You would never know fall arrived in Laguna Beach this morning! We’re still having a bit of a heat wave, but nothing like last weekend when it was 102 degrees in my non-air conditioned (and non-insulated) house. And even though my good friend, and fellow gardener, Cathy, said I should wait until the soil cools for my fall planting, I was too impatient and just had to get a few […]
I thought my season for tomatoes was almost over and look what I found in the garden this morning! But I also found more horned-caterpillars who were enjoying them as well. And worse yet “something” ate all the tops off of my cilantro. That’s a new problem for me, but I’ll worry about that later. First I have to enjoy these tomatoes. I could have just sliced them and […]
What do my garden and my blog have in common with David Bowie? Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes! I was experimenting with the format of my blog and before I knew it…changes were made and the old format was no longer available. I hope you like the new look! The one feature I really like is the “Search” button on the top right. Just type in any ingredient or anything you’d like to cook […]
My poor garden. If I’m not sharing tomatoes with the critters… …the plants are dying on the vine. It’s so sad. It never fails. Just when you think everything in the garden is happy and producing…Wham! Crop Failure. And this time on a huge scale. This was one of my favorite tomatoes–the Black Seaman Russian Heirloom that I got at TomatoMania at Rogers Gardens. It produced the most delicious tomatoes I’ve […]
Whenever I have a tough day at work I can’t wait to come home and dig in the dirt–and for the last two weeks that’s been every single day. Why? We just got a new computer system at work and let’s just say, they’re still fine tuning things. We’re all crabby and grumpy trying to figure it all out, but today I shared some of my tomatoes with my fellow […]
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU It’s official–I crossed the 10,000 readers mark! And I can’t say it loud enough. THANK YOU to all 10,000+ readers in 73 different countries. And to think that just a little over a year ago I was happy to have 100 people read my blog…in a month. I was talking to a friend recently who had just lost her job and she was struggling […]
Okay, I admit it. Right now I have zucchini-envy! I read my friend, Janine’s blog this morning and was happy for her…but so sad for me. She has the most beautiful zucchini plants right now and mine…well…mine had to be cut back to almost nothing because of leaf mold and blossom rot. Sounds lovely, doesn’t it.I won’t even share the worst of my zucchini shots, call it pride or embarrassment, […]
I always love the first big harvest of the summer season. When I dug up these red potatoes and picked the green beans I knew I was going to make a red potato and green bean salad with vinaigrette dressing–I’ll share the recipe in another blog, but right now I want to tell you about the garden maintenance I did this weekend, and hopefully inspire you to start working on […]
The strawberry thief has been identified! I have to thank Toby, the dog next door, for solving the mystery. Detective Toby This shouldn’t have surprised me. Last summer Toby solved another mystery when he caught the raccoon that was eating his Kibbles and Bits..and my tomatoes. There’s nothing worse than spotting a big red ripe tomato that you’re planning on picking the next day only to find its […]
Help! I’m living my own little Caine Mutiny! My strawberries are under attack! Here’s the “before” photo…before something decided to turn my strawberries into their smorgasbord. And here’s what they look like now. I’m so frustrated. Something is eating all the leaves. Again…a before…and… …sadly, that same plant today. And one final pitiful parting shot.I’ve been playing detective trying to figure out what is eating the leaves. From what I’ve […]