Hello Spring! This fig tree is quite the tease, tantalizing me with fruit that won’t ripen for another few months!
Happy 1st Day of Spring!
It’s been a busy week. Still recovering from bronchitis and fighting allergies – hello Spring?!? Despite the illness, the teaching, and the symphony set I’m frantically preparing for, I’ve been getting my daily dose of garden therapy. My goal has been to pull a minimum of one 5 gallon bucket of weeds a day. The ground is still wet from all of our rain so it’s been painless to meet my goal. In fact, I’ve been pulling quite a bit more than that. This is a good thing. With all of the rain, then warm, sunny days, then rainy days, then more warmth and sun, the weeds have been growing like gangbusters! I’m itching to get some veggies in but other than transplanting a few celery starts (celery self-sows itself all over my yard), I haven’t done much of that yet. Next week is another week! In the meantime, HAPPY SPRING!
Bronchitis has really set me back this year. My garden is progressing but at a snail’s pace. I spent a few minutes this morning, which is all I had energy for, cleaning up a small area of the raised beds. I went to pull up what I thought was a dead tomato and found life! The beds are on the South side of the house against a stucco wall. And while we had a really wet winter, I didn’t think of it as being particularly mild. Apparently it was!
A winter-hardy tomato being relocated!
I think this may be an Early Girl from the nursery, which I planted late in the season after my heirloom roma tomatoes developed a blight and had to be pulled out. And while Early Girls are not the tastiest, biggest, or sauciest tomatoes available, they are blight resistant, which is the only reason to reach for a hybrid, in my opinion. I would love to do my part in the world of the home gardener and help develop a blight resistant heirloom but when your planting areas are measured in inches instead of acres, you can only do what you can do. In any event, this plant is my experiment! I planted it fairly deep – about 8″ – covering up the the bottom sets of leaves and only leaving a few sets higher up above ground. We’ll see what happens!
My “perennial” tomato experiment – surrounded by an army of garlic chives I thinned from another bed!
Update:
My “perennial” tomato produced for another full season. It turned out to be a cherry tomato and, like most cherry tomatoes, was quite prolific! Unfortunately, it didn’t make it through this past winter. I carefully examined it for signs of life before pulling it out in late April 2020.
Part of the challenge of gardening on an urban lot is tucking in as many veggies as possible in whatever spots are available to you! This area, roughly 9’x3′ of useable growing space, has been my compost area for several years. Using the “slow method”, I had three separate piles going at all times. But due to limited space, I decided that the slow method wasn’t giving me maximum results and took up valuable dirt space that could be used for growing edibles. So, last year I chopped down a shrubby useless tree-thing (you can see the stump being used as a hose holder), shoveled out 5 wheelbarrows of awesome compost into my garden beds, and planted some veggies.
Then life happened. Do you see the back fence? On the opposite side of the fence is where the air conditioner lives. After 42 years, our air conditioner went out. Pretty good life-span for an ac unit, especially here in Central California where we get several weeks of triple digit days during the summer months. So, the fence came out and the ac crew trampled my lovely kale, grape tomatoes, chives, and even the beans climbing up the fence, back into compost. But, losing a few kale plants was a small price to pay for having air conditioning!
So, I got the area cleaned out and re-planted a few weeks ago. I did cheat and planted a few dozen bean seeds along the fence but I doubt they come up. February is too cold for seed germination. So I will be planting the climbing areas in earnest in another month or so. I was smart and bought my purple beans early this year. Last year I waited too long and had to plant regular green beans. They tasted great but I missed half of them because they hid so well among the leaves! In the past, I’ve always kept my own bean seed but due to life interfering with my gardening ambitions, I haven’t been able to save any for a few years. So, I’m starting fresh this year!
I also have to confess to buying kale and brussel sprouts starts from the nursery. I did start several dozen kale seeds that I had saved from last year. They were growing great until they weren’t. I watered them one day and the next, slugageddon! One of the drawbacks to living where we have fairly mild winters is that a gardener is doing battle with the slimy hoards 12 months out of the year. Sigh, so instead of being self-reliant, I supported our local economy, which is also a very good thing! LOL
2/12/19 All planted! Kale, Brussel Sprouts, Chives, and a few bean seeds against the fence.
Two weeks later, and all is growing well, except the beans! LOL It’s hard to see, but I’m using weed eater cord for the beans to climb. We had two spools from our now defunct weed eater that wouldn’t fit into our new one. Waste not, want not, right? Today’s pictures below:
2/25/29 The brussel sprouts have grown a few inches and are really loving all the rain we’ve gotten in the past two weeks. But I should probably put some more Sluggo out . . .
2/25/19 The kale, chives, and weeds are really taking off. Even though we’ve had some light frost, this area of the yard is fairly protected. In another two weeks, I should be able to start using a few kale leaves in our salads.
Update 3/12/2019
The beans are up! Wow, it’s too early but they don’t seem to have been held back by recent frost and heavy rains! Depending on which chart you use, our last frost date is anywhere between February 20 and April 12. Personally, in my adult gardening life, I can’t remember a frost after March, so chances are good that these beans just might make it! If not, I can replant! I should also note that this is in a fairly small, sheltered corner of the yard.
The kale have many more sets of leaves!
Egyptian walking onion babies that I rescued from the lawn and tucked into this section.
Wow, where did the time go? So sorry I’ve been neglecting this blog. I started it so that I would have an online journal of when I planted things, which recipes work best when I have an overabundance of an herb or vegetable, and a place to record some of the crazy meanderings of my mind while weeding a garden bed!
Nope, didn’t happen quite as planned this year. But then, when do things ever happen according to plan? I won’t bore you with details but once again health issues and family obligations got in the way of my blogging ambitions. But not to worry, just because I wasn’t writing about gardening, doesn’t mean I wasn’t gardening! And frankly, most days I either had the energy to write about gardening or take care of my garden. So mostly, I took care of the garden although this years Fall garden was pretty much a failure. I did get in 200 garlic and 100 onions. As soon as I finish searching them out from under all of the weeds, I’ll let you know how they are doing! And the 36 kale plants I started and never got around to putting in the ground became slug food. One day they were there happily growing in their tray and a few days later, slimeageddon! LOL
Last year I also started gardening a new section where I had previously been slow composting for the past 10 years. It was growing great – pole beans, kale, chives, a couple of volunteer cherry tomato plants, and a few wandering herbs. Then our air conditioner died and that little bit of yard I had reclaimed was laid waste by the air conditioning crew traipsing back and forth to remove the old unit and put in a new one. Sigh . . .
The good news is that the area is cleared up and I’ve started replanting. I’m looking forward to harvesting significantly more green beans than I did last year! And remember the cucumber overload? The garlic dill slices I made last year have been a huge hit! I will definitely be planting too many cucumbers again this year as well as increasing my Egyptian Walking Onion Beds. The dried onion powder is the absolute bomb in my spice cabinet! But there were also a few failures. I’ve made garlic powder in the past and thought it was too much work and not worth the effort or electricity. This year I read about roasted garlic powder and thought that might take less time in the dehydrator and be tastier than store bought garlic powder. Nope. Definitely cheaper to buy garlic powder in bulk than to make it myself. The roasting before dehydrating didn’t magically transform the process. So, I continue to live and learn. Projects planned for the next few months of 2019 include:
Finish pruning the fruit trees.
Downsizing and replacing my Jerusalem Artichoke beds.
Removing the raspberries and replacing them with more sweet potatoes.
Finish my ornamental sitting area in the back corner of the yard. (It’s too shady to grow anything edible in!)
Find a dedicated area on the back patio for my tropical fruits!
Trying to limit my plantings to things/quantities that we can use!
It’s good to be back chatting, planning and hopefully, tracking my progress! Here’s to a very productive New Year!
Garlic is my favorite herb, both medicinally and for flavor. There is nothing better than a warm baked clove of garlic spread on a piece of straight out of the oven homemade wedge of sourdough bread. And for someone with a history of chronic infection, high quality garlic oil capsules are a staple in my medicine cabinet.
But garlic is also one of those things that someone as disorganized as I am can grow with ease. It doesn’t need constant care. You plant it, toss some water on it during dry spells, and leave it alone to do it’s thing. It even acts as its own pest deterrent! In other words, it’s the perfect plant: it grows itself and everyone in my family will eat it!
One of two garlic beds – this one is next to a bed of New Zealand Spinach. Both of these plants pretty much grow themselves and are pest resistant. Picture was taken in February 2018
Today was THE DAY – the day the garlic was ready for harvest. Actually, the garlic was ready a few days ago but life happens, so I guess I should say today was the day I was ready to harvest the garlic! This is my 7th year growing garlic successfully. My organic seed garlic came from Bountiful Gardens, a John Jeavons organization that no longer has a retail shop. I believe their source was Big John’s Garden in Oregon. But as you know, being the disorganized gardener that I am, I can’t be 100% sure. All I know, is that my first few years were a bit rough, but by carefully selecting and reseeding the largest heads, I now have garlic that has acclimated very well to Central California’s climate. I believe that this is my third year of being able to grow and store enough fresh garlic for seed and for use for an entire year. I did cut it pretty close, I think I have only 6 heads left from last years harvest!
Garlic that is past ready to be harvested. The bulbs were planted mid-September 2017.
This year was an awesome harvest – most of my bulbs were around 2 inches across with some larger, some smaller. The size of the bulbs actually slowed down my harvest. Because of my cats, I plant into chicken wire so they are unable to dig up my garden beds. This year, the bulbs were so large I had trouble fitting them through the openings!
Most bulbs were about 2 inches across this year.
Since I grow in the soft soil of raised beds, I use my fingers to gently reach into the soil under each bulb and push up while pulling on the leaves. It’s important to not damage the leaves or the roots until the bulb has pulled all of the nutrients and energy from them during the curing process.
Curing process?!? That sounds complicated! Hopefully you know me well enough by now to know that I don’t do complicated. All it means is that we let the garlic, leaves, and roots dry. Many people braid the garlic, but since I’m only growing for my own use, I don’t bother with tarting my garlic up with braids. Besides, garlic is best stored in a cool, dark area. Putting it on display shortens it’s lifespan. Did I also mention it’s easier and faster to do it my way?
An old clothes drying rack makes a perfect place to cure your garlic.
I used to cure my garlic indoors but my family, while lovers of garlic, weren’t overly fond of the mess or the smell. Now, my garlic hangs out in a shady spot on our back patio. While garlic can take up to 2 months to completely dry, here in our triple digit, low-humidity summers, the drying process usually takes just a few weeks. As you can see, I’m using an old clothes drying rack to hang the garlic from. After it’s completely dry, I’ll trim the roots and leaves and take a few layers of the papery skin off to remove the dirt. Then, I’ll store the garlic in the black rack you see at the top of the picture. This is nothing more than a tray from the nursery that six-packs of impatiens came in. I’ll place the rack on top of some wooden blocks on a shelf in my pantry so that air can circulate freely around the bulbs. That’s it, done. And all I had to do was water a few times!
Do you recall me bragging about being able to eat my first tomato of the year? Well, someone beat me to it. Or, I suppose I should say “something.” I suspect a member of the slimy hoard family (slug or snail). I was having some stomach issues so put off picking the wonderful tomato until I could handle the acid. I waited too long! But, all is well. I reapplied the Sluggo and have since consumed the tomatoes that ripened shortly after my “first that wasn’t my first.”
For the first tomato! Yes, it’s only a grape tomato, but it’s still very exciting! But, don’t tell anyone else in my family about it’s existence because I’m probably not going to share!
Do you see this patch of oregano? It shouldn’t exist. I pulled it all out two years ago to make room for lavender and some seasonal veggies. It was gone, gone, I tell you! I saved a small section of the plant and potted it in a nice sunny spot in the backyard, underneath the fig. Don’t even get me started on the escapades of that plant! It has escaped the confines of it’s large pot and is taking over the lawn in the backyard. At least it smells nice when we mow.
So, what do you do when life gives you oregano? I figure you have three choices: 1) You can spend the rest of your life cursing and chasing down the insidious rhyzomes 2) You can give up and monocrop your entire garden, lawn, flowerbeds, sidewalk, adjoining neighbor’s yards, potholes in the street, until eventually the entire country is covered in oregano 3) You can eat really well!
Where keeping up with garden beds already planted and preparing new beds before it gets too late, is almost overwhelming! But fear not, I haven’t abandoned all hope quite yet. I’ve been prepping what was my old compost bed for an experiment in beans and kale (post and pics coming soon), prettifying a formerly desolate corner of the yard, and keeping things wet and happy! Here are a few pictures from tonight’s garden wanderings:
The New Zealand Spinach bed is taking over the world! I’ve got to carve out some time to deal with this beast and soon, or I won’t be able to get at my garlic and cucumbers!
The Jerusalem Artichokes are almost as tall as I am!
It’s not only the bees who are happy in my tiny, mismanaged garden!
Okay, off to put another load of oregano into the dehydrator! Happy Gardening!
So sad, there don’t seem to be any ripe strawberries in my garden. As soon as they ripen, the berries seem to disappear and Sluggo just doesn’t seem to be effective against the two-legged variety of snails! LOL
