In the Garden

If You Only Had One Choice...

2010-12-14T19:24:00.000-08:00

I've been giving serious thought to trees lately. Just a little pondering on which tree I'd choose if I had to recommend only one.

Which tree must YOU have and simply could not do without?

What's the most essential tree someone would have to have if they could only have one tree? Also wondered just what I'd do if I could only take one of the thirty-some-odd trees that's currently in my yard with me to some far off land ~ just which one would I take?

Instantly, my thought was to choose one of the lemon trees. Of course a lemon tree! I'm always reaching for a lemon for one reason or another. Either to soothe my throat during cold spells, in the summer for a refreshing dose of lemonade and every day for a little zest in the salad dressing or to make some other memorable dish.

Then I thought about my childhood and recalled how lemons were completely non-essential. I immediately got a sense of betrayal as I wouldn't be who I am today without the fresh taste of a sweet and juicy Washington Navel orange or an intensely flavorful and incredibly petite Satsuma tangerine. How could I ever think of recommending a lemon over a tangerine or that incredibly giving tree that sat practically at my parents back door giving me fruit anytime and every time I desired?

That tree was planted at my birth and seemed to enjoy watching me grow up: providing shade during the summer, a hideaway from friends as we played hide-and-go-seek, giving the most bold flavor of orange juice that would run down my tiny little hands as I'd smash my face into half a circle, savoring every ounce juice. It provided leaves for my art projects and I recall being so enthralled how deep green and shiny the leaves were and the subsequent miracle of fruit it produced. I'd hug the tree and marvel at how I couldn't get my arms around the circumference of it. There was a gentleness about that green giant. The bark seemed cool in the summer and always provided warmth in the winter. My dog would chase me back and forth around that tree and it always seemed to enjoy those youthful trivialities. That was the giving tree.

Our giving orange tree was partners with a Satsuma tangerine that produced the most deliciously perfect petite fruit imaginable. Peeling the fruit was always so much fun as it would produce this effervescence which would instantly roll up my nose and contained an intense fragrance of tangerine - which in case you've never had one - is totally different from that of an orange.

The tangerine tree was actually not part of my parents garden but originated in the garden of a neighbor on a completely different block, in the rear of the yard and was so large it cascaded over a massive fence and a privately enclosed gazebo type of structure which was on my parents property. This tree would produce so many fruit they would fall on the top of the gazebo and then roll off the roof and onto the ground in a lattice enclosed patio. And being the impatient little grub I was, once they started falling, I'd get my father's ladder, prop it against the gazebo, climb the structure and make my way to the end of the roof and have a picking party. I'd pick as many as I could without breaking my neck and without ever figuring out how I was going to get those tangerines off the roof and back to that old ladder. Lord only knows why I never broke a leg as that was not the sturdiest ladder in the world and its rickety structure only barely reached the top of the roof.

I'm making myself dizzy just reliving this.

I would be so overcome with the hunt for obtaining the fruit that I would forget how much I really wasn't much of a climber but the fruit was absolutely worth every bit of risk. Year after year after year. I'd abscond with tangerines and bring them from one part of the yard to the other part and sit and eat those tangerines under the big green giant where it provided comfort and a nice cool bit of shade out of the hot sun.

Yep, I'd have to recommend an orange tree. That was my real life giving tree. What a lucky little girl I was.

I'd really like to know what tree you couldn't do without. Any fond memories or amazing tastes that are absolutely essential when you consider the type of fruit you would consider a must?

Anyone with children? Have you shared the book The Giving Tree? As simple as it is, it's a wonderful, delightful and almost spiritual little book that I not only recommend but purchase for everyone I know who has a child and does not have that book! It's one of those must reads for any child.

Wonderful Sound of Water Features

2010-12-12T21:58:00.000-08:00

I love water features in the garden. Want to shut me up? Just put me in front of a water feature like this fountain.

Black Kabouli Garbanzo Beans

2010-12-04T20:15:00.000-08:00

This year was to be a bit of an adventure in the garden so I added to the seed collection by purchasing a series of unique items. One such item was the Black Kabouli Garbanzo bean. Now, I'm a relatively adventurous eater and really love international cuisine but the truth is I had no idea what on earth I was going to do with these beans once harvested. They're still growing in the garden so thankfully, I do have a bit of time before I have to make a decision but at this point, I may be limited to some black hummus...and I'm not sure how that's going to come across at the dinner table.

Black Kabouli garbanzo seedlings before transplanting

These beans are said to have been cultivated near the fertile crescent over 6,000 years ago around. This heirloom is brought to us from Afghanistan (by way of Seeds of Change for me). They're noted as very drought tolerant plants and thus far have proven to be quite vigorous growers. As with other garbanzos, these beans are high in protein.

The black seeds look almost like withered rocks. Garbanzo beans, chickpeas and Egyptian peas are all the same. They're said to range in a variety of colors from black, green, red and brown. When doing a bit of research I was struck by the amount of nutrition packed inside of these little interesting legumes - rich with manganese, folate, fiber, tryptopha, protein, calcium, phosphorous and iron.

Are they one of the oldest cultivated beans? Possibly as they were originally cultivated in the middle east but are now readily available in India and Ethiopia.

Plant Profile: Black Kabouli Bean
Type: Bush
Days to Maturity: 105
Preference: Dry
Level of Difficulty: Very Easy
Characteristics: Clearly these plants are not fussy but probably would prefer dry soil.
Taste: ?

Deck the Halls

2010-12-02T08:16:00.000-08:00

You simply must watch this video. A friend share it with me and it made me laugh so hard I absolutely had to share it further.

So many thanks to KLAATU42 in Nova Scotia, Canada for the great work.

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Freezing Temps & Seed Swap

2010-12-01T20:05:00.000-08:00

To say that I'm bamboozled by the weather is truly an understatement. For years it's been taken for granted and I've been able to enjoy gardening before going to work and after coming home from work without much, if any, thought. I've been known to rearrange my schedule to leave work a bit early, choosing to not take lunch during the day but instead at the end of the day just so I'd have a teeny bit of time in the garden before the sun goes down. All of this is until the earth shifted (or whatever it calls itself doing).

Let me set the scene for you - I garden in what was formerly known as 'sunny' Southern California where 'seasons' and changes in the climate are so not our reality we often pay to be part of a changing climate by exporting ourselves to some other part of the country when the leaves are about to turn a different color. That's because it's generally always pretty darn sunny here.

My gardens are only steps from the beach (not literally but it's not that far). Okay, let's just say I'm minutes from the beach so while a bit of fog may roll in on occasion, it's really not a big deal because it typically burns off by the time you have a really hot cup of tea in hand; and, we still have been able to garden throughout the entire year with that little bit of inconvenience.

Now, I'm not boastful (at least not now) but I have felt incredibly privileged as a result. Actually, let me be quite frank, it's one of the only reasons I live here. There - I said it. And it's the truth. The ridiculously high taxes and inept political environment is not at all favorable but it's tolerated because of the weather. Seriously.

So, imagine my surprise when three days ago I awoke to temperatures so low there was frost on the ground, ice on the ground and crunchy ice tinged grass. Frost I thought? Oh boy...no more Garlic soup before bed for me again. I figured I was dreaming but the bone chilling cold, upon opening the door, was not mistakable. Something happened. Gazing out the French door I looked up to see the roof of my neighbor's garage and thought, "Holy cow poop - it is frost!!! My seedlings!!!! My FISH!". Luckily, all was well as neither the fish nor the seedlings seemed too fazed by the remarkable cold although the fish did seem to have a great deal to say as the majority were near the surface moving their mouths as if in protest when I ran out to check on them. So I plugged in their heater and proceeded to place each tray of seedlings on a heat mat. This was done while scratching my head while I tried to understand if I was still really just sleep walking...a couple of weeks ago it was record breaking temps for heat and now I'm heating up the pond? Heavens.

This has gone on for 3 days now with today finally hitting 70 degrees again. But, it's still too cold!

I know, I know...shut up you're probably thinking. I know...but it really is cold - at least to me. And now, because I missing out on that little bit of gardening time, I'm beginning to feel a little trapped so I've got to do something relative to gardening. So on my way home I thought about a post I read where someone else conducted a swap a 6-seed swap. So, I'm going to do the same thing. But, I think I'll modify it just slightly and make it 6 and 12 - 6 for large seeds like melons, pumpkins, beans and corn and 12 seeds for smaller seeds like tomato, fennel, cabbage, etc. Interested in swapping? If so, send me a message now! If I have another day of little to no gardening time, I'm going to be forced to do the unthinkable like watch television or something old fashioned like that.

I'll post more information with an update on the details on each variety and how well they did in the garden this year in a separate post. But if you're interested, don't hesitate to contact me and let me know which variety you're interested in and what you're offering for trade.

Basil - Thai
Basil - Genovese
Basil - Fino Verde
Bean - Blue Coco
Bean - Royal Burgundy
Carrot - Parisian Market
Cat Grass - Oat Grass
Celery - California Giant
Coreopsis - Lance-Leaved
Cucumber - Straight Eight
Fennel - Bronze Fennel
Gaillardia - Sundance Bicolor
Lettuce - Continuity
Lettuce - Outredgeous
Lettuce - Limestone
Onion - Mystery Bunching
Onion - Evergreen Bunching
Parsnip - Hamburg
Pepper - California Bell
Pepper - Big Jim
Pepper - Red Habanero
Stock - Double White & Appleblossom Mix
Sweet Pea - Lavender Mix
Sweet Pea - Burgundy with White Splotch
Tomato - Brandywine

More details forthcoming but until then, please feel free to drop me a quick email with your interests. By the way, this swap is open to international gardening friends as well!

Mystery Onions...Will Be Eaten

2010-11-27T19:51:00.000-08:00

In 2010 it didn't seem I could find a decent onion anywhere for purchase. And of course, the ones I grew in the garden were never ready for the next fab meal. It seems every supermarket onion was old, weak tasting or sprouting once you cut into it.

I managed to save seed from several of the onions that were left in the ground but I left the seed with the marker outside far too long because by the time I got ready to place them in a packet, I couldn't read the variety name. Well, that was not going to stop me from planting them.

The seeds were placed in my stand-by soilless mix of perlite and peat moss and left on top of cafe table on the deck. Full sun and moisture exposure seemed to work well as they are extremely sturdy little seedlings considering they've only been sitting out for a few weeks.

Don't think I've ever been so excited to see onions! These popped up almost over night and I was absolutely tickled. Of course I wish I had a small clue what type and kind they are but what the heck...they will definitely get put to good use.

Oh and in the meantime, think I've started about 15 more varieties but this time I wrote the varietal name with a black Sharpie AND a pencil. Don't think we'll be without an onion for a few years at this point.

Do You See What I See? Part 2

2010-11-24T21:44:00.000-08:00

Okay, here's the second part to the I'm-walking-down-the-street-minding-my-own-business...and I notice in a neighbor's yard there's what appears to be a palm tree that has fallen onto the grass. Palm trees are a dime a dozen in California so it really wasn't that big a deal...that is until I did a double take.

Do you see what I see?

Looks like some kind of palm...

It's actually a banana tree! Fantastic idea.

Wow, it was actually a banana tree (with a nice bunch of bananas too!). I certainly hope they were able to harvest the bananas before those pesky squirrels found them!

Thought the inclusion of bananas into the landscape was brilliant.

French Fingerling Potato

2010-11-22T12:02:00.000-08:00

Earlier I'd raved about how thrilled I was to obtain such a fine selection of potatoes which I planned to eat and plant. Well, the Buttercream potatoes were simply outstanding. Petite, round, creamy, buttery and sweet. By far one of the best potatoes I'd ever had the pleasure to eat and that's saying a lot because potatoes and I are the best of friends.

For dinner the other night we had some of the French Fingerling potatoes and what a shock. They were absolutely vile. The more cream and butter added to the pot the stiffer and bitter they became. More Parmesan maybe? Not even the Parmesan worked. Now, it could have been my cooking but there are few potatoes I can't eat, no matter how bad I muss up a recipe. So off to do some research and what I found is that this particular potato is considered a 'dry' potato. Dry? It was like mortar. Should be considered extremely dry by my standards. Now to give them a bit of credit, they'd probably make outstanding chips. Short of that, I can't imagine trying them for anything else.

I refuse to eat anymore of them so I'm going to dump them in the garden and plant them (especially since they're beginning to sprout anyway). I'll get a bundle of them in several months and will try them as chips unless you know of something else they're good for?

Blue Coco Pole Beans

2010-11-20T17:55:00.000-08:00

Blue Coco is by far my absolute favorite bean to grow in the garden. This French heirloom dates back to around 1775 and is one of the most productive and cold tolerant bean plants I've ever seen. Years ago when I first grew it I actually got tired of harvesting the beans and I allowed it to stay in the garden while I literally planted around it. Well, those plants stayed in the garden from that June until the following spring when I finally just pulled them up. Winters here are not severe but to last that long made it one of the hardiest and most rewarding beans I've ever grown. And during that time, I didn't even water them much and they still outlasted any bean plant ever grown in the garden.

I've planted out additional plants this month (November) so I can have an ample supply of beans for our holiday festivities. They're quite delicious and tend to be eaten up rather quickly.

Flowers are produced from tall dark green leaves which have a tinge of purple with purple veins and purple stalks and produce long purple, flattish pods. They are very flavorful and don't become woody and pithy unless you pick them just before the pods start producing beans. The color of the beans are coco or chocolate making them ever more distinctive. Highly recommend this bean.

Plant Profile: Blue Coco Bean

Type: Pole

Days to Maturity: 59

Preference: None observed

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Characteristics: Purple pods, green leaves with purple stalks and speckled purple throughout the leaves, chocolate colored beans, very ornamental

Taste: Delicious

Do You See What I See?

2010-11-17T21:38:00.000-08:00

I'm walking down the street, minding my own business and I see movement near my left foot. Then suddenly something crossed my path and some furry brown blur circled the tree to my right and the scurried up the tree to a rather large, tall branch (as if I was going to follow it up).

Do you see what I see?

Do you see it?

There's just nothing quite like a know-it-all squirrel.

Schweitzer's Mescher Bibb Lettuce

2010-11-13T17:21:00.000-08:00

Lettuce is one of those plants I absolutely love for its simplicity to grow and its vast production. One of the many new additions to this year's garden and seed collection is Schweitzer's Mescher Bibb Lettuce. It's an Austrian heirloom that is said to have made its way to the US sometime in the early 1900's but is dated as far back as the 1700s.

It's supposed to grow well in cold weather so I've started a small batch to plant out in November. Growing in the form of a small round ball, one of its unique characteristics is that it has a red edges on the leaves. Looking closely at the leaves of my seedlings, you can catch a slight glimpse of a red tinge forming.

Unfortunately, there's little information available beyond these small details. Anyone with additional information is welcomed to provide additional details.

Plant Profile: Schweitzer's Mescher Bibb Lettuce
Type: Bibb
Days to Maturity: 50
Preference: Cold climate
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Characteristics: Lime green leaves with red tinge
Taste: ?

Rare Site - Clear View of the Mountains

2010-11-10T21:04:00.000-08:00

Rarely is the day so clear you can see the mountains while driving. This was such an amazing moment I had to quickly snap the photo while sitting at a red light.

mountains above Beverly Hills

Nothing quite like a good strong wind to take away the smog.

Walk around the Neighborhood

2010-11-08T21:08:00.000-08:00

Unique garden gate

Part of neighbor's front orchard

From neighbor's front orchard

Love the way creeping fig creeps.

Up close this bush is stunning.

Halloween in the Garden

2010-11-07T21:36:00.000-08:00

Several of the neighbors spooked out their gardens:

These guys were hanging from a tree waiting for their next victim.

Clever - a pumpkin princess (or maybe she's the queen?)!

Potatoes!

2010-11-06T20:28:00.000-07:00

Much to my dismay, I missed out on being able order a nice variety of potatoes, onions and garlic this year. By the time I actually got around to even thinking about it, all I could find were OUT OF STOCK references.

Certainly wasn't as if I needed to order any more of these items but what gardener can resist adding to the garden when an opportunity presents itself?

Well, amazingly, I went into my local green grocer and found a boat-load of fine potatoes to eat AND plant! Yeah, I know I really shouldn't plant the ones from the supermarket but it's an organic grocer and I'm going to try it!

For all of $5 per variety (some were actually only $2.99 for a 3 pound bag) I purchased several pounds of

Russian Banana Fingerling
Buttercream
Golden
French Fingerling
Ruby Crescent Fingerling

That was nearly 20 pounds of potatoes! Shipping costs alone for a quarter of what I purchased would have cost me nearly double of what I paid for one meal of each variety.

Looking forward to eating, planting and harvesting these gems.

I Hate Goodbyes

2010-10-29T20:21:00.000-07:00

So, I've not written on the blog for quite some time...went away because so much changed in such a little amount of time. Well, one significant change happened and as a result I was unable to bring myself back.

This blog was always written with my sidekick by my side. We'd go outside, reflect on the garden, smell a flower or two, pull a stalk, sniff, munch and reflect...gaze at each other fondly and make our way around the yard in amazement at all the incredible changes...that is until my sidekick was taken from me a few months ago.

He was my 14 year old baby boy - a rare combination of a rather large breed and a short breed of canine which resulted in the happiest golden haired, golden eyed "love puppy" imaginable - all 123 pounds of him.

Sigh.

Maybe I'll write more some other time but it hurts far too much to think about it as the garden and the blog are simply not the same without him physically being here.

It was the ritual to venture into the garden together, especially since we both loved it so very much and then at the end of the day take note of what heirloom caught my attention. When it came time to type, there he sat, gazing up at me with love and enthusiasm as if he knew exactly what I was writing. Sometimes if I wrote during the day, he'd sit beside me in my office and position himself in the middle of the threshold of the door watching the birds and eventually galloping toward the squirrels in an effort to rid their presence from his kingdom.

He loved his yard and really seemed to love and take immense glory in each day and I'm very lucky to have had the opportunity to share this planet with my big 'love puppy'. To say he's greatly missed is an understatement as I've walked through the house so often and cried hysterically begging for just one more day. I'd requested that for a couple of years and was granted that wish until just a few months ago...I, we, were lucky and I was absolutely ever-so-grateful. But, if given an opportunity...I'd really like just one more day.

Sure as hell ain't easy disconnecting from the ritual but I'm better for having him all those wonderful years. Never a dull moment and always a smile in his eyes. If it's absolutely necessary I'll say goodbye but I'd really just like one more day...

Heirloom Beans in Markets

2010-04-12T16:23:00.000-07:00

Is it my imagination or is it difficult to find heirloom beans in the market? I've been trying to find Adzuki bean for the past two weeks in order to make a particular recipe. I figured my typical organic natural foods market would carry it since that's where we'd generally pick them up. They weren't there. I then went to a national natural food market and they didn't have any. So off to a couple of gourmet markets. They didn't have any. What a surprise! I guess once I finally find them I'll need to buy a few extra to plant so I can save my own seed.

We've started several beans in the garden but with the scarcity of quality heirloom beans I'm thinking of starting more to save.

Do you know of a source to purchase heirloom beans for bulk purchase for recipes?

Fennel & Caterpillars

2010-04-11T14:10:00.000-07:00

Bronze fennel grows like an invasive weed in my garden. If it wasn't such an incredibly beautiful plant, I might consider radical removal. Luckily, it has other uses and benefits beyond the culinary endeavor. I'm told it's quite delicious although I can never bring myself to consuming it since the taste of anise is expressly forbidden in my stomach. But, it does make a perfect filler for flower arrangements. Here's a rather surprising discovery, butterflies seem to love this plant. While yanking out bulb after bulb I began noticing some of the most colorful caterpillars co-habitating on the leaves. They were a florescent yellow, green and black. Some were red, black and white. Others were a bright green, white and black. It was a delightful discovery.

While I had a trashcan full of fennel, I gently placed those leaves with caterpillars aside in the garden so they could continue their transformation.

Always Reliable - Re-Seeders!

2010-03-17T21:12:00.000-07:00

No matter how radical my gardening from one year to the next, these reliable gems always reseed themselves someplace in the garden.

Oregon Snow Pea Harvest

2010-03-13T20:27:00.000-08:00

Saturday was a splendid day to be in the garden after a couple of days of really intense rainfall. It felt like Christmas. The sun was out a tad before 6am and as I peaked through the shutters to see if there were clouds, I sprang out of bed as if I'd surely find a puppy under a Christmas tree. After the customary morning duties, I practically ran outside so I could get started on my garden chores - and of course - place some plants in the ground in addition to starting more seeds.

The part of the country I live in is extremely fortunate because we're at least lucky enough to be able to go out and garden, unlike many how are blanketed with snow and don't have any electricity as a result. Realizing this gift was synonymous with puppies under a tree, I worked vigorously for hours:

1. Completely weeded a portion of the vegetable garden.
2. Planted several varieties of broccoli, lettuce, onion, leek, fennel, beet, pea, shallots and dill.
3. Mulched pathways to vegetable garden with Cypress needles (making that portion of the garden smell like a spa).
4. Harvested a nice bundle of snow peas, lettuce, celery and fennel.
5. Cleared an area for the squash and the potatoes.
6. Harvested worm juice for fruit trees.
7. Composted vegetation from today's clean out.
8. Found a sleeping lizard under a couple of pots - returned the pots so he could continue his rest.

It's scheduled to rain again over the next couple of days so the seedlings should enjoy the magical elixir. The Oregon Snow Peas thoroughly enjoyed the past rain and provided us with bounty of 50 pods in one harvest today.

Wild Dagga [Leonitus Leonurus]: Mary Jane Substitute?

2010-03-09T21:13:00.000-08:00

There's no secret that an important part of our gardens include a plethora of flowers. Well, the first of my seed orders arrived and as I reviewed the order with utter glee, I got to the 10th packet and proceeded to scratch my head. What on earth was 'Wild Dagga', I thought, and how did it get on my list?

I Googled it.

Figuring I typed it incorrectly, I Googled it again.

The same results resumed. What in the...marijuana substitute? I bought a marijuana substitute? Me? I can't have my chamomile tea too dark - what on earth would I do with a marijuana substitute? And why in the heck would I ever consider purchasing such an item?

Hmmm....let's see a photo...ohhh, THAT'S a marijuana substitute? I just thought the flower was unique and quite interesting...holy hell it's a dope plant.

The first time I ever saw this plant was in the garden of an older neighbor. Her garden was pretty much a mishmash of various things all which were very distinctive and unique. This plant stood out with its really interesting vibrant orange petals and odd structure. Now, this initial sighting had to be a good 10 years ago. When I asked about the plant, she didn't seem to have much information about it and pretty much dismissed it rather casually. So, when I saw it listed in a catalog, I thought I'd try my hand at growing it. Never did I imagine it had such an interesting reputation as being more than just an intriguing flower although I guess I really should have given the matter a bit more thought when ordering. Here's what was written in the catalog:

"Leonotis leonurus No cowardly lion here. Also known as Lion’s Ear, spectacular and exuberant with a series of orange tubular flowers clustered in collars along the stem. Showy vining shrub can

grow 6' in a summer if started indoors in February. Surface sow; slow germinator needs light. Damaged by frost in the mid-20s and needs full sun to flower. Native to S. Africa where it is used for epilepsy, headache, hypertension, and stomach and bronchial problems. The resinous 5" leaves, rough on top and velvety underneath, are said to have a euphoriant affect. In East African legend Dagga imparts the qualities of a lion." - Fedco of Maine

Silly me...I was just buying it for it's floral qualities and chamomile tea is strong enough for me.

Stop Eating My Sweet Peas!

2010-03-07T21:48:00.000-08:00

The sweet peas that reseed in the garden ALWAYS grow like weeds and the ones I take extra care to plant in transplant pots get mowed down by the snails and slugs almost instantly. It's really rather annoying...

Guess I'll try again in a couple of weeks and will plan to host a beer party for the slimy pests.

Seed Purchase Plans

2010-03-06T21:32:00.000-08:00

So, I'm still planning out my seed purchases. I've placed a couple of orders but I'm no where near being done and after looking at my spreadsheet I thought to myself, "Are you nuts? How much is too much?". I'll spare you the number of packets I have designated on my list to purchase but I am curious if anyone else has the same dilemma? Do you order too many seeds each year?

My only caveat is that I will plant them (sometime throughout the year) with a great deal of gusto, enthusiasm and zeal. Not sure when that will be exactly but it will eventually get done.

The trees arrived today, the berries came in at the beginning of the week, the shallots came in last week and a few seed packets dwindled in over the past couple of days. I did manage to plant out one bundle of shallots but there are three more still awaiting planting and a few dozen potatoes and dahlias...

I'll get to it (or so I keep telling myself).

Compact Zucchini Plants

2010-03-05T08:00:00.000-08:00

Admittedly, I am fascinated by the number of queries I receive asking about compact zucchini plants. While I love the concept, I've personally yet to find such a beast. Every 'compact' zucchini (or so identified on the package) I've ever grown completely took over my garden whenever I turned my back. It probably has a great deal to do with the growing conditions and most importantly the weather when determining how 'compact' a plant will become. So, since my findings make me a little suspect of the idea, I'm going to throw the concept out to others.

Do you know of a compact zucchini plant and if so which?

Seed Trades

2010-02-26T20:24:00.000-08:00

One of my garden friends from abroad invited me to engage in a nice seed trade which I thought was a splendid idea. We should do the same, actually. Since the majority of my country is currently under snow, let's welcome Spring by trading garden seeds. I'm open to trading both flowers and vegetables with an obvious preference for heirlooms but open pollinated varieties are great too. No hybrids, please, as I'd like to save the seeds and offer them to the club. Really looking to add to the lettuce collection but am open to everything - especially the unusual with an interesting history. And this is an international trade so anyone else from abroad is welcomed (as long as your country accepts the importation of seeds).

Please send me the list of items you'd like and what you have to trade. I'm thinking it would probably be easiest if I post what's currently available for you to choose?

Thanks and looking forward to it! You're welcomed to send an email with your list of gems to me directly. Here's the e-address.

Giant California Celery: The Ever Present Plants

2010-02-08T11:57:00.000-08:00

My Oban Bay sweet peas were desperately in need of transplanting. The area of interest was filled with celery plants which made their way there after a great escape from a 5 foot plant that went to seed about 10 feet away (down a path and around a corner!). The celery made an enchanting green backdrop to the impatiens and primrose but they had to go. Since I'm not big on wasting plants, I knew this transplanting process would take some time. I needed to transplant the celery so I could get the sweet peas in this tight area of about 5 inches wide and 1 1/2 feet long. The task was not nearly as daunting as it was mind boggling. How on earth so many celery plants could grow so large in such a small, tight area was a mystery. By the time I finished, more than 60 plants were extricated from that one area and transplanted into cells.

Several weeks ago I stumbled into a garden neighbor who asked if my celery was like wood after me asking him if he'd like some celery plants for the garden. Wood? Now how on earth could his plants get woody when my plants (which received no attention whatsoever) were always green, tender, highly flavorful (almost too flavorful) and juicy? And my plants have been known to grow as tall as me - at just over 5 feet. Although it wasn't clear what variety he was growing, many people seem to have a rather difficult time sowing them from seed. They're actually really easy to grow if you just plant them and forget about them.

Botanical Name: Apium graveolens
Plant Type: Annual
Growing Zones: Zones 3 - 8 (relative as I'm in zone 9 and they grow like weeds)
Hardiness: Some frost; bolts in heat
Soil Preference: Rich
PH Preference: 6 to 7
Fertilizer: 10-10-10
Water: Even moisture
Sun Requirements: Full sun (although some recommend shade - mine have grown in both shade and sun)
Spacing: 8-12 inches apart

Once the seedlings emerge, they're generally extremely hardy and easy to transplant. In our gardens, they've been planted among other vegetables as well as flowers without any serious pest problems. Snails and slugs, when really hungry, will consume celery by taking slithering bites out of the plants. But, they seem to enjoy the stalks more for hiding-and-resting more than anything else. Depending on how large the plants are allowed to grow, snails and slugs can often be found on the interior of the plants, at the base of the first few stalks. This has even been an issue with earwigs. If harvested regularly while small, this is not an issue.

The Giant California celery is very strong and one stalk can easily overpower a good pot of soup where the soup may normally call for 3 stalks chopped finely. Plants have been known to last for months and months and months and act as a cut-and-come-again plant. While we're generally more than satisfied with just one plant, it becomes difficult to control if allowed to go to seed. We've had plants materialize in the smallest of cracks in the ground (as a matter of fact, our 5 footer was grown in a crack where no soil existed outside that crack as it was surrounded by concrete along the parameter of the garden). So, do be careful if you don't want them springing up all over your yard - especially if you're in a tropical climate.

Some recommend blanching the leaves of celery. You will end up with celery that looks more like the kind you'll sometimes find in grocery stores. While we never blanch ours, doing so is as easy as hilling up dirt around the stalks for a couple of weeks in Spring. I've even seen people cover plants with terracotta pots or cardboard to blanch them. Seems like much too much work to me.

Some heirloom varieties are:

Pascal

Self Blanching

Utah 52-70

Ventura

Seed Bank

2010-02-07T11:11:00.000-08:00

I've not had much time to actively promote the seed bank concept but I'm planning on changing that since there always seems to be more and more seed available. One of our club members kindly donated several packets of seeds which will go into the seed bank. All seed bank seeds will be made available for SASE to other club members. The seed bank will be located in the new exchange forum (yep, I'm changing that too).

The Heirloom Club Exchange/Trade forum portion of the site drives me nuts so I'm changing to a different format. The current format makes it much too difficult for me to follow and if it's difficult for me (the one who is currently posting more than anyone else) it must be just as annoying to everyone else. Everyone who had registered on the site will automatically get registered to use the new site. My hope is the new forum will encourage more interaction and discussion among heirloom interested gardeners.

Seed Starting Revelations

2010-02-06T10:39:00.000-08:00

I've had a bit of an epiphany relative to starting seeds. At this point, seed starting is such a natural process and part of the normal garden routine that it's rarely given much thought until something unusual happens. And a couple of days ago, I started some Goose lettuce seeds from a very old packet. While I expect the germination on an old packet of seeds to be low, what I don't expect is for those that do germinate to emerge within a week or two. I've had them take as long as a month and in this case I was in no rush. Much to my utter shock, these seeds popped up within a couple of days of planting- which simply made no sense to me. As a matter of fact, I started some packets of new seeds that were just purchased that hadn't sprung up yet. So what was the difference, I thought?

Here's what I realized - which was an amazing revelation:

1. Heat & Sun: The Goose lettuce seed were positioned on a shelf to the west of my normal seed starting area. This provided them with more intense sunlight and more heat.

2. Rain Water: Having stored rain water in a couple of buckets from the January rain (a rarity worth capturing), I've used that water to fill up my water bottles that I water the seeds with. I'm convinced rain water is an absolute elixir. I've been able to resurrect feeble, dying and weak plants with repeated doses of rain water. It's simply fantastic!

3. The Mix: Over the past year or so, I've been experimenting with different types of matter to mix with perlite, rather than peat, to start my seeds. This is my effort to be conscientious over the sustainability of using peat.

My seed starting results have been mixed, however, and not nearly as satisfying as my stand-by mixture of 50% peat and 50% perlite. When I started the lettuce seeds, I had a leftover bucket of peat from years prior and that's what I used to start the seedlings and as usual, the seeds seemed to respond extremely well. Even other seeds that were placed on the east facing shelf emerged at a 'normal' pace. However, there are some brand new packets that were started a couple of weeks ago, in a compost/peat mixture that are struggling. They're emerging inconsistently and not at all at a pace consistent with a new packet of seeds. In this case, I think the soil is just a tad too heavy - even with the perlite (and this was at a rate of what would probably be 40% compost/60% perlite).

Being in a tropical climate definitely helps my seed starting efforts as I'm able to start seeds throughout the entire year - literally. I usually reserve a small area of my westerly facing shelf for transplants rather than seed starting simply because I have more space for the large pots. But, I'm rethinking this strategy...

Pansies in the Garden

2010-01-31T11:17:00.000-08:00

Love to walk by and see the pansies in the garden.

Carrots in the Garden

2010-01-25T11:10:00.000-08:00

I spied carrots in the garden and had to snap a quick picture. Don't know why they always make me smile...

Surprisingly, the question comes up a great deal on where one can buy yellow carrots. For those interested in trying a small sampling, I have some Yellowstone carrot seeds available which is not presently on my list of available seeds but will be on the updated 2010 list (still compiling it and yes I'm a wee bit behind in that task). But, please feel free to drop me a quick email if you want me to send you a packet.

However, if you need a large supply, you can get some from:

YELLOWSTONE CARROT SUPPLIERS:
Seeds of Change
Kitchen Garden Seeds
Thompson and Morgan

Here are a few of my other musings on the subject:
Yellowstone Carrot & Tonda di Parigi Carrot
In the Garden: Yellow Carrot More than Edible

Celeriac for the Garden

2010-01-20T19:42:00.000-08:00

Always find the Soilman's updates refreshingly interesting. His post on celeriac is definitely useful since we're growing this one for the first time. I'll need to remember to plant to water regularly.

Blue Speckled Tepary Beans

2010-01-18T18:38:00.000-08:00

This is a rare bean we've had in our bean collection for some time. After finding out some creature has eaten our squash seeds that had sprouted, I've decided to start some Tepary Beans in its place.

These are small tan seeds with bluish-speckles. Highly adapted for drier climates. It's a fast grower and adapts easily. Considered to have been cultivated by Mexican Indians more than 5,000 years ago and was found in Europe in in the late 1800s. (Phaseolus acutifolius)

Additional sources:
http://www.delange.org/Tepary/Tepary.htm
http://www.floridata.com/ref/p/phas_acu.cfm
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PHACA2

Scented Geranium

2010-01-17T11:04:00.000-08:00

Yellowstone Carrot & Tonda di Parigi Carrot

2010-01-16T19:14:00.000-08:00

Carrots happily self seed in our gardens each year in the same wild manner as the celery we grow. I'm planting more yellow carrots, 'Yellowstone', among a new batch of red romaine and decided to plant a non-yellow, round variety, 'Tonda di Parigi' next to the 'Blue Pod Capucijner' peas.

Botanical Name: Daucus carota
Plant Type: Biennial
Growing Zones: Zones 2 - 9
Hardiness: Frost and heat hardy
Soil Preference: Light loam but easily grown in just about any soil except clay
PH Preference: 5.5 - 6.5
Fertilizer: 5-10-10
Water: Regular, consistent watering but not too wet
Sun Requirements: Full sun
Spacing: 2 - 3 inches apart
Sizes: Baby to extremely large/long. They come in short and circular to long and highly tapered.

Although I grow my plants in the ground, they can easily be grown in a pot. A few years ago I grew carrots in a windowbox as a test. Not only did they do well, they've continued to self seed in that same box each year - along with some Music Garlic (which is delicious!).

Try some in your garden. You will be pleasantly surprised when they pop up.

Milano Zucchini in January

2010-01-16T09:54:00.000-08:00

Once again, there's zucchini growing in the garden during winter. Although it's been incredibly cold, at least for the coast, the plants remain very productive, surprisingly. Lots of people have questions about growing zucchini. For us, it's really simple and they practically survive from sheer neglect. But part of that is the highly organic soil the plants are grown in. We've attempted to grow 'compact' varieties but thus far, all have proven to be less compact than anticipated. They probably would be compact in an area where the growing seasons are short and the weather is intensely cold. Since our environment is more tropical than most, all the zucchini plants grow and produce like ivy - and become rampant invaders.

Although we grow the plants year round, zucchini is actually a summer squash and is supposed to do best during the summer months. They are also annuals which means they are supposed to last a season and then die out. I'm saying 'supposedly' because on most occasions, our plants have produce beyond the typical growing season, often resulting in us having to uproot them so we could plant something else.

Here are a few tips for anyone having issues growing the plants. Remember, they're heat lovers so place them in a sunny environment.

1. START SEEDS INDOORS. We start all our seeds in a carefully controlled environment and suggest you to start zucchini seeds indoors too. While they may sprout outside, they'll easily get eaten or wither from the cold as they're just beginning to come above ground. It just seems to give them a good strong start when they start off in complete warmth.

2. PREPARE THE SOIL AND FEED THE PLANT. We use lots of compost in our garden so the ground is very rich, pliable and easy to work. Most people recommend putting plants on mounded earth but we rarely remember to mound the soil and still end up with more than we can handle. After planting, we water the plants well and then leave them alone. Sometimes we'll water with a little fish emulsion upon planting and other times we provide the emulsion within the first week of planting. Important to note, it's best to water these plants at the base rather than over-head; leaves highly susceptible to mold.

3. HARVEST. Zucchini is one of those plants that need to be picked on a regular basis. If you don't, you could very well end up with fruit the size of a baby's leg, and I'm not joking. The plants tend to be very hardy and if you give them just a little attention, they'll produce for you beyond expectations.

Botanical Name: Cucubita pepo
Plant Type: Annual
Growing Zones: Zones 4 - 11
Hardiness: Generally, not frost hardy; loves heat
Soil Preference: Does best in well drained soil
PH Preference: 6.0 - 7.5
Fertilizer: 5-10-5
Water: Moderate once established;
Sun Requirements: Full sun
Spacing: 3-4 feet apart
Sizes: Round, long, octagonal and curvy

Colors: Green, white, yellow, light green, mottled light green

VARIETIES:

Here are some of the varieties we plant on a regular basis.

COSTA ROMANESCO (50+ days to fruit) produces ribbed, dark green fruit.
RONDE DE NICE (45+ days to fruit) is a round zucchini and very tasty. It's a French heirloom with skin that's lighter than the elongated zucchini.
TROMBONCINO (55+ days to fruit) is an interesting variety that grows like a vine. Great plant if you have an area in the garden with a fence it can grow on. Fruits are light green and actually grow with a curve.
MILANO (55+ days to fruit) is very dark green, elongated type.

Gold Poinsettia

2010-01-10T11:01:00.000-08:00

This is the poinsettia of a neighbor who has a knack for growing these beauties. It's breath taking to see this 4 foot bush filled with gold flowers (leaves). She has several of these in different colors and all are fantastic and some are more than 6 feet tall. All have very colorful flowers.

Spring Plant Exchange

2010-01-08T07:41:00.000-08:00

The Spring 2010 issue of Country Gardens magazine highlights what I think is a WONDERFUL idea - a PLANT EXCHANGE - especially an Heirloom Plant Exchange! It's been a really long time since I've been apart of a plant exchange but must admit reading the article brought back fond memories. After this, I may just have to organize one for our community.

If you'd like to organize a plant exchange as well, the article mentions several ways to go about hosting one. Here are several things to consider:

Time of the Year:

Since Saturday's are convenient for most people, it's recommended an exchange is hosted at that time in the early spring.

Location:

Select a location with access to plenty of parking like a park, recreation center at a community park or a school.

Partner with Your Local Parks & Recreation Department:

If you can get your local parks and recs department to allow you to host it on their grounds, they might consider helping to promote the event by sending out details to their mailing list, placing an ad in their community bulletin or newsletter.

Promote:

Be sure to post announcements of your exchange in libraries, community centers, grocery stores, garden centers and farmer's markets.
Include instructions (how many plants to bring, whether they should be planted within a container, with or without labels, descriptions and directions on caring for the plants, bring boxes or bags to take plants home in).

Setup:

Before the time of the event, post signs providing direction to the exchange, arrange the area where the exchange is to take place.
You can even have signs for each type of item being made available such as 'bulbs', 'herbs', 'trees', etc.
If you want to communicate in the future, make sure to place a sign-in sheet so you can send out notifications about future events.

Design Instructions for Participation:

Provide instructions on the process;
Provide popsicle sticks and adhesive labels for anyone who might need to label their plants;
Review the rules before the exchange begins;
Have participants select 1 plant at a time before moving on to the next area of selection;
Invite everyone to help themselves to any leftovers that remain at the end.

Be sure to take pictures. Let me know if you host one and how well it does. I'm more than happy to post photos on the blog of your successful event. Hopefully, it will become an annual affair for your community. Seems like a great way to pass on traditional heirloom plants.

Have fun!

Red Romaine

2010-01-03T10:52:00.000-08:00

The patch of Red Romaine continues to grow quite nicely, even with water neglect. It was planted several weeks ago and I've watered it all of three times, today being the third.

Seedlings are great! Put them in and allow them to have their way.

Your Plans for 2010

2009-12-29T20:20:00.000-08:00

We've had some really odd weather recently. It won't deter me from planting several hundred varieties of plants but I'm curious what others are doing. Are you modifying your planting scheme to accommodate the changes in your envivornment (assuming you have any) or are you doing what you've always done? If so, what do you plant, when and where?

Because I live in a tropical environment, I plant everything all year long. I've grown tomatoes in the winter and broccoli in the summer which to most people is terribly strange. Lettuce is planted 12 months out of the year as well as zucchini which is typically discarded in an effort to accommodate spacing for other plants.

Presently, in December 2009, I have several tomato, eggplant and squash seedlings growing and will be transplanted in a couple of weeks. They're ready for transplanting now but I'm not ready to dig in the soil.

What's odd is that it's been cold. And let me qualify what I mean by cold...it's been in the 50s where it's normally in the 70s - high 70s this time of the year. So, it's merely delayed the planting out of several seedlings which are raring to go into the ground.

I do have several sweet peas started and of course several which have reseeded from earlier in the year. The seedlings will go into the ground this weekend - clear on the other side of the garden and away from those that have come up as volunteers.

Would enjoy hearing about your plans and what modifications, if any, you have enacted.

UPDATE:
Someone kindly sent me a message to remind me I don't actually live in a 'tropical' climate but instead a 'sub-tropical' climate. Indeed, to be technically accurate, I do actually live what is deemed to be more of a sub-tropical climate but just as a point of reference, when I make such references, it's really more as a point of generally reference based on what is happening in the garden at a given point in time rather than an accurate reflection of my geological or climatic zone. To be perfectly accurate, since my garden exists within many micro-climates, it's probably best for me not to denote any type of climate condition since I exist in one zone and due to the dramatic shifts in weather pattern have endured extremes not entirely reflective of the 'typical' climate in which I live. But the point is well taken. Just know that basically where I live, I've been able to basically grow anything in my garden with little concern to climatic conditions. That's the underlying point to any of my notations about weather in my area.

One last item, the system now requires one to log-in to make a comment as we've continued to receive unwanted and undesirable spammers. We're now forced to waste our time tracking such nonsense so we can report it in an effort to insure we're not receiving such junk in the future. Sorry for the inconvenience for those who are merely interested in engaging in dialogue. We hate that you are forced to enter extra steps in order to merely send a response to a posting but it's unfortunately become necessary so people don't have to look at ridiculous adverts. Frankly, those who are the makers of these products who are constantly spamming sites should know that it merely deters those who might otherwise consider using such products away from said companies. An organization (its affiliates and it's sponsors) would have to know how much credibility they lose by posting such ridiculous nonsense where it's unwarranted.

Native American Corn

2009-12-28T19:19:00.000-08:00

A bunch of us are trialing beans and corn in 2010 so I've been reading up on the different types and interesting varieties. Seed catalogs with diverse heirloom and open pollinated varieties often list flint corn along with sweet corn and I've always focused on the sweet corn merely out of convenience. But, I've often pondered the differences and how they coule be used. In reading through 'Heirloom Vegetables' by Sue Stickland she notes some really interesting points:

In the Native American culture, there are six colors of corn which directly correlate to what they consider their six directions: black, red, white, yellow, blue and multi-colored corns relate to north, east, south, west , zenith (sky) and nadir (earth).

Northeastern Indians use white corn for breads.

Southwestern Indians use blue corn which have evolved an association with beneficial soil fungi making the soil 10 times more efficient at utilizing the nutrients in the soil.

There are some fascinating details in this book:

Heirloom Vegetables: A Home Gardener's Guide to Finding and Growing Vegetables from the Past
By Sue Stickland
Publisher: Fireside or Gaia Books Limited, London, 1998
Pages: 191

Planting a Row for the Hungry?

2009-12-16T21:35:00.000-08:00

Think I'll try my hand at planting an extra row to feed someone who might be in need of a little extra nourishment. I'd love any suggestions from those who might already be doing this or have considered doing it.

Regulations are a bit sketchy about providing produce to food banks and the like. I was thinking of asking a local school to recommend one small family who might have an interest in a bag of weekly fresh vegetables.

It's so easy to grow various plants in the smallest of spaces that it would truly be great if everyone simply tossed a few seeds in a pot. But, I also recognize that many people may be overwhelmed. So, that small gesture may be a small benefit.

What do you think?

2010 Heirloom Club Trials :: Corn & Beans

2009-12-15T21:10:00.000-08:00

Now, it's probably a ridiculous concept to trial corn and beans to most since this has been done time and time again. But, there are more bean and corn seeds that were part of the 2009 master garden plan than were actually planted in the garden. There were about 15 varieties of corn and about 20 varieties of beans.

Brother...

I germinated about 10 of those varieties and only 2 varieties made it into the ground. Oh, it wasn't because there was anything wrong with the plants, I just couldn't find the time to do the gardening I wanted to do. It seems the recession made stable businesses panic as much as those that were on the brink and as a result, we got worked close to the brink of not having a life.

Sadly, there are just as many bean and corn seeds on the new 2010 order list so this means we're going to need a little bit of help. It would be great if we could have our own bean and corn trials where we each take a variety and report back to the club on which was best and why. I'm growing more Country Gentlemen since we never seem to get enough and I'm thinking about a popcorn variety - just for the fun of it.

Let me know if you're interested and if you are, I'll post the list of varieties that are available that I can send to you.

By the way, I had just as many tomato and pepper plants too. They've managed to continue growing amidst the winter chill. And the saddest part? Most of those corn and bean plants grew mini vegetables in the small containers they were started in. Some of them were given away before the plants matured in their small cells but many, unfortunately, produced Barbie sized vegetables. Got to give them credit for being tenacious.

By the way, did anyone plant sweet peas this year? The plants seem to be exceptional this year and I haven't quite figured out why.

Hamburg Parsley

2009-12-03T09:05:00.000-08:00

Good grief! Just when I think the garden is under control another volunteer pops up making me wonder if I should or shouldn't yank it out of the ground (and normally that conflict means it stays in the ground).

Yesterday I noticed Hamburg Parsley sprouting in the most unusual of places including the windowbox which contains our Music garlic. It will definitely get replanted elsewhere since the windowbox won't be lengthy enough to enable it to grow to any decent size but the real point is - this is not exactly how I'd planned to spend the weekend! It's a great problem to have but it just musses up the very predictable program I've been trying to institute in the garden (and to that my mind says 'yeah, right').

So, anyway, as I perused the garden I noticed another stowaway of Hamburg parsley that has gone to seed...and as many of my garden friends know, we just can't pass up the opportunity to collect more seeds. It is food afterall - or at least that's what I keep telling myself.

I'll have to do a post on stowaways, aka volunteers, as I tend to have loads of them throughout the year. Last summer's cosmos have made their way back just a few months after going to seed...not sure how they'll survive our cold nights...but oh well.

The end result of this discovery is that I'll need to pass these seeds along (and in a hurry) as I have bundles of new batches forthcoming that we'll need to make room for. Send me a self addressed stamped envelope and I'll send you a packet of Hamburg Parsley.

I've also posted this on the exchange forum as well.

Giant Potatoes

2009-10-15T21:39:00.000-07:00

Glad to see I'm not the only one who misses goodies in the garden only to be shocked into a different time zone when a "giant" is found.

Boothby's Blonde Cucumber

2009-10-14T20:05:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

I've come to the realization that I have a love-hate relationship with cucumbers. Planting them and watching them grow from seed is extremely rewarding. But boy do I get sick of them quickly. It's the uncontrollable nature of the plants. They produce enough to feed a small army and if really allowed to take off, they'll produce in my garden for nearly a year or more.

This year, I intentionally planted them late. Intentionally because I was hoping for less production. Now, I just read what I wrote and must admit that's a really dumb idea - but it's the truth.

As usual, I planted more varieties than I have room for. One of them is Boothby's Blonde cucumber and I may just get my wish and end up with NO cucumbers in 2009 since the plants are weak and anemic looking.

What would make me think I could even think of growing them in October? It's the California sun which makes me deliriously silly about planting whatever I want throughout the year.

2010 Seed Planning

2009-10-13T19:55:00.000-07:00

So, I can't believe it's nearly 2010 but with the new year is always the fun of planning the new garden. Now that we have the exchange forum, it will be nice to distribute seeds earlier in the year to people who have an interest, especially those with a shorter growing season.

Interested in obtaining some new seeds in 2010? If so, please feel free to list the items of interest and/or the items you're planning on purchasing as well. Please post a reply on the exchange forum if you're interested being part of the collective who will receive seeds from my purchases. Feel free to list what's on your planting/personal purchase list for 2010 here. It will be great for us to compare notes next year if we all end up planting similar items.

Butternut Squash

2009-10-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

Image by found_drama via Flickr

Last year a neighbor grew some of the most delicious butternut squash. Now, originally, my thought was squash is squash...but oh how I was completely misguided. I've had butternut squash before but never fresh from the garden. Wow was that a pleasant surprise. We roasted it and it was sweet and nutty and almost like eating a sweet potato.

Anyone have any interesting recipes? We just roasted ours with a dab of butter and drizzled it with creamed honey. Mouthwatering delight!

Heirloom Club Exchange Forum

2009-09-26T20:42:00.000-07:00

For a long time I've wanted us to have a way to communicate rather than just through email exchange. Finally, the heirloom seed exchange and trade forum is launched. It's presently under construction and will frequently receive improvements as I have time. Please join up as you have time and want to discuss particulars about your garden and the heirlooms you're growing.

This is designed to be an international exchange and where permitted by your country's customs and laws, it's my hope we'll all be able to exchange seeds freely.

Part of the changes I'll make, now that the exchange forum is launched, is to make certain of my free seeds available to members only on a first come, first served basis. There's a good possibility I'll decrease the number of orderable freebies as well, in an effort to keep my sanity.

Over the coming months, it's my hope we'll be able to start a seed bank of our bounty so we can more readily share with each other.

Thanks for all the wonderful comments and interest.

Sweet Pea Trialers Needed

2009-07-05T19:27:00.000-07:00

A beautiful sweet pea with baby pink flowers was gorgeous in our garden this year. It bloomed for several months and was grown from seed. The fragrance was absolutely enchanting. Later in the season, it was noticed there were tons of other sweet pea seedlings coming up. And I shouldn't have been surprised as other sweet peas were grown about 2 feet away from this year's plants and more than likely spread seed into the new patch. Of course, it was on my to-do list to tag the baby pink sweet pea plants but I never seemed to get around to it. Now I have seeds from multiple plants and don't have a clue which is which. So, I'm hoping to enlist the assistance of a at least 6 gardeners to trial the seeds by growing them in their garden and reporting back the results.

Interested? If so, please send a self addressed stamped envelope to me and I'll send you a packet of seeds.

Here's what you'd need to report by participating as a trialer:

1. What color were the flowers?
2. How well did the plants grow?
3. How tall were the plants, approximately?
4. On a scale from 1-10 (10 being the most fragrant), were the flowers fragrant?
5. What were your growing conditions?
6. Would you grow this flower again?
7. What time of the year did you grow the plant?

Please send an email if you're interested and I'll send you the address to send your stamped envelope.

UPDATE:
Out of the multitude of inquiries received, only one person has sent in their envelope for the sweet pea trial. It would be great to get 5 additional people. International inquiries are welcomed - please designate your country and we'll figure out a way to get the seeds to you.

2009-06-25T20:01:00.000-07:00

2009-06-24T19:58:00.000-07:00

2009-06-22T07:21:00.000-07:00

Check this out: Heirlooms Grown For a Soup Kitchen for All to Enjoy

2009-06-21T21:37:00.001-07:00

I love soup and I love heirlooms. It was even more of a thrill to see an organization growing heirlooms and sharing the harvest in the form of a free meal. Simply marvelous...The article was quite intriguing and rather nice to see.

Climbing Petunia

2009-06-16T21:51:00.000-07:00

Holy peanut butter...it's hard to believe it's been so long since my last post. What a crazy, busy year. For the first time, in a very long time, I've had a few days to dedicate my time to the garden and heavens, what a joy.

With the economy being a little topsy-turvey, the 9-to-5 has taken it's direction from the stock market which means I've had to work longer and more intense hours. But enough is enough...the sun is out and the birds are singing and the squirrels are eating everything that has an tad bit of sugar. So, I need to be out there too!

While out in the garden, I noticed the climbing petunias that were planted last year are rampant...and have also gone to seed. Of course, I collected the seed but in honest amazement. It's planted in a pot where a lemon tree is growing...and it's managed to take full control of the tree for climbing purposes. By all accounts, the flower looks just like any other petunia...it just grows up, around and throughout whatever it manages to grow next to. It also has nice longevity as it's succeeded well with substantial neglect. They've grown, without being trimmed, or a large quantity of water for more than a year and has continued to bloom profusely (and is still on going). With a little concern and care, they'd probably end up as real dynamos in the garden.

Look for updates to the seed list in the early summer months. Much has been collected and will be made available and the remaining portion of the list will be consolidated until the next seed saving round.

It's True!

2009-01-17T08:00:00.000-08:00

I was reading an older post from this blog and found myself reminiscing. It's definitely true, it's a miracle when something wonderful comes up in the garden (especially when you're able to enjoy it). For years we had the most unusual and yet incredibly delicious squash that would just seem to appear each year. It was one of those plants we took for granted because it was highly prolific and ALWAYS returned! It grew in the garden for so many years I can't recall not having it. It was typically so productive we would just pull it out after about 8 months (even though it was still producing squash). It was a yellow squash with a green bottom. That was the only squash we were able to give away readily without friends and neighbors asking us to stop. One of our Persian neighbors would always accept as many as we'd provide as he said they were very common in his country (even though I'd never seen them in the states) and his family loved them.

Unfortunately, we rearranged the garden one year and suddenly we realized our squash was no more. That was about 4 years ago. Now, of course, we miss that squash and as a seed saver I could kick myself in the shin for not saving the seed (always assuming it would just materialize).

So, when I happened upon this post about the squash (and its incredible abundance) I couldn't help but think (and long) for that incredible squash that produced enough for several dozen families for months on end...

It is true, they produce a gargantuan quantity - just don't take them for granted as you might find yourself without them one day and then you'll be sorry.

2009-01-12T19:40:00.000-08:00

It seems veggies and flowers won over fruit and herbs in the garden with 60% polling a preference for flowers and vegetables and vs. 40% for fruit and herbs.

Thanks for taking the time to vote! Please make sure to vote in the next poll as well!

January: White Stock Seed for SASE

2009-01-02T10:01:00.000-08:00

Since it's the beginning of the year I figured we could start with some lovely, old-fashioned garden flowers. We grew so much of this stock in 2008 and placed the plants in so many different areas of the garden, our neighbors would comment how fragrant the garden was and they hadn't even made it up the driveway.

White Stock is a great addition to any garden for its incredible fragrance and beauty. This variety produced massive plants, much larger than anticipated. The bed was mulched with organic material which may have resulted in the enthusiastic growth. Leaves were a grayish-green-blue with an overcast of white. The leaves are heavier than dwarf stock and have a bit of a grainy texture. The flowers bloomed into single, creamy-white, flowers which grew to approximately 2 ½ feet. Some came through as 'doubles' but the majority are single flowers - still highly fragrant. They made an excellent bouquet as a filler or alone. Flowers produced over a long period of time. Fragrance is intense and delightfully sweet. This is another one I strongly recommend.

It's noted Thomas Jefferson grew White Stock in his garden at Montecello.

We are making small packets of this seed available to the first 20 people only. We'll post here when the packets are completely gone. The quantity of seed and packets are limited so please send in your SASE immediately upon contact.

For rules on the SASE distribution, please review this post.

Pink Scabiosa Trialers Needed

2008-12-07T19:09:00.000-08:00

I need four gardeners who are willing to trial "pin cushion" or scabiosa in their garden. We need to determine if the scabiosa that is presently a lovely pink will grow out as 'pink' since we also grow Chat Noir. Today we collected tons of seed from the pink scabiosa and have replanted it to determine if it's stable. However, it would be great to have a few others doing the same thing since Chat Noir has such a prominent presence in our garden.

Please post a reply or send a private email if you are interested in receiving a free packet of seeds. The only caveat is that you must agree to provide us with direct feedback on the status of the seed, the color and quality of plants generated as a result.

UPDATE (12.16.09): I am still seeking trialers. Please feel free to contact me, if interested.

We'll post an update when we can't accept any additional requests.

Thanks!

Outstanding Reasons for Saving Heirloom Seeds!

2008-12-03T19:04:00.001-08:00

Recently visited the Irish Seed Savers site and could immediately appreciate their 10 reasons for saving seeds:

Biodiversity
Food Security
Self Sufficiency
Environmental Sustainability
Global Change
Cultural Heritage
Choice
Economy
Challenge
Evolution

This made for a really compelling reason to save our own seed! Read for yourself.

Seeds, Seeds and More Seeds

2008-11-24T14:49:00.001-08:00

Starting January 2009, we'll make one varietal per month available for free, on a first come, first served basis, to about 20 people via a self-addressed-stamped-envelope (SASE). In an effort to encourage more home gardeners to 'grow their own' edibles and flowers we will happily share some of our saved seed. Postings will be made here as to what's available, the quantity of packets and the specifics. We'll do our best to make at least 20 packets per month available and we'll update the posting when no additional are available.

In return, we request you to let us know where and when you grow the seeds and how well they grow on. We'll still make our list of seeds available to those wishing to obtain something very specific from our list. However, due to the economic climate around the world, we really want to do everything we can to share what little we have and encourage people to begin the process of actively growing their own edibles and happy garden flowers.

Want to trade seeds? Absolutely! Look below for further details:

SASE Requests:

1. Availability: Anyone can request a free packet of seeds. If you are located outside the continental United States we must ask for US$1 since a self addressed stamped envelope from other countries is not valid in the United States.

2. Email : You MUST send us an email before sending us a request. This enables us to make sure we have a packet available in the event there are more requests than we have seed packets.

3. Limitations: Seeds are available on a first come, first served basis. As with many freebies, people will often make requests and never send their SASE. We will request each person send their SASE within 7 days of their acknowledged request otherwise, we'll move on to the next person who has made a request to make sure all the packets available get sent to people who truly have an interest.

4. Confirmation: We will send a confirmation via email once your request is received and placed in the mail. Make sure to include your email address with your SASE.

Questions? As always, contact us anytime via this link or via email.

Trade Requests:

Note, we are always willing to trade for heirlooms to try in our garden. Here are the list of items that are abundantly available for trade and are from our garden:

Want List

Trade List

Sir Graham

2008-10-15T21:34:00.000-07:00

Grows more than 10 feet in the air...and oh so beautiful...sigh.

Carrots Going to Seed

2008-09-01T21:32:00.000-07:00

Favorite Hydra

2008-08-17T18:00:00.000-07:00

Hamburg Parsley Going to Seed

2008-08-15T21:21:00.001-07:00

Heirloom Roses

2008-06-05T19:24:00.000-07:00

An important element in our garden are heirloom roses. Recently, we purchased several roses and paid a premium price for the roses as well as the shipping. What we received was nothing less than a shock - rooted sticks...rooted sticks with big bugs. These so-called plants came from Ashdown Roses. Once they're out of quarantine, we'll make sure to take photos (as it's a rather surprising sight). At the moment they're sequestered in a separate area of the garden in hopes of ridding the massive aphids from the plants; hopefully, the sticks won't rot away.

Now, this was our third rose order of the season. What arrived from the first two orders were lovely, healthy plants - from two different companies.

Two out of three isn't too bad...we won't place another order from Ashdown Roses anytime soon after this initial experience.

UPDATE:
Ashdown FINALLY responded to our many, many inquiries and sent us a refund for the sticks which inevitably died.

People have also asked what the other company was that provided us with fabulous roses - the name of the company is Chamblee's Rose Nursery. We're planning to place another order with them in a few weeks (and yes, that statement was made with sheer glee!!!).

Beautiful Burgundy Sweet Peas

2008-06-02T20:14:00.000-07:00

I am now convinced every home gardener should grow sweet peas. They are one of the most rewarding plants providing highly fragrant blooms. Blooms are durable, delicate and last for several days, making way for the next batch of cut stems.

Burgundy Sweet Pea are some of the most spectacular sweet peas grown in my garden. They’ve volunteered each of the past several years and are simply magnificent! Plants readily produce large, deep burgundy flowers on long stems which make gorgeous, distinctive bouquets. One cutting of six stems easily perfumed an entire room and is always a show stopper. Plants grow vigorously and easily reach 7 feet with support. Flowers are produced over an extensive period of time, particularly if cut frequently.

I hope to grow more varieties and make them available to other home gardeners. Available for those who wish to try them.

Bronze Fennel

2008-05-30T20:53:00.000-07:00

This is a fairly easy plant to grow although our first year was a complete disaster due to our lack of watering when the plants were seedlings. However, once established they quickly became a prominent addition to the garden often turning the heads of all who entered. The plants are gorgeous, bronzy-brownish-burgundy with an intense fennel fragrance. We used it primarily as an ornamental filler for flower arrangements. The plants bulbous portion didn’t seem to grow nearly as fast as typical fennel, which was great for us, and maintained itself rather neatly in one area. It was extremely drought tolerant and not demanding of space. Plants lasted for a couple of years, with frequent cuttings, without any signs of going to seed. The leaves are lovely, feathery and light and are supported by strong bronze stems. We have found it to be a prolific re-seeder in our tropical environment. The plant is edible. Note, in 2008, we’ve ended up with Bronze Fennel throughout our entire yard. Taking nothing away from its intense beauty…it can be a bit of a nuisance because it’s so incredibly prolific. Since we only use it for salads, we are unable to eat it as quickly as it reproduces. Luckily, I’ve enlisted another neighbor to assist us since fennel is one of her favorites.

If you'd like to grow some in your garden, you're welcome to try it.

Mrs. Burns' Lemon Basil

2008-05-28T20:42:00.000-07:00

I grew this plant several years ago as a trial and was simply stunned by the incredible taste of lemon. The leaves are small and more pointy than the lettuce-type varieties like Genovese and Ruffles but are extremely flavorful and highly fragrant. Slightly brush against the plant and you’re struck by the strong lemon aroma with an after effect of basil. And, it’s delicious! Pesto made from Mrs. Burn’s Lemon is great on pizza. This has a very distinctive lemony taste and fragrance. Frequently harvest the leaves. Plant will become woody if not cut on a regular basis. Plants only grew a few inches tall. Generally, we just grow one to two plants in the garden but this time we're going to make a border of at least eight plants and plant Envy zinnia in the center.

We have seed available for home gardeners who would like to try it.

Red Amaranth

2008-05-27T20:35:00.000-07:00

Have you grown this variety of amaranth? It has gorgeous burgundy leaves make an excellent salad addition. Commonly used in Asian cuisine. Very ornamental, beautiful plant. Our plants readily self-seed. We have seed available for home gardeners wishing to try it. It would be great to get an opinion for someone living in a different climatic zone.

Tomatoes

2008-04-22T19:52:00.001-07:00

I hate tomatoes...think I've said that before, probably too many times. But, it never fails we start more tomatoes than we could possibly ever plant or consume unless we lived on several hundred acres (okay, I'm exaggerating a bit). This year is no different. Over a week ago, after ordering 50 new tomato varieties, we planted 18 varieties and 54 seeds.

I'm considering counseling...

Spring is Springng

2008-04-19T21:04:00.001-07:00

If I could express how incredibly happy I am to be able to get into the garden and work, I would but words don't express...what a joy.

Well, the garden is truly a mess but much great work was done clearing out weeds, grass and pulling up plants I'm just really tired of looking at: calendula, peppermint...and a few other things that are currently a blur.

I'll try to remember to take some pictures - which I find more interesting than my words. The colors and the spring blooms are incredible.

Heirloom Club Member Annual Gifts

2008-02-29T20:18:00.000-08:00

Incredibly, it's March which means the heirloom seeds purchased a couple of months ago are starting to arrive and will be ready for distribution to members shortly. These annual gifts are available to members who requested packets in the past. The only request is that anyone receiving these heirlooms contact us back to let us know how well the plants grew on, what you thought of each packet you plant, if you'd grow them again and if it was worth the effort (along with any interesting information about the quality, color and size of the plants).

Packets of seeds will be available for shipping the second week of March 2008. Members should forward a self addressed stamped envelope before March 21, 2008 to receive their selections. Include a minimum of .85 cents in US postage. Be sure to send an email letting us know the envelope is on its way so we can notify you when it's received and when we subsequently return it to you.

If there's something in particular you would like to make sure you do not receive because of taste preferences or growing conditions (such as melons because they don't necessarily grow well in colder climates if you live in a colder climate) please send a note with your stamped envelope. International members should contact us and we'll send you a Paypal invoice for $2 for the shipping of the packets.

If you haven't requested seeds in the past then feel free to use the form included on the site to try out a few of the selections available. This annual gift is only available to those who've made a request previously.

Please forward your envelopes prior to April 10, 2008. No annual gifts will be sent after that time.

Feel free to contact us with any questions. Do let us know how they grow!

Stylish Peas?

2008-02-08T19:06:00.000-08:00

While I can't believe it's February already, I'm placing several orders for new items to try and came across a reference in a catalog for a 'stylish' pea. Now, come on people. Stylish peas? Delicious peas, yummy peas, even strong peas...but 'stylish'? Good grief, who writes this stuff? Not to take away credit from anyone but 'stylish' isn't really what most home gardeners' look for in a pea. If it wasn't so silly, I'd actually have a good laugh.

Now, this pea is certainly 'interesting' to say the least. It's named 'Blondie' and it's a pale green pea with pale yellow pods. It's quite intriguing. But, since I can't imagine someone growing these to wear with the best shoes, I'd have to defer the 'stylish' for something a bit more fitting like a pair of chic leather garden gloves...

What are people doing in their gardens at the moment? I really need to get into the garden. Am having terrible gardening withdrawls.

What are you doing in your garden?

2008-02-02T19:28:00.000-08:00

Recently I realized how incredibly spoiled I am...I've spent less time in the garden than standing by the heater because it's been a tad too cold for me to pick up a shovel. There's no excuse because it really hasn't been 'that' cold to justify my doing absolutely nothing but nevertheless, that's exactly what I've done.

Amused by the cloudless sky, I decided to go out and garden today. I found myself lingering in the only area that had sun, which was the pavement (standing at a far, gazing at the 2 foot celery I intended to cut back, about 7 feet from the sun). Finally, I gave up and retreated back inside to the heater.

The goal was to:

1. Cut the for-ever growing celery (request some on the seed list - it's amazing stuff - haven't planted celery in years because some part of the garden is always reproducing the stuff and tossing seeds in different areas - so it's absolutely unnecessary to start seedlings).

2. Plant out the Earl Grey Larkspur, Penn State Ballhead Cabbage, Bok Choi and Red Deer Tongue Lettuce.

3. Check the plum tree cuttings.

4. Plant the daffodils and remaining tulips.

5. Transplant the avocado tree.

NONE of these projects ever happened. Just too cold and there was little to no motivation.

Shameful, I know.

So tell me, what are you doing in your garden this time of the year?

...I dream about the day I'm blessed with a larger area of land to grow all of my wild ideas...but I've no idea what I'd do with it if it meant contending with the cold (even though it's really only been an inconvenience for a couple of weeks).

Remember, I started the thread by saying...'I'm spoiled'...

Do share what you're doing. I'm hopeful it will give me some motivation to get off my duff.

Gardening Resource Recommendations

2008-01-26T15:38:00.001-08:00

I am frequently asked my opinion about which gardening resources are most interesting. I figure I'd ask your opinion. There might be some that should added to my list of recommendations.

Tell me what you think - which book or online resource do you recommend and what do you refer to most often?

Thanks!

Just Checking...

2007-12-11T19:57:00.000-08:00

I seem to be waxing on alot lately about tomatoes but I wanted to check with someone else - tomatoes do NOT grow in the winter, right? The tomato plants from last spring are still producing fruit in enormous quantities: healthy leaves, rich-looking color in the tomatos and sprawling. One grew under another plant and I mistakenly assumed the plant was leaf-less. So, I pulled it out by the root, only to expose the fact that the plant had sprawled about two feet into some other plants and was filled with these gorgeous, not yet ripe, San Marzanos - with the most perfect form. There are Sweet Orange (little mini orange tomatoes) that we can't seem to keep up with and then there's this mystery tomato...produces these huge, beefsteak pinkish-red tomatoes that people sware by.

What a winter - and let me say in advance, sorry - friends who are experiencing 'real' winter.

2007-12-08T13:27:00.000-08:00

A customary representative of Christmas in December...

one of the favorites for the holidays - white hydrangeas...

always nice to have a little color in the garden...

but peppers in December? It's shocking but true. Think the postman shakes his head everytime he walks by the plant.

This is Lemon Pepper which came up with some larkspur (a clear casualty of seed dropping into a pot that it didn't belong in). While the larkspur have been long gone (beautiful Earl Grey Larkspur) the peppers continue to grow and produce massive amounts of fruit.

Late Bloomer Tomato Plants

2007-10-14T19:13:00.000-07:00

So, I previously mentioned we planted far more tomato plants than should have been permitted by law. They were green for a very long period of time and much to my surprise, the plants are producing pounds and pounds of fruit NOW. During the summer there was fruit, here and there. But now, there are fruit everywhere. All shapes, sizes and colors. There are tomatoes growing in areas where we didn't even plant them.

Let's see how long we can keep the plants through 'winter' (whatever that means this year).

Reconsidering Seed Distribution

2007-10-06T21:53:00.000-07:00

So I was considering not providing seeds in 2008 (lots of work, small collection, limited number of inquiries except during certain times of the year - you get the picture) - then I received a very nice note from a lady named Christina...well gee...maybe I will consider saving seeds and distributing them to garden friends around the world after all.

For the most part, we are extremely busy through the year but make it a special point of doing what we enjoy which is gardening. And, as part of the gardening process, we've found it an essential part of gardening to save seeds. Of course, anyone who has ever saved seeds knows you can only save so many before it becomes an over-zealous hobby where you end up with far more than you need in one season...thus...this is how we've come up with the concept of providing them to garden friends from around the world. Strange but true.

We're not in the seed business...we're actually working professionals who have standard 9 to 5 jobs that always seem to last beyond 5 and into 10 in the night but that's another story. Seed, however, has become part of our wholistic process of organic gardening and we really are thrilled to be able to share with others of like-mind.

So, thank you to people like Christina for remind us why this is so important. Sometimes the unimportant stuff gets in the way and foreshadows our reality.

Seed List

2007-07-06T23:14:00.000-07:00

After several requests, I've added the seed list to this site. It seems several people who are using browers other than Internet Explorer 7 were having difficulties accessing the list. Again, sorry about that. Hopefully this solves the problems from now on.

Let us know.

Adding to the Collection

2007-07-05T20:45:00.000-07:00

Okay, we're taking suggestions - tell us the following either privately or on the blog:

1. What should we add to our collection?

2. What companies do you recommend, particularly for heirloom varieties but most importantly for varieties you deem worthy of growing out and sharing with others?

Thanks! We're adding to the collection and are most interested in your thoughts.

Delfino Cilantro

2007-07-05T20:41:00.000-07:00

Let me state for the record - I think Delfino Cilantro is a bit of a finicky plant. We planted several and several have withered away.

So far, I'm not impressed.

Heirloom Tomatoes

2007-06-21T20:07:00.000-07:00

Last year I said 64 tomato plants in the garden was ridiculous; one heirloom zucchini was plenty and one cucumber was more than sufficient. Shamefully, this year we have so many tomato plants I've lost count; 6 different heirloom varieties of zucchini and 4 different varieties of cucumber - at least 2 plants each.

...sigh

Forgot to Post

2007-06-19T21:50:00.001-07:00

Pac Choi Destruction

2007-05-29T20:59:00.000-07:00

...I should also reference the fact that my Pac Choi was abscounded, not entirely but in sufficient quantities in comparison to the number of plants previously planted out. I'd like to blame it on the heat - if we had any serious heat...honestly have no idea what happened other than the fact the majority are gone, simply gone. So, sad. Was looking forward to the consumption. Luckily, that was another one of the plants that was incredibly easy to germinate. I'll plant more and will probably provide them with a bit more security - like keeping them in a planter box that I can take inside each evening!

Oh, and I have lots of seeds in case you're interested. Send me an email and I'll gladly share. It's fairly tasty if you can get your share of the plants before the other creatures.

Too Much of a Good Thing

2007-05-29T20:10:00.001-07:00

...it's hard to imagine you can have too much of a good thing. We setup a new greenhouse, in addition to the existing greenhouse and I quickly filled it up seeds. What was not anticipated was how quickly it would take in order to get the seeds to germinate. It's a very nice surprise but a shock nevertheless. From vegetables, flowers, herbs and cuttings, it's such a nice problem to have. I'll post some photos shortly. In the meantime, the tomatoes, basil and peppers will be provided to the neighbors. If you've sent a message asking for an updated list, please note we'll try to update the list within the next few weeks but depending on the immediate response for the tomatoes and peppers will depend on whether or not we include that with the main list or provide it a supplemental.

Sorry, we cannot ship plants internationally (outside the United States).

Pac and Broc

2007-05-17T20:57:00.000-07:00

All work and no play make humans dull - so I finally had a chance to get into the garden. Surprisingly, things looked rather smashing. That Pac Choi listed below, it finally got planted today. Approximately 30 were planted, if not a tad more. Also planted some of the Broccoli Raab today, fast grower that Broccoli Raab...

Weekend Planting

2007-04-29T20:40:00.000-07:00

This was an unusually busy weekend. At least 30 additional varieties were planted; 6 peonies, 30 gladiola and more than 10 varieties of dahlias.

Asian veggies are some of my favorite to grow. Above is Pac Choi which sprouted in only a couple of days.

Fragrant Garden

2007-04-22T15:14:00.000-07:00

I go through an extraordinary effort to have beautiful flowers and lusciously fragrant flowers in the garden. I think I've been giving a bit too much credit to the flowers alone. Look at the blossoms on the sweet lemon. The tree is loaded with blossoms and adorable tiny, budding fruit. And yes, the fragrance is absolutely heavenly.

Today's update...

2007-04-20T20:27:00.000-07:00

Beautiful, multi-petaled calendula, brightens up the garden.

Whether I want it or not, it continues to grow. Season after season - fennel.

A forest of yummy parsley.

This was the most unusual flower I'd seen in a long time, from a friend's garden. I call it the pre-historic flower.

Here's another interesting flower from a friend's garden.

Cavallo Cornsalad was grown from seed and with the dramatic weather seems to have disappeared. Just poof! Those dreaded critters probably munched on them.

My new favorite lettuce.

Valdor lettuce is tender, sweet, delicious and extremely easy to grow. Not temperamental at all and easy to grow in all sorts of variant weather conditions.

2007-03-06T20:09:00.000-08:00

Another of my favorite kitchen garden delectables to grow! Lettuce - yummy...

Wong Bok Cabbage

2007-03-04T16:05:00.000-08:00

As an organic gardener, there's nothing more special than being able to go into the kitchen garden and snip a few herbs, lettuce or a nice head of Chinese cabbage. Well, that is when the snails don't get to the seedlings before they're able to grow into a head of cabbage! Generally, I try to focus on companion planting in order to keep the dreaded snails and slugs away from cabbage. I think my cabbage rows were too wide or NOT close enough to the radicchio or arugula, which the snails seem to hate. Within two days of this photo, the cabbage was a distant memory - completely eaten to invisibility.

Zinnia Bounty

2007-03-03T11:33:00.000-08:00

A neighbor has the most glorious display of zinnias in her border. I couldn't resist taking a photo.

Bold and Beautiful Radicchio

2007-03-02T18:48:00.000-08:00

This radicchio shocked me. It was so beautiful that I wasn't sure I was growing it properly. It was so shiny in a deep wine color with a stark white contrast. Simply shocking. Don't know about anyone else but all the radicchio I've ever eaten was dull and looked like it had been picked days prior. This is another incredibly easy plant to grow and the bugs didn't seem to bother it at all!

Broccoli

2007-02-25T08:25:00.000-08:00

One of the easiest plants to grow in the kitchen garden. Plant it, water it and watch it grow.

Yellow Carrot More than Edible

2007-02-24T19:52:00.000-08:00

So I grew yellow carrots during the summer for the first time. They started off great. Many warned I wouldn't be able to grow carrots, let alone yellow ones. Well, with all that negativity, after a couple of months, they did just seem to wither away - at least I thought they'd withered away.

The spot where they were originally grown, I planted other items in that spot, not realizing there was one lone carrot enjoying every minute of it and becoming a double legged, monster. This carrot was in the ground for many, many, many months. Of course it was finally realized that 'something' was growing there but had no idea until I began preparing the bed for something else and voila! A baby was born.

Of course, those same negativos told me not to bother trying to eat the thing as it would be pithy and tasteless. Who cares what someone else thinks? I scratched the surface of the carrot and was stunned by what appeared to be juice coming from it...so I figured what the heck - can't hurt to try it.

That was the best carrot soup I've ever eaten. Not only did it make a very good meal, for several days, I might add, the carrot actually ended up being juicy and tender and really quite delicious.

Nay sayers, bah! I dare anyone to buy a cup of soup as good as the one I had from that yellow carrot that had grown to the size of a baby's leg.

01.25.09 :: Update
I've updated another post to help you locate a supplier for yellow carrots. You can find the information here.

Yellow Alstromeria

2007-02-24T19:32:00.000-08:00

Alstromeria

2007-02-24T16:57:00.000-08:00

My Alstromeria is normally flowering by December. Must be the unusually cold weather.

Peas

2007-02-23T19:47:00.000-08:00

Everyone is eager to see how many peas get eaten this year versus those that end up in seed production. We start out picking peas on a regular basis and then end up not being able to keep up with the rapid production. Before we know it, the garden is filled with plump pea pods filled with seeds.

Stock

2007-02-18T07:25:00.000-08:00

Stock is one of those garden jewels we keep around all year long. Although it probably prefers consistent cold, it tolerates our tropical climate and never disappoints.

Yesterday I cut several stems, placed them in a vase and completely forgot about them. In the middle of the night I found myself trying to figure out where the incredibly beautiful fragrance was coming from. It was enchanting. It was so enchanting I needed to make sure I didn't somehow leave a bottle of perfume somewhere that may have broken...room by room I searched until my nose led me to the kitchen where this long, thin circular vase stood with several stems of stock. I smiled and proceeded back to bed.

This morning I'm on my way back to the garden to cut more stems - I figure I'll place them strategically throughout the house - a couple of stems each should do it. This time I'll know where the fragrances are coming from and will sleep through the heavenly aroma that floats throughout the house.

This is a nice way to start the day.

If you're interested in obtaining seeds for these and other stock plants, feel free to contact me, I keep a healthy supply of stock on-hand at all times in different varieties. :) Feel free to take a moment to review the seed list. The particular variety to which I refer in this post is a single flowered, star shaped, magenta petals with dusty-miller-like grey-green leaves and stems that grow close to 3 feet tall.