California Fires

Usually I do not post about something not related to gardening, but the fires have been so constant and continuing to get closer and closer to my area, that it has been difficult to talk about my garden without talking about Mediterranean-type climate in which we live.

A picture of a fire taken from my front yard in July

Each winter we have cool humid conditions that, if we are fortunate, bring enough rain to help the state get through the next year.

In this picture, you can see the flames

During the summer, the grasses and chaparral dry leaving the ground prime for fires. Long ago before settlers came, native Americans burned thousands of acres of land in order to ensure that the land was clear of underbrush.

A nearby fire, as seen from the fertile garden today

Unfortunately, as time has gone on without fires and the climate has become warmer, it has become incredibly difficult to keep fires under control.

The same fire, as seen from our front yard

Within the last 18 months we have had three fires near our home. Each day I am grateful for those who risk their lives to keep us safe from the fires. I hope they will all be safe and well.

Sweet Pea's Pet Boutique

So, I just happened to stumble upon this little pet supply and nursery store on Alamo Drive in Vacaville, California. The staff was quite friendly and welcoming. I walked in and took a few pictures that made me continue to look forward to when my tomatoes are ripe. Enjoy!

The little vegetable garden display was quite inviting

The Lettuce was beginning to bolt

This dwarf sweet corn is quite cute.

Another look at the tomatoes

One more view of the cute garden display.

Tree Kale or Perennial Collards?

For years I have been overly suspicious of the Brassica family. Growing up, I remember seeing cabbage butterflies annihilate cabbage plants and not caring much for the taste of coleslaw or sauerkraut. Later, the only thing I correlate cabbage with is boiled cabbage, which gives me indigestion. The few experiences I had with growing Brassicas included growing broccoli and Brussel Sprouts, which were a lot of hard work for a meager crop. Then a few years back I heard tales of a super-rich nutrient-packed vegetable called Kale. A good friend of ours even introduced us to Kale chips – an incredibly tasty and healthy snack whose flavor was reminiscent of a fine cheese. Recently, with moving to California and having easy access to cheap kale, I thought I would give it a try - and I started liking it.

My Tree Chard/Perennial Kale - March 3rd

While consuming kale in soups last winter, I read a book that mentioned perennial kale – and I was hooked. The idea of having a plant I did not have to re-plant year after year really appealed to me. You mean that I can access a healthy vegetable any time I want – with minimal effort? You bet!

March 25th after a light rain.

Perennial Kale, April 25th

Being the resourceful individual that I am, I presented my desire to identify a local source for some perennial kale to individuals at my local county garden extension class and happened to find that a master who possessed some tree collards that he was happy to share with me. It turns out that they are that tree kale and perennial collards are the same thing.

Tree Collards in May

It looks like I got the greenhouse in May as well.

So far so good. I read that tree kale/perennial collards require a lot of calcium, so I made sure to add a lot of crushed egg shells in the hole where I deposited each plant. They have done incredibly well. The only other thing I would have done, if I had a chance, would be to stake them. That being said, the location that I planted them, they were able to lean up against the fence, then against the greenhouse.

Perennial Kale in June - lower leaves do die out a bit as the plant matures.

Fuzzy Cabbage Butterfly Caterpillar

Some of the caterpillars were less fuzzy, with a white stripe.

I believe if I continue to plant them further down the fence line, like I plan to do next spring, I will need to stake them. Other than the plants getting a little too large mid-summer, they have been relatively simple and easy to care for. Also – I still don’t care much for the cabbage butterflies that the plants attract to the yard. In the spring, it took some concerted effort to fight against the caterpillars, but by the summer it paid off – when spiders, small wasps and other critters began helping me by preying on the caterpillars.

Tree Chard, August - at just above 5' tall.

I take as many of the lower leaves as I want, whenever I want. We have enjoyed our collards a lot in both soups and stir-fries, though I have not tried making kale chips yet. As for their care, I occasionally add some additional egg shells and nitrogen or compost and watch them grow. I'm excited to see them change color this winter - as I have heard they turn a reddish-purple as the days get shorter. So far, I am an extremely proud owner of some Tree Kale… or Perennial Collards.

Middle Perennial Kale is just reaching 6' by September

Little Leaf Cucumbers in Northern California

For those of you who have neither lived in nor seen Northern California, it possesses a Northwestern wet winter and warm, non-rainy (but semi-humid) summer that is quite different from Southern California. Along with the tomatoes, my Arkansas Little Leaf cucumber variety did very well in this climate. It was strange to be in a place where my plants not only survived, but thrived.

A little leaf cucumber female blossom



Growth continues with the fruit

 

 

 

I love watching the fruit grow.

 

 

 

This is a prolific cucumber variety

 

 

With the warm days and cool nights, the major stressor for this cucumber variety in this climate was the occasional day when my soaker hose timer and the lawn’s watering system turned on at the same time. In wet, humid conditions many cucumber varieties have problems with cucumber mosaic virus or powdery mildew. Luckily, this little leaf variety is resistant to both.

 



Another bunch of cucumbers.

 

 

With the warm days and cool nights, the major stressor for this cucumber variety in this climate was the occasional day when my soaker hose timer and the lawn’s watering system turned on at the same time. In wet, humid conditions many cucumber varieties have problems with cucumber mosaic virus or powdery mildew. Luckily, this little leaf variety is resistant to both.

 

 

 

The cucumbers harvested from a couple vines.

 

 

 

Getting some cucumbers ready to store.

 

 

 

With enough cucumbers to save seed, I was quite hopeful that my bounteous harvest would result in a lot of fertile seed. However, after waiting several weeks to allow the picked cucumbers to mature, I was sad to see that many of the cucumbers had not produced any seed at all. This is one of the major drawbacks when dealing with parthenocarpic fruit when saving seed. You may go through the whole life cycle of a plant from seed to fruit and only when opening it up will you discover that there is no seed. What a waste! Oh well – even wasted gardening projects can result in compost for next season!

 

 

 

The moment of truth...

 

 

 

 



And... no seeds.

 

 

 

 

Here's some more seeds. That's more like it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fermenting cucumber seeds.

 

 

 

Overall, I did get enough seed to last me for several years – howbeit not a surplus. If you enjoy pickling cucumbers, this is a good variety. As for me, I was not willing to go through the work of pickling cucumbers this year and, when it comes to fresh eating the Carosello and Armenian-type cucumbers far surpass the tough skin and possible bitter taste of a pickling cucumber variety.

 

 

A couple Little-Leaf Cucumbers

First Spring

One of many roses around my front door.

Having lived in Southern Arizona for the last 9 years, it was quite a change to move to a climate that experiences seasons. Enduring years of only summer and winter, it has been a wonderful change to finally soak up a spring. The flowers here are incredibly beautiful and the cool mornings and nights are just fantastic - perfect for both walking and gardening.

A cucumber melon plant.

 Since planting my two little plots, my tomatoes have grown quite a bit. With the fact that we have not rented in many years, I was surprised to discover that our home will be inspected soon. What will the property inspectors say about the row of tomatoes in the front yard? Hopefully, they will not worry too much about it, since I had to tear up a bed of weeds to put them in!

A few more flower from the front yard

 

A Celebrity tomato plant with some disease on it.

I am starting to get a few tomatoes growing on my Celebrity, San Marzano and a Rutgers plants and my Little Leaf cucumber is doing well. Given the poor condition of the soil I planted them in, the tomatoes are doing quite well. With the winter and spring rains, the roses around the tomato plants are also thriving. Though the roses are beautiful, mine suffer from some kind of bacterial infection, which has spread to the tomato plants. Alas, my unfortunate experiences with bad bacteria persist, howbeit nowhere near as bad as in my hot, humid garden back in Tucson.

Arkansas Little Leaf Cucumber plant.

San Marzano tomatoes.



Some volunteer flowers.

The cucumber-melons in the backyard are doing alright. After suffering several near-disasters and false starts due to slugs mowing down my seedlings, I have finally amassed sufficient number of plants to do well with this summer. Though I still love going out to see how my long dark Armenian cucumbers are growing, it seems as if my plants are growing in slow-motion in comparison to my Tucson garden. Alas, the moderate-intensity sunlight in Northern California cannot compare with the intense burning heat of southern Arizona sun.

Moving to California

Waiting a whole year since having much of a garden has been very difficult for me. Uprooting an established family can be very difficult, but giving up a garden has been very hard on me. Although I felt forced to move from Arizona, because of health problems, the lack of therapy that a garden provides has weighed on me for a while. So, it is time that I provide an update on my family and gardening experience.




After getting our old house fixed up, I moved to Fairfield California, without my family, for six weeks. The housing market here is very tight, and even with very good credit my family had to get on a waiting list to get into a rental home. Once we finally moved into the rental home, it still took quite a while to adjust. As our family is still reconciling our feelings about moving to California, I was grateful to recently dig out two small garden plots in our new home.

After getting our old house fixed up, I moved to Fairfield California, without my family, for six weeks. The housing market here is very tight, and even with very good credit my family had to get on a waiting list to get into a rental home. Once we finally moved into the rental home, it still took quite a while to adjust. As our family is still reconciling our feelings about moving to California, I was grateful to recently dig out two small garden plots in our new home.

The two available plots where I knew I could replace the soil and replant grass seed were in the front next to the roses and in the back, on the south side of the house.


In front of the rose bushes, I transplanted some tomato plants and lowered my sweet potato pot into the ground. I have already transplanted some Purple Dingess slips into another part of the yard, but the Alabama Purple has yet to come up yet.

On the south side of the house, I planted some cucumbers. Though I would like to try out a new Carosello variety sent to me by my Italian friends Guiseppe and Angelo, I first need to get some better quality seeds of the Long Dark Green Armenian. Additionally, I want to get seed of the Arkansas Little Leaf cucumber, so I planted some of this small cucumber variety as well. Hopefully, I can get seeds of this variety as well. Because cucumbers and melons do not interbreed, I should be able to get pure seed from both cucumber varieties.

My only Purple Dingess Sweet Potato Slips

While moving to a beautiful place like California is nice, having a little garden will definitely help me to feel whole on the inside. Although uprooting a family can be difficult, planting a garden is definitely a way to start reestablishing a connection with our new home.