The Radish Patch

Vegetables

The Best Green Bean... Kentucky Blue Pole!

Note: This post was scheduled for 3 weeks ago, but I live in Sonoma county, Calif. where wildfires devastated huge areas of our county. Our home is located 1 mile from  the neighbor that was completely burned down. We were evacuated for four days but returned to a house that

Flowers

Feeding Birds in the Fall Garden

Fall can be a scraggly time in the garden.  Each year I itch to pull out old plants that have faded beyond their glory days to replace them with something fresh. But, when I wait, and put up with the dead looking, seed loaded plants, I am always rewarded! A

Recipes

Tomato Fresh Salsa Hybrid - Perfect Bruschetta Tomato!

Summer means bruschetta, salsa and fresh sliced tomatoes…right? But somehow the tomatoes I grew were never quite right for the bruschetta I loved to make…..until now! When I saw that Burpee Seed Co. had a tomato called “Fresh Salsa Hybrid” I imagined plump, firm, flavorful tomatoes that weren’

Flowers

How to Plant a Perennial Flower Border

The area along our back fence hadn’t been touched much in 30 years. Plants had come and gone and ivy had begun to take over. It was beyond our skills and strength so we hired a pro to tear out all that ivy deep enough that it wouldn’t

Flowers

Hydrangea Paniculata Strawberry Vanilla

During a  fall color trip back East a few years ago we kept seeing what looked like the hydrangeas we grew at home in northern Calif., but different!  After asking around we found out what we were falling in love with was a paniculata hydrangea named Strawberry Vanilla. A few

Flowers

Gaddis Wholesale Nursery...Preparing Plants for Our Gardens!

Have you ever wondered where and how the plants you buy at your local nursery are grown? I’ve driven by Gaddis Wholesale Nursery for years and always enjoyed the view of the flower filled greenhouses. So today I went there to talk to James Gaddis about how the plants

Garden

A Secret Garden to Love....

A simple house on a busy street, a walk along the drive and suddenly….an unexpected surprise! It’s hard to believe the garden that unfolds in this unlikely space. Fifteen years in the making, the gardener and mom lovingly added little “rooms” as a place for her large family

Flowers

Bachelor Buttons..Old Fashion Charm

When I was a little girl I spent summers with my grandmother in Selma, Calif. . Everyday began with sweeping the sidewalks in front of her big old home, followed by hours of moving the hose from one precious flower or tree to the next. She was always up before daybreak

Garden

Garden Book for Kids! GROW!

I love to discover new gardening books for children! After finding “Grow” online I requested a copy to share and I’m so glad I did! The best way to test a new kid’s book is to use it with a kid so off to the garden I went

Flowers

How to Prune a Leggy Hydrangea

Hydrangeas are tricky to prune. Old style mop head hydrangeas bloom on old wood, so if you cut them way back after blooming, you are likely cutting off next year’s blossoms! The newer mop head varieties, such as Blushing Bride or  Endless Summer, bloom on new wood so you

Garden

Rose Time Garden Party

It’s that time again! Rose season…when roses spring forth and add color and scent to the garden. Each year two Jeanne LaJoie miniature climbers, planted in 1999,  climb up our deck top and turn the whole deck into a literal rose cave! Never pruned, they sprawl wherever we

Travel

Observing Nature - Steelhead Beach Park

It’s amazing what you see when you really take time to look. We went a little astray from the garden this time and wandered along a forest path in Steelhead Beach Park along the Russian River in Sonoma County. It’s worth a trip for a nice flat walk

Flowers

Enchanting Sweet peas!

I’ve read about Enchanting Sweet Peas in Sebastopol, Calif. and I’ve even enjoyed the blooms from their wonderful fragrant varieties purchased and grown by my best friend….but, I’ve never actually gone by the once-a-year sale until now. Wow! Glenys Johnson, the owner of Enchanting Sweet Peas,

Vegetables

Sex and the Single Zucchini!

We’ve all heard people complain about too much zucchini! But, I also get questions about why some plants have a ton of flowers and no squash. It’s actually quite simple once you understand the sex life of zucchinis! Look carefully at the following photo and you’ll see

Garden

Garden Musings...

Very early every morning I sit in the same spot, coffee and Bible in hand, as I  read and contemplate life. I see an ever changing picture through my dining room window as the seasons and weather change the view. This morning I noticed the stark difference between the three

Flowers

Nasturtiums!

Nasturtiums are such a common garden flower I almost didn’t consider adding any to my garden! But, I read somewhere that chickens like to snack on the flowers….and well, you all know how I feel about the girls! That and the fact that they are wonderful to garnish

Flowers

Cottage Garden Charm

I love it when a someone says, ” You should see my friend’s garden!” I never pass up an opportunity when that happens. So, when my friend Cathy mentioned the roses and peonies in her friend Judy’s garden, I begged to go see it….and I’m so glad

Flowers

Garden Party...Celebrating Roses!

Seventeen years ago I purchased two one gallon Mini climbing roses from the Sonoma County Jail plant sale. I planted one on each end of our deck and now, all these years later, with very little care and no pruning, they’ve become breathtakingly beautiful! Jeanne LaJoie is a wonderful

Succulents

Succulents in a Chicken Feeder?

A few weeks ago, at an Illustrated Faith night, I fell in love with the craft table centerpiece. Tucked neatly into a long, galvanized chicken feeder, were a ton of colorful succulents, making a very striking statement. So…..I came home and copied it….though on a much smaller scale!

Vegetables

Spring! Time to Start the Garden!

Here in northern California it’s time get started on your spring garden. Today, February 25th, is 7 weeks before our average last frost date of April 15th. So what can you do now to plant and prepare?     1. Clean up weeds and dead leaves left from winter. 2. Top

Chickens

Chicken Treats for Winter Days

Winter days must be as long and boring for backyard chickens as they’d be for us if we were cooped up inside all day. With no chance for fresh greens I imagine they would like some fresh food for a change. So….I planted some Chicken Salad Seed Mix

Garden

A Garden's Winter Wonder

Winter is a hard time to write about the garden.  Not much going on this month. I thought about detailing how to dig up dahlia tubers or the importance of cleaning up old tomato plants felled by this week’s first frost. But when I grabbed my camera to walk

Chickens

Chicken Feather Frenzy...Molting 101

Well the girls have been a bit of a disappointment for the past month or so.  Five chickens, lots of feed and bedding ,but…No Eggs! On top of that the coop and the run are a mess! Covered in more and more feathers each day.  I knew about molting

Vegetables

Zucchini in October?

In years past I, like most people, planted my zucchini seeds after the frost free date, around April 15 in our zone 9 northern California garden.  By October I was usually pulling out plants that were done producing and beginning to mildew and turn yellow. In fact, that’s what

Vegetables

Vegetable Garden Designs...Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden

Wandering through a well designed garden is one of the best ways to decide how to design a garden of your own. The vegetable garden at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden is a great place to observe raised beds, mixed gardens full of flowers and veggies, outbuildings and nice pathways.