For Uncle PP

My Little Jungle, a photo by zostra on Flickr.

My marvelous Uncle Peter, the one who helped with just about every little (and big) project inside my house when I bought it, doesn't believe that there's really all that much going on in my garden. Just wanted to let him know that there's plenty of good stuff. Like two massive zucchini plants, five summer squash, at least a dozen huge tomato plants, peppers, chard, beets, carrots, kale, strawberries, peas, bok choi, flowers, herbs...well, you get the idea. The only reason the raised box looks a little bare in this shot is because I just harvested a ton of carrots & beets to pickle. But more on that later. For now, I just wanted to take a minute away from tending the jungle to show it off. Love you, Uncle PP.

Bobbies

First Strawberries, a photo by zostra on Flickr.

When I was a little, little girl, my father had a strawberry patch. I *loved* strawberries. I would eat anything with strawberries in it or on it. I would crawl out, before I could even walk, into the strawberry patch and eat any strawberry I could get my little fingers on, even the green ones. I called them "bobbies" (once I could talk...I was eating strawberries long before I was verbal). There's a great picture on my wall of my father holding me out like a little airplane by the straps of my overalls. I'm covered in mud and strawberry juice, with a big grin on my face. Today I decided to forgo the mud, and only go for the ripe ones, but I'm just as ecstatic at 36 as I was at less than one to be eating bobbies from the backyard.

What I did on my vacation

Planted Garden 4, a photo by zostra on Flickr.

Two days of vacation time plus one weekend = a real garden. After carrying thousands of pounds of soil amendment, compost, and bark (not exaggerating, it was about 3600 pounds of stuff over the four days and one of those days we didn't carry anything), laying three paths and one patio-ish corner, fixing two raised beds, and planting bunches of stuff, it's official. I have a garden. Come June or so I'll have a small jungle of produce (fingers crossed that this prediction comes true). We planted 2 types of kale, 5 types of carrot, 4 types of beet, 2 types (but many plants) of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, 5 varieties of herbs, 2 types of strawberries, half a dozen types of flowers, and I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things. Zucchini and bunching onions are still in their pots for a few days. Peas will stay in their trellised pot. Here's hoping for a bumper crop and lots of yummy meals over the summer. Yes, you're invited.

It's getting there...

Raised beds waiting, a photo by zostra on Flickr.

Yet another Sunday of rototilling, digging, and weeding. We added hardware cloth to the bottom of two old raised beds that used to be on top of the cement, to keep the critters from eating things from below. There are tomatoes, peppers, and herbs waiting to be planted just as soon as we can get these beds set to go...

Center Bed Prepped

Rototill Day 2, a photo by zostra on Flickr.

Another Sunday in the garden. More weeding and rototilling. Two pick up beds full of soil amendment, unloaded by yours truly two five-gallon buckets at a time while Dad did yet more rototilling (but this was the easy kind). Planted the pak choi (yes, that's how it's spelled) and chard seedlings Dad had started in the greenhouse. Pruned the front apple. By the end of the day the "tan" washed down the shower drain but the sunburn did not. Fortunately it's only a small patch where the sunscreen and the clothing did not agree on who was going to cover what. Next Sunday...you guessed it...more rototilling! Anyone who wants a free upper-body workout is more than welcome to stop by.

Don't look now...

Rototilling Day 1, a photo by zostra on Flickr.

...it's starting to look like there might be a backyard in there after all. Spent the afternoon rototilling and weeding in the dirt patch out back. The soil looks better than expected after however-many years stuck under concrete. Still some serious clay to contend with, but that will happen. The stakes mark what will be a path, and the potted plants mark the other path. The old raised bed in the corner will eventually turn into a tiny patio.

Dad commented at one point that it might have been smarter to just rent a big rototiller instead of using his little one, but we managed. Well, Dad did most of the managing while I weeded. And weeded. And weeded. Got to use my favorite new tool, with the most unfortunate of names: the HoeDag. I'm in love with it. I just wish I didn't feel compelled to giggle like an idiot every time I say the name.

Gift Plants

Apple from Johann, a photo by zostra on Flickr.

Today was all about getting my gift plants in the soil. First Dad & I planted the apple tree Johann gave me. The variety is a secret. Johann (the genius behind Hidden Star Orchards) was willing to trade cupcakes for one of his trees, but he won't divulge what they are until his own trees are giving off enough fruit to bring to market, in about 2 years. Based on the sample we tried, we've nicknamed them crack apples. They are that good. The second round of gift plants were the succulent cuttings that I had brought back from Sarah's garden in San Diego, and they are now happily installed in the kitchen window. I haven't had a lot of luck with succulents in the past, but I have high hopes for these. The rest of the day was spent in the war on weeds that have attacked the front yard. It's going slowly, but some progress was made. Not that you can tell from the pictures.

First Apple Leaves

First Apple Leaves, a photo by zostra on Flickr.

Spring is here. The White Pearmain apple that I planted back on MLK weekend has green bits coming off of it! The salvia has blossoms on it, the foxglove I planted last year is coming up, and there are (so far) exactly twice as many plums on the tree as last year. That would be 4.

SF Garden Show

Hydroponics, a photo by zostra on Flickr.

My parents & I took our annual trip to the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show. Of all the garden exhibits, this was the most unique. More of an art installation, really. Other popular items included succulents and edibles. Not a whole lot of ideas to take home this year, but a few. Enough to keep me hoping for sunny weather and some time in the yard. I did buy some new dahlia tubers, which will go in the ground just as soon as it dries up enough to be called dirt instead of mud.

One Tree In

White Pearmain a photo by zostra on Flickr.

On Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend, Dad and I headed down to pick up our bare root apple trees from Trees of Antiquity. We spent the night in Carmel playing double solitaire, then took the "country" route out to pick up the trees from Nature's Touch nursery, which also houses a natural grocery with a lot of local products (food products and things like soap, lotions, etc.) in Templeton. My tree is a White Pearmain, which some date back to 1200 AD in England (first "official" record is 1867). Good for eating, baking, saucing, and more. In a few years, that is. Dad got a Cinnamon Spice, which is supposed to taste like apple pie and first found near Bolinas!

Narcissus for the New Year

Narcissus
Originally uploaded by zostra

On New Year's Eve I returned home from a quick trip to the grocery store to find a beautiful glass container filled with narcissus bulbs that were just getting set to bloom. My wonderful neighbor from up the street had left them for me as a holiday gift. They've all opened up over the last week, and the entire front of the house smells wonderful. I love how they bloom in compact pom-poms of blossoms, it's like a bouquet at the end of each stem.

Bloomin' Poppies

First Poppy
Originally uploaded by zostra

While I realize that plants are supposed to bloom, particularly flowers that are planted for expressly that purpose, I am enough of a novice gardener that I am still thrilled to see it happen in my little patch of dirt. I planted some poppies in a corner by the stairs that already has a few rosebushes, added some violas, and a few other little things. The violas were already in bloom and took to their new home quite happily, but I was a little worried there wouldn't be enough sun for the poppies. Apparently my fears were misplaced as my little corner now has several poppy blooms, with quite a few more buds ready to open. It makes me feel like at least I have a bit of a handle on this little corner of the yard. If the rain holds off enough next week for me to break out the rototiller, I might start to see some progress on the rest of it.

Burg Crush

November Rose
Originally uploaded by zostra

Last week I got to spend a few days in Minneapolis for a conference. I now have a serious crush on the Twin Cities. I got to visit with my friend Steve and see the very cool Science Museum of Minnesota where he works (not to mention his fabulous mid-fixing fixer-upper house). Ate at Spoonriver and Al's Breakfast. Discovered a previously unknown love of Jameson's at The Local. Browsed through piles of used books at Laurie Books and got to see the old furrier's vault with "the rest" of the books in the basement. Of course, then I came home to my rosebush in it's second massive bloom of the year, despite it being November. That's one thing they don't get in Minnesota...

Gift of Tomatoes

Gift of Tomatoes
Originally uploaded by zostra

This morning, as I went out the back door to go water the garden, I found these. My neighbor had reached over the fence and left them for me as a gift. As I was weeding the front yard, another neighbor stopped by to bring me a full container of tomatoes from his garden. Yesterday, my friend at work brought me apples to make applesauce for our group. The apples were from her friend's orchard.

From the Garden

Derves
Originally uploaded by zostra

Dad came over for dinner, and for our first course we had veggies from the garden. Not a lot of them, mind you. But still...

The Big Breakup

Bert with a sledge
Originally uploaded by zostra

Bert and I have been friends for 20 years, since our junior year in high school. He's been living up in Arcata for a long time, so we don't get many opportunities to hang out. Fortunately, he's really good about popping up out of the blue, even though he lives so far away. He did just that not too long ago, right before heading off on a sailing race from San Francisco to Hawaii. We caught up on the phone a few times after his race, and somewhere in there when he said he needed to keep busy I said "Well, if you're ever bored you can always come break up the concrete in my backyard." He said ok. Then he followed through. Today we broke up the entire 20' x 20' concrete slab in the back yard and hauled it into the dumpster waiting for it at the curb. No power tools. No jackhammer. Just a sledge, some big crowbars, and 2 wheelbarrows to haul the cement. Bert taught me how to use the sledge hammer, but he's much more effective and elegant with it. Notice in the picture he's not just swinging the sledge, he's standing on two big crowbars to hold up the slab and make it easier to break? Dad, of course, came and helped, because he is a saint. Seth came by for a bit at the end, and had a hand in getting the big pipe in the back corner of the yard out of the ground. But really, the credit goes to Bert. The man with the sledge.

Firsts

First Tomato
Originally uploaded by zostra

There's an almost ripe tomato in my garden. It's a sungold, so it won't ever get red. A few days and it will be ready to eat. I did pick and eat a handful of blackberries, and admired the first dahlia. The picture turned out fuzzy though. Perhaps I should rename this "Knitting Tomatoes"?

First (Only) Plum of the Year

First (Only) Plum of the Year
Originally uploaded by zostra

My little plum tree out back produced exactly two plums: one for me, one for the birds. Mine was a little misshapen, but pretty good. The label on the tree (it was in the backyard when I bought the house) says it's a grafted tree so I should eventually get another variety, and hopefully more than just one plum.

Garden View

Garden View
Originally uploaded by zostra

Much has happened on the house, including some new foliage in the garden. Many things are unpacked, touch up paint has been applied, furniture moved. We still have to do the final inspection, but it's getting close. I'm now keeping a close eye on my tomatoes, dahlias, peppers, beans, zucchini, and pumpkins. Yum!

My So-Called-Garden

My Dad and I hung window boxes outside my kitchen a few weeks ago, but I never posted the pictures. I thought I would now, since I don't have any new pictures as my camera is living with Amanda for a little while: