Hello and welcome to the garden!
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| A view from the porch. Midday, early summer 2015. |
It's a tiny little space, but this year I'm trying to beat my current record of growing 150 pounds of produce.
Let me give you the brief tour:
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| North Bed, aka Tomato Land |
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| East Bed, home of the random greens |
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| South Bed, a mint-infested zone |
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| West Bed, oh gourdy gourdy! |
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| The Trellis, for beans and cukes and FUN |
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| The Twins, 2' x 5' each, netting for cucumbers |
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| 2 plum trees, 1 apple, 1 kumquat, 2 meyer lemon |
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| The Geobin, for compost, between the fruit trees |
The stats:
- Location: California, East Bay
- Zone: 9b
Find your zone at: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map
If you happen to live nearby, I usually end up with too many tomato seedlings in April and need to find good homes for them.
How do I decide WHAT to plant?
Is it a weird color?
Is it a weird shape?
Does it have "dragon" in the name?
Is "wildly prolific" or "neighbors will beg you to stop bringing them veggies" in the description?
Does it have even the slightest chance of surviving in Zone 9b?
Do I most definitely NOT have the space to plant it?
... Great! Then it's going in!!
I also base my decisions on cost... I don't grow potatoes, carrots, or big onions because they are pretty cheap per pound at the store and take up a lot of prime garden space. Organic herbs, unusual greens, weird fruits, and vine-ripened tomatoes cost a lot though... so that's what I grow! There's no way I'd be stuffing a chicken full of rosemary or adding mint to all my summer drinks if I had to pay up the wazoo for each sprig.
I tend to go to Baker Creek for my seeds due to the amazing variety (and lower cost than most), and they are all heirlooms so I try to save a little seed when it's convenient. They also throw in an extra seed packet of something fun like sunflowers or tiny carrots, so it is the only time I gamble for the year. Then I tend to pick up a disease-resistant tomato hybrid or two from somewhere else, or maybe another plant or two from the local hardware store.
How do I decide WHEN to grow?
I base my planting schedules off of the chances of frost in my area. Most things are planned for the 50% chance, but to be safe I don't transplant anything outdoors until the last week of March when there's only a 10% chance of frost. Even then, I keep an eye on the weather for another few weeks and will cover tender seedlings if the forecast is looking frosty.
My official frost calendar:
- 10% chance of frost: Nov 10th - Mar 27th
- 50% chance of frost: Dec 14th - Feb 3rd
- 90% chance of frost: Dec 27th - Jan 10th
Find your chances of frost at: Dave's Garden
I also use Zukeeni (formerly SmartGardener) to help make a visual planting plan in very early January. It's easier for me to just bring up this plan to see what is up for planting/harvesting this week and to see if I missed anything:
There's a friend of a friend in California who has amazing tomatoes, and he says he gets excellent results only if he transplants on or after April 20th, so I follow his tip. It does work... whenever I transplant them too early, they just stall and don't seem to ever get vigorous growth.
Early-spring plants that can be sown outdoors like arugula, spinach, and green onions get an additional planting for an early start by using the 90% chance in mid-January, and I usually get some that pop up! I tend to still harvest peppers and straggling tomatoes until December.
And let's face it, laziness also decides. At the end of the year I let some mixed mustards, flat Italian parsley, nasturtiums, and a few other random plants go to seed. The mustards fill the half-abandoned side yard with spicy January salads. The parsley somehow pops up everywhere, enough that I don't feel guilty pulling it like it's a weed... which it totally is, 'cause who needs that much parsley?
Share your garden with me!
I would love to see and hear about your garden.
I'm considering doing a seed exchange next year, perhaps splitting seed packets with someone. If you are interested, let me know.
Looking for something else?
The Garden page was previously a link to a feed of all the garden-related posts. If you are looking for it, click HERE.
What does the future hold?
This page is destined to be a gathering place for all my garden information. Until then, my notes will remain here:
- Garden planning
- Spring planting
- Fall planting
- Square foot gardening
- Permaculture
- Worm composting bin
- Starting seed indoors
- Mini greenhouse
- Raised beds
- Puppy-proofing your garden
- Wine barrel gardening
- Making the most out of your Solarium
- Fiddling for worms
- Rooting plants
- Planting a fruit tree
- Installing a drip system
- Homemade sturdy tomato cage
- Homemade sturdy trellis
- Pruning a plum tree
- Preventing codling moth worms in apples
- Caring for your Japanese maple
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