Four weeks later

"This is to let you know that due to cold weather your order has been delayed. If you would like to authorize upgraded shipping to allow us to ship when temps are as low as 26 degrees, please give me a call at the number below. Thanks for your interest in Four Winds Citrus."

I read this love letter and peak outside the window - there is still a four foot mound of snow that the bobcat created in the process of expressing blacktop roads for me to speed in. While its going to be a longer than desirable wait, this has been an endeavor educating oneself in the business of circumventing nature.

The citrus, by definition was meant to be sun loving. As a general rule, sour fruits need less heat to ripen than sweet-fruited varieties. So, I picked the Improved Meyer Lemon immediately. It is expected to put out those fragrant, purple blossoms in spring and again in the fall.

Then I learnt that the growers in desert conditions enjoyed success with Trovita. It is known to be a widely adaptable thin skinned orange, which develops excellent flavor without the heat required by other varieties.

Time is that special thing that keeps everything from happenning all at once and I've plenty of it for the snow to melt while I work on expanding this list.

Green thoughts at zero F

Clearly, being in Madison WI isn't restricting my imagination. I've borne citrus for in my dreams for sixteen weeks, in research for sixteen days and now in a wad of sixteen ten dollars bills.

Nature intended these evergreen leaves, fragrant blooms and tropical flavors for USDA 9-11 zones, or temparatures above 30F. But man would resign to that; or should I say one eager one must have these in Zone 4. Well, it turns out that many wise men thought of this decades before I did.

In 1946, a curious soon-to-be nurseryman named Floyd Dillon decided there was a need for a California version of the dwarf apple and pear. He chose citrus as the ideal candidate. As he later wrote in 1959: "What better specifications could be written for the ideal patio plant than to take everything offered by the standard commercial citrus and dwarf it to patio size, capable of being grown in a box or tub, raised bed or border, either espaliered or in its natural form?"

"If the virtues of citrus could be had in an eight-foot tree, capable of producing fruit two years after planting, if numerous cultivars and novelties were available, if all cultivars could be uniform in size -- then we would have the ideal patio tree."

After several years of experimentation, Floyd founded Four Winds Growers. For my part, I transmitted my digits through their secure online ordering system and am eagerly awaiting a UPS drop off with my healthy 2-3 year citrus.

The Hawaiian Pineapple Tomato

This is an indeterminate that has take its time. We're at about the 110th day mark and each Hawaiian Pineapple plant is some 6ft tall and is filled with about three dozen fruits in various stages of life.

They seem to do an average of one pound per fruit. I'm starting to fantasize 40lbs/plant for the season. The largest fruit I've pulled out this far has pushed through the two-pound mark!

A burst of sweetness that fills my mouth

The Concord grape, which gets its name from Concord, Massachusetts, is a marble sized fruit that fills you entire mouth with a burst of robust sweetness!

Developed in 1849 by Ephraim Wales Bull, today more than 400,000 tons of Concord Grapes are produced each year. Although most are grown commercially, Concord Grapes are one of many grape cultivars grown in the flower and fruit gardening guides home garden.

Bear in mind, grapes change color long before they are ripe. To avoid picking clusters before they reach their peak, taste the them first. If they aren't ripe, wait for them to develop. Some fruits improve after they have been harvested, grapes don't. The Concord Grape is a mighty cultivar.

Here's what I plan to do with the butternut squash

Sour Cream Butternut Squash Pie
One 9-inch pie; 8 servings

A tangy pie with a light, souffle-like texture. Position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Building up a high fluted rim, prepare in a 9-inch pan, preferably glass, glazing with the egg yolk: Baked Flaky Pastry Crust, or Pat-in-the-Pan Butter Crust.

In a large, heavy saucepan, whisk together thoroughly:
1½ cups freshly cooked butternut squash
8 ounces (scant 1 cup) sour cream
¾ cup sugar
3 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves or allspice
¼ teaspoon salt

Whisking constantly, heat over medium heat until just warm to the touch.
Beat on medium speed until foamy: 3 large egg whites, at room temperature. Add: ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar. Continue to beat until soft peaks form, then gradually beat in: ¼ cup sugar

Increase the speed to high and beat until the peaks are stiff and glossy. Using a large rubber spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the squash mixture. Pour the filling into the prepared crust. Bake until the top has browned lightly and feels softly set when touched, 40 to 50 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack. At this point the pie can be refrigerated for up to 1 day. Let warm at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving. Call me. Then, serve with: whipped cream.

My tomato forest

They're six feet tall and counting. I am harvesting some 3lbs of tomatoes at least twice a week from a patch with 9 plants. They're the neighbor's envy and owner's pride. I will always maintain that it is ALL in the soil prep - amend, compost, till the compost in, compost some more and mulch generously. This is my essence of all the gardening advice I have to offer.

Perfectly shaped, delicious and loaded with goodness

Today, we pulled out the most perfectly shaped, proudly pink and delicious beets. This took a lot of patience - the seeds had endured a whole year in my freezer, took at least four weeks to germinate and were in no hurry to mature. The curiosity got the better of me, so I had to pull them out to see what lay underneath.


As I savor these soft and sweet chunks of pink, I learn that the wild beet, the ancestor of the beet with which we are familiar today, is thought to have originated in prehistoric times in North Africa and grew wild along Asian and European seashores. In these earlier times, people exclusively ate the beet greens and not the roots. The ancient Romans were one of the first civilizations to cultivate beets to use their roots as food. The tribes that invaded Rome were responsible for spreading beets throughout northern Europe where they were first used for animal fodder and later for human consumption.

Beets' value grew in the 19th century when it was discovered that they were a concentrated source of sugar, and the first sugar factory was built in Poland. When access to sugar cane was restricted by the British, Napoleon decreed that the beet be used as the primary source of sugar, catalyzing its popularity. Around this time, beets were also first brought to the United States, where they now flourish. Today the leading commercial producers of beets include the United States, the Russian Federation, France, Poland, France and Germany.

As noted in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Detopoulou P, Panagiotakos DB, et al.), people whose diets supplied the highest average intake of choline (found in egg yolk and soybeans), and its metabolite betaine (found naturally in vegetables such as beets and spinach), have levels of inflammatory markers at least 20% lower than subjects with the lowest average intakes.

For those expectant moms, beets are particularly rich in the B vitamin folate, which is essential for normal tissue growth. Eating folate-rich foods is especially important during pregnancy since without adequate folate, the infant's spinal column does not develop properly, a condition called neural tube defect. The daily requirement for folate is 400 micrograms. Just one cup of boiled, sliced beets contains 136 micrograms of folate.

Radish galore

I really didn't imagine that all these leafy greens had fleshy roots underneath them that often went 8" deep. Some are skinnier and shorter than others; but that is largely my making - like most amateur gardeners, I am chicken when it comes to thinning aggressively.

Four and counting

I am glad that my kids don't grow up so fast; it wouldn't be enough time to enjoy them. The tomatoes in patch 1 have broken the four foot mark. The Snow White cherry is growing horizontally too - some five feet across. What does this all imply?


1) Heirlooms are probably hardy by definition. That's probably how they made it through all these years.

2) They will probably reach some seriously unexpected height

3) They probably need less nurturing (low maintenance). They don't want to be fed too much, resent excessive watering and routinely defy staking.

I can't wait to see how these hardy creatures combat hornworms in a few weeks. The good news is, virtually every one of them has fruits in the making.

Legumes on my countertop

Each growing season, I subject select patches to beans cultivation - they live in symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria, which 'fix' nitrogen from the air and make it available to their hosts. In my mind, I've then treated this little patch to the spa for the season and it may return the favor by nurturing a heavy feeder.

Another instance of my poor labeling habits - just when I was ready to engineer a trellis with bamboo and garden twine, I've been rewarded with blue lake bush. I'm not about the complain, the first harvest is here and its time for stir fry.

The trench has beans, onions and sunflowers

The magic and mystery of companion planting have intrigued and fascinated humans for centuries, yet it is a part of the gardening world that hasn't been sufficiently researched.

This picture is the trench adjoining the tomatoes. The near side is a bunch of carrots. To its detriment, these carrots may aid the tomatoes. Far behind in this same trench, I've a patch of spring onions. I've not invested the time to research the onion-carrot companionship. But that shouldn't deter me from experimenting. In part, this is to scatter onion plants throughout the garden - onion maggots travel from plant to plant when set in a row.

Extending this principle, here's the tip for the day: The active principle of tomato leaves is solanine, a volatile alkaloid that at one time was used as an agricultural insecticide. You can create your own insect-repellent spray for roses by making a solution of tomato leaves in your vegetable juicer—add 4 or 5 pints of water and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch. Strain and spray on roses where it is not convenient to plant tomatoes as companions. Keep any unused spray refrigerated.

A highly prized perennial

It is blue-butterfly day here in spring,
And with these sky-flakes down in flurry on flurry
There is more unmixed color on the wing
Than flowers will show for days unless they hurry.
But these are flowers that fly & all but sing:
And now from having ridden out desire
They lie closed over in the wind & cling
Where wheels have freshly sliced the April mire.
-Robert Frost
(1874-1963)

Virtually every British gardening print sings high praises for these undisputed regal blooms. In the US, I read that they were hardy in Zones 3-8. Now, I am pushing Zone 10 in coastal San Diego, but I must have these splendid blues. So, I've tilled in copius amounts of compost and gypsum into the soil and used it it to edge a part of patch 1. I've mulched it an inch or so to keep the roots cooler. I'm hoping this sees it through our summer sun. For now, it delights the hummingbird as much as it warms my heart.

Fuzzy - originally Chinese

A member of the rose family, the fuzzy peach is a native of China. In the Chinese culture, this tree is revered as the tree of life. Peaches symbolize immortality and unity. Peach blossoms are carried by Chinese brides. Peach images were placed on pottery and received as gifts with great esteem.

Travelers along caravan routes carried the peach seed to Persia before it was cultivated in Europe. In the early 1600s Spanish explorers brought it to the New World and by the 1700s missionaries had established peaches in California.

My own tree is rescued from a nursery that was going out of business. It has (this far) proved resilient after the leaf curl attack. I'm eagerly waiting for the fruit to reveal its varied flavors.

Peaches taste best consumed "warm" from the tree. Nutritionally, a good source of vitamins A, B and C, a medium peach packs only 37 calories.

I didn't know that you aren't supposed to plant peach right next to an almond tree. They are related, cross easily and result in bitter nuts!

My purple is Creeping Sage

Last summer, I'd rescued a couple of sage saplings from Home Depot's trash can. I promptly placed it in one of those cemented structures, buried the roots in dirt and said my prayers.

Here's what the text book says: Creeping Sage (Salvia sonomensis) is a trailing groundcover that lives in the more mesic chaparral edges and along the edges of the yellow pine forest. Creeping Sage commonly grows in clay that is very wet in winter, but dry in summer. Occasionally a summer shower will wash the foliage off, but the ground stays dry. If you wish to grow Creeping Sage water it once every 2 weeks for the first year, then one or two waterings extra in spring, along with 2-3 summer dust wash-offs.


Here's what I did: Watered it somewhat religiously throughout last summer, completely ignored it throughout the fall and most of the spring. It caught my attention when it put out this vibrant purple a couple of weeks ago.

The yellow burst

It is amazing how a few sunflowers can dramatically enhance the "curb appeal" of patch #1. My motivations - show Chili some large flowers and in the process, welcome some butterflies home. For the fellow curious beings, here's the lowdown on these bright petals of vitality:

1) Traditionally, these plants would exceed nine feet and their flowers can span a whole foot in diameter. That would tower too many heads above my own. So, I've chosen this miniaturized hybrid that is supposed to be contained in a 30in x 18in x 18in space.

2) At the bud stage, sunflowers are heliotropic - they've motor cells in the flexible part of the stem right underneath the bud that turn east to greet the morning sun and follow him in a westwardly journey throughout the day.

3) What we call the sunflower is actually a composite flower comprised of densely packed little florets set at the golden angle (137.5 degrees) to one another. That formation then results in a series of interconnected set of left and right spirals. The number of left and right spirals are successive Fibonacci numbers.

All tops and that's a real problem

My radish shoots sport a rich, green complexion. They'd be winners in a spinach show. Except, I need them to put out some roots to be useful. Its a classic "inexperienced gardener" issue of not having thinned them aggressively. Or, perhaps I prepared the patch all too well - broke the clay and amended it with matter too rich in nitrogen.

I'm also told that the radish is a cool weather crop that I might have planted too late in San Diego. Apparently, such high temperatures may supress bulbing. Note to self: plant in Jan and feed it a bone meal.

Counting Chickens before they hatch (not!)

After spending the previous weekend riding an ATV on the Ocean Dunes up in Pismo, where I had a whale of a time, I was still very excited to return to the tomato craze back home in San Diego. Much to my delight, the white fly ridden plants from a couple of weeks ago were thriving, thanks to my sister's timely and multi-pronged intervention with all natural remedies.

The patch now is a vivid green, contrasted against the deep brown mulch from Miramar landfill. What a beauty! To make matters that much more thrilling, the semi-mature early girl we'd brought in started putting out the first of its fruit. I counted a good sized early girl, and two little siblings on the plant, a light green hard globe each. It will be very exciting to walk my neice around the yard and show her how this turns into a mildly acidic, yet sweet red tomato we'll pull off the vine and enjoy.

Patch #1: Mar 10, 2009 - Apr 10, 2009

Fed by copious amounts of sweat, a generous dose of wishful thinking, the cheerful San Diego sun, diluted worm tea and soil amendments from Miramar, here's patch #1 with tomatoes, radish, carrots and peas in the making.


PS: That was my thousand words, actually three thousand words for the 3 pictures in the collage.

Voila - another display of Mother Nature's self-healing!

Some weeks ago, I was quite sore about my peach tree being entirely consumed by leaf curl disease. I'm pleased to note that it appears to be behind us. I'd originally planned to spray it with oregano and thyme oil, but time got away from me.


What did the miracle - some hours of carefully pulling out every single affected leaf, packing it away in a plastic bag and getting rid of it. The key is to ensure that there aren't any diseased leaves littering the area when the job is done. It didn't escape me that the poor balded plant then needed to run on overdrive to put out more green. I promptly top dressed it generously with compost and coffee grounds.

Things are under control

It is amazing how a night's sleep lends moderation to panic, or any other excessive emotion. When I checked out the tomatoes the next morning, I concluded (with much relief) that this was not an epidemic of tomato fly or other such potent critters. So, I gave them a thorough bath in a home made soap and oil spray, washed that off later that night and brought home some live lady bugs.

I did want to give it a day to wash off the soap and not have my friendly ladybugs want to ingest soapy stuff. By the next morning, it seemed that I'd the minor infestation of unwanted fly under control. On the downside, it seemed that my zealous effort burned some leaves in one of the tomato plants. I'm yet to meet someone who holds me to higher standards than myself, but I also try to remember that mistakes are permissible as long as they are small and never repeated.


On to the ladybugs. My package is supposed to contain 1500 of them. They say you can't use too many ladybugs. Here's a valuable lesson from last year: remember that ladybugs do need time to work - they need to be released early enough in the pest cycle so they can do their job, and regular, repeated releases of small amounts are often for effective than one, very large release of ladybugs. For home use, 1,500 is usually enough for one application in a small greenhouse or garden. For larger areas, a quart (18,000) or gallon (72,000) of ladybugs may be desired. Many people store ladybugs in the refrigerator, and make regular repeat releases, perhaps weekly. If you're like me (and have a pressing need to know the numbers), I'll confirm that a ladybug eats ~50 aphids a day.