A Year of Gardening

To grow tomatoes or not grow tomatoes, that is the question   Last summer we had a late start on our tomatoes due to the renovations at the community garden. It was a little disappointing. By the time the tomatoes started to flower the weather was so hot, the fruit wasn't setting on the vine. By the end of this fall I'd decided that I wasn’t going to waste any space in my raised bed garden on tomatoes.  Last weekend I took out the last tomato plant, collected all the green Roma tomatoes and let them sit out on the table to see if any would ripen.  Today we were having tacos  We had purchased a beautiful blemish-free organic large roma tomato from the supermarket. I checked to see if there were any semi-ripe tomatoes from the garden that were on the table and there were three very small roma tomatoes. They weren't free from blemish. As I sliced them, the inside was a brighter red. When I sliced the tomato from the supermarket, it looked anemic next to my home grown to...

Week 1:  Bringing Joy Back to Gardening -- The need for organizing - Linda   Living in southern California we are fortunate to be able to plant year-round. This week we began preparing for a new area of the community garden called Pepper Lane. I had recently purchased some unique pepper seeds that I was planning to grow this year but couldn’t remember where I set the seed packets. With planning for Christmas family get together I'd moved things around and misplaced the package with the seeds in it. As I searched for the package of pepper seeds I realized I needed to do some organizing. With a busy schedule at work and home and searching for things each time I wanted to plant, the garden has become more of a chore. This year I need to do things differently. I wish Marie Komo could help me organize my garden supplies.   Seeds Today I will organize my seeds into three categories: Fall/early spring seeds, spring/summer seeds and seeds that can be planted year-round. I have se...

  A winter's harvest in the city garden It was mid-summer when my sister and I decided to join the local community garden. We live near the desert, in Zone 9 and friends, coworkers and fellow gardeners warned us: "Seeds won't grow now, it's too hot for them to germinate." We weren't sure either but we forged ahead. Planting was the easy part; the hard part was filling the raised beds with soil in the August heat. We sifted the soil that was provided through a homemade contraption made from gopher and boards. It must've come from a construction site; we tossed aside pieces of concrete and asphalt as we filled a wheelbarrow dozens of times, filling two raised beds. We amended the soil before planting the seeds. We watered the plots by hand, and seedlings began to grow: kale, swiss chard, basil, parsley and tomatoes.  It seemed like it would take forever for the veggies to be ready -- plants definitely follow their own schedule -- but we had so much fun we ac...

Nancy and I grew up in the city. My earliest memory of gardening was a summer vacation when we went to visit relatives and saw them harvest vegetables from their country garden. An aunt pulling a beautiful carrot out of the ground. The colors of the vegetables seemed more vibrant; the flavors more robust.   When I was about 5 our parents decided to have us grow a few vegetables in the dirt along the driveway. We were each assigned a small plot to seed and water. The packet I was given to plant was for patty pan/scalloped squash. I remember reaching across the patch of dirt and planting the seeds, and a few days later watching in wonder as the seedlings started breaking through the soil.    We recently visited our childhood home we grew up in, and I looked at the patch where I planted the scalloped squash. I was surprised at how narrow the dirt was and I am amazed at what we were able to grow in the soil that was only about 18” wide and ran the length between the concrete ...