When Nature Has Other Plans
Welcome to the Weekly Edition
You know that feeling when you check the weather forecast and it's completely different from what you expected? Or when you finally sit down to read the ingredient list on something you've been using for years and realize... oh. Oh.
Life has a way of throwing curveballs, and lately it feels like they're coming fast. The weather's been doing backflips, our plants are confused, and the products we trust might not be as trustworthy as we thought. But here's the thing: we can't control everything. What we can do is learn, and make better choices when we know better.
This week's newsletter is all about rolling with the punches. We're talking about what to do when winter decides to take a vacation (and what that means for your garden), how to figure out what's actually in the products you're putting on your skin, and how to handle it when things just don't go according to plan. Plus, important updates for students, including our final week potlucks, contest winners, and a personal ask about a video that really matters to me.
Let's dig in.
For Students
Final Week Potlucks!
This week is our final week of the semester, and we're celebrating with potlucks at all locations! Here's what each location is bringing:
La Verne – Appetizers
Diamond Bar Center – Mexican
San Dimas – Soup and Salad
Walnut – Triple S (Soups, Stews, and Salads)... and cookies
One quick heads up: I have jury duty this week. We have another professor on standby just in case I get called in, but either way, the potlucks are happening. Come hungry!
Field Trip Recap
Thanks to everyone who showed up for our field trip to Glendora Gardens Nursery last week! I had a great time, and I hope you all did too. It's always good to get out into a real nursery and see what's available locally.
An Important Ask: Please Share This Video
I know many of you already saw my Principle 7 video that released last Friday. If you haven't, here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTdJzI_22Ns
I don't normally ask this outright, but if you know anyone who has kids or works with kids, please share this video with them. It's about ultra-processed foods and how they affect children's developing brains, and I genuinely think this is one of the most important videos I've made. This is a message I want to get out there, and I'd really appreciate your help spreading it.
Contest Winners!
A big congratulations to the winners of the Compact White Sage contest! I had five prizes to give out, but only 7 people entered - so everyone who entered won! The winners are:
@vickiholland7480
@juliedillon8329
@socalsunshines
@alpineflauge909
@MayWang-l2v
@DennisHunyadi
@vlong7112
I can figure out who a few of you are based on your usernames, but I'll need help with the others. Please email me at ben@growingwithprofessorbrown.com and let me know which class location and date you'd like me to bring your plant. If you're not a student, you can pick up your plant from me at Glendora Gardens Nursery or Armstrong's Monrovia - just email to arrange a time.
Spring Sustainability Class - We Need You!
As you all know, the sustainability classes were closed for the winter semester due to low enrollment. I'm recruiting for spring now, and I'd really appreciate your help spreading the word.
If you know anyone who would be interested in learning about sustainable living - things like understanding what's in your body products (more on that below), reducing waste, and making healthier choices for yourself and the planet - please share this class information with them.
Class Locations:
San Dimas Senior Citizen's Center – Wednesdays, 3:00–5:00 PM (in-person)
Online – Fridays, 3:30–5:30 PM
The class is free, as always. For the in-person class, just show up on the first day and I'll get you signed up. For the online class, email me at bbrown40@mtsac.edu and I'll guide you through the sign-up process.
In The Garden: When Winter Forgets It's Winter
The last few weeks have been much warmer than normal here in Southern California. Actually, the last few months have been strange all around. We had the wettest November in decades, and now we've had springtime weather in late January and early February. But it looks like that might be short-lived - depending on where you live, we're headed back down to evening lows in the high 40s to low 50s this week.
So what happens to our plants when the weather swings back and forth like this?
Why This Matters
Plants respond to temperature cues. They can't help it - it’s in there DNA. When it gets warm, they put on tender new growth. Buds swell, leaves unfurl, fruit trees burst into bloom. And then, if the temperature suddenly drops again, that tender growth is vulnerable.
I've already seen this happening in many of your gardens. Fruit trees are in full bloom weeks earlier than usual. Perennials that should still be dormant are pushing out fresh leaves. It's exciting, sure - but it also means we need to pay attention.
What Can Go Wrong
When tender new growth gets hit with a cold snap, a few things can happen:
Frost damage – New leaves and buds can brown and die back if temperatures drop low enough.
Disrupted timing – Fruit trees that bloom early might not get pollinated properly if their pollinators aren't active yet, or they might set fruit that gets damaged by late cold.
Wasted energy – The plant puts energy into growth, only to have it knocked back. It'll recover, but it's a setback.
Here's the thing, though: most plants will be fine. They might look rough for a while, and you might lose some early blooms or tender tips, but established plants are resilient. The ones most at risk are young plantings, tropicals, citrus, and tender perennials. Established natives and hardy perennials? They'll be just fine.
What You Should (and Shouldn't) Do
If you haven't already applied dormant spray to your fruit trees and they're already covered in flowers - don't spray them now. Dormant sprays (like horticultural oil or copper fungicides) are meant to be applied when trees are dormant, before buds open. Once they're flowering, spraying can damage the blossoms, harm pollinators, and reduce your fruit set. If you've missed the window for this year, just make a note for next winter.
Hold off on pruning damaged growth for now. If the cold does come back and some of your plants get nipped, resist the urge to immediately clean them up. Wait until after the cold passes and the weather stabilizes. Sometimes what looks dead will recover, and even if it doesn't, leaving damaged growth on the plant for a bit longer provides a little extra protection for the rest of the plant.
Consider light frost protection if needed. If we're forecasting a particularly cold night and you have vulnerable plants (young citrus, tender tropicals, newly planted plants), you can throw a light sheet or frost cloth over them. You don't need anything fancy - even raising the temperature around the plant by a few degrees can make the difference. Just make sure to remove the cover in the morning so the plant gets light.
Don't panic. Southern California rarely gets cold enough to kill established plants. Your garden might look a little sad for a week or two, but it will bounce back.
The Bigger Picture
This kind of weather whiplash is becoming more common, and it's a good reminder about the importance of plant selection. When you're planning for spring planting (and now's a great time to start thinking about that), choose plants that are:
Resilient to temperature swings – Natives and Mediterranean-climate plants tend to handle this better than tropicals or plants from more stable climates.
Resistant to local diseases – If you know your area struggles with certain fungal issues or pests, choose varieties that can handle them.
Appropriate for your microclimate – Even within Southern California, there's huge variation. Know your zone, know your frost dates, and know where the cold pockets are in your own yard.
The weather's going to do what it's going to do. We can't control that. But we can set ourselves up for success by working with what we've got.
Living Sustainably: What's In Your Body Products?
We spend a lot of time thinking about what we put in our bodies - reading nutrition labels, avoiding certain ingredients, trying to eat cleaner. But what about what we put on our bodies?
Your skin absorbs things. That lotion, that shampoo, that deodorant you use every day - it's not just sitting on the surface. Some ingredients can be absorbed through the skin and enter the body. And here's the uncomfortable truth: a lot of common personal care products contain chemicals that are known or suspected carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, or allergens.
Now, before you panic and throw out everything in your bathroom, let me be clear: our bodies are incredibly good at processing and eliminating chemicals. Chemicals are everywhere in nature. We're exposed to them constantly, and most of the time, our bodies handle it just fine. The issue isn't one chemical in one product. The issue is cumulative exposure.
Our bodies constantly produce abnormal cells that have the potential to become cancer. That’s normal. What keeps most of us healthy is that our immune systems often detect and eliminate those cells before they become a problem. But when we're constantly exposed to low levels of many different concerning chemicals - from our shampoo, our lotion, our makeup, our cleaning products, the air we breathe, the food we eat - it adds up. Our bodies can get overwhelmed. The more we can control what we're exposed to, the better off we are.
The Problem With "Safe" Chemicals
Here's something most people don't know: when chemicals are tested for safety, they're tested individually. Chemical A gets tested on its own. Chemical B gets tested on its own. Both might be deemed "safe" at certain levels.
But we're never exposed to just one chemical. We're exposed to dozens, sometimes hundreds, every single day. And here's the kicker: we don't test for synergistic effects. We don't know how Chemical A and Chemical B interact with each other in your body. We don't know if Chemical C makes Chemical D more harmful. We just... don't test for that.
So when a product says its ingredients are "safe," what that really means is "safe when tested in isolation under controlled conditions." It doesn't mean safe when combined with everything else you're exposed to.
Enter the EWG Skin Deep Database
This is where the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep database comes in. It's a free online tool that rates personal care products on a scale of 1 to 10 based on their ingredients. Lower scores are better. It also breaks down individual ingredients, explains what the concerns are, and links to the research.
It’s worth saying: EWG is a screening tool, not a regulatory authority. It tends to take a precautionary approach, which can be really helpful for making more informed choices - just don’t treat the scores as absolute truth or a reason to panic.
Here's how to use it:
Go to ewg.org/skindeep
Search for a product by name, or use the barcode scanner if you're shopping
Look at the rating (1 / EWG Verified is best, 10 is most concerning)
Click on individual ingredients to see what the specific concerns are
What to Look For (and Avoid)
Here are a few common ingredients you might want to avoid or at least be aware of:
Parabens (methylparaben, propylparaben, etc.) - Preservatives that can act as endocrine disruptors
Phthalates - Often hidden under "fragrance"; linked to hormone disruption
"Fragrance" or "Parfum" - This is a catch-all term that can hide dozens of unlisted chemicals, many of which are allergens or irritants
Formaldehyde-releasing preservatives (DMDM hydantoin, quaternium-15) - Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen
Triclosan - Antimicrobial agent linked to hormone disruption and antibiotic resistance
Again, the goal here isn't to freak out. It's to be informed.
What Should You Actually Do?
Don't throw everything out and start over. That's wasteful, expensive, and overwhelming. Instead:
Start by checking what you use most often. Your daily shampoo, your body lotion, your deodorant - these are the products you're exposed to every single day. Check those first.
When it's time to replace something, look for a better option. Use the EWG database to find products with lower ratings.
Read ingredient lists. If you see "fragrance" or ingredients you can't pronounce, dig a little deeper.
Small steps add up. You don't have to overhaul everything overnight. Just make better choices as you go.
And here's the sustainability angle: products with fewer synthetic chemicals aren't just better for your body - they're better for the environment. Those chemicals wash down the drain and end up in our waterways. Choosing cleaner products means cleaner water for all of us.
Want to Learn More?
This is exactly the kind of thing I cover in my sustainability class. We talk about body products, food systems, waste reduction, and how to make healthier, more sustainable choices without it feeling overwhelming. If that sounds interesting to you, check out the class info above - it's free, and I'd love to have you join us in the spring.
Thought of the Week: When Things Don't Go According to Plan
So let's say the weather forecast changes. Or you've been using the same conditioner for five years and you just found out it's full of ingredients you'd rather avoid. Or your fruit trees bloomed three weeks early and now you're not sure what to do about it.
What now?
I think a lot of us have this idea that if we just plan well enough, research enough, prepare enough, we can avoid these moments. And sure, planning helps. But life doesn't care about your plans. The weather's going to do what it does. Information you didn't have before is going to come to light. Things are going to change.
The question isn't how do we avoid this - because we can't. The question is how do we respond when it happens.
And when things don't go as planned, you have a few options:
Adapt. Throw a sheet over your frost-sensitive plants. Switch to a different product when this one runs out. Adjust your expectations and move forward.
Learn. Figure out what happened and why, so you can make a better choice next time. Maybe that means planting more resilient varieties. Maybe it means checking ingredient lists before you buy. Maybe it just means accepting that February in Southern California is going to be weird and you need to keep an eye on the forecast.
Let it go. Sometimes the answer is to just... not worry about it. Your fruit tree bloomed early and might not set as much fruit this year. Okay. It'll be fine next year. You used a questionable lotion for five years. Okay. You know better now. You're making a change. That's enough.
The point is, you get to decide how much energy you put into fixing it. Not everything is an emergency. Not everything requires a complete overhaul. Sometimes the healthiest response is to acknowledge that something didn't go as planned, make whatever small adjustment feels right, and keep going.
Because here's the thing: there's always going to be another curveball. The weather will do something unexpected again. You'll learn something new that makes you rethink an old habit. That's just how it goes.
The goal isn't perfection. The goal is resilience.
So if your garden looks a little rough this week, or if you're standing in your bathroom reading labels and feeling overwhelmed - take a breath. You're doing fine. You're learning. You're adapting. That's all any of us can do.
Take care of yourselves this week. I'll see you next Sunday.
