WTH?

What the heck?

Before the heat of the summer takes over I tend to do alot of hand watering in the garden. Even though it takes considerably longer, because it really does no good to spray blasts of water in the direction of your plants, it has its benefits. When you hand water you tend to notice slight changes in your plants and even notice new visitors which will be the topic of the next post.

Insect activity is in full swing so you will no doubt have similar calling cards left in your yard.

Winter Squash

I noticed the lower leaves of this squash were starting to resemble freshly skated ice with strange looping trails going in every direction. Up close I could see that the leaf was literally mined as the insect moved over the surface. Which brought me to one conclusion;

Vegetable Leafminer Larvae

The pale green larvae of the vegetable leafminers adult form is a tiny fly that will lay its eggs on the underside of leaves. These tiny larvae can be spotted inside the tunnels they make which gives you an idea of how small they are. Not to worry though because the leafminer will rarely do enough damage to harm production. If the damage seems to be limited to a few leaves you can remove them which will limit spreading but if the damage is widespread the plant will still able to photosynthesize. The leafminer is also dinner for ladybugs and lacewings. 

Eggplant

I noticed while watering this eggplant seedling that it had lost the upper edge of it's leaf. I looked for a nearby insect or slime trails and found nothing so I inspected the bite marks. The insect here only ate from the outer edge which meant caterpillar or grasshopper. On further inspection you can see that the entire leaf was a meal, veins and all. This meant we were looking at something with strong jaws.

Grasshopper

We were dealing with a grasshopper which everyone will inevitably find in the yard and they are unfortunately hard to catch. The more time you spend in the garden the more likely you are to inadvertently stumble into one as I have many times. Luckily the chickens prize this gourmet treat and make a fast disposal system. 

Potato

The damage on this young yellow fin potato literally showed up overnight. In order to determine the culprit I looked for clues at the scene of the crime. The most telling are slime trails or a pest that is still enjoying it's meal. I had neither here so instead I had to rely on the holes in the leaves. They were closer to the center than the edge and small to medium which either pointed to an earwig or caterpillar. On closer inspection you can see that the bite marks are irregular in shape meaning one thing:

Cabbage Looper

 The Cabbage Looper caterpillar is thankfully very easy to spot and can normally be found on the underside of the leaves on the plant showing signs of damage. You can just pick them off and in our case feed them to the chickens who love these tasty treats (another great reason to keep chickens). You will want to provide a happy home for lacewings, ladybugs, solider bugs and wasps who dine on this insect. Also cabbage lopper is deterred by compact thyme which makes a great addition to the garden.

 

Tomato

This tomato has not been attacked by a virus or bacteria, instead it been discovered by skeletonizers. Skeletonizer damage can be distinguished by sunken in, chewed away areas of a leaf where the veins are still intact. There are many variations of this species whose moth form is also spotted in the garden. I easily controlled it by handpicking them off the leaves and the tomato has grown exponentially with no new damage.

Here is the culprit


Keep in mind for most pest there is a predator and in order to lure and keep these beneficial insects we should not eliminate all of their food supply. Also if you take away one thing from this let it be that the only spray I utilized was a hard blast of water and most damage on plants, up to 20% of the plant above ground, will not harm production. 


Any mysterious damage has you stumped? Email us at info@seedsinthecity.com and we will get on the case.

April in San Diego Garden Calendar

Spring is here and with it exciting gardening events for the month of April.


April 9th
Cuyamaca College Spring Garden Tour - This free event has a plant and book sale as well as demonstrations all within the colleges beautiful water wise garden.
Charity Garden Tour from 9am to 4pm featuring five north county homes including a visit to the Ecke Ranch greenhouses for bargain sales.
City Farmers Vegetable Gardens 101 - In this free class 90 minute class from 1:30-3pm you will get all the basics for starting your own garden.
April 9th - 10th

Cultivating Food Justice Conference - This two day free conference in City Heights will feature workshops and lectures on such broad topics as goats, solar cooking, aquaponics, sprouting, dry farming and a seed swap. Visit the website link to RSVP.
April 10th
Liberty Farms will teach a poultry care and management class for those of you considering keeping chickens, the class starts at 11:00 am and is $35.00.
April 11th
Jeffery Bale will lecture on "The Pleasure Garden" as part of the San Diego Horticultural Society special speaker event at 7pm, the event is $15 for members and $25 for non-members. Tickets can be purchased at the door within the Del Mar Fairgrounds.
April 16 - 17th
Coronado Flower Show and Garden Tour includes 10 front yard gardens, plant sales and seminars for $5.00.
April 17th
San Diego Earth Day at Balboa Park is a free event with over 350 exhibitors and the best part is Seeds in the City will be there with free seedlings and seeds.
April 23rd
Point Loma Garden Walk showcases 3 homes and ten gardens in the area of Sunset Cliffs, $20.00 advance tickets to benefit Children's Hospital.
Citrus and Avocados a free class taught by Richard Wright at the Walter Andersen Poway store, 9:30 am.

April 26th - May 24th

Become a Master Composter - Sign up to take this 5 session course being offered in San Diego from 6-8:30 pm every Wednesday.
April 27th
Introduction to Farm Animal Husbandry will be taught at Liberty Farms in El Cajon from 6:30 - 8:00pm, the class fee is $35.00.

April 30th 
Compost Workshop - Learn how compost can benefit you, this free workshop is given by master composters from 10:00 -12:00pm at the Solana Center.
The Encinitas Garden Festival is from 10am-4pm and will feature an astounding 20 homes along with free talks, $20.00 advance tickets.
Walter Andersen Nursery Point Loma teaches their free one hour class on Growing Tomatoes at 9:00am, and Poway store teaches Water Conservation and Sprinkler Efficency at 9:30am.

Did I miss your event? Email us at info@seedsinthecity.com

San Diego Master Gardeners Spring Seminar

The San Diego Master Gardeners spring seminar is back and registration opens tomorrow, January 31st. This year they are offering 3 sections of classes on April 2, 2011 that start at 8:50 a.m. with the last section starting at 1:40 and ending at 2:50 p.m.. If you pre-register classes are a mere $15, with a $5 dollar discount if you sign up for three classes. They have a very well rounded schedule of classes and instructors this year.

Topics include;

• Attracting Birds, Hummingbirds and Butterflies to your Garden
• Compost-No Longer the Dirty Little Secret in the Garden
• Tips on Designing a Water-smart Landscape with Color, Interest and Budget Savings
• Growing Herbs for Health, Taste and Fragrance
• How to Get the Most Production from your Organic Tomato Plant
• Understanding Our Soils and Simple Ways to Improve Them
• Growing Summer Vegetables the Organic Way (taught by the inspiring Pat Welsh)
• Successful "Green" Living Walls
• Native Plants You and Your Neighbors will Love

The classes are going to be back at the USD campus this year.

When to Harvest - Top 10

Knowing when it's time to harvest and enjoy the fruits and veggies of your labor can be tricky. Here are a few hints on the best times to harvest.

Carrots - can be pulled when they are as big as your finger, they will be sweetest then. Also look for a carrot top that is bright orange. Cut their tops off if your not going to eat them right away.

Corn - the husk should feel full, look for the plants silks to be dry and brown, greenish near the cob. Cut a slit in the husk to do the kernel test; pierce one kernel with your fingernail, if the liquid is clear it's not ready, if there is no liquid the corn is over-ripe and if there is milky liquid it's just right. Pick in the morning for ultimate sweetness.

Cucumber - look for the flowers to fall off of the cucumber, it should be dark green and large enough to use; pickling varieties should be 2-6" and slicing varieties should be 6-10".

Eggplant - the skin should be smooth and shiny but firm, most varieties will be more than 6", the smaller the eggplant the better the flavor.
 
Peppers - pick when peppers are big enough to use, certain peppers are not completely ripe until they turn their final color. If you pick certain peppers before they turn red that plant will continue to set new fruit.

  
Potatoes - new potatoes can start to be harvested anywhere from when the plant flowers to two weeks after the flowers have died. For non-flowering varieties this is about 10 weeks after planting.  Dig out a few new potatoes for that nights dinner and replace the soil. For your final harvest and storage potatoes dig up the plant carefully when it's dry and after the foliage has died back. Leave the potatoes out in the sun to dry for a couple of days.

Snap Beans - look for beans that are straight and thin as a pencil, pick in the morning (only if plant is dry) when they are at their sweetest. The seeds should be barely visible in the pod and it's tips should be soft.

Sweet Potato - usually ready 100-140 days after planting, harvest when plant dies down on dry days before the first frost. Be careful to avoid damaging your potatoes when harvesting and cure a week before storing. Rinse very gently if absolutely necessary.

Watermelon - look for the tendril nearest the fruit to turn from green to brown, also look for the bottom of the plant to yellow.

Winter Squash - look for the vine to die down and the stem to dry, the skin should be hard making it difficult to pierce with your fingernail. When cutting, leave 1" of stem. Buttercup and nut varieties taste better after sitting in the sun for two weeks after harvest as does Spaghetti Squash which is usually ripe when the stem cracks.

Pearson's Garden & Herb Farm

After numerous visits to my local nurseries I started to notice a trend in regards to the items I was purchasing. All of them had an identification tag from Pearson's Garden, so I decided to investigate the origin of all these plants a little further. Pearson's Garden and Herb Farm is about 40 minutes north of us in Vista. It is family owned and operated since 1989 by Cindy and Mark Pearson. It's very unassuming from the road, so much so that I drove right past it and had to turn back around because it's literally the backyard of a house. Not just any backyard mind you, once you enter through the beautiful gates it could be considered Shangri-la to many gardeners.

I was absolutely in awe, everywhere I looked there were neat organized rows of every herb and heirloom vegetable you could imagine along with gourmet veggies all in perfect 4"or 6" pots. Hard to find varieties I had been searching for were finally all in one place. The family is right on hand to help you navigate their nursery and suggest the best varieties. On top of all that you can trust that your plants are grown without chemical pesticides, hormones, fungicides or growth regulators and no gmo's. Also they do ship! Check out their online store and for me I justified the drive by having a long list ready of everything I wanted. In those terms ordering twice a year in bulk, saving multiple trips to local nurseries makes sense.

What to do with all of your extra produce

My last post got me thinking, or just freaked me out. We are going to have allot of extra produce this summer and fall that might actually exceed what we and all of our loved ones can actually consume. As much as our chickens would hate to hear this we need to look into other alternatives so none of our organically grown food goes to waste.

Backyard Grower Program- This program at the City Heights Farmers Market allows those of us with small scale gardens to still participate in the local food community. You bring your produce each Saturday morning to their booth and either sell it yourself for a $5 fee or have them sell it for a small percentage.
Crop Swapper- Started by two brothers in San Diego, Crop Swapper allows you to swap your produce with others in the San Diego area. They meet once a week at Del Cerro Park, 6475 Del Cerro Blvd, San Diego, CA 92120, with more locations to come.
Veggie Trader- The craigslist of produce, this amazingly easy to use sight enables you to list seeds, seedlings and actual fruits and vegetables that you have in excess. You just post a listing detailing what you have available then you choose if you would like cash for your goods or if you want to swap for some produce or seedlings your in need of.

What's Growing-Seeds in the City-Summer 2010

We are very happy to have such a healthy and happy garden this year that is already producing. Friends of Seeds in the City get your recipes ready. This is what we have growing this year.

Basil-Black Opal
Beet-Burpees Golden
Beet-Early Blood Turnip
Beet-Pronto
Bean-Blue Lake Black Seeded Pole Bean
Bean-Kentucky Wonder Pole Bean
Bean-Royal Burgundy Bush Bean
Borage
Carrot-Danvers
Carrot-Dragon
Carrot-Red Core Chantenay
Carrot-Scarlet Nantes
Corn-Golden Bantam
Cucumber-A&C Pickling
Cucumber-Bush Champion
Cucumber-True Lemon
Dill
Eggplant-Imperial Black Beauty
Eggplant-Listada de Ganadia
Eggplant-Rosa Bianca
Lettuce-Jericho Romaine
Lettuce-Webbs Wonderful
Onion-Parade Bunching
Pepper-Jalapeno
Pepper-Mini Red Bell
Pepper-Quadrato Asti Giallo
Pepper-Sweet Banana
Potato-Desiree Red
Pumpkin-Cornfield
Pumpkin-Rouge Vif'd etampes
Radish-Cherry Belle
Rosemary
Spinach-America
Spinach-New Zealand
Squash-Anna Swartz
Squash-Buttercup
Squash-Spaghetti
Thyme-Spicy Orange
Tomato-Celebrity
Tomato-Paul Robeson
Tomato-San Diego
Tomato-Yellow Pear
Watermelon-Chris Cross
Watermelon-Sugar Baby
Zaatar

No SERIOUSLY, get ready, we might have gone overboard and in a couple months it's going to be crazy.

Before & After...Spring Edition

My favorite part of Spring Planting...watching your labor of love grow.

Companion Planting - Top 10

Summer Crop Top 10

This post has been a few days in the making. As I researched the best plants for pollinators in raised beds I started to generally look into companion planting. Well needless to say now I'm hooked. I did some more research and thought I would put it into an easy to understand format. Here is a list of the top 10 summer crops and their likes and dislikes. Let me know if you guys have witnessed any other good partners or life long enemies.

Carrot
Plant With: Chive (Improves Growth & Flavor), Sage (Improves, Repels Carrot Rust Fly) and Tomato
Just Not That Into: Dill

Corn
Plant With: Bean (attracts beneficials, controls Leaf Beetle & Leaf Hopper), Potato, Pumpkin (improves growth), Squash (attracts beneficials, controls Western Flower Thrips)
Just Not That Into: Tomato

Cucumber
Plant With: Catnip (repels Cucumber Beetle), Corn (protects from wilt), Dill (repels pests), Eggplant, Onion, Oregano (repels pests), Pole Bean (adds nutrients), Radish (repels Cucumber Beetle), Sunflower, Tomato
Just Not That Into: Basil, Potato, Rosemary, Sage

Eggplant
Plant With: Green Beans (repels Colorado Potato Beetle), Marigold (controls Nematodes)

New Zealand Spinach
Plant With: Bean, Onion and Strawberry
Just Not That Into: Potato

Peppers
Plant With: Carrot, Basil, Eggplant, Onion, Tomato
Just Not That Into: Fennel

Pole Bean
Plant With: Carrot, Cucumber, Eggplant, Oregano (improves growth & flavor), Radish, Strawberry
Just Not That Into: Basil, Beet, Fennel, Garlic, Onion, Radish, Sunflower

Potato
Plant With: Corn, Eggplant (trap), Marigold, Onion (repels Colorado Potato Beetle)
Just Not That Into: Cucumber, Pumpkin, Rasberry, Spinach, Squash, Sunflower, Tomato, Turnip

Squash
Plant With: Borage (improves growth & flavor, attracts bees, repels squash vine borer), Corn (protects from wilt), Marigold (repels beetles, nematodes), Oregano (repels pests)
Just Not That Into: Potato, Pumpkin (only if saving seeds)

Tomato
Plant With: Basil (protects tomato from insects & disease), Carrot, Cucumber, Garlic (repels Red Spider), Marigold (repels Tomato Hornworm, Thrips, Aphid), Onion, Pepper
Just Not That Into: Corn, Dill, Fennel, Pole Bean, Potato

Cover Crop | Compost | Mulch

After a little bit of sun and heat the top layer of soil in the raised beds has taken a beating. Now that the seedlings have matured, and the drip could be placed, we decided it was time for mulch. We worked compost and the cover crop into the soil in February; now we just had to protect this work from the sun. We picked up a fine bark mulch and spread it in the boxes taking care not to smother the new seedlings. I was amazed with how great it turned out. This process conserves water, protects the soil and the drip lines from the sun, and is much cleaner looking without the drip lines exposed.

Best plants to attract pollinators

As novice gardeners we feel satisfied when our garden stays alive and produces something other then pest high rises. Were definitely not ready to try and create those beautiful lush gardens you see in garden books. That being said I still like to try and have a diverse garden while adding color to our raised boxes, but if all you're going to do is look pretty then you have no place here. Plants that are going to get one of the small dedicated lots in the raised beds better be ready to multitask.

I set out to research plants and flowers that were perennials or annuals, would add some color, do well in full San Diego sun, not get too large, or require lots of water and will contribute to the ecology of the garden. Easy right?

Here's what I found:

Borage- Annual that gets 2-3' tall, attracts bees like crazy, edible flowers.
Cosmos (Sonata Dwarf)- Very pretty flowering annual plant that attracts bees and butterflies, tolerates heat and low water. It blooms late spring to early fall. Look for dwarf varieties that only get around 2'.
Dill- Annual, 3' tall with yellow flowers, can be used in recipes, many medicinal uses, attracts Beneficial's such as bees, companion plant to our cucumber vine.
Echinacea- Perennial that likes full sun, the beautiful purple coneflower can get up to 4' tall and 2' wide so look for dwarf varieties like 'Pixie Meadowbright'. Attracts butterflies and has medicinal uses.
Gallardia- Perennial, likes full sun, look for dwarf varieties like goblin that only get a 1' tall and wide. Attracts bees and butterflies.
Sea Holly- Perennial, likes full sun, very unique flower that blooms summer into fall and will add violet to your landscape, make sure you get a dwarf variety like eryngium planum 'Jade Frost' it only gets 8" high. They attract butterflies and beneficial flower wasps.
Sunflowers- Besides being beautiful, they attract the three B's; Beneficial's, bees and butterflies. When selecting your sunflower think of heirlooms simply because some newer varieties are pollen-less or are hybrids that don't attract bees.
Toad Flax- Perenial, mid-season bloomer that gets 2-3' high but only 1' wide, comes in pink or blue, attracts bees and butterflies.
Yarrow (Paprika)- Flowering perennial native that can endure drought, gets up to 3' tall, yarrow comes in many great colors and also attracts butterflies.

Some of these would do well in containers for those of you working within the confines of a concrete garden. Let me know if you have found any others that worked well for you.

To Cut or Not To Cut?

The Desiree Red Potatoes were ready to be planted today after sitting out for two weeks and we labored over whether to cut the larger potatoes before planting. Many garden books advise you to cut the potatoes and roll them in root tone or soil sulfur and then plant. This way you get more out of what you plant even though some research indicates bigger harvest when they aren't cut.

I talked to the professionals at two different local nurseries and both advised against the cut. They explained that San Diego soil already has high alkalinity and you're inviting mildew and fungus when you cut. We decided not to cut and 5 went in the ground today. Seed Savers recommended digging a 6" trench and burying them sprout up under 4" of soil. As the plants grow they recommend covering them with soil until you have a mound. As soon as I have mounds I will post a new picture.

And so it begins....

The first of the spring garden has been planted in our raised beds. Josh just built the perfect shade contraptions which you can see on the boxes. He made these out of an old outdoor umbrella! I hope this relief from the sun will give some of the more sensitive seedlings a chance.