I have never been much of a trendsetter. The clothes in my closet today look quite a bit like the clothes in my closet in the 70s with the exception of a few Hawaiian shirts that I added 10 or 12 years ago. However, today I find myself in the forefront of a trend—namely, growing my own food. When I planted my first vegetable garden in a Chicago suburb in the early 1970s I had no idea that what I was doing would be a trend 40 years later.
According to the National Gardening Association, more than 43 million American households planted a vegetable garden in 2009. That represents 37 percent of all U.S. households and a 20 percent increase over 2008.
So what's driving people to grow their own food?
- Economics: In 2008, Americans spent $2.5 billion on their food gardens. The return on this investment was $21 billion. The average household with a 600-square-foot garden spent $70 a year and, in return, received $600 worth of veggies. Sure beats the stock market.
- Food safety: Reports of food-borne illness appear regularly in the news. The use of pesticides in farming is a continuing concern. Many processed foods contain additives and preservatives that a growing number of people want to avoid. If you grow your own food, you know exactly what is in and on it.
- Exercise: Gardening provides an excellent cardio and aerobic workout. Studies show that an hour of gardening can burn as many as 300 calories for women and almost 400 calories for men. Spend some time bending and stretching in the garden and you'll feel like you've been to an exercise or yoga class.
- Taste: There's simply no comparison between a tomato you pick from your own garden and one purchased from a supermarket. Food you grow will always be fresher and therefore tastier.
- Environment: If you grow your own food, you're not supporting industrial agriculture. One family's impact may be small, but collectively, the environmental benefits add up: fewer pesticides polluting the water supply and fewer chemical fertilizers causing soil erosion. In a home garden, you're not using the fossil fuels that heavy farm equipment requires. You and your family provide the energy, and you control the amount of water used.
- Family: Gardening can help bring your family together to learn about how food is grown and what it takes to put fresh produce on the table. It's a great way to teach children and grandchildren responsibility and to develop a strong work ethic.
- Social: Gardening provides the opportunity to expand your social circle. Truly serious gardeners may want to become a certified U.C. Master Gardener as I did. Since becoming a Master Gardener last year, I have probably tripled the number of people I know in Napa Valley.
- Community: If you have enough room to grow your own food, then maybe you have enough room to grow food for others. Nothing like dropping off 10 pounds of excess tomatoes at the local food bank to make you proud and happy.
If you don't have room for a garden, you can still grow food. Consider container gardening if you have a sunny patio. You'll be pleasantly surprised by how many tomatoes, peppers, eggplant or zucchini you can grow in pots. Alternatively, you can rent space in one of Napa's community gardens.
One downside to growing your own food is that you risk becoming a garden geek or food snob. You may become fascinated with exotic garden tools like the Japanese horihori knife. You consider calling the water police when you see your neighbor watering not only the lawn but also the driveway, sidewalk and street. You turn up your nose when you see someone buying chemical fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides and have to resist telling them off. You gravitate to people using terms like integrated pest management and pinching off. Worst of all, you may become convinced your tomatoes are better than anyone else's and enter them in the Napa Town & Country Fair.
No matter what drives you to grow your own food, I think you will find that your new hobby gives you and your family great pleasure and improved health while saving money and helping the environment.
Workshop: Napa County Master Gardeners will conduct a workshop on “Cool Season Veggies” on Sunday, August 17, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Yountville Community Center, 6516 Washington Street, Yountville.Grow your own vegetables even when days are short and nights are cold. Learn which vegetables thrive in cooler temperatures, how to protect them from heat when they are getting started, and how to time planting to ensure months of harvest.To register, call the Parks & Recreation Department at 707-944-8712 or visit their web site. Workshop fee is $10 for Yountville residents, $12 for others.
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. Napa County Master Gardeners ( http://ucanr.org/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.
Napa County Master Gardeners welcome the public to visit their demonstration garden at Connolly Ranch on Thursdays, from 10:00 a.m. until noon, except the last Thursday of the month. Connolly Ranch is at 3141 Browns Valley Road at Thompson Avenue in Napa. Enter on Thompson Avenue.
If so, maybe these plants were trying to tell you something. Your soil may require some help providing the structure and nutrients that plants need to thrive.
You can't just put your plants in dirt and expect them to flourish. Remember: there is a difference between soil and dirt. Dirt is what you get on your clothes and hands while working in the soil. Soil is made up of elements that have been decomposing since the earth was created.
Soil is composed of bedrock and mountain stones broken down over eons by wind and rain. Since Napa Valley is in a volcanically active area, much of our soil is made up of volcanic matter deposited by the river. In addition, plants, animals and bacteria contribute to the composition of our soils. We have heard a lot about how chemicals used in the garden do not break down in the soil but remain in our streams and rivers. Natural materials are a better choice.
Consider having your soil tested to see what minerals it contains, what minerals it lacks, and how much fertilizer you need. Online merchants sell bacteria and mycorrhizae (beneficial fungi) that can help restore life to your soil. Adding manure from cows, horses or other grain-eating animals will improve the soil, but be sure the manure has been aged to kill any weed seeds. Otherwise you can expect a major weed crop wherever you spread the manure.
I live on the valley floor, where the soil includes a lot of silt deposited by the Napa River during flooding. This silt, which is clay like, creates a hard layer on top of the soil when it dries. Where the river floods its banks, this layer can be two to three inches deep or more.
Clay soils hold a lot of water but don't provide much opportunity for plants to grow. The soil particles are tiny. For comparison, if a clay particle were the size of a penny, then a particle of sand would be the size of a house. The area between soil particles is where air and water reside, and plants need both to grow. Plants in soggy soil often die of root rot.
One of the easiest ways to improve clay soil is to add compost and other organic matter. Compost is composed of organic matter that has broken-down to form humus. It has little nutrient value but it does aerate the soil and improve drainage. In contrast, worm compost (vermicompost)—the castings produced by worms that eat food scraps and other organic matter—is a nutrient-rich soil amendment. Earthworms happily munch on kitchen scraps, lawn clippings, newspaper, even cardboard.
If you would like to learn more about composting, attend one of the nine composting workshops that will be conducted this year by Napa County Master Gardeners in conjunction with partnering agencies. One workshop is entirely devoted to worm composting, and the workshop on April 12 will be conducted in Spanish. Register online at www.cityofnapa.org/compost. You can help your soil produce the healthiest plants in town. To learn more about the soil food web, I recommend the book Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web by Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis.
Workshops: Napa County Master Gardeners will conduct a workshop on “Warm-Season Veggies” on Saturday, March 15, from 9:30 am to 11:30 am, at the University of California Cooperative Extension, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Napa. Prepare now for your most successful vegetable garden ever. Learn what to plant from seed, how to choose transplants, and when to plant for a bountiful harvest from spring into fall. Online registration (credit card only)
Mail in registration (cash or check only)
Napa County Master Gardeners will conduct a workshop on “The Small Home Vineyard” on Saturday, March 29, from 9:30 am to 11:30 am, and from 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm. at the Yountville Community Center, 6516 Washington Street, Yountville. The morning session will focus on bud break to harvest. Learn the basics of managing a small vineyard including grape physiology, canopy management, vine nutrition, fertilization, irrigation and cover crop. The afternoon session will focus on identifying and managing the most common vineyard pests, especially powdery mildew. To register,call the Parks & Recreation Department at 707-944-8712 or visit its web site.
Napa County Master Gardeners welcome the public to visit their demonstration garden at Connolly Ranch on Thursdays, from 10:00 a.m. until noon, except the last Thursday of the month. Connolly Ranch is at 3141 Browns Valley Road at Thompson Avenue in Napa. Enter on Thompson Avenue.
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. Napa County Master Gardeners ( http://ucanr.org/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.
We have had a bitterly cold winter, but that does not give us a clue whether or not our last frost will occur in March or May. Be prepared to water young seedlings if the rains do not oblige, or to throw some row cover over delicate plants that might not be hardy enough to withstand a late frost.
While the University of California experts do not recommend early planting with cloths or other plant protectors, they do endorse planting early if you pre-warmed your soil, perhaps by laying down plastic sheeting after last month's rains. If your soil measures at least 65°F three inches deep, plants set out now can get a head start, but keep the row cover handy for especially chilly nights.
If you did not start seeds of peppers, eggplant, basil and tomatoes last month, get those started as soon as possible. Seeds for heat-loving vegetables germinate more quickly with bottom heat of 75°F.The warmth helps the plants develop a strong root system. Wait to put stocky seedlings in the ground until the soil is warm, in late April or May.
Pet your plants. Research has shown that gently brushing your tomato and pepper seedlings with your hand causes them to grow shorter, sturdier stems, with shorter spaces between branches. This response may be the plant's way of defending against animals. In any case, it is fun to pet plants.
Some vegetable seeds can go directly in the ground this month, if the soil is not too wet. Radishes, kale, spinach, chard, parsley and peas all grow well in cool spring weather. Cole crops such as broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and cabbages can all be planted now, too. Be sure to give larger plants enough space in the garden to reach their full potential.
Seeds for other crops, such as leaf lettuces, spinach, green onions, some peas and beets, can be broadcast in beds. Water after sowing, then wait to water again until your plants have their first true leaves. Too much moisture on tiny sedlings can rob the fragile roots of oxygen and make them succumb to root diseases, such as damping off.
Thin seedlings as needed to allow the others more space. Don't toss these thinnings; they are edible and can give you an extended harvest, beginning with micro-greens and baby vegetables and ending with full-grown heads of lettuce, beets or spinach. When you sow thickly, there is little room for weeds and the abundant plants actually form a micro-climate that can conserve water.
Sow flower seeds in flats or directly in the ground. Marigolds, nicotiana, dusty miller, Shasta daisies, nigella and cosmos can all be started now. Over-wintering perennials appreciate a haircut now to stimulate new growth and help them look pretty after the hard, cold winter.
Plant seed potatoes this month, but not in soil that recently hosted other members of the nightshade family. Nightshades include tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. Any soil-borne disease that affects a nightshade vegetable can survive in the soil and inflict the next nightshade crop, too. Instead, plant potatoes where you formerly grew beans, squash or leafy crops.
If you lost a citrus tree to our early, killing frosts, March or April would be a good time to replace it.
Local nurseries offer so many tubers and bulbs to choose from in March: calla lilies in soft and bold colors; tuberoses with their luscious petals and sensuous fragrance; dinner-plate dahlias and many more.
As shrubs and herbs begin to show new growth, give your plants some nourishment. Read fertilizer and amendment labels carefully first.
Prune spring-flowering shrubs like lilac when they finish blooming and feed them, too. Cut and remove suckers and watersprouts from trees and roses. Water sprouts are the shoots that grow straight up toward the inside of the plant. They promote disease and insect problems by restricting air flow in the center of the plant.
Watch for pests, including slugs, snails and aphids. Wash aphids off with a blast of water, and if you come across some bugs you do not know, bring them into the Master Gardener office for identification (hours below).
Workshop:Napa County Master Gardeners will conduct a workshop on “Warm-Season Veggies” on Saturday, March 15, from 9:30 am to 11:30 am, at the University of California Cooperative Extension, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Napa. Prepare now for your most successful vegetable garden ever. Learn what to plant from seed, how to choose transplants, and when to plant for a bountiful harvest from spring into fall. Online registration (credit card only)
Mail in registration (cash or check only)
Napa County Master Gardeners welcome the public to visit their demonstration garden at Connolly Ranch on Thursdays, from 10:00 a.m. until noon, except the last Thursday of the month. Connolly Ranch is at 3141 Browns Valley Road at Thompson Avenue in Napa. Enter on Thompson Avenue.
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. Napa County Master Gardeners ( http://ucanr.org/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.
Some homeowners diligently establish an organic landscape using no pesticides or herbicides. They carefully select low-care plants that thrive in their climate and attract birds, butterflies and beneficial insects.
But most of us aren’t quite such purists. We try to encourage the creatures we like or the ones that benefit the garden. We welcome owls that reduce the plant-eating rodent population and bees that pollinate our vegetables and fruits, but we regard yellow jackets and mosquitoes as pests.
Some gardeners may not mind yellow jackets too much. Others are severely sensitive to their stings. Most of us want to use (and be exposed to) as few chemicals as possible, yet we still want an attractive and comfortable yard with reasonable upkeep.
Napa Valley offers a promising climate for achieving most gardeners’ dreams. By selecting California native plants, we can minimize water use, chemical inputs and labor. Creating or restoring natural habitat on our property can enhance our enjoyment of the land and its inhabitants.
Most people “inherit” plants when they buy a property, and typically they keep some, especially the trees. Occasionally, a new homeowner starts with a clean slate. Either way, having a plan is crucial. Good landscape design marries beauty with functionality. You may want a play area, a sitting area, a vegetable garden, and a habitat for birds and butterflies. These desires are all compatible.
If you like to hear songbirds early in the morning, place feeders by the bedroom, bath or kitchen. A welcoming habitat for birds would also include moving water, plants that provide cover and shade, and food sources (often just trees with furrowed bark that hides insects). A shady sitting area that offers a view of a bird feeder or birdbath is a great asset to a yard and a pleasant place to relax in the evening.
Trees of all sizes attract birds. Consider dogwood, oak, mulberry, or any nut or fruit trees. Native shrubs such as coffeeberry (Rhamnus californica), toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) and common snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus) provide shelter and food.
Cedar waxwings love mistletoe berries and dogwood berries, and these birds are among our most beautiful.
The following plants are all good hummingbird hosts. The starred plants on the list attract butterflies.
Abutilon (flowering maple)
Acacia
Arbutus unedo (strawberry tree)
*Arctostaphylos (manzanita)
Aquilegia (columbine)
*Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly weed)
*Buddleia (butterfly bush)
Callistemon (bottlebrush)
Campsis (trumpet vine)
*Ceanothus (California wild lilac)
Cercis occidentalis (Western redbud)
Correa (Australian fuchsia)
Crocosmia crocosmiiflora (montbretia)
Eucalyptus
Grevillea
Heuchera (coral bells)
*Heteromeles arbutifolia (toyon)
Kniphofia uvaria (red-hot poker)
*Lantana montevidensis
*Lavandula (lavender)
*Lonicera (honeysuckle)
Mimulus (monkey flower)
Monarda (bee balm)
Penstemon (beard tongue)
*Ribes (currant and gooseberry)
Salvia
Sambucus (elderberry)
*Zuaschneria(California fuchsia)
Many of these plants are California natives. Others are drought-tolerant plants from Australia, which has a Mediterranean climate similar to ours.
Workshop: Napa County Master Gardeners will host a workshop on “Cool Season Veggies” on Sunday, August 18, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Yountville Community Center, 6516 Washington Street, Yountville. Grow your own vegetables even when days are short and nights are cold. The key is starting while weather and soil are still warm. Learn which vegetables will thrive in cooler temperatures, how to protect them from heat when they are getting started, and how to time plantings for months of harvest. Register through Town of Yountville, Parks and Recreation: Mail in or Walk in registration (cash or check only).
Garden Tour: Napa County Master Gardeners will host a self-guided garden tour, “Down the Garden Path,” on Sunday, September 22, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visit seven unique gardens in and around downtown Napa, all maintained by Master Gardeners. Tickets: $25 advance/$30 day of event. Purchase tickets online at http://ucanr.edu/ucmgnapa. For more information about the tour and tickets, visit our web site (address below) or call 707-253-4147. Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. Napa County Master Gardeners ( http://ucanr.org/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension
August is my favorite month of the year. Who could not love tomatoes, peppers, corn and basil? Once again I planted too many tomatoes and peppers. The extras I will donate to the local food bank.
Two years the Napa County Master Gardeners were treated to a workshop by the Master Preservers from Del Norte County. This used to be a program available in most counties, but with budget cuts, it is no longer as popular. (Search for their website at Master Preservers, Del Norte, Cooperative Extension.) I have been putting up veggies for two years and now I make my own ketchup, tomato sauces, and can or freeze a number of veggies for use in the winter. This year I made zucchini pickle relish, and I think that it tastes better than the cucumber relish. And it uses up some zucchini!
For the home gardener, August and September can be the busiest and the most rewarding. The number one thing to remember is to watch the irrigation in the garden; keep it on track by checking the soil daily. These hot and windy days can speed up evaporation. Squash has a propensity to wilt in the afternoons; if it looks OK in the morning, then it does not need water.
Veggies do need to be fed on a regular schedule. Check the back of the fertilizer box for the recommended schedule. I use a blend of four parts compost, one part worm compost, and organic fertilizer with a low nitrogen number. Nitrogen is the first number on the box. Too much nitrogen will produce much vegetation, but little fruit, and a tomato is botanically classified as a fruit.
Weeding is an important chore right now; do not let weeds flower or their seeds will sprout in your winter garden.
If you had a viral soil problem this winter, July and August are the best times to solarize your soil. Put a layer of clear plastic over the infected soil and tuck into the soil. It takes about 60 days to get rid of the viruses, pests and their eggs. The soil will be ready to plant this September.
This is a good time to shear your alyssum and other ground covers. Water them and they will come back as new, or even better in September. Many perennial woody herbs can be cut back now. Save some cuttings and start with new, not so woody plants.
Other chores this month include: cutting back perennials after flowering; removing any spoiled vegetables or fruits before they attract pests and keeping the yard clean. The cleanup helps discourage pests this year and prevents overwintering of viruses and insect eggs.
Deep water your trees and shrubs to help them fend off borers and other pests during the stress of the hot weather to come.
To harvest, you will have tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, herbs, and peppers. Plant lettuce, parsley, and cilantro in the shade of other plants and you can enjoy them throughout the summer to fall. The shade keeps them from bolting so fast.
Fruits to watch for are: figs, stone fruits, pome fruits (apples and pears), and plums. Thinning these fruits will produce larger and more succulent fruit. Keep an eye out for the many pests that attack these fruits.
In the vegetable garden, watch for pests. Those pretty white moths produce larva that can damage your plants.
It is not too early to start seeds indoors for the fall and winter garden. As you pull up each plant in your summer garden; refresh the soil by adding compost and scratching it in about an inch. Research has shown that rototilling is not good for the health of your soil. The flora and fauna that inhabit the soil are disturbed by the deeper invasion of their habitat and have trouble returning. Besides, as one of the local Master Gardeners likes to say; “The noise of the rototiller gives the worms a headache.”
Invest in a Ball Blue Book to preserve some of your harvest. This is still the best book for all types of preserving. It covers safety, non-pressurized canning, freezing, and other methods of preserving your harvest.
Enjoy the fruits of your labor this month. You deserve it.
Vegetable Workshop: Napa County Master Gardeners will lead a workshop on “Cool Season Veggies” on Sunday, August 18, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Yountville Community Center, 6516 Washington Street, Yountville. Grow your own vegetables even when days are short and nights are cold. The key is starting while weather and soil are still warm. Learn which vegetables will thrive in cooler temperatures, how to protect them from heat when they are getting started, and how to time plantings for months of harvest. $15 per person ($10 for Yountville residents). Register through Town of Yountville, Parks and Recreation: Mail in or Walk in registration (cash or check only). For additional information, call (707) 944-8712 or visit their web site.
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. Napa County Master Gardeners ( http://ucanr.org/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions?
Open Garden Days: Napa County Master Gardeners welcome the public to their Demonstration Garden at Connolly Ranch every Thursday, except the last Thursday of the month, April through October, from 10:30 a.m. to noon. Master Gardeners will be on hand to answer questions and chat about plants. Connolly Ranch is at 3141 Browns Valley Road in Napa.