The only advantage of our recent heatwave, it pushes summer veggies into fall. I thought I would return from Tennessee and my garden would be burnt to a crisp in the record heatwave of mid-September. Rather, my summer veggies got a boost from the 90+° heat. After pulling all but one tomato vine, the very prolific red cherry […]
Southern Fried Okra, SoCal Style! I planted okra seed in May, but it got overshadowed by squash leaves, so I bought nursery plants in late June and just yesterday harvested a handful of okra. Growing up in the South, we always had fresh-frozen okra in the freezer from my grandmother’s garden in Alabama. Mother would fry […]
My easy ratatouille! That’s what hit me when I studied my early morning harvest of Squash Lemon, Ping Tung Long eggplant, green beans, and tomatoes. I added a leek, garlic cloves (see my Growing Garlic episode of “Late Bloomer”), and purple basil, all of which I grew in my garden. In the mid-1970’s on a trip to California, I […]
In Late Bloomer – Summer Garden Update – Part 3, Kaye harvests late season tomatoes, okra and zucchini and deals with blight, mildew and aphids on milkweed. She vows to conquer some of these issues in next summer’s garden! Southern Fried Okra recipe below. She’s mystified by the long, scarlet radishes. Get a glimpse of […]
Kaye does it again, crowds everything together! Predictably, in a coastal microclimate like Pacific Palisades has, cucurbits (cucumber, squash, melons) get hit with downy mildew. The good news is Kaye achieves perfect corn pollination, thanks to daily shaking of the tassels. All the corn gets eaten raw in the garden. And there are baskets of […]
Late Bloomer Lesson #1 for Garden Issues covers a problem that has arisen in July in the Late Bloomer Garden. If you have downloaded my free ebook, “10 Steps to a Great First Garden,” (sign-up box on right), you will have heard of my LBL’s, or Late Bloomer Lessons. The beautiful, wondrous and sometimes frustrating thing about […]
Growing Corn Curbside proves challenging for Kaye’s first effort at growing corn. Pests and poor pollination are factors. Please watch and share “Growing Corn Curbside,” the 20th episode and end of Season 1! Also, the corn episode completes the corn, tomato and watermelon trilogy. Watch here, or higher resolution, including HD, on YouTube. Once again, I […]
Growing Watermelon – Episode 19! I’m from the South, and there’s nothing I love more than corn, tomatoes and watermelon. I knew if I had a garden I had to grow all three. You’ve seen my tomato episode. Please watch and share “Growing Watermelon” – Episode 19. Since I only had a 6’x6′ space, I […]
My tomato episode is online, and I would love for you to watch it and share with friends. It was a long time coming, because, I kept waiting for my tomatoes to finish for this season, but, it’s November 3, and I’ve still got tomatoes growing! Click here, or for better quality, watch on YouTube. […]
My baby watermelon plants are confused watermelons. Do they not know it’s nearly Halloween? I think they think they are pumpkins! I photographed four baby watermelons, on separate vines this morning at 8AM. After a long summer of low production, my neighbor, C.L., remarked he thought I should be watering more. Because I hand-water everything, […]
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