We have had fennel in our Sunnyvale garden since 2001. It reseeds easily. Any place you don’t want it, just pull it up. The feathery leaves remind me of dill and it has a nice scent. The small yellow flowers appear on the ends of each umbrella. If you want to eat the Fennel bulb then make sure you get …

May in the Sunnyvale garden is always full. the citrus trees have finished their blossoms and the small green fruits are showing. The flowers transition from spring to summer. The apricots are larger but still green. Tomato plants are full of blossoms and green small fruits. Artichokes can be harvested twice this month. Unripe blackberry fruits are everywhere. Godetia, mega …

April is always a great time in our Sunnyvale garden. The last few rain showers end by mid April. The spring bulbs finish their blossoms as the vines start blooming and the summer bulbs start peeking out from the ground. The tomato plants are already 2-3 feet tall and have blossoms. The citrus trees (orange, tangerine, grapefruit, lemon, lime) attracted …

Iceland poppies are hardy but short-lived perennials, often grown as biennials, that yield large, papery, bowl-shaped, lightly fragrant flowers supported by hairy, one foot, curved stems among feathery blue-green foliage 1-6 inches long. This year’s crop was planted in our former fire-pit surrounded by cool-weather cyclamen and english daisy. They bloom in April after the crocus, hyacinth, and tulips. Iceland …

It is April 15 and the first tomato blossoms are opening. For the 2017 Sunnyvale garden, we are cutting back on our tomato varieties…only 9 this year. On January 16, I planted 2 seeds in each seedling pot, 6 pots per row, covered the tray, and turned on the seedling heating mat. Seven days later, almost of the cotyledon leaves …

Whether you call this a frittata or a casserole, it is still delicious. There are also many types of substitutions you can make. You can use any kind of rice or cheese. You can substitute some ham or canadian bacon for some cheese. Preparation time about 30 minutes; Serves 12; About 275 calories per serving Ingredients 4 cups cooked rice …

Año Nuevo Point was named on January 3, 1603, over 400 years ago, by Father Antonio de la Ascension, chaplain for the Spanish maritime explorer Don Sebastian Vizcaíno. The Quiroste, a group of Ohlone Indians, lived here at least on a seasonal basis in order to hunt, fish, and gather abalone and other shellfish from the sea. The Quiroste were …

Milkweed is the only food source for Monarch Caterpillars and are a mixture of the best nectaring plants for all butterflies. Natural Bridges State Park is just over the mountains in Santa Cruz and is a major destination of the Monarch butterflies. Known to have some medicinal value as a cough expectorant, the plant’s milky white sap can also cause …

Beauty in a small package: California Creamcup , has a one inch wide flower with six petals which may be pure white or golden or white with large gold spots or gold tips. The center of the flower is filled with a tuftlike cluster of many thick, flattened stamens. The small plant (12×18 inches) may produce hundreds of blossoms. The …

We had average March weather in our Sunnyvale garden: about 8 days of rain but less in volume than February. We still had a lot of flowers: Pea-shrub, orinthogalum, several types of crocus, daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, freesia, armeria, plum, apricot, flowering plum, viola, cyclamen, english daisy, yarrow, bacopa, lavendar. On the vegetable side: cilantro, tomatoes, beet, garlic, rhubarb, chile, basil. …