Category archive: In the Garden

Blueberries!

This year has brought some new projects to my garden.  Among those are a compost tea brewer and blueberries!  I wasn’t sure I wanted to battle the birds and raccoons for my share of berries, but I  survived last year with the new raspberries, so why not give it a try!  I spend a fortune

Starting Seeds

Happy Sunday! We fired up the grow lights today, and started these goodies:

Calabrese Broccoli This variety has proven to be my favorite.  It grows very well here, and sends off tons of side shoots once the main stalk is harvested.  It keeps on giving! Golden Acre Cabbage Curly Parsley The Italian flat variety has

Getting Ready for Spring!

Welcome to another year in the garden!  The 2013 growing season is fast approaching with high expectations for a great year in the garden. I’ve been a busy little bee, getting ready.

INDOORS: This week, I started my Vidalia Onion seeds, and some Lacinto Kale. My storage room got cleaned out, making a nice work

Soil Testing

Welcome to the 2012 growing season!

Tomatoes and peppers are sprouting their first true leaves inside, under the grow lights.  The weather is warming up, and hardy vegetables like broccoli and cabbage have already been transplanted outside.  Before the beds get more crowded with this year’s plantings, there’s no time like the present to do some

Recent Harvests

Shame on me. I haven’t been sharing photos of my recent harvests, so here they are!

Carolina Coleslaw

Hmm… cabbage is ready to harvest. What to make? I know… coleslaw! I love North Carolina Coleslaw, preferring the tangy kind over the creamy kind. Inspired by a recent trip to the Carolinas, I looked up this recipe on www.bonappetit.com. Out to the garden I went, to gather the cabbage, along with some fresh carrots

Winter is Finally Over (I Think…)

Ah, my first year gardening in a four season climate, and old man winter just didn’t want to go away. Believe it or not, we had a bit of snow on May 30th!  Welcome to California.

As you can see from the photo above, my cold weather crops are growing beautifully. Things like broccoli, cabbage,

Sowing Seeds

The weather is still gorgeous, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed, and trying to get a head start on my crops. Local gardeners “in the know” say that it’s not safe to plant tomatoes and other warm weather plants until Memorial Day, and some even say Father’s Day. No worries. It’s just a few pennies

Recap: My Garden So Far

The weather is so gorgeous, it’s tempting to put the tomatoes outside. But the forecast is calling for a cold spell this weekend, so I’ve been keeping myself busy with many other garden tasks. Let’s recap the entire garden, shall we?

I now have four raised beds, as shown in the photo. The newest, Northwest

2011 Garden Plan

Hello Gardeners!

Here’s my most updated garden plan. I have four 4′ x 4′ boxes. (Well, I have three and the fourth one is on order.) The other circles you see are pots around the yard. I will be planting some of these large pots with things like zucchini and pumpkin, that would otherwise take

Trying to be Green, but Feeling Blue

I just realized a stupid mistake I made while building my garden.

My intention was (and is)  to build a healthy and fully organic garden.  I purchased organic soil (Mel’s Mix.) No chemical pesticides or fertilizers allowed, ever.  And I refused all GMO seeds, using only organic and heirloom varieties, most of which I purchased

Gearing up for Tomatoes

I ordered my Texas Tomato Cages today!  They are the biggest, baddest boys in all the land, so I won’t have any trouble supporting my tomatoes.  Check them out:  www.tomatocage.com

Tomato season is still two months away in my neighborhood, but did I mention I’m impatient about these things? It’s still early to be

Signs of Life

How exciting! A number of seeds planted directly in the garden are finally sprouting!

Back on March 8th, I planted peas and carrots, by sowing seeds directly outdoors. Both the Nantes Carrots and the Parisian Carrots made an appearance today, which I thought were a lost cause. I can’t wait to see those cute little

Sad Little Seedlings

My little plants survived the snow.  But honestly, they haven’t been growing vigorously at all, before or after the snow.  They moved outdoors on March 13th.  At that time, the seedlings weren’t looking very healthy, and I thought the outdoor sun might be a better place for them.  Transplanting didn’t go so well, and

Happy Spring!

Welcome to my garden blog at VisualSpring.net! My intention was to begin this blog on the first day of Spring. How appropriate for a site named “Visual Spring” right? Well, the weather had other plans. Spring arrived with a decidedly wintery snowstorm that knocked out all power. No blog posting for me! And no gardening,