Looking Ahead to November Gardening

I wanted to remind myself about this broccoli that I want to grow this year. Not that I've had any success with broccoli. Maybe better luck this year. I will probably try to put it in the ground in Nov. This one seems worth the trouble as it is both high-heat tolerant, and has a loose head that is sweet and tasty.

cool broccoli

Looking Ahead to November Gardening

I wanted to remind myself about this broccoli that I want to grow this year. Not that I've had any success with broccoli. Maybe better luck this year. I will probably try to put it in the ground in Nov. This one seems worth the trouble as it is both high-heat tolerant, and has a loose head that is sweet and tasty.

cool broccoli

October Gardening

I am now getting really anxious to get the front yard done. I think that the reasons speak for themselves: piles of dirt and roots - not so attractive; the thin film of dust on the front porch and front of the house is getting old; but also, I am just dying to get the veggie beds going.

This article by Barbara Damrosch (of four season gardening fame) in her weekly column is just what I need as I refocus on getting the lawn done, so that I can get the veggie beds done. I am shooting for laying sod next weekend.

What her article reminds us is that October is a great time in the veggie garden. This is especially true in Southern California, where we can happily grow veggies year round. Heck, we can even grow TOMATOES in winter. But best of all are the cool weather crops, lettuces, greens, peas (especially peas!) and other. I will be putting in garlic and shallots, but those are harvested till next summer.

October Gardening

I am now getting really anxious to get the front yard done. I think that the reasons speak for themselves: piles of dirt and roots - not so attractive; the thin film of dust on the front porch and front of the house is getting old; but also, I am just dying to get the veggie beds going.

This article by Barbara Damrosch (of four season gardening fame) in her weekly column is just what I need as I refocus on getting the lawn done, so that I can get the veggie beds done. I am shooting for laying sod next weekend.

What her article reminds us is that October is a great time in the veggie garden. This is especially true in Southern California, where we can happily grow veggies year round. Heck, we can even grow TOMATOES in winter. But best of all are the cool weather crops, lettuces, greens, peas (especially peas!) and other. I will be putting in garlic and shallots, but those are harvested till next summer.

She's the standard-bearer

Ms. Waters, as if you didn't already know, is the leading the charge on so many of the issues that I care about with regards to food. Simple food, local food, school-yard gardens, etc., etc.

The NYTimes has a nice little profile of her on her new book tour. I haven't read it or even read much about it, but it looks cool, and it is definitely on my list now!

Here is a nice litte excerpt from the article:

It was a simple and beautiful thing.

Then she got up, sliced some peaches into a bowl with perfect late-season strawberries and blueberries she said reminded her of times she spent as a child in Maine. Over it all, she poured a syrup made by cooking down sugar, water and golden raspberries.

It was a hot day, so we headed into the air-conditioning to drink lemon verbena and mint tisane. She was sweaty, splattered and, she told me, quite happy to have been surrounded by good food all day. Because that’s how change starts.

“This kind of little gathering in the backyard is what reinforces our dedication,” she said. “That we can do something simply and easily with an unlikely group of people and all be in the same place because of the food on the table is how it happens.”

Yeah, that's pretty much the way I want my garden to go.

Worst Case Scenario...

I have no intention of going off the cliff like this guy:

She's the standard-bearer

Ms. Waters, as if you didn't already know, is the leading the charge on so many of the issues that I care about with regards to food. Simple food, local food, school-yard gardens, etc., etc.

The NYTimes has a nice little profile of her on her new book tour. I haven't read it or even read much about it, but it looks cool, and it is definitely on my list now!

Here is a nice litte excerpt from the article:

It was a simple and beautiful thing.

Then she got up, sliced some peaches into a bowl with perfect late-season strawberries and blueberries she said reminded her of times she spent as a child in Maine. Over it all, she poured a syrup made by cooking down sugar, water and golden raspberries.

It was a hot day, so we headed into the air-conditioning to drink lemon verbena and mint tisane. She was sweaty, splattered and, she told me, quite happy to have been surrounded by good food all day. Because that’s how change starts.

“This kind of little gathering in the backyard is what reinforces our dedication,” she said. “That we can do something simply and easily with an unlikely group of people and all be in the same place because of the food on the table is how it happens.”

Yeah, that's pretty much the way I want my garden to go.

First Post

Hello, this is my nth attempt to start a blog about veggie gardening, but I am SURE that this is the winner. Anyway, I have had a couple of raised beds in my front yard shown in the picture to the left. Basically, this was the only place to put the garden that didn't take up the remainder of our backyard and that had enough sun. Turns out that front-yard veggie gardens are a great way to get to know your neighbors. Not long after I did this, a bit of a big deal was made by Fritz Haeg about the entire concept of reclaiming our front yards for something other than lawns.
So, long story short, we decided to re-install our irrigation system and during the lawn removal and planning, we decided to add a second set of veggie beds. I am really excited as this will allow me to grow just about everything that I have ever wanted to grow. I will get into this later. What is funny is that just about everyone that knows us assumes that we did this with the intent of adding more "farm" to the front, but it really just started out as an attempt to fix the watering situation, which had finally devolved in May into a series of 20 foot geysers in the front yard.

This is a relatively recent picture of the disaster that my front yard was for most of the summer.



Shortly I will post pictures that show the progress that we have made, resulting in the short term in an even more disastrous looking front yard. Stay tuned!

Better comparable Picture

This is a better view of the dirt.

First Post

Hello, this is my nth attempt to start a blog about veggie gardening, but I am SURE that this is the winner. Anyway, I have had a couple of raised beds in my front yard shown in the picture to the left. Basically, this was the only place to put the garden that didn't take up the remainder of our backyard and that had enough sun. Turns out that front-yard veggie gardens are a great way to get to know your neighbors. Not long after I did this, a bit of a big deal was made by Fritz Haeg about the entire concept of reclaiming our front yards for something other than lawns.
So, long story short, we decided to re-install our irrigation system and during the lawn removal and planning, we decided to add a second set of veggie beds. I am really excited as this will allow me to grow just about everything that I have ever wanted to grow. I will get into this later. What is funny is that just about everyone that knows us assumes that we did this with the intent of adding more "farm" to the front, but it really just started out as an attempt to fix the watering situation, which had finally devolved in May into a series of 20 foot geysers in the front yard.

This is a relatively recent picture of the disaster that my front yard was for most of the summer.



Shortly I will post pictures that show the progress that we have made, resulting in the short term in an even more disastrous looking front yard. Stay tuned!