The potato plant has produced potatoes!!

I just had to share!

Remember the potato plant...?

Well, it actually made potatoes.

Lol. I know that sounds silly, but I've never grown potatoes before.

They're so beautiful.

So perfect.

And they were unbelievably delicious.

Grow some for yourself.

You'll thank me:-)

Hiatus

I'm so sorry friends, but due to my insane deadline I need to go on Hiatus. I'll try to post a few times during the summer though!

Happy Gardening,

Laura

I have commitment issues.

Here's my plot at the community garden.

Yes, the one with the huge, Wolfman-size footprints in it. Hey, I have a very lovely, petite size 8 going on - and they just tilled, okay?

So, I've had this plot for a few weeks, and have been very excited to get going on my planting. Notice I said HAVE BEEN. It seems the 'community' part of the community garden bugs me a little. It could be because I don't like to share or maybe it's that my neighbors there on the left, with the raised bed and the fancy artichoke plant, are sorta anal and not very friendly.

They have this seed corn growing right on our "property line" and they didn't bother to put a sign there or anything, so when I put up the fence on that line they bawled me out for it. And by bawl me out, I mean they asked if I'd move my fence... But it was the way they said it - irritated, like I should've KNOWN by osmosis or something that there was corn under the ground on the line.

It was not very community-ee feeling, let me tell you.

Needless to say my excitement has dwindled. I can't decide what I want to plant there. I go and look at the spot, but that's it. I'm feeling very passive - and slightly passive aggressive. (but only to the neighbors on the left)

Whatever my hang up is, I've decided to give the project over to the kids.

They get to pick what we grow there - and plant it! They get to deal with the neighbors on the left - and maybe bawl them out at some point when that seed corn grows so tall it blocks our sun!

You know the rules state 'nothing that grows over 6 feet can be planted there.'

I may have ti shoot a little extra water their way, maybe some compost...

Ha.

Take that.

It's time to COMPOST people!

Composting is so awesome!

-It cuts down on waste - diverting food-scraps/brown bags/wet paper towels/egg shells, coffee grounds etc away from landfills where it will decompose anaerobically (without air), producing methane, a greenhouse gas 20 times more dangerous than carbon dioxide.

-Creates amazing organic fertilizer

-Is an excellent lesson for the kiddos in recycling/waste management/helping the environment.

Here in Los Angeles, you can listen to an hour long lecture on composting, buy your composter for about 40ish bucks, then take it home and get started. It's as easy as that.

Here's the link if you're interested:

http://dpw.lacounty.gov/epd/sg/bc_bins.cfm

Note 1: It's best to have your composter on soil so the worms can crawl up into the bin, but composting on concrete or tarmac is getting more common. All you need to do is put a layer of paper and twigs or existing compost on the bottom of your bin so the worms and other creatures can colonize.

Note 2: You don't need a traditional composter either. My dad made a large wooden box with slats, no top and they just dump stuff in there!

Here is a link to a few make-ur-own bins!

http://www.stopwaste.org/home/index.asp?page=445

Good luck!

CORN

I love growing corn. It's so earthy and satisfying. When the time is right and the corn is as high as elephant's eye - the kids walk between the rows, pick an ear or two and hunker down on the porch to snack.

For a Minnesota girl, nothing reminds me of home more. Don'tchaknow?

We have this smallish space on the side of our house - my mantra is, 'use every bit of available sun space' - it's maybe 5x5 - if that. And it's really all you need to plant 15 or so corn plants. You can really pack 'em in there - even grow lettuce underneath them as they get taller.

We've grown corn here once before, so I know it can happen. This year, I thought I'd plant in easy compost hills. One bag per row. It's so easy - mound a hill, make a hole, stick a plant in and cover.

Little Manster helped me plant these three rows, but I didn't get it on film. I don't have the skills to plant and shoot. I suspect it would take a mother/farmstress with six hands to manage such a feat.

NOTE - the corn pictured above is new corn I bought. My seedlings didn't survive the strange heat spell of 2010 ..(aka the days I either didn't water them enough or forgot about them entirely)

NOTE 2 - The trick with corn is you need at least 6 plants growing together to make something happen - as in, produce actual ears of corn. You know, the corn plants need to...umm..pollinate and such.

.....I won't go further - this is a family blog.

What's Working and What's Not.

First of all, sorry for the gap between posts, but as a writer, my first priority is my novels and deadlines and self-promotion and ...well, the list goes on - lol! With that said, alot of interesting things are happening in our garden these days. The weather has been spectacular, and the plants are really feeling it! Well, except for those plants that are clearly giving in and giving up. I'm quite annoyed with those plants - yes, they know who they are.

So, for fun I decided to rate all the new plants in the garden as if they were a first date.

The beans...

As I excepted, trying to plant anything in egg cartons yields nothing but frustration and a few tears..lol.. I think it's because as soon as the moisture goes in, it evaps right out - no matter what I cover it with. At this point, I got nothin' but dry soil and seed.

Egg carton=Jerk. :-)

La Topsy Turvy (Say this 10 times fast and in a French accent)

Yeah, laugh it up, but last year this baby grew us some pretty and very tasty tomatoes as well as some Pasilla chilies. This year, I have no idea what's happening. Although there are tiny tomatoes on it already, the leaves look horribly sad... (Shakes head)

Topsy Turvy=Inconsistent and kind of unattractive

The corn.

The corn.

I don't know what's happening here. Here's the corn several weeks ago...

... and here it is now.

Can you see the difference? I know I can't. Basically at this rate, I think I'll have corn sometime in the summer of 2015...

Corn=Not ready to commit.

Then there's this.

Oh yeah, baby!

The tomatoes planted right in the organic compost bag. Wow. Beautiful, and a ton of flowers. This was a great tip, great idea for easy planting - although I'm not sure what to do when the fruit begins... do I try and cage it?? nonetheless...

Tomatoes=Dreamy, what a catch!

And last but not least..

The Taters.

GORGEOUS! Who knew this would be so simple, so beautiful, so hardy. I say, plant some today - the only thing is, I have NO IDEA WHEN THEY'RE READY. Do you?

Potatoes=Soul Mate.

That's right I said it!

I Got It! I Got it!

With so little space to grow anything here, the city has provided some acreage for us Angelinos (or is it Angelenos?) to use. The problem is so many people want these 10x20 plots you need to wait until one opens up. I put my name on the waiting list over a year ago! I got the call a few weeks ago, and went in and claimed my land:-) It's very exciting and wonderful to be around all these fabulous experienced and newbie gardeners.

Here are some pictures that Little Manster took of our space as well as several others.

(We haven't decided what to plant here yet, but I'll let you know when we do!)

Here's our plot, the one on the right. The one on the left is new too, but this woman got it before I could snap it up. I was very jealous of the beautiful artichoke plant they left behind...

Speaking of artichokes - look at this beauty!

There's a greenhouse too - anyone can use it, start from seed..

You can grow pretty much anything here: veg, fruit, flowers - it just can't be over 6 feet and block the sun from another's garden.

This person is just getting started with her raised beds..

Lovely flowers..

This is a great thing to look into for you and your kids. They can really have pride of ownership here, choose what they want to grow and take the responsibility of caring for it - its success or failure. At our garden center, there's picnic tables and beaches. After looking at our plot, Little Manster and I had a snack in the shade and read some books. He was pretty tired afterwards and took a 2 1/2 hour nap...a nice side benefit, and I'm not afraid to admit it!