Welcome to the new year! There are many wonderful gardens we will be sharing with you this year. We hope it will inspire you and add a few tricks to your gardening tool box.
This month Sheila and Rich share their garden with us. It has lovingly been named Lala’s Garden by their grandchildren. Their garden is little over an acre and the perfect place to slowly expand their love for growing plants, as well as being the perfect place for the dog babies to run around and have fun. Currently, they have a several garden beds used for growing veggies, flowers and herbs. There are also several fruit trees, ornamental trees and grapevines. There are some lovely blackberry bushes and a healthy asparagus patch that is finally ready to for harvesting this year. Sheila also enjoys growing roses.
Rich is very handy and is the “labor” behind most of the garden projects. When they moved onto the property there was already a fig, tangelo, apple, lime, and lemon tree. They have since added peaches, apricots, plums, pomegranates, more apples, ash and a Jacaranda. There was nothing other than the mesquite tree planted behind the cross fence shown in the pictures. However there was a lot of animal life. Gophers, lizards, birds, and insects. Now the raised beds are there, as well as the grapes and blackberries.
Sheila and Rich love having other gardeners over to swaps stories and plants and just enjoy what nature can only offer.
What is gardening to you?
It is the pleasure of digging in the dirt. There is a nurturing happening. Also, it is enjoying fresh tomatoes. It is a time of solitude time and appreciating creation. Did I mention tomatoes!
How did your garden adventure begin?
My grandparents gave me a lemon tree when I was five or six years old. My grandpa helped me plant it beside our house (west exposure). I helped mom water it. I helped in the yard at home when I was interested as a small child, but I don’t really remember a veggie garden–my parents were busy with kids!
What changes have you made that have been really impactful?
Well, I married a man who (I later discovered) is willing to build infrastructure, install irrigation, and dig holes for me. We bought this nice flat property with the back portion cross-fenced so the dogs couldn’t get into the garden unless we let them in. I also learned to accept failure. Sometimes things don’t grow. So you yank out the remains and try something else. Or try that same thing in a different spot.
What do you enjoy growing?
Tomatoes, stone fruits, lettuces, peppers, roses, tomatoes, spinach, garlic, asparagus, tomatoes, peas, beans, and did I mention tomatoes? I have room to add more beds and trees, but I don’t want to overreach what I can care for. This time of year I’m just starting seeds and thinking about spring.
What do you want other gardeners to know about your garden?
It’s a work in progress and I love garden visitors. I enjoy walking the garden with friends and family and hearing other people’s ideas.
What are your biggest gardening challenges?
Practicing patience. I plant, I water, I pull weeds, I feed the soil. I stake things that need staking. I pull bugs off when I see them. If that care won’t work, it’s not the right plant for my garden. So challenges are more likely to be allowing things to become perfectly ripe, then harvesting before they become overripe (I’m thinking about peaches!). I put in asparagus crowns in February of 2018. I’ve dutifully let them go to ferns over the past two years. This year I will harvest asparagus for the first time. The waiting has been a good lesson for me in patience and I’m looking forward to that harvest!
What are your biggest successes?
It’s kind of silly, but there’s a line in a Big Country song, “I’m not expecting to grow flowers in the desert.” I’m happy when my roses bloom, even though I only have 3.5 of them.
In the front yard, along the window, I have floribunda Sexy Rexy and two David Austin shrubs, Tranquility and Ancient Mariner. Rich gave me another Austin (Olivia) for Christmas, but it hasn’t arrived yet. That makes 3.5 roses.
Any tips to share with others?
If you’re not sure, try it. Be patient, especially with yourself. Be good to your dirt.
What would you grow in your dream garden if climate was not an issue?
Mangoes and peonies, side by side! I lived on Tahaa (in the leeward Society Islands, French Polynesia) for a year–one of the most intense and rewarding years of my life. If I asked anybody there what kind of mangoes are growing, they’d shrug and say, “une mangue” or “vi.” If I lived where peonies grow (which I doubt I ever will!) my first acquisition would be “Fairy’s petticoat.” It’s pale pink, double, and fragrant.https://garden.org/
How To Grow Lettuce
Awesome post! Keep up the great work! 🙂