Blog Tag: grow blog

WHAT is it with the October heat wave? I’ve lived in Los Angeles long enough to know that this is our hottest season. Despite my protestations that it should be time for boots and sweater weather, October greets me full of fire-inducing, hot Santa Ana winds and the temptation to buy an air conditioner. But I can’t seem to get over wish for a cold, damp, blustery fall, pumpkin patches, fires in the wood stove instead of the surrounding hills, veggies roasting in a crockpot for a hot, filling dinner.

Whether your weather collaborates with your seasonal dreams or not, October is a good time to sow certain seeds, especially peas: snow peas or snap, if you get them in the ground now, you’ll have a jump on fresh peas for a spring harvest.  I’ve always loved snow peas, whether it’s the crunch they add to a stir-fry or the reminder of the princess who felt the slight change beneath her 20 mattresses, reminding me that I can be high maintenance about a few things.  “You’re the worst kind; you’re high maintenance but you think you’re low maintenance.”  ~ When Harry Met Sally

Despite their princess-y reputation, peas are pretty easy to grow, though you have to give some special attention when it comes to watering them.

How to plant your peas:

• Pick a sunny spot to plant, but if it’s still hot (heeeey L.A.), pick a place where other plants provide some cooler shade for your new peas.  OrganicGardening.com suggests planting where your corn or pole beans might provide some relief from the heat.
• Peas prefer loamy soil, but you can loosen your heavier soil by adding some organic compost to it prior to sowing your seeds.
• Sow seeds by hand in a row, broadcasting them to fall where they may.  Cover with 2 inches of soil. Rows should have approximately 18” to 24” between them.
• Limited for space?  Burpee.com suggests you “plant ‘Alderman’ heirloom garden peas or ‘Super Sugar’ snap peas on a trellis or fence. This way you can get maximum yields using only a few square feet of garden space.”
• Much like the fabled princess feeling that little bump 20 mattresses below her, peas are a bit finicky when it comes to watering: too much will water-log them, too little when the seeds are germinating or blooming, and you won’t get a good crop. Water deeply once a week, and once the pea plants are up, give them a 1/2 inch or more of water every week.
• No need to fertilize: peas, and especially snow peas, are the hosts to good bacteria, fixing the nitrogen levels in your soil.
• Peas are ready to harvest about three weeks after a plant blossoms.  Taste the pea pod straight off the vine, and if they’re ready to pick, use them within a few hours for the best, sweetest taste.

“On the side” is a very big thing for you.”  (When Harry Met Sally)  How do you prefer your peas?  In the pod, tossed in a salad or stir-fry?  Steamed or added to a Thanksgiving mystery casserole?  Tell us any tricks and tips you’ve learned about growing and harvesting peas in the comments or over on Twitter @TheCityFarm.

(Photo Credit: loghouseplants.com)

Is it possible to have a spirit flower? You know, like the times a seemingly random animal keeps showing up in your life, those times you keep seeing peacock images or owls or wombats and someone tells you that the universe is trying to tell you something based on what your “spirit animal” portends.

I’m seeing dahlias. The boyfriend and I went to the Getty Center this weekend, taking my friend and colleague who is visiting California from Congo.  The grounds and architecture of the Getty are equally if not more a work of art as the fantastic collections the museum curates. The Getty perches atop the Santa Monica mountains directly off the 405, the travertine stone chosen for its look and history: “16,000 tons of travertine are from Bagni di Tivoli, Italy, 15 miles east of Rome. Many of the stones revealed fossilized leaves, feathers, and branches when they were split along their natural grain.”

We walked through the rounds of the circular garden, eying the dahlias that were bright against the grey morning sky, orangey pinks and rich eggplant-purples.  The boyfriend noted my love of the blowzy blooms, and picked up a pink bunch to add to my vase of sunflowers, one of my other favorite flowers.  And they may just be my spirit flower; researching the dahlia, I learned that they are in the same family as the sunflower.

Named in 1791 by Spanish botanist Antonio José Cavanilles for Anders Dahl (1751-1789), the Swedish botanist who saw the flower in Mexico in 1788. According to dictionary.com, no blue variety had ever been cultivated, thus the term “blue dahlia,” as an expression for “something impossible or unattainable.” Again with the coincidences – I’d JUST opened an article on Mother Nature Network that explains why blue is not a common color in the plant and flower world – “to make blue flowers, or foliage, plants perform a sort of floral trickery with common plant pigments called anthocyaninsj.” And while people have tried to use their chemistry sets to create the unnatural, a blue rose, they’ve only succeeded so far to use delphinidin, the pigment that makes delphiniums and violas blue, to make a purple rose.

I’ll have to pay closer attention to the floral signs in my life, to learn whether my spirit flower is trying to tell me something about the impossible or unobtainable, or to let my perfectionism go and be a bit more blowzy, disheveled, and unkempt in some areas of my life? For now, I’ll just stop to smell, photograph, and drink in the beauty of the dahlia.

Looking to add dahlias to your life?

• Plant the perennial tubers in the spring, after the last threat of frost has passed, once the soil has warmed to around 60 F.
• Pick a sunny spot, dahlias prefer well-drained, slightly acidic soil and full sun. GardeningStepbyStep.com suggests a nitrogen rich fertilizer in the early summer, followed by a a high potash/potassium one in the mid-summer to promote flowering.
• Talk to your local nursery owner to decide how tall you want your dahlias to grow; the smaller (3 feet tall) flowering types can be planed 2 feet apart, while the taller types (4-5 feet tall) are best to space 3 feet apart.
• Speaking of growing tall, your flowers will need a bit of support: tie the growing stems to stakes to guide their growth.
• The Old Farmer’s Almanac discourages over-watering to avoid rot: after planting; wait to water until the sprouts have appeared above the soil.
• If you live in zone 8, dahlias are hardy and can survive the winter out of doors, but for those in colder climates, remove the tuberous roots and store during the winter.
• Wait around 8 weeks for your dahlias to bloom!  Are you one to cut flowers for your home, or leave them to enjoy outside?  Did you know that dahlias are edible?  In addition to the petals, you can eat the bulbs, adding crunch and a flavor often compared to water chestnuts.

Do you plan to plant dahlias?  Do you grow you own? Have you ever eaten one? Share your favorite photos or tips you’ve learned here or over on Twitter @TheCityFarm & @RebeccaSnavely.

(Photos: Rebecca Snavely)

The lemon cyrpess tree stopped me in my tracks as I walked into the store. Mission accomplished, Trader Joes: I *almost* bought one, its color reminding me of the lime popsicles that I bought from the corner store a quick bike ride from my childhood house.  And on a day that registered almost 100 in my part of L.A., anything that reminded me of a popsicle was a sure purchase.

But before I counted out those nine dollars and made the little bright green tree my own, I wanted to know more. SF Gate informed me that the lemon cypress is also known as the “’Golden Crest’ or “Goldcrest” cultivar of the Monterey cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa), a tree that has a native range limited to the Monterey bay on the coast of central California.”

So that is why it called to me.  I love the central coast of California, winding my way up the coast highway from L.A., the beautiful bridges, the cliffs down to the rocky beaches, the cypress trees that make every golden hour photo gorgeous against the setting sun and the blues of the sea.  On a road trip to Monterey with my mother, we took our time on that drive up the 1. We stopped for coffee or hikes as often as we wanted, explored Monterey by bus, went on a guided kayak tour of the bay, during which we were regularly reprimanded as the slow boat, dragging behind the rest of the kayaks while we exclaimed about the otters popping up around us, got lost in the beauty of the day and forgot to paddle, and in general wreaked havoc in the channel as a MUCH BIGGER BOAT made its way out of the bay.

Armed with the info about where the lemon cypress hails from and the golden glow of memory that it invokes, I plan to take one home with me on my next trip to Trader Joes.  Though in their native home they can grow as tall as 100 feet and keep their conical shape until they are over 30 feet, they can easily be cultivated as small topiaries, If you want to add one to your front stoop or living room. Snug Harbor Farm notes that they can grow to 12 inches to three feet in containers, and their photos are just BEGGING to be posted on Pinterest with as wee Christmas trees decked out with white lights or handmade ornaments.

Planting your lemon cypress in the wilds of your yard or garden?

• They thrive best in USDA zones 7-10.

• If you live in a hotter climate, choose a sunny spot that receives some shade, and if you’re in a coastal area, plant in a sunny area.

• Plant in the spring, before the summer heat, or early fall.

• SF Gate recommends you water regularly in the first growing season, to encourage your tree to establish deep roots, but do not let it become water-logged.

• Choose a well-draining, sandy soil, and use a general fertilizer in the spring.

Your new addition to your yard is low maintenance, so you can sit back and let it grow in its own way, unless you choose to prune it as a hedge.

Taking your tree inside, or planing in a container for your patio garden?

• Keep the soil moist, but not soaked.

• Choose its home near a window that gets lots of light, and Snug Harbor Farm suggests one that faces south.

• Add plant food every two weeks during the growing season, from April to September, and then only once a month during the colder months.

The lemon cypress is low-maintenance, but if it starts to lose its conical shape, prune it back to where you want it. Snug Harbor notes that pruning may bruise the tips and make them brown, but the plant will quickly heal.

Bonus: It smells like lemons!  Do you have a lemon cypress in your garden or house?  Tag us in photos of it on twitter: @TheCityFarm.

(Photo Credit: Snug Harbor Farm)

Remember that time you didn’t take a bath for days, and a crop of radishes starting sprouting from your arms and legs?

Right, me either.

But as a child with an over-active imagination, parented in part by Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books, I was oft worried / left wondering if perhaps the Radish Cure could happen to me. Prescribed by Mrs. P-W to solve the problem of Patsy, the story of a little girl who wouldn’t take a bath, and her parents who turned for advice to the wise Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, who, by the way, lived in an upside down house.  Mrs. P-W’s solution? Let Patsy skip bath time.  And while she slept, her parents secretly planted radish seeds into the layers of dirt that built up on her arms and legs.  And voila!  One morning, Patsy’s little limbs had turned into a vegetable garden!

It was both terrifying and tempting – could I *get* that dirty that a garden would grow on my arms?  And now that I’m all grown up and (mostly) don’t believe in fairy-tales, is it freaky to harbor the idea of using EVERY surface to harvest food?  (Don’t answer that.)
If getting so dirty that you could grow arm-veggies does not appeal to you, here’s how to grow radishes the (yawn) regular way.

• Pick a place, in your open garden, a raised bed, or a container.  In any space, you will plant the seeds directly into the earth.
• Radishes will grow fastest in full-sun, and according to MadAboutGardening, a quick ripening provides the best taste and crisp texture.  But if you’re planting in the full-hot-heat of summer, choose a spot that offers a little shade.
• Prepare your soil with a mix of sandy loam and compost, so the radish roots can easily burrow deep down.
• Plant seeds 3 to 6 inches apart.
• Water evenly to keep the soil moist.
• Watch them grow.
• Harvest when you see the red radish tops pushing up through the soil.
• Eat: add raw to a salad, or roast if the weather has cooled down!

Radishes are annuals that produce one root per seed planted, so consider waiting a couple weeks and planting another row, to have an ongoing harvest.  Check with your seed-seller for the best variety for your region and when you plan to plant.  MadAboutGardening, based in Portland, Oregon, likes to plant in the spring, but late summer is a great time to plant radishes. As Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle knew, they grow quickly, and can be ready to roast and add to your fall menu in three weeks to a month.  Bon appétit!

(Photo Credit: Wild Roots)

I remember the first time I visited a friend’s new house in Phoenix, that time she proudly proclaimed her front yard “landscaped.”  As I looked around, she directed my gaze to a square of small grey pebbles and a succulent. Even the plants seemed to know that this part of Arizona was not meant to support life. I tried SO hard to compliment her grey garden, while my inner Oregonian was SO condescending and judgey: I saw a  sad, dry landscape art that longed for lush greens and bright flowers.

Walking my L.A. neighborhood this dry, drought-stricken year, I now find myself more and more drawn to those very desert-like gardens.  But we don’t have to settle for drab or sad drought-friendly gardens.  As more and more of my neighbors are letting their lawns go, I see them choosing drought-resistant plants and gorgeous ground cover, prickly cacti with bright yellow flowers, purple and pink Echeveria that require very little love from the watering can.

One street over, I saw a gorgeous succulent starting its life as new ground cover: Crassula erosula, also known as “Campfire.”  A combination of bright lime green and a brilliant coral orange leaves, it will blossom with white flowers in the fall in Southern California and similar growing regions.  A native to South Africa and Madagascar, they grow best in USDA regions 9 – 11.

Growing only six inches in height, Campfire can spread to three feet, making it a great ground cover, as my neighbor’s is clearly intended to be.  But Crassula erosula also works well in containers or hanging baskets to add brilliant colors to your front stoop or porch garden.  Campfire requires full sun and well-drained soil, and a little stress to get the brightest colors, so be sure not to over-water it.

Have you switched up your landscaping to deal with the drought?  Tell us your tips and tricks here in the comments or over on Twitter @TheCityFarm & @RebeccaSnavely.  And take a look at why the prickly pear cactus might be your new favorite food, here.

Photo Credit: Annie’s Annuals

As we say goodbye to a July filled with grey California mornings (challenging Angelenos to re-rhyme June Gloom to July ____ ?), we embrace the August heat that is due to descend upon Los Angeles.  The long hot days make the city livable out-of-doors right around 9pm, exactly the right time to drink in night blooming jasmine.

A fellow transplant to Los Angeles once told me that a friend had worried about moving to L.A. from the east coast, having heard horror stories of a cement-laden city marred by traffic-clogged byways, air filled with smog that smelled of exhaust.  She soon realized instead that, “L.A. smells like flowers!” Why wouldn’t you want to live in a place where hot summer nights are scented in jasmine?

Night blooming jasmine is Latin-ly known as Cestrum nocturnum, or by its common name, Raatraani, which translates from Hindi as “queen of the night.” A fact which, naturally, flashed me back to 1992 and Whitney Houston’s performance in The Bodyguard, and subsequently, me at 16 losing my emotional stability, SOBBING in the mall theater’s parking lot in my dad’s car, trying to get over the doomed love affair between Whitney and Kevin.

I clearly had questionable taste as a teen, but thankfully I’ve moved on, drinking in better movies and the real queen of the night, night-blooming jasmine, also known in Manipuri, a language spoken in parts of India, as “moon flower.” Now, walking on a warm night, a waft of sweet-scented jasmine makes me feel at home, and happy to have planted myself in a place that smells like flowers.

The queen of the night is an evergreen shrub that is rather unassuming for its name, its plain, glossy, green leaves balancing how it flaunts its perfumed flowers that only open at night. If you want to add the shrub to your garden or yard, it thrives in containers as well as in the ground, with sandy, well drained soil. Starting from seed could takes months of prep, so it’s best to buy a rooted stem cutting from your local nursery.  Choose a spot with at least six hours of sunlight, but avoid placing your queen in excessive direct sun.  Check out DesignGreenIndia’s blog post for more info on fertilizer and pruning.  Originally from the West Indies and South America, Cestrum nocturnum grows best in hardiness zones 8 – 11.

SFGate notes that night-blooming jasmine also attracts moths and butterflies, so if you want to bring even more butterflies to your yard, to check out my previous post, Butterfly Ambassadors, and read up on how growing a bio-diverse garden can change the world.

What are your summer stories that are scented with night blooming jasmine?  Tell us in the comments or on Twitter @RebeccaSnavely & @TheCityFarm!

(Photo Credit:  Portland Nursery)

“The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks.”  Tennessee Williams wrote in Camino Real. And in some tellings of the myth of Attis, the Phrygian god of vegetation, violets were thought to have grown from his suicidal blood-letting, driven mad after his nymph mistress was killed by his jealous lover Cybele, also, in some accounts, thought to be Attis’ mother.

How did a flower with such a storied past become the representative of the reticent and shy?  The origin of the phrase “shrinking violet” is debatable – while Merriam Webster claims it was first used in 1915, there are citations to its use as a figure of speech to describe a shy or introverted person from 1870, as found in the Pennsylvania newspaper The Titusville Herald.  The Phrase Finder describes its use in a “rather sarcastic article is about the New York businessman William Tweed, who was widely believed to have stolen large amounts of public money:  ‘…deputations of the tax payers of New York waiting upon Mr. Tweed with the title-deeds of their mansions and the shrinking violet Tweed begging them to pardon his rosy blushes. Can it be that he is a humbug?’”

(Can we talk about the origin of “humbug” next?)

If you plan to grow violets in your garden, find a lightly shaded spot, with moist soil, and deadhead often to keep the flowers blooming as long as possible.  Plant in the spring, as they thrive in cooler weather, and again in the fall.

Violets add gorgeous color to your garden or windowsill, and can be used as a garnish or to add flavor to certain foods.  I just learned that “the flowers and leaves of the cultivar ‘Rebecca,’ one of the Violetta violets, have a distinct vanilla flavor with hints of wintergreen.” Have you ever used sweet violets in your kitchen in cakes or to make jam?   Ever tried to make violet extract with vodka? If you’re ready to play with your pansies, take a look at the recipes for for candied violets, simple violet syrup, and violet martinis on What’s Cooking in Your World.  Share your stories and recipes over on Twitter: @RebeccaSnavely & @TheCityFarm!

(Photo Credit: What’s Cooking in Your World)

I am a lemon addict.

I am out of lemons.

This lemon-less dilemma would not feel quite so tragic were I not home-bound the past few days with a summer cold, an energy-sucking nuisance that I have been treating with my best friend, the lemon.  Squeezed into a cup of tea with two heaping spoonfuls of The City Farm’s Avocado Honey, or simply prepared, on its own, with steamy water from the kettle, a tisane I started making part of my morning routine after reading about its many health and detoxing benefits.  And that skinny people do it.  I’m not above vanity rituals, especially ones that offer to balance my pH levels, aid digestion, and seem so easy.

So easy, until you’re housebound without a lemon in sight.  Car-free, there is no quick drive down to the store for me, there are running shoes and sweat is involved, which sounds exhausting to my cold-addled mind. I *could* order delivery from my local, spendy shop with their cute, city-sized vans and adorable wanna-be actors making a living bringing lemons to shut-ins.  But that seems extravagant.  Instead, I’ve decided it’s time to grow my own lemons.  I live in Southern California, after all. The fact that I DON’T have a lemon tree is probably grounds to revoke my citizenship.

I’ll have to grow a container tree, as I don’t have any green space, but if you do, and want to add a lemon tree to your yard, according to SFGate, the hardy citrus tree is among the easiest to care for, demanding little attention, as long as you live in zones 8b – 11.

For those who don’t live in a lemon-growing green space, or want to plant in a pot to save space, Canadian gardener and author of Growing Wild C.E.E.D.S. has tips to start one from seed, eventually producing citrus that can survive and thrive indoors with the northern light of a place like her home of Toronto.  It may take three to six years to produce fruit, so, if you’re like me and need a lemon fix from your front stoop, stat, pickup one that has already been started at your local nursery.

The National Gardening Association suggests you choose a smaller fruit, Meyer lemons are a favorite both for space, and for their level of acidity that grows well indoors. When looking for a lemon variety for your limited space, consider choosing one that is grafted to Flying Dragon (Hiryu) rootstock, as it “will be significantly dwarfed, thereby extending its useful life in a container.”

Do you already grow your own lemons? Have you had any trouble growing them inside, or from seed?  Share your story in the comments, or tell us @TheCityFarm and @RebeccaSnavely.

(Photo Credit: The City Farm, Growing Wild C.E.E.D.S.)

I spotted a new favorite flower while waiting for my smoked salmon and scrambled eggs and the boyfriend’s croque madame, sitting outside at a table on the patio of Look Mum No Hands, a restaurant, bakery, and bicycle repair shop. A typical grey morning in London, a collection of cut flowers in green-glass bottles caught our eyes, and we grabbed one to add a dash of color to our unfinished wood tabletop. The blueish-purple thistle stood out against the browns and greys of the day, and I went straight to the answer machine to find out how I could have more of them in my daily life. Upon Googling the photos I snapped (and the help of a Facebook friend who pulls endless amounts of them from her flower-bed in France), I learned it was called an Eryngium “Sapphire Blue” thistle from the Apiaceae family.  Say THAT five times fast.  The flower is often called Sea Holly (a bit easier on the tongue) and is not only drought resistant, but also attracts butterflies and hummingbirds to your garden, and reportedly repels rattlesnakes.

An image search revealed the popularity of Sea Holly in bouquets and centerpieces as well as an easy-to-grow garden favorite.  To add them to your yard, table tops, or bridal ensemble, plant the thistle in a space that receives full sun, with plenty of drainage, as they will not survive wet, soggy soil.  According to BHG, these perennials “thrive on neglect,” so they also make a perfect gift for the would-be gardener who claims their green thumb has turned grey.

“A weed is but an unloved flower.”  ― Ella Wheeler Wilcox

If unwanted, these thistles may be labeled weeds, so you’ll want to prune and deadhead fading flowers to encourage a longer flowering season, as well as to prevent them from self-seeding and taking over your garden.  Easy to love, they’re not only ornamental, but have health benefits as well. Many of the family Apiaceae have been used in folk medicine or as an herbal remedy for scorpion stings in Jordan. If you’re interested in researching more, take a look at the scintillatingly titled Phytochemical Constituents and Pharmacological Activities of Eryngium L. (Apiaceae), which states that “Some Eryngium species are cultivated as ornamental, vegetable, or medicinal crops for folk uses. With increasing chemical and biological investigations, Eryngium has shown its potential as pharmaceutical crops.”  The review explores the potential use for the plant in “anti-inflammatory, anti-snake and scorpion venoms, antibacterial, antifungal, and antimalarial, antioxidant, and antihyperglycemic effects.”

If you’re simply looking to add more to bring the birds and butterflies to your yard, be sure to plant your Eryngium in a permanent place where its long taproot can reach deep down.  Check out GardeningKnowHow for a list of Sea Holly varietals, from the Rattlesnake Master, so named because of the myth that the plant could cure snake bites, to the Giant Sea Holly, a.k.a. Miss Wilmot’s Ghost (named for English gardener Ellen Wilmot).  These thistles seem to tell tales with each planting…what story does your garden tell?  Share photos with us on Twitter at @TheCityFarm

(Photo Credit: Rebecca Snavely, center bouquet from TribalRoseFlowers)