Talking About Vertical Gardening

Interested in finding out how to maximize your gardening space by growing edibles vertically? Come to the meeting of the Alameda Backyard Growers tomorrow night where I'll be talking about ways to get your edibles to grow up. The talk and the meeting are free and I'll be selling copies of my books, California Fruit and Vegetable Gardening and California Month-by-Month Gardening, afterward. Hope to see you there!

"Growing Edibles on the Up and Up:
Vertical Gardening Techniques for Fruits and Vegetables"
Alameda Backyard Growers monthly meeting
Rythmix Cultural Works
2513 Blanding Ave.
Alameda
Monday, August 10, 2015
6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Photo: Heidi Hornberger

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Rainier Cherries!

This is the first year that I've had any cherries on my Rainier cherry tree and ever since I noticed the tiny fruits starting to color up, I've been checking them daily. The sum total of my first crop: 5 cherries! I was certain that the birds were going to beat me to them, but today I plucked the reddest cherry to see if they were ripe enough and couldn't believe how perfect and delicious they were! They were unblemished and juicy with just the right balance of sweetness and tartness in the golden flesh.

You have to be patient when you grow cherries. It takes three or four years to get the first crop and another three or four years beyond that for the tree to reach maturity. And for most cultivars, you have to have another compatible variety of cherry tree nearby to pollinate it. I've been meaning to graft another variety onto my tree for cross-pollination, but never seem to get it done. Some neighbors have fortunately planted two Bing cherry trees in their front yard, so it seems the cross-pollination issue has been taken care of.

So yes, it's only 5 cherries this year. But over the next few years, I should get a bigger crop each year. Eventually, I'll have a big enough harvest for a pie, or some jam, maybe some chutney, not to mention eating fresh. But today, life is a very small bowl of cherries and I'm OK with that.

Growing Bigger in a Small Garden

I have a guest post up today on the blog for the seed company, American Meadows. Check it out to see how I'm planning on squeezing more fruits and vegetables out of my small gardening space.

Raspberries in Containers: You Can Grow That!

Photo credit: BrazelBerries

When gardeners think of growing berries in containers, they usually think first of strawberries growing in classic strawberry pots. I'm growing my strawberries that way this year, having lost my usual strawberry bed to the encroaching shade of a growing tree. But I want more berries! There have been some good blueberry varieties introduced in recent years that are bred for container gardening, such as 'Top Hat', 'Sunshine Blue', 'Patriot', 'Peach Sorbet', 'Jelly Bean', and 'Northsky'. But I was really excited to see BrazelBerries come out with a dwarf, thornless raspberry called 'Raspberry Shortcake', perfect for container growing.

You can, of course, grow other varieties of raspberries in containers but they require some kind of support structure for the canes. And unless you plant a thornless variety, you have to place the container somewhere out of the way so that you won't constantly be pricked by thorns as you walk by. 'Raspberry Shortcake' requires no trellising or other support and because it's thornless, it would work nicely on a sunny deck or patio, even in a high-traffic area.

'Raspberry Shortcake' is intended for zones 5-9, although I'll be growing it in my zone 10a garden and I expect it will do fine. It grows to a 2- to 3-foot mounded shrub and fruits on second-year canes in mid-summer. It needs full sun, well-draining soil, and moderate water. If you plant it now (early spring), give it a couple weeks to settle in and then fertilize with a balanced fertilizer. When it fruits you may want to cover with a net or remay cloth to keep the birds from robbing you of your harvest. After the fruiting period is over, prune out the canes that had fruit, so the only canes left will fruit next year. More canes will appear next spring that will fruit the following year. It's self-pollinating, but it's true of most self-pollinating fruits that you tend to get a heavier yield if you have more than one plant.

'Raspberry Shortcake' may not be easy to find yet in your local nursery, but if you can't find it there you can order it directly from White Flower Farm. I was really happy to find one at the booth for Wegman's Nursery at the SF Flower & Garden Show last month. I still need to pot it up in and I better do it this weekend because it's already leafing out quite a bit. I can't wait to taste the first berries this summer!





You can also check out last month's You Can Grow That! post about Swiss chard.

Swiss Chard: You Can Grow That!

Of all the greens that I can grow in my garden, there's no doubt that Swiss chard is my favorite. The reason is simple: Not only do I like to eat it, but it's easy to grow and works as a great addition to any garden, even amongst ornamentals. The stark white or bright yellow, orange or red stems against the dark greens make it a lovely filler plant tucked into flower beds, and if I only harvest the bigger, outer leaves, the plant will keep growing in my garden for more than a year.

You can plant starts from the nursery but it's very easy to grow from seed. Although mature plants can tolerate light frosts, it's best to wait until after the last frost date to set out seedlings or direct-seed. Swiss chard can grow in full sun or partial shade and prefer cool, mild conditions. They also work great as container plants. Sow seeds 1/2 inch deep in rows or broadcast over a bed. Seedlings can be thinned when they reach a few inches and the seedlings make a great addition to salads.

Plants should be kept evenly moist and mulched. Fish emulsion or compost is really all the fertilizer you need, but don't fertilize in the winter if soil temps get below 40 degrees. You can start harvesting leaves in about 50 days. You can cut the outer leaves just above the soil level and leave the younger, inner leaves to get bigger, or you can cut the entire head off at soil level (it may or may not re-sprout from the roots if you harvest the entire head).

Swiss chard is rich in vitamins and minerals and very versatile. You can use it in salads, stir fries, or the same ways you'd use any other greens. My favorite way of eating it is to just chop up stems and leaves together and throw them into a pot of simmering chicken broth along with some frozen tortellini. In a flash you've got a healthy, delicious soup!

For more on growing this and other edibles in California gardens, check out my book California Fruit and Vegetable Gardening (also available in a Nook edition at BarnesandNoble.com).

This post is part of the You Can Grow That! monthly blog series. Check here for more posts by other garden bloggers on how to grow all kinds of edibles and ornamentals. 

All the Edible Gardening News That's Fit to Pin

Want a great place to go to find an ever-growing collection of articles on growing edibles? Follow the Vegetable Garden Bloggers & Writers United board on Pinterest. With more than 20 garden writers (including me) contributing their posts on vegetable gardening, you'll discover a wide selection of topics and very solid information from people who never get tired of exploring the world of edible gardening.

I've written about the fun I'm having with Pinterest before. If you'd like to follow my boards, click the following button.


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