Recipes for What’s In Season

Posted on 10. September 2010 by admin

People are always asking me what to do with Swiss Chard. I admit, it wasn’t my favorite until I found Eggs In A Nest in the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. I’m now including my favorite Swiss Chard Recipe link on the right side of this blog. As you scroll down and look on the right, you’ll see Recipes under Links. Click on the one for Swiss Chard, and there you go!

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This tomato season

Posted on 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.

Tomatoes galore

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Upcoming Workshops

Posted on 29. August 2010 by admin

This Saturday, September 4th, I will be hosting two (2) Tomato Workshops, as I have mentioned in my last post. Just email me whether you want to come at 10 am or 11:30 am at judyfrankel@gmail.com. Hurry, as spaces will fill up quickly! The workshop costs $20 per person.

In addition, I will be doing a Seed-Starting workshop on Sunday, September 5th at 2:00 pm. If you want to learn how to start plants in your house, on a sunny window ledge, or in a dark garage to get a jump on the summer crops during winter, this is the class to take.

In addition, I will be hosting an upcoming Summer Pruning workshop for fruit tree enthusiasts. August and September are good months for pruning peach and nectarine trees, to help reduce the canopy and let more light into the center of the tree, providing you more fruit next year.

If you are interested in any of my workshops, please drop me an email and I’ll put you on my  list. Tell me which workshop you’d like (Tomato, Seed Starting or Summer Pruning) and what other aspects of gardening you’d like to learn. I will also be composing the course outlines for “Companion Planting” and “Soil 101” classes. Vote on your favorite topic by sending me an email with your requests.

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Tomato Lovers Listen Up!

Posted on 24. August 2010 by admin

New workshop!

Learn more about growing tomatoes throughout the winter!
I will be hosting a one hour workshop at 10 am and then again at 11:30 on Saturday, September 4th.

In this workshop I will discuss:

Indeterminate vs determinate
How to plant a “start”
How to remove suckers
How to tie/stake/cage tomatoes
How to store tomatoes after harvesting
How to combat snails, green worms
How to grow tomatoes during the winter

The workshop is near Crest Rd. and Palos Verdes Drive East in Rancho Palos Verdes. Exact address will be given out to those who RSVP as the date gets closer.

To attend, just contact me via email: judyfrankel@gmail.com and I will add your name to the list. Let me know which time you prefer: 10 am or 11:30 am. RSVP before September 2nd, to make sure you get a spot.

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Tomato Pruning 101

Posted on 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?

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Yours Truly in the LA Times!

Posted on 4. August 2010 by admin

You know you’ve “made it” when the LA Times prints your picture and an article about you! Wow! So for those of you who missed this past Saturday’s Home Section, here’s the link: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/home_blog/2010/07/tomato-pruning-techniques.html

I’m getting a lot of calls and emails, asking me to teach more classes. So I’m recommending folks visit this Meetup Group and sign up: http://www.meetup.com/Homegrown-Organic-Gardeners/

If you join, you’ll automatically get emails notifying you of the upcoming events and workshops. Right now, my friend and fellow Master Gardener, Carola, is running the Homegrown Organic Gardeners Meetup Group, but  I’m taking over for her because she wanted to step down. What a great way to share info and compare notes, yeah?

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LA Times Article July 31, 2010

Posted on 2. August 2010 by admin

There’s nothing quite like getting your name and picture in the paper. The hits on my website suddenly multiplied 24 fold! So for those of you who don’t read the LA Times, here’s the link:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/home_blog/2010/07/tomato-pruning-techniques.html

I’m holding a seed starting workshop on Sunday, August 8th for a couple of my clients, and if you’re interested in anything specific, please do send me an email. I’m suddenly getting a lot of requests for help setting up veggie gardens, or advising on fruit trees. I have two customers who currently need their fruit trees pruned and trained, and two customers currently putting in new gardens, and two more customers who just want classes and/or private workshops. It really helps having plants to show people how to prune or apply gardening principles. Would you know how to tell the difference between a male and female blossom, or why it’s important to know the difference?

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Judy consults!

Posted on 18. June 2010 by admin

Hi lovers of homegrown foods! I’ve been away from the blog, but not the garden. I have too many potential customers, and always more people asking to belong to my CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) though I don’t have enough produce to have a CSA! It is always better to have more customers than product than the other way around, because if I can increase output, I can always find people who love really good food to purchase more.

So toward that end, I’ve finally gotten the snails and slugs under control and the fruit looks amazing, and it’s coming in furiously now. The strawberries are about 4 to 6 weeks later than usual because of huge climatic shifts (global warming?), which just means that you’ll be able to find in-season tomatoes all the way through January!

In addition to higher production, I am now offering my services as a fruit/veggie growing consultant. I have my first client now installing and filling their raised beds per my instructions. I offer the same services to you: to design and instruct or install (from beginning to end) your own home growing system. If you are interested, give me a call and we will see how to turn your back (or front!) yard into food.

The peaches are coming in right now, and they are delicious! Right now, Eva’s Pride (a yellow freestone peach) is producing well, but when the Mid Pride peaches (also yellow freestone) start coming in, there will be a huge cartload to sell or trade (see the Rancho Palos Verdes Fruit Exchange link on my homepage). Let me know if you want peaches via email or just drive over this Saturday, when I’ll be in the garden/on the farm.

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Time to thin fruit

Posted on 26. March 2010 by admin

The peaches and nectarines are coming in fast and furious now. They need to be thinned, or all that fruit will end up small and dry or just plain small.

Peach tree thinning

Posted in Vegetables and Fruit | 1 Comment

New moon seeds

Posted on 17. December 2009 by admin

I plant seeds at new moon, which happens to be tonight. The cycles of the moon are important for gardening: at new moon, the roots work extra hard, and at full moon the leaves are still photosynthesizing from the light of the moon. So it’s best to plant seeds at new moon, transplant plants at full moon.

I’ve planted some new things: jicama, purple cauliflower, purple broccoli, and some unusual greens which are a cross between broccoli and Chinese broccoli; I don’t even know what to expect yet.

Posted in Vegetables and Fruit | 1 Comment