Traveling Morning Glories and Summer Blooms

This little baby just popped up in the sidewalk this morning. She must have washed out of my rose bush planter at one point - Ive got some planted there and they are starting to trail up my shopfront wall. So pretty!

 I also planted some under the acacia tree next door in the vacant lot. I was hoping that they would go crazy and  twine all throughout the tree. But no - they are now growing in the compost pile. But thats ok with me as this was supposed to be a temporary pile of pull weeds and shrubs - things the lot owner was supposed to be taking away. I water it occassionally as Ive seen these things go up in flames on a hot day. But since the property owner is trying to sell and has lost interest in upkeep, all I can do is pull a few weeds and hope that the fire department really did get ahold of him like they said they would. Thats another story..........

 In the meantime, It is now August and things are in full swing, full bloom, and full speed ahead............I love people stopping to look at my guerrilla gardening. People have been snapping pictures. Little kids are ooing and aweing over the volunteer tomatoes.

 Even the neighbor next door in the ugliest building on the block has done his part to prettify the landscape with this little display of succulents on the sidewalk. Who knows what inspired them to do this - but I like to think that my little flower patches had something to do with it.. At any rate, Im super happy to see these!

Filling The Herb Jars

Bit by bit, Im getting those dried herbs into jars to be used this winter when everything feels cold and blah. I'll be reminded of my glorious summer and how much fun it was growing this stuff!

Oh God, We're Back To The Urine Again......

Its very ironic that last night when some friends and I were coming back from a birthday party, there were some cute little deer in the road and we wondered where they were eating thier dinner.

They were in Sam and Earl's yard eating our beans and tomatoes! And it was Earl's party that we coming home from. Oh the irony.....................

So on Facebook, Im being told to use Boar's urine now. I just cant deal with anymore urine, folks!

Its been plenty warm out and the plants are loving it! Even my sad little container garden is looking a bit better.

The plants up at Sam and Earl's (this is a little info about what they do - they manage the Burlington Hotel and run a sweet little cafe. Earl has bees and his honey is Magick!) are literally growing like weeds! These tomatoes are monsters and I had better start thinking about what Im going to do with all these babies!  Im pretty proud that they are actually growing and producing. My confidence was not high when starting  this project. So far, Ive not seen any signs of bugs or those hideous worms. Although, with my luck. I'll reach in and accidentally touch one. I'll realize what Ive done, scream, and wake up the dead.

I don't want to get my hopes up, but it would be nice to at least have enough to freeze for a few months. I'd also like to purchase a canner set. Unfortunately, I used to have all that stuff and it has disappeared over the years. Oh well. I have no idea exactly how many tomatoes it will take to make enough to freeze for the winter. I might not have enough, but I do have a lot of plants in various states of growth. It will be a wait and see.

By the looks of my container garden, I'll have some kind of yield  - at least enough for a few salads and sandwiches!  I'm also surprised that Ive managed to get this many. This is so much better than last year on  many levels. Onward and upward. I'm pretty happy about it. Despite the raccoons digging around in the pots.

 I don't know how people get high yields out of 5 gallon containers. I read all sorts of things online, but no matter what I do, my plants always look anemic. So for me, I need to either put them in the ground, or give them bigger containers and probably more or better  food. I can water the hell out of the ones in the ground, or leave them for every other day. They are mulched and happy. These in the bins are either too wet or too dry. There never seems to be a happy medium.

BUT - I have learned a thing or two. And now that I know I can get SOMETHING out of them, its just a matter of regulating water and food. I think the bigger container the better and as much dirt and organic material as possible.

I'm going to eat this tomato today. The first of the season!

I have never really known what to call that strip of land between the sidewalk and the curb, so I googled it.
This is what I found:
Streetside Easement
Grass Bay
Parking Strip
Parkway
Grass Plot
Tree Lawn
Neutral Ground

Whatevs...........was just curious..........
Last year, mine was a neglected, weedy, clay and rock filled strip that nobody gave a shit about. This year, I decided to do something about it and make it pretty. I pulled up all the weeds by hand and shovel. I added dirt from fill dirt in back of the vacant lot. I added mulch from under the compost pile created with all the weed pulling from the year before. And I amended what soil was in those easements with the compost I made from leaves and vegetable scraps.

Some worker guy from over at the Sugar Factory across the street called over while I was weeding and expressed curiosity as to why I was pulling weeds by hand ( as opposed to chemical weed killers, I assume) and I responded that this is how our country was built - by hand - and I'm showing you all how its done. He laughed and said point taken. Honestly, you would think one had never seen someone working with their hands. Wait.............................

I planted wild flowers and marigolds. And then accidentally,  I planted tomatoes from the seeds from the year before. I'm not sure that I want to eat them as I don't know where the dirt came from,  but this little flower garden is starting to bloom and fill out. And it makes me happy to open my door and see a splash of color. Sure, it still needs some constant weeding that I can never seem to get to, but I think the neighbors appreciate it also. The butterfly's and bees sure do!

Liver Rehab

Ive been craving Milk Thistle tea for the last few months. I think my liver has told me that Ive done enough damage and now its time for a little rehab. I don't drink much alcohol, but I did used to take a lot of over- the-counter inflammatories. Not so good for the old blood purifier that has to work overtime................ Milk Thistle has good restorative powers. My liver thanks me. This herb seed tea has a really nice, mild taste that I can drink large quantities of without any honey. It cant hurt you - only help. I even keep a couple thistle plants around my tomato plants - despite the pain inflicted on my bare legs whenever I forget they are there!

And the other jar is the first harvest of my Summer Savory. More is on the way. It is one of my favorite of the culinary herbs and I'm so happy to finally be able to grow and use it again!

Borage In The Sewing Studio

Borage is one of my favorite plants. It grows pretty wildly up at Sam and Earl's house, so he gave me some this spring when it was in its rampaging glory. I plopped it in a mason jar filled with tap water - and it lasted quite a long time! Thats a pretty wedding jacket there in the background that I'll be talking about soon on my other blog. I may be a bit of a Granny Clampett  at heart, but I do make some pretty things............and the borage sweetened up the room while I worked.

Raccoon Update

Pee does nothing. Throwing pepper out on my deck does nothing. And now they are up in my other garden taking bites out of my green tomatoes and then throwing them away. I hate them. The babies are cute. But I hate them. They climb on everything and break things. They stomp all over my plants and dig them up. Its not their fault. I dont remember it being such a problem last summer. There is a population explosion and there is nowhere else to go. Relocating often means death for them and annoyance for others. And the county wont do anything. There are just too many.

I shake cans of pennys at them and I'm getting a super soaker. Thats about all I think I can do. I cant sit outside all night with a gun and guard my vegetables. I'll try some other store bought options, but I think its just going to be one of those things that must be endured. I have to make peace with this situation. Why cant we all just get along....................

Pee In A Jar To Protect Your Plants

People are telling me to pee in a jar and toss it around my vegetable containers to keep out the raccoons.

Im having a real hard time with this. Really?
 P.S. This is not my pee.

The Beauty and the Annoyance of Nature

Last night I peeked out of my back door and saw the cutest little mama raccoon and her three babies. My heart melted of course, so I didn't shake my fist this time. In fact, they started coming to the door but stopped and walked away. So I thought we had made peace until I went outside this morning and found some of my container vegetables dug out and destroyed. I tried to save a tomato plant, but I don't know if it will make it. Hopefully they will leave everything else alone. I guess it was my own damned fault for using all that fish emulsion. I wasnt thinking. Im sure it would have been better if I had fertalized earlier that morning instead of late afternoon. Little assholes. :(

It really made me grouchy this morning, but then I went and watered the other garden and pulled weeds. Watching the bees buzzing around the artichokes made me a whole lot happier.

I feel like I'm in gardening school and that I'm in the right place at the right time. I'm supposed to be learning how to do this. Because whatever I knew in a past life, I have forgotten. I'd love to have  my own yard again to beautify one day. I was a homeowner once. Two homes to be exact - not at the same time. Most don't know that. I was Susie Homemaker. But that was long ago and far away..............we wont go into how long ago that was.......................I moved on to be a cool artist chick - or something like that............... but things are coming full circle and  I would love to fill a yard again with herbs, flowers, and lots of organic edibles. But until then, I'll just make all the mistakes now. I'll relearn..I'll do it better this  time.

Sad Little Beans

 My poor little pole beans are not looking so good. Im pretty sure that this is the bag of the cheapest potting soil that I found a few months back. I had put some homemade compost in there before I planted the beans, and Im trying to make sure that Im watering just enough and not too much. But who knows what the hell Im doing - my guess is as good as yours. So.......I made up a couple 5 gallon buckets of water and fish emulsion, watered the garden as usual, and gave everyone a good long drink of fishie water. And proceeded to spill it all over myself in the process.

Yay.

Hope they green up and start doing thier thing like good little beans should. 

This Guerrilla gardening is not easy.

Little Bears On Crack

 I read this quote somewhere from a wildlife expert: "Raccoons are little bears on crack"

When I moved here, the only real urban wildlife experience that I had had in my adult life was watching city raccoons climb  up steep vertical three story Victorian buildings via the drainpipes outdoors. I was so amazed at their climbing prowess.  And now and then I would see them cross the road at night. Once a friend who was visiting from England saw one on the sidewalk as we were driving down a dark San Francisco road and that was pretty fun because she was so excited. I knew that some lived out back in an old abandoned carriage house and up in the neighbors attic, but I rarely saw one. We pretty much avoided each other. I had my own exciting nightlife going on and we left each other alone.

Upon arriving here in Crockett, I used to get that creepy feeling like eyes were watching me from the depths of the overgrown back yard at night. I would hear a raccoon in the trees now and then. I would see one in the road. I even saw a mama and her babies on the fence. They proceeded to climb up into the tree and that was the last that I saw of them. And then one night when I was on Facebook, minding my own business or trying to save the world, I heard a noise and saw a little hand work its way through the crack between the screen door and the door frame and try to push the screen door open.

I frickin lost it. I screamed and must have scared it because it went away. Unlike real human crack addicts who dont go away when you scream.

Since then, I have had a baby gate over the screen door when the weather starts getting nice, just in case it happens again. It scared the shit out of me. And having had little experience with the wild suburban beasts of the bay area, I was terrified.

But then they left me alone. I kept the baby gate there just in case, but they left me alone.

This summer though, they must be used to me. And it seems like there are a lot of them  in the neighborhood. They are all over the place. The babies are grown and the Mama wanders slowly  through the backyard....wary, but not hesitant to do what ever she feels like doing. She's big and fat and well fed. She knows I'm watching her. I hear them fighting with that growl that sounds like what the Minotaur must have sounded like. They stand there in their stance when I catch them fighting on the deck. One backs off. The other approaches slowly. They stare me down. I have my hand on the sliding glass door - ready to shut it quickly in case they charge. They commence to fighting again right in front of me. Its terrifying, but I brave up and I tell them that I have googled how to skin a raccoon and that they make good eatin. I tell them that they will be my dinner should we have a worst case scenario. I tell them this through my screen door. as I shake my fist. I think they understand that I'm serious. And I am.- in the moment.  In my mind they understand because they finally slowly walk away.

I just read recently that they will cut a hole through your screen door. Oh Great.

I opened up the front door the other night. It was hot and I needed to get some air. My front door is right on the street. I step out onto the sidewalk and a little raccoon walking by at the same time makes a beeline for the door. That little f%*&er is trying to run into my house! I shriek. I step quickly back in, blocking his way and slam the door. But this time I ended up laughing because it was pretty funny. And its way better than a human on crack trying to get in. We have to keep it all in perspective.

I swear to god though, there are some nights that I feel like a prisoner in my own house and that the raccoons are out to get me! But wait. Isnt that how I used to feel in the city?

My neighbor did finally tell me that there was someone who lived on the corner who used to let the raccoons, the possums, and the feral cats come in to her house and eat cat food. It takes all kinds, doesn't it. The woman who lived here before me used to feed Jack, the feral cat who has adopted me, and in doing so, fed the raccoons also. I'm pretty sure word has it that I'm new in town, a sucker for a pretty face and that this is the place for a free meal. But the cat ladies leave food all up and down the street for the ferals. I give them nothing but fist shaking. They just dont need me and it doesn't make sense.

So Ive decided to make friends with the cute little critters. I don't really want to eat them. I cant let them come in the house because just like a bad boyfriend, they will never leave..............but they were here first and fair is fair. I will ignore the plants that they destroy, the fighting, the rampaging, the poop, the intrusions on my privacy and I'll just treat them like annoying children. They will be my Dennis The Menace and I will be their Mr. Wilson.

I Love My Home

I love my home. I wish everyone did.
She's my real mother.
Like true spoiled children, we just assume she will always be there for us.
Until she dies.
Or kicks us out.

Eating Dirt

My friend Homirah just posted this link on Facebook about how we humans eat so little dirt these days - and how this could be related to the rise in our absolute inability to be friends with organisms and bacterias - how we all are starting to have these ungodly allergies and immune disorders. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Unless we buy organic right from the farmer, our produce has practically been disinfected by the time it reaches our mouths. (not to mention all the chemicals and pesticides we are exposed to........)

When I was a kid, my dad always planted a huge garden. He had 9 mouths to feed, and a huge back yard. He raised rabbits and pigeons, and chickens for food - and this manure was used to amend the soil every year. There were no chemicals or fancy gardening implements that I can remember. We ate the peas that grew under the rabbit cages from the pigeon food that fell under the hutches - right straight out of the manure.
I ate bugs and poo and  I have relatively fewer allergies than most of my friends, it seems.

So while, this 21st century woman no longer is willing to eat a vegetable grown straight from poo - ok: I do eat mushrooms --  I don't mind brushing off a little dirt and eating something right out the ground. As long as it is fairly safe dirt. No radiation or horrible toxins that we know of.

garden Update

 It is still growing.
Ive only killed the bell peppers. And this was just because the tomatoes were blocking the spray from the hose and I dont think anyone realized this. When I came back from Tahoe - oops.
Oh well. Im not huge on bell peppers anyway.

But the tomatoes are growing on the garden up the hill. There are tomatoes in there, you just cant see them well.

And they are growing in my container garden as well. Ive realized that the first two tomatoes that I put into containers are root bound. and this is why they don't look so great. They are producing, but I think they should be bigger and lusher. Ive fertilized them, but I think the bottom line is that next year, all tomatoes go in bigger containers if they cant be in the ground.

Nasturtiums

They are not so pretty when they die back and I understand why some people don't like them, but they are one of my favorite plants. And they add so much color at certain times of the year. Besides having yummy flowers for salads, and deterring insects from your garden, they make my daily walks a joy.

I Dont Do Sun

 My sister talked me into taking a few days off to hang out at Squaw Valley with her and the kids. I dont lay out by pools and stuff like that. I dont like to bake myself. I guess thats why I dont look 100%  my age (so they say). Im not a resortie type of person. Its kind of lost on me. Tahoe is beautiful though, there is no denying this. So I did my best to relax and had a good time. It was grand.

And to be honest, it wasn't that warm. So there was no way I was taking my clothes off.

I worried incessantly about my garden. But the beans didnt look bad and the tomatoes are puttin on babies. I mulched really good before I left and watered A LOT before I left. And I came back to 90 degree weather - got in some watering just in the nick of time.

Next time I'll have to enlist someones' help to water while I'm away.Because I'm going to take more vacations. Its time.

The Attack Of The Leaf Miners............

Leaf Miners............another term for maggots.  Fly maggots burrowing into my chard - here in this garden and up the hill in my other garden. And nothing seems to help. Yes, they say you can just trim it and eat it anyway and I tried. But unless the Apocalypse strikes and I'm starving, maggots just are not cutting it for me as a protein source.

I'll try growing this instead under my skylight and see what happens. And I did hear about using Neem oil - spraying it on the leaves. I guess I should try that before ripping the plants from their pots. Any suggestions would be welcome. I was really excited about growing chard - its one of my faves!

Crockett

My little adopted town of Crockett has so many scenic little streets and nooks and crannies. Many of the roads I find as challenging as those of San Francisco. One hill after another...............

This is my view as I head back home from watering the garden during the transit of venus.today. The plants need all the love they can get.

The Shed

I love going into Sam and Earl's shed. Its like what you would find in a romantic movie. Overgrown ivy climbing in through the holes in the walls, spider webs, farming and gardening tools, hay and feathers, strange little artifacts found in the soil, forgotten treasures.............its like being in a dream..

Summer Savory - The New Sage?

I just learned quite by accident that charred Summer Savory gives off the most pleasant scent very similar to sage!

ummmm..........don't turn on the wrong burner. Better yet: put your drying herbs somewhere other than on top of a burner.

Guerilla Gardening

 My backyard is too shady for growing much of anything. So Ive been forced to do myself some guerrilla gardening in the lot next door. I did obtain permission from the owner who subsequently put the land up for sale.

Sigh.

But I'm sure it wont sell for a while..

Fingers crossed.

This is my second attempt at growing container vegetables. (not counting all the failed attempts when living in San Francisco) My second attempt here in Crockett where it is  warm and sunny in the summer.

I set them out further into the field where they can get sun. I rigged up a hose to water them with (instead of dragging buckets of water back and forth - oh yes I did.) and this is already helping immensely.

 The tomatoes just don't look great despite water and some fish emulsion. I put compost in with the potting soil before planting. But I think I simply have a lot more to learn about this and all the info that I study online is either contradictory or just plain confusing. Too much water, not enough water, too much this, not enough that. Ive got baby tomatoes coming on finally, so we'll see. Maybe pretty plants just are not so important. And maybe its just going to take a lot to turn my thumb green.

 There are radishes and carrots planted in with the tomatoes also. We'll see if this was a good idea or not. I do want to plant a bin of coriander and one of lettuce. Maybe some more beans ...........maybe one for more carrots and radishes. And lets not forget all the herbs that I lust for. But that's a lot of soil and bins to buy. That's a lot of storing bins through the winter. Maybe small is best to start with since I have a tendency to be a homicidal plant killer.

I planted marigolds and wild flowers in the sidewalk also. I pulled up all the weeds and amended the soil with compost and regular old soil from the lot. I carefully put seeds in rows so that I would see where the plants were coming up. Unfortunately , later on, I had a fit of madness and threw in a mess of flower seeds - thinking they probably wouldn't grow - and whats a few more - the birds will eat the seeds, right? Well I was wrong and stuff has come up that I have no idea what on earth it is. So I thin and thin and hope Im actually pulling weeds and not flowers.. It does look like there are lots of  something flowerie sprouting  in there, so I'll continue thinning it out and see what happens. What a mess.

 2012 is the year of WHATEVER for me. So whatever. If it grows and I learn a thing or two, get to gaze on some garden color, and have some vegetables without toxins, I'll be grateful. Already the butterfly's are flitting around this. Ive done my small part to make them happy.

Things I Surround Myself With