Lettuce Celebrate Cool Season Gardening

Love cool season gardening in California. From the garden, a variety of lettuces, fresh and crisp.  I lvoe the lettuce called "freckles."  If is green with reddish/brown spots (around 7 o'clock in the bowl).

Cherry Chocolate Tomato

 

Who doesn't like a surprise!  A few weeks ago, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a small tomato seedling near the vegetable garden...but in another section of the yard.  Being late in the season, I thought nothing much would come from it. 

Then the heat wave hit.  So hot, I barely ventured outside near the garden except to toss greens into the composter.  

The weather was much cooler this week and I purchased some parsley and thyme to plant for the fall garden.  As I was finishing up, I noticed the tomato plant had taken off, grown with great enthusiasm, and tomatoes were already ripe for the picking.  

Dinner tonight included four of the ripest of these cherry chocolate tomatoes.

Interestingly, I planted this variety officially three year ago. This plant is a volunteer as all of my cherry chocolate tomato plants since that initial planting.  They are very good at dropping from the vine, rolling to a new location and starting a new seedling.   

What's Growing in the Garden?

Tomorrow I will be posting my latest volunteer plant.  It's a winner.

Succulent Magic

These specimens are absolutely stunning.  Great combination of color and texture. These succulents are in an arrangement at Roger's Gardens.  You can find succulents at many of the nurseries.  As a lover of trends in gardening, I've watched as Roger's has introduced us to these waterwise plants in their selections and watched the selections grow.

Yarn Bombed Tree

Sassy Purl has made her presence known at Sherman Gardens.  Perfectly timed for the season, she created a spider web covering for one of the exterior trees.

Test Driving Recipes for Thanksgiving

Bay leaf and sage leaf from the garden adding their point of view to the soup.

It is 95 degrees outside today.  The sun is beating down.  I'm cooking up a pot of hot soup.  The butternut squash is calling me for its cool, dark storage.  Just a few more minutes and it is time to blend to a smooth, yummy soup.  If this "test drive" goes well, this little item could be on the vergetarian portion of the Thanksgiving Meal.

Urth Fountain

New fountain in Laguna Beach.  Very stunning at night with the lights and water.

Succulent Sunday

Some beautiful succulents in planted in containers.  Their colors were perfect of a cool fall evening.

Butternut Squash--Round Two

Second harvest of butternut squash.  A quick wash at the sink to rinse off any dirt from the down side of the squash.  Next, off to the cool storage.  With the hot September we've experienced, no need to harden this beauties in the house.  Mother Nature took care of it already.

This round of butternut squash look less pumpkin-y than the first harvest and but not quite like the classic butternut squash shape.  Still bet it tastes great!

Rooted and Planted

A friend gave me a cutting from a special plant--Night-blooming cereus.  I was lucky enough to get it to root.  Planted it.  And surprise...a little growth is spouting.  Let's hear it for mother nature.

Nice Bunch of Berries

Early morning walks with dog to try to beat the heat.  Saw this shrub laden with red berries.  With so much of the usually green grass brown these days...these colors really popped!

Onions Drying

Tucked away in a shady spot, these onions are drying so that they can be stored.  Some will need to be used quickly (the light green/white with small bulb). As the onions are drying, the green stalks will wither and dry. 

Post a comment on how you will savor summer!

Just because Labor Day has come and gone, remember we have fifteen more days of summer.  Let's celebrate the final fifteen.  Make a list of ten things you can still do to appreciate the summer season:  grill, walk by the shore, watch a summer sunset, catch lightening bugs, swing on a porch swing, eat an ice cream cone or a Popsicle, smell freshly cut grass.  You get the idea.  Make your list and capture some late summer moments!  There's still time. #holdontosummer #savor summer

Just Hanging Out Until Bloom Time

My friend has a wonderful potting bench outside of her garage.  The bench is an amazing launching pad for orchids.  The orchids are tended to until they produce blooms.  At that time, into the house for the show.  Once they are finished, they come back out to the bench and receive care until they bloom again.  She has about eight plants outside right now.  This one is ready to bloom any day.

Check out these amazing orchid blooms here, here (Roger's Gardens) and here (babysitting an orchid).

Diced, Sliced, Spiced...How Do You Do Your Garden Tomatoes?

 How do you prepare your garden tomatoes?  These are being prepped for tomato soup.  Tonight dinner was BLTs.  There is just no bad recipe if you include homegrown tomatoes. Here's a look back at tomato prep for tomato sauce with recipe.

White, Yellow and Purple Create a Recipe for a Colorful Container

Colorful combination of the planted container. 

No-Spotted Lady Bugs!

When I was in my garden today, I discovered my artichoke plant was covered with aphids.  That would be a discouraging find if not for the fact that lady bugs LOVE aphids for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.  And because there were such an abundance of aphids, the lady bugs had come to feast.  I counted ten on the top of the leaves.  I know there were many on the underside, because I could watch them walking from underneath to the top of the leaf.

I was also excited to see a kind of lady bug I had not encountered before.  Solid red...no spots.  Can you guess their common name?  No-spotted lady bugs!

Welcome to my garden, lady bugs.  Come often and stay long.

A Little Game Called "Name that Seed" See if you can identify these seeds--Answer at the bottom of post

A

B

C

D

A. Bean   B. Butternut Squash   C. Dietes grandiflora   D. Onion

Like Moss...and Needs Little Water

Saw a great ground cover today.  It's green with small yellow flowers in the spring and summer.  Common name of Goldmoss Sedum or sedum acre.

Once established, it requires occasional watering.  Very dainty but provides a nice thick groundcover.

Tree Staking 2.0

I posted recently about the importance of staking new tree plantings.  I saw this interesting staking mechanism recently.  Here's what I like...the loop gives the tree plenty of space to sway in the breeze.  This mechanical movement will help the roots to grow strong and the trunk to strengthen.  Supports which allow no movement will create weak trunks and roots.

It will be imperative for this support to be removed as the trunk grows in girth.

From Peeling to Sizzling--Roasted Butternut Squash

Dewy drops appear after the first layer of peel is removed

The hardness of the peel is what gives this veggie storability.  Keep working.  It's worth the effort.

Slice in half.

All of these seeds is how this plant got its start.  I compost and every so often a seed ends up in the garden instead of the composter.

Before the first scoop.

I use a teaspoon to scoop out the seeds. 

And this is headed for the composter

Ready to dice.

Pan prepped with foil and butternut squash drizzled with olive oil.

Sizzling hot after 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Yellow Roses in Simple Centerpiece

Signs of the Drought

Artificial Turf

Leaves turning brown and dropping in August versus October

Succulents replacing turf

The drought is impacting landscaping in the area.  New artificial turf and succulents are replacing lawns.  Trees which normally don't drop leaves until October are browning and dropping in August.