no wonder so many mouthfullers have impressive gardens.

Go easy on the dog manure in yours. Very heavy in phospherous. Or would you prefer I spell it posperous?

fosfruss will do. or even phosphorus/phosphorous.

I have tons of tomatillos that have naturalized from previous seasons, mostly the smaller (and more desireable) milpero type.

Interesting. We see tons of the very small (perhaps 3/4 ") tomatillos at markets, but never realized that they were premium. Tell us about them, please?

They are slightly sweeter and it's said they have a more developed taste. The former I can attest to and the latter from Patricia Quintana. I'd agee with her.

Here in Mexico they're called miltomates. It's a portmanteau word (don't you just love that word, portmanteau!) that comes from milpas tomates--tomatillos from the cornfields. These wee tomates grow among the corn stalks. Ranchito is right, they're at a premium here. We only see them at harvest time--right now. Yours are beee-utiful, Ranchito.

In case there's anybody on the MF planet who doesn't know, tomatillo is the name for the regular green ones of these in the USA. Here, they're just tomates.

A tomato--no matter the variety--is a jitomate.

The tomatillos at work.

TODAY IN THE GARDEN - not to change the subject from little green tomates, and not be gosh darn political - did you see the article by the president of Burpee seed company in this morning's Wall Street Journal that attempts to divide us all? Guess we can't comment herein but I'm so all over the Red/Blue map that my heart must be as purple as my toes. It says:

"The Republican is a sun-drenched green bean, elbows on the table, vine-loving gardener while the more passionate Democrat chooses from a wider range of cultivars of spicy and savory peppers, European tomatoes and flowers that prefer afternoon shade cast by mature trees."

Weirdly lovely weather has kept the gardens going strong with new growth and beans growing to maturity!

Pretty much all of my herbs are still alive and kicking. Okay so I dragged them inside but still...oh you know what? I think my big rosemary isn't dead yet even though it is outside on the veranda.
My parsley experiment has been interesting. One plant outside in a big planter died and the one inside near the window is thriving.
I used to think that mint couldn't be killed but I'm doing a good job of making my spearmint wish that it was dead.

Here in London, my next door neighbors both have gorgeous climbing roses that are blooming... have been for about a month. I don't know if its the unseasonably warm weather we've been having or what but I've made a note to plant more roses next month because I want what they have. I saw those roses bloom twice last year - early in the summer season and late and now they're blooming again in the middle of winter.

Our big rosemary, which has been brought inside for the winter, is blossoming.

I have a mystery tree in the backyard that has just begun to bloom. It kind of looks like what I remember an ume (plum blossom) tree to look like in Japan. But I think its too early for a plum blossom to bloom... does anyone know if they blossom this early in the year?

I have a question. I jsut mved to Westchester and have to find a good spot for my raspberry bush for the spring. It's in a pot now.

How much does the sun shift for the warmer months? And, the bush should have as much sun as possible, right?

Lee Valley has a sunlight calculator that you can use to assess potential locations for plantings. It's not foolproof but it could help rule out some spots. It's for use during the growing season though.

I remember one year selling my plum blossoms to a local florist for $125 to add to Valentine's Day bouquets. So, yes, it could be blossom time in February. In our salt marsh we have goofy plants like elderberries blossoming when they aren't "supposed" to all year long. Depends on weather and wishful hormones.

My neighbor (and let's face it, she's an inbred hillbilly) started pruning her stone fruit trees. Isn't it too early? I thought it there's new growth and then an inevitabel frost, that you can do more damage than good.
And when should I prune my cactus. It's drooping from the weight of the paddles but again, I don't want new growth that will be damaged by frost.

You can try here: My Webpage

And, yes, most commercial mushroom farms use stable muckings. Race tracks are especially happy.

Is it time to put lettuce and broccili seedlings out in the northeast, GG?

I suppose, if your soil's dry enough. Might be a little cold yet. I don't even think of planting out until mid-late May, although I should certainly direct-seed some salad greens as soon as the soil's dry and warm(ish). I'm just starting seeds inside today (tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, cippolini onions, and cauliflower).

We have, in the ground, four tomato plants (courtesy of my friend at Love Apple Farm, whose yearly tomato seedling sales are freakin' mob scenes): Green Giant (one of her personal favorites), Orange Russian 117, and Anana's Noir...and one tomato not from her: an Early Girl. Also in the ground: tender shelling peas and Roc d'Or beans (like greenbeans but gold). Many new herbs, including silver thyme, lemon thyme, chocolate mint, Moroccan mint, and some parsley.

Yet to be planted: Heart of Compassion (heirloom tomato), and a couple of others I can't remember. Bob went and bought soil amendments as recommended by Linda Butler at Lindencroft Farm. Chicken poop, the works. We are determined to grow big plants this year: after twelve years in the same spot, the soil was horribly depleted. I'm excited, and even more excited is little Logan, who yesterday helped his Poppy dig beds with his own little garden shovel that I bought him.

Sweet.

God I missed hanging out on my roof garden.
Did some work this weekend clearing out the detritus and planted some basil and arugula. My thyme lived through the winter and the sage only by a wing and a prayer but I think this sun will nurse it back to health.
The mint was sickly (see the earlier post) so I cut it all back about a month ago and I'm already seeing new growth. Boy is that plant resilient.

Oh, word to the millionth power. I was just saying the same thing last night on the porch ... god I missed being able to feel the (not cold) breeze and smell the dirt and see growing things. I did a big spring clean on Saturday and wiped down all the surfaces and got the pots out and ready for the first flower plantings ... pansies, etc. We're really behind here -- daffodils just now blooming, forsythia too. But the lilacs look great and hopefully we wont get another big rain storm right as they come into bloom this year. That happens around Mothers Day in New England. Fingers crossed.

Do you have a problem with root nematodes? Over here in Texas we have to rotate all nightshade vegetables on a three-year plan. Chiton dug into the soil can help, but not always.

We did backbreaking work all weekend - I'm sore as hell but it was worth it. We got a delivery of 3 cubic yards of soil (mixed with horse manure). We built two 6' x 8' raised beds and fenced them. One bed is full of mache - 3 varieties. The other bed is lettuces, spinach, arugula, endive. Also did seeds of cucumbers, radishes, and garlic chives. Next time I'll put in all the herbs (which I'll buy already in plant form): dill, parsley, at least 2 kinds of basil, zaatar, cilantro, rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano.

All my bulbs are coming up! So far crocuses are blooming, and I can see the hyacinths coming. We trimmed the wild rose bushes, and pruned a bunch of trees. Planted hostas and some other annual bulbs, like gladiolus. I'll put in some lily of the valley next time, once the leaves on the trees provide enough shade for them.

I need to put in some edging flowers in some of the beds - marigolds for protection - what else?

Cultivated the beds where tomatoes will be at the end of May, planted Bistro Blend Lettuces (had to have it!), Swiss chard, , and on the other bed, broccoli, and mesclun greens. Have seeds for sugar snaps, lemongrass, which Fred will allow in the front of his house, and spinach.

Here are the two raised beds we built last weekend (before they were finished):

The rhododendron on our front walkway is magnificent this year. The cherry across the walk wasn't too shabby, either, but is now past its prime.

I really like moss roses... You can get them in mixed or single colors. I don't know the exact blooming season but they bloom for a long time and like sunlight. They are annuals that I usually buy each year for my flower boxes; you can also save the seeds at the end of the season to plant the next year. In the flowerboxes they often reseed themselves!

photo: http://dusty.sdmatrix.com/Gallery/Large/Flowers.jpg

Saw the first blooms on my tomato plants last night. Tomatoes won't be far behind.

The coleus that I dumpd out of the ceramic planters, becasue they can't overwinter filled, seeded in front of the house... So, I dug them up, and put them back in the planters; free annuals!

Pea plants are about a foot high, and responding well to their raining sessions. Tomatoes in, tho I accidentally bought a Garden Peach instad of a Green Striped Zebra, and when I went back, they were gone. Got the usual suspects; 2 sungold, 2 early girl, 2 better boy, 2 purple cherokee.....

Greens are outstanding. Broccoli is 'broccoling'....we've been eating bowls of lettuce all weekend long...Swiss chard is lookin' fine....

Catching up, really, this is more like This Spring in the Garden. But it's finally planted, so it's all over but the weeding. Well, and harvesting and eating.

As they got bigger, I reaized these aren't coleus, but the single shiso leaf plant I had last year, that went to seed...I have a garden full of shiso leaf!

The peonies were just ready to open when we left for our annual fishing vacation on June 1. Depending on the weather we can actually miss them altogether (they can get badly battered by wind and rain, despite the support rings). But we were rewarded with a magnificent display as we pulled into the driveway yesterday. We have over 35 peonies around our house, courtesy of the previous owner.





(Last year's photos - haven't taken any yet this year)

I'm really enjoying your blog.

I picked our first tomatoes of the 2007 season today. Not real big but sooooo delicious.

I have planted tomatoes and sunflowers in the tree planters in front of the cafe. Not very daring, but in a neighborhood where at least one plant gets ripped out/snapped off/terrorized once a week, it will be interesting to see how long they last. Hopefully the tomatoes will come to some sort of fruition. I think it will be really cool to have people walk by and pop a few yellow pear or cherry tomatoes in their mouths if they're hungry.

You guys are lucky. All we've harvested so far aside from herbs is rhubarb and lettuce. But things are growing.

I've been harvesting tomatoes for the last 10 days. Unfortunately, they aren't very tasty...and today I saw a chipmunk-like rodent eying some of the lower hanging fruit. So far, the cat jumping at him through the window has been good enough to keep him away. I just hope he goes for one of the jalapenos .

This year we have had to sprinkle some critter deterrent stuff around our broccoli and some other plants, because of the resident rabbit, known on the street as Stew.

That's a nice milestone. When were you able to plant them?

Thin skinned, juicy tomatoes have an almost decadent quality to them.

Click here for a panorama of my garden, pieced together from pictures I took this morning. Once the page loads, you can click on the image to view it huge, use the scroll bars to see the whole thing. There's a report on my blog.

Gardening has turned into a wonderful antidote to five days a week in a hot noisy kitchen....surrounded by green and blue sky,I find my peace.In addition to lots of plantings of perennial shrubs and flowers,the herbs are doing well;angelica root,anise hyssop,lovage,verbena,scented geraniums,all kinds of basil,etc.,etc.....and a strange,so far unidentified,berry laden plant that is growing out from a crack below my window sill outside my sixth floor apartment in the city

Will weed for chutney.

I can't get over how easy and giving hibiscus are. I want to go back to Home Depot and get dozens. Maybe I will.

Why not? I drink "your" Jamaica mixed with a peach/passion tea bag every evening and adore the color. Santa Barbara has hibiscus (hibiscii?) everywhere and have been wondering how many are useful or edible and what is the best procedure for sanitizing and drying. Need to do some research.

Wow! I'm inspired.

This morning's bounty, which I picked with my mother:

I want to grow maguey. Has anyone had any luck with them north of the border?