Tales From An Optimistic Gardener

Great Tips from Great Readers

2011-04-07T15:43:00.000-07:00

Back again and still Optomistic

2011-01-07T16:50:00.000-08:00

I've been away from this blog for as long while so Google closed it down and I now have it back online once again. This past summer I had loads of tomatoes from the previous years' plants but I have not been happy with them. I wish I know which tomatoes are best for growing in the San Fernando Valley. My soil is really bad and I have to continually add compost and whatever to it. We have little or no rain in the summer and it garden has to be hand watered. I try to keep it as organic as possible and encourage birds to come and eat the bugs and other critters. Back to the tomatoes--I have not liked the way any of them tasted--either too sour or too thick skinned. All very disappointing. I have not tried growing any in the greenhouse this winter. Maybe I will next year if I can decide on a good variety. I would be very happy if I could get a good crop of tomatoes and cucumbers. I hope to start them in March or maybe earlier in the Green house.

Right now it is early January and my garlic is coming up nicely and I hope it does not get too cold for them I have quite a few beds of garlic growing-- hard neck and soft neck, early, middle and last season so I hope that they will last through the summer. I need to find out when is the best time to fertilize them. We are having unusually cold and wet weather here so I don't know how this affects garlic plants. I did notice that some of the leaves are getting a bit yellow so that is bothering me.

My Onions are Bolting

2010-05-31T16:40:00.000-07:00

Do I Harvest Onions Now When Some Are Bolting?

My onions are not falling over yet so they are not actually ready to be harvested, except if I want some giant scallions, which is what the look like now. Giant white and giant red scallions. But they are beginning to flower which is not a good sign. I suspect that this is the result of the strange mix of hot and cold weather that has been confusing all of here here in the San Fernando Valley. It has been suggested that a different variety of onions perhaps should be planted. I wouldn't have the faintest idea which varieties would be better or if any other would perform better with these weather fluctations.

Maybe the flowers will provide me with more seeds for this next year. I hear that some varieties actually have flowers that have little bulbs. That would be fun to see.

Winter Gardening

2009-12-13T11:29:00.000-08:00

Too Cold to Save the Cucumbers

Cucumbers, tomatoes and all the rest were doing well and in this climate should have survived to give us a nice crop. Unfortunately, weather patterns have been changing and not necessarily for the better. It's either too hot, too cold, too dry or too wet. Something is wrong here. Don't you think?
Well, anyway we had a couple of nights of cold and frost here killing off the cucumbers and tomato plants. Strawberries, lettuce, cabbage, onions and garlic seem to be okay but the lost cucumbers really hurt. The ones we had this summer were so very delicious and we were hoping to get more. Those cucumbers brought back memories of days when fresh vegetables abounded and were bursting with taste. We don't find those veggies anymore. Wish we could remember which seed packet gave us those special cucs. Now we start new plants, this time in the greenhouse.

Fall Planting--Onions and Garlic

2009-09-21T17:20:00.000-07:00

It still feels like summer here in Southern California with its hot and dry weather but it is still time to plant stuff for the fall. Today we are planting garlic and onions in some brand new raised beds that Nick must made over the weekend. It doesn't really get cold in this climate but we hope that it will be chilly enough over the winter for the garlic and onions to make a good showing. We also put in a bunch of new tomato plants and hope that they will produce through the fall and perhaps over the winter. While the greenhouse is quite big there is never enough room for all the plants that we have. The banana plants take up so much of the space that we are considering keeping some of them outdoors for the winter months.

Green and Growing

2009-08-21T18:03:00.000-07:00

The garden is coming along nice in spite of being started so late in the season. Of course, in this climate we can grow all year long and some of the more delicate plants can be wintered in the greenhouse. Corn is pretty high now--as tall or taller than I am but the flowers haven't shown themselves yet. I do hope we will get a good crop as corn is very popular in our household. But we really don't know the first thing about growing sweet corn.

My Tumbling Tom tomatoes, both in the greenhouse and outdoors had blossom end rot last week and I sprayed them with blossom rot spray (calcium) and they are doing fine this week. None of the other kinds of tomatoes displayed the problem. I wonder why?

I just ate one of the first tomatoes (didn't notice which variety) and it tasted quite good but was very watery. This seems to be a character of tomatoes grown in this area. California tomatoes just are not as good as tomatoes grown on the East Coast.

Load of load of squash naturally!! This is a hardy species and if nothing else will grown I know that we can count on the squash and zucchini to make a dramatic appearance. Anyone have some good recipes? Anyone? Can I send you some squash in the mail?

Tomatoes in my garden- To Prune or Not to Prune

2009-08-10T17:23:00.001-07:00

I was very happy to find the above video on YouTube as I was very concerned about how to go about pruning my tomato plants. I have no idea which plant is determinate and which are indeterminate, designations which determine pruning or not.

I am starting to get a bunch of green tomatoes and loads of yellow flowers. I have been pollinating the flowers with an electric toothbrush to help shake the pollen lose and get the ball rolling. Let's see if this action results in loads of delicious fruits.

Heads Up

2009-08-04T19:10:00.000-07:00

It pays to be optomistic. We have veggies. Take a look at the beauiful lettuce in the raise bed in the picture above. I can't take all the credit. Nick has been working hard and has made the garden work. We have lovely squash and cucumbers. The garden was planted late this year but we can grow al year round in this warm climate so I hope it won't make any difference.

There are lots of tomato plants but few tomatoes. One lone bee wanders through the tomatoes.

Today I used an electric tooth brush to help polinate the tomatoes. Hope it works. Tomatoes need bumble bees to polinate the flowers and the toot brush pretends to be a bumble bee. Hope we were able to fool them.

Still Optomistic

2009-07-15T19:02:00.000-07:00

Started the veggie garden late this year. Should have begun weeks before considering the warm climate and the greenhouse. Everything is either in containers or raised bed, which are a form of container. We had a gopher expert trap the gophers and he claims that we have seen the last of the little criters. I certanly hope so.

Started some tomatoes and squash from seed in the greenhouse and they grew quite quickly. The one in the picture above seems to double in size overnight. It's amazing how big the plant has gotten so fast. I don't even know what kind of squash it is. Hope it is a good one. This year I need to pick them when they are small. Last time I had so many and they took up half of the garden and I couldn't even find them until they were huge.

Tomatoes are a problem here in the Southland. We never get good ones here but we still try. Most of out tomatoes in the markets are from Mexico. I have lots of flowers on my tomatoe plants but few tomatoes. I ordered a tomato and vegetable blossom set spray from Burpees's and am looking forward to trying it.

This year I will attempt to grow veggies in the greenhouse. When do I plant seeds for wintering? I would to have tomatoes all year.

What Can We Do About the Moles

2009-07-03T19:04:00.000-07:00

See the picture above? I didn't what you to think that I was making up a wild story about hundreds of moles and thousands of mole holes. See them for yourself. There is about half acre of these holes making it difficult to walk without turning an ankle. They ate all my vegetables in my garden last year. Veggies just disappeared like magic. The little beasts just pulled them down into their tunnels--entire beds of onions, radishes and all my root vegetables.

Until I can the entire propery dug up and have chicken wire put down and fresh top soil trucked in I have to grow what I can in containers.

Tales From An Optimistic Gardener: Murder of the Seedlings

2009-07-02T17:22:00.000-07:00

Tales From An Optimistic Gardener: Murder of the Seedlings

Callfornia Tomatoes

2009-07-02T16:50:00.000-07:00

California oranges--we all heard about those--yummy citrus fruits that look wonderful while stll on the trees dotting the green leaves and brown branches with their color. And those fabulous artichokes! Nothing like them. But what about tomatoes. No one boasts about California tomatoes. I don't know why. Californians don't know anything about the sweet tart taste of a juicy New Jersey tomato. Why can't we grow them here? I haven't found the secret. Still I soldier on with various tomato plants, manures, fertilizers, composts and all the rest. Still have to find a really good local tomato.

Landcaping a Dry Front Lawn

2009-07-01T19:30:00.000-07:00

Our front lawn needs help. Badly. Ancient pine trees provide shade most of the along with tons of pine n't and pine cones. Grass does not grow there and even it did it would consume too much water. We need good and interesting landscape plan using rocks, gravel and native plants. It also has to be not too expensive. Times are tough you know. Where to find a great plan. I need to find my old landscaping books if I still even have them. Haven't gotten too much help so far on the Internet.

My Tiny Red Rose

2009-06-30T17:45:00.000-07:00

So far this year I haven't done much with flower gardening. My African violets are doing nicely. Only 2 of my orchards are still living while the unliving still populate my very expensive orchard pots. I buy the best of everything for my orchards and they reward me drying up and dying. I don't know what I do wrong--probably everything. I spray. I water. I feed. I change potting mixtures.

For companions for my tomatoes I planted marigolds. Good old faithful marigolds. Decorative and useful.

My miniature rose that I got as a gift is outside in its container and is sporting a beautiful red rose the size of a half dollar. Another bud is getting ready to open. Hope it makes it. My once green thumb of which I was very proud is now a dusty brown. When I first got the rose plant it was full of buds and was lovely until it took one look at me and started to go downhill. Moving it out into the sun I hoped to revive it. So far, so good.

Now about my latest present--a gardenia plant. It was also full of buds when I got it for Mother's Day. One did open and bloom. Alas, just the one. Even back in the days when my thumb was magnificently green gardenia plants did not take to me. Maybe I can still coax this one along.

Temperature has gotten hot as it does in Southern California, but with this crazy weather these days one can never predict what will happen. I wish it would rain the way it does back East or the way I hear it does on the Northwest coast.

Banana Plants Driving Me Bananas

2009-06-22T15:12:00.000-07:00

Two summers ago I ordered one dwarft banana plant (Musa Canendish) from the Park Seed Company. It was rather pathetic looking after its journey but I planted it anyway not expecting it to live through the week. Surprisingly, it not only survived, but grew by leaps and bounds and produced a number of little seedlings. It never gave me any bananas but I now have 9 banana plants. I finally separated all the seedlings into its own pot. One just died but left 2 little seedlings behind in its pot.

Now I have absolutely no idea how to take care of these guys. They spent their first summer outdoors and grew very well. Last summer they remained behind in the greenhouse. Now they are back outdoors where they will remain until winter. Being that we are in Southern California they might like to live outdoor all year but they have yet to tell me their preference.

I would so like them to do their stuff and produce some bananas. Nine banana plants could bring in a bumper crop. I am looking forward to my first harvest.

African Violets -- Sure Winners

2009-06-19T14:39:00.000-07:00

Years ago I was very proud of the African violets that I grew. I thought it might be fun and rewarding to grow them once again. These are very easy and rewarding plants that need minimal care as long as you understand them and their needs.

In nature they grow on the floor of the forests under the shade of the canopy. So we know to keep them out of the hot boiling sun. and in dappled sunlight or in a partially shaded window. Most people water them from the bottom as water droplets on a delicate leaf will act as a magnifying glass and will cause an ugly burn. Howerver they do need to be watered from the top every now and then in order to leach out any salts and chemicals. Every week or so they enjoy a bit of special African violet fertilizer. You can even give them a dop or two of fertilizer with each watering if you wish. Just check the amount of fertilizer suggested on the bottle. It is always better to give less fertilizer but more ofter. See how your plants respond to their feeding and listen to them.

Just today I learned something new on AVInternaltinal (Yahoo Groups). It is a good idea to remove the old leaves from the bottom of the plant. Carefully bend the leaves to the side while gently pulling the old leaf. It will break off cleanly from the crown leaving no stub. This is supposed to promote new growth. You can remove up to 3 leaves a month from the bottom row. I am going to try this, so wish me an my plants luck.

I also learned that the old leaves have already produced blooms and will not do so again so we need new growth in order to have more flowers.

I'll post again with some tricks that I have use to train African violets to grow in perfect rosettes.

We Are Not the Spice Islands

2009-06-10T17:23:00.000-07:00

In my garden there are some not very attractive pepper trees that are quite messy, dropping their berries and twigs all over the place. They have to be cut down and trimmed regularly or they get all very sloppy looking.

Today I made the discovery that the berries are really pepper corns. (What can you expect from a gal from the East Coast? No pepper trees in New York.) I had been wondering why they were called pepper trees.

Guess now I'm gonna harvest the "berries", let them dry and dump them into my pepper grinder.

And I always thought that pepper came from various Pacific Islands.

Clouds, More Clouds and Still a Drought

2009-06-07T18:22:00.001-07:00

Does anyone understand the strange weather we have here in Southern California? It's been 5 years since we had a good rainfall and now we are sadly on the brink of running out of water. Our reserves are way down and beginning to enter the red danger zone. Overhead the sky is heavy with fluffy white clouds and black storm clouds. Sometimes at night there is a tiny sprinkle but any H2O evaporates as soon at it hits the ground. TV weathermen "warn" us about the impending thunder storm but have yet to see a true example. I would delight in a summer thunder storm like the ones we have back on the East Coast. You know --the ones that leave that wonderful clean smell in the air when it is all over.
My garden and my thirsty plants would appreciate it as well.

Murder of the Seedlings

2009-05-29T10:19:00.000-07:00

I finally moved my tiny tomato and pepper seedlings into peat pots to wait for them to grow big and strong until I plant them outside into beds and containers. Some of the pots had 2 or 3 seedlings and I know that I need to have only 1 plant per pot. One is supposed to take a tiny cuticle scissors and snip off the weakest seeding in the pot leaving only the healthiest to survive. This is a task I hate doing. With each snip of my cruel weapon I feel as if I am killing a living thing. I am a murderess. I hope the survivors appreciate this and reward me with bushels of delicious tomatoes

Plague of the Grasshoppers

2009-05-26T16:06:00.000-07:00

Once again I will try to grow some veggies and perhaps some posies before the flying hopping critters get to them. Previously I grew a fantastic crop of green lace. I had spent the winter in the greenhouse starting an entire vegetable farm from seed. My results were close to miraculous considering that due to apartment dwelling I hadn't touched a seed catalog for decades. All my seedlings were set out in their peat pots to grow happily in the garden. My little green wards grew and thrived until the enemy divisions arrived. They came in full force with horrific appetites.

My gorgeous artichokes were so laden with ants that they were not eatable. Neither boiling water, nor heavy shaking could rid these beautiful vegetables of the little black critters. I had to let the plants go to seed. They were only good for decorating the garden.

Then came hordes of grasshoppers. They ate everything in sight. Not a leaf was untouched. Everything became green lace. And there was no way to get rid of the creatures. I put out a birdbath trying to seduce our feathered friends to come to the rescue. No luck. I wished for a flock of seagulls but they didn't want to come 12 miles inland.

Plants roots were delicately nibbled by thousands of grubs that had found their way under the beds. And you know what came next---swarms of gofers. They do love those grubs. Now the garden is like a mine field --- but with ankle breaking holes instead of exploding devices.

I took the next summer off to recover. In the meantime weeds in the garden have grown taller than I am. Now I am getting back into the battle-- but am growing mostly in raised beds and pots--can't face that garden yet.

Moles, Bugs, Grubs, Ants and Drought

2009-05-26T11:17:00.000-07:00

The grasshoppers along with their friends and relatives ate most of my crops. But still I persevere. What does one have to do to get an eatable tomato? Not merely an eatable fruit but one that is large, firm and juicy and with a flavor so succulent that it will bring back memories of summers long gone. What is it about summer that calls for superb tomatoes? Wonderful flavorfull ones to pluck and devour right off the vine while the sweet tart juice runs down your chin and onto your shirt.