April Showers: Early Planting Photos

New Herbs: Various Basil and Some starting Cilantro

Re-Used seedling planters worked great, but potting soil is a huge advantage over just normal dirt in these things.

Tomatoes and Strawberries just seem to love southern california, here in Riverside we can grow them like crazy.

These were a nice surprise. Last year we weren't sure if the artichoke would survive, and it didnt produce at all. This year though it had doubled in size and is producing lots of large artichokes!

Corn Loves our weather, Plant it early though, Last year we got two crops but the later one was much smaller. Incidently corn is best when cooked immediately after being pulled from the plant, the more time that it's off the plant before being cooked, the less flavor you will get. (if you grow your own corn, you'll never want to buy it in the store again)

Grapes... yeah, go figure. We planted them in this over-watered marshy part of the yard by the shed, and they have just taken over. They must love the California sun since they seem to just keep climbing up to get more of it.

What kind of desert garden would it be if we didn't stay true to the lands heritage, our cactus garden is filling in nicely with some beautiful flowering cacti and some bizarre succulents.

Riverside, Ca -- Garden Year 2

It's april of 2010 and this is the second year that our back yards will be dedicated to growing herbs, fruits, and vegetables in the amazingly versitile climate of the deserts of southern california.
Thanks to modern irrigation and supprisingly good soil almost anything will grow around here, so long as it gets enough water through the hotter days.

So here in downtown riverside, a desert oasis turned metropolitan suburb, we're growing ourselves a huge variety this year:

Grapes
Bush Beans
Pole Beans
Pumpkins
Butternut Squash
Artichokes
Zuchini
Tomatoes (4 varieties)
Peppers (6 varieties)
Strawberries
Raddishes
Lettuce
Spinache
Turnips
Brussels Sprouts
Broccli
Carrots
Corn
and Parsnips

Along with our orange, lemon, plum, apple, grapefruit, and nectarine trees.

Honestly, it seems that if you get decent soil, and you water it often, Anything Will Grow here, and do so well. Last year we grew more food than we could eat, all fresh and organic, this year we've doubled the variety that we're planting and have made half again as much space.. tearing up grass and using rows of pots.

It's going to be a great season!