Grow Better Veggies

The Herb Garden in All Its Splendor

I'm loving my herb garden right now.  July is its most magnificent month, and all the hard work that has gone into it shows.  I created it oh, about 9 years ago.  I sited it in an odd part of the farm, a place that doesn't get an awful lot of sun.  Most herbs don't need all day sun, like most vegetables do.  We're not really looking for them to flower, so less sunlight fills that bill.  It's in the shape of a circle, about 24 feet in diameter, and I cut it into pie wedges, twelve of them.  Then I bisected each pie wedge so that it really is two circles, one inside the other.  That gives me 24 different spots in which to plant herbs.

Here is a picture of the herb circle during the winter, when most things are dormant.  That gorgeous specimen in the middle is a Clematis Montana putting on its annual show.

We changed the herb garden slightly this year.  The chef was not loving the various sages I originally planted so long ago, and he had no use for a few of the other oddities I had in there, such as St. John's Wort, Germander, and Lamb's Ear. 

So we dug those out this spring and added some new herbs that I've never grown before, but they're coming along nicely: Chervil, Safflower, Anise Hyssop, German Sour Dock, and Fenugreek.

The newbies have been added to our tried and true favorites: Stevia, Rosemary, Oregano, Bronze Fennel, Basil, Chives, Lavender, Parsley, Thyme, Summer and Winter Savory, Golden Marjoram, Garlic Chives, Dill, Purslane, Cilantro (he loves the flowers and the green coriander seeds), Sorrel, Yarrow, Tarragon, and the bully, Nasturtium.

The Nasturtiums are always trying to dominate the others, overshadowing (literally) the basil and chives next to them.  I get in there and hack away at the invading army, and try to revive the squashed neighbors.  I do love the Nasturtiums, though, they remind me of my grandmother, who had a small patch of them growing under the stairwell of her apartment. I insisted on going out there and watering them with her little watering can.  So much so, that she'd eventually have to call me in, saying, "That's enough, sweetie."    They were the first plant I ever nurtured.   So I see Nasturtiums as not only a reminder of my grandma, but of the start of the obsession I have with plants.

I'd love to be able to show this herb garden to my grannie.  I think she would have loved it.  When I re-open the farm to the public soon, you're all invited to come over and take a look at it. Bring your watering can.

Looky what I got! Juicy Yummy Tomato Goodness

First "real" harvest of tomatoes this season!  Woot woot!  I had spied these sweeties enticing me in the garden this past week, and I knew they needed a few more days of "hang time."  That's the time most fruits need after their mature color occurs.  They LOOKED ripe, but I was fine with letting the sun do its photosynthesizing "thang" and bring out their full sugary goodness.

When people send me emails asking why their tomatoes don't have any flavor, I usually send them back a list of questions to answer, one of which is, "How soon after they colored up did you pick them?"  Sometimes this is the problem.  People are so eager to finally eat their home-grown tomatoes, that the first day they look ripe, they pick them.  Tomatoes need warmth, light, and vine ripening to bring out their real full flavor.

The tomatoes in the picture I picked July 3.  That's kind of early for my area in California.  Don't feel bad if you don't have any ripe tomatoes yet.  All of these tomatoes were from starts I planted in my gigantic hoophouse on April 4th.  Many of you couldn't plant that early, due to late frosts and what not.  I didn't put  any tomato plants outside the hoophouse until the first part of May.  That's because here in the mountains of coastal central California, we will get frosts in April.  In fact, our last frost here this year was on April 24.  It got down to 27 degrees.  If any of my tomatoes had been planted outside on that date, they would have died.  So I am not expecting any ripe tomatoes on my outside plants for another few weeks.  Don't fret if you don't have any either.

In the meantime, rest assured that the Brad's Black Heart, Virginia Sweets, Grub's Mystery Green, White Cherry, Tommy Toe, and JD's Special C-Tex, all pictured in the photo, will all go to a very good home ---- mine!  (except for one gorgeous black oxheart - it went home with my new very loyal volunteer, Hannah).

We Got Bees

We got our bees back. Happy day!  We had bees a couple of years ago, but our handsome Italian beekeeper, Luca, had to take them away when my property was being inundated with dust from a construction project (we were filling in my pool with soil). 

After their move, Luca discovered that the bees were just fine in their new home and didn't want to further stress them by moving them back. 

So we waited.  We bemoaned the loss of our beautiful bees.  I loved seeing the flurry of activity in the garden.  It wasn't unusual for me to catch a delirious party of four or five bees inside one squash blossom.  Such pollination going on! 

The chef was stung, I think, four times that season while he snipped edible flowers out of the garden.  Like any experienced chef, his hands are a mess of cuts, burns, and blisters.  He barely complained about the stings; I don't think those bees could harm him more than a 500 degree pan could.  He missed them, though, and when Kathy Niven, culinary professor and master beekeeper, offered to provide us with another hive, we jumped at the chance.

My super fab farm girl apprentice, Rachael Andersen, also jumped at the chance to learn about bees, and along with little sister, Paris, is being taught how to keep bees by professor Niven.  I'm pretty much staying out of it; my work load is maxed out as it is.  But seeing the increased bee activity at the farm is wonderful.  A bee keeper (can't remember who) once told me that if I don't see a bee on every flower, then I don't have enough bees! 

I tell you, it's sure fun to have them around.  When I'm snipping the squash blossoms, and there is a bee inside, it's hard to get them out!  I gently shake them, but the bee is usually so ding dang busy in there, she doesn't even know what's going on.  I've found them so covered with pollen they seem almost drugged, swerving haphazardly away from the flower, failing miserably at maintaining a bee line back to the hive.  The chef says that sometimes the bees make it into his car, still inside the flower.  At some point during his half hour drive to the restaurant, a bee will come flying out, buzzing around inside his Volvo, probably wondering where the heck the garden went.  You know your produce is fresh when the bee hasn't finished with it yet.

We eagerly await our first batch of honey.  And chef, no doubt, eagerly awaits his first bee sting from this new hive.

How I Plant a Tomato

How do I plant a tomato, you might ask?  With a ridiculous amount of stuff in the hole, is the answer.  When someone ropes me into telling them and I start the long answer, I eventually see their eyes glaze over.  That's the point where I say, "Then you throw in the kitchen sink and cover it all up."  To date, no one has laughed at that joke. I think they're just either too overwhelmed by the real stuff I put in there, or they actually believe I'm throwing in a sink.  This is how I plant a tomato.  First off, let's take a look at our sexy specimen here on the left.

This strapping beauty is the size of seedling I like to plant.  It's about 12 to 16 inches tall, and was potted up into a gallon container about 3 or 4 weeks ago.  It will go into one of my freshly prepared beds, shown to the right.  For instructions on how I prepare garden beds for replanting, click here.

The tomatoes are placed three feet apart. I've learned over the years that spacing them closer than that means less fruit.  I dig a nice deep hole to accommodate all the additions - the exact depth is dependent upon how tall the seedling is.  I want the plant to be almost completely submerged into the soil, and the fish head and amendments put into the hole need to be covered with a bit of soil, so I plan accordingly for the depth.  This particular hole ends up being almost two feet deep, and is ready for our first goody, these impressive fish heads.

I get them from the restaurant I grow for, Manresa.  You might be able to get them free from a good butcher or fishmonger.  I even know of someone who called a few restaurants in their area and was quickly rewarded with a nice bounty of juicy fish heads.  Fish tails, spines, guts, as well as shrimp shells are all good as well.  Some of you may worry about critters digging these up later.  I've never had a problem with animals digging up my tomatoes, and I've got two dogs, four cats, and what seem like an endless supply of raccoons living on my property.  I stress the point that this is the first thing that goes into my very deep planting hole.  That may help keep it from getting dug up.  You can see the six inch long fish head staring up at us from the bottom of the hole here:
The next thing that goes into the hole are a couple of aspirin tablets and some crushed chicken egg shells. The aspirin is to help jump start the plant's immune system.  You can read more about that science here.  I'll put three or four crushed egg shells into the hole as well. You can see our three colors of eggs from our fancy chickens - yes, those are green eggs in there. The eggs supply a nice calcium boost, which will help prevent blossom end rot, that nasty brown patch on the bottom of tomatoes that lack calcium (the fish head bones and bone meal also help with that).

Bone meal is the next to go into the hole.  I put in a heaping handful of bone meal.  This is a nice organic phosphorus source, which is essential for blossom production.  More blossoms, more fruit.  Bone meal also increases calcium availability for the tomato.

I then put in two handfuls of Sustane (trademarked name) all-purpose slow release organic fertilizer.  I use the 4-6-4 type.  You can use any type of slow release all-purpose fertilizer.  The key is that it's got all three macro-nutrients (the 4-6-4- designation) and that it's timed-release.

I also recommend putting at least a large tablespoon of pure worm castings in the bottom of the hole.  I amend my beds with worm castings and I also spray a worm casting tea on my plants while they grow.  Really great stuff.  Another post on worm castings will be coming along shortly.

The hole is complete (sans kitchen sink) and I'm now ready to pop in the tomato plant.  I trim off the lower leaves, be there one,two, three or more, leaving only the top-most leaves.

I put an inch or two of soil on top of the amendments in the hole.  The plant is eased out of the pot, and before it's placed in the hole, I sprinkle the rootball with a product called RootZone, which is a mycorrhizal fungi that attaches to the roots, growing as the root ball grows.  It protects the plant from some diseases, such as verticillium and fusarium wilts.  The product is sold under other names, such as Power Organics Mycorrhizal Root Booster. 

Once the tomato is in the hole, I double check the depth by judging how far out of the ground the plant will be sticking.  If it's going to be too far down, I'll add some more soil.  If it looks like it'll be up above the soil more than I want, that's too bad because I ain't gonna be fishing them fish parts and all that other stuff up out of that hole and digging it deeper.  No siree.  So I try my  best to gauge the depth of the hole according to the height of the plant I'm putting in.

We then back fill GENTLY - only one quasi-firm push settles the soil around the plant. Please do not man handle the soil around the plant by stomping on it or pressing too hard.  That's not necessary and it expels all the air out of the soil.  Believe it or not, the roots need oxygen down there just as much as they need nutrients and water. 

A temporary well is then made around the plant base to catch the first watering.  The first watering is the most critical.  I do it multiple times.  Water it in once, twice, three times at least.  Wait a few minutes to allow the water to drain through.  If you have a deep hole, likely way more than 12 inches deep, you will be amazed at how much water it will take to wet the root ball a foot or more under the ground.  So don't be stingy with the water the first day. Thereafter, you can back off the watering, and we'll talk more about the watering needs of tomatoes in a later post.  Here's our finished bed.  You can see the tomatoes are spaced pretty far apart:

Drip irrigation will be repositioned on the bed, and staking and mulching has yet to be done.  You can find out more about those items here.  In the meantime, please feel free to email me or leave a comment below with any questions or comments you may have.  Good luck, folks!

Goodbye, Christopher

Christopher, my wonderful farmhand, apprentice, sounding board, and raconteur, had to leave us and follow his dreams back in his home state, Tennessee.  Chris was a valuable part of the farm here, and did some great work on my well tower remodel, our new greenhouse project, and was the artist behind my favorite part of this blog: the beautiful banner you see at the top of every page.  I truly believe without that gorgeous banner, this blog wouldn't be nearly as well-received as it has been. 

Chris and I had nicknames for each other.  I started calling him "Orach" after he saw it growing in the garden and asked what it was.  I affected a southern accent and joked that it sounded like something a redneck would name his kid.  So from then on, he was Orach.  Not to be outdone, he started calling me the good ol' redneck name of "Verleen."

Thank you, Christopher, for your good help, and ultimately, your good friendship.  Here are his parting words:

A little over two weeks ago I packed my things and drove the long road home to Memphis, Tennessee.  Now I get to say goodbye in writing, and tell you what I will miss most about life on the farm.  It is difficult for me to put into words, so bear with me. I will miss MORNINGS the most. Mornings always start the same way:  coffee in Cynthia's kitchen, with fresh whipping cream to go in it.  Then, back out the door as the last wisps of fog burn away, with the sun breaking over the trees to the east.  The chickens always get excited and cluck a little louder as they hear a person coming to free them into the day yard.  The plants seem somehow conscious and attentive as you stride past the orderly rows to the chicken coop.  Dali, the potbellied pig, snorts 'hello' and asks for her breakfast.  The chickens flock like unruly children, their little chicken personalities showing through.

I will miss LUNCHES second-most. The lunches I cooked, I mean.  Fried red (and green) tomatoes . . . tomato gravy.  Sometimes there were so many tomatoes, we would have tomatoes with a garnish of tomatoes.  And tomato juice (just kidding).

I will miss SNACKS the third-most. Now I'm talking about garden snacking . . . biodynamic KALE fresh from the stalk . . . radishes that Cynthia did not know I ate . . . red mustard . . . parsley . . . did I mention tomatoes?  When harvesting tomatoes there are always the little cherry tomatoes that burst.  Not good enough for Manresa, but too good to throw away.  I solved this problem by eating them.

I will mess Chef David ALOT.  He always looks very snappy, except when he looks raffish.  And I DO miss CYNTHIA.  It's not easy being a super-smart farmer, huh?

Love to the dynamic duo of Trinity and Indiana Jones. 

Thanks, Chris.  Trinity and Indy send love to Poopers.  We'll all miss you both!

Photo by Chris Schmauch / GoodEyePhotography.com

Newly Revised How to Grow Better Tomatoes Booklet

I've been promising people for a few weeks that I will revise my Grow Better Backyard Tomatoes Booklet, and now I've finally done it.  I even made it a whole separate page.  Click here to go there.

If you think that it's basically the same as my previous versions, don't think that.  There are a lot of new tips and techniques in there, different from previous years, that will help all of you grow better tomatoes.

There is also a whole separate section (near the bottom of the document) that is dedicated just to growing tomatoes in pots.  If you've ever wondered how to grow tomatoes in pots, please read that.  Growing in pots is trickier and requires know-how and extra effort. 

I'm dedicated to helping people grow better tomatoes, so please feel free to forward the page to your tomato lovin' friends. 

If you have additional questions after reading the page, don't hesitate to email me at loveapplefarm@gmail.com to inquire further.

Good luck to everyone on a great tomato season.