May 20, 2013

Here are some of the flowers in my edible garden. Though some are edible, they all recruit food soldiers (beneficial insects) in the pest wars. (Do you remember seeing the calendulas, Iceland poppies and violas in my winter garden this year?)

Read more about reasons to tuck flowers with the veggies in my previous post Insectaries, Flowers and Pollination. Follow the link at the end of the post for a list of plants that attract beneficial insects.

The bi-color sweet peas finished this week and I collected the seed. The larkspur, all relocated volunteers, edge several of the raised beds. The dainty white flowers are from cilantro.

The intensity of the blue-purple larkspur is enchanting. I’ve had bouquets upstairs and down this week and have given several away. (Larkspur is poisonous—definitely not edible).

The larkspur and radicchio towered to five feet in last year’s garden.

This is the radicchio in early December.

The lanky radicchio in May, sacrificed for a bouquet. (Better here than the compost bin).

On Sunday, the radicchio bouquet with added alstromeria and yarrow graced the table in the foyer at church. 

Now, what flowers for the summer garden? Zinnias and marigolds for sure. Maybe some wispy cosmos if there’s room. 

For a list of plants that attract beneficial insects, click the link.

Harvest Monday is hosted by Daphne’s Dandelions. It’s a time to share what you’re harvesting in your garden or how you’re storing or using it.

Join us on Saturday, June 1 for a training on citrus and avocados, which will cover topics such as variety selection, pruning, and invasive pests. Only $20, which includes lunch.

Photo credit: California Center for Urban Horticulture

May 17, 2013

For the sake of honesty, here is what my vegetable garden looks like now. An appropriate subtitle might be “The detritus of the late winter garden.”

Radicchio gone wild, johnny jump ups preparing to set seed and purple larkspur leaning into the scene.

The radicchio continued to grow and now is about five feet tall. It towers with the larkspur in a lyrical way until I find the time to plant the summer garden.

The ‘Red Winter’ kale is about three feet tall. I snap off the flower stalks and harvest the smaller leaves which are still tender and flavorful.

Carrots and beets thinning with the harvest. Soon I’ll pull the remainder.

The mesclun lettuce departed weeks ago, the calendulas are shaggy and the larkspur fill the gaps. 

The neat and tidy garden of January and February departed long ago. The compost bins will be stuffed full soon.

May 15, 2013

Why do we make things so complicated? Sometimes simple solutions are the best and in this case, cheap and environmentally friendly. Check the end of the post for other ways to use white vinegar in the home and garden.

So here’s my experience with some common weeds in my yard.

A newer weed to my yard. I saturated it with white vinegar.

Same weed about 24 hours later.

This is a particularly troublesome weed. It has a very long tap root, sometimes eight to ten inches long. Between the cobblestones here, if I tried to pull it, most of the root would stay behind.

Same weed a day later. Looks like a little life left in it so I sprayed it again. This weed also grows where the curbstone meets the street surface, an impossible place to weed.

Another common weed soon to develop seeds and perpetuate itself in my garden.

Not this time. Easy work for the vinegar because of the thin leaves.

White vinegar works well for solo or sidewalk weeds. As expected if you try to kill weeds in grass or embedded in a groundcover, the grass or groundcover will die. I’m experimenting on various weeds such as oxalis which produce bulbs in the soil and clover-like weeds with running roots.

Some gardeners put the undiluted white vinegar in a pump sprayer for easier and possibly more efficient dispersal. Just remember to rinse the sprayer well since it may corrode metal parts.

Vinegar is also my best friend (diluted about 1:10 with water) in the kitchen. It cleans my counters beautifully and disinfects my stainless steel sink and cutting boards. And did I mention I use it to clean my bathroom sinks? 

A Google search will produce many websites touting the uses for white vinegar. Here’s one to start with: 1001 Uses for White Distilled Vinegar. Photo credit: Apartment Therapy

May 14, 2013

May 13, 2013

The beets have exceeded my expectations this year. I grew only Renee’s Garden ‘Baby Ball’ beets, the variety I’ve grown for many years. I like their intense beet flavor. Though I love the hue of the golden beets, the flavor was disappointing and the ‘Chioggia’ rarely produced the distinct circular pattern advertised.

Next year I’ll try a few rows of the ‘Bull’s Blood’ beets. The rich red-purple   leaves would brighten a winter salad and be a lovely neighbor to ‘Baby  Ball’. Photo credit: Burpee Seeds

The artichokes don’t mind our foggy days. “About 75 percent of the nation’s artichokes grow within 15 miles of the tiny coastal town of Castroville, just a sand dune or two away from the Pacific Ocean.” (Castroville Newswire)

Last month, the artichoke was proclaimed the official California State Vegetable by Lt. Governor Gavon Newsom. You can celebrate at the Castroville Artichoke Festival May 18th-19th.

And then there are the blueberries, ripening daily.

I’ve caught Lucy bumping the plant to make blueberries fall to the ground so she can eat them. There are enough to share.

I add a dozen or so to cereal or granola each morning. Each one bursts with flavor.

Farewell to spinach, though chard pushes onward toward summer.

And this weekend I made a final round of Kale and Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes (101 Cookbooks)

Now I’m dreaming about summer tomatoes…

Harvest Monday is hosted by Daphne’s Dandelions. It’s a time to share what you’re harvesting in your garden or how you’re storing or using it.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY

Entomologist, Dennis vanEngelstorp of the University of Maryland, quoted in Wired Science

Photo credit: Jennifer C/Flickr

Margaret Atwood

May 10, 2013

Photo credit: Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times

May 9, 2013

If you read Monday’s post, you saw Sarah, my son’s girlfriend with bags of booty from my garden.

Here’s her culinary transformation of kale, roasted beets and carrots, calendula petals, violas with farro and almonds. Balsamic vinegarette dresses this sumptuous salad.

Sarah’s salad reminds me of how my Grandmother Bell cooked. She made wonderful meals from what was at hand. During the Depression that wasn’t much at times; but she seasoned it well and made it beautiful for her family.

We can all do that.