Missing My Garden

 It is hard to be on vacation when you know your garden is in producing bountiful of food. It is also nice to know that there is someone who will water and look out for your garden when you are away. I love going on vacation but my garden is always in the back of my mind. My Big Rainbow is still not dead. It is coming back after a severe prune because the blight has taken over our community garden this year. The weather has been very cool which means that our harvests will be meager at best. The roses look like they missed tlc while I was away. The deadheading is a laborious job when you have so many. The kale, herbs, and the cucumber are doing extremely well. I saw little cuc's dangling on the wire trellis. Work starts on Monday and I have been watering the school garden every two weeks over the summer to keep all the buddleia bushes alive. It has not been climbing up the to 100 degree mark yet and I fear that in October and November, the weather will be pretty hot. All the plants are acting strange. The O'Neal blueberries are starting to flower and it is still producing big clusters of berries. Such a nice treat.
While on vacation, it was nice to visit a few community gardens. They were all small and full of life. Just being with the trees and nature was enough for me to realize how important green space is regardless of how small it can be. Seeing the coastal redwoods makes you feel insignificant in life because nature rules. Nature is greater than man's will because it will take all that we have in a second. It makes me want to protect it even more and I feel sorry for what man has done to the environment in such a short period of time.


Sunflower Fields

The sunflowers fields were incredible. There different fields of growth. I don't know what the flowers are used for. Maybe feed or for seeds to eat. It was just spectacular I have never seen such a beautiful sight. This trip commemorated my ten year wedding anniversary. We spent our time eating great local food and visiting the state parks. There is a lot to do and see in California.  The blackberry picking was a little iffy due to the fact that the best ones were growing amongst poison oak.

wild blackberries near the Smith River

Ripe Gala Apples

Oysters are yucky



Organic Corn from Mendocino

Banana Slugs in Love

Climbing a Nursery Log

 

Wonderful Summer Weather

The joy of summer is looking into your garden and seeing all the beautiful tomatoes, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, and other vegetables ready to be harvested. The weather has been really warm and sunny, meaning that the marine layer is nowhere to be seen. I have not been watering as much but have been checking to see that the cucumber seedlings are not getting eaten. The roses are at their peak and they are constantly blooming...at different times. The red roses come and get scorched easily but all the apricot, pink, white, and yellow ones are just looking fantastic. All the hard work is paying off. Gardening is really easy. All you need is some time to take care of your garden. Maintenance is necessary to keep your garden at its optimum growing capacity. No one can tell you what to do, you just follow your instincts. My elbow is getting better. It still hurts to use a pruner and I have to do some exercises to relieve the stress on the tendons. I have never had this much pain before in one place.

The school harvest looks amazing! Picking it was fun too!

Today's bouquet

Sungold tomatoes are just so tasty!

Monday's harvest at McKinley ES

I saw the craziest berry patch in my community garden.

The most beautiful plumeria I have ever seen!

Visited a plumeria farm on Saturday

I am really getting into plumerias once again. My mom has a few and I chose to go to Kauai just to look at the plumerias during my vacation a long time ago. There are so many varieties.
It is hard to choose! I have to be very careful about what I want. I spent some time this weekend looking at the Thai varieties. Some are them are just outstanding! I already went crazy over David Austin roses. I need to draw the line somewhere.





My Elbow is Still...

 My elbow has not been healing properly because of me. At the first sign of "oh, I feel better", I have been working again the the garden with the pruners. The pruners are bad! But I have to groom all the plants and lately the July gloom has just made my tomato plants look really sad. One tomato plant to had to be pulled out of the ground. Good bye to my Aunt German Green. The Big Rainbow is hanging on and so is Sungold. I can't believe that I thought it was a Sweet Million. I have a lot of tomatoes on the Sungold but I had to strip most of the leaves. I have not been watering it but someone else is not watering properly. Now I know why I do not like to grow tomatoes. The cucumbers are looking good. I am going to check on them today to make sure some survived the cut worms, snails, and the slugs. The kale has been producing. I see the aphids starting to emerge from the tips. That means it is getting warm and the plant is getting a little stressed.




Stripped Plant

The dill is taking off!





Seeing a lot of caterpillars and a swallowtail butterfly depositing an egg

My tomato patch

Too Much of a Good Thing

Sometimes when I get started on something, I need to finish my projects. I put my 100% into it. Well, I did it. I really strained my elbow and I have to not use it. I can type but I can't really use too many fingers. It all started with gardening a few weeks ago. I used the Korean hoe-mi like a madwoman hacking through all the damn narcissus bulbs at John Muir High School. Then in my own garden, I was pruning and using a my elbow a lot. The plumbing issues of this last week caused even more inflammation. I was cleaning the bathroom and lifting heavy things. So I am sitting here with a knee brace on my elbow. I can't do any lifting or do any repetitive motions. I miss my Felco pruners already! My elbow finally told me last night it was done with all the stuff I have been doing to it!

The Heat Is On!

It was cool and cloudy a few days ago and now it is really hot. I took the girls to see my mom before I headed out to Pasadena. I dropped off two roses that are prone to rust near the coast. Only time will tell if the rust is due to the weather. I have been cutting the blighted leaves on the tomatoes. Now the weather pattern has dramatically changed for the better. When the eggplant is growing very rapidly then you know that your tomatoes are also doing very well. I also planted some cucumber seeds and put a trellis around them. My plans are to plant my blueberry bush and make sure that the tomato plants are getting enough air circulation. The tomatoes were given a dose of Dr. Earth fertilizer. The fruits are getting bigger but something is nibbling on a few of them.

Busy Thursday

It was a sunny Thursday. No marine layer. The girls and I drove to John Muir High School in Pasadena. It was the CSA distribution day. The girls helped to fill the bags while I worked in the rose beds. Yikes, it was a lot of clearing I had to do. Why am I doing this? Who am I doing this for? I did the same thing yesterday but I was not able to stay long because I got here at 11am. The damn narcissus! Why? I made water wells for all the roses and I could not get myself to finish one section of it. It was just densely packed with amaranth and more narcissus. I had to pull out a few dead rose bushes. It was sad. I had to stop and get myself out of there because I was not going to sit in traffic like yesterday. It was a lot of traffic going there today. I am never going to escape the traffic in Los Angeles.

We drove to Koreatown, got some lunch and drove to my own garden. I watered all the roses and harvested another zucchini. I am taking the plant out this weekend for sure. I am already done with eating zucchini. The girls picked the last of the blackberries and blueberries.

There is a lot of zucchini at the school garden!

Mulch Day

It has been warmer, sunnier, and the marine layer has not been lingering as it use to. The weather is a mystery because it can be sunny and hot in one place and cold and cloudy in another place out here in Los Angeles. Anyway, my family went to the garden together and I watered all the plants and cleaned up some of the areas that needed weeding. The Charles Darwin is my favorite rose at this moment. I just can't get over the creamy yellow blooms. The tomatoes are just doing better than before. I have been pruning some of the leaves to keep is nicely aerated since it can get ugly later on. The blight is not as bad.

The zucchini was just massive. I ended up cutting some of the leaves because it was covering my eggplants, basil, and some other herbs. I put on a good layer of horse manure on the soil to keep it moist. I know I am going to have a whole bunch of zucchini. The echinacea plant is just lovely right now. It is blooming profusely. I pulled out some grass that has been looking unruly in a corner. My back neighbor has so much stuff hanging over my side. I had to push it all back. Yesterday, I saw a great deal at OSH. O'Neal blueberry bushes for $12.99 in Pasadena. It was bigger than a gallon pot. I ended up getting 2 for my mom and one for me. Visiting nurseries is my passion. My husband got a little irritated because it was Father's Day. I also bought 3 little coffee plants. I am so happy because I have been looking for more indoor plants to accompany my ever growing fiddle leaf ficus bunch. I am always looking for deals. Anyway, a few years ago, I bought a 1 gallon blueberry bush for $15. That was so expensive!

The sweet million tomato has more tomatoes on it. I broke off one while I was taking off some of the leaves. I felt soooo bad but it happens just like when I am harvesting blueberries. Sometimes the berries drop from being touched ever so slightly.The Big Rainbow flowers have been pollinated. I can see the tiny fruits forming. I just hope that the weather keeps up. The kale is still bagrada bug free and producing beautiful green curly leaves. This year is the first year that I have a minimal amount of tomato plants. Last year I had 10. The less plants, the bigger the harvest since the plants are not competing for all the nutrients and space. Overall, I think the more mulch I layer on, I get less weeds. I don't have to water as much and it keeps the maintenance low. I am always surprised at the fellow gardeners. When they water, the water just runs right off the soil. The soil is not holding in the water because there is not enough organic materials in there. Our community garden is extremely sandy. You really have to amend it heavily. When you see a lot of worms, then you have it just right. The rose above is blooming over my neighbor's plot. I hope she enjoys it because she is such a nice lady. My husband built her garden last year and it looks beautiful. The sun came out and we saw a lot of swallowtail caterpillars. My dill had a few caterpillars on it. My dill is so sacred right now. I am not buying any more dill at the store.

I am waiting for pickling season and the dill is a necessity. The mulberry tree still has a lot of fruit on it. My girls climbed the tree to get them. Now, I am scared that one of them might fall and break something like last time. Paranoia sets in. Every time I see an avocado tree I think about the broken arm. Kids are kids and accidents happen. My younger fell over the wheelbarrow and she had her cry wolf pain scene. My husband scared the crap out of her because she is so dramatic. I thought she broke something for real. So that was my gardening for the day. I mulched all the roses, around the roses, the zucchini, the tomatoes, and herbs. I got rid of the oregano and marjoram. I am going to plant the blueberry bush so that I won't have all the slugs living underneath my herbs.

Why I Love Gardening

When I was in junior high school in Brooklyn, there was a little greenhouse in the middle of the school courtyard or something. When it snowed, the place looked magical. I was mesmerized by the things growing in there. Now, my memory can be fuzzy at my age but I distinctly remember the botany teacher. I always wanted to study botany but that did not happen.
If I had to do one thing in life-just one thing, that would be gardening. I find comfort in the soil, the worms, and the plants. My hands suffer every day due to the chronic hand washing but when I garden, the desire to wash my hands goes away.
I look at my little urban garden in the middle of who knows, and I feel such delight. I like order and tidiness. I like my garden to be inviting and full of life. Without my garden, I wonder how I would have coped with the stress in my life.

This is the dill I planted a month ago. It is still small but it is thriving. Dill hates to be moved or bothered due to its long taproot. Dill hates a lot of water. It is a pain in the ass herb until it gets to a certain stage and then snip! You can take as much as you want for your cooking needs. I am like dill. I like to stay in one place and start slow. I like to be in the front on things. So gardening has always been therapeutic for me. It was never hard, I did not get frustrated, I just wanted to grow things.

My tomato is finally producing. This is Sungold. It has a lot of fruit on it. It will be  a while before any of the fruit ripens. My last post was about growing tomatoes. I know I sounded a little dramatic but sometimes growing things can be hard or expensive and it takes a lot of COMMON SENSE. It is not rocket or PhD science. Anyway, you learn from trial and error. One must never give up but always be positive when gardening because you are doing it for yourself and nobody else.

Zucchini...I have 4 of them growing in different stages.

Lacinato Kale

cut and snip chives

 

Growing Tomatoes

My Sungold

If you are going to spend more money growing tomatoes than buying it at the farmer's market, DON'T GROW IT. If you are going to buy soil, fertilizer, and a tomato plant, misc.. stuff like a tomato cage, twine, more fertilizer, then don't bother. That will set you back about $50 dollars or more. Now if you have tomato cages, twine and you have soil or soil in nursery pots that just needs to be amended, then you can think about it. Seriously, growing your tomatoes can be rewarding but if you are shelling out money and you end up at the end of the season with a measly amount of tomatoes, then you are going to be let down. Sometimes, I hate growing tomatoes but I do it because I know for the $1.99 heirloom plants times 3- that I bought 20 miles away at local Japanese nursery in the Valley will either disappoint me or make me happy. It will be like buying myself two cups of Café Latte. Then I also have backup tomato plants that were free planted nearby just in case it all fails. I already have the soil, the fertilizer, the means to make growing my tomatoes cheap.  I have 5 tomato plants and supplement them with tomatoes grown from seed. So far, I had to take one out. The three have been cut back due to blight that goes around in the community garden plot. If you grow tomatoes with other people, you will have problems. Just leave your tomatoes alone and do not overwater unless it looks limp in the morning. Plus, I garden where it is mostly overcast in the summer it is cool. The tomatoes can take a beating with that kind of weather. When it is August or September, the weather is amazingly great. Then I plant my cucumbers. I am going to keep my fingers crossed!


My Big Rainbow

My Aunt Ruby's German Green

The Dreaded Blight...JUNE GLOOM in the AFTERNOON

I was at the garden yesterday and noticed the blight on my tomatoes. I have like 5 back-ups plants but the heirloom tomatoes were affected. Holy Crap! I cut the affected leaves and also cut a stem back. This always happens. At least in Hawaii, the weather is warm and consistent. It is in the low 60's as the sun goes down with the marine layer out here 5 miles from the ocean. This was the highlight of the afternoon. Whole bunch of gorgeous blooms. The rust was there on a few of the rose bushes but there is nothing I can do about that. I am not spraying anything in my vegetable garden. The zucchini plants are coming along just fine. They have grown so much since last week. I would not be surprised if there was a fruit on it.I went to OSH and purchased terra cotta pots for my students as gifts. I am going to put seed packs in them. Great minds are always growing. Anyway, my school garden looks lush. I am not looking forward to the 100+ temperatures.

Monday in the Garden

 

This Mammoth Sunflower is the tallest one I have ever grown. Only one seed somehow survived after all the birds and squirrels feasted on the last one. My students and I waited for this one to finally show its face since March. It was growing slowly and I can see why. The students were so amazed at the beauty of the flower. It was an overcast day and that made the yellow pop out like the sun.

I had to get on a chair to take this picture. I was afraid of falling off or the chair sinking in. Last Friday, I sprinkled on some composted horse manure in the garden. I can see the difference in the plants already. The buddleia bushes are going crazy with their sprays of bloom. The color below is my favorite. I have 4 different colors in the school garden. We see butterflies all the time.

 My favorite color!

 This is the Charles Darwin. I longed for this rose from many months. Well, it was not what I expected. It is such a creamy white color tinged with yellow. I have a lot of off white/white roses already. I thought the rose was going to be yellow. Maybe I did not read the description in the catalogue carefully.



My Jude the Obscure had signs of rust a few months into ownership. It does not help when the air is also very cool in the community garden. There is rust spores in the soil. I once stripped the whole plant and sprayed it with some organic spray that controls rust. DID NOT WORK. I rather not spray especially when my nose is in contact with the plant. Anyway, a few of the David Austin roses are susceptible to rust. The worst one is The Squire. I have a lot of space between the roses. It is hard to take care of roses. I spent all Saturday just grooming my plants. Grooming takes a long time but in the end, your roses look happy and they will bring more joy in the weeks to come.

I also dug up my stunted BIG RAINBOW tomato plant that had its top broken off by daughter. Since it was not growing properly, I am going to plant BLACK KRIM in its place. I brought two plants from school to get acclimated to the coastal weather. We will see how this one grows.

Final Saturday

Lady of Shalott

My husband is getting his Master Gardener certification and today was the last day of class. Hooray! 12 consecutive Saturdays and many arguments later, it is all done! Will it be my turn next year? Do I have to be a Master Gardener? I have been gardening forever. My husband had a great time.  I took the girls to the garden today and we just enjoyed all the roses, berries, bugs, and the sunny weather. I was walking by a nursery and I have David Austin rose radar. I sensed it and turned around to see Lady of Shalott right there. Too much time on my hands!

 I put this arrangement together with lemon balm for a friend.

 Another apricot colored rose. This is Lady Emma Hamilton in full bloom.

 This is kind of a deformed bloom.

 Picking the blueberries.

 Gardening Angel...maybe or maybe not!

 Charles Rennie Mackintosh has adjusted very well.

I have seen rust on this rose.