How To Use This Blog

We have set up this blog as a way to share with the community what we are up to and so members can see what needs to be done in the garden week to week.

How to use this blog:
We will post the to-do's and you simply write in the comments what you will be taking care of so we know it's getting done.
  • After you have entered your comment, simply hit the arrow next to profile, select anonymous and make sure you write your name in the comments section so we know who you are!
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Sunday, March 31, 2013

Saturday March 30th, 2013

We accomplished a lot of spring planting today: Tom Pease and Skip Zelenka sowed a bed of corn, and this season Tom will learn all the ins and outs of corn culture. We added compost and a balanced organic fertilizer, planted the seeds in mathematical blocks, watered them in and covered them with a crop cover to keep the birds from eating the seeds. More corn instruction as the season proceeds....
Skip worked on our compost: he cut up some of the dead leaves, put them into our barrel composter, watered them nicely and gave them a few turns. We will have ripe compost in about 3 months. By the way, I have harvested about a cup of worm tea from our farm. I'm saving it for use in the garden later in the season. Corn is a very heavy feeder, and needs a couple of hits of nitrogen during the growing and fruit forming periods.


Jean Rosenblatt and Ellen Lutwak were also on hand. We planted tomato, jalapeno, beet, melon, cucumber, celery, lettuce and bean seeds. All of these have until April 20th to germinate; if they don't then we will put in young plants. My theory is that vegetables planted as seed in the spot they're going to grown on in will do better: we shall see.

On Wednesday April 2d I'm going to continue on with my pest fighting battles. I am going to plant garlic around the bed borders and plant the mint hyssop I've been growing at home from seeds harvested in the garden last fall. See you in the garden!

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Saturday March 30th, 2013

This coming Saturday I will be in the garden at around 10:30. I have some celery that I planted as seed that we will transplant into the beds, and I thought we could experiment with a few seeds in the new beds. We also need to check up on the herb and spice seeds that I planted on Wednesday with the wonderful help of Shampa and Ayanami Taylor. Ayanami also placed our donated decollate snails (from Orcon) in the beds. They will carry on my never ending battles against the brown snails. Please calendar April 20th, which will be a very big day in the garden. More on that to come...

The cub scouts of Troop 100 were in the garden on Sunday, March 24th. They did a fantastic job of clearing the beds of the winter crops, which they took home. I was so pleased to overhear their excitement over beets and carrots! They also were a big help with spreading out some compost, and chopping up the old stems for our compost heap. The parents were also wonderful, and they have promised to return. I will have some photos to post shortly!

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Sunday, March 24th in the Garden

Please join us this coming Sunday, March 24 2-4 P.M. as cub scout Troop 100 "takes down" the winter garden. We'll be preparing the beds for spring planting, dumping out ripe compost into the beds, and learning about miccorhyza.

I have been germinating spring/summer crops at home, including tomatoes, celery, peppers, eggplant and herbs. On Saturday, April 20th, in partnership with Beverly Hills Whole Foods, we will sow our hill with all kinds of squash and pumpkins! See you there. Barb L.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

The Most Amazing Sight

I had a great trip up to San Jose to accept the Parks and Recreation Society's Community Champion Award. My husband and I had a lovely meal with B.H. Director Steve Zoet, and we had a private tour of the fabulous Filoli Estate. I recommend a visit the next time you're up that way.

We went to the Monterey Aquarium, and I wanted to show you the most amazing animals: they are seaweed horses. Sea horses are the only known species where the male gets pregnant and gives birth to live offspring.


O.K. back to the mundane.  This Saturday, March 16th, I will be in the garden a little before 10:30. We've had a bit of a challenge with something munching on the lettuce and broccoli, and if I have a little help I think I'm going to try covering with a crop cover. Also, I will show you how to construct a bean teepee, and we'll plant some bean seeds
I've had reports that the gates have been closed a few times; I will open them when I arrive. 

Don't forget Sunday March 20th, 2 p.m., Troop 100 will be hard at work. Please come help! 

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Saturday in the Garden: March 9, 2013

I think a bunny has been eating some of the lettuce in our garden, so I have positioned the alarms to point at that bed. Last weekend we planted new radish, lettuce and carrot seeds as an interim season crop. It looks as if some of our California Natives in the butterfly garden are getting ready to bloom!

If you go up tomorrow, you are welcome to take some lettuce, peas, carrots and beets: I will be in San Jose at the Parks and Recreation Conference, so won't be around to take produce to the Monday lunch program. Please turn the compost barrel. I don't think we need to water anything as it is drizzling a bit.

We will turn over the rest of the beds on Sunday, March 24th with Cub Scout Troop 100, 2 P.M. See you in the garden. Barb L.