Why Not Make A Salsa Garden??!!

If you have been thinking about growing a garden this Spring, why not grow what you love to eat? How about a SALSA GARDEN??? All you need is a small piece of ground, with some good compost (you don't have to learn to compost, you can buy it by the bag). You can also grow all of these in pots on a patio! So let's get to it! All you need is a tomato plant. Almost any variety will do.

Onions are a must. You can grow 'em in the ground or in a pot. In California, you must start these in Oct/Nov either from seed or in Spring using the little tiny plants you get in a bundle at the nursery. In CA you can't get big onions from those little mini bulbs in a bag.

Jalapenos or most any other hot pepper will do nicely.

If you like cilantro in it, it's easy peasy to grow in ground or in a pot.

Last but not least, why not grow a dwarf lime tree! Essential for the salsa (and the cervesas).

I'll bring the chips!

Why "When to Plant" Charts Are So Confusing!

Hello Gardener Friends! OK...so I wanted to talk a little about all these "When to plant" charts I've been seeing on the net lately. While they are great guidelines...in my humble opinion, they are just that. GUIDELINES! Depending on your zone, planting times vary HUGELY! For instance, I read one that said that now was the time to start lettuce and broccoli and cabbage, among others. Now, for zones that are up to their necks in snow, maybe zones 6 or 7 and lower, then YES. But in the south, especially here in California, it is the opposite. We start all brassicas in October or November.

I will speak for myself that when I was a new gardener, reading the back of the seed packet that says, "start 1-2 weeks after last frost" always threw me. We don't get any frost. Well, rarely, anyway. I think they take all the zones, and average them out or something. My point is these dates are relative. The Old Farmer's Almanac is a great resource to check out. It's even online and it is specific by zone. Here in zone 10b, the night time temps are finally in the 50's and days are mostly warm. It's about time to plant out your seedlings or plants, if you started indoors under lights, or plants from the nursery. I started my seeds in January under lights! However, my friends in Colorado and in New York, who won't plant out till May, at the earliest, can start seeds indoors now. Think of how big you want your plants to be at the time of planting outdoors.

My point is, check LOCAL sources, nurseries, Farmer's Almanac, etc. for your specific planting times, and don't rely on what other folks are doing in other states. I hope that cleared a little something up for my new gardener friends. Happy planting!

Gardening Term of the Day~ Open Pollinated

Hello! Well, I'll bet you have all heard of "open pollinated" (a.k.a. OP) plants. For those of you who aren't 100% sure what this means, I thought I'd talk about it. OP varieties are seeds that result from pollination by insects, wind, self-pollination (where both male and female flowers are present on the same plant)or other natural forms of pollination.

These are the plants that are great to save seed from because they will be "true to type", meaning they will have the same traits as the parent plant from which it was harvested. However, this is not fool proof! You know mother nature! Both wind and insects will pollinate different plants planted close together. Some will "cross pollinate". And if you are raising plants for seed this will be a factor that can be controlled, but if your a home gardener, it's not a big deal. Squash and pumpkins are notorious for this, but hey, maybe you'll invent something interesting!

Home Made Granola! Yum!

I love granola. So today I decided to show you how easy it is to make your own. I found this recipe on the 100 Days of Real Food website and I just HAD to try it~ Here is the list of ingredients. Of course you could tweak this any way your heart desires. PREHEAT OVEN to 250.... 3 1/2 cups rolled oats.... 1 cup raw sliced almonds.... 1 cup raw cashew pieces (or walnuts or pecans).... 1 cup unsweetened coconut (I couldn't find unsweetened so I used sweetened).... 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds.... 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds.... 2 tsp ground cinnamon.... 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger.... 1/2 tsp grated or ground nutmeg (I actually forgot to add this- HA! Just keepin' it real, here, Folks) Then, melt 6 tablespoons butter, and 1/2 cup honey in a saucepan and pour that all over your dry ingredients and stir till well coated.

Spread this onto TWO baking sheets lined with parchment paper in an even thin layer. Bake for about 75 minutes.

My house smells delicious right now....

Delish! With a spoonful of honeyed greek yogurt on top is one of my favorite ways to enjoy it~ I hope you love it!

Gardening Term of the Day~ Double Digging~

Double digging, you say??? Whaaaaat??? Sounds like a lot of work, right?? Well, since some of you may be starting to plan out your Spring gardens, I thought I'd talk about it. A friend of mine and I were talking about her future garden. She has a section of her yard that gets enough sun and wants to make a garden there. Since this is just old, hard, clay soil, she thought she should remove a lot of the soil and bring in new stuff. Heck, NO! With some elbow grease and some compost, peat and/or some worm castings (all of the above, preferrably), she could have some really super yummy soil! But, I digress....Now, what's all this nonsense about double digging?? What is it? Well, it's the systematic loosening of the soil to about 12 inches (roughly two shovel depths) to ensure that the roots of your babies can wiggle their toes!

Does this make sense? Basically, it's digging a trench or ditch, dumping the shovel of soil down at the other end, then starting a new ditch, flipping the soil you just dug out into the first ditch. Nice way to zen out on a cool day, right? Add your organic matter to the top layer and work into the soil, then smooth out and start picking out what you want to grow! As they say, dig now, chow down later! P.S. Get those kids to help! Take shifts! Bribery with cash and prizes works!

Gardening Term of the Day!

Damping Off: This is an important one to know about when planting seeds or managing your seedlings. Damping off is a fungus condition, usually affecting seedlings, that causes the stem to rot off at soil level. Looks like this :(

It can also rot seeds before they even have a chance to germinate! Boo hoo! Sterilized seed starting mix and careful sanitation can usually prevent this. Care not to over-water and good air circulation are good things, too. <3 Happy Planting!

Time to Trans-Pot, Most Likely, Right???

Good morning, my lovely gardening goddesses and gods (hehe)! So, for those of you who wanted to get a jump on your Spring planting and, like me, started your seeds indoors in January :) Then they might look something like this:

This guy is happy as can be right now, but he won't be if we don't get him into a Big Boy pot, soon. Because I will be able to plant out pretty soon (zone 10b here) I go with a pot the size of a Solo cup. And I like the clear ones so I can see his root system:

I use a good fluffy mix of equalish parts coco peat (or peat moss), potting soil, and vermiculite. If you see those tiny shriveled seed leaves on the stem, carefully pinch those off. Now, plant that guy up to his neck. Right up to the big leaves. The reason for this is that all those little hairy things along the stem will become a big strong root system. This is what we want. The more roots, the more nutrients this little guy will uptake and that makes everyone happy! At this point I give mine a weak dose of fertilizer, and give him a little peace and quiet to get used to his new pot. Now of course if you live in zones where you won't be planting till May or so, then you'll have to trans-pot again to bigger one. Happy planting! :)