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.

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!

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.

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.

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.