now, that’s a little ridiculous. Nobody expects you to walk 76,000 steps in a day - but it is a powerful reminder of how small, steady changes can lead to real change.
You don’t need to change everything all at once.
Pick something small.
Be consistent.
Get 1% better every day.
