Monday planting

Janis and George bought plants at the nursery on the bike ride home from swim class last weekend, and we finally had them all in their beds this Monday morning. Preparations included pulling out some plants, adding and turning soil, and adding some plant food (http://foxfarmfertilizer.com/).

Over last weekend George and Janis planted snap dragons on the balcony, and in the beds we have: chard, kale, and lettuce. Plus these pansy-looking Violas in several locations.

The tomatoes are still growing and ripening when George doesn't harvest prematurely!

Peace,

Jennie

Like sand through the hourglass...

I have not posted to the Farm blog since before George was born. To some, that will come not as a surprise. But I am shocked. And a bit sad. But life does push on!

We harvested and cooked up some carrots the night before my surgery and shared the meal with Corry. And I have sowed many sweet pea seeds, as well as fava to put nitrogen in the soil for spring. And actually tomorrow I aim to go to our favorite nursery and buy some six-packs of foxgloves and some chard to plant this weekend. Maybe bok choi.

All is not lost or forgotten here on the Oaktown Farm! We just have been growing and nurturing a little bean in the house rather than the dirt for the last few months. More posts soon! I swear.

Satellite Pie

This is the first apple pie of the season. Technically, these apples did not grow on the Oaktown Farm, BUT they did grow a 1/2 mile from here at Sylvie's house. We'll call that the OTF satellite.

The heat wave of last week is very much gone, and we have now planted some red cabbage and another round of lettuce; romaine this time. I still need to sow the sweet pea seeds before the baby gets here and am hoping I get on that this evening.

Happy Fall to you, wherever you happen to be experiencing it.

Calm before the sea change

I have been thinking a lot about life now and life after the baby arrives. What will become of the Oaktown Farm? I hear different things from folks; some say there is no time for anything but raising a human being. Others say you make time for what moves you. Certainly Lottie moves me, and she will demand our time. But the tender fall plants cannot speak for themselves.

This chard I put in yesterday morning, which was not smart. It was one of the hottest days of the year, so they suffered in the unrelenting sun all day. I have lettuce, red cabbage and some flowers to put in, but will wait a few days till this heat wave passes. I think I will also sow some seeds directly in the beds too; more carrots, sweet peas. Those each will be a nice surprise in a few months, full of luscious smells and candy orange flesh.

This year at the OF, unlike last, we have a large number of pumpkin spiders. Really, they are everywhere. And so are their webs. This shot does not capture the beast in all it's girth, but I think the photo is cool (web is to the right). Their main gift to us is catching and eating flies.

So, the clock ticks down, while also winding up. Jennie finishes up work this week, and I am trying to wrap up all my projects at the office so I can be out for several weeks at a moment's notice. We are keeping our evenings free and fiddling with the last of the "prep list". Lottie is working on learning the difference between baby toys and dog toys. We are calm and happy and ready for this sea we sail upon to change.

Tom Tom Club

Summer has been an epic disappointment this year in Oakland. Very few warm days. While the East Coast baked in record heat, we watched our tomatoes struggle for the cruelly rationed sunlight. Our Italian squash produced nothing. Nada. We had two small meals out of the pole beans. And the tomatoes....one of the plants has set no fruit and the other two are *just* starting to have some candy to eat.

Suffice it to say, this has not been the summer of eatin' at the Oaktown Farm. Non edibles are doing fairly well: mexican sage, snapdragons. And I do have some carrot seeds that are sprouting in the back bed under the wisteria. Other than that, it's just us chickens. With the baby close on our heels, there won't be a lot more planting this year, 2010. But I have a hunch there will be a lot of volunteer seeds in the spring. We shall see.

Lottie's in love...Lottie's in luuh-uv....

So Lottie has this new girlfriend, and her name is Pehz, pronounced like the candy dispenser. And while I have not lived with two dogs in over 5 years, I have not missed it. It's a lot of work, somehow. But not really. Or something. They play. Constantly. Like, nonstop. This causes me mild anxiety. Not sure why. Perhaps it is because we don't have a big yard for them to romp in like my past double dog lifestyle. Perhaps it is because I had an incredibly long week at work and I am simply tired and would like some quite time, newspaper in hand, with my feet up. Sadly for Lottie, Pehz in only with us for the weekend, as her mom had to travel unexpectedly to North Carolina and will be back on Tuesday. Luckily for me, there is an end in sight with less dog hair in my mouth.

They are definitely having a good time, despite my mild need for peace and quiet. Maybe I will volunteer to go grocery shopping this afternoon..:)

Summer Half Time

Shockingly, summer is half over. I feel mildly despondent over this, as we have not had very much sunny weather and the tomatoes are offering up a mild sigh of fruit. Partly we are super distracted with the upcoming Baby Abbingsole arrival, and partly we are still learning what this incarnation of the Oaktown Farm can produce.

Also, I can't quite find the time to just sit in the garden and enjoy it. I am training for an ultramarathon in September and the training for it takes an entire weekend day. The next weekend day is spend recovering from said training. Couple that with weeknight shenanigans (birth class, pre-natal yoga, dog walking), and evenings in the luminescence of the carnival lights seem to melt away with the Bay Area fog.

These are german catchflies, which are my new favorite. They sway in the breeze with a certain majesty. I put them in two spots and wish I would have planted more. They re-seed easily, so next Spring we should naturally have a whole carpet-full. Annie's Annuals is a Richmond, CA treasure and is where these are from. We took my Mom there for a garden tour over Mother's Day weekend. Annie has an awesome array of native and non-native annuals and some perennials. It's a must see!

This evening we are having an pack of gals over for some Malaysian spareribs, coconut rice and stir-fried green beans from Oaktown Farm. The ribs rested in a brine for 7 hours prior to going into the smoker for 5 hours. I will let everyone know how they turned out. I did not do a test run, so keep fingers crossed. If it is awesome, I will post the recipe here later in the week.

Mexican marigolds are the final sign off today. Nature's natural pest deterrent.