The WASPkid Diaries

San Francisco & Treasure Island 1-28-12

2012-01-29T12:07:00.000-08:00

We've been home-bodies a lot lately and the cabin fever was getting to be a bit much. The upside of a lost wager & the unfortunate demise of the Forty-Niners in the recent NFC Championship game was that it gave us the excuse we needed to make a trip into The City to arrange payment of my debt. I was really looking forward to those Connecticut Bluepoint Oysters, but instead, my friend Scott Hokunson, of Blue Heron Landscapes will be feasting on fresh San Francisco Dungeness Crab for his Superbowl party. It was such a gorgeous January day, I thought I'd share a few pics with you all.


Yes, it really was this nice out. Even in January.

Coit Tower, one of San Francisco's Iconic Landmarks.


Amanda & Joni walking on the pier by the Ferry Building.


Not your typical street musician. This guy is playing an Erhu, a one-string Chinese violin.

Inside the Ferry Building Market. There is also a large outdoor Farmer's Market going on & the place was packed!


Interesting twist on a Living Wall. This was inside "The Plant", the organic cafe where we had lunch.


Next stop was the Treasure Island Flea. This is a great new market with a fun mix of vendors, food & beverages.

Vendors outside as well as inside the historic "Building One", built in the late 1930s for the 1939-1940 World's Fair.

Just a small piece of the huge panoramic mural inside Building One.

The Treasure Island Flea was a very pleasant surprise. I'd heard about it just recently & figured this would be a good time to check it out. This just happened to be their first time setting up inside Building One, the last of the original structures built for the 1939-1940 World's Fair. Lots of vendors selling vintage clothing & jewelry, art, collectibles of all sorts, antiques, etc... They also had a great bunch of food trucks providing lots of food & beverage options. Treasure Island has also become a bit of a haven for the Urban Winery movement, with at least three wineries and another tasting room that I saw. If you are anywhere near San Francisco on a weekend, I highly recommend you make some time for a visit to Treasure Island.

Frazier Lake Airpark, Jan. 7, 2012

2012-01-07T21:50:00.000-08:00

My good friend Monty Groves, who I originally met through our local Sportster motorcycle group, has been after me for the past couple years to come to the monthly Open House @ Frazier Lake Airpark, just North of Hollister. Well, I finally made it! we've been having incredibly nice weather lately, so this was a great chance to get some two-wheeled therapy & airplane therapy all in one shot.

This is me, blocking your view of Monty's beautiful 1955 Cessna 180.

Frazier Lake is an interesting place. It's a public use, private airport, with one grass runway & one water runway. The hangars are stuffed with all sorts of vintage flyers, kit planes & a few "spam cans". I really blew it by not taking more pics of the aircraft in their hangars, as there are many great classic birds to see. I guess I'll just have to go back next month ;-)

Instead, I focused on visitor aircraft, a few locals that had been pushed out to the grass & the flying that was going on.

Not many training wheels to be found around here, mostly classic stick & rudder tail-draggers in the crowd. Closest is a great example of the Stinson 108.

Here's a good example of the mix of classic & kit-built airplanes that frequent or live at Frazier Lake.

This fully polished C-170A was gorgeous. Sure looks like a lot of work went into that shine.

In the kit-built group, this Sportsman was outstanding! The wing is polished, top & bottom and all the rivets are flush. This is one very slick little airplane & a lot of care & craftsmanship went into making it this nice.

The pilot of this Stinson demonstrates a perfect crosswind landing. There was a very stiff breeze blowing directly across the runway all day, making for some challenging landings, but the folks around here are pretty used to it.

One of the more unusual visitors was this very clean Bell Model 47. I had to look around for Klinger & Hawkeye.

Time for a few more of the action shots...

And a couple slightly less polluted picks of Monty's 180.

And for my horticulture friends; we did discuss potential maintenance practices for the grass runway. I know, I'm not usually a big fan of big expansive lawns, but this is different. This isn't somebody's wanna-be golf course front yard, this is a haven for grass-roots flying. Vintage aircraft, flying off of grass runways can really take you back in time. This is the kind of flying my folks were doing in the 40s & 50s.

For my flying friends; if you haven't made this trip yet you should. And for my fellow aviation junkie friends; Frazier Lake holds an Open House the 1st Saturday of every month. Come hang out & drool on airplanes with me sometime.

Where did 2011 Go?

2012-01-01T00:53:00.000-08:00

Reading all the "Year in Review" posts has been quite inspirational. I looked back at all two posts I wrote in 2011and figure it is just one more symptom of the ailments that I dealt with all year. Yes, I did start the year with a nasty round of sciatica and Damn, did that hurt, but that was just the beginning. I managed to shut myself off from a lot of people this year under the guise of being "busy". No need to go down that whole road, that part of the year is why I'm excited to move on into 2012. So, since I didn't post much in 2011 this is more of a condensed version of all the posts I should've done and a chance for me to reflect on the year & what changes I need to make for 2012.

There were plenty of interesting times in 2011. Mostly good, some not so much.

We started the year by taking in a very cool Bowl Game @ AT&T Park to watch Nevada whoop on Boston College. Was a great time with family & friends & thanks to my friends who work @ the park, we were able to go down on the field after the game, congratulate the players & just hang in the dugout for awhile. That was a really cool time!

I managed a ride up Mt. Hamilton on Feb. 5th to take in the views & a great sunset.

And peeked into the Redneck Garden just enough to see how bad the neglect was showing.

We braved some snow...

So we could see my awesome son & granddaughters & their awesome mom who took the pic!

I had a work trip to Orlando, but the best pics were actually from the flight there.

The highlight of March was the SFGS & spending time with cool folks like Jenny here.

In April I finally got around to cleaning up the Redneck Garden a bit & found out that a faily small pepper plant can actually have quite a bit of root mass.

April also brought the 1st ever food truck fest in San Jose, so my brother & I & a few thousand others just had to check out San Jose Eats.

May brought signs of life & renewal to the Redneck Garden.

May 28th found me & some friends in Hollister for their 2nd annual air show.

And then the unthinkable happened. We lost Lorrie, my youngest sister at the age of 56, just days before her daughter's high school graduation. Being the youngest of the clan, Lorrie was often my adopted mother. This was extremely tough for my whole family. We're going to miss her immensely.

We did manage to have a pretty good shin-dig for niece Kat's graduation.

In June you saw the Redneck Garden again.

And Ivette Soler @ Annie's Annuals.

July 2nd made for a toasty ride to Hollister to the Corbin factory for their motorcycle show to see my buddy Fred's custom retro board-tracker, the PsyClone parked next to the actual Burt Munroe Indian.

I had a great ride to the Nevada County Airfest.

July closed with the Travis Air Expo.

By August, the Redneck garden was cruising along making corn, tomatoes, peppers & more...

August 21st I took a ride to Santa Rosa for the Wings Over Wine Country Airshow. One of the high points was an F-15 recently donated to the Pacific Coast Air Museum by the USAF. This particular F-15 was the 1st aircraft over NYC on 9/11. They are building a special exhibit just for this historic airplane. Lots of familiar faces & aircraft on the ramp at this show.

Got to spend a weekend with friends & family at Lake Tahoe helping to celebrate brother Pat & Birdy's wedding. Gotta love Tahoe.

Followed by Watsonville on Labor Day weekend...

Mid-September means the annual pilgrimage to Reno for the National Championship Air Races. Lots of amazing & historic aircraft & people attend this event every year & 2011 was no exception. We were honored to see some extremely rare & historic aircraft & the weather for race week was excellent.

And again, the unthinkable & unimaginable happened. Most of you saw the news unfold on your TV screen while many of us watched it happen. Jimmy Leward, veteran race & movie pilot lost control of his aircraft, the historic, highly modified P-51 racer, Galloping Ghost, impacting into the box seats, killing 10 spectators & himself and injuring scores more. The verdict is still out & we may never know what really happened, but the weight of this tragedy will be felt by everyone affected and the whole air racing family for many years to come.

The air show season continued on, with the next stop in Salinas.

And yes, that's wifey with the Viper West Demo Team!

Then came the Gathering of Mustangs at the Nut tree airport in Vacaville.

And an abbreviated Fleet Week show thanks to a fog bank that just couldn't stay away long enough for the Blue Angels to get their show in.

We finished out the year by hosting Thanksgiving dinner for 32 friends & family. What a blast we had! Wifey & I got to get away to Monterey for a work related Christmas party & then got to spend a nice morning kicking around the wharf.

Wishing you all the best for 2012.

Iivette Soler @ Annie's Annuals 6-25-11

2011-06-26T10:08:00.000-07:00

It looked like everyone had a great time at Annie's Annuals (no surprise there) listening to Ivette speaking passionately about her view of the Edible Front Yard.

Elayne & the crew @ Annie's had to bring out extra chairs to accommodate all the folks that showed up. Among the enthralled masses we found Maureen Decombe (@Plantanista) , Kristi (@Tikikristi) & Carri Stokes (@readbetweenthelimes). Somewhere out there is Susan Morrison (@susanlmorrison) of "Garden Up" fame.

What a great setting for Ivette to bring her enthusiasm for combining good design principals with front yard food. She had the audience wrapped around her little finger and I'm sure everyone learned something useful. She presents a lot of information in a short time and makes it very entertaining! Though Ivette is very serious about proper design, she has a very go-with-the-flow attitude.

Signing books for the fans. If you don't have a copy yet, be sure to pick up a copy of "the EDIBLE FRONT YARD". And if you haven't met the wonderful @Germinatrx before, you don't know what you're missing!

Return to The Redneck Garden

2011-06-19T14:30:00.000-07:00

Yes, it has been awhile. No apologies, but I will say that I've missed blogging. I enjoy writing & it forces me to look at & think about things in more depth. Like being a photographer requires you to consider the subject in more than just an admiring fashion. Sort of self-induced introspection, if there is such a thing.

So, as for the Redneck garden; various influences kept me from planting winter veggies, so things pretty much languished in neglect.

But spring (such as it has been in Northern Ca this year) brings a sense of renewal & rejuvenation. I didn't get quite as ambitious this year and missed all the really good plant sales. A neighbor gave me a few seedlings of bean & cucumber, while the rest of my plants came from the local hardware store's garden center. That said, I'm pretty pleased with the number & variety of plants as well as the opportunity to take some new challenges this season.

I'm trying corn in buckets for the 1st time. Fellow gardener Annie Haven (@GreenSoil) encouraged me to give it a try & these Redneck planters are set up perfectly for companion planting. I'm hoping the cucumbers will draw the pollinators for the corn. All of this was planted just three weeks ago & is really taking off. Oh, the fennel is a survivor from last year that just keeps producing.

This lettuce container is a bit slow getting going, but I'm optimistic.

The red Cherry Bomb peppers are off to a good start. As are the bell, poblano & jalapenos.

This new tomato appears happy with it's cilantro & basil under-planting & neighboring chives & marjoram, which are both blooming profusely right now thanks to the temperature change & sunlight.

This tomato is a "Classic yellow" from last year that survived the winter frost & neglect & insists on shooting up, tall & proud with lots of flowering going on. I'm interested to see how it does in year #2. This one also has the cilantro & basil companion planting.

Though the bean or squash plant in the center of this container failed, it looks like the scallions are going to make it just fine. That's another new one for me. I'll find something else to plant in the middle, maybe more scallions.

This Kniphofia was blooming like crazy a month ago.

But now looks like this. Did I piss it off by cutting off the (apparently) dead bloom spikes? Is it just because I have it in a fairly small container? I'm open to input from anyone with more experience.

We do have some pretty happy Dianthus right now. This plant had one single blossom all last year. This year it is really bringing it!

Beautiful, delicate flowers against very interesting structure.

Apparently the baby grasshoppers like them too.

I know it's off-topic, but I have to show off the new houseplant that wifey brought home. I'd never seen a Red Maranta before, but love the red veins & velvety texture. A great find from my bride who really isn't a plant person.

Another great combination of color & texture, courtesy of Mother Nature.

That's about it for this update. I have some new twists in mind and will share them when the time comes. Hope everyone gets their summer off to a great start.

Puttin' Down Some Roots

2010-10-19T22:11:00.000-07:00

Has it really been like seven weeks since my last post? Wow! Turns out that time doesn't just fly when you're having fun, it flies even when you aren't having fun. Don't worry, I'm not going to whine & bore you to death with the details. After all, this isn't about me, it's about The Redneck Garden!

Like most gardens in Nor-Cal, my summer veggies have all but flown the coop. I've been gradually pulling things, making room for winter veggies that I haven't started or purchased yet (right on my usual schedule). The latest to be thinned was the green grape tomato that produced quite well this year, but had finally withered beyond even the cage's ability to support it. Only challenge was, when I tried to pull it from the bucket, it wouldn't let go! I had to take it over to the driveway and turn the bucket upside down to get it out. Check out what I found...

For starters, from the surface of the soil, to the tip of the stem was over 6 & 1/2 feet! Not bad for a semi-determinate cherry tomato grown in a plastic bucket!

This is after I dumped it out of the bucket, so the top of the pics is actually the bottom of the bucket. I'm not totally surprised at this great root growth, but very pleased with the confirmation that I was doing some things right.

The main root ball, after knocking most of the dirt off was a solid 10" mass of fibrous roots. I don't know if this is typical or not, being the novice gardener that I am, but for a bucket that was only 11" wide & 12" deep, this seems pretty good to me. Further proof that my custom blended soil had a great balance of air & water porosity and that the beneficial organisms in the soil were thriving and sharing their joy with the plant. The original mix contained greenwaste compost & worm castings, which are both great sources of beneficial biology & natural nutrients. The plant received a few applications of worm compost tea during the summer months, a couple small applications of a commercial organic vegetable fertilizer over the season and were never watered more than twice each week.

And even now it wants me to believe it can still make those tasty green treats I've so enjoyed. Thanks to the Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County & Cynthia Sanberg of Love Apple Farm for the good tips. Hopefully next summer will be just slightly warmer & we'll see a little more production.

Until next time; get out to the garden and stay happy.

Eat Real Festival Year Two

2010-09-02T23:32:00.000-07:00

I managed to get away to enjoy a few hours at the Eat Real festival in Oakland this past weekend. I went last year as well, but this was a bigger & better event. Just about any kind of food you could want was being served from trucks, carts & booths. Of course there were several versions of the traditional taco truck or taco stand and they all looked great. Click on the pics for larger images.

And some not so traditional versions...

There were Filipino food trucks...

Argentinian & Indian food trucks...

And of course, a local favorite made even more famous by their recent appearance on the Food Network's "The Great Food Truck Race", Spencer on the Go!

Yes, I did have the Escargot Lollipop, which was excellent and no, Spencer would not tell me who wins. So much for my phone call to Vegas.

And there was entertainment in the form of good, live music...

And more food...

And beverages...

And great wood-fired barbacue...

I talked with one of the guys from this crew; they came all the way from Alabama to do this event! They are trying to organize a similar event at home and have come to Eat Real the past two years to gain experience and learn what it takes to put together a food event of this magnitude. Oh, and they smoked a whole hog from Marin Sun Farms, who provided their pastured pork for all of the food vendors at Eat Real. Yumm!

Can't forget desert...

But wait, there's loads more food...

And there was a whole section on Urban Homesteading...

Even my favorite CSA folks were here...

My family really enjoys the box we get from Farm Fresh to You every other week. My little urban container garden is pretty good, but the CSA subscription keeps us in diverse, seasonal, organic fruits & vegetables that come fresh from the farm, for the same money we used to spend at the local mega-market.

Organic dairy products anyone???

Have I told you about the "Pulled Rabbit Sandwich" yet???

Oh yes I did & it was delish! The rabbit, from Canvas Restaurant (a roving supper club) was a product of Devil's Gulch Ranch, on the Marin county coast. Another great example of sustainable, organic agriculture just a few miles from San Francisco. The Pasternaks are not only farming, ranching & wine making people, they provide many educational opportunities as well. Elmer Fud woulda' loved this.

And more food...

Mac & Cheese is the new Beef Stroganoff (especially the "Trailer Mac") and these ladies were rockin' it! MMMmmmm, pans full of warm gooey, cheesy goodness.

And more food...

Seemed like the crowd was enjoying the whole Eat Real experience. The absolutely perfect weather didn't hurt either.

My visit ended with something you don't see every day...

A hog butchering competition. I know, seems a little strange, but part of the Eat Real message is for people to be more directly connected with their food and know where it comes from. These guys were truly skilled craftsmen and impressive to watch. Absolutely nothing was wasted. The lady emcee did a terrific job of describing exactly what was going on, interacting with the crowd & the judges and provided a lot of education along the way. I learned a lot about pastured pork and what I can do to improve my food supply. This was an unexpectedly good surprise.

So, what did I eat you ask? Limited time and funds were my restrictions or I could've easily spent the whole weekend here. My first taste was the Maui Taco from The Taco Guys. This was a fantastic little fish taco with great big flavor and wonderfully crispy fried Pacific Rock Cod & Sriracha Mayo. My second bite was the pulled rabbit sandwich from Canvas Restaurant and third was the Escargot Lollipop from Spencer on the Go! Okay, I did have one beer on the way out. In truth, I wish I had used that $6.00 on more food.

So there you have it; Eat Real Festival looked to be a huge success this year and I can't wait to see what next year brings. If you made the fest, let me know what your favorite bites were. If you didn't make it, mark your calendar for next year. If you are a fan of fresh, local, real food, this event is not to be missed!

Just a Little Bit Longer Kidz, We're Almost There.

2010-08-19T20:34:00.000-07:00

I thought this day might never arrive, but some of the big heirlooms are finally showing a little color!

Dagma's Perfection may not be quite perfect, but it will work for me!

Ernie's Round is coming along as well.

Ernie's Round also won the "Vertical Challenge", climbing more than 7 feet above the soil. Not bad for a large variety growing in a bucket!

And then there are the peppers...

This small plant was supposed to be a green bell, but turned out to be yellow instead. This is a very productive little plant.

These are the best of the Poblanos, nearly 6 inches long. I see Chile Rellenos in the near future!

This is the Habanero that was near-death when I brought it home from the MG sale. Guess it likes my coddling, 'cause it's going gangbusters now, in a 10-inch pot!

And the Hinkle Hatz? These little buggers are s'pose to be smokin' hot & this thing is loaded! I'm just waiting for one of them to turn color so I can test them out. There will be a VERY cold beer close by when that day comes!

Black ChuChu eggplant & lemon cucumber have also been very productive lately. Do I ever LOVE all garden-fresh goodies in my salad bowl these days.

Just had to show off Mr. Black Adder as he looks sooo happy in a real pot. Hard to believe he was in a 6-inch pot just a couple months ago.

So, as we've discussed before, patience is a BIG part of edible gardening and I don't seem to have much of that these days. It's just a darn good thing that the rest of The Redneck Garden has stepped up to keep me distracted from the lack of tomato availability or I'd be seriously bonkers by now.

Weekend @ Silver Lake

2010-08-18T22:29:00.000-07:00

I managed to escape to one of my families favorite camping spots last weekend. Silver Lake, located South-West of Lake Tahoe and at 7,200', has been part of our family since the mid 40s. Click on the photos for larger versions.

Brother Pat trying to outsmart the locals. As the saying goes; "the fishing was great, the catching not so much". Still better than working and we didn't have to clean a mess of fish.

An awesome Sierra sunset, looking West, down the canyon and then back to see Thunder Mountain lit up by the setting sun.

The crystal clear water, cool clean mountain air and just being out there with nature can be as healing as any spa in the world. I clearly need to do this more often.

Are We There Yet?

2010-07-21T23:18:00.000-07:00

"Are we there yet?" Anyone who's ever traveled with kids surely has heard that question and you younger gardeners were probably saying things like this not too long ago, much to your parents frustration. Well, it's the middle of July and hopefully your garden is bursting at the seams. I've been reading blogs, facebook posts & tweets from folks all over the country, enjoying bushels of juicy tomatoes, sweet corn, hot peppers, blah-blah-blah.

Don't get me wrong, The Redneck Garden is growing like mad, but outside of the herbs, all I've been able to harvest is lettuce & a couple of lemon cucumbers. Every morning I walk around my containers, say good morning to all my children and offer them heartfelt encouragement. I drive to work wondering, will this be the day I see some color in the tomatoes? Every evening, I drive home, walk into the yard, asking just like my kids on a long car ride; "are we there yet"? And every day, the answer is the same; "not ye-et". Patience has never been my strong suit, can you tell?

So here's what's going on in The Redneck Garden:

The Yellow Pear Tomatoes have looked exactly like this for at least three weeks.

The mystery volunteer is clearly some sort of cherry tomato that is putting out big long racks of fruit.

On a hopeful note, I took this pic of the egg plant flower on July 9th.

And just nine days later, we have fruit!

The heirlooms have all outgrown their 4' cages by 2' or more, they have plenty of flowers & fruit, but the late spring and cool start to our summer are keeping them from really getting with the program.

The new green bell from the Master Gardener's sale is covered in flowers and young fruit.

The little, frail Habanero (also from the MG sale) is finally bulking up and showing buds.

And it looks like we will eventually get a good dose of "Hinklehatz" peppers, which the label said are "extremely hot". Someday.

I should say that the couple lemon cukes we've had were excellent and I've been able to enjoy a few delicious radishes, fresh cut lettuce & loads of herbs. However, if you've been following my chronicle of The Redneck Garden, you know that this is my first serious summer garden and I'm still learning the many lessons that gardening teaches. Let's just say that my grade in "patience" shows that I need to work a little harder at going with the flow. I enjoy the anticipation, but can't wait to show off a huge "Yellow Dagma's Perfection" or "Pink Stump of the World" to my mega-mart, sawdust-texture tomato eating coworkers. Soon, I hope.

So please tell me how your harvest is going, so that I may vicariously enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Rapid Growth in The Redneck Garden

2010-06-18T22:23:00.000-07:00

So, this is probably just my rookie gardener showing, but I just can't stop being amazed at how quickly my garden has taken off this season. All the transplants were done on 5/16 & the seed starts (lettuce, spinach, radishes & carrots) were sewn on 5/22. For the new visitors, you should know that I garden organically, there are no chemical fertilizers used, ever. Take a look, tell me what you think & let me know how your garden is doing.

5-22

6-16

5-22

6-16

5-22

6-16

(Yes, the lettuce finally bolted)

5-22

6-16

5-22

6-16

5-22

6-16

5-22

6-16

There are more, but I think you get the picture. Hey, I know it's early in the season, but things are looking pretty good in The Redneck Garden. We are already harvesting heavily from the herbs; parsley, basil, dill, fennel, chives, marjoram and lots of cilantro. There have been some challenges too, like the lettuce seedlings that were decimated by birds, some critter eating the tops off my radishes, the scallions that never showed at all and the habanero that is still only 3" tall. Overall though, the garden seems pretty happy. I think my latest incarnation of Terra Vida Living Soil has given everything a great start. Stay tuned for more updates as summer (if it ever really does get here) progresses.

In case anyone is wondering, here's a list of the edibles:

Hinklehatz Red Pepper
Crookneck Squash (3)
Jalapeno Pepper
Lemon Cucumber (2)
Poblano Pepper (5)
Green Bell pepper (2)
Yellow Bell Pepper
Habanero Pepper
Ambassador Squash
Tomato, Green Grape
Tomato, Yellow Dagma's Perfection
Tomato, Ernie's Round Pink Beefsteak
Tomato, Pink Stump of the World Beefsteak
Tomato, Beam's Yellow Pear
Tomato, Unidentified Volunteer
Black ChuChu Eggplant
Blue Lake Bunch Beans (2)
Strawberries: Chandalier, Sequoia & Eversweet (1 each)
Radishes, Rainbow
Carrots: Purple, White, Red & Yellow
Baby Leaf Spinach
Sea of Red Lettuce
Sweet Baby Romaine Lettuce
Dill
Fennel
Parsley (2)
Sweet Basil (4)
Chives (2)
Marjoram (2)
Rosemary (2)
Cilantro (4)

Hope you enjoyed the Redneck Garden update. Leave a comment & let me know how your garden is doing.

Matt

The Redneck Container Garden ver. 2.0

2010-05-26T23:03:00.000-07:00

I don't know about where you are, but the prolonged cool, wet weather in Northern California has definitely slowed the pace in my yard. I've had some upgrades going on though to keep things interesting. If you've followed my previous posts (here, here, here, here, here, & here), then you know all about my miniature urban farm, grown mostly in five-gallon buckets as my postage stamp lot just doesn't have any other suitable space. Well, let me introduce you to The Redneck Garden ver. 2.0.

This was the final image from my April post, giving a hint of things to come. The 5-gallon buckets now have some tougher, stronger more handsome big brothers.

Most of the buckets received a basic drainage modification courtesy of my cordless drill.

Thanks to a couple of my favorite tools, this...

and this,

Have turned into these...

and these.

I learned a lot from conversations with other gardeners and reading articles like this one from Love Apple Farm's Cynthia Sanberg, with very good instructions for growing tomatoes in containers. I learned that tomatoes need a minimum 15-gallon pot and they prefer to root deeply. The metal tubs met the 15-gallon minimum, but seemed a bit shallow. The Redneck Garden still has a very tight budget, so I searched for the best possible option for my dollar. Having no luck at yard sales & thrift shops, I settled on the metal tubs for $15.00 each and the plastic buckets are still just $2.34 each. Even the cheapest plastic containers approaching this volume were nearly three times this combined cost. Clearly, a better scrounge, with a little time & energy could round up these items for free or cheap, but I had procrastinated myself into a corner and needed something quickly.

This pot-within-a-pot design gave me the necessary depth to give the tomatoes the full Master Gardener treatment. The holes were dug, I dropped a couple aspirin into the hole, placed some calcium sulfate (basically high-grade gypsum, but egg shells are good too) and some organic tomato & vegetable fertilizer and tossed in the lower leaf stems that I removed from the plant. Unlike most plants, tomatoes will actually grow more roots from where the stems were removed when you plant them deeply like this.

Here you see a plant that was nearly 2 feet tall in it's 4" pot, now only rises about ten inches above the soil. Fill them in loosely, resist the urge to pack the soil as this forces much needed oxygen out of the root zone. I finish all my containers off with a layer of compost as a mulch. This will help retain moisture and provide more nutrients to the soil as the compost decomposes.

As many of you know, my day-job involves large-scale soil blending for commercial landscapers, nurseries, golf courses and more. I've been using The Redneck Garden as a bit of a proving ground. Okay, so I couldn't stand to grow plants in sub-standard soil, meaning that there isn't any sort of true comparison. However, I offer the next two pics to show what kind of root growth takes place in good soil.

This is one of the buckets that had a Romanesco Cauliflower in it until recently. With the plant and main root stem removed, you can see that the fine root hairs permeate the entire container.

This is a bunch of the "Brite Lites" chard I pulled out of the little window boxes. The soil couldn't have been more than 4 inches deep, but when I lifted up on this plant, it picked up all the soil in the whole container. The roots of the neighboring plants had all intertwined and were now just one big root mass.

Here are some of the other new residents of The Redneck Garden:

Lemon Cucumbers

Ambassador Squash

Black Chu-Chu Eggplant

And Blue Lake Bunch Beans. Oh, and that lettuce, we've been cutting off of that plant since last November and it is still going strong!

The window boxes are now home to Marjoram, Cilantro & Chives.

There are a few hold-overs too. I saved my pepper plants from last year, some of which are doing well, others not so much. Three of my four Poblanos made it through winter, but they have been very reluctant to leaf out & flower. If they don't come around soon, they will lose their space to the new Habanero and Hinklehatz Red I picked up at the Palo Alto Master Gardener's plant sale.

My Yellow Bell has several clusters of new fruit already.

This Green Bell is doing better than it looks in this pic. It has lots of blooms and new fruit already.

The Jalepeno has been bloomin' it's fool head off.

Now, my wife enjoys the fruits of my garden too, but she was craving flowers, so I surrendered my only two in-ground planting areas to appease her...

The back-fence planter is a heavily shaded work in progress.

And the narrow front walkway strip now has lots of color. Hopefully it will attract some beneficials.

The current view from the curb.

And my front porch farm.

I hope you've enjoyed the updated Redneck Garden ver. 2.0. There are a few other new happenings too, but I have to save something for the next post. I encourage you to share this post with new or potential gardeners who may not feel they have the ability or the space to grow their own food. It has been a fantastic experience for me and I've been amazed at the amount and variety of produce we've been able to harvest. It's great to get in touch with your food supply. I know exactly what goes into those plants (100% organic) and the fresh, honest taste is at least ten times better than store-bought.

Stay Happy & Healthy,

Matt

Thunderbird Pilot Nicole "FiFi" Malachowski

2010-05-22T19:40:00.000-07:00

Most of you know by now the meaning of my handle, "WASP-kid". "White Anglo-Saxon Protestant" may be appropriate to my heritage, but what we are really talking about is my mom, the "Women Airforce Service Pilot". She was an amazing woman who lived in an amazing time. She racked up time in T-6s, B-25s AT-11s and every other WWII aircraft flying in American service in the nineteen-forties.

If you've been following the story of the WASP, then you know they were recently awarded a Congressional Gold Medal. What you don't know, is that the most amazing woman you never met was actually the driving force behind this huge honor. Nicole "FiFi" Malachowski was the first female "Thunderbird" pilot, even though she was really an F-15 pilot. I was lucky enough to see her fly when she toured with the USAF demonstration squadron and have met her in more intimate settings since those days. Nicole Malachowski is truly an amazing person.

When Nicole was approached by Nancy Parrish, daughter of Deanie Bishop-Parrish, she couldn't possibly refuse. As a graduate of the Air Force Academy and a White House Fellow, Nicole made it a personal mission to see that the WASP were finally recognized for their service.

Well folks, now the amazing Nicole needs our support.

Nicole has been on bed-rest with twins for the past month. They just passed 27 weeks, which is a huge milestone for the babies. But they need your help. Please send them all the positive energy you can muster. If you are believers, please pray for them and ask your friends to do the same. Nicole and Paul "Eyore" are incredible people who have done so much for others without any thought for themselves. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers as often as you can. These are quality people who have never asked for anything from anyone, but they deserve our help. Please hold them up in your hearts today.

Taking Mother's Day Personally

2010-05-08T00:52:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day hasn't always been a "Hallmark holiday". Though there have been occasions to honor women or mothers throughout time, Mother's Day as we know it today is mostly the commercialized evolution of of what began as a daughter's memorial to her mother who had passed two years before. In 1914, Anna Jarvis succeeded in having "Mother's Day" become a nationally recognized holiday. Much to her chagrin, it didn't take long for the commercial interests to jump on board.

From Wikipedia: By the 1920s, Anna Jarvis had become soured by the commercialization of the holiday. She incorporated herself as the Mother’s Day International Association, trademarked the phrases "second Sunday in May" and "Mother's Day", and was once arrested for disturbing the peace. She and her sister Ellsinore spent their family inheritance campaigning against the holiday. Both died in poverty. According to her New York Times obituary, Jarvis became embittered because too many people sent their mothers a printed greeting card. As she said,

A printed card means nothing except that you are too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone in the world. And candy! You take a box to Mother—and then eat most of it yourself. A pretty sentiment.
—Anna Jarvis.^[2]

A devoted daughter, she clearly had a vision for each of us to take just one day out of our busy lives to personally thank our moms and to show them some appreciation for all the sacrifices they made for us over the years. Now, I understand that not everyone has/had Harriet Nelson for a mother, but there was most likely a positive maternal influence of some kind in your life. A grandmother, an aunt, cousin, neighbor, family friend, parole officer, etc. How do you intend to show your appreciation to that person or honor their memory this Sunday?

This was my mom in her heyday, pre-flighting whatever crate she'd been assigned for the day's target-towing mission. I don't know exactly where this was taken, but it would've been March Field, Muroc or one of the many dry lakes the WASP were flying from in Southern California in 1944. I didn't get to know her until several years later. I always thought she was just a regular mom. She cooked & cleaned, taught me how to make snow angels, packed my lunch, cut my hair, nursed the usual scrapes and bruises. All the regular mom things. Now I know she was Harriett Nelson with a major attitude!

Being the youngest of a big family has plenty of upside, but there is a big downside. My super-mom passed away half of my lifetime ago, but that doesn't mean I'm off the hook, far from it. Now, mom was a very selfless, honest and practical person. The last thing she would want me doing is rambling on in her honor, wasting my energy and boring you to tears.

In the spirit of Anna Jarvis' vision, this will be a personal day in our home. Our grown kids still hand-make the cards they will give their mom. They think its just to save $2.00, but its really because I want them to keep it personal & my wife really enjoys them. They will help with chores while I plant the flowers she picked out at the nursery last Sunday and I will prepare the dinner of her choice. It will only be a mere token compared to what she does for us every day and something we should do more often. And yes, I'll be thinking of my mom all day. Honoring her memory by making Mother's Day a very personal day for my family.

Take a little time this weekend to appreciate the people you love and that have done so much for you.

Wordless Wednesday Wildflowers

2010-05-05T03:00:00.000-07:00

Spring in The Redneck Garden

2010-04-19T21:43:00.000-07:00

I know, I've been slacking around here lately. Lets just say its been a very busy & interesting winter for me. Both at home and at work. Let me get you caught up on what is happening in The Redneck Container Garden.

The temps are gradually rising in the Bay Area. We've been blessed with great cycles of rain and sun. New life is abundant outdoors and like most of you, I expected this to be a time of re-birth for The Redneck Garden, but it doesn't feel that way just yet.

The "Purple Sprouting Broccoli" was very happy and productive, both in the small planter strip & the buckets. But the tasty florets have all been consumed along with the wonderful soup made from the stalks. No re-birth going on here.

The delicious & unique Romanesco (broccoli or cauliflower, what is your vote?) also performed well in the redneck buckets.

Well, they're mostly gone now too. Except this one plant that never produced a typical dense head, so I allowed it to flower. It seems to be pretty excited at the possibility of procreation, don't you think?

I realize he's no hummingbird (we can't all be Interleafer), but this large Bumble was quite happy to help the Romanesco with the fantasy of it's reproduction.

Another happy plant is this cramped little Kniphofia hirsuta, "Fire Dance" that I picked up at Annie's Annuals in December. I felt guilty and potted this up to a 1-gallon the day after this pic was taken. Its been living happily in the shade of my neighbors Birch tree, loving all the rain we were getting.

Walking around just thinking about what needed to be done made me hungry & thirsty. Homemade salmon tacos & a cold beer on the back patio were just what the doctor ordered on a very pleasant Saturday afternoon.

I wasn't the only one working up an appetite. This guy was working on a nut that was almost the size of his head. I ate my lunch, left and he was still munchin' away.

So, the whole re-birth thing isn't really happening in The Redneck Garden just yet. We are a bit sad at the passing of all the good friends we had in the winter garden, but as this pic shows, the seeds of possibility are gestating in the Redneck Container Garden. Check back every once in awhile and see how the next generation fares. And what kind of fare they become!

My Trip to The San Francisco Flower & Garden Show

2010-03-30T21:57:00.000-07:00

I really don't know where to start. Most of the trade shows I attend or exhibit at are commercial B2B shows and to be quite honest, the attendance has been beyond dismal the last year or two. I knew something was different about the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show as soon as I walked through the door. The display gardens were huge, elaborate and beyond impressive. More than that, the aisles were full of people. People who payed good money to get through the door. People who were buying all sorts of things from vendors to take home. Now, we all know that the current state of the economy is certainly taking it's toll, but the appearance at this show was much better than what I expected to find.

This was the scene at the ticket booths on Sunday, the 5th and final day of the show. Apparently folks just couldn't get enough of this event!

I cruised all the aisles and checked out all the display gardens. Talked to lots of vendors and attendees. The vast majority were very pleased with the show. I was surprised at the variety of exhibitors and vendors. Of course there were all the cool nurseries and plant stuff, but then there was art of all kinds, outdoor furniture, tools, clothes, kitchen gadgets and more.

Here is a sampling of the amazing gardens:

I'm starting with my favorite. This is the post-apocalypse garden built by The Garden Route. I loved the overgrown appearance and the over-sized metal critters.

Coming in a close second for me was the Recycled Creole Jazz Garden. The crocs in the waterless fountain were just too cool. Their plant selections really captivated me. Oh, and then there was that cool jazz music playing all the time.

The Jurassic Garden was a tropical adventure full of imagination.

More amazing designs.

This is the famous "Living Room". A complete room with walls of succulents, surrounded by water and a complete formal dining room inside.

The energy, creativity and planning that went into all the display gardens was extreme. The fact that they were all assembled in just three days really blew me away. I had only attended the SFGS one time previous, and that was several years ago. While I'm sure it was impressive then too, it sure didn't make the impression that this show did. I am certainly hooked and will most definitely be back next year.

Hope you enjoyed my novice perspective of the gardens. Check back in a couple days for my post about all the other exhibits and vendors.

Greening San Jose for Over 35 Years

2010-03-02T19:40:00.000-08:00

I apologize for my unplanned absence from the blogosphere, this post is long-overdue. I actually took these pics and started writing this article on February 6th. Unfortunately, before I could complete it my computer contracted the mother of all viruses and it's taken me three weeks and a complete re-formatting of my hard drive to get back to it. I know some of you out there can empathize with that. Anyhow, here it is and I hope you will agree that it was worth the wait.

I admit to being a relatively new gardener. It's no secret. The odd part is that I've been working in the landscape & nursery supply business for more than 20 years and it took me this long to get interested in anything more than my meager front lawn. My history with plants was nearly perfect. Up until a little over a year ago, I had managed to kill just about every plant I ever owned. I'm not one to give up easily and it seems that the nurseries in my area are happy to keep supplying me with victims.

Strangely enough, I started having success growing vegetables in containers (5-gallon buckets mostly). I even have a nice winter crop going right now. Success breeds enthusiasm and my next adventure involves starting my spring/summer garden from seeds. Wish them luck. Being a newbie, there was no drawer full of seeds in the garage. I would have to buy them. Since the company I work for supplies soil to nurseries, it seemed only appropriate to support someone who supports me.

This quest led me to Central Wholesale Nursery in the heart of San Jose. I used to deliver here when I was a truck driver and have been talking to Betty when she orders soil, for more than 15 years. My newly enlightened gardener perspective couldn't believe I hadn't been back here sooner. I was having that whole kid-in-a-candy-store kind of experience. I know, I was only here for seeds, but the place was too cool not to have a look around. Join me, won't you?

I timed my visit perfectly between rain showers. Everything was clean & colorful. CWN sits on a triangle shaped lot with major streets on two sides and a bunch of new condos on the third. This part of town is seeing a lot of redevelopment right now and I'm sure the developers have knocked on the door. For very good reason, the nursery that has been here since 1974 persists. Serving gardeners, designers and landscapers around the valley in ways the big-box stores can't touch.

The variety of stock made me wish I could conjure up a more substantial project. So many different colors and textures. And this is the middle of winter!

They had just about every type of ground cover you could want. They offer to order sod for those who just have to have it, but the emphasis is clearly on more attractive & responsible alternatives.

This crazy looking asparagus fern & the cool colorful pot had me hooked. It was difficult to leave without it, but the boss (read wife) would give me heck if I went that far off the list today.

They had a nice selection of water features. The way the ribbon of water twists in mid air had me really liking this one. Hmmmm, maybe I could make room in the raised planter in my back yard. I do have visions of turning my small planting space into a kitchen garden and personal oasis. And no oasis is complete without water, right?

Sorry, I'm not enough of a plant geek to remember the names of everything and I didn't write them down, but they were too cool to be left out.

They have lots of cool statuary, including this Silicon Valley icon, Buddha with a laptop.

And more cool colorful pots. Know anyone who is into frogs?

Of course they have all the usual racks full of color and vegetable starts too.

They really maximize the small amount of indoor space they have.

Time for one more spin around the nursery before they lock the gate and I have to spend the night here.

Can't believe I walked right past these! A whole row of Phormium cookianum, "Black Adder". One of the killer dark foliage plants developed by our friend Pat FitzGerald of FitzGerald Nurseries and MyPlant in Kilkenny, Ireland (sorry for the lame pic. For some strange reason I only took this shot with my phone.). Click here to see more of Pat's wonderful plants.

Just HAD to have Black Adder to go with my Ceanothus Tuxedo, another dark-leaved FitzGerald Nurseries creation.

That's it for this trip, hope you enjoyed it. If you are in the Willow Glen area, stop in, have a look around and talk with some of the great people who work at Central Wholesale Nursery. You'll be glad you did. Oh, and yes, I did leave with a healthy collection of vegetable seeds. Stay tuned for future posts to see how they do.

A Little WASP History For You

2010-02-02T21:13:00.000-08:00

There have been some great posts about bees lately from some very knowledgeable bloggers and writers, but WASP are very different. Yes, this space has typically been used to talk about gardening, or to brag about my recent road trip or adventure, but there is some particularly exciting activity around my family right now and I just have to share a little of it with all of you. Join me for a little WASPkid history lesson.

If you are one of those who maybe wondered what a WASPkid is, but never took the time to read the little bio on the side of the page, you're about to find out. The very lively lady in the picture above is my remarkable mother. Mom was one of 1,074 women to fly military aircraft during WWII as a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). These amazing women trained to more stringent standards than the men, flew all sorts of non-combat missions.

After completing primary training in the Civilian Pilot Training Program and logging some hours, mom was fortunate to be selected as a candidate for what was then a very controversial program. WWII was in full swing and male pilots were in demand for combat operations. Pioneering aviatrix Jaquie Cochrane had the political clout to convince Washington to give women a shot at filling the non-combat flying jobs, freeing up more male pilots for combat positions.

From 65 horsepower Aeroncas, Taylorcrafts and Cubs, they would move to the Primary Trainers like this Stearman. From there they would move into the Basic Trainers like the BT-13 Vultee in the top picture.

After mastering the basic trainer, they progressed into the advanced trainer, the AT-6 Texan. With 650 HP and retractable gear, this was a big step up in training. The T-6 has never been accused of being docile when touching down and landing in the strong winds of West Texas was often a test in itself.

Successful graduates went on to advanced schools for different aircraft, like pursuit school where they would train to fly fighters like the P-47 Thunderbolt, P-38 Lightning or the P-51 Mustang. Others went on to fly bombers like the B-17. One crew was even trained to fly the massive B-29 when male pilots were having concerns about their airworthiness. It worked too. The men were not about to be shown up by a "bunch of girls".

Mom went on to earn a multi-engine instrument rating and was sent to Mather Field in Sacramento, CA where she flew B-25s for a considerable time. Missions involved flight training, flight testing of equipment and relocation of assigned aircraft. From here she went on to March Field in Riverside, CA to fly target towing missions in a variety of aircraft. She would tow a target, trailing on a cable behind her aircraft for artillery platoons training in the desert. She helped train my Uncle Matt's platoon as they were preparing for the invasion of Normandy. She flew out of several desert airfields including Muroc, now known as Edwards AFB and home of the Lockheed Skunkworks. Any flying here was likely flight testing or in direct support of flight testing as there were lots of interesting new things going on while she was there.

The WASP program was terminated in December of 1944. The war was winding down and pilots who had completed the required number of missions were returning stateside needing jobs (at least that's the official story). Each WASP was separated wherever she happened to be at the time and had to pay their own way home. Their records were sealed, stamped "Classified" and locked away in storage for 30 years. They were not granted veteran status until 1977, when the US Air Force announced that it was graduating the first women to fly American military aircraft. The WASP mounted a public campaign and with the help of Sen. Barry Goldwater and Bruce Arnold (Son of Gen. Hap Arnold), were finally recognized as veterans, entitled to all the same benefits as any other service member.

So what's the excitement you ask? Last summer Congress passed a bill to award all of the WASP graduates and the 11 who were killed during training a Congressional Gold Medal. The President signed the bill into law on July 1, 2009. This past Friday, January 29th, it was announced that the WASP Congressional Gold Medals would be awarded at a ceremony in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol on March 10th, giving us about five weeks to make preparations. My six siblings and I are extremely excited and doing everything we can to get to Washington DC. It will be a serious stretch, but what better way to honor an incredible lady than getting all of her kids together for this grand occasion? It will be an adventure to meet some of the surviving WASP and listen to their stories. Of course I will be picturing mom along side them the whole time.

Here is a little more WASP info for you:

25,000 women applied for Army Airforce flight training.
1,879 women were accepted into training.
1,074 women graduated training.
38 women lost their lives in service over the duration of the program. 11 of those during training.

WASP Links:

Rain, Rain, Go Away, Come Again Another Day.

2010-01-25T21:53:00.000-08:00

I know, we've had three consecutive years of drought and need every drop of rain we can get, but seriously, 10 consecutive days of rain in the Santa Clara Valley? We're looking for high ground around my neighborhood. Never mind the TORNADO WARNINGS for seven straight days (In CA? WTF?) the hail, funnel clouds and water spouts that wandered around at will. So, I don't really wish for the rain to go completely away, but would a week of sun really hurt anybody. Sorry OR & WA friends, but there is a reason we live in this amazing climate and it's called SUN! Something like 325+ days per year of it.

Obviously, this kind of weather takes a toll on any garden and the Redneck Container Garden is no exception. Most things are doing okay, but there are a few issues. These guys are doing pretty well...

As are these...

These ones, not so much...

The rest of the gang is hanging pretty tough...

I don't know if the weather has anything to do with it or not, but this...

Has turned into this...

I suppose I should be upset that these are bolting, but it amazes me how rapidly they grow at this stage and they still add great texture and color to my garden...

So, that's what the Redneck Garden looks like after a solid week of rain & wind. How is your garden holding up?

Bend, Oregon a Road Trip

2010-01-22T22:42:00.000-08:00

I had occasion recently to take a road trip to Bend, Oregon. If you've been there, you already know how scenic the region is. I had been through here before, but it was more than 25 years ago, so memories weren't so vivid any more. I started by driving from the Bay Area to Carson City to hook up with my brother who would share the rest of the trip with me. Now, I love the Bay Area and you absolutely can not beat the mild Mediterranean climate, but I grew up in the high desert of Northern Nevada and those wide open spaces still have a special appeal to me. So many people look at these landscapes and fail to see the amazing character , colors and textures. I'd be interested to know what you think.

The next four pics were taken on Hwy 395, Northbound from Reno...

It's not just the landscapes that have character around here. The old barns and farm houses always make me think about the sturdy folks who lived and worked in this challenging environment without the modern conveniences and tools we enjoy today.

Thompson Peak in the distance, the Litchfield water tower and the wide open view as we descend toward Ravendale. It was around here where we saw a massive Golden Eagle sitting on a telephone pole, but I wasn't quick enough to get his picture.

The "Most Likely Cafe" in scenic Likely, CA. My brother Pat & I had lunch & homemade pie here with our dad 33 & 1/2 years ago while on a fishing trip. You know we had to stop for lunch today. The town consists of about 5 or 6 houses, a few mobile homes, the cafe and a small general store. If you ever pass this way, The Most Likely Cafe is worth the stop.

The roaring metropolis of Alturas, CA.

More beautiful desert scenes between Alturas & Tulelake, CA. It was along this stretch that we saw a Bald Eagle on an island in a pond about a 1/4 mile off the highway.

We were digging this long-range view of Mt. Shasta, approximately 60 miles in the distance. At over 14,000 feet, it looked like a ghost mountain looming way out there.

Merrill, OR

More scenic farm/ranchland just North of Klamath Falls, OR and the view of Mt. McLoughlin across the frozen waters of Upper Klamath Lake. The iced over lake and snow on the banks are leftovers from the severe cold snap in the middle of December. While we were busy whining about low temps in the mid-twenties, this region was just wishing for high temps above zero.

A very large hawk flying over the highway as seen through the sunroof and a view of Mt. Thielson, another of the many extinct volcanoes in this region.

My one and only picture from downtown Bend. This is the Deschutes river winding through the heart of town. I love the nice parks all along the river around here. The locals told us how this area really hops in the summer time and I can see why. The downtown are was very clean and very lively. We were pleased to see only one empty shop in the whole downtown area of a dozen or so blocks.

Just a couple shots from the return trip; one of the two Bald Eagles we saw roosting in a grove of trees in bustling Likely, CA and a stormy sunset over Susanville. I really must get a camera with more zoom capability, these eagles were only about 100 yards off the road and this was as much zoom as my little camera could muster. I see things like this so seldom, I really need to be able to reach out and capture them.

I hope you enjoyed riding through the high desert with the Moore Brothers. Be sure to subscribe so you can join us as we trip around, having fun and taking pics as we go.

Wordless Wednesday the Year in Review

2010-01-13T21:41:00.000-08:00

Spaghetti Westerns and the Redneck Container Garden

2010-01-11T18:07:00.000-08:00

My first sick-day from work in several years came just in time for my monthly update on the Redneck Container Garden. It's been an interesting month in my first-ever fall/winter garden. Most plants are chugging along, pretty much doing what's expected, some are fighting for their lives while others are refusing to cooperate at all. So, this month's update (in true redneck fashion) is about the good, the bad and the ugly. aaaAAAaaahhhh

The Cauliflower in the buckets is coming along surprisingly well, looks like some of it might actually produce heads. Considering their handicapped start in life, this is definitely good.

The broccoli in the planter is maturing nicely as well. The smallest one seems to have become home to some egg-laying pest. I hit it with some organic insecticidal oil, hope it helps. Since the leader of this crew looks strong, I think we'll label this one as good, but watching closely as it could go bad at any time.

These lettuces are growing faster than we can eat them. Good for sure, but then...

aaaAAAaaahh...Just a couple days after the update pics were taken, I noticed this one starting to bolt so we made one last meal of it before the bitterness set in. Only because this plant has been so good does it only fall into the "bad" category, but I think we all know where it will be next month. Dun-dun-dunnnn.

Another lettuce answering nature's call since last month's post. Doesn't even look like the same plant. Our first nominee for ugly. I'm thinking about harvesting the seeds, but do I really want to grow more of a lettuce that has such a short life? Maybe if I had known it had such habbits I would've eaten more of it instead of just enjoying it's form and color and taking it's picture.

This is the red chard by the front door that went from beautiful to overharvested and then I have no idea what happened. It looks like a frost burn, but this plant was protected when we had our run of freezing temps. I cut off the worst of the dehydrated leaves last week and as the final picture shows, it appears to be coming back around. This chard was pretty ugly, but is now only bad and is striving for further redemption. I'll let you know next month if it pulls through.

The gold chard looks like it's doing just fine from a distance, but I noticed a small bird (waxwing?) darting in and around it the other day. Closer inspection revealed small flys and lots of their eggs, apparently the same as those on the broccoli across the way. This plant got a dose of the insect oil too. Not sure what the final outcome will be, but the pest activity has slowed and I haven't seen any of their activity on any other plants. This plant was soooo good, but now looks pretty ugly. Think I'll just call it bad since the bugs were only there because they knew a good thing when they found it. THEY are definitely ugly and given the chance, I will hang 'em high.

The Bordeaux spinach continues to be very productive and ignorant of the pests just a few buckets over. Steam this with some chard for a delish veggie course. This plant is solidly in the good column and may even be the one wearing the biggest white hat of all.

The lettuces in the recycling bins are doing nicely. The other bin is even more productive. My family clearly needs to eat more of this. Another one for the good column.

The thin-leaf cilantro in the milk jug keeps producing and the chard in the little window boxes is doing quite well. More good guys.

The peppers are clearly past their prime, but the green bell did just give us a couple baseball-sized fruit for Sunday's dinner and they were very tasty. I will do my best to nurse them through winter in hopes of earlier production in the spring. These qualify as good due to their solid performance in the summer. I think some of these need to be potted up into bigger containers before spring. Any input? All the peppers; bell, poblano & jalapeno qualify as good guys.

All-in-all, I'm pretty happy with my first winter garden. My family won't be buying lettuce or spinach any time soon and the chard is only in need of a little supplement because it is sooo tasty. I also remain hopeful that at least some of the broccoli & cauliflower will produce. I'm definitely learning a lot as the garden matures. I have also started planning for the expansion of the Redneck Container Garden to upwards of 25 buckets. Looking through online seed catalogs has generated quite a wish-list. In the mean time, I've set up a small area for starting seeds in a south-facing window. Seems a little bittersweet and maybe a touch morbid to be planning for the arrival of those plants that will take the place of those still growing vigorously.

Check back next month to see how the good, the bad & the ugly are holding up.

December Travels

2010-01-09T21:20:00.000-08:00

I apologize for the tardiness of this post, but as you will soon see, my final road trip of December was to see some family in the Reno area and it seems that my laptop liked it there and decided to stay behind when the rest of us came home. Thankfully, between my son and our friends at FedEx, my trusty little tool is back in my hands and we are busy getting reacquainted (the computer folks.... I know what you were thinking).

As some of you know, I spent a good portion of December on the road, visiting customers for my work. This takes me on a pretty thorough tour of the greater Bay Area, so I thought I'd share with you all a little of where I went and what I saw while on my rounds.

These were taken the morning of the 8th, at a couple of golf courses in Contra Costa County, when much of the region was experiencing heavy frost. I think the low temps around here were mid-20s this particular morning. I realize that is still t-shirt weather in Chicago, but around here, that's freakin' cold!

My travels that day took me across the Carquinez Straights, past the fleet of mothballed ships. Most of these are 1940s to 1960s era supply & service ships, but one of the most recent additions is the USS Iowa, a very historic battleship that sailed from 1942 untill 2006, when she was brought here, complete with her incredible 16-inch guns. I had the pleasure of golfing in Napa that day with some customers, one of the better parts of my job for sure. Don't feel too bad, it doesn't happen all that often and I really suck at it, but I do enjoy being outdoors with friends and as you can see, the scenery was pretty good.

Another day of my travels found me in the East Bay. These pics were taken from the Alameda shore looking toward San Francisco and Oakland.

This was another ugly day, I had to cover Santa Cruz & Monterey counties and the weather was absolutely stunning (as you can see). These pics were taken at Seacliff State Beach in Aptos. The broken up ship you see is all that remains of the SS Palo Alto, a concrete tanker (yes, I said concrete) built in Oakland in 1919. To late to serve in WW 1, she was mothballed and eventually towed here where she was outfitted for amusement with a restaurant, swimming pool, dance floor and more. Unfortunately, the company went bankrupt two years later and the ship was abandoned and allowed to deteriorate. It is blocked from public access, but does serve as an artificial reef for marine life.

More of Monterey Bay; one of my customer courses and some of the beautiful rocky shore of the Monterey Peninsula.

A few more high-points for me this month. The wifey and I at our company Christmas party. Even as lean as this year was, they still treated us to a very nice evening at the Hotel St. Claire in San Jose, with dinner catered by the Il Fornaio restaurant downstairs. My travels took me through Hollister, which meant lunch at one of my favorite airport diners, the Ding-A-Ling Cafe. It's a classic little place and I just happened to catch a bunch of folks from one of the Unlimited air racing teams I follow, so that was a bonus. Yes, I actually had to go to a mall, thankfully the visit was mercifully brief. More travel pics, some cool ornamental kale that was probably brightened up by the frost and one of my favorite views from the ridgetop in El Cerrito, looking out past the Golden Gate Bridge.

My final road trip was to Reno on the day after Christmas to see some family in that area. It had snowed significantly that week, but the roads were clear now. If the snow gives the impression that it was cold out, IT WAS! Highs were right around freezing and lows were around 12F. It was a good trip and a great cap to the month's travels. Sorry my computer took so long to get home, but we'll get caught up soon. Hope you enjoyed riding along.

Christmas Day Walkabout

2009-12-25T16:44:00.000-08:00

I certainly hope this special day finds you all well, happy and enjoying life. It may be a bit unusual for a Christmas Day post, but I thought I'd share a bit of our day. Of course the kids (15 & 20) woke us promptly and somewhat mercifully at 6:30 AM, and so commenced the annual ritual of sitting around the tree and passing out the presents.

Those of you who have dogs will appreciate That Charlie, our 3 year old cocker spaniel, insists on an hour-long, brisk walk every morning and Christmas or not, we were goin'. We are fortunate to live in a nice area with a great park just a couple blocks away, just perfect for walking the pooch. Below is Charlie with his friend Jake who we saw this morning.

Though not the coldest morning we've had lately, it was still cold enough to leave a little frost on things. For good or bad, this is about as close as we ever get to a white Christmas. In order to see the real white stuff, we'll be driving to Reno tomorrow to see my son, d-i-l & my wonderful granddaughters.

Penitencia Creek, for which the park is named flows along the edge of the park. The creek, dense trees & brush separate the park from the neighborhood.

Penitencia Creek Park is home to The Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley, a rehab facility for injured birds that are brought in by animal control or valley residents. There is a large pond in the middle of the park and improved trails all the way around (just over a mile). California Sycamores thrive along the creek.

The pond is home to an assortment of ducks, coots, gulls, turtles and other wildlife. Here are a few of the residents, including a Great Egret who was unusually perched high in a tree.

Well, this concludes our Christmas Day tour of my neighborhood. Whatever your beliefs or inclinations, we hope this season of renewal is a great time for you & yours. From the Moore family, Merry Christmas.

Redneck Frost Protection

2009-12-07T20:54:00.000-08:00

So it's supposed to get into the 20s around here tonight and I just can't stand the idea of losing any of my little redneck veggies. Had to think of a way to protect them without hauling them in the house and wifey wasn't gonna let me leave her car out in the cold so the plants could have the garage.

I packed as many as would fit onto the covered front porch. The covered porch and heat from the house should take care of these guys. Might leave the light on for a little extra heat.

But I was out of space and still had several more in the planter strip and the 5-gallon buckets along the fence. Then I remembered that I had a few empty buckets...

Now that's some serious redneck frost protection!

But there were still all those plants in 5-gallon buckets. What to do??? I think I have an idea!

Boy howdie! Them nasty plastic bags everybody's so up in arms about these days fit over a bucket just like Grandma's lips on a jug o' corn squeezins. I recon that oughta take care of these guys.

Hope everyone out there is better prepared for the freeze than I was. I have my fingers crossed for the peppers even though they are on the porch. I didn't bother with the citrus as both trees have been through harder freezes than is expected tonight, they are pretty well protected between the houses. Good luck to you all.

Redneck Container Garden Update

2009-12-05T22:12:00.000-08:00

So, the fall/winter veggies in my redneck garden are doing pretty well for the most part and I figured it was time for an update. Sorry to say, but I haven't made any progress on the Nascar markings, but the racing season is over anyway. It is amazing to me how well these greens are doing. I bought them all as seedlings exactly 2 months ago, and we've been making salads from them for at least three weeks now. Granted, we aren't huge salad eaters, but a few nights each week at least and one large one for Thanksgiving dinner! Doesn't look like we'll need to buy greens for most of the winter.

The scrawny, neglected cauliflower seedlings are improving. We'll see if they ever produce anything.

These in the planter continue to thrive, especially the one on the end.

All my cheapskate containers lining the fence.

Remember my little heritage lettuces from last month?

I bought these as seedlings at the Master Gardener's Harvest Festival & Plant Sale, but from another group, possibly the Rare Fruit Growers Assn. They were in tiny, mixed 6-packs with no clue as to what they actually were. The big red one up top is just gorgeous and is really crowding the neat green one with the splotches next to it. There are two heads of some kind of bibb lettuce and this last one, a beautiful green & red specimen. Mind you, we've been taking leaves from these plants for about three weeks already.

The "Scarlet" chard is unfortunately the closest to the front door and seems to get snipped at a bit more frequently than it probably should. Doesn't help that it is absolutely delectable! The "Pot-O-Gold" is holding up better because wifey can't get at it in her slippers. I hadn't had fresh chard in several years and forgot just how tasty it is. If you don't have some in your own garden, you are definitely missing out.

Annie's "Bordeaux" spinach is doing great. It looks absolutely wild and tastes fantastic!

The recycling bins are performing just swell with more unique lettuce.

I mentioned last month that the soil media is all-natural and organic. I made the first application of all-purpose organic fertilizer today, hoping to take advantage of the rain in the forecast for the coming week. I think you'll agree, it just isn't that hard to grow excellent veggies without the chemicals.

Annie's thin-leaf Cilantro is still doing fine in the milk jug. We used a bunch of this in our fresh pico salsa on Thanksgiving and it was great!

Last month I posted that these trough planters contained spinach, but it is actually "Bright Lights" chard and are doing quite well despite sitting in their tiny seedling 6-packs for weeks before being planted.

Some of those wonderful greens about to be part of our dinner!

The green bell had three small peppers growing on it last month, which turned out to be four. This one is almost as big as a baseball.

Remember the Poblano flower? Turns out they will make fruit even in December around here, which is fine with me because I love them.

Had to do some yard cleanup today in advance of the coming rain. The Ornamental Pear tree in my back yard made an ornamental mess on the lawn. These trees have abundant fruit the size of acorns that start falling a while befor the leaves. Turns out the squirrels also enjoy tossing them at unsuspecting gardeners or cocker spaniels, causing both to make loud and obnoxious noises.

The culprit & it's colorful refuse.

I'm sure the original owner of this house had good intentions when he built the nice raised brick planter, but he apparently had no clue how large this tree would become. I love the shade the pear tree gives us in summer, but it probably should never have been used in such a small space.

There is also an apricot tree, a peach tree (scrawny) and a Meyer lemon tree in this tiny back yard.

This very productive orange tree is in the space between my driveway and the neighbor's. We enjoy a couple good crops of oranges every year.

That's a pretty complete update of what is going on in my small space. I will definitely be expanding my redneck container garden and will be much more conciencious about getting plants in the ground quickly. Hmmm, is it too late to add some root veggies? I think I know where to get more buckets.

Old Home Week (part deaux)

2009-11-18T21:01:00.000-08:00

In the previous post I took you on a brief tour of Carson City's classic West Side neighborhood, now it's time to head downtown and see some of the historic buildings along Main Street.

Now one of the coolest museums going, this was originally the Carson City Mint. Collectors covet this mark on silver dollars and gold pieces of varying denominations.

This was the first Federal Building in town. Built in 1888 as a courthouse and post office, it served until 1970 when the new post office opened (my mom worked in the post office here). It now houses the Nevada Commission on Tourism and Nevada Magazine.

The St. Charles Hotel, another local landmark.

How about a few from the grounds of the Nevada State Legislature:

A miner, representative of so many who came to this region. Kit Carson, frontiersman, trapper and guide to John C. Fremont on his Western Expeditions. And Abraham Curry, founder and architect of Carson City.

Now for the grounds of the State Capitol

The front steps and entryway with Alaskan marble floors and walls:

From the inside, looking out.

I love the frost pattern of the green on yellow here.

I couldn't leave the next one out, it's from the last place I worked befor moving to California.

Carson City is a great small town with a classic americana feel. There are loads of activities, indoors and out. The unmatched scenery of Lake Tahoe is just 20 minutes one way and Reno is only 30 minutes North. The desert surrounds you with diverse plant & animal life. Great skiing, motorcycle rides, hiking, golf, hunting & fishing, nightlife, good food, it's all here. Hope you enjoyed this little tour of my hometown.

Old Home Week (part 1)

2009-11-16T00:20:00.000-08:00

I've lived in the Bay Area since 1986, but am originally from Carson City, Nevada. Though I still have family in the area and it really isn't that far away, it seems impossible for me to visit more than a few times a year. Last weekend I had the honor of helping my 26 year old son move his family into their first home in Sparks (just East of Reno). Fortunately, young families in rental houses don't accumulate near as much crap as folks my age, so the moving thing was fairly easy. Okay, so I only showed up for Sunday and the crew got most of the work done on Saturday. But enough about my son's new home, this post is about my old home.

I stayed at my brother's house in an older part of Carson City and since we didn't get in until late Sunday, I decided to take a mental health day from work Monday and hang out in my hometown for awhile.

These are three of the eight deer that were in the back yard when we were leaving the house.

Having resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn't be jumping in my car and blazing over the mountain, I decided to take a stroll down memory lane. Actually I strolled several streets, none of which were named Memory Lane, but you get the idea.

I can't imagine this treehouse has ever looked better. Some lucky kids live in this house.

The Governor's Mansion was being decorated for the Holidays.

Beautiful older homes like this fill the blocks on this side of town.

This unique planter is floating on a sea of leaves.

Carson City has a hearty urban forest, dominated by huge cottonwoods and elm. Many of these long-time residents are more than 100 feet tall and a century old. The trunks can be more than 15' across. I was fortunate to be here at this time, with plenty of colorful foliage still on the trees.

This Populus fremontii is just absolutely massive. It was so impressive that I had to post another photo with the branch structure backlit by the morning sun.

It was such a quiet and calm morning, it felt very surreal for me to be just walking around and soaking it all in. I really should do this more often. Here are a few more of the beautiful homes, gardens & trees in the area.

The next couple are of the Bliss Mansion. Built in 1879, it is currently a very nice Bed & Breakfast.

In the next post I will take you downtown to see some of the cool old buildings and more great foliage. TTFN.

My Redneck NASCAR Container Garden

2009-11-13T22:31:00.000-08:00

Okay, so this is my first ever blog post of a gardening nature, so let me make a couple of things very clear. First, I am very new to writing and have no training beyond High School, which I barely finished a very long time ago. Second, I am a novice gardener, but I've had a lot of fun and learned a lot in the last couple of years.

Being in a rental house with very little yard space and no sun in the back yard, I was forced to do my gardening in containers, in the front yard. I started with a few pots I had lying around & repurposed my old recycling bins. I gradually added to it, but this fall I ran out of containers for fall veggies. With economy in mind I turned to Lowe's for 5-gallon buckets. Not glamorous by any means, but for $2.34 you get the cheapest large pot going and it even comes with a sturdy handle for easy moving! Drill a few drainage holes in the bottom and they work great. I mentioned to one of my gardener friends that I probably had the only garden that looked like a NASCAR race team and the idea stuck. Look for more pics when the decals arrive.

With this pic comes a confession: through my own neglect, most of my cauliflower & broccoli stayed in their tiny 6-packs way too long and these plants are clearly paying the price for it.

These few are doing a bit better because they inherited the space vacated by the overgrown daisy I ripped out to make some room.

Don't you just love how the buckets enhance my front lawn border? BTW, the white one in the middle is keeping my Ceanothus Tuxedo comfortable until a more permanent home is properly prepared.

I love these colorful lettuces in my little planter bed. I picked up two mixed 6-packs at the Master Gardener's Fall Plant Sale last month. These were just seedlings a few weeks ago, but seem to like it here.

Who says edible gardens can't be attractive. I really like the texture and curvy lines of this lettuce. I'm also looking forward to taking a couple leaves at a time for salads and enjoying this for most of fall & winter.

The last unique resident of my walkway planter is this beautiful (and tasty) Scarlet Chard. This was also from the Master Gardeners sale.

Another great chard is this Pot-O-Gold, which is more than happy in a pot on my front yard fence.

This crazy looking spinach is "Bordeaux", which I picked up at Annie's Annual's Fall Planting Party and Tweetup. It too seems to do just fine in containers (I have 2 of them).

More lettuce occupying the recycling bins where my tomatoes were not so long ago.

I am fortunate to have the resources to blend my own soils and to do this all 100% organically. The soil is a mix of sandy loam, coir, compost, worm castings, lava rock & pozzolan ( a type of diatomaceous earth). I added a small amount of calcium sulfate and feathermeal (organic N) and everyone seems to be pretty happy.

This thin-leafed Cilantro was another Annie's Annuals find. It is easier to chop and just as tasty as the flat-leafed variety. And, it does just fine in a milk jug on the front porch!

I have two of these long containers with spinach in them. I was concerned that they wouldn't be deep enough or have enough soil volume, but they are doing well and have actually improved quite a bit in the few days since this was taken. Sometimes I think the plants have enough will to live that they overcome my deficiencies.

Here you see most of my little farm, including the peppers, which are showing their season. You can see the last of the Poblanos turning red, these will be used in rellenos or other dishes soon. The green bell at the far end has three fairly young peppers and they are continuing to grow, so I guess we'll see how far they get. I've decided to keep all the peppers, so as soon as the fruit is all removed, I'll move them to my covered patio for protection from the worst of our brutal Bay Area winter.

I had to throw this one in so people wouldn't think I was only growing veggies. I've forgotten the name of this plant (maybe one of you can help me out here), but these are third generation volunteers that thrive dispite my abuse. I really like the dark foliage and the red inflorescence have been around since spring & growing larger all the time. I love that it stays compact and 18"-24" tall. It looks great and doesn't outgrow my narrow little planter strip.

And even in November, the poblano peppers are ready to start over. They really don't look that healthy. I almost gave up on them, but it doesn't look like they're ready to quit just yet.

So that's it for the tour of my redneck container garden. I'm sure some will think its silly or lame, but it is really quite surprising how much you can grow in a few pots & buckets. Thanks to several of my great Twitter friends for letting me know that I didn't need an acre of land to have a garden. It is great to have fresh, tasty, home-grown veggies. I expect the greens in these buckets to meet the needs of my family of four for most of the winter. Even if it doesn't quite do that, we still have a connection to our food supply that a lot of people don't have.

If you are curious for more information, see www.asuburbanfarmer.com or click here for all kinds of articles on container gardening.