TDN Newsletter: August 19th, 2011

August 19th, 2011 The Thrill of Victory!! Dear Gardening Friends, We hope this finds you and your gardens well and happy! We're busy as always here and are excited to report some fun Garden Victories: First, Corn ... Jo Anne in her first organic garden in 1975 Many of you have heard me lament my failed attempts at growing good corn... My mother grew up on a corn farm in Indiana (hence our corn logo), and my great wish has been to have success in our own garden. Here's a photo of me in my first organic (in-ground) garden in 1975 - look at that sad corn I'm standing next to!! My grandmother (the farmer) visited me there and laughed out loud when she saw it, admonishing me to always plant in blocks of "10 x 10". So, after two EarthBox corn failures, due to rats and insufficient sunlight, we've finally had success! This year, I planted 12 seedlings each of the Bon Jour and Silver Queen varieties in two EarthBoxes and put them right out on the front yard in full sun. So, it seems the "Fourth time's the charm"... they are so delicious (I was proud & happy to share some with my Mom!!), and my plan is to plant twice the amount next year! The gardener's motto: Never say die! Karen, Matthew, Me, & The Boys, & The Corn! Even the little ear has it's "arms" up in victory!!! :-)

Next, POTATOES... After one successful round of Red Potatoes (harvested in January), followed by two totally failed crops, we've finally once again got it right! My conclusion is that the Winter and Very Early Spring plantings received too much rain and cold and perhaps just rotted. My plan is to continue trying to grow them year-round to see if that's the case. The two Smart Pots of potatoes which I planted with Fausto (when Alex's family was here in June) are really flourishing, so my theory could be correct...we'll see. But it really is fun to have potatoes again (and the neatest part is that we're harvesting the "offspring" of my first successful Reds!) TOMATOES continue to be wonderful, and I planted the final 2 (for a total of 30) about 2 weeks ago...so many varieties to try! We love getting your "Garden Reports"! Please do let us know which varieties were your faves, because before you know it, I'll be compiling the 2012 Heirloom Tomato List! The Roof Top Trial Garden has been really bountiful this season...here's a photo of one recent 16 pound haul... Nature is so abundant! A closer look... I'll post our favorites a little later, but an early contender for "best of the season" is the little cherry tomato called "Gajo de Melon"...oh my gosh, so fruity and sweet... I already ordered 6 packets of seed for next year!!

Speaking of the Roof Top Garden... Our certifier, CCOF, recently ran this article in their quarterly magazine, Certified Organic, about our Cover Crop Experiment. We believe the cover crop was well worth the effort, and we plan to repeat it again this Winter. Please let us know if you would like to purchase Cool Season Cover Crop Seed (by the pound), and we'll include your order with our own. Click here to read the article on Two Dog Nursery in CCOF's quarterly magazine "Certified Organic" on page 10!

Green Beans... ...stole my heart again this year, and I just planted our final 2 EarthBoxes of them, for a total of 6!! We're now eating the ones Fausto and I planted, and he's very excited to receive photo updates on his Mom's facebook page! This doesn't count the EarthBox of Speckled Butter Beans I'm growing for my Mom. They have been really successful and prolific! Just yesterday I took her a 2 lb. harvest, and there's still lots more to go. Here's a nice photo of the harvest in one of my beloved Aunt Martha's gathering baskets. Many thanks once again to Bobbi Jo Lathan for the seeds! Click here to go to Bobbi Jo Lathan's Website!! LAST CALL!! With short "days to harvest", there's still time for Beans, Persian Cukes, and Summer Squash; we'll have limited amounts of these at the Markets for the next few weeks. I also just planted one more Persian and one final Zephyr Squash in our garden! It's hard to let go of Summer! Also available once again are Sequoia Strawberries! These, too, are in very limited supply, so don't miss them if you're a strawberry fan! And Lettuce, Lettuce, Lettuce! The warmer weather hasn't deterred us one bit, and we'll continue with at least the 8 varieties which have shown heat tolerance. CURRENT TREES... Include all the Semi-Dwarf Citrus: Blood Orange, Meyer Lemon, Lime, Rio Red Grapefruit, etc., Sub-Tropicals such as Pineapple Guava, Fig, and Pomegranates, Snow Queen Nectarines and as always, we continue with the fabulous Blueberries! Planting Classes: Our Special Parent/Kid Planting Classes were lots of fun, and we plan to offer them again next Summer! We'll post our 4th Quarter Planting Class Schedule on the website soon, along with our entire Fall/Winter crop line up! Looking Forward: September is going to be very busy here as we ramp up for Cool Season Crops! We're going to a Garden Product Convention in Las Vegas for 2 days to do product & soil buying for next year, and we'll also be attending the National Heirloom Expo in Sonoma (which coincides with our 20th wedding anniversary...awww). Click here to go to the website for the National Heirloom Expo! We're very excited about the Expo as we will get to see, taste, and purchase seeds for all kinds of fantastic heirloom varieties for next Spring (while meeting the lovely seed producers I buy from), plus we'll see great documentaries, get to know all kinds of Heritage Livestock, and hear amazing speakers like Alice Waters, Amy Goldman, Gary Ibsen and Dr. Vandana Shiva! Promise to take lots of photos... Our Fall/Winter seedlings (which I've just begun sowing) will begin appearing at the Market in mid-September, and will build to our biggest line up ever: Broccoli, Cabbages, Cauliflower, Peas, Spinach, Root Crops, Artichokes, Kale, Chard, Beets, etc.!! Along with most of last year's varieties, we're adding lots of yummy new ones such as Fava Beans, Cheddar Cauliflower, Celery, Celeriac, Kohlrabi, Turnips, Rutabagas, Shiso, and Wild Arugula. We've also already ordered our Seed Organic Garlic (3 varieties this year), Shallots, and Onion & Leek Seedlings!! We've been really enjoying our garlic harvest and plan to grow a lot more next year! All of these, and the Root Crops, too, do so well in Smart Pots!! SAVE THE DATE!!!! SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2nd... Stay tuned for more info on our upcoming FALL KICK OFF & FOOD DRIVE (benefiting the L.A. Food Bank)!!! Mark your calendars and start collecting canned goods! It's going to be great!!! ______________________________________________________________ That's it for now, except this one last item.... many thanks to our dear customer, Lisa Shelly who gave me this idea: You may remember my mentioning we're growing a Big Max Pumpkin for the 3 year old next door... Lisa told me how to ever-so-gently carve his name in it and watch it expand as it grows! He was with us when I did this, and he checks on it regularly!! He can't wait to have it for Halloween. It's something you can do on Winter Squashes, also!! Thanks as always, and we'll see you soon! Jo Anne, Alex, & The Boys (Jake & Lalo)

TDN Newsletter: July 28th, 2011

July 8th, 2011 2nd Anniversary Newsletter Dear Gardening Friends, We hope you had a happy 4th of July! The date also marked our Second Anniversary in the La Canada Farmers Market. We're so grateful to all our wonderful customers/friends in both Markets, who have really helped build our little business over the last 2 years. It's been (and always is) lots of fun!! ________________________________________________________________________ Here are some happy numbers to report at this anniversary: *Total Two Dog sales have doubled over last year!! *We're growing 54 varieties of Tomatoes (alone) this season. *Our Constant Contact list has grown to 662 recipients of our monthly newsletter (in 15 months). *Our facebook page has 234 "people who like us" (also in 15 months). *Our website has had more than 7,000 "hits". *Our EarthBox sales have exploded; we sold 198 in the first 6 months of 2011...Oh, I so remember selling the very first one! *The EarthBox "mini documentary" has been seen on YouTube over 800 times in the last couple weeks...if you haven't seen it yet, here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7CENg_YcmY *We're now growing in 22 EarthBoxes in our own garden! (and at least a dozen Smart Pots...love them, too!).

So, thank you, thank you thank you!! Summer Family Fun... Also, our Classes continue to grow and broaden in their scope: The BIG NEWS of this issue is that we've scheduled 2 PARENT/KID EARTHBOX PLANTING CLASSES for this Summer! We've had children here many times, but just recently I planted an EarthBox with one of Alex's nephews (5 years old) who, with his family, is visiting us from Argentina for 3 weeks. He is such a natural gardener...focused, excited, careful...and I figured it was time to offer dedicated class dates where a parent can bring a child and share the experience. There's no extra cost, and I think they'll be lots of fun. SCHOOL'S OUT!, So, please plan a "play date" with your little gardener, and join us on Monday July 11th or Monday, August 15th at noon. Alex made cute wooden stools for a children's birthday party planting class we held last year, so everyone will be able to reach the EarthBox and participate. And of course, refreshments will be served! To see the whole Planting Class Schedule Click Here

Summer Abundance... So, here we are in the full blast of Summer, and our garden is going wild. We're regularly harvesting a myriad of green beans, cucumbers, lettuces (more about that in a minute), cherry tomatoes (with the big ones coming on strong), radishes, squash galore (the Trombettas are a marvel!), and the corn is now taller than both of us! And, with the way the Nursery has expanded to all reaches of the back yard and driveway, this means the garden is mostly right out front! Fortunately our neighbors love it, and we share the bounty with them regularly. Several of them are EarthBox gardeners themselves. I've spoken with many of you about planting Lettuce late into the Spring/Summer season...normally I don't grow it at this time of the year, but I've been experimenting with "heat tolerant" varieties and have had really good success. We're still growing seedlings for sale at the Markets; I'd love to hear how you are doing with it. Ours is mostly in the sun, with perhaps a little afternoon shade. We've had luck so far with Black Seeded Simpson, Red Lettuce Bowl (which at first was in the shade and attracted Powdery Mildew...once moved, the new growth recovered), Lolla Rossa, and especially Jericho Romaine. Please give me your "Lettuce Report" at the Market or by email (twodognursery@gmail.com) I'd really appreciate your input! And of course, we also want to hear all about Your Favorite Tomatoes! Our "Roof Top Trial Garden" is doing well, I'm happy to report. You may remember, we grew a Cool-Season Cover Crop in the same containers last winter to try to refurbish the soil (rather than replace it all); we think we should have used a little extra fertilizer at the planting out stage, but since feeding them 2 weeks ago, they've really sprung into action. We took Alex's family up to the roof this week to have a look and enjoy the view, and the plants are loaded with tomatoes. We're growing all our "New for 2011" varieties up there so we can see if they're worthy of next year's Big List...it's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it!

Garlic Harvest... With the same little nephew, Fausto, I harvested our GARLIC from last Fall, and oh, my gosh, what a beautiful crop! Big, fragrant bulbs...both the California Early White (softneck) and Music (hardneck) varieties were successful. Here they are "curing" in the garage; it smells wonderful when I go in there to plant seeds! They'll be ready to clean and trim in about 2 more weeks. When you harvest yours, DON"T wash them off!! Just hang them someplace with good circulation for 3-4 weeks, and then clean them up. After the garlic harvest, Fausto and I planted 2 more Smart Pots of Organic Potatoes - Banana Fingerlings (which he called "Deditos"..."little fingers" in Spanish) and Yukon Gold. They appeared within 6 days (!!!) and are growing really well. So, after 6 attempts, here's my conclusion on growing potatoes: even though we think of them as "cool-season", I seem to be having better luck with the warmer weather plantings. Many of our clients (and us, too) had "blight-y" type conditions on their cool-season potato crops, where the vines shriveled up and no potatoes ever formed. Yet my Early Fall and now Late Spring crops seem to be free of that problem. Maybe it was all the rain we had.... But "Never say die" is the Gardener's Motto, no?? It's fun to just keep experimenting, and when you get a successful potato harvest, be sure to save some small ones for the next round. They'll need to pass through a period of "chitting" before their eyes begin to sprout again, but it's worth the wait if you've had good luck before. We still have Organic Seed Potatoes if you want to give it another go. That's it for now...be well, and as always, happy harvests!! Jo Anne, Alex, Jake & Lalo (& Fausto :-) )