Liisa's Garden Journey

2 Inch Soil Blocks and Greenhouse Power for Daisy

2012-02-07T21:49:00.000-08:00

Before I left for work this morning I prepared some soil for the 2 inch soil blocks. Preparing the soil is just placing some soil into a container adding water to it to make a slur. Letting the soil mix sit for an hour or more ensure the soil is completely wet. I should mention here that I did not make my own soil mixture. I bought the soil from PottingBlocks.com. If you want to make your own soil mix you can find the recipe here.

Making the 2 inch soil blocks takes a little more muscle. You want to ensure you have all blocks filled with packed soil. If you are doing it correctly you will see water oozing out the top of the blocks. In this photo you can see that I only have water oozing out of the two middle blocks. I need to put more pressure on the two ends.

The block is now full and ready to place in the tray.

Not bad for my first try.

I planted four each of turnips, broccoli and cauliflower.

You can see a clear difference in the two soil mixes
for the micro 20 and the 2 inch blocks

Six out of 20 radishes have already started to sprout. Once they all sprout I will plant them into bed 3.

These next two photos are for Daisy over at Daisy's Kitchen Garden. She asked me how I was running power into my greenhouse.

Here you go Daisy. I plugged the power strip into a heavy duty power cord. You know the ones that come in bright orange and you can find them in green too.

Power strip zip tied to bottom of shelf.

Board placed on top shelf to prevent water due to condensation
from dripping on to the power strip.

I will keep you updated on how the soil blocks are doing and if I'm having any issues.

Soil Blocks and Garden Clean Up

2012-02-05T21:46:00.000-08:00

What a beautiful weekend. Since I have started my vegetable garden I cannot remember a time when I was out in the greenhouse planting my seeds for the spring garden in a tee-shirt..In February!!

Saturday was spent cleaning up beds 2, 3 and 4. Raking out leaves and pine needles and turning the soil.

Bed 2 before

Beds 3 and 4 before

I added homemade compost to top off the beds, reset the water lines and put the square foot grids back in place.

We have only had a few days of rain this Winter so I was expecting the beds to be really dry. I was happy to see that only the top few inches were dry. Weatherman says we are in for a day of rain on Tuesday. I have been holding off watering in hopes of getting some rain soon.

Today was spent trying my hand at making soil blocks and can I just say why didn't I do this sooner?

Soil blocking station

I'm starting with the micro 20. Here goes....

Watching the video before hand really helped to get down the technique.

Wallah... first block of 20. I think a tray with a small grid would work better for the micro 20's but this will do just fine.

Once the tray was filled I added the seeds by using a pencil dipped in water.

Tray 1 with spinach, carrots and lettuce.

To keep track of what I planted and where I made a soil block tracking grid.

I also drew out beds 2, 3 and 4 so I can start figuring out where everything is going to go.

Trays were placed on heat mats. Since these first two trays are cool weather crops as soon as they sprout I will remove them from the heat mats and give them a few days in the greenhouse and then plant out into the garden.

Next I will be making the 2 inch blocks.... stay tuned....

Raised Wicking Worm Garden Beds...Brilliant!

2012-02-05T10:55:00.000-08:00

I might be late to the party on this one because I have never heard of "Raised Wicking Worm Garden Beds". I wish I knew about these before I put my beds in... not to say I couldn't upgrade my beds... shh don't tell my husband ;-)

If I had the space I would really consider installing this type of bed.

Raised Wicking Worm Garden Beds caption

Read more about these beds over at eat at dixiebelle's

Time to go play in the dirt. I'm making my first soil blocks today. Wish me luck!

Let The Seed Starting Begin

2012-01-29T20:13:00.000-08:00

Hello my name is Liisa and I'm a seed-aholic.

I spent the evening going through all my seeds and organizing them. Does any one person really need 25 different varieties of lettuce? Well apparently I do.

I only have to buy two of my favorites for this growing season, Baby Persian, "Green Fingers" Cucumbers and Mini Salad, "Baby Belle" Peppers from Renee's Garden. I have more than enough of everything else to get through the season maybe two. The seeds are nicely organized now.

The pop-up greenhouse is up, the shelves are built and all the tools are in place.

I will start most of the seeds in the micro 20 and "re-pot" to the 2" soil block when needed. Then plant out to the garden with the 2" blocks so timing will be everything this year.

I'll be testing the soil blocks with carrots, lettuce, spinach, snap peas, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage. Wish me luck.

Clay Pot Watering System: Efficient, Ancient, and Easy

2012-01-29T15:00:00.000-08:00

I saw this on the Urban Homesteading Is A Way Of Life Not A Copyright FaceBook page and thought it was worth sharing.

Clay Pot Watering System: Efficient, Ancient, and Easy

Wetpot Demonstration

Enjoy!

Nothingness

2012-01-28T23:58:00.000-08:00

Every year in December I start to think about the new year ahead and try and get a feel for what is in store. Going into 2011 "Change" was the read I was getting and boy was there a lot of change not only in my world but in the world as a whole.

While sitting and having lunch with a co-worker a few weeks ago she asked me what my read was going into 2012. "Nothing" is the word that came to me. I didn't mean I didn't have anything to say, the feeling was "nothingness". It was a little freaky since there was still a lot of change going on in our company and the fact was we could loose our jobs at any time. I felt nothing, almost empty.

Last week I watched my first episode of "Hoarders" It was like watching a train wreck, you just couldn't stop looking. It was very sad to see the true pain these people were going through. I don't know that I would watch it again but it did make me take a good look around me. Was I holding on to things just because I thought I could use it someday? I cleaned out two junk drawers two days later.

I have also been feeling stuck, like there is no energy flow around me. Feeling like I can't move forward. I haven't started my seeds yet, I haven't felt like going out into the garden, just stuck.

A few days ago a good friend of mine posted a link on her FaceBook page to a blog post called I Urge You to Purge Your Clutter–Tamara Kerner

It was this statement that put it all in perceptive for me "Clutter is not only bad for your health, but it blocks your prosperity. There’s literally no room for new energy. I can almost guarantee that if my client is overweight or having money troubles, there is a source of clutter and excess in their life."

The feeling of nothingness was in fact the theme for the new year I just couldn't see it until the other signs came into play. The episode of "Hoarders" and the blog post. My feng shui is completely out of whack. There is no energy flow in my house and it is dragging me down. This year is all about purging and getting organized. Bring that positive energy flow back into my life. I now know what I need to do. One room at a time, one closet at a time, one drawer at a time. It's time to let go of the clutter in my life. I'm starting to feel better already.

I'm sure by now you are wondering what this has to do with my garden journey. What does clutter and purging have to do with throwing some seeds in the ground and letting them grow? Well a lot. You see I hold on to things that I think I can grow my seeds in. They sit in one of my sheds just waiting for that day when I just might need it. I went into that shed this morning and took these photos.

No wonder my feng shui is out of whack. Look at this mess and this is not the only mess I have in my life. My closets are overflowing, my drawers are all full. Do I really need all this stuff!

Over the summer I bought myself a 2 inch soil blocker thinking it would be fun to learn a new skill. Some of my fellow gardeners have been using soil blockers for the past two years and love them.

Robin over at Gardener of Eden did a blog post on soil blocks with a link to a great site called Potting Blocks.com Jason Beam has a few videos on how to use soil blocks. After watching the videos I took a look around the site and decided to invest in my garden tools. No more cheap plastic trays and seed staring container that needed to be replaced every year. It is time to clear out all that clutter and replace it with long lasting tools that also minimize my carbon footprint.

My new ~~toys~~ tools arrived today and I am looking forward to learning a new skill and clearing out some clutter.

Micro 20 soil blocker, 2 inch soil blocker, dagger trowel,
cubic, seed and dowel pins, potting block tray.

Propagation trays and bottom watering trays

These trays will last for years to come and will be easy to clean and store.

If you came into the new year feeling less than motivated take a look around your home. Do you have clutter in your space stopping your energy from flowing?

Day Avocado Update

2012-01-20T19:17:00.000-08:00

I know a some of you have been toying with the idea of buying a Day Avocado.

My Avocado arrived on March 31, 2010 in a 6 inch pot at just under 2 feet tall.

By June 18 2011 the tree was in a 16 inch pot and standing at 3 feet tall.

Today still in the the same 16 inch pot is now standing at 4 feet and we are just about at the two year mark. Will I get fruit this year or next year? I guess we will have to wait and see. This has to be one of the easiest fruit trees to grow. Just don't fuss over it and it is happy.

My question now is, how do I prune this tree or do I even need to at this point? Time to Google it.

Update: How to prune an Avocado

Love Apple

2012-01-17T20:43:00.000-08:00

Our cold temperatures continue...

Because of the cold weather I have not put up my greenhouse yet. By now I would have already started my spring and summer seeds. I'll give it another week and see how things go.

This year I will not be starting my own tomato seeds. I am lucky enough to live with in diving distance to Love Apple Farm and will be trying some new varieties that are known to grow well in my area. Owner Cynthia Sandberg is known in these parts as the "Tomato Lady". She grows over 100 heirloom tomato varieties each year and sells them March through June. I had the opportunity to hear Cynthia speak at a gardening bootcamp last year and she brought tomato seedling for all of us to take home. I picked the Anna Russian and it was just wonderful. You can read Cynthia's story here Cynthia Sandberg. She is truly inspiring.

When will you be starting your seeds?

Amazing

2012-01-02T16:38:00.000-08:00

I woke up to the most amazing sunrise this morning. I snapped a few photos to share with you. Hope you enjoy them.

This one looks like the sky is on fire.

The garden beds are still resting but will be planted in just a few short months.

The frogs are still playing and....

The squirrels are getting into everything. Digging around in my blueberries...

In the strawberries and

The birds are enjoying an afternoon bath.

Happy New Year!

Raspberries

2011-12-27T10:14:00.000-08:00

I've decided to transplant my potted Raspberries into the garden. They have given me two years of delicious fruit but didn't do very well this past season. The spring harvest had plenty of fruit but the raspberries were small in size and the Fall harvest was little to none. The poor harvest could have been the result of the weather but the fact that I'm not getting much in the way of new strong canes tells me it has out grown it's pot.

Bed 1 should be the perfect home. They will get lots of sun even in the Winter months and some shade in the late afternoon during the Summer months. The canes will have plenty of room to grow without taking over the yard.

Bed 1 before

I hope they do better in their new location.

Bed 1 after

Look What Santa Brought Me!

2011-12-25T20:12:00.000-08:00

I have wanted one of these for two years. I guess I was a really good girl this year.

ACURITE Weather Forecaster

Now I will be able to keep track of the night time temperatures and once I get the pop-up greenhouse up I'll move the sensor in there to keep an eye on the temperature for my little seedlings. I am a happy girl.

Speaking of keeping an eye on the temperature, we have had the most frost days in a row than I have seen in years. My backyard is always about 3 to 4 degrees cooler than the forecast and we have seen freezing temps everyday for more than a week now. The banana trees and avocado have been under cover all week. The banana's are not looking to good but the avocado seems unfazed. The blueberries and apples on the other hand love this cool weather.

There's nothing growing in the beds this Winter but I'm starting to plan my Spring and Summer garden. So here is a question for you. What is your favorite heat tolerant lettuce?

I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday and I look forward to reading your garden posts!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-01T20:51:00.000-08:00

Have a Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-05T23:00:00.000-07:00

2011-10-28T19:34:00.001-07:00

Never Forget

2011-09-10T23:59:00.000-07:00

Garden Friends

2011-08-25T18:34:00.000-07:00

To all my garden friends that are riding out Hurricane Irene I'll be praying for you.

Nosy Neighbor Virtual Homestead & Garden Tour

2011-08-01T20:25:00.000-07:00

Ericka's over at Northwest Edible is hosting a nosy neighbor urban homestead tour and I'm participating. If you were to peek over my fence today this is some of what you would see.... Click on photos for a better look.....

View of the beds from the roof

Columnar Apples

Avocado and Banana

Something is eating my carrot tops. Squirrels maybe?

Cherry Fox Tomatoes

cilantro

Ginger

Hot Peppers

Climbing Italian Summer Squash
Trombetta di Albenga

Mild Hot Peppers

Pole Bean

Climbing Italian Summer Squash
Trombetta di Albenga

Roma Tomatoes

The Fall raspberries are coming in.

Strawberries

Sweet Potatoes

Sweet Potatoe

Harvest Sunday July 30 2011

Harvest Monday August 1 2011

Hope you enjoyed your peek into my garden. Feel free to stop by anytime.

What Is It?

2011-07-30T13:32:00.000-07:00

Found this guy while I was watering this morning. Looks just like a stick and moves like an inch worm. Click on photo for a larger view.

If you know what it is please let me know if I should set it free or not.

Happy Independence Day

2011-07-04T00:01:00.000-07:00

Have a Happy and Safe 4th of July!

Sweet Potato Update

2011-07-01T20:42:00.000-07:00

February 2, 2011 Sweet Potato Post # 1

March 12, 2011 Sweet Potato Post # 2

July 1st Sweet Potato Post # 3

The sweet potatoes were planted in the the garden the first week of June. Normally we would plant sweet potatoes in May but with the weather so unseasonally cool I opted to wait. June was still a bit too cool so the beds with the sweet potatoes were covered with plastic. The plastic was removed on June 14th and there was not much growth until just this past week with the warmer weather setting in.

Below are photos of the nine plants I have planted in beds 2 and 4.

Click on photos for a larger view

Bed 2 has four plants....

Bed 4 has five plants....

Nice Day

2011-06-26T21:42:00.000-07:00

The weather was perfect... a nice 80 degrees in the garden today.

The to do list is as follows...

Harvest compost
Plant lettuce
Plant flowers
Harvest anything that looks ready

Click on photos for a larger view

If you don't like worms you may want to skip the next few photos...

The first fork of compost gave me a fork full of worms.

Lots and lots of worms.

My compost bin is more of an over sized worm bin. I don't have a good supply of browns when I have garden greens and when I have lots of browns I don't have greens. The worms do a great job making me black gold the only issue is the seeds don't get killed off without the high temps. It's not really a big deal since I square foot garden. I know where I have planted every seed so anything grows around them gets pulled out.

Hand full of worms.

I was not happy to finds a few of these in the compost.... That's right it's a wireworm.

But I was really happy to see this... three bins full of compost ready to use in the garden.

Finished compost

Next up is planting lettuce seeds. I decided to plant them in the potato bins that are not being used for anything at the moment. I have noticed that this area is not getting as much sun as it use to. The tree right above it has grown out to the point that it now shades this area of the garden.

One bin has cut and come again and the other is head lettuce. I also covered both bins with fencing to keep the squirrels out.

Bed 2 with some summer flowers to bring in beneficial insects. Cosmos to bring in predators like hover flies and lacewings. Marigold for parasitoids like wasps and a sweet allysum will bring both predators and parasitoids.

Have you ever grown a rampicante zucchino?

Well if you have never grown one and are thinking about it you will need a very tall trellis. This plant stands at about 8 feet and is still growing. I'll take some more photos when it fruits.

And last be not least today's very small harvest...

Cucumber, strawberries and and the last of the spring raspberries.

Carrots

It was a very nice day and I'm looking forward to a 4 day work week. We have a long weekend coming for the fourth of July and I tagged on four vacation days. It will be nice to be home for the week.

Dammit! Where's My Shot Gun!

2011-06-23T18:28:00.000-07:00

Like everyday when I get home from work I wander out to the garden to check on my babies. I made my way to the Summer squash bed to check and see if the first yellow crookneck of the season was ready to pick today. This is how it looked on Tuesday...

And this is what I found today....

Click on photo for a larger view

Now, I know in about 3 weeks time I will be begging the squirrels to eat the squash because I planted way more than two people can eat. But dammit, don't take the first one of the season!

Oh and they also like male squash blooms....

Bananas and Blueberries

2011-06-22T21:51:00.000-07:00

Banana

May 2008 is when I bought the Musa Rajapuri Banana. It came in a 4 inch pot and was about a foot tall. By the end of 2008 it had grown into a nice size plant and seem to like it's new home.

May 2008

By 2010 Mama had three pups and was showing no sign of bearing fruit. April of this year I pulled two of the pups and

re-potted mama with one pup hoping this would redirect her energy to pushing out a flower.

April 2011 before re-potting.

It's been two months since two of the pups were removed from the main plant and they are doing very well.

Photo taken June 21, 2011. You can still see the
damage from the hail storm.

As I was taking the photo above I saw this...

That's right another new pup growing off the main plant. Then I see this....

Right again a second pup on the main plant. I guess mama missed her two babies. I really need her to fruit and not send out more babies. Now I'm not sure what I should do. Let them be or pull them now? Time for some research.

Blueberries

January 19th is when the Blueberries came home with me. So far they don't seem to mind the pots they will need to live in.

Southmoon

Misty

I know the first year you are supposed to remove all the blooms but I just couldn't do it. Mother Nature did however take care of most of it when she threw down some hail. A few did survive and are just about ready to eat.

Berries

New growth

Here is the recipe for the soil mix I planted the blueberries in.

Blueberry Mix

1/3 Pathway bark (1/4 inch)

1/3 Peat Moss (coarse, if you can find it)

1/3 Leaf Mold or Forest Humus based potting soil.

Mix together and add 2 tablespoons of Soil Sulfur.

Apples and Avocados

2011-06-18T14:47:00.000-07:00

I was checking out my blog stats and it looks like there is a lot of interest in Day Avocados and Columnar Apples so I thought I would write a one year update on mine.

Columnar Apples

I bought two Columnar Apples March of 2010.

Northpole™ M-7 - "Northpole™ - a very large, bright red McIntosh-type fruit that is crisp and juicy. It is ready for harvest in early September."

Scarlet Sentinel™ M-7 - "Scarlet Sentinel™ - has jumbo-size red and yellow fruit with sweet, crisp, very juicy flesh. It ripens in late September and stores well until February."

The Northpole™ was first to set blooms on March 17 2011. Scarlet Sentinel™ had a few blooms on March 17th and didn't continue blooming for three weeks which was not good timing since the Northpole™ had already finished blooming. I didn't think either one of them were pollinated but was surprised to find two apples forming on the Scarlet and one on the Northpole™. Next year I will need to try and get the Scarlet Sentinel™ to bloom at the same time as the Northpole™. So do I feed one and hold back the feeding on the other to try and time it or do I let nature do it's thing and see how it goes?

Northpole™

Scarlet Sentinel™

Columnar Apples.
If you click on the photo you
can see where I circled the apples.

Day Avocado

Persea americana ‘Day’ “Avocado"
‘Day’ avocado is by far the easiest avocado to fruit in a pot. Plants will fruit at about 3 feet in height and will produce a medium-sized tapered-neck avocado that is easy to peel and has a delicious, buttery sweet taste. The fruit will hold on the plant for six months with ripening occurring from July to September. Another plus for ‘Day’ is its cold tolerance taking temperatures down into the low twenties. We sell grafted plants that will start bearing fruit in 2 to 3 years.

My Avocado arrived on March 31, 2010 in a 6 inch pot looking very healthy at just under 2 feet tall. Today (June 18 2011) she is in a 16 inch pot and stands at 3 feet tall with lots of new growth everyday. She does not like to be fussed over. No over watering and fed about four times a year. She likes as much sun as she can get and came through with flying colors after she got caught in a hail storm this past winter.

Persea americana ‘Day’ “Avocado"
March 31 2010

Persea americana ‘Day’ “Avocado"
June 18 2011

New growth.

What a Difference a Day Makes

2011-06-14T22:41:00.000-07:00

Saturday was so cool and windy I didn't even want to go out into the garden but forced myself to get out there and do a little clean up. I started with the area in front of the man cave. This area was getting a little crazy...

Click on photos for a larger view

The strawberries in the window type planters were donated to a neighbor down the street who is farming their front yard. The sage and tarragon were transplanted into smaller pots. The trash can is my rain barrel which is now empty and can be stored away.

A quick sweep and a hose down and I was ready to redecorate.

That looks and feels much better now.

Now for the rest of the yard...

Sunday was a gorgeous day. Temperatures in the upper 70's and no wind. The photo below was taken Saturday when the beds were still covered with plastic to protect the summer crops from the wind and cool temps.

Now that the weather is warming up it's time to get the outdoor living room set up.

I miss my sun shades! The new fence no longer has the 10 foot metal poles to support it so we are not sure the fence will be able to handle the pull of the wires and the weight of the shades. I will have to come up with a solution soon.

Next up random photos taken this past week....

My very first cauliflower

Straight neck yellow squash.

Bush and vining summer squash.

Fox cherry tomatoes and zucchini.

The cucumbers in bed 2 are not doing very well this year.

View of beds 3 and 4.

Jujube cherry tomatoes.

Roma tomato.

Every garden needs flowers!

View from my living room.

Ruth Stouts Garden

2011-06-11T11:37:00.000-07:00

No Rules! I think Ruth and I are kindred spirits when it comes to gardening. We could also learn a thing or two about life from her too.

Part 1

Part 2

Rain!

2011-06-04T09:19:00.000-07:00

I can not believe it is June 4th and it's pouring rain and will be for the next two days! Can someone please remind Mother Nature that I live in California?

Now I'm going to look on the bright side. We need the rain and I don't have to water. I'm sure there will be a great garden lesson in here somewhere. Thank you Mother Nature.

View From the Roof and Other Random Photos

2011-05-28T22:32:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have not been a very good blogger these last few months but I just seem to be very busy these days. Last weekend I took some photos of the garden. The always loved roof shots are up first...

Click on photos for a larger view

The next two photos are ground shots.

I don't know for sure because we have never really experienced a "real" Spring here in the California Bay Area but if I had to guess this is the closest we have come. It's the end of May and we are still getting a little rain, cool temperatures and a lot of wind. This is just not the norm in these parts. My cool weather crops are loving it but my Summer crops are not doing so well. Had I known the cool weather was going to last so long I would have held off planting Summer crops. My cucumbers are producing fruit but the plants are small and weak. Not sure if they are going to recover. I have been feeding them with seaweed extract and fish emulsion in hopes it will give them a bit of a boost. I also wrapped the bed in plastic today to protect the cucumbers from the wind and to give them a little more warmth.

Cucumbers

The tomatoes seem to be doing OK. The Fox Cherries have almost out grown their 5 foot trellis.

I'm getting fruit but they are not going to ripen until the weather warms up a bit more.

I had a nice harvest on May 22nd. 2 pounds of lettuce some carrots, spring onions, snow peas and dill.

Last Christmas sweet husband bought me some new garden art...

As the sun was setting tonight we were blessed with a rainbow.

Haven Garden Update

2011-05-22T10:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I spent most of the day over at the Haven Garden with a group of volunteers from Symantec.

You can see and read all about it here...

Great Day in the Garden

As for my garden all the Spring crops are doing well with all this cool weather we are having. It has been much cooler than normal for late May. All the Summer crops are in and growing but not much in the way of "fruit"

How is your garden growing?

Lots and Lots of photos

2011-05-16T21:12:00.000-07:00

So sorry for being MIA. Here is a photo update....

It's been four years and no sign of fruit on the banana.
The reason for this is there may be too many pups in the pot.
Time to cut the apron strings on two of the smaller pups.

Now mom might have the energy to bear fruit.

So far no leaf curl on the nectarine.

The bees have been out in force.

Lemons

Mint

Lettuce

Cucumbers

Lettuce

Hungarian peppers

Carrots

Lettuce and carrots

Pole beans

Onions

Bush Beans

Broccoli

And more lettuce

Summer squash. The four in the back are vining or so said the package.

Harvested on Sunday for dinner

Carrots

Carrots harvested on Sunday for dinner this week.

Cucumber

Raspberries are showing some color

Snow peas

Spring onions

Lots of great things going on over at the Haven Garden. I'll be there this Saturday. We are getting great support from local businesses... big name businesses... I'll post more when I get the OK. Other things going on... I'm working on getting my teacher certification to teach Square Foot Gardening. Seems to be a lot of interest but no classes in the area. Wish me luck!

I'm Still Here

2011-04-28T20:03:00.000-07:00

So sorry I have not been posting. Lots going on and have not had the time to blog. The garden is doing well despite the weather... cool and windy! I've been harvesting lettuce and a few carrots and strawberries.

The greenhouse was taken down two weeks ago so now I have room to move. I'll try to post some photos this weekend.

How is your garden growing?

Tomatoes For Tough Conditions

2011-04-12T22:37:00.000-07:00

Love Apple Farm sent out a newsletter listing out their
Top 10 Coastal Tomatoes
Love Apple Farm, 2317 Vine Hill Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95065
www.LoveAppleFarms.com

Our Picks for Tough Conditions

You may love living where you can feel the salty sea air in your face. You may enjoy living in the cool shady glens of the redwoods. But I can guarantee you, your tomatoes do not.

Tomatoes love sun, sun, and more sun. But you all knew that. What you may not know, are our recommended picks for tough growing conditions like excess fog, cold wind, or less than 4 hours of direct sunshine. Prime example: a rooftop garden in San Francisco. Is there any tomato that will grow there? Yep, we've got an app for that. A love apple that is.

You want to focus on small-fruiting tomatoes: cherry types and others just a bit bigger. Don't despair, you can have a joyous, riotous, full-flavored, every-color-of-the-rainbow, tomato garden if you choose carefully. By the by, these varieties will do well anywhere, so if you've got plenty of sunlight, try them yourself.

Top 10 Coastal Tomatoes

Black Prince
Jaune Flamme
Matina
Japanese Oxheart
Black Plum
Brandysweet Plum
OSU Purple
Siletz
Gajo de Melon
White Cherry

Of course, you can pick up any of these, and more great coastal-type tomato varieties at our plant sale, going on through the end of June.

Love Apple Farm is selling tomato plants every day of the week at our new retail greenhouse located at Knox Garden Box 46 El Pueblo Road in Scotts Valley. Folks, this is the biggest tomato plant sale in all of California! We're open from 9 to 5 on the weekends and 10 to 6 on the weekdays. We replenish stock every week, so we'll always have close to 100 different varieties in stock. We'll have knowledgeable tomato staffers to answer questions, and lots of hand-outs and information on battling the Tomato Russet Mite, staking, fertilizing, pruning, harvesting, and more!

I'll try and get a garden post done this weekend.

Sunday in the Garden Part 2 (Picture Post)

2011-03-31T21:19:00.000-07:00

Where has the time gone? I thought I better get Part 2 posted before another weekend passed. This post is just some photos I took last Sunday. As always click on the photos for a larger view.

These are the carrots I started in the greenhouse and transplanted into bed 2

The carrot stocks look really healthy.

It won't be too much longer and I will be harvesting carrots.

Looking good!

I'm growing German Chamomile and Stevia for the first time this year. I picked a leaf off the Stevia to try and wow is it sweet. It tastes just like sugar. I'm going to dry a few leaves and grind them into powder and see how it tastes in my oatmeal.

The raspberries are starting to flower. I think my yield this year will be lower. I didn't have very many new canes come up. I think I should transplant them into a wider container to give them more room to spread out.

Strawberries are coming in.

I planted half a square in bed 4 with pole beans about 3 or 4 weeks ago and they are just coming up. This tells me it's a good time to plant the rest of the row.

Oregano seedlings.

Nectarine blooms. I didn't get around to spraying my tree. Last year it had a mild case of leaf curl. Chances are it will get it again.

Lettuce in bed 4. I will be able to start harvesting this weekend.

Looks like we might have a new neighbor. I don't know what kind of bird this is but they are so very cute. The pair of them were building a nest in my morning glory. I'm sure they thought this would be the perfect place until the rain stopped and I started gardening. They were a little upset with me every time I walked past the area. Not sure if they are going to stick around. I haven't see them in two days.

This Saturday I will be in the Haven garden with 6 or more teens that need to get their community service hours in before school lets out for the summer. It's a good thing the temperature will come down a bit for the weekend. It gets darned hot in that garden. It was 82 today and tomorrow should reach 80. Come Saturday it will drop to 65 for the weekend perfect for gardening at Haven.

Sunday in the Garden Part 1 (All About Tomatoes)

2011-03-28T21:38:00.000-07:00

Finally a day without rain and I took full advantage of it! I was out in the garden by 9am and didn't come back in until 3:30pm... well I did stop for lunch. On top of the to do list was getting the tomatoes potted up. I really let them go way too long. I hope I didn't stunt their growth by waiting so long. Time will tell.

As I was transplanting the tomatoes for the Haven garden I was having a debate with myself if I should go ahead and plant out my tomatoes. The weather is looking good for the next ten days and I think at this point it should continue to get better. I ended up compromising with myself and I planted 2 out of the four but made sure they would be well protected. I'll tell you the rest through photos.

Click on photos for a larger view.

Bed 1 will be the home of two Fox Cherry Red Tomatoes as well as two Black Beauty (Bush) Zucchini

This area gets sun most of the day but the evenings are still a bit cool. So I pulled out my 4x4 pop-up greenhouse. I had almost forgotten about this little gem.

4x4 pop-up greenhouse. Both sides open up or you can just open a netted window.

It's going to be a tight fit. I want to be able to to plant these as far back as possible so I can fit the two zucchinis in the bed as well.

Before I show you how the tomatoes look in the greenhouse let me give you a lesson on what not to do with tomatoes and what to do.

Do not let your tomatoes (or any transplants) get root-bound. This plant should have been potted up or planted in the garden at least two weeks ago.

Before planting I gently pulled the roots apart.

When planting tomatoes you can plant them deeper then the root ball. The plant will push out more roots along the stem. In this case I'm going to plant this one at least 4 inches deeper than the top of the root ball. Before doing this I must trim off the lower leaves.

If you click on this photo you will see where I made my cuts. At this point I also remove all the "suckers" see circled area for an example. Only remove suckers on indeterminate tomato plants.

Click on the photo for a larger view. Here you can see how deep I planted this plant and where I removed the leaves.

Once this tomato was planted I could see that one set of leaves were touching the ground. I removed these as well to keep them from getting eaten and/or diseased.

Plants are in and are still a bit tall for the space so I opened the back door and clamped it to the trellis. The tomatoes were watered with a solution of rain water with seaweed extract and fish emulsion.

Since this bed is now a mini greenhouse I planted two Black Beauty seeds to see if I could direct sow them. I also planted two in the greenhouse on the heat mat just in case.

The other two tomatoes, one Jujube Cherry and one Roma were potted up and placed in the mini greenhouse until I can plant them into their beds in the next two weeks.

All tucked in for the night.

The tomatoes for the Haven garden are ready to be planted.

Rainwater

2011-03-25T20:24:00.000-07:00

Spiderjohn asked "Liisa, do you collect rainwater?"

My answer: Hi Spiderjohn, I don't have a "real" setup but do put buckets around the shed to collect what I can. I cannot collect water off the roof of the house because it is a rubber roof painted white. The water is not what I would call safe. The little that I do collect is used to water my seed starts and anything left over is used in the beds until it runs out. I would love to have a setup just not sure I have the space for it... but I keep thinking about it.

With all the rain we have had the last two weeks I really wish I did have a rainwater collection setup. I'm going to have to figure something out. Just this week alone I think I could have easily collected 100 gallons maybe more with the right setup and that is just off the 10 x12 "man cave" (shed).

The photos below are of the current setup.

Buckets collecting rainwater off the shed.

35 gallon trash barrel. This is where I store the water from the buckets.

Future home of water storage?

What do you use for rainwater storage?

Catching Up

2011-03-19T21:53:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I continued working on my never ending water project. I now have soaker hoses in beds 3 and 4. Not that I need them with all the rain we have been having this week. But there will be a time in the near future that I will be happy I took the time to get the yard "hooked up". This will save me lots of time this summer and I will not need to rely on family to come over to water when I'm on vacation. My son was really happy to see me put the water lines in... as he said to me " it took me 45 mins to an hour to water your garden every other day when you were away". Ha ha! Tell me about it!

I still have more to do to get everything in the yard "hooked up". Bed 2 needs soaker hoses added to it. It currently had over head sprinklers. Beds 1, 5 and 6 still need water lines as well as all the potted plants. The photos below are of bed 4 with the soaker hoses.

Click on photos for a larger view

Square foot garden bed with water lines

The two tools I could not live without during this project...

Hose hole punches

If you are thinking about adding water lines to your beds I was doing some research on line and came across this video from the Garden Girl Patty Moreno on how to install a drip irrigation system. Which I found helpful even though I'm working with an existing sprinkler system.

On Thursday (March 17th) I about scared myself to death. I was working from home and about 9:00am the sun was shining on the patio so I thought I would take the tomato and cucumber seedlings out of the greenhouse and give them a little morning sun. So out they came and I went back to work. I walked by the window about 10:00am and looked at the cucumbers and saw this....

Oh no! what have I done! I've killed all my cucumber starts! So what was it.... was it too much sun? No it was cool out... that's it... it was too cold and a bit too windy... I moved the cucumbers back into the greenhouse and gave them some water. After about an hour they came back. Boy was I lucky!

The tomatoes had no problems with the cool air and wind. In the photo below you can see some blooms on this cherry tomato.

I really should pot these up one more time before they go out into the garden.

Tomato starts

Even though the weather has been cool the bok choy and pak choy is already starting to bolt. I will need to pull them as soon as it stops raining long enough for me to get out into the garden.

The carrots that I started in the greenhouse are doing so well. Who said you can't start carrot seeds indoors and transplant them out into the garden?

The sweet and hot peppers are doing much better than I thought they would in this cool weather. They have been off the heat mats for about three weeks now.

The raspberries seemed to have sprouted overnight.

And the nectarine is in full bloom.

The first apple leaf...

And finally the sweet potatoes. They are rooting very well. I updated my Sweet Potato post with some new photos. Scroll to the bottom of the post for the update.

As I finish up this post the winds are started to pickup and the rain is coming down. Be sure to check out my post on the hail storm we had this morning. Here is the link if you missed it.... Hail post

That's it for now. Happy First day of Spring!

What's Next?

2011-03-19T11:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday March 18th around 11:00am the San Mateo County coastline was on a tornado watch. Really? On the California Coast?
This morning around 2:30am thunder woke me up.
3:00am the sound of rain turned into the sound of someone dropping BB's on the roof. I get up to go see what's going on and this is what I found when I opened the front door.....

Click on photo for a larger view

That's right hail. Not just a little hail but a lot of hail. I can honestly say in the almost 50 years that I have lived in the Bay Area I have never seen this much hail come down and stick.

The four photos below were all taken between 3:15 and 3:30am. Click on the photos for a larger view.

Bed 2

Beds 3 and 4

At first light I went out to see how the garden looked not thinking we would still have hail on the ground but we did. These next few photos were taken just after 7:00am

View from the roof

The only real damage that I found was my banana tree has been shredded.

Banana tree

So what's next? The weather prediction for the rest of the weekend. Afternoon thunder showers which is very rare for us in this area. Late tonight rain with a high wind watch through tomorrow afternoon. Winter is just not going to let go.

The Long Awaited Sweet Potato Post

2011-03-12T23:40:00.000-08:00

I see I have picked up two new followers. Welcome and thanks for following.

To those of you who have been waiting for this post I apologize for the delay.

The two photos below are the sweet potatoes that I found sprouting in my pantry. These photos were taken on Feb 02. For a larger view click on the photos.

I placed each sweet potato into a glass of water to root and continue to grow. Be sure to keep an eye on the water level during this time.

A month later I had several sprouts that were ready for potting.

March 06 2011

March 6 2011 root ball

There were a few sprouts growing from below the water line. I was able to remove the sprout with the roots intact.

To remove a sprout place your fingers at the end of the sprout closest to the potato and twist until it breaks off.

Once removed pinch off some of the lower leaves to give you more stem to plant into the soil.

Sprout before lower leaves are removed.

Sprout after lower leaves are removed.

Sprout ready for planting

Cover stem with soil and water well.

It is not unusual to see some wilting once planted. Keep the soil moist to encourage root growth.

I was able to pull a total of 16 sprouts from the 5 potatoes.

I kept some of the sprouts on the potatoes to continue to grow just in case I lose a few during the rooting process.

The photos below are one week after planting the sprouts into the soil. So far I only have one sprout that is showing signs of stress.

March 12 2011

The rest of the sprouts seem to be doing well.

March 12 2011

Sweet potatoes like full sun and warm temperatures so be sure to keep them in a warm and sunny location until you can plant them into your garden. I hope you found this post helpful.

Update: March 19 2011

It's been seven days since I planted the sweet potato slips into pots. They are all rooting now and are putting on new growth. In the photos below you can see the roots. They look strong and healthy.

Click on photos for a larger view.

The slip below is the plant that was showing some transplant stress. It made it through the rooting process and is even putting on new growth.

I will have more than enough slips for my garden and for the Haven Family Garden.

Grow Biointensive Videos

2011-03-10T20:23:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I have been fighting a bad sinus infection for the past week and half. While I have been in bed resting today I made my way over to Root Simple where they have posted a great video on the biointensive method of gardening. Well worth the time... go check it out.

I'll try and get to my blogging this weekend.

Weather

2011-02-24T20:16:00.000-08:00

We are still on track to get a little snow in our area. Not sure that we will see snow in the garden but there is a good chance we will get some in our local foothills.

Tonight	Tomorrow	Tomorrow Night

Rain	Rain	Rain / Snow Showers
41°	50°	32°
Low	High	Low
Chance of Rain: 70%	Chance of Rain: 70%	Chance of Precip: 50%
Wind: WSW at 7 mph	Wind: WNW at 10 mph	Wind: NW at 8 mph

In any case I'm not taking any chances. I have brought the seedlings into the house as well as the banana and the avocado.

I'll Believe It When I See It and Other News

2011-02-22T19:56:00.000-08:00

Issued by The National Weather Service
San Francisco/Monterey, CA
3:38 pm PST, Tue., Feb. 22, 2011

... COLD STORM SYSTEM TO IMPACT OUR AREA STARTING ON THURSDAY...

... SNOW LEVELS EXPECTED TO DROP CLOSE TO SEA LEVEL BY FRIDAY NIGHT...

AFTER A QUIET WEATHER DAY TODAY AND WEDNESDAY... A RETURN TO COLD WINTRY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE SAN FRANCISCO AND MONTEREY BAY REGION BY THURSDAY. A STRONG STORM SYSTEM CURRENTLY IN CANADA WILL DIVE TO THE SOUTHEAST AND BE NEAR THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA FRIDAY NIGHT. AHEAD OF THE LOW... RAINFALL WILL SPREAD ACROSS OUR AREA STARTING THURSDAY AND CONTINUING INTO FRIDAY. RAINFALL AMOUNTS COULD EXCEED HALF AN INCH FOR CITIES WITH MORE THAN AN INCH POSSIBLE FOR HIGHER ELEVATIONS. SNOW LEVELS WILL DROP THROUGH THE DAY AND BE UNDER 1500 FEET FOR MOST OF SAN FRANCISCO BAY AND BETWEEN 2000 AND 2500 FEET ON FRIDAY. SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE FOR LOCAL MOUNTAIN RANGES. EVEN COLDER AIR WILL CONTINUE TO FILTER IN THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT WITH SNOW LEVELS POTENTIALLY DROPPING DOWN TO SEA LEVEL.

We brought the banana in the house tonight just in case and if the temps really do drop that low all the seedlings in the greenhouse will need to come in as well.

In Other News

If you have been following the story on the Dervaes Family claiming to have trademarked the terms Urban Homestead and Urban Homesteading... well it made our local paper today. You can read about it on line at SFGate. You can also keep up on this story on Facebook at Take Back Urban Home-steading(s)

Snow... Really!

Nice Relaxing Long Weekend At My Urban Homestead

2011-02-21T21:46:00.000-08:00

I went into this weekend not feeling very well. I felt like I'd been coming down with a cold all week but it never really developed. So the plan was to sleep in and rest as much as possible. I kept things in slow mode all weekend but seem to have gotten a lot done. Outside of grocery shopping, some lite housework and getting in a much needed workout I was able to get a few things completed in the garden after the rain stopped.

Since it rained all day Saturday this was a good day to sleep in and workout. After lunch I headed out to the greenhouse and brought some seedlings into the kitchen to transplant into bigger pots.

Cucumbers

Basil and Oregano

After Transplanting

On Sunday I was able to get outside for a bit. I have been wanting to give back some space in front of sweet husband's man cave. My gardening stuff had been taking over the area. This is what it looked like before...

And this is after. I still have a little work to do. The weber will be moved to a more protected area and the rest of planters and watering can still need to be moved. The potting bench was moved to the side yard at the front of the house in a more decorative capacity. I find I don't really use it much since I do more vegetable gardening now.

I also took some photos around the garden. About a week ago when I was throwing some kitchen scraps into the compost bin I noticed something sprouting out of the sides. If you guessed potatoes you would be right. After I harvested all my potatoes last year I had some damaged ones I threw into the compost knowing quite well that they may sprout. I had even seen evidence of this the last time I turned the compost but thought if I keep disturbing them with my turning that they would give up and decompose. Well I guess I'm not turning the compost enough...

There is no sun in this area at this time of year so I'm really surprised they look so good. Will be interesting to see what I find the next time I turn it.

The morning glory made it through the winter and is putting out some new growth. I will need to get up there and move the vines onto the trellis.

The carrots in bed 3 transplanted well from the cell packs. This is my second sowing. I planted 4 squares and I will plant another 4 squares in bed 4 in about 3 or 4 weeks. If you click on the photo to enlarge you will be able to see them better.

I didn't think the lettuce in bed 4 was going to make it through the rain. I was raining pretty hard there for a while. But it looks like they will be OK. The lettuce in bed 2 was not looking so well. I think they will get a chance to recover before the next rain due on Thursday.

The greenhouse is full of life. The tomatoes will be potted up one more time before they are moved out into the garden.

New raspberry canes are coming up.

and so are the snow pea and sugar snap peas.

I'm even getting some blooms on the strawberries.

My next post will be on potting the sweet potato slips.

A Garden Insectary

2011-02-18T20:45:00.000-08:00

A new friend of mine Debbie Ballentine owner of Native Heart Landscapes sent me a link for Natural Pest Control. I will be telling you more about Debbie in an up coming blog post for the Haven Garden. But until then I hope you find this link useful.

In My Garden

Last weekend I took down one of the greenhouses to make room for my potted fruit trees. Removing the greenhouse also allows the small strawberry bed access to more sun.

Banana, Blueberries, Avocado and Nectarine

The Day Avocado put on a lot of new growth over the Winter. Two more years and I should have my first avocado.

The planting grids have been installed in beds 3 and 4.

I planted 4 squares of carrots in bed 3 and in bed 4 I planted 4 squares of lettuce, 3 broccoli and 2 cauliflower.

Bed 2 is looking good.

Carrots

Spring Onions

Pak Choy

In the Greenhouse the seedlings are doing very well. I will need to transplant the tomatoes into bigger pots soon.

Peppers and tomatoes

Cucumbers and tomatoes

That's it for now. If we get a break in the rain tomorrow you can find me in the garden.

It's February Right?

2011-02-07T21:17:00.000-08:00

To all my Gardening Friends up North, please forgive me....

What a beautiful weekend with temperatures reaching into the 70's it is hard to believe it's still February. I spent Saturday morning in the Haven garden and the rest of the day in mine.

Saturday

The main project for this weekend was moving the arch away from bed 3 to give me a little more space to get to the back of the bed. This meant removing the strawberry bed linked to bed 5. The berries are not doing very well in this area so they and the bed were removed so the arch could be moved over giving me more room. The photos below are the progression of the project. Click on the photos for a larger view.

Area to be reworked.

The wall comes down.

Repositioned the end wall of bed 5.

Moved the arch to give me more room at the end of bed 3.

Added some wood chips.

I think I will grow some cucumbers or vining squash in the new area.

Beds 2 and 5

The carrots that I started in cell packs and transplanted into bed 2 are doing so well. So well in fact I started a second sowing for bed 3. This might be my best carrot year to date.

Carrots in bed 2

The pak choy is staring to take shape. This is the first time I have tried to grow pak choy and am pleased at how easy they are to grow.

Pak Choy

Sunday

Sunday was all about seedlings. I potted up peppers and cucumbers. Fed them as well as the tomatoes with a weak solution of fish emulsion.

Cucumbers

Spinach

Lettuce

Tomatoes and Cucumbers

Peppers

After tending to the seedings I planted the onion sets in bed 4 but first I added soaker hoses to the row.

Random photos from the weekend

Sleeping Angel

Lemons

Blueberry Blooms

Sunset 02/05/2011

I Have a Choice!

2011-02-04T21:32:00.000-08:00

Dear Followers,

There are few things that I am passionate about... and the ability to choose whether I eat organic or genetically modified food is one.

If you care at all about having a CHOICE in the foods you eat I beg you to click on this link and take action today!
I did.. will you!?

Organic Trade Association

Please repost this if you feel the same way I do about the foods we eat!

Garden News:

I have a lot on my to do list this weekend... Stay tuned...

Lots of Seed Starting

2011-02-02T20:43:00.000-08:00

I've started most of my seeds this past weekend for the Spring and Summer garden. Mostly lettuce, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and a second planting of carrots. I'm having much better luck starting my carrot seeds in starter cells than sowing seeds directly in the beds, although I will do some direct sowing later in the season. In a few weeks I will be starting Summer squash for my garden and squash and melons for the Haven garden. It's a good thing I have two greenhouses this year. One for starting seeds and one for hardening off.

Tomato Seedling

Tomatoes for both my garden and the Haven garden

I also spent some time installing the PVC hoops and bird netting on bed 2. Go ahead squirrels just try and get in there now!

Bed 2

Do you know what these are going to be used for?

Nope not trellises.

Square foot grids. Sweet Husband made me a set for beds 2, 3 and 4.

This will be much better than the string I used last year. These grids can be removed which makes it easier to clean and add compost to the beds in the Fall. I can also remove them once the bed is planted... but don't tell Mel!

Tonight I pulled my sweet potatoes out of the pantry to use them for growing slips. They've got a good head start without my help.

Some of these slips will be pulled off the potato and planted in pots this weekend

Very alien like

This is the same potato I used for slips last year. Once I pulled off the slips I just left it in the glass of water. I cut back the old stems and now there are new ones forming.

That's it for my garden. There is lots going on in the Haven garden in the coming days. I'll be updating the Haven blog tomorrow. Be sure to stop by.

I'll be in the Garden

2011-01-28T21:06:00.000-08:00

Hi All! I just updated the Haven Garden Blog. Go have a look and post a comment. If you have not yet signed up to be a follower be sure to do that as well. I'll be out there tomorrow morning and then in my garden in the afternoon. So much to do! Looks like we are in for a little rain on Sunday... yay! I need some more rain water for my seedlings... I just ran out today.

Really!

2011-01-20T21:04:00.000-08:00

And just when you thought there is no possible way this girl can fit one more thing into that garden of hers....

On my way home from work yesterday I stopped at Common Ground Organic Garden Supply and Education Center to pick up two blueberry bushes. I will be growing two low chill varieties, one called Southmoon and the other Misty. They will be grown in containers. For more info on how to grow blueberries in containers check out Dave Wilson Nursery.

Misty: Southern Highbush — Early. In the west, Misty is quite vigorous, growing very well both on the coast and in the inland heat. This excellent fruit does well in areas with chilling as low as 150 hours and all areas with mild winters and hot summers.

Southmoon: Southern Highbush — Exceptional berries with superb flavor. Florida native with vigorous, upright character. Performs well in California both inland and coastal. Prefers light sandy soils. Chilling requirements are estimated to be between 200 and 300 hours.

A Day Off

2011-01-17T21:11:00.000-08:00

I had the day off from work today and was looking forward to working in the garden. So up and out of bed by 7:00 and this is what I saw.... Fog... very dense fog...

What happened to the sunny day that was forecast?

The sun did finally burn off the fog about 1:00 this afternoon and guess what I did after lunch?

Bed 1 was my focus today. I finished setting up the water line.

Overhead sprinklers to start with. Once the seedlings are a little bigger I will add soaker hoses .
The sprinklers have an on and off switch so I can control what area of the bed is watered.

After making sure everything was in working order it was time to do some transplanting.

Testing the watering system.

I planted the carrots, the bok and pak choy.

Pak Choy and Bok Choy

I hope the carrots don't go into shock from transplanting the seedlings I started in the greenhouse. This is the first time I'm trying this method.

Carrots

I also completed the water lines in bed 3. Now beds 2, 3 and 4 are all ready to be set on the timer.

In other gardening news the lettuce seeds I planted in bed 2 are starting to sprout. In the greenhouse all the tomatoes have sprouted. I'm still waiting for the peppers. I know most of you are thinking it's way too early to start pepper seeds. In our area it is time to indoor sow peppers and in a few weeks or so it will be time for the tomatoes. Yes I did get a jump on the tomatoes but I have never had a problem starting this early and the plants are nice and big by the time I plant them in the garden. I will also be starting my cucumbers and squash seeds next weekend. I picked up my red onion sets today and will plant them next weekend as well. I also need to get started on my sweet potato slips. I have a few sweet potatoes in the pantry that have started to sprout so I just need to put them in a glass of water.

For more information on starting peppers here in the Bay Area check out this weeks Love Apple Farm newsletter "Tip of the Week".

Playing in the Garden

2011-01-09T20:51:00.000-08:00

Very productive day in the garden today. I started by re-potting the raspberry canes. The soil line had dropped by about 4 inches in the pot. I also cut the old canes off and cut back the weaker ones. I think it will be much happier this growing season.

In the green house I planted tomato seeds for both my garden and the Haven garden as well as hot peppers and sweet peppers.

Tomatoes and Peppers

Most of the carrot seeds have sprouted. I pulled them off the heat mat and will give them a few more days in the green house before I move them to bed 2.

Carrots

I also pulled the bok choy, pak choy, onions and dill off the heat mat. The choy was starting to get leggy. Removing it from the heat it should slow their growth down a bit.

Bok and Pak Choy, Onions and Dill

I'm trying a Winter sowing experiment in part of bed two. I planted cilantro, lettuce and spinach seeds in the back half of the bed. I did not water them since we will get some rain this week. I'm going to let nature do it's thing and keep notes on when the seeds sprout. Bed 2 is only getting about three hours of sun so it will be interesting to see how they do.

Bed 2

I really miss my Square Foot grid. I had to lay some stakes down and used the planting template I bought from Ribbit over at The Corner Yard. I need to come up with a removable grid.

Weekend Project Part 2

2011-01-08T20:05:00.000-08:00

All done with the garden chores. Below are the "after" photos. See my first post today for the "before" photos.

Bed 2 on the left. Bed 5 on the right next to the strawberries.

I will be planting some vining Summer squash on the arch

(in the two little black patches).

View from the back of the garden next to the potato bins.

View from the compost bin.

Bed 3. I still need to get the water line put in.

Bed 4 next to the compost area.

So tell me, what is your favorite mulch to use in your vegetable garden around your plants to keep in the moisture?

Weekend Project

2011-01-08T13:50:00.000-08:00

Checking the weather looks like we will be in for some more rain next week. That makes this weekend the perfect time to get some work done around the yard. This morning we went to Lyngso our local garden supply yard and pickup a few things...

1 yard of Lyngso Vegetable blend

3 bags of Diestel Structured Compost (Turkey poo)

3 bags of Vermi Green Compost (lots of good stuff)

8 bags Wood Chips

Bed 2 will get most of the Lyngso Vegetable Blend and a top dressing of the compost.

Bed 2 before

Beds 3 and 4 will also get a top dressing of compost. I won't need to add much to these beds. I had already added home made compost to them two weeks ago.

All of the pathways will get a new layer of wood chips. Bed 2 may get some pak choy and carrots planted in them this weekend as well. My seeds have started to sprout and since they are both cool weather crops no harm in getting them into the garden from the cold frame.

I'll post after photos so you can see the results.

Non Garden Post

2011-01-06T21:08:00.000-08:00

I just finished watching the Prophets of Doom on the History Channel.

Brilliant!

http://www.history.com/schedule/1/5/2011

Today's world has troubles unique to its time in history, from the global financial crisis to technological meltdowns to full scale, computerized global war. Observing the convergence of such events, contemporary prophets have begun to emerge from obscurity to suggest that these conditions might be signs of the demise of the modern world. These men are historians as well, using all manner of information and patterns from the past to provide context for where we are going. Their predictions interpret the current state of affairs in our world as evidence that the America we know may come to an end. The men proposing these ideas are not crackpots living on the streets of New York; they are intelligent, learned men who come armed with the evidence to back up their claims.

I now return you back to your local ~~programing~~ garden.....

We Have Sprouts

2011-01-04T20:25:00.000-08:00

When I got home from work today I made my way out to the greenhouse to check on things and guess what sprouted out of the carrots, onions, pak choy, bok choy, chamomile, stevia and dill seeds I planted on Jan 1st?

I'll wait.......

If you guessed the pak choy and the bok choy then you would be correct. This is the first time I'm growing both of these greens and I'm very excited to see how they do.

This coming weekend I need to fill bed 2 with soil and get it ready for lettuce and carrot seeds. I have about three hours of sun in that bed with a little more each day as we move toward Spring... which is only 12 weeks away. Think about it most of you (living outside of Calif.) are just weeks way from staring some of your Spring crop seeds (indoors) and Summer crops are just around the corner. By the time you get your seed order placed and delivered it will be time :-)

Happy Dreaming of your 2011 Garden

Happy New Year Everyone

2011-01-01T21:46:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year Everyone!

I spent some time in the greenhouse today planting some carrot, onion, pak choy, bok choy, chamomile, stevia and dill seeds.

Sweet Husband sneaking a photo of me in the greenhouse

Seed starting trays

Below is a photo of the January garden from the roof. In just a few months these beds will be full of color.

View from the roof

If you have been following my blog for the past two years you know I always come up with some kind of a big project for the season. When the new fence was installed over the summer we had to take down the shades. We are not planning on putting them back up because we don't think the new fence can handle it. So I will need to come up with something to shade the beds when the summer temps get too hot for the garden. I know what you are thinking as you look at the photo above... just put shade cloth over the hoops. Yes I could do that but I'm not going to. I think I have a better idea that will make it easier for me to get into the beds without having to remove the shade cloth every time I need to harvest.

Last Post for 2010

2010-12-31T21:30:00.000-08:00

The lights are all setup in the greenhouse and I covered the shelves with reflective emergency blankets to keep in the heat and light. I'm all ready to start my seeds. 2011 growing season here I come!

As for bed 3 I started the "water" project yesterday but it started to get so cold out I had to come in. I'll try and get it completed this weekend.

I wish you all a Happy and Healthy New Year

Bed 4 - Strawberries - Greenhouse

2010-12-28T21:18:00.000-08:00

I finished installing the water line in bed 4 today. I just need to add the drip lines once I know what I'm going to plant in this bed. I still need to install the water line in bed 3. That one will take some thought as the water source is about two feet from the bed unlike beds 2 and 4 which were right next to the beds.

Bed 4

I transplanted some of my strawberries into the 2x3 foot bed next to the kitchen and covered them with bird netting to keep the squirrels and mice out.

New Strawberry Bed

We were able to get the second greenhouse setup right before the next rain storm hit this afternoon.

Greenhouse

Sweet Husband built two sets of shelves for me while I was working on bed 4. All I need to do now is setup the lights and I will be ready to start my seeds.

Inside second greenhouse

Tomorrow I hope to get bed 3 done and install the lights in the greenhouse.

Bed 1 Clean Up

2010-12-26T20:06:00.000-08:00

The holidays are behind us and the 2011 growing season is right around the corner. I spent the day out in the sun pulling the tomato plants out of bed 1. Below are before and after photos.

Bed 1 before

Bed 1 after

Now I need to figure out what I'm going to plant in there. I was thinking maybe summer squash.

With this week off on vacation I'm going to get my popup greenhouse setup for seed starting. I will also finish adding water lines into the beds and turning the compost bin. All weather permitting.

In other garden news the avocado tree is doing very well and is putting out a lot of new growth.

Avocado

The banana has also been putting on new growth. This spring I will try to separate two of the pups from the mother plant and re-pot them into their own containers. I'm hoping this will help the mother fruit this next summer.

Banana

The ginger on the other hand is not doing as well. I'm hoping it will put out new shoots once the weather warms up.

Ginger

That is it for now.. Need to go plan my 2011 garden :-)

Greenhouse and Update on Water Project

2010-11-22T13:50:00.000-08:00

The weather sure has gotten cold for our area of California. Temperatures dipping down to 30's and 40's this week for our lows and only a high of 60 later this week. We are also getting much needed rain.

Because of the low temperatures I have pulled out the popup greenhouse a little earlier then the last two years, not for seed starting but to protect the banana and avocado trees as well as the ginger. The past two years the banana has come inside for the winter but it is getting too big for my little living room and it had a bad case of mites last year.

While I was putting up the green house I was wondering what I was going to do with the trees once I needed the room to start my seeds. Well something would come to me when the time was right.

Plenty of room for the trees and I still have room for the rosemary and mint .

On Sunday I had to make a run to OSH (Orchard Supply Hardware). I always take a walk through the garden area even if I don't need anything just to see what's new. Much to my surprise I saw a popup green house just like the one I have now for $99.95. This is the first time I have ever seen them in a store let alone for that price. I bought mine on line three years ago and paid more than $100.00. So I did some checking on line this morning to see what they are going for and they are ranging from $129.00 on sale to $179.99. Can you say early Christmas present. Sweet Husband is off the hook for going Christmas present shopping for me this year. This is all I need and want. Oh there is one more thing I need but it's only a $10.00 item and it's for the kitchen. He gets off easy this year in the gift giving dept :-)

If you are looking for a good small (6'x6') greenhouse I can recommend this one. Easy to setup and easy to store away.

Water Project Update

With my schedule and the weather I have not been able to complete my project of adding water lines to bed 2. But I am far enough along to know that it's going to work out just as I had hoped. Here are a few photos.

Water line installed.

Ends capped for easy flushing.

I can add three different means of watering. Overhead for lettuce and carrot seeds, drip and soaker lines.

I tested the overhead sprinklers and was pleased with the results. I can't wait to finish all the beds. Watering next season will be much easier and free up some of my time.

New Bed

2010-11-06T20:50:00.000-07:00

Finally found some time to work on bed 2 today. I took apart the old bed on Oct 31st and today sweet husband made me a new bed to replace the old one.

Before bed size 9x3

All the wood was free and recycled. The redwood was left over from the new fence that was built over the summer. There is not enough to build the bed entirely out of redwood so the ends of the bed will be built using some of the wood from the old bed.

It didn't take much time to build the bed and it turned out so good.

Adding hardware cloth to the bottom of the bed was the most time consuming part of the project. But it was worth every minute to keep the moles out of the bed this spring.

The bed is now ready for me to install the water lines and soil. Would love to get that completed tomorrow but looks like it's going to rain all day.

After bed size 8x3

It's That Time of Year...

2010-10-27T21:24:00.000-07:00

... when I start thinking of new projects for the garden... and yes I have two maybe three so far.
One I already mentioned.. adding water lines to all the beds. I have picked up a few supplies to test out the idea and it looks like it's going to work.... and while I was working out the water plan the second idea came to me. I will be reconfiguring bed 2. It is currently a 3x9 bed that is 8 inch high. I want to bring it down to 8x3 and add 6 inches of height to it. I may add a trellis to the end of it as well. Bring the bed down to 8 feet will give me a little more walking room to get to bed 5.

Bed 2 3x9

I'm hoping it will not rain Saturday so I can start taking apart the bed. I would love to knock this project out this weekend. I'll keep you posted.

Water and Seeds

2010-10-17T21:26:00.000-07:00

Water

I spent the weekend at a good friends house scrap booking. We both love to garden and every time I go over to Victoria's house she has something new to show me. Well this time was no different.

She has been wanting to put in some raised beds outside her kitchen door and the last time I was at her house we worked out a design. The area outside her kitchen is on a bit of a hill and she would need to terrace the beds and put in some stairs. Well much to her surprise when she arrived home from a two week vacation with her grand daughter her boyfriend Bill had built her beds. He took our idea as a starting point and came up with the most beautiful raised beds.

Beautiful raised beds

While taking a tour of the garden I noticed Bill had put water lines in all the beds. He is the Master of water. I have been wanting to get water lines into my raised beds for two years now but could not come up with an idea. I have sprinkler heads that I had capped off when I put the beds in and knew I could use them some how to bring water into the beds. I just couldn't see how until this weekend. I told Bill what I had to work with and he gave me a solution! My next project... WATER! I can't wait to get started and the best part, the water line is already on a timer!

Seeds

I'm sure most of you are familiar with Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds If not be sure to check them out. In June of 2009 they opened a store in Petaluma, California. Located in the historic Sonoma County National Bank building. The store is just one and a half hours from my house and guess what lucky girl gets to go to the new store on her Birthday this Wednesday? Yes that would be me!

Inside the Petaluma Seed Bank in Petaluma, California

I am so looking forward to the 2011 growing season!

Still here.....

2010-09-23T21:21:00.000-07:00

Hi All!

Nothing worth posting going on in my garden. I have however been working in the Haven House garden. I finally posted photos of the new raised beds that VISA built for us back in July. Be sure to go check it out at the
Haven House Garden blog

We have had two more groups come out to the garden in the past few weeks... I'll be posting photos soon so make sure to sign up as a follower so you don't miss any of my updates.

Happy Autumn

Yes I'm Still Around

2010-08-28T19:32:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have not been posting. Life has been busy and not much to report in the garden. Well... is that really true?... If this blog is to be a journal of my garden journey then I should be posting on how things are going this year.

Why there is not much to report is because we have not had much of a summer here in the Bay Area (CA) this year. The tomatoes are taking a long time to ripen as well as the bell peppers. Mildew hit the garden early and all the winter and summer squash is covered with it as well as the cucumbers. Speaking of cucumbers... compared to last year are non-existent....I did get a few. I did get a better crop of onions this year compared to last year and the pole beans were out of control. I've had to start freezing them cause we couldn't eat them fast enough.

Lets see anything else... oh yea... the squirrels have been relentless and the blue jays love my raspberries. I can't wait for next season! :-)

Haven Garden Project Blog Update

2010-08-04T20:33:00.000-07:00

Click on the link for a quick note on the Haven Blog

If you are following my progress over at Haven be sure to sign up as a follower so you don't miss anything.

Happy Gardening!

End of July Garden Review

2010-07-31T22:32:00.000-07:00

There is something about July where I just don't feel like posting. Same thing happened last year. I know it's not the heat because we are not having any. The temps have been in the 70's for the last two weeks.

The garden this year is not doing as well as I had hoped for. The cucumbers are only putting out one or two cucumbers at a time and the plants are really small. The mini bell peppers are loaded with fruit but are taking a long time to ripen (they're red and yellow). The full size bell peppers only have two or three per plant but are still pushing out blooms. The crookneck squash just can't seem to get the timing of male and female blooms right. I get all male or all female. I'm having to pick male blooms and put them in the refrigerator until I get female blooms and then hand pollinate (Thanks Granny).

As for the tomatoes, the brandywine has no flavor but I did hear they do better in areas with high humidity which we don't have. The Cherry and the Roma's on the other hand are doing well. Loads of fruit but are taking their sweet time ripening. Early potato yields were very low and the main season potato plants died off early. I haven't dug around to see if there are any potatoes in that bin. As for the mid season potatoes they seem to be doing better than the others. I'll let them go until Sept as I'm getting a second wave of vines and flowers on them. The sweet potatoes are looking good but what do I know, it's my first year growing them.

The acorn squash has one nine inch fruit on it and a few smaller ones. I don't think I will get more than three or four out if this one plant which is OK with me. Again my first year growing them. I think I will grow them again next year. Bush bean did OK but now that I have grown pole beans I don't think I will waste the space with bush beans. I'm harvesting one to two pounds of pole beans every two to three days with about 20 plants. I'm having to freeze them since there is just the two of us we can't eat through them fast enough. I'm giving away some to my sister and mother.

Garlic was a bust for me this year but my onions are bigger this year than last year. I still have not pulled them but will most likely do so tomorrow as they are not putting on any more size. There are onion fields not far from where I work. I can always tell when it's harvest time as the air is filled with the scent of onions. That time was about two or three weeks ago... I think :-)

Since the weather has been so cool I think I will try a late season sowing of lettuce. I will only have sun on my bed for another three months so I might as well give it a try. I have some carrots planted but think I will plant some more.

The Haven Garden is doing well and looking great. VISA had a team of volunteers build us four raised beds for the expanded garden I planned out earlier this year. As soon as VISA gives me permission to use the photos I took I will update the Haven Blog. If you have not yet signed up to be a follower be sure to stop by and do so. I have a few more plans I'd like to put in place but don't know if they will happen this year.

Below are some random photos I took on July 24th. Be sure to click on them for a larger view.

New Blog

2010-07-09T22:45:00.000-07:00

I've started a blog for the Haven House Garden project...
go check it out... click on the link below.

New Beginnings Organic Garden

The July Garden

2010-07-03T21:53:00.000-07:00

June gloom is over! We are four days into July with temps in the mid to upper 80's. We really are at the mercy of Mother Nature and I'm not the only gardener in my area feeling the pain of a late start to our growing season. When walking the dog the other day I stopped to talk to one of my neighbors who has turned not only their back yard into a vegetable garden but their front yard as well. We were comparing notes and she was relieved to know it wasn't just their garden that was getting off to a slow start. She like I have only been at this vegetable gardening thing for two years now. The first year is all about beginners luck but you still go into the second year feeling a little cocky... then Mother Nature flicks you in the back of the head. Yes Mother Nature I know you are in control and there is nothing I can do about it.

Up until just yesterday I had no male flowers on any of my zucchini or squash. I had to pick a male crookneck bloom from the Haven garden to bring home and hand pollinate five female blooms. Hey you do what you gotta do. This time last year I had already harvested over 10 pounds of cucumbers. Total so far this year 12.3 ounces!

All of the following photos were taken this weekend.

Click on photos for a larger view.

Garden view from the roof.
July 2, 2010

Photos below: Bed 1. The tomatoes are suffering a bit in the heat. I put up shade cloth to give them some relief.

Not the prettiest thing to look at but it works great. The tomatoes did much better today.

Photo below: Brandywine tomato. The only disappointment with the tomatoes is the brandywine. One plant has two tomatoes and the other has nine. I'm thinking the poor performance is due to the weather.

Photo below: The roma's on the other hand are putting out tomatoes like crazy. Two plants and they both have over twenty tomatoes with more on the way.

Photo below: Cherry tomatoes. This photo was taken on Friday. I have still not picked this seemingly ripe tomato and it continues to ripen. It just keeps getting deeper in color. I'm thinking the lesson here is patience. When you think it's ready to pick... give it a day or two more.

Photo below bed 2: I wasn't sure what to do with this bed after I pulled the broccoli. I already had cucumbers planted so I put in one upright raven zucchini and two butternut squash.

Photo's below: English cucumber and baby cucumber.

Photo below: The raven zucchini is putting out both male and female blooms.

Photo below: I also gave bed 2 some shade. The cucumbers and lettuce seem much happier now.

Photo below: Between beds 1 and 2 is an arch with pole beans growing on it.

Photo's below: Bed 2

Photo below: Unlike the tomatoes the peppers are loving the heat.

Photo below: Just in case you were wondering how I'm still growing lettuce and carrots in this heat... Yes that is right, shade cloth. I'll pull the rest of the lettuce tomorrow morning.

Photo below: Moving on to bed 4...

Photo below: I was going to pull all the onions this weekend but noticed some of them were still putting some size. So again patience is the word of the day.

Photo Below: Bed 4 pole beans. I'm picking beans every other day from both the bush beans and pole beans.

Photos below: Bed 5 is planted with one acorn squash, one cucumber and three sweet potato. The acorn squash is putting out a lot of female blooms. I'm hoping to see male blooms soon.

Photo below: Sweet potatoes.

Photo Below: My June bearing strawberries didn't do much in June but are going crazy in July.

Photo below: In bed 6 I planted my first ever seed mats of carrots. I also made lettuce seed mats for later this summer.

Photo below: Seed mats covered and watered...

...shaded and protected from the squirrels.

Photo Below: Fun with onions. I put this next to one of the patio chairs... and yes I did... when my sweet husband was outside I walked out and screamed snake! He jumped! LOL I waited all day to do that.
Oh come on it was funny :-)

Photo below: Friday's harvest of pole and bush beans, strawberries and the last of the raspberries .

Hope you all had a wonderful Independence Day!