TDN Newsletter: 5-3-13

The boys "photobombed" me on a recent morning as I was coming in with my breakfast harvest!!   Happy May!

Dear Gardening Friends, Wow, how can it possibly be May already?! The days are flying by but are so very full we barely see them go. Spring, thus far, has been a record-breaker, and we are infinitely grateful for all your support!   Beauty & The Blooms   Our Wednesday & Friday Appointment Days have been completely   booked, and along the way we've taken some lovely photos of happy gardening folks enjoying the Nursery! Here's a photo of the Mother of one of our La Canada customers...her sari matched exactly the Sweet Peas blooming just behind her. Pratia (our customer) tells us that her mother always wears a sari, even to operate the riding lawn mower! We love this image! Don't forget to wear your best gardening dress... This little Gardener "planted" two full pack of seeds (radishes & tomatoes) right next to our shelter post before anyone noticed! She came with her Mom and was decked out with her own little Gardening Purse, complete with tiny tools and various packs of seeds. So cute!!! ...wonder if anything will grow there?   A Free "Two Dog" with Every Purchase... A new customer came with her little "surfer dude" sons, and they and Lalo really hit it off! In fact, Lalo tried to go home with them!! Funny and true: Lalo always manages to get into whatever car or van we've just loaded. I think he wants to go along to supervise the planting!!! Good boy!   "Every moment and every event of every man's life on earth plants something in his soul." ~Thomas Merton       Ready to Grow!     Another new customer, Michelle, came out from our Westlake Village Market thinking she would purchase 8 EarthBoxes for the many seedlings she'd purchased the Sunday before...but she got so inspired she drove home with 16 of them!! She wasted no time at all in getting them planting ...here's a photo of her new "container farm" - ready to grow!! Inspiration Tour   Our long-time La Canada customers, Kristin & Dawn, recently participated in a Home & Garden Tour in their Glendale neighborhood.   They set up a "gardening how-to" table with EarthBoxes, Smart Pots, Soil, etc. which we loaned them, and they handed out our business cards and showed how easily these containers fit into a very full garden that incorporates great looking raised beds, a mounted strawberry "wall" and fruit trees potted in wine barrels. Thanks you two for your continued support, and congratulations on a beautiful, efficient garden!! We're inspired!   Glass Gem Corn Contest -     Well, we thought it was a good idea, but I guess everyone is just too busy, so we didn't get any video entries for the Glass Gem contest. But while waiting for the deadline to close, I realized the BEST recipient for the four 6-packs of seedlings would be David King who is the Garden Master at The Learning Garden (at VeniceHigh School) and the Founding Chair of SLOLA (the Seed Library of Los Angeles). David came over to pick up the seedlings, and we had a very funny and informative conversation about Hand-Pollination, which Sydney recorded in this little video. David King, Founding Chair of SLOLA on the Hand Pollination of Corn at  Two Dog Nursery David has a special student who will be interning at The Learning Garden over the summer, and he'll work with him on this project. We've just planted our two EarthBoxes with the Glass Gem, too, so David and I will compare notes and photos, and we'll be sure to post them all in a future Two Dog Newsletter.  The non-profit from whom we got the seeds, Native Seed SEARCH, also sent us this information about hand-pollinating corn. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE INSTRUCTIONS FROM   NATIVE SEEDS SEARCH      Even the dry seeds were colorful!  Provided we have a very successful harvest, we promise to save at least half of the seeds so we'll be able to grow and sell Glass Gem seedlings next year!   PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL    YAY, PRESS!! (So fun to wake up to!!)   Our excellent local newspaper, the Larchmont Chronicle, included a special section called "Design for Living" in their March issue, and our dear friend and customer, Laura Eversz, who wrote the piece, featured Two Dog Nursery! Yay! Laura was the very first to write about us four years ago, and has herself become an "EarthBox Addict" with 8 of them going year-round. We sincerely thank her and the Chronicle for being so good to us (again)!! CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ARTICLE IN  THE LARCHMONT CHRONICLE

THERE IS A SEASON,   TURN, TURN, TURN.... As we slowly turn our garden over to Spring planting, we've been  harvesting the remaining root crops: Beets, Leeks, Parsnips and Carrots. There's something magical about the Roots...it's like with Potatoes...you just don't know until you pull them up!      Alex finally had time to plant the Roof Top Trial Garden tomatoes this past week. The warm weather will make them grow so fast! Every year we grow out each one of our "New" varieties....Can't wait to enjoy his world-famous Caprese!!    If you haven't got a chance to "LIKE" us on Facebook, please do!! And share our page with your like-minded friends!! ~Fruit & Nut Trees~   It seems that folks first create the Garden, then the backyard Orchard, then they get  chickens, then bees... then take the canning classes, learn to make cheese, etc!      We've been selling Fruit Trees like mad! People are buying them in multiples most of the time, which is really very exciting. CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR SELECTION OF TREES    Our newest entry is the Garden Prince Almond, which is a semi-dwarf variety, making it perfect for backyard growing! Its beautiful pale pink blossoms are a bonus, too!                  ...AND BERRIES! Alex made another Blueberry run this week, and he came back with some of the most gorgeous ever! Big, bushy and FULL of fruit! Don't miss out!! ...and remember, you need to have at least 2 bushes, and they prefer being planting in a large container. Please check out our Helpful Guide on Planting Blueberries! We sell everything you need except the pots. CLICK HERE TO GO TO A LIST OF ALL OF OUR   EASY TO USE GROWING GUIDES!                COMING SOON...   Corn will debut at the Markets this weekend!! We have both Silver Queen (all white) and Bon Jour (bi-colored) again this year. As long as you grow enough of it, in a block formation (not a row), with good soil and lots of sunshine, you will have a great harvest!   We hope to have our Bradshaw Sweet Potato seedlings ready to go in early June! I can't wait to try them again in our new 30-gallon Smart Pots (link). We recently spoke with one of our Westlake Market customers who said she actually had great success with her sweet potatoes - said she "was just like a little kid when she dug them up!!" I know the feeling, even though our first attempt was sort of a bust. I'm going to refer to our own "Helpful Guide" on Growing Sweet Potatoes and try again this season!   Click the image or this link to go to the Sweet Potato Growing Guide  Well, that's it for now, friends. We hope to see you at the Markets or the Nursery soon, and as always, many thanks!! Happy Gardening, Jo Anne, Alex, Jake & Lalo P.S. Mother's Day is right around the corner! Don't forget that EarthBoxes, Fruit Trees and Blueberry Bushes make fantastic gifts which will be loved and appreciated for year to come!! Please let us know if you'd like to place an order. Many thanks!