Busier Than Ever!

The bagrada bugs are back. I have been just watering more consistently and the plants seem to be less stressed. Nothing much going on. The drought is bad. I am hooked on stephanotis vine. 

Transitional Period

Since I have been back from vacation, I have been so busy moving to a new school. Luckily, the weather has been fantastic for my cucumbers! The tomatoes are ripening and I just harvested the soybeans. The roses need their break as well. The drought has been hard. I think about all that wasted water at UCLA! How crazy is that?

The Story of Wheat

Such a beautiful sight as a ripe wheat field is difficult to get out of your head. We were fortunate to visit a farmer who had a field ready to be harvested. The dew must completely dry before they cut because the grain will become moldy. The harvest takes place in the late afternoon.

The combine is a huge harvester and it was exciting to see the action from the front seat. A duck flew out of the teeth and it was scary! I think it lost its nest.

Getting on and off can be tricky! 

So after the combine makes three trips in through the field, the wheat is dumped into a truck. The guy missed his mark and spilled a whole mess of wheat on the ground. They plant the wheat in the fall. This make this harvest the winter wheat. It lays under the snow in the winter which helps it to develop a strong root system. The whole growing process takes 10 months or so. Just amazing!

Pretty but pokey!

The Sun is Out!

It is a few days into July and the sun is peeking out of the clouds! The June Gloom came at the end of the month and I was worried about the tomatoes. Blight can be devastating! Anyway, the Meyer lemon tree still has some great lemons on it. I had this tree for 3 years in my patio which only gets full sun in the morning-early afternoon. I really recommend getting one of theses dwarf lemon trees. I went to a nursery and spent three times the Home Depot price because I wanted a semi-mature tree. Home Depot citrus trees are great but sometimes, the trees are so stressed. The whiteflies love it too so I have to hose the tree down once a week with a strong spray of water. I know living in an apartment means you don't have a lot of space and light to grow things but you can if you know what kinds of plants can can tolerate the less than ideal conditions. Growing ornamentals can be rewarding as well. Shady plants are happy under my fruit trees. I have a few in my patio as well.

I think I am starting to figure out what tomato was planted where in my community garden plot. The Sungold is a very popular choice because the cherry tomatoes develop very fast in beautiful green clusters that turn yellow orange. The clusters look amazing! I am looking forward to seeing the Black Cherry. Where it is I don't quite know yet. The blight can be seen in the garden now. I have been making sure my leaves are not on the ground and there is enough air circulation. Even with all the care, it just spreads no matter what. It is in the soil. I just pray that my tomatoes stay healthy and happy. My roses have been taking over literally. The early summer pruning has helped but it has to be done regularly because they are just growing like mad. The weather as been perfect. Abraham Darby and a few are stricken with rust but it can be managed. Some of the more upright roses are just blooming in profusion like this Molineux. Jubilee Celebration did its thing and now the Snow Goose is ready for its own show. Mary bloomed all at once and the red roses are waiting for their turn. I find that the roses need constant attention. High maintenance! I miss most of the blooms anyway. The plot is only 2.5 miles away but sometimes, I have to let it be.

I have been rehabilitating this bare root rose sine April. It is finally recovering. There is another one in the community garden that I am trying to take care of. The new growth got broken off accidentally. 

 I went to the school garden yesterday to water. The plants were looking okay. I decided to wait three weeks between the watering. I completely flood the beds. It got mulched before I left for the summer. That seems to help with retaining the moisture in this little garden that is located in full sun built into the asphalt. I tried the timer with the soaker hoses but there are rascals who jump the fence and find the time to do something stupid. The garden is in need of some pruning but I will do that later in the month. School starts in early August. 

Foraging and Survival

Last Saturday, I had a chance to meet Christpher Nyerges. He is this awesome man who has been teaching survival skills, plant identification and other great stuff. At the Temple City Library yesterday, he really engaged my girls with the small animal trap and the sampling of plant based food found by foraging in the wild.

I am attempting to propagate the wild currant and the rose. If you go to his website, he has classes almost every weekend. This Thursday night, he is going to be at Eaton Canyon talking about his latest book, Foraging California. 

  

Need to Catch Up!

It's been awhile since I have blogged. School is out and I have been trying to get a position at another school closer to home. I have only been on vacation for two weeks. Time is going by so slowly! The garden had been neglected and I have been spending a lot of time grooming the roses. The rose are going crazy! Today the girls are at Raging Waters with their dad and friend.  So that gives me time to relocate a rose, water, mulch, weed, prune, tie back the milkweed, turn the worms, and trim the sage. I still need to go back to later to tie the tomatoes back. They are spilling over. Either at this garden or the school garden, work never stops! But I love touching the soil, the worms, and being patient with my newly planted seeds. The deep watering sure helps! The sun is out bright and early with no hint of overcast weather. This is not normal. What in the world is going on? The tomatoes are looking fantastic in all the plots. The temperature is just perfect! How can this be?

The mulberry tree is just about done!

I stripped the leaves but you must always leave a few in top.

First time growing Stevia. I think the plant looks interesting. 

Last time I walked by A Shropshire Lad, I snapped the flower off. This time I am very careful with this David Austin rose because it is such a tender bush.

Oh, Jubilee, you are so gorgeous and the blooming is so continuous! This is a must have David Austin rose in your garden!

I have tomatoes too . All of them have names but I did let someone else plant them. What is this one? We'll just have to wait until they ripen. I planted my mystery favorite from the seeds I collected last year, Black Cherry, Tangerine, Golden Nugget? and some others. 

Vacations

Vacations make me nervous because of watering. Most people love leaving for a trip but for me, I have to worry about the watering. I have left the garden to others to water but then when I come back to my garden, it is disappointing because you can never have someone else water thoroughly as you can. This time I had the power of mulch on my side. Granted the roses are in pots and some of them were dry but they looked good. All the plants looked like they were happy.

Summer in the Spring

Last week, I decided to germinate my mystery tomatoes. I can say my seed saving was successful because I got a pleasant surprise when I got to work today. I am looking foward to growing those tomatoes. I still can't figure out what they are.

The weather has changed drastically once again. From the high 60's to the low 90's in the Valley. Near the coast, it's a little cooler. What the heck!!! My kale is showing signs of bolting. The frisée has already bolted. The peas are messed up and the cabbages had to be harvested. So much for cool weather!  I planted carrot seeds last week so that I can grow them in the shade but they are high maintenance since the weather is so screwed! They have already germinated. I watered yesterday but I had to water again today to kept the soil moist. I do not want to lose my carrots seedlings. The key is to have good moisture around theses babies since they are so fragile. Sometimes I hate starting seedlings because you have to be in constant watch over them. Not too wet or not too dry. I am too busy for this!

Let's see...the roses are not happy with the big fluctuations in temperature either! The petals are getting so crispy and the buds are just malformed. Is that a word?

I took on a few damaged roses but I am scared that they won't be blooming for me. I am tired to rescuing plants but I have to do it. 

More Daylight But Less Time

 

I have been very busy just tending to my own garden and getting the school garden ready for spring. There's so much to do like pulling out some of the plants that are just overgrown and making sure everything is nicely mulched. The weather keeps on changing. It is cool one day, then a little bit warmer, then hot, and it goes back to cool again. My sugar snap peas are really confused.

My David Austin roses are blooming in mass profusion but the blooms don't look as nice since they didn't really get enough rest this past winter. Some of the roses that I have are very old too and are still in pots. The roots have gone deep down into the ground and I cannot pull them out. The pot is literally stuck to the soil.

There is a lot of kale and cabbage but the slugs and snails seem to be having more fun than I am because they are just leaving a lot of holes behind.

This cabbage is shaped like a football. So weird! I thought the tarragon died but it is coming back from dormancy. I totally forgot about it. It was a good three dollar investment. I'll have that herb for the rest of my life. Not sure if I will need so much of it though.

For some reason when I scattered my frisée seeds, I didn't expect my whole half of the garden to become a big salad bowl. The slugs love hanging around the frisée. 

Overall, this week it is suppose to drizzle. We had that mega rain that came down like cats and dogs a few weeks ago. We sure need more rain. It's a mixed blessing. If our streets were not so dirty all the time, I am all for the rain but there is so much trash and stuff just mixed with all the water that flows into our storm drains! Our air us just as bad. We need to do our part and keep our trash picked up. 

Busy as a Bee

The week is almost over and the last time I visited my community garden plot was on Sunday. Now I am trying to make my school garden nice and tidy for spring because I was so busy the last couple of weeks with report cards and portfolios. The garden looks bare but the buddleia plants are looking very healthy. The milkweed has recovered from all the monarch caterpillars. I planted a few lavender seedlings and some Mexican sage. I moved my pots near my classroom so I can water my freesia that I had for over 15 years. Over the years I lost some but that was to due to my neglect. The weather is once again warming up. I think winter completely skipped us here in Los Angeles. I look foward to visiting my garden soon.

First Day Of MG Class

Today was the first day of the Master Gardener Training Class. It rained pretty much the whole day. I can't believe I am finally doing this! I have been gardening at my school for the last 15 years. I have been gardening at community garden for 10 years. It is true that I am married to the biggest gardener! It is a big commitment but I look forward to volunteering in the community and in schools. Gardening has always been a part of my life ever since I was a little girl in Seoul. I loved examining plants and trees. The insects fascinated me. When I accidentally dug up peanuts, I was just so curious to know how something so tasty grew under the ground. My girls have been gardening with me since they started to walk. It something that we should all do, not only to grow food but to celebrate life. Regardless of where we live and what we do, it is so important to find time to grow something big or small.

It finally rained!

The anticipation for rain was great and it finally materialized. On Thursday, it poured in the late afternoon.
All the dirt, gunk, trash, debris, and whatever was clinging on to dear life got washed away. It was good and bad depending on your how you feel about the state of the environment. The freeways were a mess but that is to be expected. Seriously for once, the air seemed to be clean and clear.

The day before, I had my students help me with cleaning up the school garden, It was just a dusty mess! The plants were covered in a layer of grime. I knew it was time to get the pruners out to trim all the butterfly bushes.

Now it is cloudy and cool, just perfect for all the cabbages, sugar snap peas, carrots, kale, and other vegetables that need cool weather so that their flavors will develop!

Happy Groundhog Day

It just rained a few minutes ago! Six more weeks of winter. It has been nothing close to winter in Los Angeles. There was barely any rain only a tease here and there of a short drizzle or sprinkle.

I love this weather but a gardener depends on the change of weather for growing. Sunshine is great all the time but we also need the rain, wind, and the occasional gray day.

I picked my last large romanesco broccoli today. I still have a few baby romanesco plants right now. The peas are just a crazy tangle of a mess. The lettuce area is looking great. I have some frisée growing. I need to check my seed packets. Just like the plants I am confused about what is happening to the weather and our environment.

Rain Rain, Please Come Our Way!

A gardener's worst nightmare is lack of rain and drought. State of California has declared a state of emergency. Are those words supposed to be capitalized? 

My water conservation methods have been improving over the years. The key to water conservation is knowing what crops to plant, amending the soil, and mulching. Water retention is a big factor here. Water should seep right in and go deep. Plants should be watered deeply so their roots go deep in the ground and not so much on the surface or midway. Then comes the mulch. If you turn your soil after a hot day and see that the soil is still moist under that mulch then you got it right. The mulch will help with the evaporation rate. You don't want your soil to be muddy inside your mulch either. Then you are watering too much and your soil sucks! Worms are a good indicator of good soil. What worm would want to live in soil that lacks organic matter and moisture? The soil should be airy. Compacted soil is just terrible. It is good to turn the soil once in awhile but not too often or it will disturb the soil balance. The key is not to water too frequently so you can save on water usage. Plants can tolerate it. You just have to experiment with your soil and see what works best for your garden. Just because we are facing drought and lack of rain does not mean I can't garden. People have been gardening in deserts and other desolate places. It just makes us realize how precious water is.

Going Back To Work

It has been great

three weeks of gardening. The weather was mild...almost unnaturally warm. I was able to weed, feed, prune, and see the awesome growing in my garden. I visited the school gardens too. They are all thriving. The only sad event was the death of my plumeria stick. Besides that I don't usually kill anything. It was a shock to me when I saw the stick all shriveled up at school. I am looking forward to the romanesco broccoli harvest.

The cabbages are forming their heads. So excited! One head got eaten by something.

 I am so lucky to live in an area where you can just grow about anything all year around.

The worms are happy in the compost bin. In my 13x13 space, I can do just about anything except have an orchard. I will leave that up to the garden at my folks. Good dirt makes me happy. Growing something makes me happy. Going back to work means that I won't have a lot of time after work to take care of my garden. I will be looking forward to daylight savings!

The New Year

I have been pruning all the roses and keeping the garden tidy. The last few days, I have been working feverishly to get the garden ready for some more winter crops.

This romanesco broccoli is such a freak of nature. I have about 4 more of them just doing well but the snails love to hide in there!

The seedling in the middle is already bolting! The weather has been really strange lately! Warm and cold,  then cool again. It can't make up its mind. I have been watering the garden at my daughters' school while my husband is away.

The rose hedge is now gone. I pruned it back for the winter. I am really happy about keeping this my permanent rose area.