No one likes to hear excuses so I won’t go there. Instead I’ll try to distract you with my VegNews:City Pickers feature.
VegNews is the way to my heart. They advocate for animal rights and promote cruelty-free living. I rescue dogs on a regular basis and I am a steadfast defender of shelter animals. So, when I was approached to be a part of this uber cool and significant magazine I cried.
This is for my four-legged friends. You have a friend in me till the end.
Fall is on and that means I’m back at LBCC. I have a full schedule; from Principles of Pruning to Magazine Writing to Floral Design. I’ll have plenty to share with you.
Since I am not busy enough, Fern Richardson of Life on the Balcony and I have formed Beetnik Media – a social media marketing firm focused on cultivating social connections for garden and eco-living businesses. We know how to build a solid brand and we don’t just live online. This is What We Do; don’t miss it!
We will be hosting a tweetup during our stint at the Garden Writers Association symposium in Dallas, TX. If you’re in town Friday, Sept. 10, join us! Visit Beetnik Media’s Facebook page for more details on the shindig and if you’re on Twitter give BeetnikMedia a follow.
Oh yeah, Fern and I will be guests on Good Morning Texason Monday, Sept. 13! Tune in or set your TiVo. Think of us as a little bit gardening a little bit Wired.
Last week I proudly shared a picture of dual-colored squash on the Anarchy in the Garden Facebook page. I boasted, I planted a yellow squash next to a green squash and… Well, it turns out I wasn’t cross pollinating Cucurbits but instead my zucchini plant had developed Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV).
How you get ZYMV: Aphids and by mechanical means such as equipment and pickers’ hands and clothing.
Symptoms of ZYMV: Prominent yellow and green mosaic, necrosis, and a distortion called “shoestring” are on zucchini leaves. Early infection may result in no fruit set. Later fruit are severely distorted, small and green, and have yellow outgrowths. More info at OSU Extension.
Severely distorted and small does not describe this hunk o’ zucc. I couldn’t find any toxicity information so I made calabacitas, using garden vegetables on hand, and ate it!
Heat a nonstick pan. Add a healthy dose of extra virgin olive oil. Toss veggies in, add a pinch of sea salt and coarse black peeper. Cover and saute for 15-20 minutes. Stir occasionally to brown all sides.
Y voila! Warm up tortillas and make tacos de calabacitas.
If I’m really hungry I dice a Tofurky sausage and saute with the veggie mixture. I ain’t afraid of no ZYMV!
You know you’re Mexican when you’re not only monocropping pepper plants in your modest home garden but in your community garden plot as well. Count ’em, 24 plants!
Since when did tomatoes become the darling of summer? Hogging all the glory. From TomatoMania to Tomatopalooza to Miss Hot Tomato. I kid you not. There’s even a dude that has dedicated his whole life to the tomato. I’m looking at you Steve Goto! And I bow down to you.
I’m sticking up for summer’s illegitimate crop – the pepper.
Capsicum – is a warm season crop and is divided into two categories, Sweet Peppers and Hot Peppers. My people call hot peppers, chiles.
Peppers require 6 to 8 hours of full sun. Like tomatoes, pepper seeds should be sown 8 to 10 weeks before the average last frost. Don’t sweat it if you didn’t sow seeds. You can still get your pepper on! Visit your local independent nursery and purchase transplants.
Long Beachers, I recommend purchasing seedlings from my home away from home, H&H Nursery in Lakewood, CA. Owner Jeff Shibata is super nice as are his daughters Cindy and Janice. Assistant Manager Sandra Romero and fellow horticulturist Kim are dolls and very helpful.
Southern California, we’re just starting to feel the heat so get those transplants in the ground or in a container and when you do, space about a foot apart. Container depth for peppers should be 14-16 inches.
Because it wouldn’t be complete without a little punk rock. Have I mentioned my major crush on theRamones? I would marry all of them, even Republican Johnny Ramone.
Spring is in full fling! It feels like only yesterday, tomatoes and peppers were planted. Oh wait, I did just plant them, three – four weeks ago. In a desperate grab at reaping a summer harvest I sowed squash seeds at the Wrigley Village Community Garden. Tender seedlings were mysteriously weeded. Big fail, but it happens.
There’s still time to sow early maturing seeds like, Summer Squash – Straita de Italia (50 days) and Cucumber – Homemade Pickles (55 days) that will yield a bumper crop in no-time. For good measure, scatter seeds that take a little longer to mature like Winter Squash – Early Butternut and Delicata (70-80 days) and Edamame – Butterbean (85 day).
Below is a sampling of the seeds I am cramming into my Long Beach, CA garden (USDA Zone 10/Sunset Zone 24).
Sow where it’ll grow:
Bean Bush- Tavera
Bean Pole – French Duet, Trionfo Violetto
Corn – Sugar Pearl
Cucumber – Homemade Pickles, Armenian Burpless, Bush Slicer, Straight Eight
Edamame – Butterbean
Melon – Lil’ Loupe
Summer Squash – Straita de Italia, Yellow Crookneck, Scallop Sunny Delight, Peter Pan, Starship, Golden Scallopini Bush, Black Beauty
Watermelon – Icebox Rainbow Sherbert
Winter Squash – Early Butternut and Delicata
Some seeds are better off started indoors or in a hobby greenhouse and then transplanted into the garden. From Potty Pots to soil blocking there are various ways to start seeds.
Indoor sowing:
Chard – Scarlet Charlotte, Neon Glow
Cilantro – Slow Bolt
Dill – Bouquet
Lavender – White Ice
Leek – American Flag
Onion – Yellow Granex, Bianca Di Maggio, Flat of Italy
Gardening powerhouse and burgeoning author Jayme Jenkins of the forthcoming Garden Rules: The Snappy Synopsis for the Modern Gardener is sponsoring this week’s giveaway; a $25.00 gift certificate to bomb online store – aHa! Modern Living.
What type of tomatoes are you growing? Leave a comment and you’re entered in this week’s giveaway. Good luck!
*UPDATE*
According to Random.org #10, that’s you Millertime, wins a $25.00 gift certificate to super cool online gardening store aHa! Modern Living. Please email your deets to adriana0804@hotmail.com. Congratulations and thank you to Jayme Jenkins for hosting a fun giveaway!
Fall is on and that means I’m back at LBCC. I have a full schedule; from Principles of Pruning to Magazine Writing to Floral Design. I’ll have plenty to share with you.
