“The sweet fruition of an earthly crown” – Christopher Marlowe Here it is mid-October and the first rains of winter are falling. The pomegranates split open very quickly when wet. For tips on growing: See Pomegranates

Okay, these chiles are not from my Sunnyvale garden, but I want to share… The official New Mexico state question is “Red or Green?”. The Hatch chile peppers are grown in the Hatch valley, and along the entire Rio Grande, from northern Taos Pueblo to southern Isleta Pueblo, are a signature crop to New Mexico’s economy and culture. The chile …

Directions It is peak tomato season (late August). All of the planning and execution is for this. Looking at seed catalogs in the dead of winter. Warming up your seedling trays in February. Transplanting to larger pots in April. Planting in containers in May. We have gotten a lot of tomatoes from our 20 pots. We have eaten them fresh. …

In 2016, our Black Mission fig tree is having a bumper fall crop. Here is the first partial harvest. I am not sure the reason why. About ten years ago I planting a young tree in a tall ceramic pot (about 20 gallons). I have been watering the fig tree more regularly (using drip irrigation). It has also received more …

This past month I was not doing much in the garden. I was remodeling the kitchen for over a week. Then I was on vacation in the Pacific Northwest for ten days. The drip irrigation mostly worked while I was gone. Marie discovered one morning that a 1/4 inch feeder hose had popped out of the larger 1/2 main line …

You know you are from Santa Clara Valley when you can remember the smell of morning in the summertime. The sky is gray and damp with the low marine layer.  You open the door and it hits you: The wonderful smell of garlic from Gilroy in the South Coyote Valley. Even as far away as Sunnyvale, forty miles to the …

This past June was very hectic and I spent little time in the garden. I have the drip irrigation working again in the backyard. Marie is very grateful because I will be on vacation and she does not want to water the 100 plants and trees on that system. I had a leak from behind the hose bib and had …

I love growing garlic and elephant garlic in my Sunnyvale garden. They are easy to plant; hardy to drought and frost; they produce beautiful flowers (if you let them) and they produce garlic. The harvest process is not difficult but it takes some time: You stop watering the garlic for a few weeks; pull up the plant; let it dry …

In 2016, after two weeks of watching squirrels and finches sample the fruit, we harvested 24 quarts of Royal Blenheim apricots from the two trees in our Sunnyvale garden. That’s about 3 spaghetti pots full. What to do with 24 quarts of apricots? You do the typical things: Eat them fresh until your body rebels; Give them to family, friends, …

There was lots of activity in our Sunnyvale garden this past May: Spring flowers were finishing their bloom;. Summer flowers were pumping out new growth and, in some cases, early flowers. The stone fruits- plums, nectarines, and apricots – got larger and starting getting color. The tomato plants range in size from 2 to 4 feet in height. Some are …