13. May 2011 by admin.

Mark your calendar! Saturday, May 21 at 2:00 pm, I am hosting another tomato workshop. Please inquire at judyfrankel@gmail.com to reserve a space.

Posted in Gardening classes and opportunities to learn, Vegetables and Fruit, Uncategorized | No Comments »

17. March 2011 by admin.

Posted in Everyday life, Vegetables and Fruit, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

14. January 2011 by admin.

Winter is the time to prune, revamp the beds, plant trees, strawberries, and berry brambles. Here I am helping out in Carola’s School Garden at Lincoln Elementary in Long Beach, California. Carola is a Master Gardener and a wonderful friend.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

26. October 2010 by admin.

I’ve been waiting for the rain and fog to stop, for some sunshine and wah-lah: finally! Now it’s time to get out the loppers and go after those apricot trees that haven’t been fruiting properly. Here’s an example of the “Before” picture of an apricot that has only been giving maybe 10 fruits on a good year. Just let me at it…

Before:

After:

Posted in Vegetables and Fruit, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

30. September 2010 by admin.

Check out these pictures of Flame grapes on my three-year-old vines:

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

6. September 2010 by admin.

Because of all the cool weather this summer, the tomatoes are finally coming in late. This is the time for the bumper crop.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

5. August 2010 by admin.

I noticed a lot of comments on the LA Times’ blog where people were confused about tomato pruning. Here’s the comment I posted there to help clarify:

Yes! It’s hard to know which is a sucker and which is a lateral until you’ve been into the tomato plants! But here’s the main rule: there is only one leader (generally) and all other side shoots are suckers. They grow right above almost every leaflet. Don’t remove the leaflet; just remove the sucker growing out of its crotch. A lateral IS a sucker that you decided to keep.

The general guideline is: retain the leader and the first sucker that shows up above the first fruiting cluster on the main leader. Or wait until you see a sucker (above the first fruiting cluster) that is a hefty size and keep JUST THAT SUCKER. I cut off all but one sucker on some of my plants.

Having said that, it’s best to keep several laterals (or “suckers”) on the following varieties: Brandywine, most cherry tomatoes, grape and pear tomatoes. But don’t go crazy; only keep maybe 3 or 4 suckers on the plant and prune all the rest.

Then there are varieties which send out new suckers RIGHT OFF THE END OF A FRUITING CLUSTER! How dare they! So cut the frilly end off that fruiting cluster!

Some varieties (like Champion) send out tons of suckers at their base, right near the ground. No matter which tomato variety it is CUT ALL THE SUCKERS THAT COME UP BELOW THE FIRST FRUIT CLUSTER, AT THE BOTTOM, leaving only the leader! Otherwise, you may never see a decent tomato on that plant.

Does this help?

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

12. November 2009 by admin.

I sprayed a mixture of fish emulsion and kelp this morning on the entire garden. It smells pretty foul, but it has everything the plants need. The nutrients get taken up by the leaves and the roots, and it’s got trace minerals and other goodies that other fertilizers don’t have.

Posted in Roses, Vegetables and Fruit, Uncategorized | No Comments »

17. April 2009 by admin.

“wilderness has virtue unto itself and needs no extraneous justification.” –The Diversity of Life, Edward O. Wilson

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

12. April 2009 by admin.

Check out this cauliflower I harvested this morning! It weighed in at 8 pounds! It’s bigger than my head. That means I shouldn’t eat the whole thing in one sitting. Believe me, I won’t! This will make a lot of aloo gobi.

Posted in Everyday life, Vegetables and Fruit, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »