Renee's Garden Seeds: Renee's Blog

How Sweet It Is: Lindsay's Adventures in Beekeeping

2012-02-02T10:08:00.000-08:00

By Lindsay Del Carlo, Trail Garden Manager

Many gardeners have expressed interest about keeping bees recently, so I've asked our Trial Garden manager Lindsay Del Carlo to share her recent backyard beekeeping experiences. I've been the happy beneficiary of Lindsay's interest in beekeeping – the honey from her bees was absolutely delicious! We' re going to do a giveaway of three jars of her first season's honey harvest on our Facebook page the week after this blog appears – check it out!

My beekeeping adventure started about 2 ½ years ago one September day when a small swarm of bees landed in my yard. At this point, my neighbors and I had been talking about getting bees, and then voila, here they came all on their own. It must have been fate.

Lindsay's Bee Hive

Not actually knowing what to do next, I asked around and ended up finding a mentor who was very helpful in getting me started. She set me up with a hive and helped me to get this tiny swarm of bees into it. They first landed on a garden pot and immediately started building honeycomb, so we had to act fast to introduce them into their new hive. We were worried that since the swarm was so small that there was not a queen, but upon close inspection, there was! They seemed to live happily in their hive for a few weeks. I would see lots of activity at the hive entrance with bees coming in and flying out during the day. But one day I came home and went to see what the bees were up to, and saw no activity in the hive. I opened it up to find that not one bee remained. Bees will do that - for one reason or another, they just abscond from the hive. I would just have to wait until spring and start again. My hive was all ready, so all I needed were some bees.

Bee Package

The next April, I bought a package of bees through the local bee guild here in Santa Cruz. Yes, you can actually buy bees - mine were packaged at a bee farm located in Morgan Hill, CA. They come in a wooden box with screened sides, with about 3 pounds of bees inside, and can of sugar water for them to eat while they are in there. There is also a queen in her own small cage, but she has to be gradually introduced since they are usually reared separately. The queen cage has a tiny cork in it which I removed and shoved a marshmallow in the hole so that she and the bees will eat their way through each side. This gives the bees time to get used to her scent before she enters the hive.

Queen Cage

I had my hive all set up so that I would be ready to install them. I set an empty deep hive body (the box which holds the frames with wax foundation on which the bees build their comb) on my hive stand and then placed the box of bees inside. Then I removed the sugar water can (which lets the bees out) and removed the queen cage. I should also mention that I am wearing a complete bee suit so that I don’t get stung. Then I set another deep hive body with 10 frames over the top of that, and fixed the queen cage to the top one of the frames, and put the inner cover and top cover on the hive.

Removing the sugar syrup can and queen cage

The bees recognize the frames with the wax foundation right away. They will climb out of the wooden box up to the frames and orient themselves and rapidly start to build honey comb. Then the next day, I just took out the empty hive body and the wooden bee box, and let them do their thing.

A frame full of busy bees

My first season of beekeeping was exciting and educational. My bees were vigorous throughout the season and my first honey harvest made about 1 gallon of honey. It is very important not to take too much, leaving enough honey for the bees to eat. As the weather starts to cool down, and the bees forage less, they need enough of their own honey to eat to make it through the winter. As the weather had gotten colder and the rains started, I noticed a ton of dead bees at the entrance of the hive. It is very common for there to be a big die off of bees as the weather turns cold, but I was still worried. Sadly, my entire colony did die, and very abruptly. It is still a mystery as to why, since I did not see any signs of disease or an infestation of mites. The general consensus was that after the weaker ones died off, they just could not keep warm enough, and perhaps they were finished off by any mites that remained in the hive. I decided to not be discouraged and try again the next season.

Swarm Catching - taking branch with clusters of bees and installing them in the hive

I had always wanted to catch a wild bee swarm. Unlike a package of bees that are taken from unknown hives from a completely different area, put into a box with an unfamiliar queen, wild swarms are more acclimated to the area and are likely to have built up better resistance to pests and diseases after multiple generations. On April 1, 2011 I got a call from my neighbor that my wish had indeed been granted! A very large bee swarm had landed on the hedge in my yard. So I went home, got the hive out of storage, and suited up. I put an empty deep hive body onto the screened bottom board, and proceeded to clip off branches that clusters of bees were clustered onto. Then I carefully lowered each branch that I cut into the empty deep hive body. It took me about 30 minutes to get all of them, and I would estimate that it was about 10 pounds of bees - about 30,000 bees!

Filling jars with strained honey after extracting

This has been my most successful colony yet and they have survived through the winter so far, and that is a very good sign that they will build up in the spring again and continue to thrive. I decided to only harvest a small amount of honey this season and leave the rest to entice them to stay.

A lovely honey harvest

On Our Way to Renee’s Garden Organics

2011-12-19T18:02:00.000-08:00

This past year, I've been working hard to source seeds for our new USDA certified organic seed packet line which will be introduced next July.
It's been an interesting challenge to find the quality and diversity of seed varieties that I want to offer for our brand. The big American packet seed companies that carry certified organic seeds all get the same old standard varieties in bulk quantities from one of two large producers. I want to go farther afield and offer newer and more interesting, flavorful varieties that are great in the kitchen along with herbs from their authentic countries of origin.

Prototype of organic packet design

One alternative was to buy seeds from a myriad of small growers which is a path some smaller organic packet seed companies take. However for Renee's, I have always focused on sourcing high germinating top quality seeds, free from weed seed or seed-borne diseases grown by people who really know what they're doing. So I prefer to get our seed from established sources - seasoned professional seed growers who have experience and the capacity to produce the quality of seed we want to put in our packets. Of course, many varieties we already carry are certified organic, so we are making those packets reflect that status.

Tasting and evaluating new organic carrots

Originally, I expected to find certified organic seeds available from some of the well-established growers in Germany, France and Italy that we buy conventionally raised seed from regularly. As it turns out, they all do indeed have great certified organic varieties available, but their seed is certified organic according by the European Union standards.

Unfortunately for me, the American USDA's National Organic Program standards operates in the US only, so European certified organic seeds cannot be considered certified here. The European organic standards and the American organic standards have never been, as the bureaucrats call it, "harmonized", so that either certification could be accepted in both the US and Europe.
According to industry officials I talked to, the "harmonization" process will eventually happen (the certification standards are very similar), but since the process involves government programs in both the US and European Union, this will probably take a long time!

Organic dutch cauliflower

That said, with a lot of searching and trial growing, I have been able to find a reasonable number of varieties from some of my favorite sources in Italy, France, Germany and Holland that they have also taken through the USDA certification process so I can offer them in our organic line. I'm also contracting for some varieties from small certified organic farmers I've known personally for years and am working with a larger organic seed producer that grow seed for really special heirlooms.

Ready to stirfry: organic mustard greens

The design of our new organic packs packets is completed and Mimi Osborne, our Renee's Garden illustrator, is busy working on the new watercolors of the herbs and vegetables that will go in the line. We plan to have about 65 different varieties. Last summer, we grew out and evaluated most of the tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, melons squash, etc. that will be in the new organic lineup. Right now, Mimi is working from the harvests of our extensive late summer/fall garden crops.
This weekend, I was able to harvest a bevy of organic varieties and take digital photos for her to work from: five varieties of lettuce, baby beets, two varieties of carrots, two varieties of radishes, broccoli, broccoli Raab, cauliflower, fennel, mild mustard greens, spinach, chard, kale, parsley, dill, cilantro and chives. Early spring will produce many more.

Fall in Our Vermont Trial Garden: Frost Maps and Cover Crops

2011-11-09T11:40:00.000-08:00

-By Jay Leshinsky, NE Trial Garden Manager

It is 80 degrees in Vermont on October 9 and the student volunteers who work with me at the Middlebury College Organic Garden where we do Renee's Garden trials aren’t thinking about winter. In early October, we were still picking warm weather crops like Hot Crayon Colors zinnias, Padron and Suave peppers, Asian Trio eggplant, Italian Pesto basil, and Rattlesnake pole beans. We still have Super Bush tomatoes growing and ripening in our unheated hoop house. Then came one night of frost and our green beans, peppers, eggplant, zinnias and basil all succumbed to a white coating of ice crystals. We are still are harvesting cool weather fall crops like Catalina spinach, Pot of Gold chard, Bolero carrots and Lacinato kale, but the tops of the Bright Lights chard (planted in a different bed than our Pot of Gold chard) were frost damaged.

Hot Crayon Colors Zinnias blooming beautifully before the frost

Why were some but not all, lettuces damaged by frost? Our garden is on a hillside and there are cold spots scattered throughout were things are more vulnerable that we are gradually locating and identifying. My friend, Scout Proft, who has farmed organically in Vermont for more than 25 years (and also does seed trials for Renee’s Garden) has created frost maps for her garden. Over the years, she has purposely planted her most frost sensitive crops (basil and beans) throughout her plots so she can use them as markers to map the locations where frost occurs earliest. This way, she avoids planting fall crops that are sensitive to light frosts in those spots and is able to extend her season by planting them in her more protected, less early frost prone areas.

After the first frost, some top damage is evident

So many of the newer student volunteers see this October warm spell as an extension of summer. But the more experienced student interns who worked with me all summer have a different perspective: we have been preparing the garden for winter for over a month. Well before the average date of first frost, my focus has gradually moved from harvesting to protecting the soil over the winter from wind and rain erosion, and providing nutrients to feed the soil life that makes out garden fertile.

We have 20 different beds on our garden and rotate crops throughout the beds. Some beds are double cropped, but several are singled cropped with spring and early summer vegetables that will be finished producing by August (carrots, lettuce, spinach, beets, and bush beans). In most of those beds, we plant oats that will grow 2-3 feet in height and form a mat of green before the hard frosts of late autumn fell them. They turn brown and keep the ground covered over the winter. The oats will not regrow in the spring. We either leave the mat of brown in the bed for mulch for large transplants or rake it off the beds and compost it. These are the beds that we can plant in early spring. The texture is springy and loose.

Student interns in the oats

By early fall , we switch to cover crops of winter wheat or clover. They will get some top growth and substantial root systems before the hard frosts stop their growth. In early spring, they will turn green and start to grow quickly. We turn in the wheat or clover for a green manure crop in late spring. We put wheat and clover in the beds that won’t be planted until early June, so we can give the green matter time to decompose in the soil after we incorporate them in May. We also add compost to some of our beds based on soil testing. If we don’t cover the beds with a cover crop or compost, we cover them with straw from out wheat crop. Using this method, we’ve raised the percentage of organic matter in our soil from 1 percent to 7 percent over the past 7 years. So when signs of fall begin and summer crops slow down their production, I tell the students that it is not the end, but the beginning. It is time for them to do the essential work of protecting and improving the soil for next year’s garden.

Jay spreads a straw cover on the empty beds

Soups from the Portuguese Kitchen and Garden

2011-10-07T20:12:00.000-07:00

I'm so pleased to have a guest post from Joy Albright-Souza, part of the earliest Renee's Garden team, who left us to start her own landscape design business. Her company specializes in edible landscaping and her designs grace many fine local gardens, including manager Sarah Renfro's, who described the installation in an earlier post. Find Joy at www.albrightsouza.com. Enjoy this exploration of her husband Frank's Portuguese family food traditions in connection with our 2012 introduction of Portuguese kale –eating it now seems more meaningful and delicious!

Portuguese Kale "Tronchuda Beira"

“Oh I haven’t had that in such a long time!”, that’s what Auntie said when I told her that Renee added Portuguese Kale to her garden seed line. Once common in the gardens of Portuguese immigrants to the US, this old-world green is called by a variety of names: couve tronchuda, sea-kale or braganza among others, making it difficult to find. Although the handsome leaves can be prepared in many wonderful ways, the beautifully ruffled green leaves are most famous for their starring role in the traditional Portuguese greens soup known as Caldo Verde.
About the Kale
My mother-in-law remembers that you never had to buy this staple at the market because if you didn’t have it in your own garden, someone you knew did. Friends and neighbors were always trying to send you home with a bag after a visit. It has the broad leaves of a cabbage but never heads up, thus it is sometimes referred to as the Portuguese head-less cabbage as well. Plants grow in a tall, handsome, vase shape with large deep green, ruffled leaves that have white mid-ribs like chard, which are sometimes prepared separately alongside regular cabbages and curly-leafed kales which were both considered quite distinct.

Portuguese Kale "Tronchuda Beira"

In the garden Portuguese kale provides a solid backbone of the winter garden but these plants are also good performers in the warmer months. Right now I am growing it right in the midst of my flower garden. It looks especially nice alongside my Iceberg rose bush with a seasonal mix of scabiosa flowers. There’s no need to harvest the whole plant - harvest it leaf by leaf as needed. I have fond memories of my father-in-law never cutting his plants back at all, but getting a kick out of seeing how tall they would get…sometimes becoming 5’ tall “trees” before he would finally relegate them to the compost pile. For cooking though, the leaves are most prized while young and tender.
About the Soup
Ok, back to the most important part….how you eat it. Everyone agrees you can’t make the greens soup of Portugal without the right green…so it’s inclusion in Caldo Verde is generally a given. But this beloved simple soup, as you might find with any “national dish”, inspires a number of strong opinions as to its proper method of preparation.
At its heart, the soup is simply broth with Linguiça sausage, onions, garlic, Portuguese kale and potatoes. But life is never really as simple as that. I have to admit my bias here as I am only “married into” the Portuguese community. My husband's family originally comes from the island of Madeira on his father's side and the Azorean island of San Miguel on his mother's side. So, for my informal research on this subject, I not only asked my relatives but friends and clients of Portuguese descent and received many opinions and variations from the experts, and other hungry people I have known.

The Experts (from left):
Frances Souza, Dolores Luz, Lorraine Souza

Cutting Matters: Preparing the Kale
Auntie Dolores stressed that cutting the kale into the thinnest possible ribbons is very important. Indeed, this is how I have usually seen the dish prepared. It gives a particular texture to the soup and is almost like eating blades of grass out of your bowl. In Portugal, they will shred it for you at the market, using a contraption somewhat like a meat grinder. At home, the best way to get the thin ribbons is to remove the center ribs from the leaves, stack them up and then roll them long-ways like rolling a cigar, and cut 1/8” (or finer) strips working your way down the roll. If you are using the young tender leaves, the length will be about right. If you are using the larger, older leaves, then again cut out the center ribs and cut again cross-wise to end up with shreds that are no more than 2”to 3” in length. Most Portuguese cooks pride themselves on just how finely they can shred the leaves.

Auntie shows how it's done

The Right Stuff: About the Sausage
Linguiça is a smoked Portuguese sausage available just about anywhere else with a sizeable Portuguese community or a gourmet deli. It is made in both hot and mild and it is the distinctive spice mix and high paprika content that gives Caldo Verde its flavor and color. Portuguese Chouriço is used in some regions, especially Madeira. Spanish Chorizo and Italian pepperoni are fairly similar and can be substituted if absolutely necessary. Mexican Chorizo, however, is quite different in every way and is not an acceptable substitute.
The Potatoes
Thin-skinned, boiling potatoes are the usual choice for this soup. They can be peeled, or cooked whole or cubed for a quicker result. Sometimes they are sautéed with the sausage, garlic and onion, then the broth is added for the remainder of the time. But I got very strong advice from cousin Theresa’s sister, who comes from Madeira. She stresses that you should boil the potatoes until they are just done, then remove from the pot, set aside, mash, finish the rest of the soup then add them back at the end. When questioned as to why you couldn’t just keep cooking them until the end, she was appalled and firmly noted that the soup' s texture just wouldn’t be right if you did that.
Some people like to cook the potatoes in an entirely separate pot so that the precise texture can be managed more easily, then added to the other ingredients that have been cooking in another pot at the last minute. I take the easy way out and just cook everything together. Regarding the potatoes, I have seen everything from leaving them chunky to mashing them creamy (much like the variations on clam chowder) but an easy version is to finish the soup with small chunks that can be smashed more, with a spoon in the bowl, at the discretion of the eater.

Enjoying a meal of Caldo Verde

When Is It Sopa Instead?
In my mother-in-law, Frances’, home, the preferred dish was called Sopa de Couves rather than Caldo Verde. The distinction is pretty much a sliding scale which varies with each household. Basically the more ingredients you add, the more the result might be called Sopa (soup) rather than Caldo (broth). Frances has fond memories of Grandma Amaral making the dish using broth from a beef bone, which in those days, you could get free from the butcher. Their favorite way was more of a chunky stew, flavored with the meat from the bone and adding small white beans in addition to the potatoes and kale. On Sundays, an entire cut of beef was cooked on the stove, then the roast was removed from the broth and served separately from the soup made with the broth.
However you decide to make it, remember that any Portuguese meal should be accompanied by good crusty bread and a glass or two of hardy red wine. The dish is best enjoyed with family and friends and some fairly loud conversation.

Renee's Caldo Verde Recipe
3 lbs. medium yellow- fleshed potatoes, cut in half (Yukon Gold or Yellow Fin varieties are perfect).
48 oz. chicken stock
4 cups water
2 large yellow or white onions
6 large cloves garlic
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/4 pounds Portuguese kale leaves – a sizable big bunch
4 Portuguese Linguiça sausages – close to 2 pounds total.
Garnishes: freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

In a large heavy soup pot, combine the potatoes (peel them first, if you feel it's important, but I don't because the best nutrients are close to the skin) with the chicken stock, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook, covered, until the potatoes until almost tender – 20-30 min. or so, depending on your potatoes. (The cooked potatoes and stock will remain in the soup pot as you add the other recipe ingredients to the soup.)
While the potatoes are cooking, coarsely chop the onions and garlic and slice the sausages into 1/2 inch slices. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy saucepan, add the onions and garlic and sauté gently at low heat until they are translucent (5 – 8 minutes). Add the sliced sausages and cook them together for a few minutes longer. Turn off the heat.
Prepare the kale: cut out the white center ribs of the kale leaves and discard. Stack three or four leaves together and roll them up into cylinders like cigars. Then, slice into one 1/4 inch wide ribbons. Repeat until you sliced up all the kale leaves.
When the potatoes are almost tender, add the sautéed onions, garlic and sausage mixture and the shredded kale leaves and the 4 cups of water to the soup pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer and cook, covered, for about 30 to 40 minutes, or until the kale is quite tender. Serve hot with freshly grated Parmesan cheese to sprinkle over serving.
8-12 servings, depending on how hungry everyone is!
Renee's Notes:I know it's not traditional, but here are some additions I have added when I have made the Caldo Verde at various times: 2 cups sliced carrots (for color) added in to cook with the potatoes; 1 cup finely chopped Italian parsley (I love the taste of parsley in soup), which I added just before serving. Be sure to have crusty bread to help you mop up and enjoy every last drop in your soup! The potatoes seem to melt into the kale- rich broth and add a satisfying creamy texture to the soup. The flavorful Linguiça sausage is on the lean side and doesn't render a lot of fat, so I've never felt this soup was too oily; it's a deliciously full- flavored complete meal in a bowl and tastes just as delicious and satisfying heated up the next day. If you don't have Portuguese kale you can use regular kale instead - it won't be authentic, but it will taste fine.

Summer's End in Seattle - the NW report

2011-09-08T10:15:00.000-07:00

By Sue Shecket, Webmaster and NW trial gardener
September has arrived with a sense of humor here in Seattle -- teasing us with sunny 80 degree days and the bright sunny skies that were denied us much of these past few "summer" months. And my garden has behaved in just as mischevious a manner, with spring flowers still blooming happily together with mid-summer flowers way past their usual lifespan. My front flower bed, for instance, has sunflowers, sweet peas, larkspur, nasturtiums, shasta daisies, shirley poppies and dahlias all hanging out together in a very surprising combination.

An improbable mix of spring and summer flowers blooming simulateously on my east facing deck

The vegetable beds responded to the lack of warm weather by growing thick foliage - I got great lettuce and greens, but my "Asian Trio" eggplant is more of an ornamental than an edible this year, with loads of lovely purple flowers, but no "eggs". In the last few weeks, the "Heirloom Lemon" cucumber vines went nuts, and have created a jungle in their raised bed alongside those lush but empty eggplants.

"Heirloom Lemon" cucumbers are overwhelming the "Asian Trio" eggplant

The "Romanesco" zucchini, while last out of the starting gate, has once again proven to be a winner, much to the delight of my neighbors and friends. My favorite "Musica" beans were delicious while they lasted, but although they came on strong for a short while, they quit quite early. Most tomato varieties didn't get enough heat around here this year, and those that did manage to color up don't have much flavor. Fortunately that was not the case with my favorite "Sungold" cherry tomatoes. I started them indoors and couldn't put them into the ground until June, due to those lingering cold nights. I helped them along by covering their bed with black plastic, made slits for placing each plant, and then tucked the plastic back around the stem. I gave them very little water over the summer, which encouraged deep strong roots, and we have been gorging on big bowlfuls of tangy/sweet fruit every day for the past few weeks.

Sungold tomatoes came though with delicious fruit despite the long cold wet spring

My containers did fare better than I expected, and I am just about to make a batch of scented vinegars with my "Scented Trio" basils, "French Perfume" lavender, and herbs. I follow Renee's recommendation in her article "Herbal Teas and Vinegars". I have also enjoyed playing around with making my own potions and lotions described in "Making Your Own Herbal Cosmetics" - great fun, good gifts, and economical as well.

I keep my various pots of herbs right outside of my kitchen door on the deck

Container "French Perfume" lavender

My neighbors are all crazy about the bed of "Watercolor Silks" dahlias that I planted alongside the sidewalk for them to enjoy. I keep them blooming by regularly patrolling with my scissors, cutting off all the spent pods which stimulates more flowering (also especially important for Sweet Peas). It's a very therapeutic thing to do in the evenings. To my delight, the lovely "Chantilly" snapdragons wintered over in their pots. I also cut them back when the flowers drop off leaving little balls along the stems, and they re-bloom continually all season.

"Watercolor Silks" dahlias bloom their first year from seed

"Chantilly" snapdragons by my front door

This gift of great weather has gotten my fall plantings of lettuces, greens, carrots, beets and peas off to a roaring start, so I do hope Mother Nature keeps smiling on Seattle for a while longer.
Happy gardening, and our best wishes and sympathies to all those whose gardens suffered from the extreme weather and terrible storms this year!

Organic Gardening Management Part 2: Pest Controls & Encouraging Beneficial Insects and Pollinators

2011-08-05T15:42:00.000-07:00

By Lindsay Del Carlo, Trial Garden Manager

Introduction

Many of our newer gardening customers want to garden organically, so I've asked our Trial Garden manager Lindsay Del Carlo to write the next few blog posts to share our own organic gardening techniques. Here is the second post focusing on pest control & encouraging beneficial insects.
To see the first part of the series, click here.
- Renee

No garden is completely pest free, but having a variety of plants that attract beneficial insects can really go a long way toward controlling plant pests by creating a self-sustaining ecosystem. When pests do present a problem, there are now many highly effective products to control them:

Floating Row Cover. In our trial garden, our premier method of pest protection is to simply exclude them with a soft but effective barrier. We use sheets of white "floating row cover", a multi-purpose, ultra-lightweight spun fabric that can be readily purchased at most good independent garden centers and is readily available online. (Online sources include: Peaceful Valley Farm Supply, Harmony Farm Supply, Gardener's Supply Co.)

Napa Cabbage Under Row Cover

These thin row covers are simply laid loosely over the top of the plants in the beds, then fastened down at the sides of the beds so nothing can crawl under. Row covers work by effectively blocking pests out as the plants grow, while still letting ample sunlight and water in through the porous fabric. When the plants are near maturity or begin to flower and need pollination, the row cover is removed. Row cover works wonderfully well to protect against otherwise hard to treat pests such as leaf miners and cabbage moths.

Newer Organic Controls

Organic Pest Control

Actinovate is a relatively new organic product containing beneficial bacteria in a soluble powder that will control a wide range of diseases including powdery and downey mildew, botrytis, alternaria and other air borne pathogens on plant surfaces. It also works as a soil drench to control root decay diseases such as pythium, phytophthora, fusarium, rhizoctonia, verticillium, and other root decay fungi.

Serenade is an organic product the controls bacterial diseases like powdery mildew, rust, and black spot that affect many plants including squash, cucumber, roses, hollyhocks, and zinnias, just to name a few.

Wherever slugs and snails are abundant, a bi-weekly applications of organic Sluggo Plus around garden beds and surrounding garden spaces will definitely control them. Sluggo Plus is also effective against earwigs and sow bugs which are notorious eaters of seedlings.

Safers Soap is a great product made from naturally occurring fatty acids. At the first sign of damage, a weekly spray with Safers Soap is very effective in controlling common aphids, mealy bugs and white flies and other damaging pests like mites and thrips on vegetables herbs and flowers and fruit trees of all kinds.

Bacillus thuringensis (a.k.a. BT) is an effective organic treatment for all caterpillars pests that particularly enjoy eating leafy vegetables and Brassica family members like broccoli, cauliflower, napa cabbage and kohlrabi. As with most of the organic pest products, an application at regular intervals for about 2 to 3 weeks usually provides adequate control.

Attracting Beneficials
Not all insects that you see in the garden are harmful for plants and many are actually quite helpful, distributing pollen between flowers or providing food for beneficial insects. A garden of diverse plant varieties also creates an ecosystem that attracts lots of beneficials. Even if you are strictly a vegetable gardener, it's important to plant some flowers and/or flowering herbs to attract pollinating bees of all kinds. Sunflowers, poppies, cosmos, tithonia, monarda, zinnias, marigolds and herbs like lavender, catmint, dill, borage and basil are favorite bee destinations.

Bee on Borage

Yarrow and alyssum are good too, and their flowers will attract lacewings and lady bugs. The larva of these insects dine on aphids, mites and other small insects and their eggs.

Ladybug eating aphids

Alyssum, bishops lace, chamomile, cosmos, fennel, and monarda are just a few plants that will attract hover flies (aka syrphid fly). The adults look like little bees that hover over and dart quickly away, but they don't sting. They lay white, oval eggs singly or in groups on leaves which hatch into green, yellow, brown, orange, or white half-inch maggots that look like caterpillars. They raise up on their hind legs to catch and feed on aphids, mealy bugs and other pests.

Syrpid Fly

When we grow parsley, cutting celery, dill or cilantro we let some of the plants mature and blossom. Their flowers, along with those of marigolds and zinnias are wonderful for attracting parasitic mini wasps which are parasites of a variety of insects. They have stingers that have been adapted to allow the females to lay their eggs in the bodies of insect pests.The eggs then hatch, and the young feed on the pests from the inside, killing them. After they have killed the pests, they leave hollow "mummies" which we see regularly here in the garden, especially on aphids. It’s wild!

Parasitic wasp stinging aphid

Having an organic garden doesn’t have to be tricky; what you put into it , you will get right back out of it. Building healthy soil will give you healthy plants. Creating biodiversity in the garden will help to have an ecosystem that can sustain itself. And for those times when you do need a little extra help with those pesky critters, there are safe products on the market that will do the trick. With a some simple garden planning, you can avoid inviting situations that encourage pests and diseases.

seedGROW August Update: Pesto Pizza Homecoming

2011-08-03T11:27:00.000-07:00

By Nellie Boonman, Marketing Assistant

Neighborhood cat "guarding"
my seedGROW project

This is the third month of the seedGROW project for Renee's Garden, and I just got back from a big, fun Europe trip with my sister It was exciting to come home, walk out into my backyard, and see how HUGE everything got while I was gone compared to when I last saw my plants. My roommates were great sports: conveniently taking care of watering, fertilizing, and taking pictures for me so I could blog from abroad. Even the neighborhood cat got in on the action, fiercely guarding the plants from a lofty position on the hay bale.

Cameo Basil, looking beautiful - Summer Splash
Marigolds with their first blooms in the back

Since my arrival back into Santa Cruz last week, I've been busy in the kitchen after work. I haven't had access to a kitchen and green vegetables for a while, so I'm finding it enjoyable to be able to walk outside, pick some herbs, bust out the food processor, and whip up a batch of something green.

I also harvested a few heads of the Garden Babies lettuce, and made some tasty summer salads with Trombetta Squash, green beans, and feta.

Garden Babies Butterhead

Summer salads

Renee suggested I make her Classic Fresh Pesto Sauce and share it with our blog readers. I was craving pesto pizza, but the sauce tossed with pasta is delicious, too.

Cameo Basil growing in the container


Renee's Classic Fresh Pesto Sauce

Personal preference: I stir the microplaned cheese in
after blending everything else. If you are freezing pesto sauce, I recommend
leaving the cheese & garlic out until you are ready to serve.

Classic Fresh Pesto Sauce

3 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

3 large, peeled garlic cloves (more if you love it, but I only used 1)

1/2 cup pine nuts or pecan meats (I used walnuts)

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese

1 teaspoon fresh oregano or 1/2 teaspoon dried

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, or to taste

1/2 to 2/3 cup fruity olive oil

salt to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender, adding enough olive oil to make a thick, smooth sauce. Pour the pesto out into a bowl with help from a spatula. If you are going to use the pesto sauce immediately, stir in the grated cheese and add salt and pepper to taste. Add to hot pasta or spread on top of rolled-out pizza dough, serve with a crisp salad. If you plan on freezing the pesto sauce, don't incorporate the cheese or garlic until after it's defrosted and you plan on serving it.

If you want to make the pizza, it's easy - just roll out some pizza dough (homemade or store-bought), spread a layer of pesto on top, add some fresh sliced mozzarella, thinly sliced tomatoes, and sliced, cooked Italian sausage. Top with more Parmesan if you like, bake at 425 degrees for at least 15 minutes, and check on the pizza every few minutes after that.

A thick layer of pesto never hurt anyone

Pizza fresh out of the oven

I look forward to seeing the updates from the other seedGROW bloggers to see how their seeds are doing - you can check them too by going to the seedGROW website. See you again in September!

- Nellie

Comparing Current and Test Varieties for Renee's Seeds

2011-07-27T21:45:00.000-07:00

by Lindsay Del Carlo, Trial Garden Manager

To ensure we are selling the very best seeds, we regularly grow out the same variety from different seed producers to see which is the best strain for our packets. This summer, we've grown "Cherries Jubilee" nasturtiums from two different vendors to evaluate. Now that both are in full bloom, we can see that our current Renee’s Garden selection has the characteristics that we are looking for: plants are very uniform in germination and growth habit and the pretty blossoms are super abundant, and open well above the foliage for a better massed color effect. The other test selection germinated and grew well and the flowers have good color, but the blossoms are less prominent and more hidden in the foliage. So in this case, we will definitely stay with our current seed producer for this variety.

"Cherries Jubilee" Nasturtium - trial seed in back,
Renee's variety in front

The winner - profuse blossoms are set nicely above leaves

We are also growing out our crookneck summer squash variety,"Sunny Supersett" to comparison to a newer selection of yellow crookneck squash. Our Supersett germinated very quickly with uniform, vigorous plants and abundant, early fruit set and overall it is consistent with what it should be. However, in comparing the varieties side by side, we see that the new trial variety has some very favorable differences. The little sunny squashes have more slender and graceful crooks and somewhat deeper color. Also, the stems of the squash are longer than the current Renee’s Garden variety which makes them much easier to snip from the plant. So the next step, which is always our favorite part, is to do some serious taste testing. If the flavor wins us over, then we may choose to change the variety that we offer.

Current Renee's "Sunny Supersett" squash on the right,
potential new seed on the left.

Another comparison trial is Renee’s Garden ‘Empress of India’ Nasturtium alongside another seed growers selection of the same variety. This classic Nasturtium has beautiful blue-green leaves with rich, vermilion- red flowers. Here we can see that the plants from the other vendor’s seed are small and quite stunted. With this lack of vigor, it is no question that we would stick with our current grower!

"Empress of India" nasturtium trial:
Note the poor quality of the test in front
compared to the Renee's variety in back.

Summer (Sort of) in Seattle - By Sue Shecket, webmaster and NW Trial Gardener

2011-07-11T18:05:00.000-07:00

We “mossbacks” in the Pacific Northwest are resigned to the fact that actual summer doesn’t really begin here until after July 4^th. but this year was particularly brutal - officially one of the top-five coldest springs the region has seen in the last century, and the most precipitation seen in 117 years of record keeping. We were starting to think we’d never again be able to put away our fleece jackets. And those “consistently above 50 degree nighttime temps”? Not until mid-June! So gardeners needed fortitude and to get out there and get planting, and as in many other parts of the country, that also meant a good amount of re-seeding for those who were overly optimistic back in April.

Sunshine at last, and things are taking off

Once again my habit of procrastination worked in my favor, and it was late May before I got my cool season veggies in the ground. The tomatoes and eggplant weren't set out until until mid-June, along with the warm weather seeds of squash, cukes and beans. I do cover all new plantings with row covers, making my garden look like a laundry, but thwarting the birds, slugs and roaming neighborhood cats. One lesson that has really come home this year is the importance of supplementing my otherwise good soil with organic fertilizer. Despite last fall's addition of several inches of our excellent Zoo Doo (courtesy of the the happy herbivores at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo), with all that rain the plants were looking pretty bedraggled until I gave them a good meal (Dr. Earth Organic), and things are looking downright respectable at last.

Musica Beans, Cukes and Asian Eggplant

The fast growing Mesclun lettuces have been providing us with excellent salads for several weeks, as is my husband Bill's favorite "Asian Baby Leaf" mix, so I have made several additional sowings to assure a good supply. Baby Pak Choi did especially well and makes a wonderful stir fry along with my Sugar Snap Peas. I have just seeded in our Gourmet Greens Braising Mix (new for 2012- coming soon), a mix of green and red leaf beets with silver and gold leaf chards, which you can cook or eat as baby salad.

"Jewel-toned" Beets, "Circus Circus" Carrots,
Pak Choi (almost all harvested now)
and a new sowing of Gourmet Greens Braising Mix

My main beds are 4' by 8', and I prefer to plant in blocks rather than rows, so I broadcast my seed and then thin the seedlings to appropriate spacing - a painful but critical task that really pays off with healthy and vigorous plants.

We have been sharing this "Garden Babies" lettuce,
"Farmer's Market" Mesclun, Arugula (interplanted with Kohlrabi)
and "Lacinato" Kale with the neighbors.

I do start my warm weather loving veggies and flowers indoors, and this year I included "Stained Glass" Salpiglossis, one of my favorites, planted out in pots and displayed closeup on my deck. Again, regular feeding has been critical to getting these beauties bursting with blooms.

"Stained Glass" Salpiglossis lives up to it's namesake

Now if only that bit of glorious summer would truly stick around...because it's raining out there...again...

note: you can click on the photos to enlarge for a closer look.

Seed Grow Project update

2011-07-04T17:06:00.000-07:00

This is the second month of the Seed GROW project for 2011. Nellie is at her family''s house in the Netherlands right now and her roommates are the ones taking care of her seedGROW seeds right now. She emailed some pictures that were taken before she left, and will do an update when she returns....

"Summer Splash" Marigold

"Garden Babies" Lettuce

"Italian Cameo" Basil

Pay close attention to garden relationships

2011-06-16T10:47:00.000-07:00

-By Jay Leshinsky, NE Trial Garden Manager

Jay's interest in gardening began during childhood while eating his way through the family berry patch and vegetable garden. He’s been gardening organically since starting his first garden in 1970 in Maryland, where he sold vegetables at a farmers’ market. For the past nine years he’s split his work time between doing seed trials and sales for Renee’s Garden and advising the students at the Middlebury College Organic Garden. Jay and his wife live in Middlebury, VT

Zinnias attract pollinators

My friend and mentor, Wendy Johnson, wrote in her book, “Gardening at the Dragon’s Gate”:
"Every spot has a voice, a particular taste, a breath of wind unique to itself, a shadow, a presence. The best gardeners I know slow way down in order to receive the tidings of the land they are bound to work.”

The particular voice I’ve listened to for the past eight summers is that of the Middlebury College Organic Garden, where I have been teaching students how to grow vegetables, herbs and flowers organically. Because of my work at that spot I’ve listened to many voices and been connected to many wonderful people. In slowing down, looking and listening closer, I have come to a new and expanded relationship with the garden, and in particular, with the insects that visit.

Blue Borage

When I started my first garden 40 years ago, the insects I knew the best were those that damaged crops. From cucumber beetles to squash bugs, I identified and battled these competitors for my crops with organic pesticides, protective row covers and hand picking. Then a series of events came together to expand my relationship with the insect world. A student doing research on companion planting at the garden observed that a row of yellow crookneck summer squash interplanted with catnip out-produced a control group of the same variety grown without catnip by two to one! We didn’t know why, but we hoped we could recruit some students to do more research the following spring.

Bees love sunflowers

Later that summer for reasons unrelated to the companion planting experiment, I asked Middlebury College Professor Helen Young to bring two of her research interns to the garden to do counts of insects coming to different flowers. What they found was that catnip was a great attractor of honeybees as well as other pollinators. Could more pollinators coming to the squash/catnip row be responsible for better pollination and higher yield? Should we be paying more attention to our insect visitors?

That fall another serendipitous connection occurred. Some Middlebury College students and I attended a seed-saving conference in Brattleboro, where we met Frank Morton, a master plant breeder from Oregon who works with open-pollinated varieties of vegetables and herbs without using pesticides of any type. Instead, he searches for traits like disease resistance, productivity and good taste. A big part of his program to improve pollination and control of destructive insects in his seed crops is to plant what he calls “insectaries.” These are groupings of plants that provide food, pollen or shelter for beneficial insects (pollinators or insects that prey on other insects that eat our food crops).

Pollinators are both beneficial and beautiful

We decided to devote one section in each of our garden beds to an “insectary.” Based on the squash experiments we included catnip and added some of Frank’s recommendations like Korean mint (anise hyssop), arugula, chervil, fennel, cilantro, sunflowers and calendula. Many of these plants reseed freely in Vermont and will be back in the next season (take heed!). As a bonus we collected some of seed for cooking (like cilantro, the seed of which is the spice coriander). The following year we included some annuals: zinnias as pollinator attractors (and because they are great cutting flowers as well), alyssum, tithonia, nicotiana, nigella, borage and clary sage. We also planted perennials: yarrow, bee balm, echinops, centurea, catmint and thyme.

Cilantro is also great for cooking

So we are looking more closely at the insects that visit our garden. We are seeing that some plants (borage, Korean mint, nigella, gaillardia and Clary sage) attract a wide range of pollinators. Other plants seem to have favorites: Our honey bees are the major visitors to raspberries while our bumble bees dominate in the blueberries. We have observed spindled soldier bugs parasitizing the larvae of Colorado potato beetles.

The relationship of the insects to our flowers is so much more complex and rich than I ever imagined. Perhaps for me the tidings of the garden are seeing connection and wholeness where I once saw unrelated parts. It is something I try to take with me as I leave the garden each day.

For a list Renee's Garden varieties that attract pollinators and beneficial insects, click here

SeedGROW Project 2011

2011-06-02T16:30:00.000-07:00

Nellie's project containers

Welcome to the second annual seedGROW blog project! Ten bloggers located across the US will all be growing three Renee’s Garden varieties from seed and writing about their experiences on their blogs, posting once a month. This year, I (Renee’s Garden marketing assistant and second-year gardener Nellie) will be growing right alongside the other seedGROW bloggers.

Renee picked 3 seed varieties for seedGROW this season:

Lettuce, Container, "Garden Babies"

Basil, Container, "Italian Cameo"

Marigold, "Summer Splash"

Notes from Nellie: I sowed my project seeds in three separate big containers according to the packet directions on Saturday, 5/28. Our Trial Garden manager Lindsay recommended FoxFarm Ocean Forest potting soil for the containers, which is a blend of earthworm castings, bat guano, and fish and crab meal. Two 1.5 cubic ft. bags easily filled three large 18-inch containers. I’m expecting to see a few seedlings pop up by this Monday. The weather has been unusually cold and rainy in Santa Cruz, so I may need to be more patient.

I chose containers as my planting venue of choice because of some serious gopher problems. The containers circle a bed of greens, and the seedlings will be protected by strawberry baskets while they're small since my backyard seems to be full of hungry birds (I removed the baskets from the first container above so you could see a decent picture of this very nice potting soil).

If you have a garden blog and would like to participate this year or be considered for another project, please email me: nellie@reneesgarden.com. We did decide to keep it small this year to so we could pay extra attention to the participating blogs, but we don’t want to exclude any bloggers who are interested in joining. The seedGROW Trial Guide sheet is located here.

We’d also like to give special thank you to Mr. Brown Thumb for all his help. He will be rounding up all the bloggers’ posts each month and posting them here on the seedGROW website. I’d like to encourage everyone to check out the other seedGROW updates – we are excited to have some gardening writers on board!

See you next month,

Nellie

Organic Garden Management

2011-05-18T14:19:00.000-07:00

By Lindsay Del Carlo, Trial Garden Manager

Introduction

Many of our newer gardening customers want to garden organically, so I've asked our Trial Garden manager Lindsay Del Carlo to write the next few blog posts to share our own organic gardening techniques. Here is the first post focusing on soil preparation and care. - Renee

Our trial garden has been managed organically for over 25 years by observing organic cultural practices that produce a thriving, healthy garden:
Good soil preparation is basic and vital to growing a healthy organic garden and using cover crops, organic fertilizers and compost helps to improve soil structure and fertility and increase both overall plant health and resistance to pests and diseases. Crop rotation helps to decrease the need for excessive fertilizer and prevent build-up of soil disease. No garden is completely pest free, and there are now many useful new organic pest control products on the market for effective pest control. Having a variety of plants that attract beneficial insects helps to control pests by creating a working, self- sufficient ecosystem. My posts will explain these classic organic techniques one by one:

It All Starts With Building Healthy Soil

Using Compost to Build Great Soil

Finished aged compost to add to garden beds

Throughout the gardening seasons, every time we start or transplant a new crop into one of our raised garden beds, we first prepare the soil by adding a few inches of aged compost and turning it into the top 8 inches of the soil with a fork. Compost is an excellent soil conditioner, improving the soil structure and adding micronutrients that feed plants.
In our extremely sandy soil, the compost acts like a sponge that holds onto water and helps keep soil from drying out so quickly. In a garden with denser clay soil, adding compost aides in keeping soil loose and non-compacting so it will drain better.

Compost also provides plant roots with more air space which is actually vital to plants. Whether you make it or buy it, be sure your compost well aged, and completely broken down for the best availability of nutrients. Renee's Garden offers a good Compost Guide if you want to learn how to make your own low-cost, nutrient- rich compost.

Fertilizing Regularly Is An Important Part
of Organic Practice

Organic Fertilizers: left to right - Liquid Kelp, Sustane grainular, Earth Worm Castings, Fish Emulsion

In addition to preparing our soil with compost, we also consistently use good organic soil amendments and fertilizers. Earthworm castings are the end product from worms digesting organic materials, and it is odorless and non-toxic. A little goes a long way with earthworm castings and they contain abundant essential elements plants need for healthy growth and can really make a marked difference in your garden.

Organic fertilizers provide vital nutrients and help plants to build strong tissue, making them more pest resistant. Synthetic fertilizers, although they work very quickly to promote quick growth, encourage fast development of very soft plant tissue that becomes a magnet to pests like aphids and mites which can easily penetrate the plant tissue to feed on it. Knowing the fertilizer requirements for different crops is important to avoid over or under-fertilizing and so that the crops can be rotated properly.

We use a granular, certified organic fertilizer called Sustane.(Fertilizer brands are regional, so inquire at a good independent garden center for what is available in your area or look online). This granular fertilizer breaks down slowly in the soil to feed plants over a long period of time. Organic fertilizer in liquid form is faster acting than granular fertilizer. For heavy feeding crops (see your packet back), we also supplement the slow release granular fertilizer with a liquid kelp/ fish emulsion mixture (1 tablespoon each liquid fish emulsion and liquid kelp per gallon of water) as either a foliar spray or soil drench to give plants of any age a quick boost.

Crop Rotation Controls Disease
and Maximizes Nutrients

Nitrogen fixing Rhizobia nodules on Fava Beans

Crop Rotation is a very important practice which helps to avoid depleting the soil of nutrients and a build up of soil pathogens. Some vegetables are heavy feeders and deplete the soil more than others. For example, heavy feeding varieties like tomatoes, corn or squash should be followed by lighter feeding leafy varieties like lettuces and or root crops such as carrots. Then we follow that second crop with a with soil- building legume crop like beans or peas were a fall cover crop like bell or fava beans.

Legumes actually enrich the soil because their roots have nodules containing nitrogen fixing Rhizobia bacteria that convert the nitrogen from the air and make it available for the plant to use as food. These nodules are very noticeable when you pull up a plant by the roots and look carefully. After our legume crop is cut and harvested, the remaining roots are left in the ground or composted so the root nodules will break down and release all the valuable fixed nitrogen for following crops. For example, Nightshade family vegetables are susceptible to soil pathogens like verticillium and fusarium, so it is helpful to rotate their place in the garden each season. Rotating varieties of the Mustard family helps us avoid build up of soil dwelling cabbage maggots and other mustard family pests. We keep a simple chart of our garden bed plantings each season so that we can easily keep track of what the next rotation should be.

Garden map for planning crop rotations

Cover Crops Offer Nutrients and Protection

Turning in cover crop

Planting cover crops is a great way to protect soil from erosion from winter weather and rain. When our growing season slows as winter draws near, final harvests are made from those beds we will not be planting again until spring. We protect this uncovered soil by planting a cover crop to both enrich the soil and protect it from the elements. In our area we use Pacific Gold mustard and a legume crop like fava or bell beans, or a blend of oat grass, bell beans and purple vetch works best. (Cover crop components vary in each region of the country: consult a local Master Gardener or knowledgeable staff at a good independent garden center to find out what is best used in your area).

The cover crop also takes up extra nutrients in the soil that would otherwise be leached out by driving rain. In spring, the cover crops can be dug back into the soil, thus releasing the captured nutrients. In our trial garden, we do this mainly with Pacific Gold mustard which is low growing and easy to dig back into the soil. It also has a more powerful effect against soil diseases when allowed to decompose directly in the soil. Other cover crops like legumes which grow much larger, we prefer to pull out and compost the cover crop plants. They will break down in the compost heap much faster this way, so their nutrients are ready to be added back into the garden beds as part of the compost added when we prepare for planting spring.

It All Starts With Dirt

2011-04-04T12:35:00.000-07:00

Jay Leshinsky

by Jay Leshinsky- NE Trial Garden Manager

Getting Started:
From the time I was very young I've loved eating from the garden. I can remember sitting along side of my grandparent's raspberry patch on a hot summer day, eating my way from one end of the rows to the other and loving the taste of those slightly warm berries. However until I graduated from college I wasn't the least bit interested in working in a garden. Then my roommates and I rented a house, and we decided to start a vegetable garden so we could grow our own food. Only one of us had ever gardened before and he had been taught by his father to grow vegetables organically. So since that first garden, I've been an organic gardener, just because it suits me and has always made the most sense.

Planting a Seedling

Why Organic?
I started gardening organically because I didn't want to eat crops that were raised using synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. So originally, my main gardening technique was not to use synthetics. But the more I studied organic methods and talked with organic farmers, I learned it was not only what I didn't use that mattered, it was also what I did to care for the soil that mattered because I heard from those organic farmers was that I should feed the soil and the soil would feed the plants.

Building the Soil:
Both in my own home garden and at the Middlebury College Organic Garden that I manage and where we trial Renee's Garden varieties, I use different techniques for building soil that will feed my plants. In our cold winter climate, we begin our soil building cycle in the fall by making sure our soil is covered during the winter to protect it from erosion by wind and water. We do this by planting cover crops like oats or cover some areas with straw or leaves. By the time spring weather finally arrives here in New England and it's time to get the soil ready for planting, these mulches will have begun to really break down and the students and I will incorporate them into the soil.

Student volunteer spreading compost on the beds. In the background is a cover crop of yellow sweet clover.

Other cover crops like clover, rye or winter wheat are planted in fall, go dormant in the winter and start regrowth in spring. After they get some new green growth, these living mulches can be turned into the soil to add lots of green organic matter. Fully or partially decayed organic matter helps feed earthworms as well as the microscopic soil life that work to turn organic matter into slow release food for plants.

Preparing soil for planting

I have found that this organic matter really improves the tilth and structure of the soil, helping break up tight clay soils and making sandy soil less porous. Plants can more easily establish vigorous root systems in these soils. It helps soils retain water and hold it for use by plants. You can work huge changes in your garden soil by using this "green manure" cover crop method. And if you can't turn your cover crop directly into the soil, you can cut it down, compost it and incorporated in the garden that way – that's what Lindsay does at the trial garden in Northern California.

Good Bugs:
Even with our soil building program, numerous pesky insects can affect our crops in our Vermont climate. We do some hand picking of potato bugs and Japanese beetles, but for most of our insect defenses we are constantly experimenting with different plantings of flowers and flowering herbs that attract beneficial insects to our garden. (I described some our flower and herb planting to attract beneficials in my blog post of September 21, 2010.)
So we feed the soil, the soil feeds the plants and our plants feed us.

Alyssum "Summer Romance"
attracts beneficial insects

Help Us Spread the Word to Raise Funds for Schools and Non-Profits

2011-03-11T10:39:00.000-08:00

We support many community garden programs with donations of seed, but this season, I'm also really proud of the new way we've come up with to put hard cash in the hands of schools, nonprofits and community gardening groups. For some reason it took me a long time to figure out how to create this fundraising program, but now that it is in effect and successful, I can't understand why didn't think of it years ago!

Here's how it works: Any nonprofit, school or charitable organization can simply contact us, providing short paragraph about their mission and goals and ask for a nonprofit fundraising code. We give them the code which they give to all their members and supporters – who then enter it at checkout when they buy seeds on our website. At the end of the season, we send each group a check for 25% of all the sales generated by users of their specific code.

It's simple and easy for both the organizations who want to raise cash without having to do too much, and for us to administer on the backend. I think the program is a definitely win-win – obviously, it helps generate our business for Renee's Garden, and just as importantly, it provides a way to get real cash in the hands of many groups who are struggling these days.

I'd like to request request that readers of this blog pass the word around – this is an easy program to promote! Because gardening from seed is such a wonderful activity for all ages; sustainable, meaningful, pleasurable and just plain fun, it's a great way to encourage people to get started in their gardens and effortlessly support their favorite charity at no cost to themselves. And, I freely admit that I am really looking forward to the pleasure I will get writing those checks to the various groups at the end of the seed year!

Thanks,
Renee
PS: If you think an organization or school you are involved with would like to participate, click here.
PPS: Here a sample of groups that have signed up to get codes already:
Penn State Master Gardeneers, Pittsburgh, PA
Harker School Bio-Gardening Club, San Jose, CA
Iowa Arboretum, Madrid, Iowa
Long Creek Herbs- Melinda Smith Kids Garden Project, Blue Eye, MO
Chenango County 4-H, Norwich, NY
American Horticultural Society, Alexandria, VA
Oregon Garden Foundation, Silverton, OR
Baton Rouge Unit of the Herb Society, Baton Rouge, LA

Instructions for a Gopher/Mole/Vole Proof Raised Bed

2011-02-15T11:14:00.000-08:00

- by Linday Del Carlo, Renee's Garden Trial Garden Mgr.

1. Choose the site where you want your raised bed to be located. The site should have at lease 6 hours of sunlight. Measure the area where the bed will be and mark it with stakes. The bed can be as long as you want, but make sure not to make it too wide. The bed width shouldn’t be more than 4 feet. It should be just wide enough to reach into the middle without difficulty. You never want to have to step into the bed. The bed that we are making here is going to be 7 ft.x 4 ft.

2. Next, buy the materials for the bed. We are using:
-6x6 redwood/cedar/rot resistant lumber
-24 inch long x 5/8 inch wide steel stakes to hold the bed into place
- Galvanized steel 1/2 inch hardware cloth to line the bottom of the bed. You can buy hardware cloth in 3 ft. wide rolls. Do not use “chicken or gopher wire” – it will not work.
-Heavy duty staples to fasten the hardware cloth to the sides of the bed.
Tools needed: a shovel, drill, mallet, hammer, and wire cutters.

3. Set the lumber on level ground matching up the corners to make the border of the bed. Then drill the holes all the way through the lumber to set the steel stakes through into the ground. The stakes will secure the lumber to the ground. With the mallet, pound the stakes through the wood and into the ground until the top of the post is flush with the wood.

4. Now that the lumber is in place, remove soil to a depth of at least 18 inches so we can line the bed with galvanized hardware cloth. The hardware cloth needs to be set deep enough to be able to dig in the bed without damaging it. The hardware cloth will prevent critters from entering the bed and eating the plants.

5. You will need to cut 2 lengths of hardware cloth so that they can be joined in the center to form one large sheet that will stretch from the bottom of the bed up to the sides. The length of the hardware cloth needs to include enough for the length and depth of the bed. Overlap the 2 pieces by a few inches in the center , then sew the strips together to make a secure seam (use thin, flexible wire to do this and make a tight seam). Then lay the hardware cloth into the bottom of the bed and form it to the bottom and sides.

Once the hardware cloth is in place, fasten it to the lumber with heavy duty staples every 3 inches. This will prevent hardware cloth from moving and creating gaps for critters to enter. If the hardware cloth is still too shallow to reach up the sides because your bed is deep, cut extra strips that overlap at least several inches and "sew" up a seam with thin flexible wire so gophers can't slip between the pieces.

6. Now the hardware cloth is fastened, and the bed is ready to be refilled with the soil that had been previously taken out. When refilling the bed with soil, also take this opportunity to amend it with compost at the same time.

7. The new bed is ready to plant. The lumber that we used is thick enough to last for many years without decomposing. It is protected underneath with hardware cloth which will prevent gophers/moles/voles from getting in. We have added compost to enrich the soil for the plants. While it is true that an occasional invader will jump into the bed from outside, it is easy to trap them when inside, as they have no way to escape!

Early Birds Don't Always Get the Worm

2011-01-13T12:32:00.001-08:00

January seems the perfect time to start thinking about gardening. After all, the holidays are over, and planning next spring's bounty is a great way to boost your spirits. Nothing can pick you up more than envisioning all the fabulous plants you will be growing and enjoying next season. By now the printed seed catalogs have arrived and the garden media is talking up the next garden season as well.

It's a perfect time to start putting together your seed order. For vegetable gardeners, it's really a good idea to start that process by thinking about what you really like to eat on an everyday basis for your main garden and consider a few new fun things to try out.

On the fun side, for example, if you've never grown edamame (edible soybean), hibiscus for herbal tea, Padron tapas peppers, Trombetta climbing summer squash or Wyatt’s Wonder super-giant pumpkins, this will be a good year to try them.

That said, I want to encourage everyone to wait before translating that planting urge into reality until the weather outdoors is truly ready. Traditionally, gardeners are often told to start tomatoes, peppers and eggplant seeds indoors “6 to 8 weeks before the last frost.” I do not think this is good advice. It just doesn't tell you much if you live where there is no hard frost, like Southern California. Even in much colder climates, it's hard to know when the last frost will be, given all the weather variability these last few years.

What I have found works much better is to think about when the night temperatures in your garden regularly reach the 50- 55°F (10-13°C) range and then count back 4-6 weeks from that to start these warm weather-loving seeds. In much of the country, that means you don't need to start warm season seeds indoors until mid-March. In the cold winter areas, the right time can be the middle of April.

In everywhere but the most tropical parts of the country, we start the seeds for long season heat-loving plants like tomatoes, eggplant and peppers early indoors to give them a needed head start because they take so long to mature. Then we transplant robust seedlings into the garden and they never look back.

But other large-seeded summer vegetables like corn, beans, squash, cucumbers and gourds are best sown directly in the garden once weather has warmed into the 50 to 55°F (10-13°C.). They will thrive best when they are sown directly in the soil because they have tender tap roots. Transplanting purchased or indoor grown seedlings for these plants into the garden inevitably shocks and sets them back. If you sow them directly from seed they will grow like little dynamos and surpass any transplants easily.

Likewise, fast-growing summer flowers like sunflowers, zinnias, cosmos, marigolds also do much better if you sow them directly into the garden when the weather is warm and settled as described above. They will never be as vigorous or grow as quickly if you start them in pots or seed starting trays too early. I think it's a shame that so many retailers actually start offering warm season veggie plants like tomatoes when it still shivering cold outside. This trend seems to have gotten worse over the last few years. Resist the urge to buy these plants out of season and better yet, plan to start your own from seed at the right time. Your plants will reward you with great abundance and you'll have the real satisfaction and pleasure that comes from nurturing them from tiny seeds into full bearing plants. I never get tired of of this joy.

Renee’s Garden Holiday Party - A Wealth of Wreaths

2010-12-21T10:23:00.000-08:00

The office staff of Renee’s Garden recently spent a cozy afternoon together making holiday wreaths at our 2010 holiday party. Our horticulturalist, Beth Benjamin, hosted us at Camp Joy Gardens in Boulder Creek, CA, where she is a founder and current board member. We enjoyed homemade soup in the kitchen, exchanged gifts and then spent the afternoon creating our wreaths from a multicolor array of dried flowers and herbs that Beth selected from the harvest at Camp Joy. It was a nice break for all of us and fun to see the creativity that each person brought to their wreath designs.

Before we sat down to lunch, Beth took us on a tour of the farm. Renee's Garden has a special connection to Camp Joy – they grow the seed for our delicious Camp Joy Cherry Tomatoes! As we toured the gardens it was easy to envision the bounty produced in the height of the harvest. Even in the middle of December there were crops of greens in the ground, persimmons hanging on the trees and honey being processed in the barn. The goats were happy to see us and gobbled up the Kohlrabi greens offered as treats.

Camp Joy is a non-profit organic farm that sustains itself thru a CSA and sales of its products to local stores and the community. They are particularly known for the beautiful dried flower wreaths made from flowers grown and dried throughout the summer. In existence for 40 years, Camp Joy has apprenticed many successful farmers and taught generations of kids about the wonders of gardening. Their website is http://www.campjoygardens.org/

The main farmhouse showcases the bounty of the garden and we all admired the craftsmanship of the wreaths displayed on the wall. It was a damp day outside, but inside the wood fired stove pumped out warmth all afternoon. At the end of the day we were all pleased with our handiwork and a fine holiday get together.

Sowing Renee's Annual Wildflower Scatter Garden

2010-11-17T13:37:00.000-08:00

- by Lindsay Del Carlo,Trial Garden Manager

Here in our trial garden in central California, the fall rains have begun. Our climate (UDSA zone 8) is mild and, although we have have hard frost, the ground does not freeze in the winter. Many flowers that had gone to seed from last season have now started to germinate once again. This is a good indication that it is a great time to sow spring blooming flowers, as the acidity of the rain water helps the seeds to germinate. The plants will grow through the winter and burst into bloom in the spring. It is a great time to sow a canister of Renee’s Annual Wildflower Scatter Garden seeds. NOTE: In cold winter climate areas, you can sow seeds in early spring as soon as the soil can be worked.

We have prepared our planting bed. The soil was first weeded and then turned with a digging fork. All of the big clumps were broken up, and the soil raked flat.

Before opening the canister, shake it thoroughly to evenly mix the seeds with the rice hulls. Then open up the can, peel back the aluminum seal, and pour some of the mixture into your hand and start to scatter it.

Make sure to shake out the seed mixture thinly and evenly. Scatter the seeds giving them enough space so that they do not germinate in crowded clumps. This will only stunt the growth of the plants. The rice hulls are easy to see and a good indicator of how far apart the seed has been sown.

After scattering the seed mixture, use a rigid rake to work the seeds down into the soil to a depth of 1/4 inch. Then, water the seeds in thoroughly and evenly with a fine mist sprayer. Keep the seeds evenly moist while they are germinating.

Next spring, you will enjoy a lovely carpet of colorful wildflowers.

Jack's Carrots

2010-10-26T17:13:00.000-07:00

Carrots are always one of the most fun vegetables for kids to grow themselves. Here's proof of that from Cheri, our Renee's Garden Accounting Manager, who describes how her young son Jack grew his own this season:

Last year my 5 year old son Jack fell in love with the purple carrots (and many of the other vegetables) that were tested in the Renee’s Garden trial gardens. So, this summer he decided to grow his own carrots--not only the purple ones he loves so much, but also the yellow and orange carrots from Renee’s Sunshine Mix and even the adorable little Round Romeo carrots. Unfortunately we planted the Mini Jack pumpkins (he had to plant those of course!) too close to the carrots and we lost the Round Romeos under the pumpkin plants. However, Jack had great success with the other three varieties and they have made him into a confirmed vegetable lover.

The process started in early June with Jack and his 2 year old sister, Jenni, preparing the raised bed in our front yard. They weeded the bed and then raked in the new soil. Jack then carefully scattered the carrot seeds in rows. I then thinned out the carrot seedlings a couple times during the summer: Jack wanted nothing to do with “throwing away” his yummy carrot plants! After checking them constantly and excitedly throughout the summer, Jack finally began the best part: harvesting his carrots in late August (unusually cool weather and a lack of warm sunshine lengthened the growing period).

Jack has since pulled and enjoyed a couple of full-grown carrots every few days. The longer they’re in the ground, the bigger and sweeter they’ve become. He has harvested some truly amazing carrots. One was nearly as tall as he was from the tips of the greens to the bottom of the carrot! He had another that looked as if it was tie-died purple and orange.

Jack has had so much fun sharing his crop with the neighbor kids (who have watched the progress all summer) and showing the carrots off to his friends at school. While he says all the carrots are “super yummy”, his favorites are the purple ones. He loves to show the other kids how good they are because none of them had never seen a purple carrot before. Once Jack has harvested the last of the carrots, he’s going to start all over again and plant a fall crop of the same varieties. This time the pumpkin plants won’t interfere with the Round Romeos!

Announcing the 2010 Renee’s Garden Photo Contest Winners

2010-10-14T19:50:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to the winners of the 7th Annual Renee's Garden Photo Contest. Thanks to everyone who sent in photos for our contest - we had so many beautiful entries it was very difficult to choose just a few winners. We enjoyed seeing them all. To see more of our favorite photo entries (and download them as desktop wallpapers), view our Flickr photo gallery. To view last year's winners, click here.

1st Place Winner: “Chianti Rose Tomatoes”

Susy Morris,
Malvern, OH

"I've been enjoying growing things in the garden from your seeds for the first time this year." Susy's gardening blog, Chiot’s Run, documents her life, cooking, travels, photography, and cats.

2nd Place Winner: “Sunflower"
Becka Silva, Oroville, CA

"All of my sunflower seeds are from Renee's garden. I am starting a small farming business and the sunflower was my inspiration for the name, Girasole Farm. Girasole is the Italian word for sunflower. Most all of my summer garden was was started with Renee's seeds. Everything from zucchini, carrots, corn (YUM), butternut squash, cucumbers, watermelon and cantaloupes. I grew some gourds last year which were featured on a local house/garden show."

Honorable Mention: “Lounging Tri-Color Zucchini”

Amy Bond,
Chico, CA

“These two Tricolor Zucchini enjoyed some quality time by the lake before cooling off in a refreshing salad. When picked young, these zucchini have a soft yet crunchy texture and delicate taste that makes them the perfect addition atop your summer salad."

Honorable Mention: “April in Paris" Sweet Pea
Jan Fetler,
Elk Grove, CA

“I am a gardener and a small-flock chicken farmer--both activities work well together. Chickens will eat garden waste and their manure feeds the garden. Grown in a raised bed with a strong trellis, my sweet peas reached 6 feet and were covered with sweet fragrance.”

Jan's chickens devouring a sunflower. Jan's chicken website: The Poultry Project

Honorable Mention: “Blue Borage"
Shelley Cornell, Florida

“I don't think I had one seed that didn't germinate and not only that, when the Florida heat virtually melted this beauty, there was a ton more to take its place from self seeding. The beautiful pink and blue flowers that opened up on a plant covered in blue flowers. The other pic is of a bee on the Blue Borage, which is exactly why I wanted to grow it - I wanted to attract pollinators.”

Kid’s Garden Photo Contest Winner

“Sugar Snap Peas”

Thomas and Amy Pelkey,

Harrisburg, Oregon

“The boys each planted their own Renee's "Super Sugar Snap" which is their favorite "green" vegetable along with broccoli. Thank you for the excellent Sugar Snap! It will be in our garden again this late summer/fall as well as an order for seeds next year.“

The Power of Flowers

2010-09-21T16:48:00.000-07:00

By Jay Leshinsky, East Coast and Canadian Sales Manager

This is the time of year I summarize my summer working with the students at the Middlebury College Organic Garden where we trial varieties for Renee's Garden and grow produce for the College's dining system. Each summer's group of student interns has a different personality. This year, the group loved to make up and sing songs while they worked. Our garden has a close connection to work songs; six years ago Bennett Konesni, one of the student founders of the garden, won a Watson fellowship to study work songs all over the world (you can learn work songs at his farm, Sylvester Manor.

Many of the songs Bennett discovered were tied to agriculture and were created to make work more enjoyable, cohesive and collaborative. Following Bennett's lead, the garden often had interns who played music during work breaks, but this was the first time I worked with such consistent “on the job” singers. One song they created while thinning over-grown yarrow plants (sung with a pace similar to that used by old time railroad workers pounding stakes into the rails) was so memorable that the elementary school children visiting the garden that day all left singing the "yarrow" song as they walked back to town, even though no one had taught it to them.

Yarrow is one of the many plants we use to attract pollinators and beneficial insects to the garden. One of the most striking observations a student doing research made was that the yellow crookneck summer squash she grew inter-planted with catnip out produced a control group of the same variety by two to one! When I mentioned this to Renee, she told me she knew farmers who were planting very specific plants throughout their garden beds for beneficial insects (since that time we put together a Guide to Attracting Beneficial Insects.

The students decided to plant some perennials like catmint, catnip, Korean mint, yarrow, bee balm, echinops and centurea and began to experiment with planting of annual flowers. We also plant lots of zinnias (because they are great cutting flowers as well), alyssum, tithonia, nicotiana, nigella, cleome, asclepias, cosmos, calendula, Marble Arch salvia, poppies and sunflowers. We also let herbs like cilantro, dill, arugula, basil, borage, thyme and sage go to flower where they attract many beneficial insects (plus we wind up with a crop of coriander, the seed stage of cilantro).

For the past two years we also grown yellow sweet clover, the favorite food of our honey bees- we have 5 bee hives at the garden- as a “ green manure” crop, grown to enrich the soil. After the bees pollinated it we got a great crop of seed, mowed the clover and allowed it to reseed for the next year (when it bloomed again). We turned it in this spring for it nitrogen value (it is deep rooted and can be hard to turn in by hand) and got sensational crops of broccoli and cabbages in that part of the garden late this summer.

In my blog post last March, I mentioned the pollinator research done last fall at the garden by Professor Helen's Young's biology students. Three new students will come to the garden next week to do more research on the insects that visit our flowering plants in the fall. Visitors to the garden love strolling through to enjoy the flowers. The interns and I established a ritual of cutting our zinnias and bringing bouquets of these long lasting flowers (unannounced) to the offices on campus as gifts from the garden. It is so satisfying to see the smiling faces of the recipients of our flower surprises.

Mini Pumpkin Teepees

2010-09-01T20:52:00.000-07:00

by Lindsay Del Carlo, Renee's Garden Trial Garden Manager

Everyone loves miniature “baby” pumpkins because they are extremely productive, easy to grow, fast to mature and lots of fun to have around for all the fall and winter holidays. This summer, we used a space saving method and made bamboo teepees for these vigorous vines to twine up. We found that growing miniature pumpkins up vertically in this fashion created a handsome and decorative focal point in the garden beds. In no time at all, the bamboo tripods were covered with an abundance of 4 to 5 inch little ribbed orange pumpkins that we will use for decorations with plenty to bake as tasty edible bowls for pumpkin pudding or savory soups or other fillings. Here’s how to make your pumpkin tepees with our “Mini Jack” baby pumpkin variety.
First sow groups of two-three seeds of Mini Jack Pumpkins in a triangle with 2 feet between each group. After the seeds have emerged and have several sets of leaves, thin to one strong seedling in each group so you have a triangle, as you see in the picture.

Second, put 2 bamboo poles per plant, one on each side of the seedling. Here we are using bamboo that is 8 ft. long and about an inch in diameter.

Place the poles so that they are standing perfectly upright. This makes it much easier to gather the poles at the top to tie.

Once the poles are all in place, gather them at the top and tie together with some garden twine.

Mini Jack plants will grow and twine up vigorously. Once they start to vine, tie each branch to the bamboo pole to train them upwards. Make sure to check them a few times a week, and continue to tie the branches to the poles. The plants do have tendrils that will cling to the poles and other branches, but by anchoring them with ties you will ensure sustainability on the pole as they will become heavy with many miniature pumpkins.

The little pumpkins will be creamy colored at first like those in this picture, but as they mature, they will turn bright orange. Harvest them by cutting them by the stem handle. Once cut, cure them for a week or 10 days in a sunny, dry spot and then store in a cool dry place. They’ll last for months.

Mini Jacks mature earlier than regular sized pumpkins, rewarding you with armfuls of deeply ribbed fruit that make welcome gifts, colorful edible decorations.

Summer (Finally!) in the NW Trial Garden - by Sue Shecket, webmaster

2010-08-04T18:43:00.000-07:00

I love our Pacific NW “summer” with days in the 70s and cool nights in the 60s - it’s great for glorious flowers, lovely lettuce and my skin. But this June even we diehard Seattle mossbacks were miserable as it was the coldest and wettest in anyone’s memory. Once again my poor tomatoes – and just about everything else I started earlier – suffered from unrelenting rain, chill, and a lack of attention from a dispirited gardener. But finally on July 5, Mother Nature took pity on us and brought forth glorious sunny days and warm nights, so I ventured back into the garden to survey the damage.

The slugs absolutely adored their unhampered access to all of my seedlings, and mowed down most everything under a few inches tall. I counterattacked with nontoxic Sluggo, got direct vengeance with my trusty scissors, and sowed new seed. What was still up and growing was pretty anemic and hungry, so I applied a batch of our favorite organic fertilizer potion: 1 tablespoon liquid fish emulsion and 1 tablespoon liquid kelp per gallon of water. In short order, things improved dramatically and I’m no longer embarrassed to invite the neighbors over to help harvest my now bountiful supply of lettuces, peas, arugula, spinach, baby squash and more.

A dramatic demonstration of the advantages of starting vegetables from seed is seen in the squash planting. I sowed several squash seeds per mound and transplanted the extra plants to an adjacent bed below. The undisturbed plants in the upper bed are at least twice the size and vigor of the transplants.

Flowers are coming on late, but my deck containers are filling out with vibrant colors. Here’s one color from my favorite Salpiglossis mix, aptly named “Stained Glass”.

My re-seeded veggie beds not only caught up quickly, but have surpassed those planted earlier that were subjected to poor growing conditions. For once I am glad I procrastinated in getting much of the garden going this year.

One group of plants that loved that lousy June are my hillside of Hydrangeas - the lack of sun stimulated them to put on exceptionally luxuriant growth and extra large blooms. Others that unfortunately thrived are the perpetual bindweed and invasive buttercup – a NW gardener’s eternal enemies.

And that drip irrigation system that I vowed to install this spring – well, somehow we were just not inspired this year. But my trusty soaker hoses are hanging in there. And I promise that NEXT season, we’ll really do it… really.

Creating My Edible Front Yard

2010-07-01T21:57:00.000-07:00

- by Sarah Renfro, Renee's Garden Business Manager

The front yard of my Santa Cruz, CA house (20 feet wide x 40 feet long) has been a neglected, patchy lawn with uninteresting shrubbery since we purchased it almost 7 years ago. Over the years, I made half-hearted attempts to beautify it by digging out old shrubs, demolishing a dated brick planter box and planting some annuals for splashes of color. Still there was no unifying design and my house certainly had no curb appeal. Here's what it looked like:

Edible front yard - a before picture

Last year’s summer drought and watering restrictions inspired me to start the transformation process. The first step was to smother the grass (and weeds) by laying down cardboard and covering it with a thick layer of bark mulch. I opted to let time do the hard work rather than try to remove the sod manually. In addition to the mulch, I gladly left all of the leaves that dropped from my Liquid Amber tree to add to the layer of decomposing organic material. I also built three (3x 10 ft.) raised beds in the spot that gets direct sun for the most of the day.

My first child (a boy named Mason) was born in November and I knew that my husband and I wouldn’t have the time needed to continue tackling the front yard landscaping this year.

It was time to call in the professionals. I contacted former Renee's Garden employee Joy Albright-Souza, (http://www.albrightsouza.com/) now a residential landscape designer, to create a plan. Her trained eye and thoughtful questions resulted in a design that incorporated our interest in using the front for growing food with an attractive, safe outdoor living area for our growing family.

Landscaping in progress

Now that we had a plan, we needed someone to execute it. Joy recommended Baxter Landscaping (http://www.baxter-landscaping.com/), who worked with us to break down the project into affordable phases. Owner Dave Baxter helped us determine the best value for our money and pointed out where we could save on materials or labor by doing some of the work ourselves.

Watching thru the front window, with my newborn in my arms, I was truly amazed at the speed and efficiency of the work crew. Within one day they had cleared the front and laid the pipes for the irrigation system. At the end of each day, it was fun to see the drastic changes that had taken place. Of course massive rain storms caused some delays but it did make the ground nice and wet for the new plants!

By early spring our front yard had been transformed. We now had three more raised beds in various sizes and shapes to complement the existing ones, an attractive fence to enclose our expanded garden and contain the dog (and kid), trellises on the front of the house, flagstone paths and best of all, a larger front porch with room to sit and enjoy our beautiful new view.

Time to get planting! My mom, webmaster Sue (and now Nana Sue), flew in from Seattle to help me get started. The permanent plants followed the edible theme - blueberries, citrus, artichoke, guava and passion fruit to name a few. Also drought-tolerant native grasses and herbs. Crops of early spring vegetables such as “Farmer’s Market” Lettuce, “Italian” Arugula, “Super Sugar Snap” Peas and “Easter Egg” Radishes completed the planting bonanza.

Front yard landscaping - after

Now it is early summer and we are enjoying the fruits (and veggies) of our labor. I’ve done multiple sowings of lettuce, arugula, radishes and carrots and my butterfly-attracting flowers - “Dancing Petticoats” Cosmos, “Persian Carpet” Zinnias and “Junior” Sunflowers - are starting to bloom. All of the beds are setup with drip irrigation – a true time and water saver! Instead of spending time hand watering every evening we are relaxing on our front porch, talking with our neighbors and marveling at the transformation that is taking place in our new edible front yard.

The fruits and veggies of Sarah's labor

Here’s a list of the Renee’s Garden varieties in our new garden:

Vegetables:

Lettuce “Farmer’s Market”

Squash “Summer Scallop Trio” Radish, "Easter Egg"

Chard “Bright Lights” Carrot, "King Midas"

Scallions “Delicious Duo” Bean, "Edamame"

Peas “Super Sugar Snap” Melons, "Three Flavor Mix"

Watermelon “Rainbow Sherbet” Squash, "Delicata & Butternut"

Gourds “Wings &Warts”

Flowers: Herbs:

Nasturtium “Creamsicle” Arugula, "Italian"

Nasturtium, "Cherries Jubilee" Alpine Strawberries,"Mignonette"

Cosmos “Dancing Petticoats” Chives, "Fine Leaf"

Sunflower “Junior”

Zinnia “Persian Carpet”