Love Apple Farms

Welcome, Iron Chef and David Kinch Fans!

The uber-chef that we grow for, David Kinch of Manresa, was on Iron Chef last night. If you saw it, you know that he pummeled Bobby Flay in kitchen stadium. Final score: Kinch 52, Flay 42.

The secret ingredient was cabbage. Cabbage, you might think, is not a very difficult or sexy ingredient, but I would disagree. So would the judges, as they were blown away by Kinch's preparations. Chef was also delighted that his ingredient turned out to be a vegetable, rather than a protein, since he is very involved with Love Apple Farm, his kitchen garden. Here we grow many members of the cabbage family: Savoy, purple, golden, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, pac choi, tatsoi, Napa.

It takes a lot to keep one of the top chefs in the world in fighting form. We do our best here on the farm, particularly since Chef is here every couple of days, snipping, cutting, sniffing, tasting, and watching over the plants. He doesn't just talk the talk, he walks the garden.

If you missed this particular battle on Iron Chef America (Food Network Channel), you can catch it again later this week. And if you've never seen an episode of Iron Chef, you're in for a treat, as it's great fun. Even for non-foodies. Congratulations, David!

Fava Beans: Lots of Uses

These gorgeous fava bean flowers (broad beans to some of you) are edible.  Not only can you eat them, you can enjoy eating them.  That's important in an edible flower, as Renee Shepherd once said when asked about such things, "There are a lot of edible flowers; whether or not they're tasty is another thing."

Fava beans have a lot of wonderful purposes in the garden.  They are a great cover crop.  You can sow them in the autumn here in coastal central California, and while they are growing all winter and early spring, they are improving your soil.  They do this by "fixing nitrogen."  That means that they somehow grab hold of the nitrogen in the air and infuse it into the soil.  The roots also improve the texture and "tilth" of your soil as well.

You can start cutting the tops of the favas after they get about four or six inches tall.  The tender greens can be used in salads, soups, or stirfried.  When cut down to a node (a point at the stem where a branch juts out), the fava will then grow two shoots to replace the first one.  When you do that, you get a bushier plant and ultimately more flowers.  And of course, when you get more flowers, you get more beans.

After the long fava pod forms, you can eat the interior bean as well after it's been shucked.  Eat it raw when small, cooked when mature, or even dry it for reconstitution and cooking later. There are few plants with so many uses.  They also look lovely in the garden!

The Most Magnificent Magnolia Soulangeana You'll Ever See!

This is my pride and joy (other than my son, Zach).  And unlike my son, I had nothing to do with this beautiful tree at my farm.  It's a Magnolia x Soulangeana.  Sunset Western Garden book says that it is often improperly called a tulip tree.

I often see them out and about this time of year.  I have never seen one nearly this size.  It's a very slow-growing tree, as any of you who have one will attest.  I estimate it's age at pushing 100 years. 

I think it's that old because of some of the other very old unique landscape specimens we have here.  None of them are indigenous, so I know that a long time ago a very generous gardener planted them.

Every spring I profusely thank that gardener.

The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.  ~Nelson Henderson

A Pest to Watch Out for This Spring: Leaf Miner

The damage done to this young chard is made by what can be quite a pernicious pest in the spring: Leaf Miner. There are many types of beetles and flies that have offspring which burrow inside leaves.  They make trails or tunnels that can meander around inside the leaf, looking like it has been "mined."  Another gross thing is that when you hold the leaf up to the light, you can sometimes see the maggot inside its tunnel.  Definitely NOT yummy.

The leaf miner in my garden loves the beets and chard the best.  No wonder, they are sister plants.  Leaf miners also bother (to a smaller extent) my spinach and lettuces, but boy, if there's a beet patch around for them to play in, that's where they're going.

I don't exactly know which species of critter I've got here at Love Apple Farm which is the exact "leaf miner," but I do know how to get a handle on them.

Our first line of defense is to trap them with a blue sticky trap, as you see in the pic below.  Position it at plant level in the garden, and your offending leaf miner is attracted to the trap instead of the plant, gets stuck on it, and that's the end of it.
We also can hand pick each leaf off that has the miner inside.  Be careful what you do with these  Don't simply throw them away, the maggots will hatch in the trash (or compost pile) and continue their life cycle.  Either put them in a sealed plastic bag or squish each one, killing the maggot.  Better yet, give them to your chickens.  They'll love eating the leaves AND the maggots.  The ultimate lean protein and leafy green diet.

Don't have chickens and wish you did?  Consider taking my class in April on Keeping Backyard Chickens.  In the meantime, watch out for those leaf miners, they can do some serious damage!

Manure Compost as Passive Greenhouse Heating

Here is a photo of a big steaming pile of s**t.  Actually, nice fresh stinky horse manure.  I'm going to put it to good use.

In trying to figure out how to keep our greenhouse heating costs down, I thought I'd investigate a couple of ways of increasing the night time temps of the space.  Previously, I blogged about how our greenhouse benches (aka tables) sit on barrels filled with water.  The idea was that the barrels would absorb heat from the sun during the day and exude it at night. 
Then I thought of a way to add a little extra something something.  I looked around the farm and realized that this old orchard box would fit perfectly underneath a bench and inside of the barrels.  Hmmmm, let's get seven more of these boxes.  John, or master composter and our worm-keeper, sprang into action and arranged to bring me enough bins.

Filling the large boxes with fresh manure would start the decomposition process, and heat up.  The mass will give off much-needed warmth for the time it takes to decompose.  Since I'm only heating my greenhouse for a couple of months while I propagate and grow on tomato seedlings, I figure by the time the masses cool off, I won't need the supplemental heat anymore.  At least that's this season's experiment.

Daniel, my excellent volunteer, has been endlessly patient positioning these giant bins in place and moving the manure into them.
We needed as much compression of the manure into the bins as we could get, so we put our newest volunteer, Sarah, to work stomping on it.  I'm glad she took me seriously when I told her to show up with rubber boots.
Once completely topped off with manure, we repositioned the bench tops.  Now they're ready to accept our young plants, help warm up the greenhouse, and definitely exude that fragrant "je ne sais quoi" that will keep people wrinkling their noses a bit upon entering.

Workshop: Container Vegetable Gardening

Whether you want to grow tomatoes in hanging baskets, like I'm showing off above, or you want to utilize a small space, our Container Vegetable Gardening class is the workshop for you.  Learn all about how to successfully grow vegetables in containers.  It's harder than it looks!  From the proper potting soil to use, to a plethora of available container options, we also investigate space requirements, sunlight needs, the all-important fertilizing, and companion planting for maximum yield and results.

We will be focusing on different vegetables depending on the date of the class -- more warm-weather loving ones at the end of April and more winter-hardy types in September. 

This workshop is ideal for:
 - Renters who need to take their gardens with them when they move.
 - Those who have gopher problems.
 - Plots with poor soil or other disease issues. 
 - Apartment dwellers who don't have any ground to grow in.
 - Folks with large decks who would like to grow vegetables in pots rather than the standard landscape container plants.

ALL CLASSES ARE HELD RAIN OR SHINE!

ALL CLASSES REQUIRE ADVANCE REGISTRATION, EVEN FOR GIFT CERTIFICATE HOLDERS.

Click on an available date to register:

April 29, 2012 (Sunday) 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.  $55
June 3, 2012 (Sunday) 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.  $55
September 1, 2012 (Saturday) 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.  $55

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What class participants say:

"I just wanted to thank you for the great container gardening class. I really learned a lot and feel like I could get started. I took a class at another location and yours really was so much more helpful and inspiring."  -- Shiela V.

   

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Please read our cancellation policy in case you are not able to attend your scheduled class. 

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If the workshop dates don’t work for you, if the class is full, or if you’d like to request that another class be added, please email us and we’ll do our best to accommodate you!

Love Apple Farms gift certificates can be used towards classes, seedlings, and merchandise.  They are available for purchase here. 

Check out other classes at Love Apple Farms by clicking here.

Photo credits: First photo of Cynthia and the hanging basket taken by Jamie Cole and originally published in Progressive Farmer Magazine. Second photo of the tiered garden boxes from Fraserside Community Services in British Columbia.  Third photo courtesy Darlene Marie.