Monday, November 17, 2008

No Head for Cauliflower


This was my first attempt at growing cauliflower...an abysmal failure at aesthetics. However, once the leaves and "flower" were chopped and sauteed, it was not the disaster it appears to be. If you're gardening for a small amount of food production, you have to put your pride aside and accept that people are not born with green thumbs, but develop them through trial and error. Since eating is the primary purpose of growing vegetables, this first attempt at cauliflower was a small success. Next year I try for a later planting date since I jumped the gun on this one. The cultivar I chose to grow was Cheddar, a yellow orange cauliflower that is said to have a higher protein level than any other cauliflower. It's probably negligible since cauliflower, along with most vegetables, is packed with carbohydrates. Still, it's pretty (or should be) and I developed a soup recipe for it.
Update:
Here is the way Cheddar should look. After posting this originally, I went to Civic Center Farmers' Market (January 2009) and photographed cauliflower that was being offered for sale. Look what I found! Even professional growers can have their cosmetic challenges.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Portrait of Graham Thomas


It's no secret that I love David Austin roses, and own quite a few of his cultivars, but the most surprising attachment I have is to his yellow Graham Thomas. I have always disliked the color yellow; in the garden it reminds me of weeds. Practically every weed on record has yellow flowers...that must signify tenacity in the plant world. Why did I plant it...for sentimental reasons. My husband would bring me single yellow roses every time he saw me when we first met. He loves them and I love him and so I capitulated when he requested that I plant one. Perhaps it was King Alfred daffodils he wanted (he still has to wait on those), but I did plant a yellow flower and it was Graham Thomas.


When I shopped for our very first rose bush, I was told there would be no success with roses of more than 20- 27 petals in San Francisco. I looked at the lesser endowed roses and found very few attractive or even very interesting. Having little experience in the garden, it would seem logical to take professional advice, especially about plants I had never been familiar with growing up. I saw a Graham Thomas and tossed logic aside, bought the plant and placed it where it would get the most sun year round. It flourished and is seen by neighbors several gardens away from mine. This little 3 foot bush grows to 7 feet in San Francisco without much care at all. Every year I gather its honey scented petals to layer with sugar for use in preserves and baking. It's a "honey" alright!

Monday, September 29, 2008

Radicchio Flowers


When I first planted this radicchio from a small 6 pack I found at the nursery, I had great hopes for adding it to salads. By the time I harvested it, it was too bitter even for the most stalwart Italians who cultivate it specifically for the slight bitter bite it offers to salads and soups. I tried pulling them out and decided to forgo the pleasures of this particular plant. Evidently, their roots go all the way to China, because they popped up again this year, even though I had cut the roots down to 6 inches under the dirt. I like the way they emulate a rose in this photo and the speckles of burgundy color lend a cheery element to the lettuce bed, like confetti at a parade.


Not one to hold a grudge, this year I allowed them live and then die naturally in my garden. What I discovered during that process was their lovely blue flower, a rare and welcomed color in the garden. The plant went to seed after my harvesting of several flowers for salad. They offered just a hint of bitterness, that turned out to be an excellent counterpoint to the natural sweetness of the tomatoes; the bonus, unanticipated eye appeal. If they ever bolt faster, I can have a red, white and blue salad for Fourth of July.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Weeds Are Sometimes a Matter of Perception


It never fails to amaze me that many plants we consider pests are actually edible. These dandelion greens were sharing space with my potted Eureka Lemon, and since I know they are perfectly edible, instead of ripping them out when they first appeared, I waited for them to grow. With a little patience and a tolerance for weeds (only if I can eat them) they turned into a nice element in a salad. Miner's lettuce, purslane, dandelions, and mustards are easily available to forage in our city and I intend to use what lands in my garden. Now, if I could only eat Bermuda grass and oxalis..... Here's a photo of my dandelion and lettuce salad with some wild arugula thrown in for good measure. The arugula was originally planted but often seeds in undesirable places. I cut it down to the roots after I am able to harvest some leaves for salads.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Quintas, The Perfect Bean


This photo may be all the proof that anyone needs to try this buttery, tender pole bean. As it does every planting, Quintas has come through again as my favorite pole bean. The more you harvest the more you get; that seems fair. This photo has not been manipulated to fit on the page, so the lengths this bean will go to, to please, is quite evident! I must plant larger amounts of seed next Spring, as there never seem to be enough Quintas to satisfy my appetite for this Italian style, green bean, even though the plant is prolific.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

It's A Jungle Out There....


Like Topsy, my garden "just growed". If a gardener knows anything at all, he knows that life hums along, no matter what and there is always work to be done. The sweet spot in front of my wrought iron fence in the back of the garden is only 8" in depth, but already the plants (chard, mustard, parsley) have gone to seed and the weeds have overtaken it. I don't mind the going to seed part of this equation, since I'm a seed saver and the mustard is so unique I want to replant it next year (hope it's not a hybrid!), but the constant need to weed is cramping my style as well as my legs.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Grapes In Progress


It seems an eternity away when you see the first grapes of the season and anticipate when they will ripen. It's only a few months in reality, but when I photographed these dessert grapes in June, it was difficult to visualize the plump black grapes they would become. Last year they produced their first "crop" and this year it was heavier and the grapes themselves were larger, and almost bursting their skins. I bought the vine in Sonoma County a few years ago and it was labeled Perlette, but that seedless dessert grape is described as having white fruit. While the name of these grapes remains a mystery, the fact is they are sweet, spicy and luscious.

Salmon Baby


Nasturtiums thrive in the San Francisco Bay Area and have a dual purpose. They make lush ground cover and are nice to eat when added to salads. The leaves and blossoms, to a lesser extent, have a peppery flavor that adds a bit of spice to a green salad. The blossoms create exciting color on the plate as well.

Luckily for the gardener, nasturtiums are easy to deal with, requiring little care. They easily self sow, propagating themselves from year to year. They shade grass seeds, thereby preventing a good portion of them from germinating, leaving the gardener more time to weed those that have germinated. They come in trailing and mounding habits so they adapt to many uses and they also have a wide array of colors. My preference is for the coral rather than the yellow or orange cultivars, but the Cherry has its charm too. My favorite is the Salmon Baby whose seeds are getting harder to find. I believe it's a hybrid as several generations ago these little beauties had double petals. This year some have reverted to a bright orange. Those go straight to the salad bowl.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things


Favorite tomatoes, that is. Nothing is as splendid as a bowl full of hand picked, home grown tomatoes. In San Francisco we are not known for our heat, but tomatoes thrive nonetheless. You just need to know your limitations and plant appropriate cultivars for successful crops. I have learned over the years, through trial and error, that cherry tomatoes with their short growing season are very well suited to our area and climate.

Cultivars that mature within 60-75 days do very well, so early season larger tomatoes produce good crops along with the cherry tomatoes and some pear shaped tomatoes. My favorites are the cherries. In the photo above are pictured Snow White, Sun Sweet, Sungold, and Sweet 100. Each is very sweet and fruity tasting. If identified by color the Snow White is a pale creamy yellow, while SunSweet is a more intense yellow color and a bit larger. Sungold is the commercially popular orange cherry tomato and Sweet 100 has been on the market for a long time, as one of the most popular and prolific red cherry tomato plants.

Angel Face and Sterling Silver


Making no claims that this photo of Angel Face is color correct, I still love it, the rose and the photo. It's really a lilac colored florabunda rose that has a home in my "purple section" of the garden, under the Jacaranda tree. Next to it is my favorite of the purple roses, Sterling Silver, a tea rose with a sweet, strong scent. Don't know what it is about roses and dew drops (or overzealous watering in this case), but these photos really appeal to me. They remind me of early morning forays into the garden during late summer, when watering is essential for plant survival during the warm days. Each of these roses add a sense of coolness to the landscape.

Monday, June 23, 2008

You Can't Fool Mother Nature


This is my 5 year old 3in1 cherry tree earlier this year. During the first year I observed that the branches grew straight upward. It was not a shape that I liked, so I decided to try my hand at pruning to create the tree that I wanted from the tree that I had. A more pleasing horizontal shape was my aim and it was achieved, but at what cost? Since the tree had not fruited during the early years, it did not occur to me that there would be a problem with this lovely new shape.
Last year, with the full crop of cherries I noticed that the branches were decidedly drooped on the right side of the tree. This year it became apparent that continued weight of a heavy crop might actually harm the tree and potentially snap off a branch or two. What to do? Prune the right side shorter at upward facing buds and pray for a better outcome. Life is full of risks and this is one my former decisions have forced me to take. Moral: trust nature to make the best decisions; she's had more experience!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

You've Got The Way To Move Me, Cherry....


Thank you, Neil Diamond, for the post title! Went out this morning and picked 6 1/2 pounds of cherries from my 3in1 cherry tree; not bad for only 3 branches worth. Patience is a virtue and one that pays off in spades for the urban gardener. This tree produced 1 fruit the first season, 2 fruits the second, and if I had been less patient, may have ended up in the neighbor's yard (the usual retirement spot for plants that do not perform well in my garden).
Thanks to the use of row covers this year, to keep the birds from feasting on these branches, the cherries are perfectly ripe and luscious, plump and juicy. Prior to that most of the undamaged cherries had to be picked early in order to successfully compete with the birds. Did I mention that a mocking bird was quite upset as he saw me picking "his" cherries? He usually dive bombs the other birds, but seemed satisfied just to squawk at me.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Life Isn't Just A Bowl Of Cherries...


It's many bowls of them! Picked my first crop of cherries today, much to the frustration of our resident Mocking birds. They were actually scolding me the day I put row covers over many of the cherry tree branches in hopes of keeping half the crop for my own consumption. The tree still has the row covers over the Stella and Bing cherries until they turn a deep red, but the Royal Ann were ready and waiting for me.

Because of space constraints, I decided upon a 3-in-1 cherry tree for the garden, so I could be certain that cross pollination would produce fruit. It may have taken 4-5 years to actually get a crop, but it was worth the wait. During the first year the tree produced one cherry; luckily the Mocking birds had not yet taken up residence. I was the grand prize winner that year. In year two it produced only 2 cherries; I was fearful that a crop would not be possible at that rate of maturation, or would come after my demise from old age. Year three there was a smattering of cherries, and year 4 showed more improvement. Last year was a banner year and this year is the same. The tree has finally come into its own and with some better husbandry from me, next year I'll be making pies and cobblers from the windfall of fruit.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Quintas, The Best Flat Pole Bean


Cooks Garden used to sell the Quintas flat bean and based on their description I bought a pack of seeds. It has been my favorite bean ever since. A buttery taste is the best feature of this pole bean for me, but for countless others it is the fact that it does not get tough throughout the growing season, but stays tender. That's an admirable trait for a bean. My preference for pole beans may have something to do with space issues. When you have a small garden, vertical planting is a good way to make the most of your space, it also adds a nice architectural element of the garden.

As usual the beans were planted in early spring, then covered with mini cloches made of 1 liter water bottles. This not only kept the ground warmer for quick growth, but kept predators away from my precious plants. When the bean plants leafed out and grew 4-5 inches tall, they were uncovered and left to find their way up the poles into the sunlight. They're doing a good job of that.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Wrapping Is Not Just For Packages


Having tried bird netting very unsuccessfully in the past, I decided to try another approach last year. My cherries were being carried off by Mocking Birds and Ravens faster than they could ripen. My solution was to try and cover the cherry clusters with clear plastic, liter bottles. You can see one in the lower center of the photo. It worked fairly well for the few that I placed on the tree, but cutting the bottles up their side, especially in the neck proved to be difficult; so difficult, that this year only one made it to the tree.

Necessity is the mother of invention so I started thinking of alternatives. Since bird netting is difficult to place over the tree and darned near impossible to take off a tree, something that would not snag seemed appropriate. I made "sleeves" for the branches by cutting row cover material into foot wide strips. I attached them with staples and hoped for the best. The birds have gotten into some cherries near the edges, so next year I'll make certain to close off the ends too.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

More Proof


The cloche works very well for anyone wanting a head start on their garden when it is still cool, or always cool. This top photo is of the young cucumber seedling that was covered with a cloche. The smaller plant below is shorter by 2" now, even though they were the same size at planting in early April.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Transplant Shock


Even though the transplanted Violetto artichoke plants seem to be thriving, it may have been too much stress on the plants. No signs of artichokes on any of the transplants, even the parent plant is barren, so far. It seems too late in the season for them to start now, so I'm germinating more seeds and plan on taking good care of them in hopes of getting artichokes next year. Weeding and mulching need to be done and a rich compost top dressing should help with nutrients. Too bad, I'll miss seeing the artichokes that are pictured below.

Waste Not, Want Not


Liter sized plastic bottles are so useful in the garden. After planting pole beans and setting up the tepee trellis for them to climb, it only took a week or so for the beans to germinate. When they started getting their first true leaves, it was apparent that something was eating them. I haven't seen many snails this year, but there are some slugs and earwigs around. To create a barrier until the plants got stronger, I cut out the bottom of the bottles and placed them around the individual bean plants. Forcing them into the dirt by one inch gave them enough stability to withstand being blown over by the wind. The added heat should help the plants grow faster, creating an additional benefit.
To economize on space, I planted some volunteer Merlot and Lollo Rosso seedlings in the center of the tepee. They should be mature by the time the beans grow tall and full enough to shade them completely. I find most leafy greens do well and resist bolting in semi shady areas. It has also been my experience that woody herbs, such as rosemary and sage, when planted in shady areas have more intense fragrance, and therefore more flavor.

Proof Positive


In early March, as soon as I could find tomato seedlings I started my cloche experiment. Purchasing 2 identical cultivars of the same size, I planted them side by side and covered the plant on the left in the photo above with a 5 gallon water bottle that had its bottom cut off. This provided extra warmth and wind protection. Now in late April the results are in. The plant on the left is 1/3 taller than than its counterpart on the right and has formed blossoms, whereas the plant on the right has just a few blossoms starting.


Monday, April 28, 2008

Roses Are Red...Sometimes


When the garden was first designed, I made certain that it included a winding path from the semicircular patio near the house, to the fully circular patio in the center of the yard. There would one day be an umbrella table and chairs, or a gazebo there. The importance of creating garden "rooms" was being stressed in magazines and books being used for reference at the time. It made all the difference in the perception of the size of the garden too, and separated the spaces nicely. My neighbor's yards are the same size as mine, but feel much smaller with a rectangular path around the perimeter.
Royal Sunset, an apricot colored climber with a fruity fragrance sits at the beginning of the winding path. After the first turn, a climbing cultivar of Westerland spreads across the far fence, mingling with the purple potato vine flowers. But before you get to Westerland with its intense orange/peach coloration, you have to pass Juliet.
One of David Austin's best apricot colored roses, Juliet is lovely to look at and smell, but take care around her thorns; they are like tiny needles and completely cover the stems. Another rose with intense fruity fragrance, Juliet makes a lovely addition to bouquets for the house.