Category Archives: Vegetables

Elephant Garlic Escape Pod

Lots going on in the garden these days…  Where to begin?  The elephant garlic – Allium ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum, botanically more leek than garlic – is ready for harvest.  It produces one or more fat, flavorful cloves, some of which … Continue reading

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Seed Stories

Seed Story the First I’ve been following the Bootjack Garden blog for a while, and this post about the making of a seed library inspired me to start one at the college. A generous interlibrary loan from Kate’s seed library … Continue reading

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Signs of Spring, Golden Currants and a DIY Greenhouse

Spent the whole day in the garden, puttering, pruning, and propagating. The rhubarb is waking up, another sign that spring is here, and the Nanking cherries I planted last year are blooming – pictured below is the one planted in … Continue reading

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Constantinople Quince!

I traveled to the Sierra Seed Cooperative’s seed exchange to pick up the Constantinople Quince I bought from the Felix Gillet Institute.  It’s a nice tree – well rooted, lively and healthy.  I put it in the ground in the … Continue reading

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A Seed Library, Andean Vegetables, and How To Fold a Seed Bindle

At Bootjack Garden, a fantastic blog about a garden not so far from my own (~146 miles south and east, near Yosemite), Katie recently posted about the idea of seed libraries, and I was immediately inspired to see about getting … Continue reading

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Almonds and Guavas and Figs

It’s been quiet out in the garden and the food forest.  In the words of Ben Lee, a lot goes on but nothing happens.  This winter has been an unusual one, with weeks and weeks of clear, bitterly cold days … Continue reading

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Pruning and Propagating and Hoping…

Last year was a good year for grape propagation, and so I spent the day pruning the grapes, which have gone dormant, and potting up cuttings thus: I’ve been gang potting cuttings lately, as it saves time and materials, and … Continue reading

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Mathematical Onions

The multiplier onions I mentioned here arrived last week, and I planted them today. Also known as potato onions, multiplier onions are a variety of Allium cepa in the aggregatum group. Similar to shallots, but rather larger, each plant produces … Continue reading

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Putting the Annual Garden to Bed

The weather is changing quickly here, with relatively heavy, early rains yesterday and today.  Spent the weekend harvesting the last of the summer crops, putting the garden to bed, and planting the last of the fall/winter vegetables.  Pulled the soaker … Continue reading

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Flowers Known and Unknown

I love volunteers in the garden.  This year, as always, sunflowers are appearing all over the place, though perhaps in smaller numbers than in previous years.  Years ago I planted all sorts, orange and red, small and large, and over … Continue reading

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