Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Tomato update

Update on the first tomatoes to form in my garden.I don't know exactly what they are because this plant started as a volunteer but I'm guessing Japanese Black Trifele because of the fruit morphology and leaves.
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My Sungold cherry tomatoes this week.
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I think this is the year of the Japanese Black Trifele in my garden. I started this plant from seed.
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Spied the first Momotaro. This is one of my favorite hybrid tomato plants. It does 'just okay' in our foggy summer clime but I try to grow it every year anyway.
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Friday, May 27, 2011

The Friday Mulch

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White hollyhock in my garden. It stands about 8 feet tall.

Stink bug invasions in the news. Seems they are threatening stone fruit crops, even worse toasters. Now that's worrisome. There is even a stink bug trap, sold for $50.

Here are five vegetables being grown to help end hunger.

A community garden starts a bee club to educate people about the importance of bees

For tomato growers: some ideas on mulching and drip irrigation

At My Little Garden in Japan, how to make lemon balm and mint tea

Life on the Balcony wonders whether balcony gardening is illegal

Curbstone Valley Farm's site has a wonderful new look. Here's the latest update on their garden.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Tomato update

Update on the first tomato, on a volunteer. I'm pretty sure it is a Japanese Black Trifele. Actually, there are two tomatoes now.
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Compare with the about a month ago.
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First cherry tomatoes, Sungold, developing.
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More tomatoes on another volunteer. It is Japanese Black Trifele-ish from the plant morphology. But we'll see.
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Friday, May 20, 2011

The Friday Mulch

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Radish gone to seed but oh so pretty in purple.

Spring garden experiments to do with your child. I was surprised to see a genuine scientific bent to these projects.

A guerilla community garden in Malibu gets dismantled but there's hope.

News of a community garden dedicated to the developmentally disabled.

Have you heard of the exploding melons in China?  Apparently, this involved fields and fields of melons. How dangerous are they? Personally, I think this could be a good project for the Mythbusters.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

A tisket a tasket

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Not a green and yellow basket but the first basket of boysenberries harvested today.

There's a dance I do with the ripening berries. The longer they ripen on the vine, the darker and sweeter they get. These are the tastiest berries, sweet and warm and without much tang. Very yum. But at this stage, the berries don't fare well at all with picking, falling apart as I handle them. Just means they don't get home to my family, and my fingers are smeared purply.

So for home, I pick berries not perfectly ripe but they make the journey in one piece, more or less.
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Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Tomato update

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The latest shot of the first tomato. Rain this week, which meant I spent very little time in the garden. Bet those slugs are celebrating. This tomato plant is a volunteer. I'm thinking it is a Japanese Black Trifele from the leaves and the shape of the fruit.
Eleven days ago, it looked like this.
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Friday, May 13, 2011

The Friday Mulch

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LA Times editorial on the trials and tribulations of the infamous South Central LA community garden which was dismantled a few years ago. Maddeningly, the lot has been left vacant for all these years.

A primer on how to start a community garden

The parents of a cancer victim in their quest to start a community garden in their daughter's name

A college student wins a $10,000 grant to start a community garden in Connecticutt

College and elementary students work to build community gardens

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Boysenberries: filling in the empty spaces

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I've noticed in the last month the boysenberry bush has filled in the empty spaces. I've got a mix of flowers and developing berries, which means the season will be a bit more prolonged than in previous years.
Here's what I mean by filling in, taken from about two months ago. Looks a bit bare.
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Another angle.
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Dwarfish

A semi-dwarf lime tree, a Bearss Seedless. What is with the ss?
Not only that, I don't quite understand what semi-dwarf means. Is it 'dwarfish' as opposed to being a a real dwarf? Whatever it is, I'll take it.
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Monday, May 9, 2011

Update: first tomato

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Because I'm so thrilled, here is another shot of the first tomato, probably a Japanese Black Trifele, on my volunteer tomato plant.

My last photo from four days ago.
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Friday, May 6, 2011

The Friday mulch

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An abandoned apple orchard is discovered, yielding heritage apple varieties. We need more discoveries like this.

A law student's goal is to convert vacant lots into community gardens. His community is very lucky to have him. Can we borrow him?

NYTimes on a community garden

Voice of America covers green spaces in New York.  This I didn't know: there are about 500 community gardens in the city of New York, under the Operation Green Thumb program, the largest community gardening program in the country.

Here's an idea: this city gives grants to groups in order to seed community gardens.

A great way to encourage self-help: this West Texas food bank opens a community garden, the plots free to anyone or any organization.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

First tomato

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Developing. This is on a volunteer. I'm starting to think it may be a Japanese black trifele by the leaves and the shape of the fruit. We'll see.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Garden volunteers

Icelandic poppies, courtesy of the wind. 016
The bees seem to be wild about them.
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Sunday, May 1, 2011

A bad romance

Having a heck of a time with slugs this year as noted in a comment over at Wild Suburbia.

Each morning, I get to my garden plot and spend the first few moments doing the dirty deed. I use a garden spade. I look under all pots, containers and as many rocks as I can find.

I think the slugs gravitate to my plot because of the many delicious and delicate things I have planted. The carrots have been decimated each time I've sown them.

I imagine the slugs singing "Bad Romance" while they chomp and chew through my garden at night. Here is my favorite version sung by the very talented University of Oregon a cappella group, On The Rocks.


So how do you deal with your garden pests?
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