Eat Real festival 2011

City Slicker Farms was at the festival this year with veggie seedlings in tow.  City Slicker sets up back yard community gardens in low-income neighborhoods with the goal of establishing productive edible gardens to help supply local City Slicker farm stands.

http://www.cityslickerfarms.org/

Another great local business  (N. Oakland, Lake Merrit and Berkeley) was "The Beet Box", a local C.S.A. with weekly and  bi-weekly  boxes $24 full share and $14 half share

http://www.phatbeetsproduce.org/

Arctostaphylos 'John Dourley'

 Above is my favorite of the manzanita groundcovers, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi 'John Dourley'.  This variety tends to mound higher than the species or 'Emerald Carpet' which is pictured below.  It has a silvery sheen to it and the new growth on the ends of the spreading branches are an attractive crimson that matches the iconic manzanita branches.  It's size varies with climate but tends to be 3'h x 8'w.

                                 Arctostaphylos uva-ursi 'Emerald Carpet'

after

 I prepared 2 designs for this space from which the client chose a tasteful combination of Arizona Sandfire flagstone and Quartz lime select for the 12' circular patio.  I chose the color of the house to compliment the peachy sandstone path.  Subtle copper lighting fixtures (with uprights in the mature apples) and a simple obelisk water feature combined to give extra elements of enjoyment to this garden.  Not seen is the left fence with 6 in 1 grafted pear tree (espallier) and an overhead 'Rogers Red' grape vine.

before

This was a foundation to finsh house in Twin Peaks. The lighting transformer and irrigation timer were mounted on the opposite side of the house in the laundry room.  I wired both through the walls during this stage of construction. .

Dry Stacked Retaining Walls

This is a retaining wall we built about 4 years ago (update photo coming soon).  The stone is called Marco's Bluff and is no longer available through local suppliers.  The advantage of dry stacked walls are that moisture and rainwater are allowed to drain as opposed to backing up behind a mortared (or concrete) retaining wall.  Local stone suppliers offer a wide range of colors to accentuate the desired palette.

D.G. Planting

Planting directly into D.G. allows for many color contrast opportunities.  Soil beneath is ammended properly and covered with filter fabric.  Cut an X into the fabric and plant into soil allowing rootball to remain 3" above fabric.  Lay decomposed granite and compact, making sure to keep the D.G. off the base of the plant (to prevent root rot).  Any drip irrigation needs to be pinned UNDERNEATH the fabric

Indian Summer

September can be our hottest month!  As the Central Valley cools down, it no longer draws in the high blankets of fog that shield us for much of the early summer.  This allows for a nice strong finish on our summer bloomers.  It also gives us nice weather to prepare for the fall.

Cold season vegetable crops/seeds should be planted now.  Onions, shallots and garlic are best planted from "sets" which are easily ordered on line, while leeks  do best from starters or seed.  Beets are best in containers, lettuces and dark greens should be bedded while peas and beans need a support.

Bulbs are bought by the bag or the box, a hillside of narcissus will easily naturalize and fill in after just a few years.

This is also the best time of year to do planting.  Upcoming rains establish the young root systems to give them a head start come spring.  In garden planning we should take advantage of the fall color in our nurseries to pick the exact colors we expect to see this time of year.