Garden thread

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[quote author="graphrix" date=1242053130]Tomatoes:

And, Cayci has two plants on her porch that are doing very well.



I picked up a basil plant at <a href="http://store.claros.com/">Claro's</a> this weekend, and I look forward to the caprese salads. Yum!</blockquote>


I am amazed at how much the tomato plants will grow on a warm day. It has been fun, and my front porch is starting to resemble a jungle. Graph was so sweet to pick me up a basil plant. I have been missing last year's plant, and this year I planted a tomato in that spot of dirt so I didn't have any room left.



Besides my white and purple tomatoes, I also have 2 purple chilis (I only bought chilis and tomatoes in strange colors at the Fullerton sale), thyme, rosemary and a rallying chocolate mint (no really, that's what it's called). I want to plant another cilantro so some of the tomatoes can be made into pico de gallo, but I need more pots for that. I think I need to "clean" some more out of Graph's garage. :-)



And seriously, no_vas, if you can wait to pick the IHB tomatoes until they are actually ripe, I'm totally down. I'm told that commercially available tomatoes aren't as good as home grown because they are picked too soon.
 
[quote author="caycifish" date=1242185829]

And seriously, no_vas, if you can wait to pick the IHB tomatoes until they are actually ripe, I'm totally down. I'm told that commercially available tomatoes aren't as good as home grown because they are picked too soon.</blockquote>


The Romas my dad is growing are cannery tomatos destined for a future as either kechup or pizza sauce or paste or.......something. If they aren't ripe, they don't get picked. The whole field will get peak ripeness around the first week of July.



Most Romas you find in the grocery store are red because they are ripe. It's those freshmarket beefsteak tomatos that the pick green and then fumigate to give them color (the ones that eat like cardboard) that you are speaking of. If you come to my house, I either have Romas or something else that is vine ripened because they are out of Romas. When I leased farm equiment for a living, I used to have a shaker of salt on the dash. I'd eat field fresh tomatos for breakfast every day for about three months. Wipe 'em on your pants leg, salt 'em up, and eat them like apples.



The wildcard in this is the variety. I don't know how good what we have planted eats. If you're going to make sauce out of them they'll be fine.
 
Caycifish.... cilantro is really a "cool weather" crop. This time of year, it bolts and goes to seed really fast, so you need to plant some from seed, wait a week, plant another batch, and so on. But be prepared to harvest it right away. Or, let it go to seed, then you have coriander!
 
I finally got around to retrieving my tags to tell you what we have. We have three potted tomato plants in cages that are doing very well. The "Sweet 100" hybrid tomato (looks like a cherry tomato) comes up to my chin, and I am 5'8". The second plant is a "Ponderosa Pink" tomato that is about 3 feet tall (this plant was grown from the seed by a friend). The third plant (the tag says "Patio-- The Container Tomato"; is that even a type of tomato?) is the smallest of the three but it has three nicely sized tomatoes. We also have three basil plants, two of which were purchased from Home Depot and the third from the grocery store. The leaves were very dry and I figured I waited too long to harvest and so I cut the basil back over the weekend as a result. We also have cinnamon basil and pineapple sage for the first time, and I have no idea what to do with either of them, recipe wise. Finally, we have a few strawberry plants. Our potted garden is on a much smaller scale than the ones we have had in years past when we rented a house with a huge yard. Last year, we had eggplant, hot peppers, bell peppers, cucumber, squash, onions, mint, chocolate mint, cilantro, rosemary, basil, a variety of tomatoes and watermelon. The watermelon was planted on the edge of the garden and the vines completely overran the concrete patio (the watermelon actually grew on the patio). It seemed like it took forever for the watermelon to ripen but we had 6-8 watermelons that were 1-2 feet long and very tasty. It was very nice to have my own tomatoes last year during the salmonella scare.
 
This daily mini newsletter isn't typically very interesting, but thought today's blurb on monarch habitat was kind of a neat tidbit. There was one earlier this week on bees and a couple of local organizations that rescue bees and provide hives if you want them.

<a href="http://www.dirtdujour.com/item/monarchs_and_milkweed/">Monarchs and Milkweed</a>
 
[quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1242342721]Any recommendations on an easy fruit to grow? My kid is a fruit-aholic and I think it would be an interesting experience for her to grow some for herself.</blockquote>


Try a strawberry. If you want to be uberlazy about it, put it in a self-watering violet pot outside, that way it'll stay alive even if she forgets to water it for a few days.
 
[quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1242342721]Any recommendations on an easy fruit to grow? My kid is a fruit-aholic and I think it would be an interesting experience for her to grow some for herself.</blockquote>


You can grow strawberries in a planter box pretty well, but you're a little late for this year.



<a href="http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/gardening/good-idea-growing-strawberries-in-hanging-bags-050891">Or, you can grow them in a bag!</a>
 
The Fullerton Arboretum will be hosting its annual ?Herb Weekend? at The Potting Shed, located on the grounds of the Arboretum, May 30 & 31, 2009. For those who like to cultivate, cook, smell, taste and enjoy the beauty of herbs, this event has everything to offer. A large variety of herbs will be for sale.



This year, herb aficionados will not only find the largest variety of herb plants available in the region, but all the herbs they need to spice up the kitchen and beautify the garden. Visitors will also be treated to many varieties of specialty herbs that can be used to create different types of gardens. The Potting Shed will offer herbs for sale to help create the perfect herb garden for you. Whether it is an herbal kitchen garden or just beautiful perennial herbs you are looking for, this is the event you don?t want to miss.



For your everyday cooking you will want to try:

Herbs strong enough for accent -- sweet basil, dill, mint, sweet marjoram, tarragon, thyme



For that special summer evening light dinner you will want to try:

Herbs for blending -- chives, parsley, summer savory.



For flavoring meat and poultry, you will want to try:

Strong herbs -- winter savory, rosemary, sage.



So don that chefs? apron, put on those gloves, and get ready for the best herb garden you have ever grown. Herb gardens are beautiful and beneficial and they will delight your senses for months or years to come.



Hundreds of common and uncommon herb varieties will be available to help you create your own herb garden. Gourmet varieties offered include Exotic Basils, Lemon Grass and Black Peppermint. In the Fragrant Herb group, try Lavenders, Lemon Catmint or Thyme. For truly Culinary Classic herbs, consider Greek Oregano, Sweet Marjoram and Rosemary.



Create a specialty Herbal Tea Garden and drink fresh ice tea all summer. Warm yourself from the cold in winter with herbal teas. Tea and gardens go together. You can have tea in the garden, or you can have a garden dedicated to herbs that make tea. "Taking tea" invokes images of a more leisurely era. Who can forget the Mad Hatters tea party in Alice in Wonderland and its wonderful commentary on the seriousness with which Victorian England took its tea?



<a href="http://www.fullertonarboretum.org/ps_herb_weekend.php">Fullerton Herb Weekend</a>
 
[quote author="stepping_up" date=1243552605]The Fullerton Arboretum will be hosting its annual ?Herb Weekend? at The Potting Shed, located on the grounds of the Arboretum, May 30 & 31, 2009. For those who like to cultivate, cook, smell, taste and enjoy the beauty of herbs, this event has everything to offer. A large variety of herbs will be for sale.



This year, herb aficionados will not only find the largest variety of herb plants available in the region, but all the herbs they need to spice up the kitchen and beautify the garden. Visitors will also be treated to many varieties of specialty herbs that can be used to create different types of gardens. The Potting Shed will offer herbs for sale to help create the perfect herb garden for you. Whether it is an herbal kitchen garden or just beautiful perennial herbs you are looking for, this is the event you don?t want to miss.



For your everyday cooking you will want to try:

Herbs strong enough for accent -- sweet basil, dill, mint, sweet marjoram, tarragon, thyme



For that special summer evening light dinner you will want to try:

Herbs for blending -- chives, parsley, summer savory.



For flavoring meat and poultry, you will want to try:

Strong herbs -- winter savory, rosemary, sage.



So don that chefs? apron, put on those gloves, and get ready for the best herb garden you have ever grown. Herb gardens are beautiful and beneficial and they will delight your senses for months or years to come.



Hundreds of common and uncommon herb varieties will be available to help you create your own herb garden. Gourmet varieties offered include Exotic Basils, Lemon Grass and Black Peppermint. In the Fragrant Herb group, try Lavenders, Lemon Catmint or Thyme. For truly Culinary Classic herbs, consider Greek Oregano, Sweet Marjoram and Rosemary.



Create a specialty Herbal Tea Garden and drink fresh ice tea all summer. Warm yourself from the cold in winter with herbal teas. Tea and gardens go together. You can have tea in the garden, or you can have a garden dedicated to herbs that make tea. "Taking tea" invokes images of a more leisurely era. Who can forget the Mad Hatters tea party in Alice in Wonderland and its wonderful commentary on the seriousness with which Victorian England took its tea?



<a href="http://www.fullertonarboretum.org/ps_herb_weekend.php">Fullerton Herb Weekend</a></blockquote>


If you are a herb nut, must get this cookbook - delicious and makes maximum use of the fresh herbs. Fairly simple cooking made delicious by the fresh ingredients.

From the long time former chef of the Herbfarm restaurant (<A href="http://herbfarm.com/">http://herbfarm.com</A>) - super expensive restaurant, where the chefs run out between courses to cut the herbs fresh from the garden for the next course



<A href="http://www.amazon.com/Herbfarm-Cookbook-Jerry-Traunfeld/dp/0684839768">http://www.amazon.com/Herbfarm-Cookbook-Jerry-Traunfeld/dp/0684839768</A>
 
I?m going to continue to take pictures of the field from the same spot through the season. The spot I picked is right next to the pump and I picked it because it?s easy to find and reproduce the shot. I got one row over on accident.



May 8:



<img src="http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w188/CraigMBA/img057-1.jpg" alt="" />



May 30:



<img src="http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w188/CraigMBA/img061.jpg" alt="" />



Up close (I think my camera is set up for a 6? focus)



<img src="http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w188/CraigMBA/img062.jpg" alt="" />



Also, I made a mistake. These are scheduled for August 8th harvest.
 
I don't have any pics of the veggies, but took some of the backyard this eve....

<img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/stepping_up/IMG_0658.jpg" alt="" />

<img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/stepping_up/IMG_0661.jpg" alt="" />

<img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/stepping_up/IMG_0680_edited.jpg" alt="" />

<img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/stepping_up/IMG_0678_edited.jpg" alt="" />

<img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/stepping_up/IMG_0665.jpg" alt="" />

<img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/stepping_up/IMG_0670.jpg" alt="" />

<img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/stepping_up/IMG_0672.jpg" alt="" />

<img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/stepping_up/IMG_0674.jpg" alt="" />

<img src="http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr200/stepping_up/IMG_0676.jpg" alt="" />
 
[quote author="SoCal78" date=1244279859]That looks nice. Thanks for sharing the pics. How many hours a week would you say it takes to maintain?</blockquote>


I'm kind of bummed because the pictures don't really show the detail. Believe it or not, it's not much to maintain. I have it pretty heavily mulched, which really keeps the weeds down. I plant everything with organic compost and have not really had any pest issues. Pruning is a few times a year. Watering is probably the biggest time consumer as I don't have any drip lines out there. But, outside of the three iceburg roses, everything else is low water or drought tolerant. In the winter I've gone two months without water and in the summer it's twice a week. With the June gloom once a week works well.



In the early spring I cut a lot back and spent a few hours mixing in some more compost and organic flower food. The citrus trees get food every three months.



I'll have to dig up the before images. I started all of this just a year ago and those huge lavenders that you see were the 1 inch ones that I got at the CDM farmer's market 3 for $5. There are a million bees and load of butterflies all day long along with quite a few hummingbirds.



The citrus tree in the middle back is what we call our Frankenstein tree. It's grafted for four varieties- honey mandarin, valencia orange, navel orange and meyer lemon. You can't see what's behind it, but there is a black and blue salvia in full bloom that is just gorgeous. I'm going to try and take pictures in the bright daylight to see if the colors and detail can be seen better.
 
[quote author="fadetogrey" date=1244280665]Love your gravel path and lavender plants.</blockquote>


If you ever want bags of stones, you can ask HD to make you a palate of the broken bags. You get the whole palate for the price of one bag and if the guy helping you is cool, broken bags just have a tiny tear. I wanted more rustic gravel, but ended up with these pea pebbles and have been getting them really cheap at HD.
 
I want to post pics of my garden. How are you posting pics from your files? I only know how to do it as an attachment. I want it to view the way NoVas and Stepping does.
 
[quote author="Mcdonna1980" date=1244454317]I want to post pics of my garden. How are you posting pics from your files? I only know how to do it as an attachment. I want it to view the way NoVas and Stepping does.</blockquote>


It's a slow Sunday, so I guess I'll chime in. :) They are using Photobucket. You upload your photos, grab the link, and paste here as an image. I have Photobucket but prefer Shutterfly. You can really use any such site like those to host your photos. Hope this helps.
 
[quote author="graphrix" date=1244461958]<a href="http://tinypic.com/">I use tinypic</a>. It's uber easy and no signing up.</blockquote>


Thanks Graph, I rely way too much on my tech savy hubby so this site was just what I needed.
 
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