Hello fellow Californians....let's introduce ourselves! #2

The smoke comes and goes, one day a breeze moves in and it's clear and the next it's hazy and you can taste the smoke.
A friend has a Gold claim up near Berry Creek out of Oroville, there are 33 fires burning up and around there
some days at the claim we had to wear masks to breathe thru
but we are bound and determined the smoke will not stop us from working the claim, so far we have found about 3/4 of an ounce, and we have found 8 huge cracks so far, one is 10 foot long and about 12 foot deep and they are all full of Mercury, somewhere at the end of all those cracks is a drop off full of gold, we just have to keep dredging till we find the drop off.
we are having a blast tho and some much needed R and R. Yes to me anything outdoors is R and R, even if we are doing this kind of hard work, its a different kind of tired! :)

Hello!

I am not a new member of Dave's Garden, but new to this forum. Is it for Northern Californians as well?

I haved lived in Southern California for most of my life, but now, for the last 21 years, I live in the Sierra Foothills, in lower Grizzly Flats, actually it is a Somerset physical address, so kind of in between. 3500' elevation, snow in winter, and hot all summer. Deer, raccoons, skunks, mountain lions (very few now), moles, foxes, rabbits, voles, gophers, mosquitoes and hard clay soil. Doesn't it sound ideal for gardening?

And yes, we have had over 400 fires this year. Have any of you been affected by it?
Is there a place to donate for all the people displaced by the fires? It must be devastating to lose one's home.

Thanks for the invite!

Evelyn

Welcome! Yes, everyone in CA is welcome here, doesn't matter which part of CA. I think most people are either from the Bay Area or SoCal since that's where the big cities are, but there are some people from other places too and everyone is welcome. Your area does sound like a challenge! LOL As far as I know, nobody here was affected by this year's fires (except for a thick covering of smoke that hung over a lot of areas for a while), but I know last year there were a few SoCal folks who had to evacuate due to some of those fires.

Welcome, Evelyn! Yes, it sounds like you have 'fun' in the garden!

I haven't heard anything about donations for the families in the burned areas. My sister is still making blankets for the folks who were burned out here last year; I know it takes a long time to recover and they can use help. Do you know of any good resources -other than Red Cross? We could start a thread with 'where to give' info.

Hi All,
I've been reading this forum, but this is my first post. I'm up here in Biggs (a tiny city, population 1800, 60 miles north of Sacramento).

I had an appointment in Chico (30 mi north) this morning and the smoke was pretty bad. I checked the CalFire website to see if we have a new fire going, but nothing's posted so far. I'm in Butte County, one of the hardest hit areas and my DH is a Fire Captain, so needless to say, I'm a single mom most of the summer (lavender dragon - the DH is stationed in Berry Creek ( :)

I grow a cottage garden with a wild tumble of blossoms from early spring until frost. I have butterfly bush, blackeyed susans, dalhias, catmint, lilies, lychnis and much more The house may be a complete wreck when the DH is gone, but I keep up the garden (gotta have priorities!).

I'm enjoying all of your posts and should have lots of plants and seeds to share later in the season.

Marlee

Welcome Marlee. So sorry about the fires and smoke. I have relatives in Mariposa (just south of Yosemite) and they are finally getting rid of the smoke. Tell your DH he and his peers are revered in California. And all the firefighters' families are appreciated, too, for supporting them during the fire season. It must be hard, but you sound like you have your priorities straight! LOL Any pictures of your tumble of blossoms?

Kathleen

Thanks Kathleen. Most of the time it's not too hard, but when the dh is gone for weeks at a time I get pretty frazzled! I work full time and have 2 tweens at home, so something's got to give. My garden is my therapy!

Beautiful,Marlee...wish you'd come work on my place in your spare time...it doesn't look as though you have rabbits or gophers...hmm?
Sherry

Beautiful, Marlee! Looks like your therapy is succeeding. :-)

Oh that is just gorgeous Marlee - love the kitty, too!

I have a tween + 7 & 5 year old ... digging in the dirt definitely makes for a happier mom. Thanks for sharing your garden.

Tracy

What's a "tween" ???

That's you, Mike......lol..

Oh, I just couldn't resist...

ha ha ha ha - not a teenager, but double digits

ok...got it !

Oh....I thought you were a teenager, Mike.......

Have been a bad DG'er... Too much fun in the garden.
DH STILL thinks we ran out of room; that's why I only bought 1 star Magnolia today!

Will participate more; besides pruning of the fruit trees in a few weeks and trimming the roses I have nothing much to do outside.

Can we still be friends?

Welcome all new people; I can't wait to see what y'all have to teach me!

Christie

The picture is Sparkie and Nutella; two of my three catkids.

Looks like you need to add on to the cat perch ...I mean, after all, what's more important: Rose pruning or cat comfort? LOL
(Somehow I think I already know the answer to that question ! )

Sparkle and Nutella look like they enjoy sharing top perch.... or is it tolerate?

Is everyone getting in their seed catalogs and such.... or as my DH calls it "my plant porn". It tends to stack up in my magazine basket and by the bathtub. :D

"Plant porn"...LOL! Yep---I've been very disciplined this year about putting (most of) it directly into the recycling bin without even drooling on it. But there are a few I kept.....in fact, I think I'll go pour myself a cup of coffee and look at them now!

tee hee Ima -I have a small stack ... I'm saving them for a rainy day in January. I would like to start a veggie garden this year, so I'm going to "try" to limit my ordering to seeds only. It's so gorgeous today, it feels like spring.

How is your big project? Did you get everything done, I can't remember do you have a journal - I remember seeing pictures ?!

I do have a couple of journals, and a big one for my 2008 projects (which needs to be updated). My back yard's bones are done, and we had one neighborhood get-together out there just before it got cold. It functioned as hoped! Nice when the vision works out....

I'm hacking away at getting my front courtyard back in shape since the landscapers left the end of October. They tiled the floor & put in drip for me, but all my container plants were out of place for many weeks. Big mess...still not done, but there's been some progress. Still have to hook up all the containers to drip, but I'll think about that tomorrow, Scarlett!!

How was your first Christmas in the new house?

Very nice - strange without the family get togethers (but these were mostly cancelled this year due to all the crazy snowfall in Portland, OR) thankfully my kids are nice and noisy - so they kept the party rolling!

Today I'm headed to Lowe's to get some paint samples for around the house.... I'm going to just buy a few quarts to try out, you know how the colors change so much in the light/dark.

I have convinced my DH to help me build some raised beds for veggies - so we'll start on that project in a month. I can't get over the fact that at the kids school they have lettuce & greens growing strong in the school garden.... it would be total mush back home. I also would like to copy an idea I saw for tomatoes - kind of like a wall - interesting.

Tracy

Got photos? Your tomato wall does sound interesting!
Oh, yes, I'm a newbie. I've been around DG since Sept. Planning on going to the Mini Round up in March.
Walk In Beauty!
SingingWolf

the tomato wall was in one of my gardening magazines, I'm going to need to do some searching - but I remember it was basically chicken wire with two slanted supports on the end, about 2 feet out at the bottom, about a foot at the top. So you could pick tomatoes from either side.

The back wall of my garage gets full sun, sun up to sun down, so I thought it would be a good spot - and I can see it from my kitchen window which is a good reminder to make sure it gets watered! When I find the article I'll post better instructions.

I've never done raised beds before - anyone have any good info/experience to pass on ? Thanks!

Here's the recipe for how I do mine.

Didn't you say you have gophers in your area? If so, put hardware cloth (not chickenwire) at ground level, then use a combination of native soil and good stuff in the bed, up to about 3" below the top of the bed. Then use 6 sheets of damp newspaper as a weed barrier. (If you can get to a bait store, put some fishing worms in your bed under the newspaper.) Punch thru the newspaper to set your plants, and then top with 3" of your favorite mulch. Sprinkle the mulch lightly with corn gluten as a pre-emergent.

Make it high enough to be comfortable. I think a lot of people think only about making them high enough for the plants, not the plant-or! Mine is extremely high, so I don't have to bend at all - I have back problems - it looks like a bed with four posts. We used the posts to hang bird netting. It's unused at the moment, but we're going to add a drip watering system and replant it.

Hi,

I garden in the foothills just W of Los Altos CA. My passion is bulbs , but I also love tubers, old roses, heirloom plants, and fragrant plants . I once read that some gardeners are artists that compose and 'paint' with plants and others are amateur botanists that grow collections like a botanic garden. I am definitely one of the latter--need to know the names of anything I grow, have kept a garden journal for years , and once I find something that works in our climate I try to hunt down more in the same genus to add to the collection. Not nicely organized like a botanic garden--it's more a jumble with plants scattered here and there, wherever I think they will do well.

Had a good laugh over the comment about plant catalogs. Very clear that they are trying to seduce us with descriptions and photos of perfect specimens to place an order. Even though I can go to the supplier's website and see everything in the catalog it is more satisfying to curl up with a cup of tea on a stormy or cold day and turn the pages of plant /seed catalogs. I still remember my grandfather poring over the Burpee catalog in January with the snow blowing against the window (Northern Ohio). He was figuring out which tomato and lettuce seeds to try that year. Good gardening, everyone.

Chris

Well, I can certainly understand "a jumble with plants scattered here and there, wherever I think they will do well." That is my style, though I try to stay with CA natives. I too like to know the names of what I'm planting - the proper name, not the common one, if possible. Could never manage a journal and haven't even gotten around to putting plant tags on, though I have all kinds of supplies to do so. [sigh] Wish I was more organized.

Glad to meet you, Chris.

Kathleen

Hi fellow California gardeners. I am Dee one of those who lurk in the background, reading lots of post but not responding a lot. Actually I go through spurts, I would like to be a regular but just don’t find the time. The reason I don’t have the time is because of my Gardens. So much therapy, sometimes a little too much, but that gives me a great excuse when I am forgetful. I tell people that I am getting older and work out in the sun way too much, but I still love it.

I actually grow and sell perennials and bulbs. We are about 2 1/2 hours north of Sacramento. We live on 3 acres and grow the plants here and use 1/2 acre as a display garden out in our blazing hot summer sun.

I pretty much have to know the botanical names of all my plants, but find most customers prefer that I use the common name. It must have been one of those days when I was working out in the sun too much, that I spurted off the name of a plant to a customer, “Nepeta Walker’s Low” and then said “Catmint”, and she said oh “Catnip”, and I said Catmint, she was sure it was Catnip, then I was confused for a moment ---LOL

Redtootsiepop –love the “plant porn” Have to tell hubby that one. If you want to see a website full of plant porn (no touch ups to photos) look at my website http://www.deesgardens.com/PhotoGalleryMain.html

Would be great to meet some fellow California DG members, haven’t noticed any RU in this upper part of Calif.?

Happy Gardening,
Dee

Oh Dee - that is just gorgeous! Makes me miss my old garden so much - oh well, the building is the fun part!

I am not so organized as to have a journal, but I think about it - ha ha ha. I had Nepeta's Walkers Low - need to put some of that here, thanks for the reminder. This climate is still new for me, so I'm having fun trying new things, but all my plants are still small - I love the "full" look that will take a few more years.... and I have mostly empty muddy yard. But the best days are spent out in the dirt with the kids.

ima - I haven't seen any gophers or evidence, but probably should err on the side of caution. Your recipe sounds perfect, I will use it ! - with Kaperc's advice to make it higher -good suggestion for sure.

Hello all I usually hang out in the iris area, I live in Santa Ynez, near Santa Barbara and Solvang.
I have LOTS of pets and IRIS to take care of......
my yard is a constant "work in progress" if I would stay in one spot of the yard long enough and finish a project, I would be miles ahead, but not that organized:) 38 out right now, not too bad it should be a pretty day. will get outside and do some work....Happy New Year to all...

Dee your garden is what mine wants to be when it grows up! Just beautiful....

Toots, if you plant it, they will probably come. The gophers, that is...wretched little things. My new raised bed is tall---and wide enough for my derrierre, too!

Beautiful inspiration for the Cottage garden I have in mind!
Happy New Year!
WIB,
SW

Thanks all for the nice comments. That picture is from the summer of 2007, we only planted it that Spring. We haven't quite lived here 2 years yet.

I do worry about the gophers too. I plant lots of Castor Bean plants around the border of the gardens hoping that will deter them. When we moved here I was really concerned seeing so many mounds. So far I know I have been lucky. I keep thinking one of these days they are going to discover this is the town buffet.

I thought the same thing with the iris, I was told gophers don't like the rhizomes, they are bitter, well year one fine, year two, let's just say I think the little **&^%^*))*%$#@@ have steal stomachs................

This is the first year that I've ever had gophers east my iris. Dee, I cannot believe that you've had no gopher problems there yet! When we lived in Contra Costa there were gopher mounds everywhere on the property and yet they never seemed to actually eat anything...and we inherited 50 roses with the property...gophers never touched them. I still have not figured that one out. I know they weren't planted in wire, 'cause I moved them all.

The only thing they've ever eaten in my garden is artichokes. I thought they ate my tulip bulbs, but I've since learned that the tulips probably just weren't happy in my climate. But I know their tunnelling has killed plants & trees they haven't eaten. I have since planted daffodills pretty thickly in my beds (they seem to help), but I am concerned about my new small patch of lawn.

Hi All,
Nice to meet all of you fellow Californians!

I'm new here and found this forum through a friend of mine.

I love growing veggies and grew my first garden here last spring. I just pulled out the last of the plants because it got so cold here at night for about a week and wanted to prepare for the next one.

Gophers got my row of okra a couple of months ago. They buzzed right up the row, eating the roots I assume? Made a huge mound of dirt and toppled all the plants. We'd been eating okra for months and they would have kept producing if not for that.

My favorite thing to grow is tomatoes, so I am going to have a lot of different heirloom and hybrids growing this season.

Here's some of my little harvest. I miss my veggies!

Welcome! Do you like growing other veggies too? Nice photo!
WIB,
SW