In a typical week I make two trips from Napa to Sacramento. Since I live in eastern part of Napa the most enjoyable route I like to take is to go back roads up in the hills, past Lake Berryessa and eventually following its outlet stream, Putah Creek, which leads me out to Winters… where I hit the flatland en route to Sacramento.  Now this is the time of year to embark on this trip even if it is not in your commute somehow…the reason? It is in its botanical peak with California natives just going crazy with their spring time blooms! So this is a little pictorial which begins in Winters and ends in Napa– around a 25 to 30 mile drive.
Bear in mind that this pictorial was done with my kids on board and me stopping every mile of so to photograph my next big botanical find. This worked for awhile, as I convinced my 3 and 5 year old it was a game and asked them to be on the look out for some great flowers! But patience wore thin as Daddy was going just a little crazy with this project. All ended well as they got bribed with frozen yogurt pushups in exchange for their barely masked patience in letting dad just stop one more time!!  So enjoy the drive and hopefully you can do it yourself some day!  Click on the plant links to see them in our database and if there is no link you will be seeing this plant soon in our database.

The Route Taken.... Except I went from B to A!

Let’s get it Started
For most yards, generally I would suggest some type of container or raised bed. This allows for a more intensified production from the same footprint. Now make sure these containers or beds are not too small as drying out can become a huge problem, stunting or even killing off your plants during the hot summer months. But for the same reason that these beds can dry out quickly can also be their advantage – they warm up in the early spring better than the surrounding soil, and as a result come into production much faster, and continue to produce deeper into the fall months as well.

Raised Beds in Rusted Sheet Metal

Raised Redwood Planters

In small spaces you can use the veggie planters or herb beds as a dual-purpose feature by putting a thicker cap on top to serve as a seating area…a very efficient use of space, and a great place to rest and enjoy your garden. I recommend building the beds at least 3 feet wide by 8 feet long to ensure the plants will thrive at their full potential. This concept can also be used on slopes where a nice 18” to 20” retaining wall can actually gain space for you in the yard and create the perfect raised bed along this wall.

Retaining Wall / Veggied Garden Concept

Raised Concrete Herb Circle with Seat Cap

Another concept to consider in tight spaces is to go vertical. So many vegetables come in vining varietals such as squash, beans, peas, cucumbers, melons, gourds, and tomatoes. Simply set up a strong trellis or cage and allow (with a little help maybe) these varietals to scramble up these supports which puts the harvest right at eye level. Which is very nice on the back as well!

Small Space with Big Results

Trellising Squash for Vertical Production

Now that you have evaluated your veggie needs and your feasible space to do your garden project, let’s figure out what to plant! Of course now is the time to use your PlantSmart Plant Sensor to take your measurements at the chosen site, and get a reading of what vegetables are going to work in this spot. If you are not concentrating on lettuce, spinach, or other leafy greens you will want to try to find the sunniest spot available for your project. Most vegetable crops are sun lovers and require several hours of direct light a day to ripen correctly. The biggest sun seekers are tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, melons, cucumbers, and squash.

It is now time to prepare your beds. You are probably going to need to add amendments, and or supplements to your soil. Also, when adding these soil enhancers (for example compost or aged manure) it is a good time to break up and loosen the soil to a pretty good depth (18” or so) and mix in the compost or amendments to get them down to a good depth at the root zones. This deep digging probably only needs to happen once a year or less and only if it appears your soil has gotten compacted. Once your soil is prepared, go ahead and add a couple of inches of composted mulch to the top. You will want to add this couple of inches of compost at least once a year in the fall or spring to replenish your soil and help stifle weeds. Now you are ready to plant!
I would be remiss in my duties as a designer if I did not go over a few tips on really making your vegetable garden shine. Now think of your vegetable garden beds or containers as individual planting planting borders. The goal in these cases is create depth and to allow for all your plants to get their full allotment of sun. If possible I like to lay my growing beds out so they are oriented from north to south. With this orientation I can plant my taller plants in the middle of the bed such as my tomatoes, eggplant, sunflowers, or corn. On the side edges of the beds I would use nice low growing plants such as basil, onions, bush beans, or even…carrots! Leafy green plants like the basil, radishes, or spinach should be planted on the east side of the mounds as the morning sun is perfect for their growth needs, and they will be in the shade by early noon avoiding any leaf burn in the hot afternoon sun. On the west side of the beds you can use sun happy low growing vegetables such as your carrots, bush beans, onions, summer squash (bush form), potatoes, or perennial herbs like thyme or oregano. This planting plan will make full use of your beds and make sure you are getting optimal production from your precious square footage. Look for my future blog on companion plants and what vegetables really work together bio-dynamically and enhance each other when grown together.
Use your sensor at this point to go to the website and monitor your plants to make sure they are getting what they need to reach their full potential. Make sure to follow your region alerts of when good planting times are and amazing results will follow…..all the way to your dinner table. Now get started on those seed catalogs!
Not enough time and space to get into individual vegetables and herbs here…..but certainly look for future blogs to go into more detail on these plants of bounty!

Veggie Delight part 1

Veggie Delight part 2

Who and Why

More and more often people are turning to growing their own vegetables, herbs, and fruit in their yards. Are people fed up with purchasing all their produce from the local market at very high prices? Maybe it’s because of the guilt of eating produce grown up to thousands of miles away, knowing it contributes to their carbon footprint, being transported by trucks burning fossil fuels. And on top of everything else these vegetables and fruits may be contaminated with insecticides or even e-coli! Or maybe it’s because people are staring at their underused, water-hogging grass lawns, and thinking there must be a better way to use this space. Or perhaps they were at their friend’s house for dinner and where they enjoyed courses filled with fresh herbs and veggies picked that day. Or maybe the recession has provided incentive to many to grow their own food. Perhaps your persistence and stubbornness has gotten the best of you, such as the case of me and my elusive success with the carrot. Which by the way was solved when I realized I was not covering the seeds enough, causing them to dry out, despite daily watering (you want them about ¼” down…which is hard when talking hundreds of tiny seeds!). Anyhow, as a landscape designer I witnessed this growing trend first hand as the percentage of clients requesting a vegetable / herb garden included in their design has increased at least four fold over the last 10 years!
There are many reasons people are heading in this direction, making this the new golden age of home gardening right now. For the first time ever, several seed companies have not been able to keep up with demand and are selling out their seed stocks for a given year. I’m sure the seed companies are now gearing up to meet future demand by increasing their stocks of seeds, because it looks like this trend is here to stay for awhile.

One concern many people may have when considering starting a vegetable garden is that they don’t want to sacrifice the look of their yard by throwing in a bunch of vegetable plants and possibly messing up the aesthetics of their yard. Or even more often the complaint is that people simply do not have enough space to grow vegetables at all. The beauty of this situation is that with careful planning and layout, your veggie beds can become a beautiful focal point of your yard. And if these beds have to stay small due to the size of your yard, there are a huge variety of plants specifically adapted to small spaces.
Before getting started, you have to decide what your goal (and or focus) is in vegetable gardening. Are you looking to take care of all your vegetable needs? Maybe you just have a low key plan to just plant a couple tomato or squash plants? Or do want to as crazy as me and decide you can supply the town?! This decision of course is based on what your lifestyle is about, and how much you like to work in your yard! So I would love to know: what is your reason to maintain or start a vegetable garden? Have you already carved out your own space to start your own garden of delicious edibles?
Now assuming your definition of a veggie garden isn’t lifting up a fence board to allow your neighbors squash to scramble into your yard, or snacking off the luscious cherries and apples dangling tantalizingly over your fence from their trees…..then let’s get going!

Also check out this great little article on kids and what to plant to get them excited about gardening!  http://bit.ly/fSBfSC ~ and Margaret Roach’s article on when to start what seeds!   http://bit.ly/f3fGSS