Will leave the rest to get a bit bigger, but couldn’t resist an early sample.
market time
Seedlings are ready for the first farmers’ markets of the 2016 season. The Early Golden Crookneck Squash is already full of blooms. The Purple Jalapeno and Goat Horn chilies I started March 22nd are doing great and ready to be transplanted. Only 3 of the Chocolate Habaneros I started March 16th made it to transplant stage. Of the 3, only one has survived. It seems to be doing well. Tomatoes always thrive. The Cherokee Purples above I started from seed 3/28 are already 8″ tall. They are one of my favorite tomatoes so far — they are easy to grow, grow quickly, and the fruit tastes amazing. I’ll also have the usual
May 13, 2016
garden beds getting ready
Decided to do a mix of straw bale and in-ground garden this year. The sheet mulching we did in the fall resulted in a nice, loamy compost. I put 750 lbs of organic soil on top of the sheet mulch today, and will add some more tomorrow. Straw bales are creating a border around the in-ground beds. Next week we’ll be conditioning the straw bales and creating the garden beds. Apple, peach, and cherry trees arrive Monday. They’ll get planted in the new orchard area beyond where you see the far straw bales. I’ll also be planting blackberry and blueberry bushes, as well as installing irrigation, fencing, and tree cages.
April 9, 2016
on food and gardens
Ruth Reichl’s memoirs — Tender at the Bone, Comfort Me with Apples, and Garlic and Sapphires — are among my favorite foodie reads. If you’re a fan of hers —or just someone interested in food culture, gardening, and changing the way we eat — Ruth Reichl’s Commonwealth Club podcast interview is worth a listen.
hothouse blossoms
Tomatoes are starting to blossom in the hothouse. Looking forward to having fresh Kakao, Climster, and Frederik tomatoes in the next month. Only one of my Imperial Star artichoke seedlings survived. I planted 10 seeds, 7 germinated, 5 got to cotyledon stage, and 1 made it to second-leaf stage — despite careful temperature, fertilizer, water, and ventilation control. Artichokes have a reputation for being finicky to raise from seed. The lone survivor looks like it’s doing well, though. If it makes it all the way to maturity, I’ll let it go to seed and save those seeds for next year’s planting. Fingers crossed, the sturdy genes will be passed on….
gardening in winter
Artichoke seedlings!Just as important as growing vegetables to me is the planning. Winter is the perfect time for: evaluating what went well (starting seedlings early in the hothouse, planting in straw bales) and not so well (planting all at once) last season considering what I want to try for the upcoming season checking out seed catalogs and websites (ones I like so far are Baker Heirloom, FedCo, Johnny’s, and High Mowing), purchasing seeds, and ordering trees for spring delivery putting hothouse seed starts on the calendar figuring out staggered planting times and length of time to maturity so plants and trees ripen throughout the growing season instead of maturing all
February 2, 2016
january tomatoes
Tomatoes in the hothouse looking good!
center garden plan
Center garden area planned, seeds I either have or are on the way. In the center garden this coming spring I’m trying: Tomatoes (Solar Flair, Cherokee Purple, Black Beauty, Black Cherry, Purple Bumble Bee) Artichokes (Imperial Star — seedlings already started!) Crookneck Squash (Early Golden Summer) Cauliflower (Purple of Sicily) Cabbage (Mammoth Red Rock) Broccoli (Waltham 29) Beets (Chiogga, Crosby Egyptian) Leeks (Megaton, Lexton) Swiss Chard (Five Color Silver Beet) Carrots (Atomic Red, Purple Dragon, Pusa Asita Black, Yellow Bunch) Lettuce (Flash Butter Gem, Flame, Garnet Rose) Orach (Magenta Magic) Chilies (Purple Jalapeno, Green Jalapeno, Goat’s Horn, Chocolate Habanero, Cayenne) Flowers (Nasturtium, Poppies, Sunflowers, others TBD) Red Currants (Rovada) Gooseberries
January 30, 2016
fires out, cayennes in
Thankfully the wildfires in the area are out, and we’ve had a little rain over the last month to clear the air. During the height of the smoke we escaped to Colorado for 10 days for an impromptu visit with friends. After that I had to go to San Francisco on business for another 10 days, so most of September was spent traveling. I hated to leave the garden knowing it wouldn’t survive without daily watering, but with the smoke and lack of sunshine it wasn’t clear how well September would have produced anyway. I was able to harvest some ripe cayenne peppers and a couple of quarts of tomatoes
October 4, 2015
vine-smoked chipotles
Wildfires continue to burn throughout the area, making it dark in the middle of the day. This picture was taken at noon. Most of the garden leaves are starting to curl, yellow, and drop off after more than two weeks of nearly constant smoke. The tomatoes have pretty much stopped ripening — except for a few determined black cherry tomatoes. Cayenne and jalapenos are the exception. They continue to ripen slowly and the plants still look relatively healthy. Can chipotles be smoked on the vine?