February 28, 2014 by Born To Organize

Friday Flowers

The rain continues. I had a white-knuckled drive across the valley this afternoon, with bits of flooding across the freeway. I’m happy to be home and enjoying the rain with my feet firmly planted on the ground. Flash-flooding is inevitable with so many months of parched earth.

Hopefully we can weather this storm without loss or injury. Everyone forgets how to drive on wet roads.

Traffic conditions aside, what a happy soaking in the garden. Signs of spring were everywhere this week. Come take a look:

Coral Abutilon

Fragrant freesia

Garden peas

First tulip

Jasmin buds

Sweet Alyssum

February 27, 2014 by Born To Organize

Raspberry Teasers

Two summers ago the raspberry vines produced mouth-watering fruit. Many a summer’s day, we would head to the garden after dinner and eat them right off the vine. They were melt-in-your mouth delicious.

Last year I transplanted the vines to make room for an impromptu pumpkin patch. They pumpkins self-seeded in the compost bin and needed a place to grow. The raspberry canes grew into vines, but not a single berry. Not one! We missed them terribly.

For years I bought beautiful red berries at the market, only to be disappointed by the taste. After growing them I learned that the mouth-watering taste was in the dark berries. Red fruit looks pretty in the market, but doesn’t come close to delivering on taste.

I’m happy to report that the vines have recovered. They’re sending out healthy green leaves along their prickly, red stalks. Stage one is looking good. Next up: white flowers. Then I’ll know we’re back in business.

Raspberry vines and daffodils

Will the vines produce fruit? Only the shadow knows for sure

Healthy foliage, happy gardener

So, here I am counting my berries before they grow, but I can’t help myself. Fresh rain and the countdown to spring bring out the optimistic gardener.

Stay tuned.

Do you have a favorite berry?

February 21, 2014 by Born To Organize

Greenhouse Envy

Mini greenhouse

Last year I watched with admiration as Sarah the Gardener built her second greenhouse. Sarah writes a fabulous blog about her garden in Australia, and is about to publish her second book on the subject. Check out her amazing garden.

I’ve always liked the idea of a greenhouse. My dad planted that seed years ago as he too wished he had one at home. Living in Silicon Valley means houses are small on small plots or large on small plots, but rarely will you find a house with a big piece of property attached. It’s simply cost prohibitive. Those of us who garden make do with the limited space. We have great weather year round and a long growing season to boot. I have zero room to complain.

So imagine my delight when I saw an ad in the paper for this scaled down and highly affordable mini-greenhouse at our local garden center. It was on sale for $39 bucks which is a steal if you ask me.

I put it together over the weekend and it’s ready for plants. I’m going to take stalk of my seed collection this weekend and then the fun begins. Planting seeds!

Spring, also known as the Vernal Equinox, is just a month away in this hemisphere. As Sarah puts her garden to bed for the winter in Australia, our California garden will be waking up.

I’ve Been Framed

Thanks to all who voted and commented with your suggestions earlier in the week on I’ve Been Framed. The straw-colored hallway won. Here is a video of the art as I approach. I hung her so our eyes meet when I walk by. It’s nice to live with someone who sees eye-to-eye with you every single day. I promise not to let it go to my head. ;-)

There was a great artist named Pauline

Who lived with a kitty so darling

She made fabulous art

Art filled with great heart

Now it hangs on my wall thanks to Pauline.

February 18, 2014 by Born To Organize

The Long and the Short of It

Do you ever look at photos on other blogs and think: “I wonder what’s around that corner’? I catch myself doing it all the time. What’s behind the house just outside of view? Where is the wheelbarrow in relation to the garden? Is that what I think it is?!?

Of course it’s none of my business, but that doesn’t stop my curious mind from traveling along the path. The solution is simple. I’ll buy a private jet so I can travel around the world, meeting all my fellow bloggers. I’ll deliver in-person hugs, and then, when I finally let go, hours of tea-drinking and a Q & A will ensue. When I arrive home, I’ll know the long and short of it.

Sadly, no room in the budget for my private jet fantasy. It’s fun to dream though.

Today I took photos with both the long and the short view. Closeups are usually more interesting, but seeing the origins of that closeup can also be fun.

Burgundy Fringe Flower (Loropetalum)

This beauty grows along the back fence under the Pittosporum. It gives a lovely splash of color from a distance, and continues to delight up close. Those fringe-like flowers look like fairy garden pom poms in the making.

The closeup

I wrote about the intoxicating scent of the Daphne a few weeks ago. It’s still covered with tiny flowers, but the fragrance seems to be fading. I think it’s pretty both near and far.

Daphne in the garden

Daphne up close

These low-growing plants hug the patio near the outdoor table. Purple and white look so pretty together and the Alyssum smells like honey. I love sitting out there in the summer.

Bell-flower and Alyssum

Bellflower

Mighty Mouse belongs to a neighbor, but he spends all of his ‘spare’ time at our place.

Tasty garden morsels

Kitty nibbles on the grass

And that is the long and short of it.

How about you? Are you curious about life outside of the edges?

January 24, 2014 by Born To Organize

Seeds for Change

Growing from an avocado pit

It’s easy to take seeds for granted. When you bite into an apple or slice open an avocado, the seeds are visible and bountiful. Most of the time we throw them away, or at the very least, add them to our compost pile.

In developing countries, however, this is not the case. The following organizations are working to change that.

Heifer International

The Heifer Project is best known for donating livestock in developing countries. Did you know that you can donate a Gardener’s Basket as well? The goal is to help build sustainable farms and increase self-sufficiency.

The garden basket gift features tree seedlings, rabbits, chickens and a hive of bees as part of an integrated farming approach. Training consists of animal care, fertilization and growing techniques. Benefits:

Boosts production by providing compost and fertilizer

Provides organic pest control as chickens get rid of bugs and worms

Pollinates crops for a more abundant harvest

Malnutrition is a very real problem for families suffering from poverty, one that claims the lives of many children each year. When you donate a garden, you enable families to support themselves with a healthy, balanced diet.

Garden baskets make ideal gifts for gardeners. (My friend Antonina donated on my behalf last Christmas!)

Yes to Seed Fund

Yes To Inc. is a local hair and skin care company, manufacturing sustainable, food-based products and packaging. In 2013 they committed 1% of profits to the Yes to Seed Fund. Additionally, 100% of the profits for Yes to Cucumbers towelettes goes to the seed fund while supplies last. I’ve snapped up a few at our local shop this afternoon. Their mission is to plant gardens around the globe.

Seeds for Change

Seeds for change is a seed donation program. Their goal is to promote self-sufficiency and at the same time bring healthy foods to impoverished rural families in the US. They’ve started a seed donation program to encourage families to grow their own fruits and vegetables.

It’s exciting to see local, national and international organizations sowing seeds around the globe.

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.”

― Robert Louis Stevenson

January 23, 2014 by Born To Organize

The Sensual Garden

Daphne

Our singular Daphne is in bloom this time of year producing a sensuous, heady musk. Daphne is my garden’s Sacred Feminine, the goddess of sensuality. Her blooms intoxicate, drawing me to my knees to inhale her rich scent.

There are a number of pheromone-rich plants in my garden, and lucky for me, they all flower at different times. After the Daphne fades, the Jasmine comes to life. You’ll find me in the side yard making up things to do for the weeks it remains in bloom. The lavender revives in late spring, attracting bees all summer long. It lines our front deck, and grows a few feet from our seating area.

According to Skin Biology, perfumes arose from plant oils with smells similar to animal pheromones. Plant oils with the strongest similarity to human sexual pheromones come from jasmine, ylang ylang and patchouli.

The sensual garden is a gentle lover. Leaves stir smoothly on an afternoon breeze as buds unfold languidly when ready. Bees swoop in, spreading garden goodness from plant to plant.

Without a quenching rain, my earthly companions must reach for ground water. So far they’re holding their own. The garden wouldn’t be the same without them.

January 21, 2014 by Born To Organize

Garden Pop-ups

Sure *I* was late planting this year’s bulbs, but nature is always on time. Bulbs from last season (and the season before!) are popping up all over the garden.

Life on deck

Sometimes I’ll forget that a bulb is resting at the bottom of a pot, and I’ll dump the dirt into a planter. This explains the random placement of one of the bulbs I see peeking out from the center of the vegetable beds. I love nature’s optimism.

Mystery bulbs in the Veggie garden

There are signs of tulips along the rock wall, but there are also signs of the squirrels eating the greens. I hope they lose interest soon, or that will be the end of them.

Tulips, ever optimistic

The hyacinths are up and looking pretty. It looks like the onion-scented Allium are coming back from last year, along with (I think) a single freesia.

Emerging hyacinth

Freesia?

Can you smell it?

New Life for your Old Calendar

Several of you commented that you save your wall calendars from year to year. Here are a few more ideas for turning your beautiful calendar pages into something new. For more info, visit Garden Calendar Lives Another Day.

Re-purposed Calendar: postcard, covered box, gift tags and stickers, envelopes, gift card holder, fairy garden bunting, drawer liner, box dividers, napkin rings

January 13, 2014 by Born To Organize

Narcissus and Freesia

Bulb Packets

Hopefully I’m not too late. The cliché “nothing ventured, nothing gained” is at work in my garden.

Today I planted nearly 75 bulbs, 50 Yellow Trumpet Narcissus and 24 Single Mix Freesia. The preferred planting time is November through December. We’re mid-way through January so I’m a teeny bit behind schedule. No matter. They’re in the ground now, a nice six inches below soil level. All these years of gardening and I’m still amazed that you can bury a bulb that deep. Their internal programming tells them when to pop up and where. If you plant one upside down, they’ll simple make a u-turn and grow up towards the sun anyway.

The narcissus will put on a show early to mid spring. They’re planted broadcast style in the curb garden. All that new, rich soil made quick work of the planting. It was nice to see earth worms in the mix too, always a plus. As a bonus, I unearthed my afternoon snack: half a dozen carrots that I missed harvesting last week.

The Freesia are early summer bloomers. I planted them in a curved row in the small triangle garden I created last year. The mix includes white, yellow, red, pink and purple flowers.

Rain

San Jose received a ‘trace’ of rain last week. It was enough to clear the awful air we’ve had, but nothing more. We’ve had 27 spare the air days this season days thanks to fires, illegal wood burning and lack of rain. Our five-day forecast calls for sunny skies and high temps. By Thursday, temps will be up to 72 degrees F (22 degrees C). January is typically our coolest month with an average of 58 degrees. I enjoy beautiful days as much as the next person, but it feels so strange to have winter skies, spring temps and summer ‘rain’.

Little Free Library

The Little Free Library is up and running a week now. Check back tomorrow for an update. I hope life is good in your corner of the world.

January 8, 2014 by Born To Organize

Roasted Vegetables: Savory and Sweet

Beta-Carotene.

It’s what’s for dinner.

The last of the carrots

More specifically, carrots, the last of them from the winter garden.

Next year I’ll plant quite a bit more, remembering to divide them, of course. It’s been so much fun.

Mike whipped up a vegetable roast, using the carrots along with new potatoes, parsnips, onions, green peppers and tofu from the market. It’s a nice, vegan/vegetarian dish for cold days. It’s warm and filling and easy to make.

Vegetable Roast

I’m spoiled rotten living with a man who likes to cook. Mom was a great cook, too, but this apple fell far from the tree, rolled down the sidewalk and into the woods. I can produce a meal under duress (and I cook for my boys when he travels) but most of the time I would rather be doing something else.

That said, I love to eat! Do you like to cook?

[Your caption here]

January 1, 2014 by Born To Organize

Garden Retrospective

When you’re a gardener, the start of the year feels more like the beginning of a countdown. Sure, the calendar year starts anew, but the planting calendar is still a ways off. It’s spring I’m pining for.

In case there was any doubt, two seed catalogs arrived in the mail this week; little teasers to get my heart pumping again.

I had fun putting together some of my favorite garden photos of 2013, set to a little rag time music by Terry Waldo called Maple Leaf Rag. It’s nearly impossible not to tap your foot to the beat.

Did you make any resolutions for the year? I’ve never had any success with mine so I don’t bother anymore. I *like* the idea of eating healthier, sleeping more, and remembering to floss. It’s just that promising myself (or the universe) that I’m really going to do it *this year* really doesn’t work.

Here’s what I will do in 2014: more gardening, more blogging, more reading and more laughing.

Do you make resolutions? Do you keep them?