Grow Better Veggies

One of Love Apple Farm's Successful Students

One of my students, Craig Dally, sent me this lovely photo of his garden.  He tells me that all of the plants in the picture (except for the Petunias) were grown from seeds and plants he got from one of my workshops.  Here are his thoughts on his beautiful garden:

Dear Cynthia,
After attending your Summer gardening class in March, I went home armed with new knowledge and two flats sown with all sorts of summer vegetables seeds: arugula, kale, lettuces, sunflowers, cucumbers, nasturtiums, pole beans and eight tomato seedlings. After several weeks of caring for my new "kids", I decided to plant my summer garden April 19th. My family thought I was way over the top. Now, they've changed their tune. They hawk over the plants (just like me) looking for any pests or disease. They count the days till the next compost tea (worm pee) and remind me to apply the Serenade on alternate weeks. We all marvel at the natural health the plants enjoy and are eagerly anticipating the first ripe love apple.

I didn't reinvent the wheel, I listened to an experienced pro and took the advice you gave to heart. It works. You'll be seeing me at a Master's Tomato class soon. Thanks for a life lesson well worth learning: gardening is good for your heart and soul and pulling a family together in a way I never imagined.

You're the best,

Craig D.

Class: Tomato Masters 2009

July 12, 2009 (Sunday) 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Sorry, July 12 class is now full, please register for

August 23, 2009 (Sunday) 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.  OR

New class date added: September 1, 2009 (Tuesday) 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

This is a hands-on seminar on advanced backyard tomato growing.  Learn the latest techniques for fertilizing, pruning, and soil amending for maximum production, health and taste.  Yes, you CAN help your tomatoes taste better.  Yes, you CAN achieve results to make even your most doubting relatives and neighbors envious.

We'll also talk staking, proper garden siting, mulching, watering, disease and pest control, harvesting, the heirloom vs. hybrid debate, and seed saving.

Classes are held here at Love Apple Farm, where you can observe over 100 tomato plants growing.  Cynthia will take you through the garden and discuss her tips and tricks to help you grow better tomatoes.  You need not have experience growing tomatoes to get a lot out of this class.

Cost:  $45 (advance registration is required)

To register and pay, click on the Paypal button below.

Choose a class date

August 23 2009 $45.00 Sept. 1, 2009 $45.00

Cynthia offers discounts for bringing a friend, as well as if you've taken prior classes.  Email Cynthia at loveapplefarm@gmail.com if you'd like to ask a question about how the discount process for buddies and returning students works.

Class: 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 discuss warm weather-loving crops like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, melons, cucumbers, squashes, corn, and more.  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.Students take home both plants and seeds of many types of vegetables, along with ideas and information on how to grow better veggies in containers! Scroll down below for a registration button.  This class is offered on two different dates: Tuesday, April 14, 2009, and Sunday, May 10, 2009.  UPDATE:  The April 14 class is now full, please register for May 10 if you're interested.

The class is held at Love Apple Farm in Ben Lomond, California.  Click here for farm directions and a map.

Available Dates: (Choose one)

April 14, 2009 (Tuesday) 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. (FULL)
May 10, 2009 (Sunday) 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Tuition: $50

Choose a Class Date for Check-out

April 14 is full May 10, 2009

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. Last photos are from the website of one of our great local companies, Knox Garden Boxes.

Class: Garden Bed Design & Construction

This is a vegetable garden landscape design and construction workshop.  Learn where and how to site your vegetable beds for maximum effectiveness (considerations of climate, season, and sun exposure are all discussed).  You will discover numerous approaches to bed design: from hay bales to lumber to cinderblocks.  Learn basic carpentry skills as we construct a bed during class.  See how we do it! 

Also receive valuable information on how and what to fill your newly constructed beds with.  Not all soil is alike!  We've got supplier recommendations for you that will save you money and give you maximum results due to superior soil fertility. 

Topics also covered in class:

Starting out: Learn how to install a vegetable garden on any surface, from an existing lawn to concrete.

Bed sizes: Proper sizing is important, from their height to their width.  You want maximum workability and comfort to you, the gardener.

Paths: Considerations of path materials, cost, and efficiency.

Holding in your soil:  From various types of lumber, to many other hardscape materials, learn what you can do and how to save money doing it.

Filling your new beds: Top soil blends vary in vitality and useability.  Learn how to get a deal and the best start for your new plants.

Available Dates: (Choose one)

March 31, 2009 (Tuesday) 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
May 16, 2009 (Saturday) 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Tuition: $50

Choose a class date for check-out:

March 31, 2009 $50.00 May 16, 2009 $50.00

Class: Compost and Vermiculture (Worms!)

Using your own home-made compost is the single best thing you can do to increase your garden's fertility, ward off pests, and keep diseases at a minimum.  Worm castings have also been shown to be a similarly powerful tool.  Great gardeners will have both an active compost bin and worm bin up and running at all times.  They know the benefits to their garden are enormous.  Using your own compost and worm castings will also drastically cut down on the amount of soil amendments, fertilizers, insecticides and fungicides that an organic gardener usually needs to purchase to maintain their vegetable plot.

Come to Love Apple Farm and learn what these benefits are, how to properly build a compost pile (we build one ourselves during class), learn how to harvest it and use it on your garden. 

The second half of the workshop is devoted to vermiculture: how to start, maintain, and use to full benefit a proper worm bin.  See how we feed our worms, harvest the castings, and even make a fabulous worm tea for use as a supplemental fertilizer.  You get to take home a worm bin, complete with starter worms.

Class date: April 7, 2009 (Tuesday) 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Tuition:  $20
Materials Fee: $25
Register and pay via Paypal:

Class: Summer Vegetable Gardening

All day, intensive seminar on starting and tending a summer vegetable garden.  Participants sow and take home two full flats of summer vegetables (a $52 value).  Topics covered: bed preparation, fertilizing, amending, proper sow and transplant dates for specific crops, discussion of over 20 different warm-weather veggies to grow, warmth, light, and climate needs, companion planting, pest and disease control, on-line preferred discount vendors of gardening supplies and seeds.

Farmer Cynthia Sandberg takes you out into her garden and shows you how.  See the pests in person, the composting techniques, bed preparation - hands on and up close.

This workshop is a great basis for either someone new to gardening, or someone who just wants to ramp up their yield and over-all garden vitality.

Consider giving this class as a gift to a friend or family member.  Gift certificates are available for all classes.

Available class dates (choose one):

March 17, 2009 (Tuesday) 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
March 29, 2009 (Sunday) 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
April 4, 2009 (Saturday) 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
May 2, 2009 (Saturday) 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
May 19, 2009 (Tuesday) 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Tuition: $75
Materials Fee: $20

Choose a Class Date To Register

March 17, 2009 March 29, 2009 April 4, 2009 May 2, 2009 May 19, 2009

Class: Growing Herbs from Seed

This class will teach you the basics of growing your own herbs from seed. You take home both live plants and a sown flat of herb seeds to tend.   Learn the soil, light, warmth, fertilizing, and climate requirements for the basic culinary herbs: basil, chives, oregano, rosemary, marjoram, tarragon, thyme, parsley and cilantro.

This class is scheduled in the afternoon of two of our Growing Tomatoes from Seed workshops.  You may take both the herb and tomato class for a total discount of 10%.

This herb class is scheduled for early February, as that is the right time to start herbs from seed.

Available Class Dates:

February 8, 2009 (Sunday) 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
February 10, 2009 (Tuesday) 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Tuition: $30
Materials Fee: $20

Choose a Date to Register for Herb Class:

February 8, 2009 February 10, 2009 Option 3

Choose a Date To Register for Both Herb and Tomato Classes:

February 8, 2009 February 10, 2009

A more in-depth class on a wider range of freakier culinary herbs will be held on April 25, 2009.  That class is called "The Proper Cook's Herb Garden."

To view all of Love Apple Farm's classes, from gardening to bee-keeping, click here.

Give a gift of health, nature, and self-sufficiency by buying someone a gift certificate for a class.  Email us to do so: loveapplefarm@gmail.com

Class: Grow your own Pepper Transplants from Seed

Learn how to grow your own pepper transplants. Sow and take home a flat of up to 48 different  types of peppers.  Not many of you will want that many varieties, but at least you can if you want to!  Choose from our seed bank of over 50 kinds of peppers, all of which can be found on this link, along with pictures and descriptions.

This class is for the true pepper-phile.  And if you're not already, you should be!  Peppers, with their anti-oxidant capsaicin, have been found to provide numerous health benefits.  Oh, and of course, we love to cook with peppers!  Sweet, mildly hot, or braggin' rights over who can eat the hottest, there is a fabulous culinary purpose for them all.  I mean, just check out how many pepper recipes there are out there!

Peppers can be difficult to start from seed, but this class teaches you everything you need to know.  It is also scheduled in late January, as peppers take quite a long time to get going before you can plant them out in your garden in April or May.

I have also scheduled a Grow Your Own Tomato Transplants from Seed class the same day (earlier in the morning), so that if you are so inclined, you can attend both classes and receive a 10% discount on the tuition.

There is only one class date available:

January 31, 2009 (Saturday) 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Tuition: $30
Materials Fee: $20

To register for both the tomato and pepper classes, use this button for a 10% discount:

If you'd like to ask a question about the class, contact Cynthia at loveapplefarm@gmail.com

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

Photo courtesy of Greg Silva

Class: Early Spring Vegetable Gardening

Take advantage of our mild California Bay Area climate to get your vegetable gardening up and productive for the season.  Why wait for summer to start harvesting your own healthy and organic produce? 

This class will teach you what's possible to grow and harvest in early spring.  You will be able to plant and sow in February and March, then start to pick your bounty in April.  Learn techniques that will let you seamlessly integrate your early spring vegetable garden into your summer plantings of warm weather lovers.

We will discuss various lettuces, spinaches, chard, bok choy, tatsoi, carrots, turnips, radishes, snow and shelling peas, mustard, mizuna, cress, kale, and sweet peas.  We will have plants and seeds of all of these for you to take home (plant and seed value: $45). 

In addition to the culture requirements of each of the vegetables the topics covered in class will include: bed preparation, heat and light requirements, frost control, germination tricks, companion planting, organic pest control, fertilizing, and harvesting techniques.  Observe all of these vegetables already growing and thriving here at Love Apple Farm.

Available class dates:

January 25, 2009 (Sunday) 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
February 14, 2009 (Saturday) 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
February 17, 2009 (Tuesday) 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Tuition: $55
Materials Fee: $20

Choose a Class Date for Check-out

January 25, 2009 February 14, 2009 February 17, 2009

To ask a question about a class, please email Cynthia at loveapplefarm@gmail.com

Class: Winter Vegetable Gardening

2009 CLASS DATES NOW SCHEDULED:

Learn how to start and tend a winter vegetable garden.  Growing a garden in winter is possible with our mild California climate.  Winter gardens are not just limited to greens and cabbage.  We will discuss over 20 different kinds of winter vegetables, and sow a flat to take home to tend and transplant.

Learn how to battle the cold temps, bed preparation, winter pest and disease issues, as well as the critical sow dates for winter crops.  This class is held in late summer and early fall, as that is the proper time to start a winter vegetable garden from seed.

Date: August 18, 2009 (Tuesday)(9 a.m. to 3 p.m.) or:

Date: August 30, 2009 (Sunday)(9 a.m. to 3 p.m.) or:

Date: September 12, 2009 (Saturday)(9 a.m. to 3 p.m.) or:

Date: September 27, 2009 (Sunday)(9 a.m. to 3 p.m.)

Choose one of the dates above.

Tuition: $55
Materials Fee: $20

To register for this class, do so through the "Pay Now" button below.  To ask a question about a class, email Cynthia at loveapplefarm@gmail.com

Choose a Class Date To Register

August 18, 2009 August 30, 2009 September 12, 2009 September 27, 2009

Class Participants Say:

"Loved it! Think you are fabulous! Looking forward to our 'day long' class!" by Julie on 9/24/07

"Cynthia, I am an experienced gardener and I enjoyed your class immensely.  Other people who know you also appreciate and praise your work and your sharing!  You put a lot of thought into preparing for classes. Thank you for all the materials, suppliers, new veggies, tips!  You are doing a terrific job with the farm and you are an inspiration to me." by Inani on 9/25/07

"Great class! I came away with some great plans for my garden.  Your style is great!  You don't intimidate us and we feel free to ask questions." by Rick on 9/25/07

"I really felt that you had great information on winter gardening.  I feel so inspired."  by Carolyn Lee on 9/25/07

"I thought the class was great. This is now my second class I have taken with you (tomato seed class).  The class moved along in a timely fashion, was interesting throughout and filled with tons of valuable information.  I will definitely continue on with your classes.  Thanks for offering them!" by Cherie 9/25/07

The Winners of the Class Tuitions Contests Are...

I run contests every time I send out a newsletter (I know I keep saying that, but some of you haven't gotten the news yet!).  Only my newsletter subscribers can enter.  In my last installment, a couple of weeks ago, I promised to give away a couple of class tuitions to one of my upcoming gardening (and chicken) classes.  The winners get to pick which class they want to come to.  Click here if you want to subscribe to my free newsletter and get in on these contests.  Click here if you want to see a list of my classes.

The winner of a full class tuition goes to Annette T. of San Jose, who wanted to win a seat in my chicken class.  Congrats, Annette!  You'll be receiving three chicks, a starter brooder kit, and two hours of learning how to care for these babies, with the end result being fresh eggs for you and your family!

The winner of a buddy seat tuition to a class in which they've enrolled, is Diana C. of Santa Cruz.  Diana greatly increased her chances of winning the buddy seat because she enrolled in four of my classes.  She gets to bring a friend for free to any one of those classes.

My next class, Grow the Earliest Tomatoes, is this coming Saturday, February 2, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. here at the farm in Ben Lomond.  I'll be showing folks how to get their tomatoes to fruit a whole month early, with some hard work and perseverance.  Class participants get to take home 6 already growing plants of my proven earliest maturing tomato varieties.  There are a few spots left in that class, so email me at loveapplefarm@gmail.com if you'd like to enroll.  The class costs $30, plus a materials fee of $18.

In the meantime, congratulations to our two winners, and we'll see you soon!

Class: Grow your own Tomato Transplants from Seed

Learn how to sow and care for young tomato seedlings. Participants choose from over 125 varieties of heirloom tomatoes from my seed bank, sow them in seed flats and soil (supplied), while receiving direction and instruction on proper soil to use, heirloom variety selection for your individual growing conditions, germination conditions, care after seedlings emerge, proper transplanting techniques, and more.

Farm Animal of the Week: Buff Laced Polish Hen

Isn't she a pretty girl?  This breed is called a Polish, also known as a "Top Hat" chicken because of the feathers poking out of the top of her head like some crazy Rod Stewart impersonator.  These chickens' head-dresses are so lush and full, they sometimes obscure their eyes, much like a hairy Lhaso Apso dog.  Her coloring is called "buff lace" because of the delicate white edging around her beige-colored feathers.

With chickens, we just can't call them a regular color name, like beige or grey.  For some reason, the poultry breeders have to sex it up a bit and euphemize it, much like nail polish.  "Red" is changed to "Hot Kiss" and "Pink" is not going to sell unless it's named "Valentine Ice."

So the same with chickens.  We call brown "buff" and grey "silver."  Is this more than you wanted to know about chicken colors?  Perhaps for most of you it is.  But for the few of you who have thought it might be cool to have your own hens for homegrown eggs (not ANYTHING like store-bought eggs, mind you) and manure to enrich your compost pile, then you might be interested in my "Keeping Chickens" class that I'll be having on April 19th.

You don't need to live in the country to keep a few hens.  You can do so with proper planning in your backyard.  At this class, you'll learn how to keep baby chicks happy and healthy until they are full sized and start laying eggs.  You'll learn what to feed them, how big of a yard they need, how to keep them from flying out, how to get them to lay eggs throughout the winter months when they usually stop laying.

You get to take home three baby girl chicks (no roosters - your neighbors will thank you), along with supplies to keep them happy until you can build or buy a proper coop (about a six week window).  We'll talk about coop design and a simple do-it-yourself plan will be one of the hand-outs.

The three chicks you get will be a Polish like the cutie in the picture, a Cochin, like my previous post, found here, and an Araucana chick.  Each breed lays a different egg color, so you will end up with white, brown and green eggs, like those shown in this gorgeous photo taken of our eggs by Pim Techamuanvivit.

So if any of you in the greater California Bay Area want to come learn about chickens, click here to be directed to my "Upcoming Classes/Events" page.

 

Gardening Class: Grow Your Own Tomato Transplants from Seed

This class used to be called "Tomato Seed Sowing," but I thought I needed a more descriptive name.  I mention the name change so that those of you who like to take this class year after year will know it.  Here's a photo of my tomato apprentice, Rachael, after last year's class.

Rachael has probably been my youngest student, as most folks who attend my gardening seminars are adults.  When I first saw her, I worried that she would not be able to focus for my entire lecture.  But she did great, taking home a sown flat of tomato seeds that she was able, with her new knowledge, to nurture into about 70 or 80 tomato starts.  She didn't need that many, so Rachael ended up selling her extras at my seedling sale later, and made over $100.  I was very proud of her.  Rachael has continued to come to the farm and volunteer over the past year, and has learned a whole bunch of stuff about plants.

Believe it or not, but this is the time to start thinking about starting seeds for tomatoes. The "Grow Your Own Tomato Transplants from Seed" class is all about learning how to get that little bitty seed into a healthy, robust plant, ready to go out into the garden.  As some of you know, doing that is harder than it looks.  Soil, airflow, lighting, watering, fertilizing, potting up, are all important to know how to do right.

The thing that keeps a lot of people coming back to this class is that they get to take home a sown flat of tomato seeds, and choose up to 48 different varieties to place in their 48-cell flat.  My seed bank currently holds over 125 varieties of tomatoes, some "normal" such as Early Girl, but most highly unusual like JD's Special C-Tex, Purple DogCreek and Portuguese Monster.

It has not been unusual for my students to successfully propagate 100 or 150 plants from this class alone.  I know that some folks have even sold their excess, just like Rachael.  I love hearing those stories! 

I'm offering the class on four different dates.  Choose an early date if you want to plant out in early April.  Choose a later class if you want to plant out in May.  Click here to go to the dates and fees. All classes are held here at Love Apple Farm in Ben Lomond, California.  We are located 45 minutes from San Jose and about an hour and a half from San Francisco. Here is a complete list of the tomato seeds you will be able to choose from: 

Amazon Chocolate (new for 2008)
Ananas Noir
Aunt Ruby’s Green
Aunt Ruby’s Green Cherry
Azoychka
Barad’s Yellow
Basinga
Beauty Lottringa
Bi-color Cherry
Big Beef
Big Rainbow
Black Bear (new)
Black Cherry
Black Ethiopian
Black from Tula
Black Krim
Black Oxheart (new)
Black Plum
Black Prince
Black Stripe Cherry (new)
Black Zebra
Blondkopfchen
Bloody Butcher
Brad's Black Oxheart (new)
Brandysweet Plum Cherry (new)
Brandywine OTV
Brandywine Landis
Brown’s Yellow Giant
Burpee's Supersteak (new)
Camalay
Camp Joy Cherry
Caspian Pink
CelebrityVFFNTA
Chapman
Cherokee Purple
Chocolate Vintage (new)
Chuck’s Yellow
Church (new)
Copia
Cosmonaut Volkov
Costoluto Genovese
Costoluto Florentino
Coustralee
Coyote
Earl’s Faux
Early Girl
First Lady
Fourth of July (new)
Gardener’s Delight
Gary O'Sena (new)
German Red Strawberry
Giant Belgium (new)
Gold Medal
Grandma Josie (new)
Grape
Green Doctors (new)
Green Giant
Green Zebra
Grub's Mystery Green (new)
Hawaiian Pineapple
Heart of Compassion
Hippie Zebra
Homer Fike’s Oxheart (new)
Hugh’s
Isis Candy Cherry
Lemony
Japanese Black Trifele
Japanese Oxheart
Jaune Flamme
JD's Special C-Tex (new)
Jersey Devil (it's back!)
Julia Child
Kellogg’s Breakfast
Kentucky Beefsteak
King Pineapple (new)
Lemony
Love Apple
Love Happy (new cross of mine)
Magnum (new)
Mammoth German Gold (new)
Mandarin Cross (new)
Marianna’s Peace
Marvel Stripe
Matina
Moskvitch
Mr. Brown (new)
Nebraska Wedding
Neves Azorean Red
Northern Lights
Oaxacan Jewel
Orange Russian 117
Orange Strawberry
Oregon Spring
Paul Robeson
Peacevine Cherry
Persimmon
Pineapple (new)
Pink Accordian
Plum Lemon
Porterhouse Steak (new)
Portugese Monster  (new)
Purple Brandy
Purple Calabash
Purple DogCreek (new)
Purple Russian
Red Pear
Riesentraube
Rosalita
Rose
San Francisco Fog
Siletz
South American Giant
Southern Pride (new)
Stupice
Sungold
Super Marzano
Sweet Horizon
Taxi
Texas Star
Thessaloniki
Tigerella
Tommy Toe Cherry (new)
Top Sirloin (new)
Tree's Bottom Yellow (new)
Valena Pink (new)
Vintage Wine
Virginia Sweets (new)
West Virginia Sweet Meat (new)
White Cherry
White Tomesol
Wild Bill's Big Red (new)
Yellow Brandywine
Yellow Pear
Zogola (it's back!)

Gardening Class: Grow the Earliest Tomatoes

I finally have my schedule of spring gardening classes set!  The hard part is trying to figure out what sort of classes people want.  One of the classes I thought people might like, "Grow the Earliest Tomatoes," necessitated me running out to my greenhouse and sowing seeds of my earliest maturing varieties:

This is the earliest I've ever sown tomato seeds.  My intention is for these babies to be ready to give out to participants in the "Grow the Earliest Tomatoes" class on February 2.  Students will learn the newest technology to get their tomatoes to fruit and ripen in early summer, rather than having to wait until mid to late summer for their first ripe tomatoes.  Class participants will take home varieties bred to mature early, such as Matina, First Lady, Siletz, Stupice, San Francisco Fog, Oregon Spring, and Early Girl.  I also sowed the varieties that turned out to ripen first in my garden last year, which were Lemony, Homer Fikes, Camp Joy Cherry and Sungold.

This class won't be for wimps or people not willing to put in some work.  If you want ripe tomatoes by the end of June (instead of the end of August, which sometimes happens here in Coastal California), then you'll need to fuss over them quite a bit and know what you're doing.  But if you want to do the work, I'm more than happy to show you how to do it.  This should be a fun and interesting experiment for those of you who want to be the first on your block to have ripe tomatoes.

For a full class description and tuition information, click here to be directed to my Upcoming Events/Classes page.  You will also find my other newly added classes to the schedule.  I'll talk about each one individually as the days go on.