TDN Newsletter: January 28th, 2011

January 28th, 2011 Dear Gardening Friends, We hope this Newsletter finds you well and happy and eating bountifully from your garden! We've recently planted our 2nd rounds of Kales and Broccoli, and our 5th EarthBox of Lettuces. We're also on our 3rd Smart Pot of Potatoes, and I've lost track of which number Carrots/Beets/Radish Smart Pot were on. One of the greatest things about growing your own, is that there's no need to harvest everything at once...even with the root crops...things "keep on the vine" and therefore, we can just harvest what we're about to it eat, at it's very freshest, most nutritious moment! There's still time for cool-season crops, no matter what the weather is telling us! You know there'll be that cold snap....so don't miss out on Spinach or Snow Peas or Chard. Over the Holidays we replaced the 60' fence on our Home Nursery driveway, making much-needed room for Tomatoes, and we watched in awe as our Cover Crop Experiment took off...we've been posting photos on facebook. Have a look. It's a fabulous way to rebuild your soil!! Oh-so-beautiful to look at too! Next Fall we'll sell Cover Crop Seed by the pound.

Tomato Update We'll debut this year's Tomato line-up on Saturday, March 12th at the La Canada Market! January has been an incredibly busy month, and the slow build to the Spring Tidal Wave has already begun! Hard to believe, but this Sunday after the Market, we will begin sowing Heirloom Tomato seeds! This year, Two Dog will offer 54 Certified Organic varieties...17 of them new for 2011. As of last night, the Big Tomato Page on our website is completely up to date. Please have a look and start dreamin': http://twodognursery.com/tomatos.html

Save the Date: Spring Sale & Food Drive! On Sunday, March 13th, we will kick off the season here at the Home Nursery with a Spring Sale & Food Drive, again benefiting the extraordinary work of the L.A. Regional Food Bank. Everything, including tomatoes and products, will be on sale from 10:am until 3:pm. Two Dog will again give an additional 5% of the day's sales total to the Food Bank. We're going to get a lot of promotional assistance for this Sale, so please plan to come early! The Larchmont Chronicle just interviewed us for their March issue...just in time to promote the event. "Admission" to the Sale is a mandatory donation of canned or packaged food items, or a monetary donation. The Food Bank needs help now more than ever as 1 in 6 fellow Angelenos struggle with food security issues. Let's make it a great success! More details to follow. New Classes Added: On March 21st and 28th we'll be holding EarthBox Planting Classes dedicated to the "Planting and Caring for your Heirloom Tomatoes". Class price includes your choice of 2 organic Tomatoes. Class size is limited to 8 people, so reserve your spot early...these could fill up fast. Check out the whole Schedule here: http://twodognursery.com/planting-class.html We're also contemplating holding a Workshop on Vermicomposting... please let us know if you're interested. One of our vendors is highly knowledgeable in vermicomposting and custom brewing worm teas for optimum plant and soil health. We would also have worm bins and other necessities for sale at the Class. Speak to us at the Markets, call 323-422-3835, or email us at twodognursery@gmail.com if you would like to participate. Thanks!

Strawberries, Citrus & New Products: We've had Strawberries for 2 weeks now, and they've been selling fast! At last Monday's Class, half the folks planted them in EarthBoxes, and bought the Iron Stands to put them up on. We've just placed orders for more of both Strawberries and EarthBox Stands. Here's a photo of how ours look: The Semi-Dwarf Citrus Trees continue to sell very well; we've just added these varieties: Moro Blood Orange and Bearss Lime. If there's a particular variety you want, please just ask. Bearss Lime Moro Blood Oranges Meyer Lemon We finally received our 1.5 cu.ft. bags of Azalea Mix! We now offer all three planting media (the Mix, Coco Peat & Small Bark) needed for deliriously happy Blueberries! Speaking of Blueberries, we have around 30 plants left; when these are gone, we won't be able to purchase more until May/June, so if you're so inclined, please don't hesitate. _________________________________________________________________________ New Veggies in February: In February we'll be selling certified organic seedlings for Cipollini Onions, Walla Walla Onions and Lancelot Leeks. We will also have another round of certified organic Seed Potatoes: La Ratte & Russian Banana Fingerlings and a beautiful purple outside/white inside variety called Caribe. Can't wait!! Oh my gosh, homegrown potatoes simply melt in the mouth! We've also got Green Globe Artichoke seedlings popping up, as well at Utah Tall Celery (homegrown celery is a revelation!), and the Mexican herb, Epazote. ________________________________________________________________________ That's it for the moment...more next month on some really fun upcoming Spring events! Take care and we'll see you soon! Happy Harvests! Jo Anne, Alex, Jake & Lalo

TDN Newsletter: 2010 Holiday Review

December 17, 2010 Holiday Greetings, Fellow Gardeners! It's hard to believe this is our final dispatch of the year - yet, here we are, staring at the New Year, incredulous that 2010 is rapidly coming to a close... It's been an amazing year filled with wonderful people, great press, and participation in special events such as the Pasadena Showcase House, the Hydroponics Conventions, "HomeGrown Culver City", The Beverly Hills High School Garden, and of course, our beloved Farmers Markets and Planting Classes.

A definite 2010 highlight was achieving our CCOF Organic Certification in August! After researching, it seems we are the ONLY Certified Organic All-Edible Nursery in the Los Angeles area. It does require effort and discipline, but we're proud that our customers can trust what we sell. 1st ANNUAL NURSERY SALE & HOLIDAY FOOD DRIVE Another important event for us was the 1st Annual Nursery Sale & Holiday Food Drivewhich we held last Sunday. We had a great time! The turn-out and sales were very good, and we collected 150 lbs. of food donations and two hundred dollars for the L.A. Regional Food Bank, which has seen a 62% increase in demand since the beginning of the Great Recession. We look forward to building on these totals at future events! _________________________________________________________________________

Whew!! This year we offered more than 125 varieties of Organic Seasonal Vegetables, 30 or so Culinary Herbs, more than a dozen Edible Flowers, and 52 varieties of Heirloom Tomatoes! We also sold a ton of Blueberries, Strawberries, and Deciduous & Sub-Tropical Fruit Trees...and the recent addition of Semi-Dwarf Citrus and "Little Cado" Dwarf Avocado Trees proved to be a good idea, indeed!

LOOKING AHEAD: And while we're still in the midst of cool-season crops, our wheels are turning for Spring's New Offerings. There will be 16 new Heirloom Tomatoes replacing 16 which will bow out for the season. We'll have the big Tomato Page on our website completely updated in January. We already have one Tomato order from a customer in upstate New York! We can't even ship her until early May because of her climate, but she wanted to get her order in, just the same! Love the enthusiasm! For those of you whom we met at Showcase House, we're sorry to report that we are not planning to return in 2011. It was a very difficult decision, but it is such a tremendous commitment - one which we don't think we can manage again as we are so much busier now than a year ago. We do hope to participate in other Garden Tour events, though, and will keep you posted as things develop. We're also working on plans to hold an Heirloom Tomato Sale & Food Drive here at the Nursery in early Spring, once again benefiting the L.A. Food Bank. Watch for a date announcement soon! _________________________________________________________________________ HOLIDAY MARKET SCHEDULE: Saturday, Dec. 18th - La Canada Flintridge Farmers Market Sunday, Dec. 19th - Westlake Village Farmers Market Christmas Day - Market is closed...Merry Christmas! Sunday, Dec. 25th - TBD Saturday, NEW YEAR'S DAY - La Canada Flintridge Farmers Market Sunday, Jan. 2nd - Westlake Village Farmers Market Also, we'll be in town in case you need anything...just call 323-422-3835! _________________________________________________________________________ NEW PLANTING CLASS SCHEDULE POSTED! The January thru March Planting Class Schedule is now up on the website! We've reached the 1-year anniversary of teaching these Classes, and we still love them. Please join us for one soon...and don't forget, they are a great -and green- way to celebrate a Birthday, Bridal or other special event party! Feel free to contact us with your ideas. That's it for now - except to sincerely wish you all a lovely Holiday Season and a Happy, Healthy New Year...filled with love, joy, and great organic harvests! We thank you from our hearts for all the support, fun, and learning you've brought our way this year, and look forward to even more of the same in 2011!! See you soon, Jo Anne, Alex and the "Two Dogs", Jake & Lalo Trigo