by angela@diggingbliss | Jul 6, 2006 | Uncategorized
You might want to catch this PBS episode of Chefs A’ Field on Saturday… looks fun.
Chefs A’ Field: Culinary Adventures that Begin on the Farm:Chef Suzanne Goin—Lucques/A.O.C.: Los Angeles, Cal.
Saturday, July 8, 2:30pmKVIE HDTV – Comcast 906/Charter 786/DT 6.1
Los Angeles chef Suzanne Goin (Lucques) and farmer Phil McGrath harvest organic
strawberries, tomatoes, squash and beans. Recipes prepared include “New World”
pork and beans; and kobocha squash and radicchio salad.
If you’re not in greater Sacramento and need schedule times, or just want to learn more about the show, click here.
by angela@diggingbliss | Jul 6, 2006 | Uncategorized
Reason to celebrate the 5th of July
Watch the video
My baby boy still has all his digits. That’s him (and his best bud) holding giant sparkler thingies…
and that’s him playing the piano piece accompanying the video!
For dinner, we barbecued dry-rubbed skinless chicken thighs and home-grown yellow zucchini squash, the boys swam, and we were at least safe, if not sane. To add to the surreality of the evening, two thirteen-year-old boys fought over zucchini at the dinner table. I know… gives you chills, huh?
by angela@diggingbliss | Jul 3, 2006 | Uncategorized
having another birthday (in six days) isn’t such a bad thing. WOW!!! Super cool plants, basket, bow and tiny gold Buddha! Emily the cat concurs. Thanks, Weeder!
by angela@diggingbliss | Jul 2, 2006 | Uncategorized
I planted these lilies a couple years ago. This year, they came back with a vengeance and look like this without any effort or pampering. Seriously, I did nothing and I’ve got these gorgeous 5″-6″ blooms. They’re not even staked. Can’t say that about many flowers, especially those with such a big payback!
I have two other lily varieties coming into bloom. One is an heirloom from Old House Gardens. I will definitely be ordering more lilies.
Sadly, my dahlia experience hasn’t been quite so rewarding. Every shoot from my dahlia tubers has been devoured by snails and/or slugs. Hey, does that imply lilies are snail-resistant?
by angela@diggingbliss | Jul 1, 2006 | Uncategorized
As of today, July 1st, here’s how my tomatoes are faring:
Black: not a very robust grower, fruit early to color up, severe cat-facing and some sun scald
Black from Tula: for an heirloom, very hearty vine, prolific, nicely-rounded fruit
Copia: at a disadvantage since I accidentally sliced off half its limbs… plant is smallish, fruiting is sparse… my fault? I wasn’t impressed with it last year either. Perhaps not a good choice for the Valley.
Costoluto Genovese: productive, attractive rippled fruit but individual fruits not very large, very healthy foliage
Early Girl: lots of uniform fruit, healthy foliage, not very early for me
Celebrity: compact plant, foliage looks ok, but not very full, lots of very uniformly round fruit
Sungold: still my fave cherry, earliest to fruit of all my plants
Sun Sugar: being grown as a hanging plant, early to fruit, sweet fruit but strange flavor undertones (my fault for allowing it to wilt a few times?)
Lemon Boy: R.I.P. (Great Snail Invasion of 2006)
Coming soon… how they taste!!!
by angela@diggingbliss | Jun 27, 2006 | Uncategorized
Ok, so they’re not nearly as cheap as the plain wire ones you can buy, but they’re waaaaay cooler! What a great gift for the hard-to-please gardener in your life.
If you want four wires, ask for The Brassy Hooker. If you only need three, get The Original Hangover.
WiredOnPot.com
by angela@diggingbliss | Jun 27, 2006 | Uncategorized
The last few days have broken the 100 degree mark but the forecast indicates relief is on the way for me and my veggie garden. Over about 90 degrees, even heat-loving tomatoes and peppers begin to suffer from fruit set failure. Luckily, lots of fruit had already set prior to the heatwave and it’s maturing nicely.
Some tomatoes have been bred to resist high heat, and I do plan to grow one or two heat-resistant varieties next season to see how they taste.
At the other end of the climate spectrum, coastal gardeners have a hard time rounding up enough heat for good fruit set, particularly when night temperatures dip below the critical 55 degree mark. I think if I lived on the coast, I would require a Veg-A-Lot Greenhouse. These affordable compact greenhouses… greenhuts?… are manufactured by Doyle Doss, a Humboldt County gardener and inventor.
The tomato-obsessed (like me) would definitely require a Tomato Palace. It’s a vertical beauty, but only one lucky gardener gets one because production has shifted to the Veg-A-Lot and there’s only one left!
Here’s the Veg-A-Lot press release and a few photos:
GROW VEGETABLES ALL YEAR IN A VEG-A-LOT™ INSULATED GREENHOUSE
Vegetable gardening on the Pacific North Coast is extremely challenging and very often heart breaking. Low temperatures, constant winds, summer fogs, salt air – all conspire to sabotage the most dedicated gardener’s efforts to raise food for their family and friends. Now you can put all that bad weather behind you and garden successfully right next to the ocean with a Veg-A-Lot™ Insulated Greenhouse.
The Veg-A-Lot™ Insulated Greenhouse is specifically designed for adverse growing conditions. Five ft wide, eight feet long, and five feet tall provides 40 sq ft of insulated garden space. (You can grow a lot of food in 40 square feet!)
No need to “go inside” – the walls go UP↑ and DOWN↓ like a Roll-Top Desk! (Completely assembled and priced at $795-.) No wasted space to an aisle way – yet convenient and easy access to all your vegetables. It’s amazing!
Solidly constructed of structural aluminum and wood to withstand wind and storm; the Veg-A-Lot™ Growhouse is glazed with Solexx™, a translucent UV resistant twin-wall polyethylene, which creates an insulating dead air blanket around your garden.
The Veg-A-Lot™ Greenhouse is superbly suited for raised bed “square foot” or “French-intensive” gardening techniques. No deer, raccoons, dogs, cats, or birds can get to your vegetables. No winds to dry out your crops, so watering is greatly reduced. Very effective pest control with minimal care and maximum yields. “Honey, I need some carrots, would you mind going out to pick a few?” (This could be you.)
GO ORGANIC! It is so much easier in a Veg-A-Lot™ Growhouse — you have absolute control of the growing environment! I am growing eggplant, carrots, turnips, beets, lettuces, bell peppers, habanero pepper, spinach, parsley, cilantro, lettuces, arugula, broccoli, okra, strawberries, bush beans — all in 40 sq ft, with room for more!
This truly is an amazing new approach to vegetable gardening, especially for today’s busy lifestyles and high food costs. You can grow a substantial portion of your food in your own backyard and enjoy the flavor and improved nutritional value of fresh food. Um-m-m-m-m good!
Visit http://www.heatstick.com for further information.
Any plans for a Veg-A-Lot Shadehouse for Central Valley gardeners, Doyle? 😉
