Going Organic

 One of the reasons I decided that I wanted to create a vegetable garden is because I wanted to be able to control the amount of harmful pesticides my family is exposed to. About 2 months ago when I was at a local garden center I was assisted by an older guy who gave me a lot of good information from using organic fertilizers such as the use of earthworms to making your own pesticide which is really mild and no harmful chemicals. To be honest I did not immediately go home and create a batch of the pesticide. I went back to what I was familiar with, Ortho Home and Garden Insect Spray .. Well, at least I did buy some earthworms and placed them in my garden. Well today I finally did it and it was so easy!!


If you are thinking about going organic too here are the instructions on making organic pesticide.

• Get a spray container; it can be a handheld one or the type you attach to your water hose. 
• Fill the container about 2/3 with tap water.
• Fill the other 1/3 with vegetable oil. (Oh I used Wesson this time but I will be buying a bottle of store brand to use in the future.)
• Add about 3-4 drops of dishwashing liquid.
• Before each use make sure to shake really good because as you know, oil and water don't mix very well.

The oil makes it impossible for the insect to flap their wings, it makes the leaves to oily for them to crawl on and the soap suffocates them. I know that's a little sad, but I just wanted to let you know how it works.

Bye, bye for now.

I'm Back!!

Hey guys I know it's been awhile since my last post but a lot of things have been going on for me. Thank God all very good things. From going to Texas for a week to celebrate Memorial Day with my sisters and their families, to my Leslie graduating with her MBA ( I threw a grad party for her in our home) and then two weeks later I threw a large Father's Day dinner for 13 people! whew!! Oh yeah, I have also been involved with learning to do mosaic art and I'm loving it. I've made 4 projects and will be starting a new one this Sunday. 
Well, it's finally getting to a point to where the June gloom isn't so prevalent everyday here in SoCal, so I think this is going to really help my garden to thrive. With the sun staying covered most of the day during the June gloom days, my plants were not receiving enough sun to really flourish. I am very happy to see some of my fruit starting to grow. Here are a few examples of what's developing.

Tomatoes

Cilantro w/small white flowers 

zucchini blossom 

New Addition

The transplanted zucchini; looks a little weak. 

So, the garden appears to be doing okay. I know that it's going to take a few weeks before the plants start producing so I just need to be a little more patient. Remember when I transplanted the tomato plant, zucchini, and bellflower plants from the shaded area? Well, so far the tomato and bell peppers seems to have survived the transition to new locations. The zucchini on the other hand looks pretty weak. Don't think its going to survive. To be on the safe side  purchased some zucchini seeds and have planted a few. So if this one doesn't survive, I'll have two more plants.

Oh yeah! The new addition, well a few years ago high winds blew over our peach tree; it had some termite infestation in it. We finally got a replacement tree and I was blown away (no pun intended) when the grower told me that it will produce 4 varieties of peaches! .....What? Yes, four varieties on one tree. This is done through grafting. I guess I'm going to have to stop talking about those boring channels my husband watch because yet again, when I told him about it, he knew all about it!

Peach Tree will produce 4 varieties of peaches.

My Gala Apple tree is starting to bloom.

The grower that I purchased the peach tree from,
threw in another  tomato plant.

Making Some Adjustments

So, I've been noticing that my plants that are in the shaded area are not really thriving. I see that daddy is right, they need plenty of direct sunlight. So, I had to make a few adjustments to my garden. I went to Home Depot and purchased some garden soil and two containers. I placed the tomato plant in the larger of the two containers and the zucchini plant in the other. I also moved the bell pepper plant over to an area that actually gets a fairly decent amount of sunlight especially in the late afternoon. I also have an eggplant, green onions, cilantro and a spearmint plant in this area. I think it may be okay for the herbs because they don't seem to care for a lot of sun. Only time will tell.

This is the tomato plant. Hopefully in a week it will be a lot fuller.

This is the zucchini plant. I sure hope it survives!  I have plans for
zucchini bread and grilled zucchini. :)

Lesson #1 Get An Almanac!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter (Resurrection) Sunday. I had a nice one. I went to visit my dad and after dinner he and my sister, Jackie and I were sitting around chatting and the conversation turned to gardening. He was telling us about some of the new plants he recently planted. I was happy to let him know that I finally started my own garden. Well, I guess I should have had this conversation with him before I started planting. I forgot that daddy does not plant anything without first looking at his almanac to see when the best days are for planting. He told us this is the reason he plants seeds instead of buying plants from the nursery. He was saying that the nurseries main objective is to sell plants. They are not necessarily concerned as to whether or not the produce. So, they plant as many and as often as they can to produce units to sell. I bought my plants at Lowe's last week so hopefully they will produce some nice vegetables. We will see. Also, it is very important to know the needs of the specific plants you are growing. For example, my tomato plant needs lots of sunshine - well, my garden is in an area shaded part of the day by my patio and grapefruit tree. In a few weeks I'll post again to let you guys know how my little plants are doing. Well, hopefully by then they won't still be so little :)

Tilling of the Soil

So, I found a spot on the north side of my patio underneath the grapefruit and orange trees to plant my garden. There's also the a/c unit in that space, too. The soil is hard as a rock because it has not been tilled in ages! I began by soaking the ground and then the next day while it was still very cool in the morning I got the shovel and started turning the soil. I found out that this soil is called clay soil and needed a lot of prep work to ensure strong healthy root growth. I went to my local Lowe's and found some bags of soil enhancement material. (I'll have to look at the bag again to get the proper description :) ) After combining it with the soil in the ground, I watered the area really good and then planted my first plants - tomato, zucchini and bellpepper plants.

An Apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Have you ever heard the saying about the apple not falling far from the tree? Well, in case you have not, or if you  did and don't know what it means, basically it is a suggestion that children more or less follow in their parents footsteps. I thought about that saying as I found myself in my backyard with a shovel in hand as I turned soil to prepare my very first vegetable garden. You see my dad was raised down south in a small rural town during the 1920's where much of the food they ate came from the soil they tilled and cared for. For as long as I can remember, daddy has had a vegetable garden. We lived in Los Angeles, California and by time I was born my dad had lived in California for at least 12 years but never forgot about the fresh fruits and vegetables his family grew on their land. Even now at 91 years old, daddy is starting to plant his spring garden.

I've been really paying attention to my health and the health of my family lately, especially now that I am in my 50's. I am really concerned about the safety of our food sources and the ever increasing cost of living, so I decided to try my hand at maintaining a vegetable garden.

So, come along on my journey. I'll be posting about my adventure and maybe even sharing some ideas of how you can start your own vegetable garden if you live in the city and have little space.

Here's the area where my garden will go. Soil haven't been turned in a while!

Clay Soil! Not good.......

My first little plants. A tomato plant, a bellpepper plant,
and a zucchini plant.

My backyard. Almost entirely filled with shrubs and flowering plants. I found a
spot under the orange and grapefruit trees for my little garden.

We have a yellow grapefruit, orange, lemon and gala apple tree.
Will be planting a peach tree soon