Category Archives: Uncategorized

Too Much Squash: an Overabundance of Vegetables

09 Tuesday Aug 2011

Posted by in eggplant, garden, gardening, grilled vegetables, grilling, recipe, squash, Uncategorized, vegetables

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Thanks to a few days at BlogHer, I have some new ideas. First of all, after being inside for three days, I really need to get out and garden!

At the beach on Sunday, I realized most of my friends — most of whom are gardeners too — have too much squash right now. We can’t give squash away to each other anymore!

My friend Rebecca brought zucchini muffins, which we all ate, expect my husband because he thinks vegetables disguised as desserts or breads is trickery. (I could write a lot about his food habits, but will spare you.)  I planted only yellow squash, and I don’t think that is good for fried squash blossoms or muffins but heck, I may try it soon if I get tired of eating it with my dinner (or lunch as I did today). Plus no one else in my family will eat it — back to the weird food habits story that I haven’t written about yet. I am the primary squash eater of our household. Yay for me!

Anyway, one recipe that my friend Julie  suggested was very delicious and simple. You can use the grill or roast the veggies in the oven. It feels very summery and even my husband tried it! Here goes:

  • Squash (any kind, sliced thin, vertically)
  • Eggplant (Japanese, slice vertically)
  • Red peppers
  • or any other sturdy vegetable
  • Pesto (can purchase from the grocery)
  • Olive Oil

Slice vegetables 1/4 inch thick and dilute the pesto with a little olive oil. Toss vegetables and add salt and pepper to taste. Grill or roast in oven.

There you have it. Thanks, Julie!  Something else to do with all that squash (and Japanese eggplants, too!)

Eat well tonight and garden until the sun goes down.

Summer 2011

27 Wednesday Jul 2011

Posted by in garden, gardening, Uncategorized

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Now, the gophers are gone, the roses are blooming again, a few Dahlias have sprouted.  Now is the season of dead Alyogenes (blue hibiscus) and my time of painting rubbing alchohol on the branches of my one tree to kill the white  scale. Here is a picture–the scale looks prehistoric. You can take a toothbrush and dip it in alcohol to rub off the bugs, but it takes time and patience.

Some happy things: lots of yellow squash from the vegetable garden, green beans, eggplants and sunflowers, too.

Diseased branch

 

The dreaded late summer scale

Spring 2011

27 Wednesday Jul 2011

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Well, this is a little late, but spring was beautiful in my garden. Easter was the best time with Austin roses blooming so much that I got sick of making bouquets. The lavender was thick and the bower vines blossomed. Everything was beautiful. For the first time, did not plant Sweet Peas. That made me a little sad, but I ran out of steam, I guess. I’ve planted them for eleven years. My sweet pea patch grew shaded so it wouldn’t work for planting and I had no will to find another. It’s a pattern of these years, to be so passionate about something and then drop it. Anyway I got sad at the end and bought a six pack. They were measley little things.

But I still love roses. They lasted until May-ish. Then died in a huge way with caterpillars, rust and wilt. Not sure if the copper spray did much (but maybe I didn’t put it on right.) This was the first year for that. I revived them and have blooms now in July. First with Ada Perry’s Magic Formula, then pruning, then a fertilizer and Grow Power. Two died, though, when I went on vacation. I think the Ada Perry’s was too much for the type of watering my housesitter did (spraying not soaking.) They may have also died from the gophers. We had an infestation and my husband tried to gas them out. Gasing them is not a good idea for your plants–they can die instantaneously like the poor little gophers!

Sad Season

08 Tuesday Jun 2010

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Well, my garden went from over the top, blooming wonder to ridiculously dead. That is a garden for you. All the wildflowers died, and I had them pulled out right away because my brother was coming and I wanted it to look neat. Then I was a little overzealous watering over Memorial Day weekend and tested all my drip systems (maybe for too long) and pruned all the roses.

This week was cool with thick fog, and without even noticing the rust moved in and wrecked all my roses–maybe I transferred it when I pruned them too. On top of that, little miniature green caterpillars ate holes in every single rose leaf. My favorite rose “Mary Rose” is completely barren of leaves and only has a few flowers left. The only ones that haven’t caught the rust are the climbers, but they still have caterpillars. I went through the shed  looking for all my organic sprays and soaps. I plucked off all the yellow leaves and cleaned and put worm castings all around them. Someone told me that would be absorbed by the roses and make them taste bad. Then the guy at Walter Anderson told me that wasn’t true. He told me my pumpkins didn’t make fruit last year because it never reached 90 degrees and all that made me mad. I went crazy trying to remove every rust leaf in my yard and had giant thorns stab me. My arms are all scratched to pieces, bruised too from one very bad rose cane that snapped back at me as if trying to get revenge.

So anyway, I am very sad about the end of spring. I’m trying to grow some Black Eyed Susans to fill the holes. I think one sprouted in the gravel around the fountain. I tried to grow the rest in a seed grower thinging but nothing came up so I bought a six pack of that other yellow flower that looks like Black Eyed Susan…can’t think of the name right now. Anyway, my garden is very sad and so am I. Sad start to summer gardening.

At least I got a handful of green beans from my vegetable patch.

Garden Glory

05 Wednesday May 2010

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My garden is glorious and I am really proud of it. Friends ask, “did you plant something different this year? I don’t remember it that way.”  (I didn’t; it is just that this is the best time of year for it.)

Really it wasn’t much work. I sneak fifteen minutes here and there to fix it up or plant seeds or bulbs. The kids planted this new section with me one Saturday. It is growing nicely although one daisy died right away.

We also planted corn in the vegetable patch. I learned a new secret to planting it here in the cool coastal area. From Pat Welch’s great book, I learned to start it in a plastic baggy, which I set on the computer printer for a few days. The corn which was put between two damp paper towels sprouted right away. Then we had to find room. I don’t think we planted enough to polinate so I am trying to figure out where to put more. I have pumpkins, tomatoes, beans, arugula and corn all up. Peas and cilantro seem to be dying now.

The sweet peas are blooming and one of my most gorgeous Austin rose is pink all over. The others seem to have tiny buds. I feel like they are minatures….not sure what I bought or maybe it just takes them a year or two.

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That is a slide show of some of the plants and flowers. The roses in the vases are my Austin roses. I have made some gorgeous bouquets.

Garden Philosophy: No Holes

30 Saturday Jan 2010

Posted by in garden, gardening, roses, Uncategorized

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I lied. Here is another way I fill those empty holes -- potted plants!

I have been meaning to write this for a while. This is my garden manifesto and the one overarching philosophy I seem to have for gardening—-no holes.

What does this mean? Well, sit back, and I will tell you.

Wherever you see dirt, plant something.

That is it. That is my big philosophy and design mantra. Plant things where you have holes.

The most fabulous way to fill a hole is with a rose.

Ta da.

New Austin Roses

30 Saturday Jan 2010

Posted by in garden, gardening, roses, tomatoes, Uncategorized

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Niece and nephew helping ( I think.)

Niece comes to visit for an afternoon, but I have to plant the roses. She doesn't garden. But she says she will help even though she is wearing white pants!

Nephew soaks the roses in a bucket. You are supposed to soak the roots a few hours prior to planting.

My new Austin Roses arrived in a box today. They are three of them, bare root, scraggly ones, but large like they usually are. They are in a box in the garage until I can plant them tomorrow. I wonder how they will grow. Where will I plant them? I will probably dig up that Terrible Tomato–yes, it is still alive. My brother explained its unbelievable lifespan as “determinate” vs. “indetermiate” plants. This must be an indeterminate tomato because it has never died despite the winter. It even had three tomatoes on it, but they just now rotted and erupted. Weird. Anyway, I will rip it up and plant the Queen of Sweden there. Oh no, I didn’t buy that one. I bought, Jude the Obscure, Harlow Carr and James Galway — I love those very British names. I love Thomas Hardy so Jude the Obscure was a perfect rose. (Queen of Sweden wasn’t recommended for my climate. Oh my!) Anyway, too bad they didn’t have Tess of the D’Urbevilles or Charlotte or The Lady of the Lake — I’m sure I would have bought those too.

P.S.  As you can see from the above photos, I had some help planting the roses. That was very nice since i did not want to leave them in the garage in a box any longer than I had to. I think my niece and nephew survived. I hope my rose did, too!

Today in the Rain

20 Wednesday Jan 2010

Posted by in garden, gardening, roses, Southern California Rain

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Today my garden soaks up the rain. The palm trees whip the sky and the cold drizzle shines the leaves of roses and society garlic, pincushion flowers and pink pom pom flowers on groundcover that I can’t remember the name of — sea foam, maybe?

It is a good day for the garden.

The old dog dug a gigantic hole in an unused bed. (Smiley face.) Still a good day for the garden.

Millions of little seedlings mass in the outside-the-wall flowerbed. These will grow to fringed purple poppies, orange mariposa poppies and Toadflax–all spring favorites. Right at the lamp post six or seven daffodil shoots are now pushing through the once dry dirt, enjoying the rain, I am sure. The Hollyhock I planted where my Blue Hibiscus tree  died is revived, tiny knots of buds forming along its stem. I hope it grows tall as the tree it replaced, one giant HollyHock as tall as the sky.

I want to buy fertilizer and sprinkle it everywhere. I am waiting for a break in the rain. When this happens, I may try to clean up my vegetable patch, now overgrown with Swiss Chard I’ve never eaten, spinach the snails have indulged in, six or seven snap peas straining to grow upwards. I have only supplied a few bamboo sticks that haven’t been supportive enough to keep them safe from this wind.

El Nino? La Nina? The weatherman says this rain won’t be enough to make up for three years of drought. But let’s not dwell. Let’s watch the garden and say, 

Hurray for the rain!