TDN Newsletter 02-22-19

February 22, 2019 Dear Gardening Friends...Spring is at the door!           AND IT'S TIME FOR THE BIG ONE!!   Our Annual Spring Kick-Off Sale & Food Drive is just 2 weeks away!   Wow, has it been cold!!   But, fear not -- as the Tomatoes, Peppers, Cucumbers, Squash, Corn, Beans & Eggplants make their way "outside", we're tucking them in at sundown with two layers of row-cover to keep them snug as they "harden off" and get ready to plant out.   In addition to these super-popular items, we will also have Lettuces, Arugula, Herbs & Edible Flowers, Artichokes, Beets, Chard and a final round of Brassicas ready to go. The Strawberries are fully leafed-out and are already selling fast, as is the Narrowleaf Milkweed!  And we have a big new batch of gorgeous Blueberries in, and they are absolutely full of blossoms - and bees!!      PLUS!  Our beautiful Bramble Berries are in and leafing out like mad!  Heritage Raspberry, Fall Gold Raspberry, Olallieberry and Thornless Triple Crown Blackberry... bare root and ready to plant!                   ALSO, our fully updated Spring/Summer Veggies website page is now LIVE!  Check out all the wonderful varieties we're offering this year, including a dozen which are "NEW for 2019"! ... AND, in case you haven't already ... have a look at the 2019 Heirloom Tomatoes page!!  We have 47 varieties this year, so start reading up and make your list!! NOW, HEADS-UP FOR SOME IMPORTANT REMINDERS: 1. DONATION = DISCOUNT ~  The Food Drive aspect of this Event is really important to Alex and me. It's something we've done in our businesses for the last 20 years.  We imagine you might come buy Tomatoes anyway, but we hope the 10% Discount will encourage you to dig deep for the many Angelenos who are struggling with "food insecurity" (1 in 7 families in L.A). Together, we can make a difference.  At the end of the Event, we personally donate 5% of the profits as our own monetary gift. So, please help us reach our 2019 Goal ~  500 lbs. of Food AND $500 in Monetary Donations     (and remember:  No Donation, No Discount.)       *Please note: if you're going to make a monetary donation, have your cash ready or a check already made payable to Los Angeles Food Bank.  **We cannot "add it to your total".  It'll speed up the check-out if you're ready ahead of time.  Thanks!   2.  PAYMENT METHOD ~ If possible, please pay with Cash or a Personal Check.  The credit card fees really add up on a weekend like this!!  If you can't, you can't, but if you can, we'll appreciate it.    3.  PRE-ORDER PICK UPS ~ If you have placed a Pre-Order (which is still possible to do), you can pick it up either day of the Sale weekend.  If you need to come another day, please call us at 323-422-3835 to arrange a time. Please be aware that we can't hold your order longer than 5 days after the Sale; so, all orders must be picked up no later than Friday, March 15th. * Please note: Discounts are only given the days of the Sale and do not apply to website orders.   4.  NO PET POLICY ~ Please, please do not bring your dogs!  We always say it, but someone inevitably does, and then all Hell breaks loose.  Our boys are pretty territorial, so let's not tempt the fates!   5.  WE MAY BE A BIT STRAPPED FOR TIME ~ You know we love to have time to chat at length with everyone, but sometimes it's not possible during our big Sale... please don't feel slighted!!   6.  REFRESHMENTS  ~ As always, we'll have Cookies and Lemonade!!  It takes about 5 months to prepare for the Spring launch, so get your shopping list ready ahead, if possible, bring your friends and have a great time!!     Saturday & Sunday March 9th & 10th 10am - 4pm (No Appointment Needed) at the Two Dog Home Nursery  914 S. Cloverdale Ave. Los Angeles  90036 EVERYTHING - all Certified Organic Tomato, Veggie, Edible Flower & Herb Seedlings, Organic Soils, Composts, Fertilizers, Fruit Trees, Berry Bushes, EarthBoxes & Smart Pots, will be 10% OFF with your Donations! Click here for more details! Click here to see the full Tomato line-up! Click here to see the full Spring/Summer Veggie line-up! It has been 2 years since the L.A. Times graciously did this lovely article about us, and we're still reaping the benefit by the hundreds of additional customers who discovered us because of it!  Thanks, L.A. Times!!             That's it for now, Friends... Can't wait to see you at the Spring Sale March 9th & 10th!   THAT'S JUST 2 WEEKS FROM TOMORROW!!                   Please plan NOW for your Food Drive Donations - whether actual food product or a monetary contribution - you'll be rewarded with a 10% Discount on your total purchase (plus all the "good deed" satisfaction!)   The need is great! No one should go hungry in this great city, and the recent Teachers Strike, Government Shutdown and the Fires have really increased the pressure on the L.A. Food Bank.  They've been heroically serving our fellow Angelenos for 46 years, and they need our help now more than ever!!  Please click here to see more about their work and perhaps discover other ways you can be of help!  Also, if you placed a Pre-Order and want to pick it up before the Sale, please contact us at 323-422-3835 to arrange a time. Many thanks and see you soon!!    Jo Anne, Alex, Rylan, Veronica, Lalo & Charlie IT'S A BEAUTIFUL SEASON...LET'S GET STARTED!

TDN Newsletter 07-26-18

July 26, 2018                                                             Dear Gardening Friends,     Seems like it's been hot for a good while now, but we all know there's still a lot of warm weather to come! We've been steadily harvesting what's been our best season ever and planting out our final rounds of Squash, Beans and Corn, and our last of 13 Tomato plants. We hope you haven't given up on your Summer garden yet! It's a very long season!!   So, please join us for our August Open House  & "LAST CALL" for Summer Sale!!  DISCOUNTS on all Certified Organic Summer Seedlings! NEXT Saturday, August 4th 10am ~ 4pm at the   Two Dog Home Nursery 914 S. Cloverdale Ave. Los Angeles  90036 Cookies & Lemonade will be served! ~NO APPOINTMENT NECESSARY~ Bring your gardening friends, but please, NOT your dogs! Click here for more Details!   ~ ALEX'S TRADITIONAL GAZPACHO ~ Our Tomato Harvest this year has been the best we've ever had!   We've given tons to neighbors, friends and the Nursery Assistants, but they keep on coming! Alex found a Gazpacho recipe from a hotel in Seville, Spain (which we visited on an anniversary trip decades ago),  and has been making batch after batch.  I swear, It's the best Gazpacho I've ever had, and we're so excited that everything came from our own garden!!  (Well, except the Olive Oil and Vinegar...)                               We've had several requests for the Recipe, so here it is!!   That’s it for now, Friends…  We hope to see you NEXT Saturday at our August Open House!! Happy gardening, and many thanks, Jo Anne, Alex, Lalo & Charlie P.S.  Lalo says, "What Dog Days...?"

TDN Newsletter 06-28-18

June 28, 2018 Dear Gardening Friends,   Please join us for our Annual "Before the Barbecue" 4th of July Sale!! Wednesday, July 4th from 10am - 3pm Everything (except Fruit Trees) will be 20% Off!! ...yes, 20% (or 17% if you pay with Credit Card)   Certified Organic Veggie & Herb Seedlings, Organic Potting Soil, Compost, Worm Castings, Fertilizers, Pest Control Products, EarthBoxes & Smart Pots, and all  Strawberries and Blueberry & Raspberry Bushes!!     The Two Dog Home Nursery:   914 S. Cloverdale Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90036                                            Click Here for More Details!                         We hope you plan to join us, and bring a friend! Street parking is available. PLEASE NO PETS! Check out our full line-up HERE      It's time to get your Pumpkins in for Halloween,  and those additional Heirloom Tomatoes which will carry you through the Fall and beyond, so we hope you join us!   Oh, and don't miss Sweet Potatoes!! They're super-easy to grow...and VERY LIMITED! Happily, it's a very long season! We’ve been planting lots of “second rounds” here in our own garden - Corn, Beans, Lettuce, Cucumbers, Butternuts and Tomatoes.   Plus LOTS of Sweet Potatoes!   I like to grow quantities of those things that keep well; Winter Squashes and Sweet Potatoes will keep for about 6 months!!   Summer is a busy time in the garden... The main growing stage is complete, fruit is ripening, and now harvesting, fertilizing, and keeping watch on all sorts of flying, chewing, infesting creatures become significant rituals.   ...here are a few tips: * If  your Tomatoes are being bird-pecked or squirrel-sampled, bring them in a little early; they'll ripen nicely on the kitchen counter. * Be sure to keep the first 8" of your Tomato plants free of foliage: this will aid in air circulation. Powdery Mildew and Early Blight are worse when leaves dip down into wet soil and the foliage is too dense.  * Be sure to harvest your Beans every day (or at least every 2 days); this encourages them to produce like mad.  Since I'm always outside, I check our beans a couple times a day.  I pick what's ready and store them in a plastic bag (not closed tight) in the crisper drawer of our fridge.  Then by the end of the week, I'll have close to 2 pounds to cook up!! * An excellent tip I got years ago from our friend and early mentor, Yvonne Savio (who taught more people to garden in the greater L.A. area, through the Master Gardeners Program, than one can even imagine!!):  Put a few drops of Mineral Oil on the Corn Silks once they're nice and full. This prevents Ear Worms from going in and eating all the tender kernels.   Alas, I forgot to do that on our first round of sweet corn this year, and sure enough, the worms were in there having a field day!  Of course, you can simply cut off the bad part and enjoy them anyway (those worms are not stupid...they know homegrown corn is the best!!)  And you can bet I won't forget with the second batch!! *  Not sure your Corn is mature enough to pick??   Here's an easy way to check:  Without removing it from the stalk, just peel back a portion of the husks, far enough to expose the first kernels. Puncture a kernel or two with your thumbnail:  ...if the liquid is clear, it's not ready (simply close up the husks and check again in a few days.) ...if there is no liquid, it's dry and way past being good as fresh corn, BUT you can cut the kernels off the cobs and roast them with potatoes and other veggies...yum! ...if the liquid is milky, it's perfectly ripe!!  Harvest NOW, even if you won't eat it for a few days; it's better to keep in the fridge than to leave on the stalk where it will over ripen. * Cucumbers and Summer Squash can hide!  Be sure to check from every angle...just last week I found 5 not-so-baby Baby Persian Cucumbers hiding in the back, at least 3 times the size they should have been! Nothing goes to waste here, though, and they became part of our Breakfast Smoothies for a full week. * While many Melons "slip" from the vine when ready, Watermelons do not. How to know when they're mature? First, be sure you're not jumping the gun according to the "Days to harvest" number; it's a good idea to note the date you plant things... Check for a yellowish spot on the underside of the watermelon where it lay on the ground. Then, very importantly, check the "pigtail"...that's the curlicue closest to the fruit itself; it should be completely dry. And if the melon has a nice sound when you "thump" it, I say, go ahead and harvest! * It's a very good idea to feed your plants every 4 weeks or so.  Just "side dress" the fertilizer around the plants, scratch it in a little and water well.  Or if you're an EarthBox gardener like us, you can simply pour some undiluted Liquid Fertilizer or Great Big Tomatoes (we sell both) right down the watering tube; it'll mix itself up with the water in the reservoir below. Either way, your plants will appreciate the boost!!   It's time to harvest the Garlic!   I think we can all agree:  it's been a strange Spring so far.   In our garden, the California Early White was ready about 2 months earlier than normal!  Happily, it was huge and really fabulous.   The Hardneck varieties aren't quite ready yet, though.  We cut the "scapes" last week - these are the false seed heads that shoot up out of the Hardnecks and curlicue around themselves; they don't produce viable seed, and are a drain on the main bulbs which are sizing up right now, so it's best to remove them.   We'll wait another 2 weeks or so before lifting them out of the soil. Ooh, there is nothing like the smell of freshly-harvested garlic, straight from the warm soil!!   Be sure to cure your garlic for a few weeks in a shaded, breezy location, and then review our little video on "How to Clean your Garlic" so it will keep for many months!   Here's our "How to Clean your Garlic" Video

We're always grateful for your very kind "Yelps"!!  Here's one recent Review: JoAnne and Alex have created the promised land for someone like me. Well done folks! Don't waste your time anywhere else. This is your first and last stop if Organic veggies is your life.  Neighbor Nick Gee thanks, Neighbor Nick!!! Wishing you & yours a very Happy 4th!!  That's it for now, Friends... Please don't miss our 4th of July Sale next Wednesday from 10am until 3pm.… we'll have cookies & lemonade waiting! We hope to see you soon, and as always, Happy Harvests, and many thanks!     Jo Anne, Alejandro, Lalo & Charlie