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!

TDN Newsletter: 6-7-13

First Ever "Fall-Winter" Tomato Line-Up!  June 7, 2013

Dear Gardening Friends, We hope this finds you happy and in "full harvest mode" in your gardens!  While thinking about this Newsletter, it occurred to me that so far, this has been a year of trying big new things here at the Nursery.  And here's possibly the biggest one:   ANNOUNCING OUR FIRST EVER   "FALL-WINTER" TOMATO LINE-UP!! We get so many requests for them, and we know that many of the varieties which we already grow will do well in the cooler climate, so we decided to jump in! Click here to see the full line-up: Click the image above to see the line-up!  Pre-Sale Winter Tomatoes     As of today, they are available for Pre-Sale on our website with pick-ups beginning at our upcoming Winter Tomato Open House on Wednesday, August 26th, here at the Home Nursery. Click here for details. They'll also be available on our regular Wednesdays and Fridays at the Nursery, plus at our Farmers Markets on the weekends. We'll have some of the gorgeous Purple/Blacks, some exciting new Reds, a stunning Orange (you know how we love our Orange tomatoes!!), and a beautiful new Bi-Color, 16 in all. We do hope you'll try them with us, and then report your results!! We all learn best when we share our growing experiences!   (Above from L to R: Anna Russian, Valencia, and Vorlon)    We've been enjoying a great Summer season and have expanded to 36 EarthBoxes and 26 Smart Pots. This has been possible, of course, because we now have more help here at the Nursery; our assistant, Elliot, has been a tremendous help in getting my ever-expanding wish list planted and logged!  Most recently, he planted two more EarthBoxes of Beans (Dragon Tongue and Royal Burgundy) and another EB of Summer Squash...yes, there's still time!   Tomato Harvest  Our experiment of planting just one large-fruited tomato variety in an EarthBox has been a huge success...we are trying out Japanese Black Trifele, Kellogg's Breakfast and Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye this way, and WOW, the production has been fantastic!  We've harvested close to 40 tomatoes from Japanese Black Trifele already!  Planting 2 smaller-fruited varieties per EarthBox works just fine; our Sun Golds and Gardener's Delights have been incredibly abundant...we will definitely continue this method with our Winter varieties!   "To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves." ~Mohandas K. Gandhi  We also planted many of our new veggie varieties this season: Dragon Tongue, Blue Coco and Black Turtle Beans, Little Fingers Eggplant (oh my gosh, they are prolific!!!), Candy Roaster, Bush Buttercup and Pennsylvania Dutch Crookneck Winter Squash, Small Sugar Pumpkin (we have 4 just now turning orange!) and Crimson Sweet Watermelon (we have two sizing up nicely right now!)   Photos from Left to Right: Watermelon, Butternut Squash, Little Fingers Eggplant  Seeing so much EarthBox production, I got to wondering whether they would all like a fertilizer boost... I mean, some of the plants are enormous, and it IS a small amount of soil... so we are experimenting now by reaching up under the mulch covers and adding Black Gold Tomato & Veggie Fertilizer, and then watering it all in real well with Great Big Tomatoes Liquid Compost.  We'll be watching to see if we get a noticeable boost in production and will let you know in the next Newsletter. Corn Update!   Of course, another big experiment has been the Hand-Pollination of not only our Glass Gem Popcorn, but our Bon Jour as well!! Wow, what an education!  We're working with Sydney on a fun and informative video about the procedures involved.  Stay tuned!!             Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!! Another experiment we're about to undertake: I got to thinking, while looking at this beautiful crop of Yukon Gold Potato plants, that it would be so nice if Smart Pot made a taller bag.... I mean, in the ground, you'd keep hilling the potato vines for as long as you could (more vines underground means more potatoes)...so, I called 'em up!  They are really great folks, and they immediately asked what dimensions I had in mind, and I told them 24" diameter x 24" high.  That's basically their 30-gallon pot, but with 9 more inches of height. I told them I'd count the harvest from this standard 30-gallon, and compare it to the yield from their custom sized sample and report it all in our Newsletter. They liked the idea and made it up lickity split, and it arrived today! Next week we'll plant out a round of Yukons in it, and we'll let you (and Smart Pot) know the results as soon as we have them. Thanks, Smart Pot!! Jumping into some Food Preservation!     Click Here to go to the Facebook Photo Gallery!  Alex eats a lot of jam, and I love to grow a ton of beans...it's as simple as that! And we grow way too many tomatoes to be able to eat or give away. We've been saying for several Summers now that we're going to start canning and freezing. Well, about a month ago, Sydney and I took a Canning Class at the Urban Homestead in Pasadena; it was a really info-packed evening, and we came away with jars of 3 different types of canned food: Apricot Jam, Canned Peaches and Dilly Beans...each requiring a different process to make. I didn't want to lose the enthusiasm, so that very weekend, Alex and I began our canning career making Blackberry and Strawberry Jams. The next weekend, we canned Peaches and made Peach Jam. And the next weekend, we made more Canned Peaches, more Strawberry Jam, and a few jars of Strawberry Preserves!! Click Here to go to the Facebook Photo Gallery! Meanwhile, I've now frozen three 2-lb. bags of fresh Green Beans (all varieties) and one 3-lb. bag of Heirloom Tomatoes.  What fun!  And it's so pretty to look at! Click Here to go to the Facebook Photo Gallery!    Click Here to go to the Facebook Photo Gallery!

Next up on our to-do list:  Pickled Peppers, Pickled Beets, and preserving our Garlic harvest!  I recently harvested our Garlic Crop for this year...came out pretty well. It's "curing" in the garage now, and I've decided to try a method of preserving I found on the Internet on a lovely blog called Barefoot in the Kitchen.  (This link also includes a little video on that amazing 10-second garlic peeling method you might have heard about on NPR.) Basically, you peel and wash & dry the cloves, pack them into sterile canning jars, cover with boiling white vinegar, seal and water bathe for 10 minutes.They say the garlic's natural oils don't allow the vinegar flavor to penetrate, and that garlic will keep for up to a year.          I'm very excited about the prospect of having ready garlic on hand all year!  We'll post photos of it next Newsletter!   Now for the Not-So-Nice: As always, at this time of the year, we get lots of glorious reviews (and photos) about our customers own gardens. AND we also get the same questions and concerns over and over. We've covered these points pretty extensively in our Tomato Tips on the website, but here's some quick comments:   Blossom End Rot -Very common. Result of insufficient calcium in the soil. Even happens in the EarthBox from time to time. Some varieties are more susceptible. Can be corrected by adding more Dolomite Lime, but don't delay!     Tomato Hornworms - This crazy looking creature has a voracious appetite  and can defoliate a huge tomato plant practically overnight. In our region of the country, we are actually plagued with the Tobacco Hornworm. They can eat up your peppers, too. Keep a keen eye out for the worm's poop, and then check the foliage just above... Check frequently, and hand pick!!   Known by lots of different names, this Cabbage Moth is a little devil on  wings! It flits around the garden, pretending to be a pretty butterfly, lights momentarily, lays eggs, and wham!! Your basil, lettuce and other delicates are chewed to bits!! We've lost a fair amount of inventory to these guys. Try to swat them out of the garden (Alex keeps a racquet nearby), look for the poop and hand pick these little inchworms. Customer's Brag Book: Even though our Market friend, Robin, didn't "grow" his little friend, we must start the Brag Book this month with Winston!!  I swooned, he is so cute!! He's a little Pot Bellied Pig, and he got to come to the Market with his Dad a few weeks ago. The peaches we canned were grown by Robin and his family!           (Above) Winston the Pig!! ~Click on the photos for larger image~     (Above) Todd's new horseshoe bed ~Click on the photos for larger image~             (Above) Westlake customers, Jim and Tami's amazing harvest  ~Click on the photos for larger image~  (Above) La Canada Customer, Mark's abundant tomato harvest ~Click on the photos for larger image~   (Above)  Westlake Customer, Leslie's tomatoes and pumpkin ~Click on the photos for larger image~   Our "Welcome Summer" Open House was a lovely affair!  Jake & Lalo had their usual good time soaking up the love.  We do hope you will join us for the Winter Tomato Open House next month!!        That's it for now, stay tuned for updates, and as always, happy harvests!! Jo Anne, Alex, Jake and Lalo