PlanterTomato Vegetable Gardening

A Good Start to the Garden Year

This is shaping up to be a good garden year.  Earlier this spring, I planted Thomas Laxton and Laxton's Progress peas and we harvested over 20 pounds of sweet, delicious peas.  Most were consumed fresh but we were able to put a few pounds away in the freezer for future dinners.  If all goes well, we'll grow one more round of peas in the Fall. By the way, both of these English pea varieties are excellent.  The Laxton's Progress produce larger pods and are a bit sweeter in my opinion, but you can't go wrong with either. To learn about freezing peas and other veggies, check out my prior posting on Freezing & Using A Vacuum Sealer.

We have also harvested and enjoyed the last of the Artichokes.  Artichokes are in the thistle family and are very easy to grow.  They just need to be waterered and nature takes care of the rest.

If you're growing garlic and onions you have either harvested them or are just about to do so.  The onions we grew this year are a variety called Red Weathersfield and the garlic is a medium hot hardneck variety called Purple Glazer.  Both are excellent and it never seems we have enough of either. For those interested in growing garlic, you should be aware that it is planted in the Fall and harvested the next Spring/Summer.  If you would like to add garlic to your garden, plan on buying garlic sets in September.  To learn more about growing and harvesting garlic, see my postings on planting garlic, overwintering garlic and onions, and how to harvest and store garlic.

 

In the past, I've grown an Alpine strawberry variety called mignonette.  This variety is an intensely perfumed and delicious berry, but the strawberries are only a little bigger than a garden pea...Tasty but too time consuming to harvest for the amount you get, so this year I planted a June bearing variety called Sequoia and an everbearing variety called Quinalt. Both produced well in the first year and fresh picked strawberries from the garden leave supermarket berries in the dust. 

Our cucumbers  have been rolling in for the last several weeks now.  In our family, we tend not to eat many cucumbers in salads, so all the varieties we grow are bred for pickling.  For long-term storage, pickles should be canned using a pressure canner.  However, you can make "quick pickles" that will last in the refrigerator for a few weeks when stored in brine.  The brine is made from water, vinegar, sugar, salt and seasonings.  The seasonings vary but include things such as bay, dill, mustard seeds, garlic, etc. To quick pickle, you throw all the ingredients into a pot and bring them to a boil.  Then you place sliced cucumbers into a jar and pour the brine over it.  When the pickles come to room temperature, you place them in the refrigerator.  That's all there is to it!  If you do an Internet search, you'll find plenty of these recipes. Just choose one that appeals to you. Quick pickling is so fast and easy that you can a bunch of these recipes to find a few favorites.

Sadly, we are now approaching the end of our green bean harvest after having harvested them for at least the last three weeks.  The variety shown below is Slenderette from Renee's Seeds.  This was a new variety for us this year and, when I planted it, I hought they would be particularly tender due to their slender shape.  As it turns out, they are not really any more tender than other varieites.  Burpee's Tenderpod is the variety to beat.

In my next posting, I'll let you know about a variety of Wheat I grew this year called Frassinetto.  I harvested it a few weeks ago and have put away the wheat berries which we plan to grind into pasta flour.

Dealing With Powdery Mildew

Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that afflicts a wide range of crops including melons, cucumbers, squash, peas, tomatoes and even wheat. Powdery mildew appears as white spots on leaves and stems and spreads out as the disease progresses.  The disease is particularly prevalent in locations where there is high humidity and moderate temperatures.

Here in the Bay Area of Northern California, we certainly have moderate temperatures, but the area is not particularly high in humidity.  However, the cool nights we experience in this region creates conditions which lead to persistent powdery mildew problems.  Specifically, we get night time temperatures that range between 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit.  This is cool enough for moisture to condense as dew on the plant leaves. I live near a creek, so the moisture level of the air around my garden is particularly conducive to the creation of dew overnight.

Dealing with Powdery Mildew

Powdery mildew is spread when spores from the fungus are transferred from one plant to another by the wind, insects and yes, accidentally by gardeners themselves.  Crop rotation and selection of powdery mildew resistant plant varieties are often recommended as the first step in fighting powdery mildew.  

Plant selection is a reasonable approach to the problem, but it probably means that you will be growing hybrid varieties that have been specifically bred to be resistant to powdery mildew.  If you have your heart set on growing heirlooms, then you'll need to adopt a more aggressive approach to dealing with powdery mildew.  Likewise, crop rotation may work as a strategy for commercial farmers with multiple fields or large planting areas, but for home gardeners the distances between adjacent growing areas probably isn't far enough to be meaningful, so more aggressive strategies are required.

Treatments for Powdery Mildew

There are a  number of treatments that can be used for powdery mildew.  Almost all require re-application every 7-10 days.  

• Sulfur dust - This is a powdered form of sulfur that you shake onto the leaves of infected plants. The sulfur changes the pH on the leaves, making them more acidic and this environment is inhospitable to the fungus.  Sulfur is an approved for organic gardening. Sulfur is best used as a preventative treatment or at the first onset of the disease. One drawback of sulfur dust is that it can't be applied to the underside of leaves which are just as susceptible to powdery mildew as the tops.  If you can find a sulfur treatment in spray form, this would be preferable because you can get at the underside of foliage.
• Copper spray - generally available in concentrated form, this is a blue-ish/green liquid that gets mixed with water and then applied with a sprayer. The copper is toxic to fungi because it interferes with proteins in plant tissues.  However, this toxicity also applies to the plant you are trying to treat so there is some risk that you can also do damage to foliage and fruit.  That said, copper is approved for organic use. As with sulfur, copper is best used as a preventative measure.
• Neem Oil - This is a vegetable oil extracted from a type of fast growing evergreen tree.  The need is added to water and then sprayed on. Neem oil works by smothering the fungus and denying it the moisture it needs to survive.  Neem oil is an organic treatment for fungus.
• Sereneade - This is a bio-fungicide made using a special strain of Bacillus subtillis. This bacteria attacks powdery mildew, puncturing the fungus cells so they dry out and making them more susceptible to other bacteria.  Serenade can be used as a preventative and as a treatment. It can be purchased in a spray bottle or in concentrate. Serenade is approved for organic gardening. For more information on Serenade, check out the below video. 
• Fungicides - There are many on the market but the most common ones contain a chemical called Chlorothalonil.  This chemical interferes with the fungi's metabolic processes and causes it to die. Heavy duty fungicides like Chlorophalonil are very effective but are NOT approved for organic farming. Note: one drawback to chemical fungicides is that fungi can develop resistence to them over time.  For this reason, I prefer to use other control mechanisms before moving to this type of product.
  

Recommendations:

In areas where powdery mildew is a persistent I'd recommend getting the jump on powdery mildew by using a preventative treatment before powdery mildew sets in.  My plan of attack in 2012 is to use Serenade as a preventative treatment every 7 days beginning from the time that the plants are getting their first true leave. If I see any evidence of powdery mildew, I'll move to a weekly treatment regimen of chemically based sprayings, alternating between applications of copper and neem oil.  If the infection persists, I'll hit the plants with Chlorothalonil as a treatment of last resorts.

If you have persistent problems with powdery mildew, let everynone know what you've found effective by posting a comment to this posting.

How to Add A Home Office, Studio, Gym or Other Structure To Your Garden

Renovating a home is a major expense and it can really disrupt your life. Depending on where you live, getting the proper building permit can also be a major headache.  If you would like a little extra space to create a home office, artists studio, hobby room, wood shop, honey house, kid play house or home gym, there are a number of companies that sell kits that allow you to build these structure relatively inexpensively compared to traditional renovation and without many of the hassles.

In many urban and suburban areas, traditional construction requires local government review of plans, permits, inspections etc.  Navigating the process requires some experience and probably is best left in the hands of a professional contractor or architect.  However, most communities will allow you to put a "shed" on your property without permits and inspections.  And this is where the fun begins because a number of companies now sell building kits that qualify as sheds under local zoning rules, but are really beautiful small spaces that look like traditional housing additions.  Here's the scoop....

While the rules will vary from community to community, most communities don't require a permit or inspection if the structure is less than 120 square feet.  In my community in Northern California the rules also stipulate that you not run electricity or water to your shed. (Some communities put restrictions on the number of "habitable" buildings that can be put on a particular piece of land.)  What all this really means is that these sheds aren't really practical as long-term living spaces for guests or elderly relatives but they are great for pretty much every other use you can think of.  You probably could get away with letting house guests stay in one of these sheds for a few days if furnish it with a sleeper sofa.

In my area the weather is so temperate that a structure like this could be used 2 or 3 seasons of the year without heat.  However, I suspect that by adding a kerosene space heater you could make it a habitable space even in the dead of Winter without violating any zoning rules.

If you search the Internet, you can find a number of companies selling shed kits in a variety of styles from traditional to quite modern (see photos below).  Price are generally $70-$100 per square foot based on the ones I've seen ($8-12,000 for a typical small space).  That's pretty cheap when you consider that new construction costs over $200 per square foot in many suburban communities and renovation is generally even more expensive.

If adding a structure to your garden is of interest to you, check out some of these companies:

MetroShed

Shedshop

Modern Shed

Modern Cabana

Top 5 Ideas For Earth Day That Save You Money While Saving The Planet

Here are five things that you can do that will help you save the planet while also improving your garden and putting some cash back in your pocket.

Five Ideas For  Earth Day:

1. Create a Compost Pile & Improve the Yield of Your Garden - Instead of throwing vegetable scraps and yard waste into the garbage, turn these materials into compost. Gardeners benefit from composting because it creates nutrient rich humus that can be used in the to improve the yield of their gardens. Gardeners also save money because they don't need to buy packaged compost or other fertilizers. Composing is good for the environment because it lowers pollution. Materials that are composted don't need to be transported to the dump, so no fossil fuels are used to dispose of them.  Composting also reduces the amount powerful greenhouse gases released into the environment. When organic material is placed in a landfill it gets buried where it can't be exposed to oxygen.  Without oxygen, the materials decomposes anaerobically and produces methane gas.  In contrast, when organic materials are composted at home, they do get exposed to oxygen because the compost pile is turned and because worms and other critters help aerate the soil. Organic matter decomposed in a compost pile does produce carbon dioxide which is also a greenhouse gas, but carbon dioxide is less damaging than methane. Carbon dioxide is only about half as damaging as methane. So given the choice between producing either of these gases, we are better off composting at home than sending organic materials to the dump.  To learn how to build a compost bin, check out my posting How to Build A Compost Bin, and How To Compost.    
2. Reduce Water Consumption & Save on Your Water Bill - There are many ways gardeners can reduce the amount of water they use in their gardens; you can replace hand watering with drip irrigation, use a barrel to catch rainwater, or mulch to reduce evaporation of water applied to your garden. If you buy municipal water, lowering your water consumption also means lowering your water bills. Lower water consumption benefits the environment because less water has to be taken from fresh water sources that are habitats for fish, birds and other critters that need the water as much as we do.  If you would like to create a drip irrigation, check out my prior posting Drip Irrigation Made Easy.  
   
3. Create A Vegetable Garden & Eat Healthier - If you are only doing ornamental gardening, Earth Day is a good opportunity to begin planting edibles.  Vegetables from your own garden are the freshest possible and generally way better than what can be purchased from a grocery store because you can select varieties that are bred for taste, not how well they withstand shipment.  If you are concerned about GMO's, growing your own veggies ensures that the food you eat has not been modified. Starting a vegetable garden also helps the environment because you are sourcing your food locally versus having it transported over long distances that requires the use of fossil fuels.  Growing your own, also means that you can control the soil amendments and pest control products that get applied to your garden and select ones that are low or no impact.  If you need help planning a vegetable garden, check out my prior posts on Free Garden Planning Software, How To Grow Tomatoes In Containers, and Growing Tomatoes in Containers four systems compared part one and part two. 
   
   
   
4. Reduce or Eliminate Harsh Pesticides From Your Garden - If you are using harsh pesticides consider using beneficial insects such as nematodes, lady bugs and lace wings to keep harmful pests at bay or switching to an organic pesticide like those sold by Safer Brand. The best reason to reduce or eliminate harsh pesticide from your garden is that these chemicals have been linked to all sorts of human health problems from brain damage to cancer.  As many of you know, pesticides don't discriminate between the "good guys" and "bad guys." They are just as likely to kill butterflies, bees, birds and beneficial insects like lady bugs and preying mantises as they are to kill aphids, earwigs, and thrips.  The most environmentally friendly pest control is to use beneficial insects such as nematodes to destroy japanese beetles or lace wings to devour aphids.  You can attract beneficial insects by providing good habitat for them, or by purchasing them from your local garden store or from a mail order specialist such as Arbico Organics. Beneficial insect will control but not completely eliminate pests.  The idea is to keep the population of bad bugs in check and to limit the damage they cause. Beneficial insects are the safest and most environmentally safe way to protect your garden but they are also more expensive and results take longer to manifest. If you prefer using a pesticide, use an organic one. Organic pesticides may be safer depending on the product used. Organic pesticides are ones where the active ingredients are derived from a natural sources rather than being synthesized out of chemicals in a lab. But that doesn't necessarily mean that organic pesticides are safe or less toxic to fish, wildlife, beneficial insects or you.  Consider organic pesticides as a step in the right direction.   Photo by Giles San Martin
5. Plant A Tree & Save on Your Energy Bill - Planting a tree  in the right location can save you money on your energy bill.  Deciduous trees can shade your home in the summer and lower your cooling bill. You should plant a deciduous tree (one that loses it leaves in Winter) in a location that will shade the east facing side of your home from 7 to 11 AM and/or the west facing side of your home from 3 to 7 PM. Plant a tree that will reach a mature height of 25 feet about 10-20 feet from the east and west facing sides of your home.  If you live in a place that is particularly cold and windy, you can also plant trees to provide wind protection and save on your heating bill.  You want to plant evergreen trees and shrubs upwind of side of your home you're trying to protect. In addition to saving money on energy bills, planting a tree is positive action you can take to protect the environment this Earth Day.  Trees lower global warming by absorbing carbon dioxide gas in the environment. While all plants can offset global warming to some extent, trees suck up more CO2 because of their size. The best tree varieties to grow are those that do well in your region of the country and require the least amount of maintenance.     

Photo by Bruce Martin

Background on Earth Day

Earth Day was the brainchild of Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson. Nelson witnessed a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California in 1969 and the experience moved him to create a "teach in" on the environment. The first Earth Day event was held the following year on April 22, 1970. It united various groups that had been protesting against water and air pollution, toxic waste dumps, oil spills, loss of environment and animal extinctions.  Over 20 million Americans participated in the first Earth Day, meeting across the country in parks, streets and auditoriums to show support for the environment and advocate for change.  

If you are interested in learning more about Earth Day or attending an Earth Day event this year, check out the Earth Day Network web site.

Happy Earth Day to everyone from PlanterTomato

QR Codes Let's You Adopt A Tree

According to Springwise.com, the Department of Transportation in the District of Columbia is now allowing citizens to adopt a tree.  The program is called Canopy Keepers and uses a novel high-tech approach to sign up gardeners.  As the city plants new trees, it tags them with a QR code. Passersby scan the code with their smart phone and this takes them to a web site where they can sign up to adopt that particular tree.  Canopy Keepers receive a free watering bucket in return for their help watering the tree.

San Francisco Flower & Garden Show

If your in the San Francisco Bay Area you can get a jump on Spring by attending the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show.  

The show features a number of ornamental garden exhibits that are sure to inspire you (see some photos below) as well as a full program of interesting seminars that cover all aspects of gardening.  While at the show you can also do a little shopping -- ornamental and edible plants, garden tools, and a wide range of garden related products and services can be purchased from retailers attending the show.

One more thing.....While at the show today, I interviewed Jessi Bloom, a talented landscape designer and author of a new book on creating gardens that are designed to accommodate free range chickens. She is giving a presentation on that subject tomorrow (Friday) at 1:15 PM.  I encourage you to attend if you are thinking about adding chickens to your backyard garden. A transcript of my interview with Jessi will also be posted on the PlanterTomato.com web site next week.

The SF Garden Show began this Wednesday and continues through the week end.  I encourage all Bay Area gardeners to visit the show; you'll have a great time, meet some very nice folks and enter the 2012 gardening season with new ideas on how to improve your garden. Check out their web site for program details and times.  

 

Companion Planting Guide

Companion planting is a practice whereby certain vegetables, herbs and flowers are planted in close proximity to each other because one of the plants is believed to have a beneficial effect on the other, or in some cases a mutually beneficial effect.

A few weeks ago, a reader of this blog contacted me requesting information about companion planting.  I don't have first hand experience with companion planting but did a little research to help this reader. 

Before you run off to re-plan your garden around companion planting principles, I need to tell you that I couldn't find any scientific evidence that companion planting works.  I'm not saying it doesn't work, just that I couldn't find any experiments where companion planting was proven in a rigorously tested scientific experiment. However, there are many gardeners who swear by it and the companion planting pairings based on attracting beneficial insects and soil enhancement seem reasonable to me.

For those interested in in the subject,  I'm posting a link to a very complete companion plant list created by Ute Bohnsack.  Unfortunately, this chart doesn't specify the specific effect of one plant upon the other.  However, here are some of the general reasons plants are said to benefit their companions:

• Pest Deterrence -  certain plants can release chemicals from their roots or flowers that are said to repel insects and thereby provide protection to neighboring crops.  For example, marigolds, mint, chrysanthemums and rue are said to do this and are often planted between crop rows to provide protection against pests such as nematodes, Japanese beetles and other nasties.
• Beneficial Insects - certain plants may attract beneficial insects that will either pollinate food crops or prey upon harmful insects that would eat the food crop.  For example, planting bee balm to attract pollinating bees or corn flower to attract lady bugs.  Companion planting advocates also try to develop habitats that allow toads, snakes and other insect predators to flourish.
  
• Soil Enhancement - for example, using nitrogen fixing legumes to enhance the soil that will benefit a subsequent crop.
• Spacial Interactions - tall, sun-loving plants are grown adjacent to shorter varieties that have partial sun, or lower heat requirements.  Likewise, certain plants can be used as a wind-break to protect more delicate plants.  Famously, corn and beans can be grown together with the beans using the corn stalks as natural trellises.

If you've tried companion planting, let me know if you think it works by posting a comment.

Photo: reverse side of the 2009 native American $1 coin issued by the U.S. Mint.  The scens shows companion planting of the "three sisters" - corn, beans and squash.

Early Signs of Spring

The temperature reached into the mid 60 degrees Fahrenheit yesterday. The bees were very active, some of the fruit trees have been in bloom for a few days now.  I took a stroll through the garden and took some photos of some of the overwintered plants and some new arrivals.

Blenheim apricots are considered the best in the world. Sadly, it is a very fragile fruit, so those living outside of California, where most of the Blenheims are grown, have two options -- buy them as dried fruit, or grow them for yourself.  I'd recommend the latter.

Below is my Baby Crawford peach in bloom. Last year it suffered from peach leaf curl and then the squirrels nipped in and got all the peaches just as they were ripening.  I'm hoping for a better year in 2012.  

The tiny bell shaped flowers of this Chandler blueberry are a pleasure to look at.  The blueberries taste rather nice as well.

I planted several varieties of potatoes in grow bags in October of last year with the hope that the Winter would warm enough that I could get an early batch of potatoes. No such luck, we had a killing frost in January that destroyed all the plants but this one Yukon Gold potato.  I replanted two weeks ago but the new potatoes have not yet poked through the soil. One variety that I'm particlarly excited about is called "Reba." It is said to be an excellent potato for potato chips.  Oh the anticipation....

It's taken a while for them to germinate, but the Thomas Laxton English peas are the first vegetables that I planted in this calendar year (versus overwintered from last year). With any luck, we'll get a good crop for fresh eating.  Below is a photo of one of the peas just emerging from the ground.

We use lots of garlic in our cooking.  One of my favorites is a variety called Purple Glazer. It's considered "mild" as garlics go, but packs plenty of punch for us.  The bulbs planted last year are well on their way to making nice heads.  We'll probably harvest these and the onions (not shown) in June.

Small varieites of carrots can be grown in pots.  I planted these a while ago and now can't remember the variety.  They are likely Romeo but I'm not sure.  My kids love carrots and we plan to grow a new variety called Mokum in the spring.

As an experiment, I planted a rare variety of wheat called Frassineto in the Fall of last year.  This variety of wheat is supposed to make excellent flour for pasta.  This is my first time growing wheat so I don't know if this is good or bad, but it does appear that some of the plants are creating heads already. This seems a bit early to me, but we'll see.

When the weather warms and plants go into bloom, the bees spring to action.  At one point yesterday, here was so much activity that it created a bit of a traffic jam at the entrance to the hive.  I still have my entrance reducer installed, but will likely remove it in the next few weeks.  This will give the bees some more room to get in and out.  With any luck will have a bumper crop of honey in 2012 and this will allow us to make lots of Mead or honey wine.  Love them bees.

A Wi-Fi Sensor Plant Sensor From Switzerland

My wife was kind enough to forward this article to me about a new Wi-Fi plant sensor developed in Switzerland.  You put the sensor unit into a pot or into a garden space and then install an app downloaded from the iTunes store.  If the plant needs more water, light etc. etc., the sensor pushes a message to your smart phone so you can take action.

An interesting idea for sure. I checked it out on the company's website and it costs 120 Euros (about $160).  

So what do you think?  Worth it?  Let me know your opinion and also if you consider yourself a beginner, intermediate or advanced gardener.

2011 Holiday Gift Guide for Gardeners

With Thanksgiving behind us, it's time to start thinking about Holiday gifts for friends and family.  Here is my list of holiday gifts for guy and gal gardeners:

Dwarf Citrus Tree

If you've ever visited an orange grove in bloom, I'm sure you will remember the amazing scent produced by citrus trees. Dwarf citrus trees provide the same amazing scent but in a more manageable package and can be planted outdoors in the ground or in pots (indoor or outdoor).  In addition to fragrance, these trees provide delicious edible fruit.  This is honestly one of the nicest gifts you can give because dwarf citrus are easy to care for and provide so much.  Four Winds Growers have a wide variety of citrus including lemons, limes, grapefruit, oranges, kumquats and some exotics such as Yuzu, Etrog, and Buddha's Hand.  Check out the selection available for sale on-line at Four Winds Growers.  Their web site also has a very handy chart that will help you select the right tree for your favorite gardener with information on max height, bloom and fruiting season, and cold tolerance. $20-$40 depending on tree size.

Jasmine Plant

Having fresh cut flowers on the table can brighten up dark winter days.  While cut flowers only last a few days, these Jasmine plants have much greater staying power; Jasmine flowers open over the course of 4 or more weeks.  When in full bloom, Jasmine will fill the air with fragrance. 

You can buy Jasmine from WhiteFlower Farm for $45-65 depending on the arrangement.  Below is a link to their video on how to care for Jasmine. By the way, Whiteflower Farm also sells paper whites, amaryllis and other flowering plants if Jasmine isn't your speed. 

Monet Water Lilie Tee

A beautiful printed tee shirt based on a painting by Claude Monet.  Monet began painting water lilies in 1899 and they became a dominant subject in his subsequent artwork.  This tee can be purchased on-line from the Museum Store at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  It's machine washable and available in a variety of sizes for $50.

 Byzantine Vine Bracelet

Based on a seventh century gold bracelet from Cyprus, this 24K gold overlay reproduction depicts vegetative forms of vines and grapes.  Also for sale from the Museum Store for $150.

Barbour Coat

Barbour is an English company with a tradition of making fine clothing that stretches back to 1894.  They currently manufacture a full line of apparel including hats, sweaters, shirts and pants, and of course the item they are most famous for.... men's and women's sporting coats. Originally designed for hunting and fishing these coats are also great for gardening because they are warm and water resistant.  Traditional barbour coats (what Barbour now calls their Classic Collection) are coated with wax to make them impervious to rain and snow.  Over time the wax will wear down and Barbour allows you to send the coat back to them to have it re-waxed for a small fee. Barbour now makes coats that are more modernly styled and use high-tech fabrics like Gortex if you prefer something more contemporary.  Barbour owners tend to be very enthusiastic and loyal to the brand because of the company's commitment to quality and service.  I've owned a Barbour coat for over 10 years and have never regretted the purchase.  You can buy Barbour coats at Barbour Stores, department stores like Nordstroms and Bloomingdales and specialty stores like Orvis and Sierra Trading Post.  A Barbour coat will set you back about $400. 

The Best BBQ Grill In the World

Really! The Big Green Egg is a ceramic BBQ grill and smoker in one.  It's modelled off of a Japanese design called a komado, Japanese wood grill.  The ceramic acts like a kiln used to fire clay pots so the big green egg can generate temperatures in excess of 600 degrees Fahrenheit if you want cook steaks super fast.  It also is capable of cooking very evenly, so you can make amazing ribs by cooking them for a long period of time at a low temperature (200 degrees Fahrenheit).  The Big Green Egg uses wood based charcoal and you can add hickory, alder, cherry, pecan or whatever other wood chips to enhance the flavor.  I use my Big Green Egg to smoke bacon and have even smoked a turkey for Thanksgiving.  I've owned my grill for close to 10 years and highly recommend this to anyone who love BBQ.  To find a local distributor, go to the Big Green Egg web site.  However, be prepared to lay out some big coin for these grills - several hundred dollars depending on size, but worth every penny.

 

Floral Fragrances From Caswell-Massey

One of the oldest apothecary shops in the US, Caswell-Masey has been selling fine personal care items since the 1750's. The company's scents tend to have a very old fashioned character.  Their simplicity is rather refreshing. 

You can find rose, lily of the valley, gardenia and other floral scents for $30.  For Guys, Caswell-Massey sells a variety of colognes such as "Number Six" a citrus based fragrance worn by George Washington.

 

Mason Bee Box

If you want to ensure good pollination, putting a honey bee hive in your garden is a good idea.  But honey bees are expensive to install and require ongoing care.  If you want to increase pollination in your garden, with a minimum amount of work, put Mason Bees to work for you.  These solitary bees produce no wax and normally make their homes out of mud which they form into tubes.  However, you can encourage them to live in your garden by giving them a nice place to live.  Wooden mason bee houses are said to be better than plastic.  These hand-crafted ones from Etsy cost about $20. 

Felco Pruning Shears

Felco is a precision made pruner from Switzerland.  The blade is as sharp as a scalpel and the handles are very comfortable.  If you should wear through the blades, they are replaceable. This is one of those, "you get what you pay for" items.  These are the best shears you'll ever own and the last pair you'll need to buy.  About $40 for a basic model at Amazon.com. 

Husqvarna Chain Saw

Pronounce "husk-varna," this chain saw is made by a Swedish company that is the worlds largest manufacturer of lawn mowers, chain saws, cultivators and other outdoor equipment.  Husqvarna makes both electric and gas powered saws for consumer and pro applications.  Consumer models generally run for between $200-$300.  If your property is small and your planned use is only occasional, I'd recommend getting an electric model like the 316E.  Electric models tie you to an outlet and don't have the power that a gas powered saw does, but the motors are quieter, emission free, and require less frequent service.  Husqvarna products can be purchased at Tractor Supply, Sears, hardware stores, Amazon.com and from the manufacturer's website.  If you buy a chainsaw, also buy a safety helmet with a screen visor to protect your eyes and a pair of gloves to protect your hands.  Read the owners manual and apply common sense when operating the saw because Hasqvarna doesn't sell replacement fingers.

Vilmorin  Garden Calendar

Les Plantes Potageres (A catalog of vegetables with magnificent illustrations) was published by Vilmorin's in France in 1850.  The book has been reprinted by Taschen and they have also published a calendar containing some of the wonderful illustrations from that book.  A nice gift or stocking stuffer and priced well at $12 from Amazon.com.

Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It By Karen Solomon

I've used quite a number of recipes from this book including the basic pickle recipe and the recipe to cure bacon at home.  If you are new to home food preservation, this is a good place to begin.  You get 75 recipes in the book.  It costs $17 at Amazon.com.  Ms. Solomon has also published a second book, Can It, Bottle It, Smoke It, with an additional 75 recipes including how to make your own corn flakes, press your own tofu, make bagels and how to cure pastrami.  Also $16 from Amazon.com.

Grinding Your Own Flint or Dent Corn

In this posting, I describe the steps you need to grind home grown flint or dent corn and how to calculate your yield in bushels per acre.

Regular readers of this web site know that I've been experimenting with growing grain in my small suburban backyard.  In September, I harvested my first batch of flint corn.  After removing the kernels from the cob, I had about 8.5 pounds of dried corn seed to convert to corn meal.

Removing the Corn From The Cob

Removing corn from the cob without the use of some sort of sheller is impractical, even for very small quantities of corn.  Hand cranked shellers operate by pulling the cob through a set of teeth that separate the corn from the cob.  These devices range in price from about $30 for a plastic model (doesn't look very durable) to over $230 for a top of the line model offered by Pleasant Hill Grain.  While a good-grade metal hand cranked sheller can be purchased for $80, the price was still a bit high for me given the small quantity of corn I needed to shell (About a grocery bag full of dried and de-husked ears) 

Searching for an alternative solution,  I found a simple $8 hand sheller that worked quite well.  To use it, just place the sheller over the top of the ear and twist the device while pushing down.  The rotation of the teeth within the sheller remove the kernels from the cob.  Using this device, I was able to shell all my corn in about 30 minutes.

Grinding Corn

There are many different styles of grain mills at a range of prices.  For those interested in learning more about various grain mills, please see my prior posting, Grain Mills for Grinding Corn & Other Grains. Since our family already owns a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, I decided to purchase the grain mill attachment for that device.  It proved very serviceable and I would recommend this to anyone who both owns a Kitchen Aid and is processing only small amounts of grain.

To operate the grinder, you remove a small cover on the front of the stand mixer and insert the grain attachment.  Then tighten the attachment screw on the side of the mixer to lock the grain mill in place.  You then load grain into the hopper at the top of the grain mill and turn the mixer on to full power. 

An auger within the mill drives the grain against a rotating grinding stone that converts the grain into meal or flour.  The coarseness of the grind is controlled by an knob on the front of the mill that adjusts the gap between the grinding stone and the auger -- the smaller the distance, the finer the grind.  The Kitchen Aid grain mill let you adjust the the grind in 12 increments.

One caveat.... some reviewers of the Kitchen Aid grain attachment on Amazon.com mention that they damaged their stand mixers by trying to grind the grain from a kernel to flour in one pass.  At their suggestion, I ground my grain in two stages; first doing a coarse grinding and then adjusting the grinding wheel to produce meal at my desired final level of coarseness.  I found this system worked and did not seem to over-tax the machine. 

Below is a photo of corn meal ground at level #1 (most course)

Below is another photo showing the second grinding at level #6.  This produced meal that was on average about about the size of grains of sand.

One more thing to note... while I was very happy with the results I got using the Kitchen Aid attachment, I'd like to point out that that it does not produce meal that is anywhere near as consistent as commercially purchased corn meal.  Most of the meal will be the size of sand but some will be as fine as flour. As a result, the mouth-feel of polenta (an Italian dish made from boiled corn meal) made from my home-ground meal was different than that produced by store-bought corn meal.  I actually prefer the results from the Kitchen Aid, but those expecting an eating experience that is identical to store purchased corn meal may be disappointed.

My Corn Yield

I'm very pleased with the results of my first experiment growing flint corn, particularly since I grew an heirloom variety (Longfellow) that dates back to the time of the Pilgrims. Calculated on a yield per acre basis, I got 107 bushels per acre from my little suburban plot.  For perspective, the average yield per acre on farms in top corn producing states like Iowa and Illinois is 157 and 164 bushels respectively according to a 2004 study by Purdue University.  Importantly, these yields are for modern corn varieties, not heirloom ones like the variety I grew. Yield per acre has increased steadily over the last 80 years due to the introduction of modern varieties; in the 1930's, farms in Indiana produced just 30 bushels per acre on average according to the same Purdue study.

Corn Math

If you decide to grow flint or dent corn, here is the math you'll need to calculate your yield on a per acre basis.

• Bushel - this was once a volumetric measure but has since been converted to weight because of the inconsistency between crops like corn, soybeans, and wheat.  A bushel of corn is now standardized at 56 pounds per bushel without cob, and 70 pounds per bushel with the cob.
• Acre - There are 43,560 square feet in an acre.
• First calculate your yield in bushels by dividing the weight in pounds of your shelled corn by 56.
• Next calculate the acreage by dividing your garden space measured in square feet by 43,560 square feet.
• Finally, divide the results of the two previous calculations. (Your yield in bushels divided by your space in acres) The result will be a bushels per acre measure that you can use to compare to commercial and/or historical yields.

Photo: Longfellow Flint Corn

Halloween Pumpkins 2011

This was the year of the zombie.  My 2011 pumpkins show a zombie rising from the grave and setting out into the night.

The grave...

And the risen....

For pumpkins carved in previous years, check out my Prior Post on How to Make A Fantastic Halloween Pumpkin.

Many of you know this poem, but it's so perfect for Halloween that I can't resist posting it. Courtesy of Edgar Allan Poe.  Happy Halloween to all my readers from PlanterTomato.

The Raven

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door -
Only this, and nothing more.'

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore -
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
`'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door -
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; -
This it is, and nothing more,'

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
`Sir,' said I, `or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you' - here I opened wide the door; -
Darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, `Lenore!'
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, `Lenore!'
Merely this and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
`Surely,' said I, `surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore -
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; -
'Tis the wind and nothing more!'

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore.
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door -
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door -
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
`Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,' I said, `art sure no craven.
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore -
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning - little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door -
Bird or beast above the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as `Nevermore.'

But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only,
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered - not a feather then he fluttered -
Till I scarcely more than muttered `Other friends have flown before -
On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.'
Then the bird said, `Nevermore.'

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
`Doubtless,' said I, `what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore -
Till the dirges of his hope that melancholy burden bore
Of "Never-nevermore."'

But the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore -
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking `Nevermore.'

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.
`Wretch,' I cried, `thy God hath lent thee - by these angels he has sent thee
Respite - respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! -
Whether tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted -
On this home by horror haunted - tell me truly, I implore -
Is there - is there balm in Gilead? - tell me - tell me, I implore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us - by that God we both adore -
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels named Lenore?'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!' I shrieked upstarting -
`Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted - nevermore!

 

Minnesota Midget Cantaloupe

Minnesota midget is a small, heirloom muskmelon that was developed for Northern gardeners (short growing seasons) at the University  of Minnesota in 1948.  It produces 4" diameter melons with sweet orange flesh in about 70 days.

I purchased two Minnesota Midget plants on impulse while visiting my local garden center earlier this year.  When I arrived home, I found I really didn't have a good place for them and so I just stuck them between a lemon tree and a cucumber trellis. There, with little sun-light, they took forever to grow and bloom.

Out-of-sight, meant out-of-mind and I totally forgot about the plants.  By the time I re-discovered them, the few melons I had on the vine were over-ripe and tasteless.  Purely by chance, I left the vines in the ground.  After harvesting the last of my cucumbers early this summer, I removed the trellis and this allowed more sunlight to shine on the melons and allowed a lone melon to mature very late in the season.

I harvested this small melon this weekend and got a real surprise.  It was juicy, sweet and firm fleshed.  What a pity, I hadn't grown these properly! 

I saved some of the seeds and will do it right next Spring. 

Growing Minnesota Midget Melons

For those interested, the right way to plant melons like this is to directly sow the seeds into the garden once the soil temperature is above 70 degrees Fahrenheit.  Plant melon seeds about 1/4 inch into the soil and two feet apart.  Melons are heavy feeders, so make sure they are planted in soil that has been well composted and gets lots of sunlight. 

Minnesota Midget grow on compact vines that are about 3 feet long and are good candidates for trellising.  Planted properly, you should get melons in about 70 days.

By the way, plant in full sun.

How to Make A Fantastic Halloween Pumpkin

In this posting, I provide some ideas to get you thinking about Halloween and information on how to carve a great jack-o-lantern.

OK, I'll admit it... Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year.  I really enjoy seeing the kids come by in their costumes, sticky hands and all. 

As part of our annual holiday tradition, I try to carve a new pumpkin design each year.  I haven't decided on this years design, but I'm thinking that it might be a year for zombies or vampires. 

Below are some past designs I've done that I hope will inspire your own carving.  Carving a pumpkin like this isn't hard to do, but it does take time and patience.

For detailed information on creating templates to create these designs, check out my prior posting, How to Carve Great Halloween Pumpkins.

Black Widow Spider: The hardest part of this design is the hour glass shape in the center.  You need to be careful not to cut through the four little "connectors" that hold this element to the rest of the pumpkin.  I would also recommend increasing the distance between the body and legs as these sections are very thin and hard to carve.

Graveyard: Use a Dremel tool to carve the letters and the cross and urn elements on the top of the gravestones.  To make the letters, cut deep enough into the pumpkin skin to allow light to pass through, but not all the way through to the center of the pumpkin.  Of the pumpkins shown in this posting, this is the easiest to carve because the shapes are fairly simple.
 

Grim Reaper:  This is also fairly easy to carve because the shapes are simple.  The hardest part is the coffin which is also held the body of the pumpkin by six small connecting "bridges"

Hangman:  This pumpkin has high "wow" factor but it took a very long time to make.  Carving the hanging man without breaking the rope was particularly difficult.  Only attempt this if you are willing to spend 3 hours carving a pumpkin.

Dragon:

Kids Names On Tombstones:

 

If you decide to carve an unusual pumpkin, send me a photo and I'll post it.  Have a great holiday.

Overwintering Onions & Garlic

Now is the time to get your onion and garlic sets.  Learn all about onions and garlic in this posting.

Garlic and onions can be planted in either the Spring or in the Fall.  I've done both and have settled on the Fall as my preferred time because there are fewer pest problems to deal with during the Winter months and over the winter the bulbs have an opportunity to create strong root systems.  Consequently, Fall plantings tend to produce larger bulbs.

For most gardeners, onions should be planted in September or October.  Garlic is generally planted a bit later -- October or November.  A good rule of thumb is to plant garlic sets after your first major frost of the year. 

Seeds or Bulbs?

Garlic is almost always grown from bulbs. Onions can be grown from either seeds or bulbs, but I plant bulbs because I find them so convenient. Onion and garlic bulbs (generally referred to as "sets") can be purchased from your local garden center, or from various mail order suppliers.  You'll find that onion and garlic sets sold at the garden center are less expensive, but you won't have much of a selection.  In fact, the onions sold at my local garden center are sold in bags that don't even list the variety, just "yellow onions" and "red onions." If you decide to order your sets from a mail order supplier, I recommend Territorial Seed company.  They have a particularly good selection of both onions and garlic.  Other potential suppliers include Dixondale Farms (sell onion sets) and Baker Creek (sell an interesting range of onions but as seeds only)

Culture

Plant onions and garlic in full sun and in loose, well drained soil. The drainage is particularly important since very wet soils will cause the bulbs to rot.

To plant garlic, first separate the bulb into individual cloves. Plant these six inches apart in all directions. Garlic should be planted two inches deep into the soil with the pointed end of the bulb facing the sky. 

Plant onions six inches apart in all directions.  The pointed part of the bulb should be facing upward towards the sky and the tip of the bulb should be just poking out of the soil. 

When selecting onion varieties, choose ones that are appropriate for your area.  Onions bulb in response to the number of hours of sunlight they receive.  In the North, the amount of daily sunshine varies dramatically during the course of the year, with many hours of sunshine in the Summer and relatively few during Winter.  In the deep South, day lengths are much more consistent during the course of the year and summer days are not as long as they are in the North.  So folks in the Southern U.S. should buy "short-day" varieties (bulbs start to form when there are 10-12 hours of sunshine) and folks in the Northern U.S. should buy "long-day" varieties (bulbs start to form when there are 14-16 hours of sunshine). Intermediate-day onions fall between these extremes (bulbs start to form at 12-14 hours of sunshine) .  See the below map of the U.S. to determine which type of onion is right for you or check out the  Gaisma web site which lists hours of sunshine by month for the U.S. and other countries.

Harvesting

Garlic and Onions planted in the Fall should be ready for harvest in June or July.  Timing really depends on variety and your location.  The best way to tell when to harvest is to observe for your plants for clues that it is time to harvest.

• Harvest onions when the leaves lose their color and fall over.  Once this occurs, leave the onions in the ground for another 10 days to allow the onions to reach full maturity.  If possible, harvest onions on a sunny day since the bulbs will contain less moisture and will store better.  After removing from the ground, cure in the sun for 1 day to kill the root system of the bulb.  This also improves the storage life of your onions.  Then store in a cool, dark and dry place. 
  
• Garlic is a little trickier.  Wait till most of the leaves die back and turn brown, but before all of the leaves have toppled over as with onions.  I recommend testing by harvesting a bulb or two and checking to see if they are mature.  The bulb should be the appropriate size for the variety you are growing and you should be able to feel the individual cloves under the outer skin of the bulb.  If so, harvest the garlic and then cure in a dry place for two to four weeks.  Longer for very large bulbs.  When storing garlic, I don't trim the leaves or the roots.  I believe this helps preserve them, but there are more opinions on the best way to cure garlic than there are stars in the sky.
  

Harvesting Garlic, from the Tacuinum Sanitatus, 1500's.

Onion and Garlic Varieties

There are many varieties of onions and garlic from which to choose.  The varieties differ in terms of their taste characteristics (strong/hot or mild), storage capabilities (short and long storage) and growth habit. (early, mid and late season for garlic or short-day and long-day for onions)

When choosing an onion for your garden, be careful to select one that will work in your location; onion plants create bulbs based on the number of hours of sunlight they receive and are sold as "long-day," "short-day," and "intermediate day" varieties.  Northern gardeners should purchase long-day onions and gardeners in the South should opt for short-day onions.   Onions also differ dramatically in terms of their size, from tiny "pearl" onions up to the huge Ailsa Craig that can tip the scales at up to 6 pounds.  Check out the varieties offered by mail order companies to find onions and garlic that meet your tastes and geographic requirements.  Here are some varieties you might consider:

• Purple Glazer Garlic - a mild tasting, easy to peel, mid-season variety.
• Music Garlic - a moderately hot, mid season variety with high yields.
• Chesnok Red Garlic - a strong, late season garlic that is good for cooking.
• Ontario Purple Trillium garlic - a very strong and very early maturing garlic.
• Borrettana Cipollini onion - a small (2 inch), flat, yellow, long-day onion that is a good storage.
• Red Wethersfield onion - a red, long-day onion thats shaped like a flattened globe.  It's an heirloom variety from Wethersfield, Connecticut.
• White Bermuda onion - a white short-day heirloom originally from Bermuda but now grow extensively in Texas.
• Candy - A large, intermediate-day hybrid onion.

To learn more about garlic, see my posting, Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Garlic

Putting Away Shelling Beans for Winter

This past weekend I harvested some shelling beans and put them away for the winter.  This first harvest of beans is a variety called "European Soldier", or more frequently, it is just referred to as "Soldier."  

Soldier beans are a pre-1800's heirloom bean that is creamy white with a distinctive red mark on the side. They can be used in any recipe that calls for dry or canned beans; however this traditional New England variety is often used to make baked beans.  

Growing & Harvesting Shelling Beans

• Plant in the spring about 3 weeks prior to your last frost date.
• Space seeds 3-4 inches apart at a depth of about 1 inch.
• Keep the soil moist but don't over-water.
• Soldier beans mature in about 95 days.  The pods will dry out and turn light brown in color.  You'll know they are properly dry when you can hear them rattle inside the pod when you shake the plant.
• After I remove them from the pod, I store the beans in pint sized canning jars to keep them fresh.

Warm Memories For Cold Winters

Perhaps you know of a children's story about a mouse named Frederick. Unlike the other mice, who work feverishly during the summer putting away stores of food for the winter, Frederick spends his days gathering memories of summer and later uses these memories during the winter to cheer his fellow mice when their food supply has dwindled.  As Frederick explains early in the story, "I gather sun rays for the cold dark winter days."  

The moral of the story is that mice, and men, don't just live by bread alone.  However, with a good supply of soldier beans in your pantry, you really get the best of both worlds... food for your winter table and memories of the warmth of summer.  Memories that drive out the cold and bleak of winter when there's little activity in the garden.

Yoga for Gardeners Class (SF Bay Area)

If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area and have an interest in learning yoga, Common Ground in Palo Alto, is offering a class that you might want to consider.  The class is taught by Patricia Becker, a certified instructor  who also happens to be the store manager. Common Ground is a non-profit gardening store and educational center that has been teaching folks how to garden for thirty five years.

Yoga for Gardeners was recently featured in the San Francisco Chronicle. The next session will take place on September 3, 2011 and costs $31.  You can register for it online.

Great Outdoor Gifts for Father's Day 2011

If you're looking for gift ideas for your backyard loving dad, you've come to the right place.  Here are my picks for 2011. 

 

The Best BBQ Grill In the World

Really! The Big Green Egg is a ceramic BBQ grill and smoker in one.  It's modelled off of a Japanese design called a komado, Japanese wood grill.  The ceramic acts like a kiln used to fire clay pots so the big green egg can generate temperatures in excess of 600 degrees Fahrenheit if you want cook steaks super fast.  It also is capable of cooking very evenly, so you can make amazing ribs by cooking them for a long period of time at a low temperature (200 degrees Fahrenheit).  The Big Green Egg uses wood based charcoal and you can add hickory, alder, cherry, pecan or whatever other wood chips to enhance the flavor.  I use my Big Green Egg to smoke bacon and have even smoked a turkey for Thanksgiving.  I love this grill!  To find a local distributor, go to the Big Green Egg web site.

BBQ Grill Tools

While your at it, why not pick up some snazzy looking tools so dad can cook in style.  Walmart has lots of nice sets like the one below at good prices.  The Mr Bar-B-Q set costs just $27.00.

A King Sized Hammock

After a day gardening Dad deserves a bit of a break. Here's a really nice way to relax.  All you need now is a big cold glass of iced tea.  This jumbo sized hammock measures 82" x 65" and is $199 from Sharper Image.

 A Power Washer

Sometimes a tool that saves you time and effort is a great gift.  This power washer is made by Briggs and Stratton is just such an item.  More pricey than those available at the local hardware store, it will last a lifetime.  An example of why buying quality items is less expensive in the long run.  $299 from Tractor Supply.

Horsehoe Set

Ok, this is on my personal wish list.  It's good for family fun or for when dad wants to get together with friends over a few beers.  A good grade horseshoe set like the one below is $40.  The one in the mahogany boxed set is $70 and is approved for professional and tournament play by the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association.  Wow, who knew there was a national association! You can get both sets at Walmart.com (They are not sold in stores).

 A Swiss Army Pocket Knife

This small knife can fit on a key chain and is very convenient.  Made in Switzerland, it is available from SwissOutpost for $35.

Have  a great Father's Day!

Artichokes: How To Grow Them And Two Recipes

In this posting I'll give you information on how to grow artichokes and provide you with a recipe I learned in Rome.

Artichokes

Artichokes are a perennial plant that are a member of the thistle family.  These flowering plants are characterized by prickly leaves and, in some varieties, prickles on the stem as well.  Although thistles can be quite pretty, they are often considered weeds because of the nastiness of those sharp prickles.

On the other hand, artichokes are a thistle you can love.  Originally grown in North Africa, Artichokes spread throughout the Mediterranean in ancient times and made there way to America during the colonial period. Thomas Jefferson is known to have grown them on his estate in Virginia as early as 1767.  Today, almost all artichokes produced in the U.S. are grown in California in an area centered around Castroville in Monterey County, just 90 miles south of my home.

Growing Artichokes

Artichokes are hardy from zone 7 and higher so they can be grown as perennials in the south and along the coast of California.  If you live in a colder region you can grow them as an annual but you'll need to grow a variety that can mature in one year such as Imperial Star (95 days to maturity).  Other common varieties like Globe require 180 days so this is only for those gardeners in warmer climates.

I was able to purchase my artichokes as a potted plants at my local garden center.  I don't know how widely available this vegetable is as a plant.  However, Artichokes can be grown from seeds and are available from Burpee, Cooks Garden, and other seed providers.

Here are growing instructions from the Burpee web site:

Wrap artichoke seeds in a damp towel and store in the refrigerator for two weeks before sowing, then plant 1/4" deep in individual pots 6-8 weeks before last expected frost. Grow in a sunny spot or under plant lights. Keep moist. Set artichoke plants out in the garden after the danger of hard frost is past. Mulch deeply to keep the soil as cool as possible. In hot areas, afternoon shade is helpful. Artichoke and Cardoon both prefer deep, fertile, well-drained soil.

Artichokes grow four feet high and occupy a similar diameter.  I found them very easy to grow.  Planted last year, my Globe artichokes went from a small plant in a 6 inch pot to almost full size in one year.  I did not get a harvest of artichokes the first year, but they are producing this year and I harvested one this last week end.

Harvesting is easy, just cut the stem about two inches below the flower.

Steamed Artichokes

Normally, we steam artichokes and then dip the bottoms of the leaves in melted butter and lemon.  Preparing artichokes in this fashion is very easy. 

• Cut the stem and the top off the artichoke with a heavy chef's knife.
•  Trim off a few layers of the bottom leaves that are normally too tough to eat.
•  Place the artichokes into a pot bottom side up and fill the pot with with 1 quart of water.
• Simmer for about 30 minutes till a knife inserted into the heart of the choke passes through with no resistance.
• If you want to speed this process up, rather than steaming the artichokes, you can cook them in a covered bowl in your microwave for about 12 minutes.
• Then just serve with melted butter and lemon

Carciofi Alla Guidia (Fried Artichokes Roman/Jewish Style)

This is also a very simple recipe, but you need to harvest the artichokes when they are small.  The recipe dates back to the time of imperial Rome.  My wife and I ate these on our first trip to that city many years ago and so this dish brings back fond memories.

Ingredients:

• 10-12 small artichokes (Get ones with stems that are 2 inches or more)
  
• 2.5 cups cooking grade olive oil
• 3 lemons
• Salt & pepper

Instructions:

• Trim the outer leaves of the artichokes with scissor so that you remove the top portion of the leaf that has the prickle.
• Using a peeler, remove the woody outer layer from the stem.
• After you peel the artichokes, place them in a bowl of cool acidulated water (water with juice of 2 lemon in it) This will keep the stems from turning brown.
• Let sit for 1 hour
• Remove and drain well.
• Flatten artichokes so that the leaves flatten out and look like a flower.
• Put artichokes into a pan of olive oil stem upwards and cook over a medium heat.
•  Turn the artichokes periodically so they cook evenly, including the stem. (check using a knife.  It should penetrate the heart without resistance)
  
• Cook for an additional 10 minutes pressing the flower side of the artichoke into the bottom of the pan with tongs or a spoon to flatten them out.
• Remove and drain.
• Serve with a squeeze of lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.

Below a 1 pound 11 ounce artichoke from my garden.

Happy Mother's Day 2011

PlanterTomato wishes all moms a happy Mother's Day!

Safer Brand $500 Giveaway

Safer Brands, a company that offers organic pest control solutions for gardeners, is running a promotion.  You can win a season's worth ($500) of organic lawn and garden pest control by entering.  The link to the promotion is below:

Safer Brand Promotion

Great Gardening Gifts For Mother's Day 2011

This year, Mother's Day falls on Sunday May 8th.  With the holiday just around the corner, I thought I'd provide a list of gift ideas for your special gardener.  Here are my top ten Mother's Day Gift ideas.  They range in price from $10-$200.

 
Salt & Pepper Shakers -These salt & pepper shakers in the shape of watering cans are a nice table addition for the dedicated cook and gardener.  There are $31.95 from Cooks Garden.

A Garden Hod - I have one of these garden hods and love it.  It's a wood and wire basket used to transport tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, lettuce and other veggies from the garden to the kitchen.  The wire mesh of the basket is a nice feature because any soil clinging to harvested carrots and beets that gets deposited in the hod can removed by simply washing the basket with your garden hose.  It's $41.95 also from Cooks Garden.

Garden Scoot - This garden tractor lets you work in the garden while sitting close to soil level.  In other words, it takes the load off your back when planting, harvesting and weeding.  The tractor also includes two baskets so it makes it easy to transport tools, seed packets and other gardening supplies to the area where you are working.  The scoot costs $99 from Gardener's Supply.

Tea Rose Perfume - Tea Rose is an oldie but goodie.  If you are a rose gardener, you'll love this perfume.  The fragrance is that of a bouquet of roses accented by notes of chamomile, spices and exotic wood.  And as fragrances go, it's really quite inexpensive.  Just $10-$28 from Perfume.com.

Mango Body Gel & Scrub - Rose scented perfume is a bit of a stretch as a gardening gift but with this one I'd admit I'm out on a limb.  Mango smelling body gel and wash is still a very nice mother's day gift.  The set includes shower gel, scrub, soap and other nice stuff.  Just $35 from The Body Shop. 

King Sized Hammock -  After a day gardening Mom deserves a bit of a break. Here's a really nice way to relax.  All you need now is a big cold glass of iced tea.  This jumbo sized hammock measures 82" x 65" and is $199 from Sharper Image.

 
Felco Prunners -  These pruners are the gold standard.  They are made in Switzerland and are of extremely high quality.  You can take them apart to clean them and the blades are replaceable if they are too old or worn to be sharpened.  Buy them once and own them for life.  Felco Pruners are $54.95 from Gardener's Supply

Self-Watering Tomato Planters - I'm really a big fan of these self-watering planters.  They are great for new gardeners and those without much space.  However, they are also a nice for seasoned gardeners who want to squeeze in a few more tomatoes into the garden plan and don't have any space remaining in a traditional or raised bed.  These planters can be placed on a sunny patio or deck.  This Tomato Success Kit comes from Gardener's Supply and is $64.95

Chef's Knife - This 10" knife from Fibrox is made in Switzerland by Victorinox, the same folks who manufacture swiss army knives.  Fibrox gets rave reviews form cooks for their sharp, stainless steel blades and comfortable handles.  Below is a video of a Chef using a Fibrox to cut an onion.  As they used to say in the TV infomercial, "The only tears you'll cry will be ones of joy."  Well, you get the idea. $34.99 from Swiss Outpost.

   

 

 

Pen Knife - This is a nice item for Mom's key chain.  It the classic pen knife made by Swiss Army in Switzerland.  Just $14 from Swiss Outpost.

Happy Mother's Day to All from PlanterTomato.

Heirloom vs. Hybrid Vegetables: The Debate Over Which Are Better

As we move into gardening season, many will be buying seeds to start at home or plants from the garden center.  Gardeners have many options including a choice of "heirloom" and hybrid varieties.  There has been a vigorous debate over the merits of each raging for a number of years.  In this posting, I outline the basic arguments of the debate and provide my opinion on this matter.

Heirlooms

The definition of what constitutes an "heirloom" vegetable is a bit vague, but heirloom varieties are always open pollinated and have been in existence for 30 years or more.  The classic definition is that they are open pollinated seeds that are over 50 years old.  Open pollinated means that seeds taken from one generation will produce a plant and fruit that is essentially the same in future generations. 

Gardeners who advocate for heirloom plants claim they taste better, foster genetic diversity, and are more economical because seeds from open pollinated plants can be replanted in subsequent seasons.

Hybrids

In contrast, a "hybrid" is a cross between two different varieties.  Hybrids seeds can produce plants that bring positive attributes from both parents, but the seeds from these plants will not yield the exact same type of plant when grown in subsequent seasons.  To reliably grow a hybrid, a gardener needs to purchase seeds produced by the cross of both parents each year. 

Advocates for hybrid plants argue that new varieties bring improvements over older ones in the same way that a new computer is better than one available 10 years ago.  They also point out that all heirloom varieties were first creatied by hybridizing two parents and then genetically stabilizing the cross over time.  In fact, farmers have been hybridizing for thousands of years and all improvements in agriculture have been achieved through hybridization.

My Opinion on the Matter

I do think that modern hybrids offer advantages to home gardeners and that we should be open to using them.  Having said that, I have to admit that almost everything I grow is an heirloom.  I like the diversity and quirkiness of heirloom varieties and I also like growing things with a link to the past. But I am not so stiff-necked as to exclude all hybrid varieties from my garden.  For example, I have serious problems growing squash due to a disease that afflicts this plant called powdery mildew.  In 2011, I will be growing hybrid squash varieties because they offer resistence to this disease.

My biggest concern with hybrids is really about their use in commercial agriculture and commercial agriculture in general.  Large scale agricultural enterprises require vegetable varieties that have long shelf lives, can be shipped without damage, and produce high yields.  In optimizing for these traits, plant breeders have created hybrids that meet the demands of commercial agriculture, but trade off attributes like taste and texture.  That's one of the reasons why produce purchased at the supermarket is less tasty than that grown at home from plants that were bred for attributes such as sweetness, acidity or texture. 

Furthermore, commercial growers tend to plant a very limited number of varieties because it's easier to sell one or two varieties than dozens.  Again, thinking of the grocery store experience;  you can only purchase a few varieties of tomatoes at the market, but there are thousands of known varieties in existence.  Thus, commercial agriculture has resulted in a dramatic decline in varieties in production.   The hybridized varieties produced by commercial agriculture may be more vulnerable changes in temperature, moisture, or even specific diseases than their heirloom cousins.  Reliance on just a few, hybrid varieties potentially puts the worlds food supply at risk, particularly as the climate changes.

One of the reasons I grow heirlooms is because I feel it helps maintain genetic diversity by acting as a counterbalance to commercial practice.  I grow as many varieties as I can, even if this is just one plant of each variety.  For example, in 2011, I'll have 15 types of tomatoes in my garden.

New York Times Article

For additional information on this subject, here is a link to a recent New York Times article, Heirloom Seeds or Flinty Hybrids.

Welcome To Spring & Some Books To Inspire You

Today March 20, marks the beginning of Spring.  On this rainy cold day in Northern California, I took some photos showing the resurgence of my garden that I hope will inspire you.  I'm also providing a list of  books that I think would be helpful to those interested in creating their own "urban farm."

Sugar Snap Peas - A family favorite.  These peas have crunchy, sweet edible pods that my kids love.  I've planted snap peas as early as January 1 in my green house.  This year, I planted them in a raised bed.

Blenheim Apricots Forming - Blenheim apricots are considered the best but they are hard to get outside of California because they are so perishable.  To enjoy them, you need to grow your own.

Cherries in Bloom - I have relatively young trees.  Seeing them flower is nice, but not as dramatic as when the trees are larger and in full bloom.  A mature flowering cherry is an amazing sight and one that has inspired nature lovers for centuries;  the Japanese celebrate Spring by pick-nicking under cherry trees in full bloom.  This practice, known as "Hanami," or flower viewing, dates back to the Nara Period. (710-794 AD)  Thankfully, you don't need to be the Emperor to enjoy cherry blossoms.

All Blue & Maris Piper Potatoes - You would think that home grown potatoes can't taste much different than those purchased at the grocery store.  Well, think again.  Not only can you grow better varieties, even standard ones are better because they are so much fresher.  It make one wonder how long they sit in storage before they hit the produce aisle.  See my posting to learn how to grow potatoes in containers.  The grow bags shown in my garden can be ordered for Amazon.com for just $7.

Ripening Blood Oranges & Lemons - wonderful fresh citrus.  The oranges can be eaten or juiced.  The lemons are great for lemonade or for salt preserving.  Check out my wife's recipe for preserved lemons.

 
Oats - This is an experiment for me.  I planted these in the late Fall and overwintered them.  I won't get much actual grain this year but I just wanted to see if Oats could survive the Winter here in Northern California.  They did, so I'll probably plant a larger amount in Fall 2011.

Beets - So easy to grow.  The best way to cook them is to just wrap them in foil and bake in the oven.  When cool, you can easily remove the skin.   No need to peel prior to cooking.

Carrots -  Danville (shown here) are a good variety for the Winter because they are less likely to get woody.  For planting in the Spring, consider Chantenay, an heirloom French variety.

Peach - Last year this poor tree got peach curl and didn't do all that well.  It's a variety called Baby Crawford.  I'll give it another year and if things don't look better, I'll have to find another variety.

Garlic - I grow both hardneck and softneck garlic.  If you want to know more about garlic, have a look at my posting Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Garlic.

Bees Foraging for Nectar and Pollen - I'll probably have 4 hives this year which means plenty of honey for friends and family.  I may even make some mead, honey wine that tastes like sherry.

Books To Consider:

If you are looking for some good books to help kick-start your backyard gardening, the following can all be purchased at Amazon.com.  Just click to follow the link.

How to Grow More Vegetables & Fruits Than You Ever Thought Possible - There's a wealth of information here.  The tables at the back of the book are worth the price alone.  Highly recommended.

The Home Orchard - A great beginners guide to growing fruit trees at home.

Four Season Harvest - This book by John Coleman inspired me to grow year-round.  I now harvest beets, carrots, kale, mache and other veggies from my garden, even in the dead of winter.

Beekeeping for Dummies - This is actually better than the name implies.  If you are new to bee keeping, start with this book and then add The Beekeepers Handbook.

Raising Chickens For Dummies - OK, full disclosure time.  I haven't read this book, but I was so happy with the Beekeeping book in the same "Dummies" series that I feel comfortable suggesting this as something to consider if you are thinking about adding chickens to your backyard.  The book gets very strong reviews on Amazon.

And to close this posting, a photo of lemons on a rainy day.

Spring Soil Preperation

 As we move into Spring, it's time to think about getting your garden soil in top condition.  In this posting I suggest two ways to increase the fertility of your soil.

Professional Soil Testing

I had my soil tested professionally for first time last season and think this service is invaluable.  Having your soil tested by a professional service provides more accurate results than can be achieved with kits from the garden store. Additionally, a soil testing service tells you exactly what quantities of specific amendments (compost, alfalfa, bone meal, sulfur, etc.) need to be added to the soil to bring up its fertility.

Generally, it takes several years to get soil to peak fertility, so it's a good idea to do testing each spring for several years.  To learn more about soil testing and review an actual test report, see my prior posting on this subject:

The Dirt on Dirt:  What You Get with Professional Soil Testing

 Start Composting

One soil amendment that you can count on adding each year is compost.  Compost is just decomposed plant matter that is added to soil as a natural fertilizer for your plants. 

You can buy compost from your local garden store, but its very easy to create your own using lawn clippings, leaves, and kitchen scraps like coffee grounds, beet tops, carrot peals etc.  Composting is achieved by adding consecutive layers of green matter, brown matter, and soil.  It's not hard to do but there are a few tricks that will increase your chances for success. Below are two posting that explain how compost and how to create a composting bin.

How to Build A Composter

How To Compost

Review of John Jeavons' Grow Biointensive Video

At last, a great complement to Jeavons' book, How To Grow More Vegetables.

John Jeavons is a researcher, lecturer and author of several books on sustainable agricultural practices.  In March of 2010, I had the pleasure of meeting him and he was kind enough to discuss his methods with me.  That interview is posted to this web site for those interested in learning more about Biointensive farming. 

I subsequently purchased John's book, "How to Grow More Vegetables" and it is now my gardening bible.  John's methods are well documented therein and the book contains a detailed set of tables on various vegetable, cereal, fruit and nut crops that I highly recommend.  The tables alone are worth the cost of the book.  However, "How To Grow" contains relatively few illustrations and no photos whatsoever; in my opinion, this makes it  less effective as a how-to resource. 

Fortunately, Jeavons recently released a Grow Biointensive DVD that does a great job filling-in these gaps.  The video runs for about an hour and 20 minutes and covers the following topics:

• Garden Bed & Soil
• Starting Seedlings
• Transplanting
• Composting
• Harvesting
• Saving Seeds
• Choosing Crops
• Maintaining Your Garden

Although this video is positioned as a "beginners guide," I think even seasoned gardeners will pick up a few tricks.  I particularly liked the section on seed starting using wooded flats, and the portion of the video that illustrates a method of preparing the soil known as double digging.  Since most suburban gardeners probably don't have any experience growing grains, I think they will be pleasantly surprised by the section of the video on that subject.

Below is one chapter of the video that will give you a sense for the depth and pacing of the overall DVD.

 

I give the "Grow Biointensive" DVD a big, green thumbs up.   You can buy it and the How To Grow More Vegetables book at John's web site.  The DVD is $20 and you can buy the bundled DVD and book for $30.

Chocolate & Strawberries May Have Just Gotten Better, Or Perhaps Not

Two teams of researchers are reporting success in sequencing the genomes for the strawberry and cocoa. 

An international team of 70 researchers collaborated to sequence the genome of a woodland strawberry while a separate international team has successfully decoded the genome for Criollo, an expensive variety of cocoa used to make fine chocolate.  Both teams were funded by a mixture of academic, U.S. government and industry sources and their results are published in the journal Nature Genetics.

The research offers the potential to create new varieties of strawberry and cocoa that will be more disease resistant, weather tolerant, flavorful and nutritious, or so say the researchers. 

While I'm supportive of scientific research, and undecided about the benefits and risks of genetic modification of food, I'm definitely concerned about the practical implementation of such research.  If the history of the last 30 years is any guide, the most likely outcome of genetic tinkering is likely to be new varieties that are tailored to meet today's commercial requirements -- less perishable, easier to ship, visually more appealing --not varieties that are better tasting or are more nutritious. 

It will probably take five to ten years before strawberries modified based on this research appear on grocery store shelves, so it will be a long-time before we know how these discoveries play out in the marketplace.

Holiday Gift Guide For Gardeners

We'll it's cyber Monday, traditionally the heaviest internet shopping day of the year.  If you're looking for a holiday gift for that special gardener in your life, here are 10 great holiday gift ideas priced from $17 and up.

Potato Scoop

I love Burgon & Ball (B&B) tools.  They're very well made and feel like the type of tools that you'll have for a lifetime.  B&B garden trowels, spades, forks, dibbles and other common tools can be found at on-line retailers and in some specialty retail shops in the U.S. 

Sadly the B&B potato scoop is much harder to find.  This is really a shame because this scoop is a handy tool.  The front edge is solid and lets you dig into the dirt but the back end of the scoop is comprised of tines so that dirt can be sifted away from potatoes. I found a seller on eBay who sold me the B&B potato scoop for  $23 + $11 shipping from England.

Book:  Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It By Karen Solomon

I've used quite a number of recipes from this book including the basic pickle recipe and the recipe to cure bacon at home.  If you are new to home food preservation, this is a good place to begin.  You get 75 recipes in the book.  It costs $17 at Amazon.com.

Two-Wheeled Garden Cart

I find that the traditional 1-wheeled wheelbarrow can be difficult to manage when hauling heavier loads such as soil or garden pebbles.  This two-wheeled garden cart is much easier to manage. You can find a number of models from several manufacturers.  I purchased mine at a local hardware store for about $60.  Well worth it.

EarthBox Self Watering Planter

The EarthBox is a self-watering planter kit that let's you grow vegetables or flowers on a balcony, roof, deck or other place where it otherwise be impossible to locate a traditional garden or raised bed. 

You assemble the EarthBox and fill it with soil and the fertilizer you need for one growing season. You then cover the soil with a plastic cover and cut a number of slits into which you insert your seedlings. 

The Earthbox accommodates 2 tomato plants or 4 cucumbers or as many as 10 beets.  You fill water into the planter through a plastic pipe that sticks up through the soil.  The water enters a reservoir in the planter and automatically give the plants the right amount of water.  I used an EarthBox this last year and thought it did a very good job. If you plan to grow tomatoes in an EarthBox, go with a smaller determinate variety.  About $45 from garden centers.

Floral Fragrances From Caswell-Massey - One of the oldest apothecary shops in the US, Caswell-Masey has been selling fine personal care items since the 1750's. The company's scents tend to have a very old fashioned character.  Their simplicity is rather refreshing. 

You can find rose, lily of the valley, gardenia and other floral scents for $30.  For Guys, Caswell-Massey sells a variety of colognes such as "Number Six" a citrus based fragrance worn by George Washington.

Hori Hori

The Hori Hori is a general purpose gardening tool that is excellent for digging and weeding.  Shaped like a bowie knife, the point is moderately sharp so it can dig deep into soil.  One edge of the blade is serrated to cut roots, and the length of the knife on one side is concave like a garden trowel, so it can be used to dig deep into the soil. 

In a prior review of this tool, I commented that if Crocodile Dundee ever took up gardening, the Hori Hori would be his tool of choice.  This holiday season it can be your tool of choice as well.  You can buy one of these at a garden specialty store or online from Wildflower Seed for $29.

Jasmine Plant

Having fresh cut flowers on the table can brighten up dark winter days.  While cutflowers only last a few days, these Jasmine plants have much greater staying power; Jasmine flowers open over the course of 4 or more weeks.  When in full bloom, Jasmine will fill the air with fragrance. 

You can buy Jasmine from WhiteFlower Farm for $33.  Below is a link to their video on how to care for Jasmine. By the way, Whiteflower Farm also sells paper whites, amaryllis and other flowering plants if Jasmine isn't your speed.

 

Gardening Shoes

Gardening shoes are a practical and affordable gift.  They are easy to slip on, are comfortabe and resist water.  In my area, we have very heavy clay soil that sticks horribly to the treds of sneakers.  Gardening shoes have shallow treds that lessen this problem. 

I like the Sloggers brand.  They come in a variety of colors and sizes and generally cost about $25.  You can find them at hardware and gardening stores or through Amazon.com.

Eglu Go Chicken Coop & Run

If someone on your shopping list has been thinking about adding chickens to their urban farm, here's a way to do so without the hassle of building a coop. 

The Egu Go from Omlet is a modernly-styled coop that lets you keep up to four chickens.  The coop is designed for easy access eggs in the nest box area and dropping fall through the slatted floor and into a pan for easy cleaning. 

The Egu comes in red, yellow and green and costs $495 for the complete outfit ($245 for the coop only).  They also sell larger coops if you want to keep more chickens.

A Fine Folding Knife

A good folding knife can be used to harvest vegetables, graft tree branches, slice fruit, or even cut open those holiday mail packages.  They come in a surprisingly wide variety of styles from traditional wood-handled knives to modern high tech ones.  Prices range from from $20 to $200. 

I own a French Lagiuole knife that's similar to the one shown below.  This knife was hand made in France and I really love using it.  

However, I need to warn you about ordering and backorders; some of the higher priced knives are made-to-order by craftsmen in Europe.  If you decide to place an order for a holiday gift, make sure they have the model you want in stock; otherwise you will be giving your holiday gift in March.

You can buy any of the knives shown below from World Knives, a company with a wide selection of high quality products. 

M. Nieto Ttylet - $24

Hartkopf Rosewood Lockblade - $90

Fontenille-Pataud Lagioule - $200

Maserin Trigger - $120

Good luck shopping.  Please post a comment if you have a favorite item you want other gardeners to know about.

A Thanksgiving Message From PlanterTomato, The Silicon Valley Gardener

I want to wish the U.S. readers of this web site and listeners to my Podcast a very happy and healthy Thanksgiving holiday.

This web site is made possible by digital technology and the magic of the internet.  Technologies that have allowed me to reach out to people in far flung place all over the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Greece, Germany, France, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia -- a total of over 110 countries at last count.

I'm a big fan of technology; so much so, that I recently decided to take on the by-name, "The Silicon Valley Gardener."

That said, Thanksgiving offers an opportunity to relax with family and be a little less available to the intrusions of the outside world that digital technology has also created.  For a few hours today when you are with your families, I encourage the American readers of this blog to turn off your mobile devices and shut down the computers.

Below is a picture courtesy of Offlining.com that I hope will make you laugh and, perhaps, consider spending uninterrupted time with your family.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.  I'll be back in touch next week. 

Happy Halloween - Grim Reaper & Tombstone Halloween Pumpkins

This season, I carved Halloween pumpkins with designs of the grim reaper and tombstones. The designs are shown below.

For information on create your own pumpkin templates, see my prior posting How To Carve Great Halloween Pumpkins.

Have a happy, fun and ghoulish holiday.

Grim Reaper & Coffin

Abandon Hope Tombstones

 

 

Everything You Wanted To Know About Garlic

Garlic is one of those vegetables that can be overwintered.  For most gardeners, this means planting bulbs in October and November, so there's still time to plant garlic if you haven't done so already.  In this posting, I cover garlic varieties, planting instructions and other things garlicky. 

The Sweet Smell of Success

There's something about the strong smell and taste of garlic that historically has encouraged people to ascribe special powers to this member of the onion family. For example, everyone knows that garlic is said to have the power to repel blood-thirsty vampires.  If you eat garlic and have not been bitten recently, you too can attest to garlic's amazing power.

That said, I'm sure very few of you Nosferatu aficionados are aware that the Vikings revered garlic and fortified themselves by eating large quantities of it prior to departing on plundering expeditions. 

A scary thought, eh?  A horde of axe wielding Norsemen roll into town, burn the houses and steal the gold.  And then to add insult to injury, they celebrate with a banquet of garlic-laden bruschetta and stink the place up.  No wonder people feared Erik the Red.

Well whether you're preparing to pillage your neighbors house or just making Sunday dinner, garlic can add a lot of flavor and the good news is that it's very easy to grow.  Here's what you need to know:

Types of Garlic

Garlic is divided into two broad categories:

• Softneck varieties have many cloves of varying sizes.  Most supermarket garlic is of the softneck variety because it is easier to harvest mechanically and stores better than hardneck varieties.  Softneck garlic also matures more quickly and can be grown in places where the winters are mild such as the Southern U.S. and California. 
  
  
  
  
• Hardneck varieties have fewer cloves of more uniform size.  These grow around a central stalk.  This type of garlic does better where winters are cold.  They are more diverse in their flavor profile and are easier to peel than their softneck brethren. 
  

 

Both hardneck and softneck garlics varieties can vary widely with regard to size, flavor, aftertaste, and storage capabilities.  If you haven't really considered garlic before, I think you'll be surprised at the number of choices you have. 

To get a sense for the range, I recommend looking at the Territorial Seed web site where you'll see over 50 varieties including: Chinese Pink, Belarus, Music, Spanish Roja, Duganski and German Red.  Here are descriptions from their web site for the two varieties I'm growing this year to give you a flavor for the diversity of garlic.

Inchelium Red Garlic
Mid-season. Inchelium Red is a national taste-test winner in the softneck division. This mild flavored garlic is great baked and blended with mashed potatoes. This large, top-quality softneck was discovered on the Colville Indian Reservation in northern Washington. Stores very well for 6-9 months.

Purple Glazer Garlic
Mid-season. You won't believe your eyes when you see the satiny clove wrappers of Purple Glazer. A vivid, royal purple tinged with shiny gold and/or silver hues makes this one of the most attractive garlics. As a sub-variety of Purple Stripe, a group known for being the "best baked garlic", Purple Glazer has a strong lasting flavor, but not hot and no aftertaste. Its texture is very palatable, like the consistency of cooked carrots. Very easy to peel.

Planting & Harvesting

Growing garlic is very easy.  Break the head of garlic into individual cloves and then plant these cloves in well drained soil about 4" apart and 2 inches deep in mild climates (3-4 inches deep in cold climates).

Garlic planted in the Fall can be harvested in April/May in warmer climates and July/August in cooler climates.  You'll know when to harvest because the leaves will turn brown.  It's best to first harvest a few heads to make sure that they are of good size before harvesting the rest of the crop.  You should also stop watering garlic about 2 weeks prior to harvest in order to help dry down the garlic heads.

Some other Garlic Tidbits

• An easy way to peel garlic - place a clove on your cutting board.  Now use a chef's knife to peel the garlic as follows.  Holding the handle of your knife in one hand, cover the clove with the flat side of the knife.  Using the heel of your other hand, smash down on the side of the blade.  The outer layers of the garlic will just peel off.  Here's a video that shows you how it's done.
• Removing the smell of garlic from your hands --  Option #1 - wash your hands with cold water and then rub them all over in salt.  Wash again with soap and water.  Option #2 - rub your hands over stainless steel.  Then wash with soap and water.  How this works is beyond me, but it really does seem to do the trick.  Any stainless steel will work and you can even buy a stainless steel soap for $3-$10.  This is just a handy chunk of stainless steel shaped like a bar of soap that you can leave on your kitchen sink.  It's reusable an infinite number of times.
  
• Garlic Nutritional Information - Everyone knows beans are high in protein.  White beans, Favas and other varieties generally provide about 100 grams per pound of vegetable.  But garlic is surprisingly high in protein as well, about 25 grams per pound of garlic.  You can find full nutritional information on garlic at the Wikipedia.
  

By the way I do not recommend that you eat garlic by the pound.  If you do, you'll have fewer friends than a hermit.

 

How to Carve A Great Halloween Pumpkin

In this posting, I'll provide some design ideas and discuss how to make the great Halloween Jackolanterns.

Halloween is generally thought of as a holiday for kids, but it is also my favorite holiday of the year.  For the past several years, I've helped celebrate the holiday by carving Jackolanterns with unusual designs.

The traditional design is a pumpkin carved with the face of a demon or devil.  Nothing wrong with that I suppose.  But while the traditional toothy-grinned face is certainly easy to carve, it is a bit boring in my opinion. 

Although more work, it's a lot more fun to carve pumpkins if you kick the design up a notch or two. I find that more interesting jackolantern designs draw more kids to your door.  And after all, that's the fun of halloween for us adults -- seeing happy, excited, sugared-up kids.

Below are some photos of some pumpkins I've carved in the past:

Hangman

 

 

Spider

 

Tombstone (with kids names on them)

 

Design Ideas

If you want to stay within the traditional themes of Halloween, here are a number of potential pumpkin design ideas to consider:

• Tombstone
• Black cat
• Witch
• Hangman
• Ghost
• Spider
• Raven

But there's nothing that says you must stay within the bounds of these themes.  I've also carved pumpkins in the shape of a dragon, a crane and other animals.

Dragon

Making Your JackoLantern

The first thing you need to do is to find an interesting design from which you will create a template.  You can draw one yourself, use halloween decorations from your local craft store, or search the internet for interesting images from which you can draw inspiration.

While you can transfer this design to your pumpkin by drawing it freehand, I find my drawing skills aren't good enough for this so I create a template.  I do this using a photo, scanned image or other source material that I then adjust using image editing software.   I then print out the template on my home printer and transfer the design to my pumpkin.  For example, below is the template I used to create my 2007 jackolantern.

To effect the transfer, I place the template on the pumpkin using masking tape.  I then use a ballpoint pen to trace over the design.  This transfers the image to the pumpkin.  You should apply a good amount of pressure when you trace the image so that the lines dig into the surface of the pumpkin skin.  I then use a permanent marker to trace over these lines to make them easier to see when carving.

Now you just carve the pumpkin as you would with any jackolantern:

• Cut a hole in the top
• Scoop out the seeds
• Use a sharp serrated knife to cut the pumpkin.  Actually, I use a Japanese keyhole saw that I purchased from a woodworking store.  The thinness of the blade makes it easier to cut intricate shapes into the pumpkin. (see below photo)

Other Tips

• Pumpkin carving is messy business.  Do it outside if the weather permits this.
• The serrated blade of your knife will deposit pumpkin flesh onto the surface of the pumpkin as you carve.  Have a few dish towels on hand so you can wipe this away during carving.
• If you live in a very temperate environment like I do, your carved pumpkin will begin to sprout mold fairly quickly once it's carved; so plan to carve your pumpkin as close to Halloween as possible.

If you've carved a pumpkin you're proud of, send me a photo and I'll post it here.

Have a great Halloween.

Growing Vegetables In The Fall & Winter & A Wrap Up of the Summer Season

With the Spring/Summer 2010 growing season drawing to an end, I'll do a bit of a wrap up of the season and outline some of the veggies you can grow in the fall and winter.

Getting Ready For Fall

Fall officially begins on September 23 this year, and with the weather as cool as it has been here in Northern California this year, I'm well into preparation for our Fall/Winter garden.  If you've never gardened in the "off season," here are some reasons to give it a try:

• Enjoy amazingly fresh vegetables 12 months of the year
• Increase the total annual harvest from your garden without adding more space
• Rely less on canned or preserved food
• Less pest damage in cooler months
• Less watering required
• Easier to garden in cooler temperatures
• Flavors of some vegetables are improved by cold temperatures

Do I Still Have Time to Plant?

Generally speaking, you should plant your Fall/Winter crops 8-10 weeks before your first frost date.  (You can find the first frost date for your area at the Victory Seed Company web site.) 

You should be mindful of the days-to-maturity for the varieties you grow.  Work backwards from you first frost date to ensure that you are giving any vegetables you intend to grow sufficient time to mature.  Since the days are shorter in the fall, it's generally recommended that you add about 2 weeks to the days-to-maturity estimates printed on seed packets.  Another strategy to manage to manage the constraints of days to maturity, is to buy seedlings for your garden from your local garden center, rather than trying to plant them from seeds. This give you a bit of a jump on the season.

Extending The Harvest Period

Prolonged periods when the temperature is below 32 degrees Fahrenheit will kill cold tolerant vegetables. You can increase your harvest period by using season extenders (greenhouse, cold frames, straw mulch, row covers etc.) to keep your crops warm and protected from driving rains.  Where I live, our temperatures rarely go below freezing.  With a greenhouse, we've been able to harvest fresh chard, kale, miners lettuce and other vegetables all winter long. 

If you're climate is less for forgiving, you'll generally need to harvest as the temperatures dip below freezing.   But there are some exceptions; once mature, some crops can be left (stored) in the garden even when goes below freezing.  These crops include most of the root vegetables such as carrots, parsnips, beets, salsify, oriental radishes as well as cabbage and leeks.

Finally, some vegetables can be overwintered -- planted in the Fall and then harvested in the spring.  Classic overwintering veggies include Fava Beans, Garlic, and onions.  For example, here in Northern California, we plant Fava Beans in November and harvest them in Spring.

All the vegetables shown below can be grown when the weather is cool.  The vegetables shown with an asterix are the most hardy.  These veggies can withstand temperatures as low as 28 degrees Fahrenheit for a few weeks and still make it. 

• Arugula
• Broccoli - For overwintering
  
• Brussels Sprouts(*)
  
• Beets(*) - for fall harvest or can be overwintered
  
• Cabbage - can be stored in the garden.
  
• Carrots(*) - can be stored in the garden.
  
• Chard- For Fall harvest or overwintering.
  
• Chicory
• Chinese Cabbage
• Fava Beans - For overwintering
  
• Garlic- For overwintering
  
• Grains (Oats, Wheat, Barley for overwintering in mild climates)
  
• Kale(*)
• Leeks(*) Use transplants if planting in the Fall.  Can be stored in the garden.
  
• Miners Lettuce
• Mache
• Onions- For overwintering.
  
• Parsnip(*) - Can be stored in the garden.
  
• Peas
  
• Radish(*) - Can be stored in the garden.
  
• Salsify - Can be stored in the garden.
  
• Spinach(*) - For fall harvest or overwintering
  
• Turnip - Can be stored in the garden.
  
• Upland Cress

Season Wrap Up:  A So-So Year

Each growing season has it's surprises.  This year, we had perhaps the coldest summer in anyone's memory here in Palo Alto.  August is normally our hottest month.  However, this year, we didn't have a day over 80 degrees Fahrenheit until Monday of this week (8/23) and the temperature is expected to return to the high 60's by Saturday.  This has meant a very disappointing year for many San Francisco Bay Area gardeners.  I have neighbors who have yet to harvested their first tomato.

I have to say we were relatively lucky.  I started my seeds early, and planted tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers in my greenhouse.  As a result, I've been harvesting tomatoes since late June and have more than enough of the other hot weather crops to feed us now and during the Winter.  Mercifully, we've had more than enough tomatoes for fresh consumption and have canned plenty for the winter months. We also had a small, but satisfying, yield of corn and good yields of peas, cucumbers, beans, eggplant, summer and winter squash etc.  Since June, we've harvested over 270 pounds of produce from our little suburban patch and roof garden.  But there were some major disappointments....

This was my first year growing sweet potatoes.  Woe is me.  They were a total bust.  I planted the first sweet potato slips early in the season, only to watch cold weather and rain kill them.  I re-ordered slips with a stiff upper lip, but cool weather the entire season meant these heat loving tubers never got what they needed.  I have only a few miserably small sweet potatoes to show for my effort.   I'll try again next year.

I also tried Charentais melons and Ali Baba watermelons this year.  A Charentais melon should weigh 2-3 pounds.  The few we've harvested are about 1 pound or less.  Tasty but tiny.  We're still waiting to harvest our first watermelon.  We'll see what that brings. 

The Boston Marrow and Delicata squash did well.  The Baby Blue Hubbards were stunted.  And so it goes.

Below is a photo of several varieties of Winter squash I harvested from the garden this year.  A fitting photo for a very cold 2010 summer growing season.

Etna Beans: A Premium Shelling Bean That Proves Beauty Isn't Skin Deep

Growing tips for Etna bush beans and a 15 minute 2 ingredient recipe.

Etna beans are one of those veggies that are as beautiful on the inside as they are on the outside.  The pods of these shelling beans are a bright green with red markings and the beans themselves  are a buff color with deep red spots. 

Growing Etna Beans

Etna beans are easy to grow.  I start them in seed-starter containers in the greenhouse and then transplant them to the garden after they have there second set of leaves.  They are a bush variety and require no staking. Just plant in the ground when the soil temperature is above 65 degrees Fahrenheit and you'll harvest your bean crop in about 70 days. 

Tip #1: Don't over-water your beans or they will yellow and drop their leaves.  The soil should be just moist.

Tip #2: All beans fix nitrogen with the aid of special bacteria that form in nodules in their roots.  You can improve your yield by adding this bacteria to the soil.  It's generally sold as "Bean and Pea Inoculant." Burpee sells it as "Burpee Booster."

Cook In Just 15 Minutes

While these beans can be dried and stored for future use, we eat them right after harvest.  Fresh, these bean can be cooked in just 15 minutes by boiling them in water.  We finish them by dousing the beans with extra virgin olive oil and seasoning with salt and pepper.

Cooked, Etna beans are a uniform buff color or buff with hints of purple. Not as pretty as when raw, but still quite smart.  And they deliver where it matters most -- they taste great and they are packed with protein and other nutrients.  The following is nutritional information from the USDA for one cup of cooked beans:

Etna Bean seeds are available from Territorial Seed Company if you want to give them a try.

Great Father's Day Gifts For Your Gardening Dad: Most Less Than $50

If you are looking for a Father's Day gift, here's a selection of gifts to consider for your gardening dad.  Most cost less than $50.

• Coleman 40 Qt Wheeled Cooler - As it gets hot this summer, its nice to have a cooler that can be wheeled into the garden or patio that will hold a supply of drinks and keep them cool for hours.  This one is available from Amazon for $45.  And if you're really want to be good to be good to dad, think about filling it with beer.
  
• Mason Bee Box - If you want to ensure good pollination, putting a honey bee hive in your garden is a good idea.  But honey bees are expensive to install and require ongoing care.  If you want to increase pollination in your garden, with a minimum amount of work for dad, put Mason Bees to work for you.  These solitary bees produce no wax and normally make their homes out of mud which they form into tubes.  However, you can encourage them to live in your garden by giving them a nice place to live.  Wooden mason bee houses are said to be better than plastic.  These hand-crafted ones from Etsy cost about $20. 
• 
  
  
• A Gardening Class - A wide spectrum of organizations offer local gardening classes on topics such as: how to start a vegetable garden, drip irrigation, composting, container gardening, etc. I like the idea of giving a class as a gift because your giving the experience of the class and potentially additional knowledge which will help dad build his garden.  In the San Francisco Bay Area, most of the courses I found were $15-$30 range.  For example, Common Ground in Palo Alto and Garden For the Environment in San Francisco, both offer a full range of very affordable classes. To find gardening classes in your area, just do an internet search for "Gardening Class" plus the name of your location.  You should turn up a variety of options.

• Felco Pruning Shears -a precision made pruner from Switzerland.  The blade is as sharp as a scalpel and the handles are very comfortable.  If you should wear through the blades, they are replaceable.  About $40 at Amazon.com.

• English Gardening Tools - Burgon & Ball has been manufacturing high quality tools in Sheffield, England since 1730.  They manufacture a full line of gardening tools including many hand tools such as trowels, scoops, hand forks and widgers.  Most of the small hand tools can be purchased for about $15.  If you are in Palo Alto, California, Common Ground (559 College Ave) sells them at their retail store.  If you are outside the area, you can purchase tools via Arbor and Vine's online site.

• Hammock - They say that gardening is a matter of your enthusiasm holding up until your back gets used to it.  But when your back can't take it anymore, or when you just want to have a bit of a rest, how about giving dad a place to lie down -- like on this Pawley Island hammock.  This one is available at Wal-Mart for $79.

 

• Gardening Books - There are lots of great gardening books out there.  Here are two to consider for dad.  How to Grow World Record Tomatoes by Charles Wilbur provides tips and trick on how to grow tomatoes successfully.  Wilbur claims to routinely grow tomato plants that are over 20 feet high and to have taken over 1,000 pounds of tomatoes from a single plant.  Mere mortals might not get such yields, but Wilbur does provide a variety of useful tips and tricks.  The writing in the book is clear and there are plenty of B&W photos to illustrate the points he is making, but you'll need to look past the attitude in the book; let's just say he doesn't have any problems with self esteem.  The books worth the $10 that Amazon charges.  How to Grow More Vegetables by John Jeavons is also worth putting on dad's bookshelf if he is an organic gardener or wants to be one.  Jeavons covers pretty much everything you need to know to raise food in your backyard garden from bed preparation, to composting and seed starting.  There are many detailed tables in the book that provide information about each type of veggie - seeds per ounce, yield per acre, plant spacing and depth, days to maturity, nutritional value etc. etc.  The tables alone are more than worth the price of this book -- $14 at Amazon.
  

  

• Tool and Knife Sharpener -  Sharp blades not only make it easier to get the job done, they are also much safer; it's the dull blades that are the dangerous ones.  The Work Sharp 2000 is a grinder and sharpener in one tool.  It will sharpen axe blades, hoes and other garden tools, chisels, scrapers, screw drivers etc.  The Work Sharp is available at Amazon.com, Rockler Tool and other retailers for about $99.  You can also buy an attachment for an additional $40 that allows you to sharpen kitchen and other knives.
  
  

• Tilley Hat - The only hat with a cult following, the original Tilley was designed for adventure travelers who needed a hat that was durable, comfortable, and, if needed, could be washed and dried quickly.  I've had a Tilley hat for years and love it.  The company now offers a much wider line of hats and also clothes for travelers.  If you buy a Tilley hat for gardening, get one with a wide brim to provide sun protection.  You buy Tilley hats directly from the company at Tilley.com.  A hat will set you back about $70.

Happy Father's Day to all from PlanterTomato.

Vegetables In The Shade

Another crazy idea to grow vegetables in the shade.

If you have limited light in your garden you may already know that you can grow vegetables such as lettuces, spinach, kale and cabbage in partial shade.

However, here's an idea for an edible that can be grown full shade.  If you have no light in your garden, or if you have a shady area that you want to enhance as part of your edible landscaping plan, consider adding some Ostrich ferns. 

Ostrich ferns can sometimes be found in specialty grocery stores and are usually sold as "Fiddleheads."  They are available for only a very short period of time -- generally just two or three weeks.  This New England delicacy is harvested in the spring when the fronds of the fern are just about to unravel and the little coiled heads are then cooked by sauteing them in butter. 

However, there are other ways to prepare them, such as making them into soup.  You can find a bunch of interesting recipe ideas at About.com

By the way, About.com says that fiddle heads can be eaten raw.  I wouldn't do this.  My understanding is that they contain toxins which are neutralized during the cooking process.  For safety's sake, cook them.  And one more thing....You eat just the coiled head, not the stems or uncoiled fronds.

Fiddleheads grow in full shade, mature quickly, and are will grow in hardiness zones 2-8.  My garden is in Northern California (zone 9), which is technically a little too hot for fiddleheads, but planted them this year anyway as a test.  If you are in a colder climate you should have no problem growing these.

 

Special Note To Those in the San Francisco Bay Area:

My friends at Common Ground Garden Supply and Educational Center asked me to let you know about upcoming gardening classes.  You can find the complete listing and registration information at the Common Ground Web Site.  Upcoming classes including offerings such as Patricia Becker's upcoming Yoga for Gardeners Class and Jody Main's Herbs In the Garden, Herbs in the Kitchen and many other interesting and helpful courses.

Failure Is An Orphan

Not everything planted ends up being a success.  In this posting, I share the sad story of my first attempt to grow sweet potatoes and a my strategy for ensuring overall success of my garden.

There's an old saying, "Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan."  The same is true with vegetable gardening; look at catalogs, books and blogs and you see gardens abundant with perfect lettuces, mouthwatering tomatoes and tall and tempting sweet corn.  But the these are the gardening success; what isn't shown or talked about are the orphans -- the lettuces that were devoured by slugs or the spinach that bolted due to a hot spell. 

I think the downside to orphaning of failures is that it sets false expectations for new gardeners who think that they should get perfect results like the ones the see in these catalogs, books and blogs.

So without further ado, here is a candid admission of my first gardening failure of the year.  This year I planted sweet potatoes for the first time.  Unlike Irish Potatoes, which are planted with seed potatoes, sweet potatoes are started from "slips" which are the sprouts that grow out of older potatoes. The slips are cut off the potatoes and planted directly in the ground. 

I ordered my sweet potato slips from Steele Plant Company in Tennessee.  They are shipped via Priority Mail because It's important to get the slips in the ground as quickly as possible.  Mine arrived in early May and I planted them the day after they arrived.

Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate.  Rain, heavy winds and cold temperatures pounded these poor sweet potato slips for two days.  This is exactly the worst thing that can happen to sweet potatoes which are originally from South America and are a tropical plant.  They like warm weather, and they didn't get it.

The net result is that half of the plants died and I was forced to reorder new ones.  The ones that lived are recovering, but we continue to have a very cool, wet spring which is really impeding their growth.  If I harvest sweet potatoes this year, it will probably be a very modest crop.  Maybe none at all.  And the cold weather bodes ill for watermelons and squashes which I also planted this year.

The morale of the story is that in gardening like in other endeavors, things don't always go as planned and you should expect some failures each year.  Weather, aphids, slugs, whatever, something in your garden is going to take a hit.

My strategy is to grow a variety of vegetables to hedge my bets.  The key for every gardener is to get the proper balance -- more vegetable varieties provides a hedge against failure, but they also mean more work for the gardener.  Everyone will be different in this regard, but as a starting point, I would recommend you consider growing about 6-8 types of veggies for any particular season.

Although my sweet potatoes are likely to be a flop, I've already harvested sugar snap peas, four varieties of lettuce, pak choi (bok choi), broccoli raab, strawberries, kale and chard.  My Irish potatoes are doing well, beans and peppers in the works, and I have tomato plants that have already begun to set fruit in the greenhouse. 

All in all, it's shaping up to be a pretty good year -- a bunch of success and a few orphans too.

A Last Minute Gift for Mother's Day Under 30 Dollars

A Last Minute Mother's Day Gift That Will Be More Appreciated Than Flowers and Costs Under $30.

Two weeks ago, I posted ideas for really great Mother's Day gifts that can be purchased for under $30.  These could be ordered online and be delivered in plenty of time for Mother's Day.  If live in a major urban area, you can probably still get some of these gifts in time for Mother's Day at a local specialty shop. 

However, here's an idea for a last minute Mother's Day gift that can be purchased at any garden center, anywhere in the US...

Italian & French Herb Gardens In Containers

• Create a container herb garden using a pretty 5 gallon container of your choosing.  A 14-16" terra cotta pot will probably cost about $20.  If you can't find one that's large enough, or within your budget, consider getting several 6" pots. 
• Potting soil - about 5 gallons for a 16" pot.
• Herb plants - generally about $2-$3 each.  You can get any herbs you like but here are my suggestions...
• French Herb Garden: Chives, Marjoram, Chervil (All plants do well in partial sun)
• Italian Herb Garden: Oregano, Sage, Basil (All plants do well in full sun)

If you decide to create your own mix, keep in mind that you'll want to choose herbs with similar light requirements if you plant them in one container.  Below is a handy list to help you:

Full Sun: Anise, Basil, Calendula, Catnip, Cilantro, Dill, Fennel, Lavender, Oregano, Rosemary, Sage, Savory, Tarragon, Thyme.

Partial Sun: Chamomile, Chervil, Chives, Garlic, Lemon Balm, Marjoram, Mint, Parsley.

Happy Mother's Day to all from PlanterTomato.com

Seeds From A Candy Machine: Making Urban Environments More Green

Every now and then you see a gardening idea that makes you smile.  Here's one that caught my attention.

It's an effort to make our urban environments a little more green. 

The basic idea is to sell seeds to urban dwellers so that they can easily grow flowers and grasses in open city lots, or even in cracks in the sidewalk.  The novelty of the idea is to use old candy machines to distribute the seeds which cost just $.25. 

You put a quarter into the candy machine and turn the crank.  However, instead of getting a gumball, you get a  "seed bomb."  This is a mixture of clay, compost and seeds.  The purchaser then tosses the seed bomb into any open lot.  When it rains, the ball disintegrates and creates a mini environment in which the seeds can sprout.

I'm not sure how practical or successful this will be, but it is novel and kind of clever.  Good luck to GreenAid, the company creating the machines and seed bombs.

Nominate Planter Tomato For A Garden Blog Award

One more thing.... If you like the PlanterTomato Blog posts you've been reading, please consider nominating me for a Mouse & Trowel Award in one or several categories like Best New Blog, or Best Written, etc.  The only thing is you must do this today as the entry must be made by 4/30/2010.  Click here to nominate me.

Great Mother's Day Gifts for under $30

If you are looking for some to buy your favorite gardener a gift for Mother's Day, here's a selection of great gifts to consider.  Most are under $30 but are luxurious enough to be classified as affordable indulgences.

• Floral Fragrances From Caswell-Massey - One of the oldest apothecary shops in the US, Caswell-Masey has been selling fine personal care items since the 1750's. The company's scents tend to have a very old fashioned character.  Their simplicity is rather refreshing.  You can find rose, lily of the valley, gardenia and other floral scents for $30.  Alternatively, you might consider giving your favorite gardener a set of 3 bars of Almond Cold Cream Hand Soaps for $18.

• A Gardening Class - A wide spectrum of organizations offer local gardening classes on topics such as: how to start a vegetable garden, edible landscape gardening, growing roses, container gardening, etc. I like the idea of giving a class as a gift because your giving mom time alone to enjoy an experience.  In the San Francisco Bay Area, most of the courses I found were $15-$30 range.  For example, Common Ground in Palo Alto and Garden For the Environment in San Francisco, both offer a full range of very affordable classes. To find gardening classes in your area, just do an internet search for "Gardening Class" plus the name of your location.  You should turn up a variety of options.

• Felco Pruning Shears -a precision made pruner from Switzerland.  The blade is as sharp as a scalpel and the handles are very comfortable.  If you should wear through the blades, they are replaceable.  About $40 at Amazon.com.

• English Gardening Tools - Burgon & Ball has been manufacturing high quality tools in Sheffield, England since 1730.  They manufacture a full line of gardening tools including many hand tools such as trowels, scoops, hand forks and widgers.  Most of the small hand tools can be purchased for about $15.  If you are in Palo Alto, California, Common Ground (559 College Ave) sells them at their retail store.  If you are outside the area, you can purchase tools via Arbor and Vine's online site.

• French Herb Window Garden - A gift set that contains 3 attractive blue glazed ceramic planters and seeds for three classic French cooking herbs: Marjoram, Lemon Basil and Parsley for the gardening cook.  $25 from Windowbox.com.

• Gardening Books - There are so many wonderful books out there, but I'll just suggest two.  Smith & Hawkens 100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden is pure eye candy for veggie gardeners.  Each of the 100 tomatoes is described in detail (taste, yield, shape, etc.) and accompanied by a beautiful 1 page photo.  I really like the photos in this because they show tomatoes as they appear in nature with blemishes and all, so you know what your harvest will really look like.  The book is available from Amazon for $13.  You might also want to look at Grocery Gardening: Planting, Preparing and Preserving Fresh Food, a book that provides advice and information that covers a wide variety of topics and takes your from garden to table, including growing information and recipes.  It also provides advice on how to choose the freshest vegetables if you are buying them at a store or farmers market.  Available at Amazon for about $13.

• An Elegant Floral Tea Cup - This is a something to make mom's daily cup of tea something to really savor.  A beautiful bone china tea cup with a pattern showing old country roses or other floral patterns from Royal Doulton. The "Royal" in the name comes from the fact that the company holds what's known as a "Royal Warrant," meaning that they are preferred suppliers to members of the English royal family.  The warrant is a mark of quality and distinction.  Available for $29 from Royal Doulton.
  

• Tilley Hat - The only hat with a cult following, the original Tilley was designed for adventure travelers who needed a hat that was durable, comfortable, and, if needed, could be washed and dried quickly.  I've had a Tilley hat for years and love it.  The company now offers a much wider line of hats and also clothes for travelers.  If you buy a Tilley hat for gardening, get one with a wide brim to provide sun protection.  You buy Tilley hats directly from the company at Tilley.com.  A hat will set you back $60-$70.

Celebrating Earth Day With Kids

Learn about a great way to use music to teach children about the environment and conservation.

This is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, a holiday meant to inspire awareness of our natural environment.

As a special treat, I was one of the parents that accompanied my daughter and her 1st grade class to a concert given by the Banana Slug String Band.

The Band isn't just a group of musicians, they are environmental educators who teach using music to engage their young audience. 

In concert, the Band gets the kids up and moving, dancing the crab dance, or explaining the water cycle using hand gestures to depict various phases of the water cycle.  Banana Slug String Band really puts on a great show and the kids loved it.  Here's a short clip to give you a sample of their music: 

BananaSlugStringBandClip

The band has been doing their brand of environmental education for over 20 years. 

If you have a child or grandchild within whom you would like to foster an appreciation for our wonderful planet, have a look at the Band's web site.  You'll learn more about them and their concert tours.  You can also purchase CD's of their music, T-Shirts and other merchandise to help support the group and their efforts. 

Learning about the environment with my daughter on Earth Day.  The best Earth Day ever.