30 Oct 2012

November in the Garden Calendar

aquaponics • calendar • chickens • composting • fall planting • fruit • tips

Purple Kale – Elaine Hurst

 

November in the garden often has us missing the long days of summer, but not yet in the cold nights of winter. It is a time of transition and can often provide you with a chance to revive your soil through a fall/winter planted cover crop. Of course not all growing ceases for those of us lucky enough to grow in San Diego as we tend to have very mild winters. Some great choices for winter color this time of year include medicinal calendula as well as edible nasturtiums and don’t forget your veggies. Beets, carrots, kale, spinach and radishes can still be started from seed while broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, bare root strawberries and swiss chard can be grown from transplant.

This month is also full of wonderful gardening events;

Saturday, November 3rd – Build Your Own Hydroponic Garden at the SD Botanic Garden from 9:00 – 1:00 pm. $95 for non-members, includes materials.

Saturday, November 3rd – Learn how to Make Your Own Mozzarella at Wild Willow Farm, the class fee of $40 includes your own take home cheese.

Saturday, November 3rd – Pathfinder Farms hosts How to Manage Manure with the Solana Center from 2:00 – 4:00pm. Free

Saturday, November 10th – Attend the Water Conservation Gardens Fall Festival from 10-4pm where scheduled workshops will be held on topics such as growing blueberries and making your own cheese. $5 general admission.

Sunday, November 11th – Did you know this is the best time of year to prune certain trees? Learn everything you need to know at City Farmers, Pruning 101 from 10:00 – 11:00 am.

Monday, November 12th – The San Diego Horticultural Society hosts author Ivette Soler from 6:00 – 8:30pm as she discusses her bestselling book The Edible Front Yard. $20 for non-members.

Tuesday, November 13th – Gardening in California’s Mediterranean Climate will be discussed at CCSE from 6:00 – 7:30pm.

Wednesday, November 14th – The Mission Hills Garden Club will be meeting in our very own Little Italy at the fantastic Botanica on India Street at 6:00pm. Guest fee is $10.

Saturday, November 17th – Ecolife Foundation hosts a Village Aquaponics Workshop from 10:00 – 12:30 pm where you can learn how to build your own system. $30

Saturday, November 17th – Stop by the Dixieline on Convoy from 9:30 – 11:30am for a free Compost Workshop hosted by the Solana Center.

Saturday, November 17th – Attend Introduction to Backyard Chickens at Wild Willow Farm where you will also be treated to a screening of “Chicks in the City”. $30

Plenty to be thankful for,

Jen

 

 

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28 Oct 2012

Fall is here!

fall planting • garden • seeds • vegetables

I hope this post finds you all well and getting ready for a fantastic Halloween (hopefully with your SITC pumpkins ready to be carved). Thank you all for your incredible patience. Josh and I recently got married in Julian, California and planning a wedding while working full-time took every last second that we normally dedicate to Seeds in the City. But we are back and better than ever!

This fall we are very excited to announce that we will be offering seeds for the first time in addition to our seedlings. The varieties available this year can be found here. We welcome all your comments and please let us know how your fall garden is coming along.

 

Happy Halloween!

Jen & Josh

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13 Jul 2012

Customer Appreciation Event

calendar • fall planting • farmers market

 

Please join us this Saturday, July 14th at the Little Italy Mercato from 8:00 – 2:00pm for our last market of the Spring/Summer season. As a big thank you to all of you, we are offering one time only discounts to show our appreciation for your support.

Stop by and say hi, let me know what your must haves are for Fall and take home one of our lovingly grown seedlings. Click here to see what we will have on hand and get your shopping list ready.

 

I look forward to seeing you!

Jen

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02 Jul 2012

July in the Garden Calendar

aquaponics • calendar • chickens • composting • garden • Inspiration • tips

Garden Dahlia by Susan Entwistle

July is a time of in the garden that brings more reliable warm weather and with that a need for regular watering. Do your best to water late in the day after the sun starts to go down or early in the morning. Also now is your chance to get in corn, cucumber, eggplant, peppers, summer squash and melon to ensure one last harvest. Now should also be the time all of your hard work has begun to pay off and you are able to harvest some of your vegetables.

Saturday, July 7th – Learn all about Oyster Mushroom Cultivation with SoCal Shrooms at Wild Willow Farms from 11:00 – 2:00pm. $30 signs you up for the class and gets you your very own take home oyster growing kit.

Saturday, July 7th – Visit Seeds in the City at our next to last summer weekend with a Little Italy Mercato booth from 8:00 – 2:00pm. We are located just west of India Street on Date.

Monday, July 9th – Join the San Diego Horticultural Society as they welcome Nicholas Staddon, Director of New Plants for Monrovia. His talk will include some of the best ornamental plants for our area. $10 for non-members, 6pm at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

Saturday and Sunday, July 14th & 15th – SD Botanic Garden host the 2012 Insect Festival with tons of experts on hand and many kid friendly exhibits. Free with admission.

Saturday, July 14th – Join Seeds in the City from 8:00 – 2:00pm at the Little Italy Mercato one last time as we say goodbye to spring and return back to the nursery to plan and prepare everything you need for your fall and winter gardens.

Saturday, July 14th – Ecolife Foundation hosts a Village Aquaponics Workshop where you can learn how to best raise fish while growing your own food from 10:00 – 12:30 pm for $30.

Sunday, July 15th – City Farmers Nursery teaches you how to Can & Preserve Your Harvest from 1:00 – 3:00pm.

Saturday, July 21st – Plant it, grow it, eat it! Organically: Learn how to build a bed, plant and harvest organic produce with Seeds at City from 8:00 – 12:00pm, all proceeds benefit the urban farm.

Saturday, July 21st – Visit the Lakeside River Park Conservancy from 9:00-11:00am for a free Composting Workshop with the Solana Center.

Monday, July 23rd – Learn how to Raise Backyard Chickens with Cari Johnson of White Mountain Ranch. Hosted by the SD Edible Garden Society in rm. 104, Casa Del Prado at 6:30pm. Free.

Saturday, July 28th – Visit the SD Botanic Garden from 2:00 – 3:00pm for Low Water, Low Maintenance Plants for Year Round Beauty. Landscape designer Linda Bresler will give you all the tips and inspiration needed to ditch your water hungry landscape. $15 for non-members.

Saturday, July 28th – Join the SBBG for Walk & Talk: Plant Propagation Tips from 4:30 – 5:00pm. Walk the garden collecting cuttings to learn how to propagate and then take home. $3 donation.

 

Have a happy and safe 4th of July!

Jen

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21 Jun 2012

Native Pollinators

bees • beneficials • butterflies • pesticide • pests • tips

 

Syrphid Fly

Friend or Foe?

This issue is not nearly as black and white as we would like. Like all things, your garden must also have a dark and a light, literally and figuratively. Just outside your door there is a constant whirlwind of insect activity. Day and night ‘bugs’ are at work pollinating your flowers, decomposing organic waste and of course some are also damaging your plants. But many of the bugs you can spot on any given day are doing you and the nations food supply a great service.

Even though it may not seem like it, many of the insects in your garden right now are providing the service of pollination. Many people are surprised to hear the staggering numbers associated with these pollinators.

  • 90% of all plant species require animals to help start seed and fruit production in flowers, ensuring full bodied fruit and seed set
  • To date more then 199,000 invertebrate pollinators including bees, butterflies and moths have been discovered around the world
  • 75% of food, fiber, condiment, spice and medicine crops are pollinated by animals, 1 out of every 3-4 bites or sips of a beverage was brought to you by a pollinator!
  • This includes Asparagus, Broccoli, Cacao, Coffee, Lettuce, Olives, Black Pepper, Tea, Mustard, Cotton and many more!
  • This equates to a $40 billion agricultural industry in the U.S. alone

When I think of pollinators the first thing that comes to mind is honeybees but they are actually non-native and can out compete some of our 4,000 native north american bees for resources.

Sweat Bee

Bumble Bee

 

What can you do? 

  • Don’t make assumptions. Just because you don’t immediately recognize a bug as ‘beneficial’ doesn’t mean that it is a danger to you or your garden.
  • Do provide the basics of food, water and shelter.
  • In order to keep and feed all of the beneficial insects you hope to attract you will also need a population of ‘bad bugs’.
  • Also because a product claims it is safe to beneficial insects doesn’t mean that it is. Research a product and the ingredients in detail before choosing to buy.
  • Do use your best judgment with products that claim to be safe as long as they are not sprayed on the flowers or the pollinators, assume that all plants absorb what is sprayed on them, distributing it throughout their systems (even to pollen and then your food!).
  • Better yet eliminate sprays, soaps and chemicals altogether if you cannot be sure that they will not negatively affect the workers ensuring your healthy crop.

Swallowtail Butterfly

 

Your garden will thank you!

Jen

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13 Jun 2012

Blossom End Rot

drip irrigation • spring planting • tips • what not to do

Hopefully none of you have noticed the signs of blossom end rot which is easily identifiable by the brown, sunken patches on the blossom end of tomatoes. If you have, don’t fear this is one tomato disease that is easily cured and first and foremost easily prevented.

Most commonly blossom end rot is caused by a calcium deficiency in your soil, here in San Diego though we tend to have adequate calcium in our existing soil.  So who is to blame? Unfortunately, we are. In San Diego blossom end rot could be prevented and cured if we pay attention to how much and how often we water our plants. If our soil is not evenly moist then the roots have a very hard time pulling in their required nutrients. Therefore, our culprits are dry as a bone and soaking wet soils, two conditions that make it difficult for roots to get what they need.

What to do? You know your soil best and are the only one that can physically feel how moist it is. When you are watering tomatoes remember that they like more water, less often then your other plants. In the heat of the summer I give my plants a deep watering once a week. For those of you in containers or raised beds beware of soggy soils and check your drainage. Often times setting up a drip line at the base of your tomato will be giving the area directly below the plant way too much water on an almost daily basis, ignoring the surrounding soil where the roots have spread.

At home in my raised beds I keep the drip on water hungry squash, watermelon and eggplant, using the hose for infrequent watering.

If you have already noticed the disease pick off the afflicted fruits so that no more energy is spent trying to grow what you cannot eat. Employ new watering tactics as soon as possible and mulch around the tomato plant if your soil is more dry then wet to help hold moisture in.

Let me know how it grows!

Jen

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03 Jun 2012

June in the Garden

beneficials • butterflies • calendar • composting • drip irrigation • garden • tips • vegetables

Sunflowers – Susan Entwistle

I hope you’re ready to grow! June is jam packed with everything you need to know to grow and enjoy a great garden.

Wednesday, June 6th – The San Diego Herb Club will be meeting from 7-9pm in the Casa Del Prado building, rm. 101, to discuss “Herb Gardening Demystified“.

Saturday, June 9th – Low Water Plants will be the focus of a walk & talk hosted by South Bay Botanic Garden from 4:30 – 5:30pm.

Saturday, June 9th – Visit Seeds in the City at our Little Italy Mercato booth, just west of India Street from 8:00 – 2:00pm

Saturday, June 9th – Wild Willow Farms host a Summer Fermentation Workshop from 12 – 1:30pm where you will learn everything you need to know to properly pickle!

Thursday, June 14th – Enjoy specialty parings at Sea Rocket Bistro that will benefit the wonderful program at Seeds at City from 5 – 10pm.

Saturday, June 16th – Visit Seeds in the City at our Little Italy Mercato booth, just west of India Street from 8:00 – 2:00pm

Saturday, June 16th – The third annual Farm Tour Day will be held from 9:00 – 3:00 pm and feature a choice of two tours that cover four San Diego farms each.

Saturday, June 23rd – Build your own ‘top bar’ beehive at Wild Willow Farms with instructor Paul Maschka. The $50 class fee will buy you the materials you need to get started.

Saturday, June 23rd – No farmers market for us this Saturday, see you with all new additions on 6/30!

Saturday, June 23rd – The Solana Center hosts a free composting workshop within the Otto Center at the San Diego Zoo from 8:00 -10:00am

Thursday, June 28th – Learn how to grow great veggies while saving water with the Incredible! Edible, Waterwise, and Beautiful workshop at CSSE from 6:00 – 7:30pm.

Saturday, June 30th – Attracting Birds, Hummingbirds & Butterflies will be covered at the San Diego Botanic Garden from 10:00 – 12:00pm. The class is $20 for non-members.

Saturday, June 30th – Visit Seeds in the City at our Little Italy Mercato booth, just west of India Street from 8:00 – 2:00pm.

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01 May 2012

May in the Garden Calendar

calendar • community garden • composting • tips

Ditat Deus - Marcela Camarena Lubian

Spring is officially here and with it many fun and exciting gardening events.

May 10th – Slow Food Urban host a class on fermentation. Learn how to make all your favorites; pickles, sourdough bread, yogurt and root beer! The class will be from 6-8pm and is $15 – $20.

May 12th – Visit Seeds in the City at our Little Italy Mercato booth, just west of India Street from 9:00 – 1:30pm

May 12th – Learn how to build your own aquaponics system and grow your own veggies with the Ecolife Foundation, the $30 class is offered from 10-12pm or 2-4pm.

May 14th – The SD Horticultural Society presents Lorene Edwards Forkner who is lecturing on Three Big Rules (and Four Small Ones) for Designing Small Gardens with impact. The event starts at 6pm and is held on the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

May 19th – Visit Seeds in the City at our Little Italy Mercato booth, just west of India Street from 9:00 – 1:30pm

May 19th – Celebrating Community Gardens from the Ground Up is a free event from 11am-5 pm at the TLC Giving Garden, 11240 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, enjoy talks on composting & grey water recycling.

May 26th – Visit Seeds in the City at our Little Italy Mercato booth, just west of India Street from 9:00 – 1:30pm

 

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06 Apr 2012

Buying Plants at the Nursery

garden • tips • vegetables • what not to do

On a recent trip to local nurseries with a friend who was looking for drought resistant plants to complete her design I stopped over in the vegetables to check out the varieties. We stopped by one of the major home improvement stores as well two of the most popular nurseries in town. I was shocked by what I found, from the mega store to the small family owned stores the plants were in a sad state. I watched as people searched through the selections to find healthy plants. It made me think of all the times I have heard people say “I just don’t have a green thumb”, well no one would if they started off with sick and stressed plants!

Flowering Tomatoes
Peppers
Peppers
Squash
Tomatoes

When selecting nursery plants try your best to choose plants in the variety that you want that are NOT flowering. If this task is impossible remove all flowers right after you plant it. Under no circumstances should you purchase plants that are already setting fruit. When a young seedling has been living in tight, cramped quarters on a shelf for too long it will start to flower. At this point the plant has received the message that it will not be able to mature and it rushes to bear fruit in order to essentially produce seed which will ensure its continued existence. All of this energy should have been going into developing healthy roots and a strong structure. The gardener will be the one to pay the price for these unhealthy, overgrown plants with lackluster production and high susceptibility to disease. Also plants brought home with signs of disease can put your whole garden at risk.

Start off on the right foot by selecting plants that are bright green with no signs of discoloration or pests and you are sure to have bountiful harvest this season.

Seeds in the City Squash
Seeds in the City Tomatoes
Seeds in the City Peppers
Seeds in the City Eggplant
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04 Oct 2011

October Garden Calendar in San Diego

aquaponics • calendar • composting • Inspiration • pests
Within the Garden – William Templeton
Summer has drawn to a close as cooler temperatures and shorter days takeover. Luckily our mild climate still allows for abundance in the garden and there is no shortage of events to inspire your fall plantings this month. 
October 8th – This Saturday learn how to Design your Garden with Native Plants with Greg Rubin at the SD Botanic Garden from 9 – 12pm at a cost of $25-30.
October 8th – Learn how to Grow Your Own Food for free with VGSD at Olivewood Gardens. Class 1 of 3 is from 8 – 12pm and introduces you to all of the basics.
October 8th – Stop by the booths at The 4th Annual Sustain La Mesa Environmental Festival which is held from 10 – 2pm.
October 10th – The SDHS host highly entertaining author of Wicked Plants Amy Stewart who will present her new book Wicked Bugs. The event starts at 6pm and is $10 for non-members.
October 13th – The Center for Sustainable Energy host arborist Leah Rottke as she speaks about Planting Fall Trees for Spring Vigor from 5:30 – 7:30pm.
October 15th – The SD Farm Bureau host the 2nd Annual Farm Tour from 9:30 – 3:30 pm. This tour features 6 farms and the opportunity to see how mushrooms get their start, visit the Stone Brewing Farm, learn how to best grow avocados and finish with a wine tasting. $20 for adults, $10 children.
October 15 & 16th – The SD Botanic Garden will hold their 29th Annual Fall Plant Sale from 10-4pm that is free with admission.
October 19th – Enjoy pumpkin carving, food, music and the film Nourish at Seeds at City Fall Festival from 11 – 2pm.
October 22nd – Help to sustain the Seeds at City Urban Farm through their Young Farmers Fundraiser starting at 3pm within the Wild Willow Farm.
October 22nd – Learn to build a Hydroponic Fall Garden with AGPals at the SD Botanic Garden from 9 – 12pm. $70 pays for the class and materials.  
October 23rd – Planning and Planting Fall crops will be the topic of this free class taught by Farmer Bill at City Farmers Nursery from 1:30 – 3:00pm.
October 29th – Learn How to Compost for free at the San Diego Zoo from 8 -10am at this event sponsored by the Solana Center.

Did I miss your event? Email me at info@seedsinthecity.com

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