A neon yellow rose

with tuxedo cat

smells great

Bigger pots for tomatillo, ground cherry

purple de milpa tomatillo

It is not quite time for the tomatillos and ground cherry to go out, and they were getting too large for their pots that I transplanted them into a little less than a month ago, so I transplanted them a second time today. 

ground cherry with cat stalker

The best choice I had for pots were some terra cotta ones. I prefer plastic because I feel I can control water better, but it will do. Hopefully in a couple of weeks, I can start hardening them off and get them out in the garden by mid-June. I've reserved a good amount of space in the garden for the sprawling tomatillos (two) and ground cherry (one).  

ground cherry with flowers

Like tomatoes, you can plant tomatillo and ground cherry deep for stability. More roots will grow from the sides of the stem, bringing more nutrients to the plant.

Also today, I planted more beet seeds — bull's blood beet from Wild Garden Seed. Their seed looks really hardy and uniform and exceptionally clean. Got the beet seeds yesterday along with a packet of lettuce seeds and cilantro, which I planted next to the parsley in the garden. There's cilantro here and there from last year, but I wanted to try some new seeds.

I also planted red baron onions (scallions) near the lettuce. They are nice and reliable.

I also transplanted more basil and epazote. I have a surfeit of the Mexican herb this year, and I am thinking of selling some of them in pots. Epazote is not readily available in the markets here, but I think it must be beloved. I only need one or two plants the whole summer.

Bolloso Napoletano basil

Just needed a few basil leaves for dinner, so I picked some from my seed starts. I've been doing this for a couple weeks. It won't hurt the starts. In fact, it encourages new growth.

I started hardening the basils off this weekend. I intended to keep them out just for an hour or so, but I kept checking on them and they were fine. They were out the entire day with no signs of stress at all. And they are well now. As soon as I get a good afternoon off, they'll go out. Actually, final decisions regarding basils and other herbs that'll live in the herb table belong to L. He's learning about plants and gardening more and more every year. Of course, I'm around to give my opinion.

I love bolloso's wrinkled, ruffled appearance. The herb is tasty too, a slight hint of anise. The leaves get large. I'm intrigued about using them for wraps.

We're also growing Genovese basil, a type favored for pesto, as well as Thai basil and basils from a "spicy mix" that includes cinnamon, anise, clove and licorice basils. Also seeds from tulsi, or sacred basil, have germinated in the herb table. Maybe they will thrive. I won't pinch them out.

Bronze Fennel

Green sign is what spring hope is all about. Even the first blades of grass and the errant weed seed sprouting in a sidewalk crack cures S.A.D. Well, in one month, summer will be here, and everything is fully green right now, so bronze fennel is really delightful.

I planted the fennel last year and it was slow to establish. These plants must have overwintered; the fennel would not have been so sturdy at this point otherwise.

I don't love eating fennel. These plants are more decorative for me, but I do like fennel seed in tea, along with other things like ginger. The fennel lends a natural sweetness.

The fennel is in a long and narrow raised bed that has a trellis in it toward the back. I am hoping the entire front part of the raised bed gets filled with the fennel. 

I'm a sucker for plants with feathery foliage. Others I am growing: chamomile and dill.

May here and there

Miner's lettuce prefers the shade and since my batch is in the sun, it has been flowering and will go to seed soon. It reseeds easily; it is easy to spot growing in the wild, including on the hill above my house. Its roots are shallow, so it's easy to weed out if necessary.

Chayote is firm and can be used just like zucchini. In Hawaii, it is called pipinola. Both the fruit and the tender shoots can be eaten. 

Yum, mâche is a new favorite. The seeds will hold in the soil through winter and sprout in the early spring. It is a tender and sweet green that can be eaten with a simple dressing — olive oil and honey — or without completely.

This is the third year I am growing garlic. The year wouldn't be the same without it.

There was such a mild winter that the lemon balm, which never survives, is coming back. The chocolate mint overwintered too and is intruding in lemon balm territory.

The chocolate mint is marching, growing wherever it can. Mints will wander and spread so it is a good thing I grow my mint in the herb table where its options are limited. I really like this chocolate mint — it is attractive and it tastes good.

Commemoration

Daffodils —the last of them — speakers, surveillance cameras, clone flower. Too perfect. A ruffled cup.

Even at vacant lots, overgrown by June, or at abandoned houses, the daffodils come back every year, human presence not required. The removal of boards, foundations, steps, a roof, do not disturb the bulbs.

A local man dug daffodil bulbs in a summer where the homesteads had blended back into the wild and transplanted them to a hill, otherwise non-descript (another Table Mountain?), that the geologists say is due for a landslide any time. Overwhelming display in the spring — nostalgia — the local man hired bagpipers and drummers the first year for a commemoration.

Now that the daffodils are fading, it's time for the weeds to get bigger and for serious planting to start.

This weekend, we  planted a row of Paris market carrots and two shallots in the smaller raised bed. Shallots should have been planted a lot earlier, but last year, I planted them late, and I got a healthy harvest. The shallots are from seedstock homegrown last year. That seedstock was also homegrown. The year before, I purchased the bulbs. More shallots in the larger raised bed too.

We're allium lovers, so our garden is very allium-centric. Garlic takes up a lot of space and in addition to the shallots, I'm also growing a kind of a leek, a kind of a scallion that sometimes bulbs up and a small red onion. Lots of these scallions overwintered and are really delicious.

In addition, this weekend, we planted three short rows of French breakfast radishes, three short rows of Chioggia beet and one row of Swiss chard.

Seedlings want to grow

It's amazing how much a young plant will grow after it's transplanted.

Here are two tomatillos. I planted the seeds on the same day and up until last week, they grew together in a seed-starting tray (1"x1"x2" sections each).

I transplanted one tomatillo (top photo) to a much larger container, 4" in diameter and 3" high. Using the small stone for reference, you can see how much the top transplanted tomatillo grew in one week...and the one waiting to get transplanted probably wants more space too.

It's surprising how much root seedlings develop within only a few weeks.

In a couple weeks, I'll transplant the top plant straight to the soil outside. Some seedlings go straight from the tray to the soil, but I like certain plants to get bigger and sturdier before going outside.

Also, very soon, I'll transplant the little tomatillo to a larger pot. I have dirt under my fingernails everyday. Gardening season is here.

Maple flowers + work

maple, clematis

I looked out my window and the maple tree was covered in bouquets, new green, yellow.

The leaves, delicate and shiny, are tucked within, secondary to the flowers. After a weekend of work — digging, turning, transplanting, planning — I picked a few small branches.

At first, I put the cuttings in a jar, but they're better hanging inside like they do outside. You can compost the cherry blossoms — I prefer green flowers.

In addition to preparing the raised beds (we added new compost last week), I moved seedlings into bigger pots and planted more seeds indoors. 

The garlic is coming along fine and there are other small onions/scallions here and there that overwintered (red baron, red marble and shimonita). Mache is getting bigger. It's delicious.

There's a chamomile cloud growing and I am hoping my parsley comes back like it usually does. Parsley is a huge staple plant for us. Parsley pesto can't be beat.

I'll sow a lot of seed within a week — especially carrots and beets. Seedlings will go out soon too. April's a great month.

Desk sweepings

Cannot resist certain faded flowers.
(christmas cactus)