In Memorium and Best Wishes

2010 was a rough year for my family due to illness and loss of loved ones. My grandmother’s health seriously deteriorated after the recurrence of her colon cancer. Throughout her convalescence, I would bring her beautiful and fragrant sweet peas hand-picked from my garden. In her honor, I have planted a new batch seeds, decedents of the plants that brought color from the world outside to her sick room. They are poking their green shoots out of the loamy ground; I hope to have blooms by late winter or early spring.

We also lost two faithful kitty companions, Lona and Mossy. Lona loved her ‘nip and for her memory I have let the gone-to-seed catnip infest the cracks in the patio and the vacant flower beds. The neighborhood cats love it and my kitty clan loves the herb as a special treat. Cats on catnip are always great for a laugh! My mind plays tricks on me in my parents’ garden and I think I see my sweet Mossy, my quiet ghost kitty. I continue to look for her even though I logically know she is not there.  In her memory I feed and watch the birds, but thankfully they have much less to fear from me.

Best Holiday wishes from the Victory Gardeners! May your soil be fertile, your sunshine and rain ample, and your harvest bountiful!

Peggy's Pumpkin Bread

I thought I'd try another component to garden blogging - a recipe share! Since we are in the home stretch of Christmas preparations, I wanted to share the family recipe for my Grandmother's pumpkin bread - my holiday favorite. I thought this recipe was lost forever, and lo, it fell out of an old cookbook as a piece of loose leaf paper. I figured the best way to preserve it is to share it!

In one large bowl (Kitchen Aid mixing bowl works well), mix the following ingredients:

3 cups sugar

3 1/3 cups of flour

1 cup vegetable shortening

4 eggs

2/3 cup of water

2 cups canned pumpkin (Libby's is the best)

1 1/2 teaspoons of salt

2 teaspoons of baking soda

1 teaspoon each of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves

1 cup walnuts (optional)

Mix components together slowly in Kitchen Aid mixer. The batter will be thick and heavy, so make sure the mixer and the bowl are anchored securely. Grease 6 mini-loaf pans or 2 larger loaf pans and cook at 350 for approximately 45 minutes. Check the bread at 30 minutes and test with toothpick at the 45 minute mark. Cook another 10-15 minutes as needed if batter is still gooey. Let cool for about 20 minutes. Refrigerate after cooling. Mini-loaves can be wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen if desired.

Benign Neglect (December Bloomday)

For the past couple of weeks, I have left my garden to its own devices, a type of benign neglect necessitated by shorter days and cooler weather. During this time, Southern California had enough rain to keep the winter vegetables watered. Left to their own devices, the winter vegetables have flourished. I reap a large bowl of salad greens once a week that fulfills the needs of my lunches.

I have even pulled some radishes out of the ground; they are delicious yet milder than their store-bought cousins. Now, if only I planted more – good thing there is more time yet!

Weeds have been a problem . . .

And has the orange rust infection of my Mother of Pearl roses.

My plum and fig trees are losing their leaves

While the pomegranate tree leaves are yellowing beautifully.

The tangerine is being pulled downward by the weight of its own fruit. Time to harvest some sweet early winter fruit just in time for the holidays!

The neglect must now end as I slowly but surely begin cleaning up: pulling weeds, trimming back the roses, harvesting tangerines & pomegranates, and removing dead foliage. There is also research and subsequent planning to keep me busy during the winter months. Thankfully, it doesn't (usually) get too cold not to be in the garden.

It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it.

Over the years that I have been keeping a garden, I have never made an effort to plant or maintain a winter garden. Not being much of a morning person (my wife and children will certainly attest to that), I do most of my gardening work in the evening after work. That doesn’t work very well in the winter when it is dark by the time I get home. What I do work on during the winter months is the improvement of my garden’s soil.

In real-estate, the mantra when buying a house is “location, location, location”. When growing a garden and especially growing tomatoes the equivalent advice about gardening is that “it’s the soil, soil, soil”. In San Diego, unless you are extremely fortunate or you live where someone else has amended the soil, lurking under that first few inches of topsoil is the nastiest, hardpan clay that when mixed with the right amount of water is nearly as good as cement. For the untutored, tomatoes do not grow well in cement.

I have been growing tomatoes for a number of years, and when friends and acquaintances find out about my avocation they ask what are the “secrets” for growing good tomatoes. I can talk to them about buying plants or growing from seed, what fertilizers to use, how to spot insect or disease infestation, but in the end, it always comes down to what is the condition of your soil. Sometime this winter, try this experiment. Put on some boots or heavy soled shoes, get some gloves, a shovel and pick a spot in your garden where you would normally plant tomatoes. Dig a trench approximately 6” to 8” across and 18” to 24” deep for a length of about 2’-3’.

Generally, and certainly in 99% of San Diego back yards, you will dig to a depth of 4” to 6” and you will begin to encounter a hard substrate. This is that nasty clay I spoke of earlier. You will find that your shovel does not cut through the clay as it is too dense and hard. At this point you will need a pick axe. I didn’t tell you about the pick axe earlier as I did not want to scare you. A quick note about tomato characteristics is that a fully developed tomato plant will have a root system that will extend 2.5’ to 3.5’ below the tomato plant. Roots will extend in a rough circle approximately 18” to 24” around the plant. Now I have a question for you. If you could not penetrate the soil of your garden below 6” to 8” with a shovel, how do you expect your tomato plant to do so?

The best advice I can give to anyone contemplating growing tomatoes is to enrich and amend your soil to a depth of at least 24” and 36” if possible. I speak from experience when I tell you this is hard, back breaking sweaty work whether you do it yourself or hire someone to amend the soil. The bottom line is that there is no better way to ensure good tomatoes than improving the soil they grow in. In future blog posts, I will provide some tips about amending your garden’s soil. Remember, “it’s the soil, soil, soil”.

November Bloomday

The garden is looking a little thin. I have my one vegetable bed that is filling in with more lettuces, radishes, and cauliflower (as long as I can keep the slugs away). I still have beautiful plumeria and rose blooms thanks to the sunny, warm weather. I've successfully nursed my geraniums back to health. The fig, plum, and pomegranate trees are dropping their leaves slowly but surely. The truly bright jewels I have in my garden this month are Humming birds. They buzz by me as fast as their wings can carry them, not caring a wit about the human in their presence. I have tasty treats for them - Mexican Sage and fuchsia. Lastly, I am really excited about my Anna Apple blooms - will there be apples come early spring?

 

 

In the Zoro Garden

Past the Ruben H Fleet and beyond the dramatic Bea Evenson fountain, off the beaten path of El Prado, visitors will find the maze-like grotto of the Zoro Garden. As the elevation descends, so does the temperature, the foliage providing cooler pockets of air in between patches of sun. The garden is historically and presently a tactile tease, for the visitor is tempted to touch what the garden rules have deemed forbidden fruit.

Like the Alcazar Garden, the Zoro Garden was also constructed for the 1935 - 1936 Pacific International Exposition. But rather than showcase fountains and plants, the Zoro Gardens was marketed and portrayed as a Nudist Colony. Ever popular and scandalous, many peeped through the garden fence to get a glimpse of the comely women nudists cavorting in their “natural environment.” See pictures.

The Zoro Garden is now a butterfly garden, providing sanctuary to migrating monarchs on their way to Mexico. It has multiple varieties of plants that serve as food as well as shelter for transformative chrysalises. There still exists that tactile temptation to touch one’s surroundings or even a brave butterfly that ventures too closely. Park signs forbid it: Do not touch butterflies, caterpillars, cocoons, or disturb the winged wildlife in any way. The visitor must be satisfied to run a hand over the uneven mortar and stone that forms the meandering pathways of the garden.

While we missed the migrating monarchs, we followed the paths toward the central amphitheater, noting the remaining autumn blooms, white milkweed, purple salvia, and yellow cone flowers. The dappled sunlight was unmoving in the still air, providing relief from the late fall heat.  The tall ferns further augmented the sensation of tropical coolness.

I hope to revisit the Zoro Garden in early spring to experience the northward monarch migration. Perhaps if fortune favors me, I will be blessed with the light, feathery touch of butterfly wings.

In the Alcazar Garden

Winter dormancy has reduced my garden to one small winter vegetable bed that may or may not produce as planned. In the interim, I will take a tour of the senses in the beloved and beautiful public gardens of Balboa Park, the crown jewel of planned public parks in the San Diego area.

As visitors stroll across the Cabrillo Bridge, they hear the hum of the busy freeway below and the sounds of auto traffic proceeding into the park.  Little do some know, as they follow the thoroughfare of El Prado, the din of modernity dissipates into the tranquility of a Spanish style garden through the archways to the south.  This is the Alcazar Garden, originally constructed for the 1935 - 1936 Pacific International Exposition.

We walked into the garden after the chimes of the California tower struck noon; they continued their tune, drowning out the buzz of traffic nearby. After the ringing of the chimes, the most noticeable music was that of the two brightly tiled fountains, bubbling in the dry autumn heat. The fountains were recently renovated in 2008. Previously, unsightly damaged tiles and empty basins greeted visitors.  Skate boarders were accused of the destroying tiles, for it looked as if a skate boards had landed on and smashed the tiles.  Ugly, caged-like bars attempted to protect the remaining tiles, further marring the landscape. In an ironic twist, renovating workers discovered that moisture had seeped through the grout causing the cracking and decay, rendering the ugly cages obsolete and necessitating an apology to the skate boarding community.

The Alcazar garden was designed to mimic the more famous Alcazar Gardens in Seville, Spain. Besides the tile fountains, it has a shade pergola and numerous benches for taking in the tranquil scene.  It is a formal, structured garden with boxwood hedges and adjacent pathways that separate six large central plots, showcasing multi-colored annual flowers and eight plots encircling the garden with more permanent water-wise and butterfly friendly selections. At this time, the two largest central plots are planted with perennial lavender and impatiens, allowing the garden to retain its Mediterranean theme, while providing a water-wise solution for the dry seasonal heat.

I think it is the perfect place to while away a pleasant, balmy day, listening to the music of falling water. But Hubby would rather chase butterflies . . .