An Orange Apron Does Not an Expert Make

Photo from ecohoneybees.com
 

The Guy and I went to the local hardware store the other day, and as I do, I broke off and headed to the garden section, while he stayed inside looking at something manly.  I was on a fact-finding mission..  Last year, I had a serious lack of bees.  I think that might be what plagued my berries...  Beautiful flowers grew, but they never turned into fruit.  Lack of pollination, methinks. 

Bees.  I need bees.  I need those little pollenators to come and visit my berries, the squash, and the cukes.  I need them to work their magic so I have a beautiful garden, brimming with flowers and fruit, so much that I have to give it away or donate it to the local food pantry.  Without the bees, it's onsy-twosies, and that's not going to work again this year. 

So off I go.  I wander through the garden section, looking at flowers, thinking that if I add some flowers to my garden, I'll get the bees.  Now, in the new location that the garden sits in, there are fences on two sides.  On one side are these huge hedge-like plants that are drought tolerant and bust out with TONS of yellow flowers.  Yellow is good right?  Bees like yellow.  But on the other side, it's just fence. 

I have it mind to plant more flowers interspersed with my veggies this year, for beauty, as well as pest control, and of course BEES.  Nasturtiums and Marigolds will work nicely, but I want some REAL BEE ATTRACTORS...  so I thought, "Hey, let's go talk to the experts."  (rolls eyes)

The first orange apron I stopped looked annoyed to be stopped.  Fortunately for me, I'm the customer, and I don't really care what she thinks.  So I say, "Hi, can I just ask you a question?  I want to attract bees to my garden this year, and I was hoping for some plant recommendations."

(blank stare)

And then she says:  "You WANT bees?"

Oh man.  I really should have walked away at that point.  Just turned on my heel and walked away. She leads me over to iceplant.  Iceplant.  She tells me that iceplant attracts bees.  She's right about that.  Who hasn't walked past a hill covered in iceplant, and noticed all the little bees busily working on the flowers?  But iceplant is ground cover, and as effective as it might be, ground cover will not work in the garden.  I must have looked less than impressed by her recommendation, because she extends that pointer finger and points at a guy in a green shirt.  (She clearly has never worked in guest service at a company that actually values the way people are related to, like Disney or Marriott, because seriously, the pointer finger????) 

"See that guy?"  she says.  "The one in the green shirt?  He's the vendor.  You should go talk to him."

BINGO!!!!  I was not going to let him get away.  And I didn't.

He knew exactly why I wanted bees, and he was soooo helpful.  He said that when the spring plants come out, I should look for faux heather, but in the meantime, he pointed out a lovely flowering Jasmine and also suggested lavender...  both of which I picked up.  I decided to line the divider fence with the lavender and faux heather, and add a Jasmine or two against the fence to the neighbors.  Hopefully these things will help with the bees. 

My advice:  Don't go with the garden center at all...  head to your local nursery, like I should have and talk to someone who walks the walk and talks the talk of a local gardener.  My favorite is Louie's Nursery in Riverside. http://louiesnursery.com/  But I can't always get there, and when I do, I tend to get myself in trouble financially....  lol 

In this case, I was very lucky that the vendor happened to be working at the time.  He was very knowledgeable and helpful... 

BUT THE STORY ISN'T OVER....

The Guy and I were standing in the checkout, and I was telling him about the experience I'd just had in the garden section.

"I told her I wanted to attract bees, and she looked at me like I'd grown another head...  it's a garden center...  don't you know about the birds and the bees?  Seriously?"

The Guy just laughs, as I rant...  we've been over this.  He's certainly not going to ask me why I need bees...  he remembers me out there with a paintbrush trying to hand pollenate those darn berries. 

So I take a deep breath, and I'm done with the rant.  We're done checking out, and we start to pull the cart (with the lavender and the jasmine) away.  The girl from the checkout catches my eye and says,

"Seriously, though.  Why do you need bees?"

SMACK. MY. HEAD.

Green Thumb Out

Grave Digging in the Burbs

Grave digging... snort... 

 

Thanks to my Mom and Dad doing a backyard re-do, I came into some bricks.  These are not your normal little brick red bricks, either. They are serious bricks, retaining wall bricks.  They are big and heavy and exhausting to move.  I have about 45 of them.  This is obviously not all of them, but there, now you have the idea. 

 

I thought and thought about how I wanted to use them, and I decided that I wanted to dig up some of the grass in the yard and make vegetable beds from them. 

 

So on Monday, The Guy and I got to work.  We dug, and we hauled, and we dug some more.  Pulling up grass, moving dirt, laying weed blocker, moving stone.  By the end of the day, we were tired.  Unfortunately, it didn't look much like a garden bed at all.  It looked like a grave, out there in the corner of my yard.  Oh man. 

 

The Guy left me to go work on another project, and I got to work laying the stone in, to keep the grass out of my new bed.  The retaining wall bricks are angled, so I alternated laying them face up, then face down, so there wouldn't be holes in which the grass could come through.  I thought that, for sure, once I got the stone in, it would look better. 

 

It still kind of looks like a grave though, doesn't it?  Now, I still have 3 cubic feet of compost and 3 cubic feet of chicken manure that need to go down (not all of it in that grave... er, hole).  I have to fashion some fencing first, before I do that, because once the chicken manure goes in, the Trampler and the Fuzzy Digger will think it's snack time.  Ugh, gross...but true.

 

 

On Wednesday morning, I had some time before the Pipsqueak had to be at school, and we had no plans, so I decided to see what I could do to make it look less like a grave and more like a stylish, custom garden bed.  This is what I came up with: 

 

 

 

 It still needs some cleaning up, and yes, it still needs some compost and manure to plant in, and mulch to finish off...  and of course, it needs plants.  It's still a wee bit early for my seedlings, provided they leaf out and are ready in time.  Othewise, I have a date with Louie's Nursery...

 

At the top corners, I have two determinate tomatoes that I picked up over the weekend, and in the middle there's a Jasmine, which should attract bees to the area.  It is sooooo fragrant!  When it was in the house it was overwhelming!!!  At the bottom corners, I planted some lavender for the same purpose...  bees!!! 

 

Yes, I built that trellis for the Jasmine, and I know it's pathetic.  Don't judge. 

 

So that's that.  Now the Pipsqueak is banging on me for breakfast...

 

Green Thumb Out.

 

Kohlrabi... ups and downs

Over the weekend, I harvested my first Kohlrabi bulb.  I was so excited.  I was going to sauté the leaves and eat them with onions and garlic, but I decided to use them as salad greens.  They are much firmer than lettuce, but they are just so yummy.  I added some tomato, cucumber, carrots, green onions, radishes (also from the garden) and served it with an Asian sesame dressing, and oh man, it was so good. Of course, The Guy, who loves salad, declined.  I was a little disappointed, but seriously, I think he was afraid.  He just didn't want to admit it....  That's okay, honey, the next batch is getting sautéed, and I KNOW you won't eat that!!!

 So here is the stuff I pulled from the garden for that salad.  If you've never eaten Kohlrabi, it's kind of like the cross between a radish and a broccoli stem in taste, and a bit like a carrot in texture, although less firm.  Does that even make sense?  It's really like nothing I've ever eaten before, but I do love it.  Once you cut the leaves off, you have to peel it, and it's not easily done with a vegetable peeler.  I used a paring knife, which make the job quick.  I julienned the Kohlrabi and served it with carrot sticks.  The Pipsqueak was not impressed.  Green, bad.  Orange, good.  Ugh. 

This is the bunch of leaves that I got from this one Kohlrabi bulb.  Aren't they beautiful?   See the one leaf at the bottom of the picture that is ripped?  That's the one I took a bite out of...  ha ha.  No, really.  I really did.  I read ( on some blog, somewhere) that you could sauté them like collards or chard, so I wondered what they taste like raw.  Broccoli stems.  That's what I think.  When I offered a bite to The Guy, he said, "Lettuce".  So I made salad, and like I said, he didn't eat it.  Men!


So that's the good.  When it's good, it's really good, and I am so happy and love gardening.  Seriously, when it's bad, it's really bad.  The photos above are from Sunday. 

Yesterday, I went back out to check on my other Kohlrabi bulbs, and look for caterpillars, which I do about every other day in this weather.  Things have been a bit crazy this week, so I didn't get out on Tuesday.  This is what I found:

Complete and utter APHID INFESTATION.  In four days!!!  I don't know if I can save it.  I'm going to have to try to figure out what to do.  I'm going to try some cayenne pepper and water in a spray bottle today and see if they leave.  Sure, I get aphids here and there, and I usually pick them off.  I don't want to use chemicals...  but this?????  This is bad. 

So when it's good, it's really good; when it's bad, it's really bad.  The life of a gardener. 
Update later: save or pull?  I'll let you know.

Green Thumb Out.

Garden Update: February 10

 
 

I took a stroll around the yard today, checking on everyone's progress.  It's slow this time of year, with the cooler temperatures, but all my little garden babies seem to be doing okay. 

In the garden boxes:

I'm particularly excited about the Kohlrabi.  (See photo above.)  It's beautiful and healthy, and I have four large bulbs growing in one of my garden squares.  I researched the leaves the other day, and it turns out that you can sauté them like collards, or kale, which I also have, so I'm thinking that a collection of sautéed greens is in the near future.  I'm sure I'll be the only one in the family eating it!!!  (But that's ok with me)

  

 Beets are supposed to be very easy to grow, but I haven't had any experience growing them in the past, and this year has not been especially promising.  I finally have a couple that look healthy.  These are in garden bed #2, the one that I used compost and chicken manure in.  The beets that I planted in garden bed #1 never came up.  None of them!!!  Not sure why.  I KNOW I planted seeds.  (rolls eyes)





Here's the Kale and Mustard Greens, with a couple of Kohlrabi leaves in the background there.  The curly Kale is so pretty.  I harvested it once already, and it came back, along with some new seeds that I planted at the same time.  I'm thinking all of these greens sautéed with some onion and garlic and served alongside a nice piece of grilled chicken, or mixed into a pasta dish.  Yum-o.  I have a couple of nice recipes for Kale as well, so I'm going to try them out, and if they turn out well, I'll link them here. 

 Aren't these little heads of lettuce pretty?  They have a sprinkle of red in them.  I keep checking on them, hoping that they'll be big enough to clip, but they just aren't yet...  Taste testing has proved them to be sweet and tender, and I just can't wait to eat them!

You know what would be even better?  Eating them with tomatoes!  Isn't it a crime that lettuce is a cool weather crop and tomatoes are a warm weather crop?  Well look at this!!!! 



Depending on how fast this baby grows, I just might get a home-grown salad!!!  I'm pretty excited about that little guy.  He came with the plant, and I know I'm supposed to clip him off, to encourage leaf growth, but I just can't!!!!  Salad!  C'mon little guy!  Pace yourself so you're ready when the lettuce is ready and I promise to eat you! 

It's just so exciting.  It really is.  I guess that's a gardener's heart talking. 


I just read a really interesting post on Espaliered fruit trees at EVER GROWING FARM (http://evergrowingfarm.com/2014/02/espalier-fruit-trees.html), and I'm thinking I might like to try a couple.  I'll need to discuss it with The Guy first though, because, really, who's going to be building the trellis for them?  Not me, for sure...  She didn't post any pictures, but she did say that she had grafted varieties of apple, cherry and pear trees that had FOUR VARIETIES EACH on each tree!  I'm kind of excited about that idea. 

Well that's all for now.  See you soon.
Green Thumb Out

Expanding the Class of 2014 - - with the help of the Pipsqueak

It's a cloudy, rainy day here in Southern California, so Pipsqueak and I transplanted some seedlings and planted some new seeds.  Some of the little squash plants were getting too big for the little containers, and, happily, all of the tomato and pepper seeds that I planted sprouted, but that meant there were two per cell, and I knew they'd be in trouble soon. 

I've been collecting toilet paper rolls this week, and after cutting them in half, and folding up the bottoms, they make great little containers for sproutlings. 

The Pipsqueak was more than happy to play in the dirt with me.  She put a spoonful or two of compost in the bottom of each little cell, and then I transplanted the babies into their new homes.  The best part?!  They are biodegradable!  When It's time to plant, all I have to do is open up the bottom a little, and plant the entire cell into the garden.  Oh yeah.  I'm totally excited about this. 

 

So this is where we stand with babies:

10 Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter Tomatoes

5 Delicious Tomatoes

11 Cubanelle Peppers

3 Burgess Buttercup Squash

 

This is the list of seeds we planted today:

Virginia Pickling Cucumbers: 4 cells/ 2 per cell

Blue Lake Bush Beans: 8 cells/ 1 per cell

Black Valentine Bush Beans: 6 TP roll cells

Yellow Heirloom Tomatoes: 3 TP rolls (my last 3 seeds from last year)

Dill: 4 cells

Purple Basil: 2 cells

Cinnamon Basil: 2 cells

When they sprout, if they sprout, I'll transplant any multiples into TP cells, because I think they will do better that way.

 

Now all I need is my garden boxes, so that I'm ready to plant in about another 4 weeks.  I love the early spring here, but it comes at the cost of a really hot summer.  I'm thinking about covers for my garden boxes, which we'll need by August.  That's a long way off though, and there's still a lot to do between now and then. 

 

I'll keep you posted!!

Green Thumb Out



 

Babies!

It's January in Southern California, and do you know what that means?  It means: BABIES!  Well, little sproutlings, to be exact.  My little veggie nursery is doing well.  Only eleven days after planting, I have several tomatoes and a few squashes popping up.  I'm still awaiting the peppers, but I'm not worried.  Neither the seeds I pulled from the last pepper we had, nor the brand new seeds from Mike the Gardener (www.averagepersongardening.com/) have sprouted yet.  I'm thinking any day now...

I'm especially excited about these little guys!  There are two reasons:  #1 - These are the best tomatoes in the world.  Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter!!!!  They are huge, and fleshy, a really nice pink color (not red) and sooooooo yummy.  #2 - These little sproutlings are from seeds that I fermented and saved from last year.  2nd generation!  I count that as a small success.  I may have lost that mama plant to blight and pests last summer, but she lives on...  maybe it's a big success, especially if all ten little sproutlings become full grown plants. 

I also have some other tomatoes that I'm growing from seed.  They are "Delicious" variety, and came in my Mike the Gardener package a couple of months ago.  I've never heard of them, but I'm giving them a try. 

This is what they look like.   It's a new variety for me, but they are germinating at about 75% right now, and I'm hopeful that I'll have some success with those as well. 

I also have some yellow heirloom tomato seeds that I saved from last year.  I'm going to plant them in my next batch, once I get these babies moved into pots.  The large yellows were delicious mixed in with the Mortgage Lifters, and drizzled with some balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

I'm drooling just thinking about it. 


 This is my collection of seeds so far.  Some I am really excited about, like the Kohlrabi, the tomatoes, squash, sunflowers, Kale and onions...  some not so much, like the brussel sprouts.  I don't really want to eat them, so I'm not too excited about growing them.  There are some flowers in there too...  and I'm thinking about planting a bed in the yard dedicated just to flowers.  I have a lot of work, and a lot of planning to do still.  Thank goodness I still have about eight weeks until planting  starts. 

Yes, I said it.  EIGHT WEEKS.  That puts us at the end of March.  For anyone outside of Southern California and Florida, you're probably thinking that's nuts, but I assure you, it's not.  By August, we're frying here, and it's extremely difficult to keep the garden going.  So we have to push earlier into spring, when our temps are consistently in the 70's. 

It will be here before we know it!  I need to get The Guy started on those new garden boxes!!!
More to come.
Green Thumb Out.  :)

The Girl & Guy's Class of 2014

It's a new year, and one of my goals for 2014 was to update this blog more frequently. 

We're so fortunate to live in Southern California where gardening is a year round activity.  In Southeastern Pennsylvania, where we used to live, we'd spend from October to April dreaming about gardening, planning for gardening, and thinking about gardening, but not actually gardening.  Our planting date was May 15.  May 15!!!!  Here in So. Cal, my season is almost over by then!!!! 

In September, the Guy built me some really lovely raised planter boxes, and we placed them on top of an old picnic table and benches so that they are up off the ground, and this old body doesn't have to bend over to get to them.  We've had Kale, Collards, Mustard, Corn Salad, Radishes, Beets, Carrots and Kohlrabi growing all winter.  It's fun to keep up with.  It's interesting though, that in the cooler weather everything grows very sloooooooooowly.  It's all very healthy and looks great, it's just taking it's time. 
 



We've even hooked up a watering system for these boxes, and with a quick twist of the water spigot and a 5 minute timer, it all gets watered with minimal effort from me.  It's a win/win. 

I joined the "Seeds of the Month Club" this year, (https://www.averagepersongardening.com/seedsclub)* and it's been fun to see what gets sent out each month.  It's roughly $3.00 a month, and Gardener Mike sends out four packets of seeds each month, tailored to the zone that you live in and what you can get started, if you're in an area that can plant year round.  If not, I guess he stocks you up each month.  I started in September, and I have a nice variety of veggies and herb seed packets.  Some of them are in my garden boxes, and some are waiting for summer time, just because space doesn't allow for all of it right now. 

 

The Guy is going to build four more of these boxes, and we're going to put in a garden over there by the fence, right over the Pipsqueak's shoulder.  A little bit of fencing to keep The Trampler and the Fuzzy Digger out and we're golden.  I think this new location will allow for more air flow and more control of water and light.  I think that the side of the house that we used last year just didn't have enough light or air flow, since it was wedged in between the house and the block wall.  Also, everything was in pots last year, and I am eager to see how it will be different planting in garden boxes instead.  I have a feeling that we will have more success with "the ground" vs. "the pot".

 

So, on to the Class of 2014!  We have had some absolutely wonderful backyard weather.  That, of course, is a positive spin on things, because we have had high temperatures, low humidity and absolutely NO RAIN, which is creating a terrible drought for Southern California.  There are murmurs of water rationing coming soon, and reports that if it doesn't let up, food prices are going to soar because local farmers are losing their crops and water prices will go up.  So, if that's all going to happen, then I really need to get crackin at growing my own food.  Water rationing?  Fine, I won't water the grass, but I will water the vegetables! 

 

I saw the tomato plants at Home Depot, and I couldn't resist...  yes, I know that I joined the seeds of the month club so I wouldn't have to buy stuff...  but like I said, I couldn't resist.  They were calling me!  And so, without further delay, I introduce you to (the beginnings of) the class of 2014:

 

That's an Early Girl, a Supersweet 100, and a Bush Goliath.  Yes, they are Hybrids.  No, I did not grow them from seed.  I know, I know...  but truly, I thought that a couple of Hybrids might be a good thing this year.  Last year between blight, blossom rot, and pests, remember what happened to my beautiful tomato forest?  Hybrids are a bit hardier and more resistant to disease.  The Bush Goliath is a determinate variety.  What's the difference between determinate and indeterminate?  Well, according to Organic Gardening.com:

 

"The most simple explanation of the difference between determinate and indeterminate tomatoes is that determinate tomatoes bear their crop all at once, while indeterminate tomatoes bear fruit over the course of a season. Indeterminate varieties tend to grow longer vines and will require more support in terms of staking or caging over the course of a season. Determinate varieties often (but not always) tend to be more compact and manageable."

 

So I'm thinking I may stagger a few determinate tomato plants in the garden this year.  If they produce and then die back, I might even get several yields from the same pot, depending on the time frame.  I've never done it before.  I like the idea that they don't send out those super long tentacles that interweave all of the plants together.  I like the idea of a compact tomato plant.  It might just be my new favorite!!!  We shall see.  That's what's fun about gardening.  Experimenting! 

 

There's one other newbie that I want to introduce to you, because I have quite a few in different growing stages, so I think they are going to be around a while.  Kohlrabi.  Yum-o.  Kohlrabi has bulbs that grow above ground.  You can slice them up and eat them in slaw, or put them in salads.  They have the consistency of a carrot and taste sort of like broccoli stems, but really, they are delicious.  I got my first taste of Kohlrabi when I belonged to a crop share association in Pennsylvania.  I've been hooked since.  These were grown from seed in my garden beds, and I can't wait to eat them!!!  They still have a little ways to go.  They will grow to be a bit smaller than a tennis ball.  Right now they are about the size of a golf ball. 

 

Aren't they beautiful?  I just love them.  The leaves are big and beautiful, and they just look so healthy and happy.  I have four growing in this garden square and several seedlings in other squares.  Hopefully we're going to have a great yield soon. 

 

Well, that's the start of this years' obsession.  The thumb is feeling mighty green again.

 

See you soon, gardeners!

Green Thumb Out

*If you think "Wow, that Seeds of the Month Club sounds great, I think I'll join!" Please, please contact me first.  If I give you a referral code that you reference when you join, I get a free year.  That would be so nice!!!