Garden2Blog 2012 with P. Allen Smith & Friends

April was a blur for me as I spent most of it sick, then May was spent catching up on the garden chores that I neglected in April, with some excitement sprinkled in here and there.

After spending three weeks sick as a dog, I was whisked to Little Rock, Arkansas…husband-less and kid-less, thanks to P. Allen Smith, his wonderful staff, Garden Home Retreat partners and his 2nd Annual Garden2Blog event.  I spent a few days in Arkansas with 24 garden bloggers from all over the United States, visiting the sites, having friendly garden competitions, eating yummy cheese grits (which I had never had before!), while meeting the faces behind some of my favorite garden products (and learning about some new products as well). 

After watching Allen’s show for years, it was really nice to get to know him outside of the show, especially the Allen that jumped in his pond- fully clothed- with our floating containers that we made with Laguna Ponds.  He was also gracious enough to talk to my daughter on the phone within the first 30 minutes of meeting me! “Hi Mr.Smith!” she said, and he asked when she was going to come and visit. Of course she has been begging me ever since to go to Arkansas. 

Over the next few weeks I will be posting several blog posts about my trip, and all of the wonderful products I get to try out thanks to G2B12’s sponsors.  In the meantime, I wanted to give a shout out to all of my new garden friends- thank you, thank you, thank you! I hope to see everyone soon! You were all so nice, and I am thankful to call all of you friends!

And a special thank you to P. Allen Smith and staff.  I am still not sure why you chose me, but I am so grateful for the opportunity!  I’m a huge fan of Arkansas now- can’t wait to visit it again and see more!

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Click on the links below to check out what everyone else had to say about G2B12 and see their awesome photos! 

The Sponsors: Berry Nurseries, BioSafe Systems, Sun Gro Horticulture/Black Gold, Bonnie Plants, Conard-Pyle Company, Easy Gardener/Jobes Organics, The Garden Patch GrowBox, Laguna Ponds, Purina Mills, Proven Winners, Le Creuset, and Mountain Valley Spring Water.

The Garden Bloggers:

Bruce Bailey from Heavy Petal Nursery

Kylee Baumle from Our Little Acre

Steve Bender from The Grumpy Gardener/Southern Living

Carolyn Binder from Cowlick Cottage Farm

Shirley Bovshow from Garden World Report

Amy Bowers from About You magazine and LocalEyes

Susan Cohan from Leaf Magazine and Miss Rumphius Rules

Shawna Coronado from The Casual Gardener and Gardening Nude

Bren Haas from BG Garden

Annie Haven from Authentic Haven Brand

Robin Horton from Urban Gardens

LaManda Joy from The Yarden

Monica Milla from The Garden Faerie

Dee Nash from Red Dirt Ramblings

Michael Nolan from My Earth Garden and The Garden Rockstar

Kat Robinson from Tie Dye Travels

Gen Schmidt from North Coast Gardening

Christopher Tidrick at From the Soil

Amanda Thompson from Kiss My Aster

Linda Tyson from SS Garden Girl

Jean Ann Van Krevelen from Gardener to Farmer

Barbara Wise from B Wise Gardening

Helen Yoest from Gardening With Confidence

Oh, and there’s me!

***Attendees of Garden2Blog 2012 (including myself) received transportation, accommodations and meals during this event. Some Garden2Blog sponsors provided samples to the attendee's with no obligation.  Any thoughts/views about the products are my own.  ***

Praying Mantis Babies!

Last summer I purchased the "Praying Mantis Pagoda" from Insect Lore.  I had to wait until the winter to order my praying mantis egg for it (they only ship the eggs from January-April). The eggs themselves take about 3 to 7 weeks to hatch.  This particular egg arrived here from Insect Lore on March 15th.  In the past I had purchased my praying mantis eggs from my local Green Acres Nursery. Those eggs I would put directly outside. I bought this pagoda because after buying numerous eggs for my garden, I never got to see a single one hatch.  They always hatched- but I wanted to be able to watch them hatch!

Thanks to me catching pink eye (yeah, no fun!), and my daughter waking me up at 7am, I was home when the egg started hatching.  "Mommy! Mommy! THEY'RE HATCHING!"  At first I thought she was talking about the bird's nest on our front door (which, by the way- we've got four eggs there now, and we haven't opened our front door in over a week!).  But then she said "There's like a HUNDRED of them, and they are like a bunch of ants crawling all over the place!  They are ADORABLE!" 

Sure enough, she was right.  They are more like mosquitoes than ants, but there's well over a hundred of them, and at 11am, there are still more nymphs crawling out of the egg.  The fear that they would start eating each other hit and I didn't really feel up to explaining THAT part of nature to my daughter so I went outside in search of some aphids.  Thankfully I had just been outside in the garden the day prior to check out the leaf curl problem I was having with one of my peach trees and saw that it had some aphids on it too, so this morning I just clipped a small section of that tree and tossed it into the pagoda. 

Most of the praying mantises will be released into the garden within a couple of days.  Since we are in the middle of a rain storm outside, they kinda picked the WORST possible day to hatch, but we'll try to keep them alive and civil with one another until Saturday.  First sign of a mantis massacre and they'll be sent packing, released outside to brave the rain on their own. 

This is the egg, or the ootheca, and you can sort of see one of these little guys (or gals) climbing its way out of it on the right.  A female can lay up to 400 eggs in one of these things.  It's no wonder that she splits after she has them- who wants to take care of 400 kids?! I attached a video of the egg hatching- but bare with me, it was my first time adding video to a blog post! 

WPA Rock Garden



The Sacramento area has many beautiful public gardens- and the WPA Rock Garden in William Land Park has got to be one of my favorites.  Not even an acre large, this little garden would be my dream backyard- jam packed with awesome plants and many pathways to get lost in.  Since it's right next to the Sacramento Zoo and Fairytale Town, I'm able to stop by here many times a year on regular dates with my daughter. 



I can bore you with the details of the garden, but it's one of those places where words are not needed.  Simply go, relax, and check out every inch of the garden.  But if you'd like to learn more, there is an excellent article about it and Daisy Mah, who is responsible for creating this beautiful space here. 















Repurposing Containers for Seed Starting

Starting seeds can become expensive if you're the type of person to grow and share seedlings with others.  There are several ways to cut corners on those costs by reusing items that would have otherwise been thrown in the trash or recycle bin to get your seeds off to a healthy start.  Today we used a container from Friday night's dinner: a plastic container used for a rotisserie chicken.  In the past we've also used cardboard egg cartons, yogurt containers, and the plastic containers we buy apples in from Costco.  The rotisserie chicken container pictured above is great for plants that prefer to get started in a mini-greenhouse.  A plastic container like this that is specifically made for seeds will set you back a few dollars. 

This particular container is not to share with friends, but specifically for my daughter.  She chose to sow Ipomoea lobata seeds today- aka "Exotic Love Vine", which you can usually find at Annie's Annuals in a 4" pot. I wish I could say she specifically picked out these seeds because she remembered their beautiful blooms growing on our fence last year- but no, she picked them because they matched the shirt she was wearing today (such a girl thing to do).

This project is simple: fill the container with seed starting mix, add water(much easier to do now than after you plant the seeds), poke a bunch of holes in the soil, push the seeds in, then cover it up.  That's it.  With these seeds we should see germination take place in about a week, but since I soaked the seeds for most of the day in water we might see them sprout a little earlier. 

She happily place her mini greenhouse in our guest bathroom where it gets a lot of light- and a lot of traffic, so we will remember to keep an eye on them.  These plants will be able to be transplanted outside in about a month (weather permitting, of course).

Considering Chickens?



Chickens are all the rage now that more and more cities are making it legal for residents to keep a couple of hens in their backyard.  I was lucky enough to hang out with award-winning landscape designer and Timber Press author Jessi Bloom this week at the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show.  Her book, Free Ranch Chicken Gardens, includes everything you need to know about integrating chickens into your backyard- from coop designs to chicken care, and which plants you should or shouldn’t have in your garden.  She covered all of this information to an eager crowd at her “What the Cluck!” seminars at SFGS. Her book has been so popular that it has sold out at the last two garden shows she's spoke at- prior to her book signing event!   I personally have wanted chickens for a while, and will definitely be getting my hands on a copy of her book once we finally get them.

After returning from my trip to San Francisco, I connected with Greg Howes and Brian Fikes, owners of Two Flew the Coop.  I first saw their super cute chicken coops at Talini’s Nursery, and I’m eager to add one to my own garden one day. 

They have raised chickens for over twenty years, and were nice enough to allow my family to come visit their little urban farm.  Little is not exaggerating either- their 700 square foot home sits on top of a postage stamp sized yard, yet they have beautifully designed the space to be inviting and practical. 

Both Greg and Brian are gardeners and they have a wonderful selection of edibles in their backyard and front yard.



Kumquats, blood oranges, and an olive tree all look fabulous this time of year, and we can’t forget the beautifully blooming rosemary which seems to be the chicken’s favorite plant to hang out around.  Their previous garden was featured in a book called The Herbalist’s Garden, and was photographed by one of the greatest garden photographers around, Saxon Holt.



Walking up to the chicken pen in their backyard, the chickens came RUNNING at the sound of Greg’s voice.  As we walked around their habitat, the chickens were always within a couple feet from us- even pecking at my tennis shoes occasionally to try and get my shoe laces.  These feathered ladies were all very friendly, and quite tolerant of my five year old and her constant need to pet them.



The coops that Two Flew the Coop make are all one-of-a-kind.  They spend their free time browsing antique stores and garage sales to collect fun and decorative items for their coops.  Each coop will have a theme- whether it’s shabby chic’, Buddha, cowboy, etc.  Each coop is a beautiful art piece made of mostly recycled and reclaimed items.  I was able to check out a couple of the coops they are currently working on, which I’m sure will make their way to Talini’s Nursery soon.  In addition to the ones available at Talini’s, Greg and Brian will also design coops based on your personal preferences if you wish. 



In addition to chicken coops, Two Flew the Coop also offer books, organic chicken feed, and various supplies for tending to your feathered friends.  They are also available for consultations and speaking engagements.  They should have their website up and running in the next few weeks which I’ll share here once it’s up, but if you’d like to get in touch with them in the meantime you can call them at (916) 737-2043. 

They are such a great resource for those of you in Sacramento who are considering getting chickens (now that you can do it legally).   Whether you have questions about which breed would be right for you, or how to protect your chickens from predators- these guys have practically done all of the guessing work for you!  And did I mention that they've never had a complaint from one of their neighbors? 



We wish we were their neighbors!  Look at this beautiful selection of eggs they sent home with us!  I'm almost ashamed to admit that we cooked a few of them up the moment after we got home from visiting them.  One thing is for sure- you can't beat the taste of organic, free-range chicken eggs!

Thank you again to Greg and Brian for letting us tour your garden and meet your beautiful chickens. 

Flora Grubb Nursery= Awesome

After seeing this place in numerous magazines and splashed all over the internet, I was happy to finally step foot for the first time in Flora Grubb Nursery.  The very first succulent living walls I had ever seen were from here, and I have been itching to try and build some myself. One of these days I will come and take one of their classes on building one (as soon as I have collected enough succulent babies to do so!). If you can't wait for a class, you can always buy one of thier DIY kits. And speaking of their classes, you can find a list of their events on their website, and it looks like Sunset Magazine's Johanna Silver is coming in April!  Yee haw!

On this particular trip though I fell in love with their Tillandsia displays.  These "air plants" are perfect for my bright office, and I proudly displayed my six new air plants the moment I returned to work from this trip.  I may have bombarded my co-workers with emails on how they can decorate with tillandsia as well.....  I'm sure they are sick of me and my talk of plants but I just can't help myself (and thank you to those of you who tollerate me and pretend to be interested- I appreciate it!).  The Thigmatrope Satellite Fleet hooks used for the wall displays are wicked cool, and I am pondering where I'm going to place them in my home.  You can buy them with the air plants here, or purchase without the air plants here.

If you're one that loves color, then this is the place for you.  I was happy to be able to have a Fermob bistro set in my garden for the Arden Park Garden Tour, and I admit that I have been dreaming of it ever since.  Talini's Nursery carries a nice assortment of them here in Sacramento- but Flora Grubb has this amazing wall display of them that makes me wish I had a large warehouse just to hang Fermob chairs from!  Is that sad?  Of all the art pieces in the nursery this was my favorite.  My second favorite display of color were these little colorful "cups" (upper left).  You can find more display options for these wall ornaments here.

The whole reason we came here on this day was to check out their staghorn fern displays.  Specifically we were looking for the ones that Matti and Megan from Far Out Flora made.  Matti and Megan make some pretty cool $hit.  There, I said it.  Somehow I managed to leave this glorious place without one (I was scared it would die over the next couple of days on my road trip!), but my friend Amy from the Lamm Farm bought one.  I'll let her be my guinea pig and see how it does here in Sacramento!     

Like what you see?  Flora Grubb is open Monday through Saturday: 9am - 6pm; Sunday: 10am - 6pm.  You can find them at 1634 Jerrold Ave, San Francisco CA.

You can also go like them on Facebook, and while you're at it you can like Far Out Flora too.

Cheers to the weekend!  Enjoy your garden :)

PS- thank you Chuck for driving us here, because I totally would have gotten lost, yet again.

Guest Post: Making Seed Tape With Kids

Today we have a guest post by Stacy Tornio, author of Project Garden! Stacy is blogging here today as part of her virtual book tour.  After you’re done reading about making seed tape with kids, hop on over here because she’s giving away TEN copies of her book this month!  While you’re there, check out some of the other fun garden projects she has on her site that your kids will surely love! 



I remember the first time I discovered seed rolls or seed tape. (You know the seed tape you can buy from gardening supply companies?) Genius! You simply roll out the tape or roll, and the seeds are already in place, perfectly 1-2 inches apart or whatever the particular seed calls for. Then I heard about someone at my Master Gardener’s organization making their own version with kids using paper towels and toilet paper. Double genius! Ever since then I developed my own version, making a spider. It’s now  one of my favorite, cheapest and easiest activities to do with a group of kids. Seriously, you can entertain an entire class for less than $2! Here’s how to make some spider seed mats:

1.) Cut out your spider shape. You can see here that I cut out two circles and eight legs. Depending on how old the kids are or how much time you have, you can pre-cut these to make it easier.

2.)You can plant any kind of seed, but I love using spider flower (cleome) for my spider shape. It’s an easy flower for kids to grow, and it’s fun, too. You can follow the directions on the back of the seed packet for placement, but I like to tell the kids to put 1-2 seeds on the tip of each leg. So get your seeds ready.

3.)Now make a glue-like mixture out of flour and water. Mix until it’s a little bit sticky. Then dab just a little bit (you don’t need much) on the end of each leg. Let dry for 5-10 minutes.

4.) Once dry, gently roll up your spider legs. If it’s too early to plant in the ground, save it. Or if you’re ready to plant, go out to the garden and place it on the soil. Then cover your spider with just a thin later of soil. Water and wait for your spider to start sprouting!

You can make these seed mats with just about any seed or shape. I’d love to try making suns with sunflower seeds next. Just follow the directions on the back of seed packet for spacing. It’s a great way to save time in the garden and get your hands dirty in spring when it’s still a little too cold to garden. Here’s a link to a video of a similar seed roll you can make.

Thanks for another fun project Stacy! This will be a great project for me to work on this weekend with my 5 year old (since rain is in the forecast all weekend long!).  Don't forget to check out other fun projects on Stacy's website here, and enter to win a copy of her book here! 

Guest Post: Label GMO's- It's Our Right to Know!

Last week my husband and I got the privilege of meeting Jere Gettle of Baker Creek Seeds for the first time.  I can honestly say that I have never met a more genuine person.  We only had a few minutes to chat with him as we stopped by the Petaluma Seed Bank, but in the first five seconds of chatting with Jere you know how passionate he is about what he does.  I left there feeling like I needed to do more.  It used to be all I cared about was what I did on our little third of an acre lot, here in Sacramento.  Now I know I can do more to make change happen; one person at a time, one state at a time, and one country at a time. 

With that, we have my first ever guest blog post thanks to Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company.  Kathy McFarland from Baker Creek is here to tell you about a new California Intiative we are trying to get on the November 2012 ballot that simply requests that food sold in retail establishments that contain genetically modified crops are labeled with that information.  Read on for more information:

Label GMOs—It's Our Right to Know!

Guest post by Kathy McFarland

Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company owners Jere and Emilee Gettle are in Petaluma, California, working fervently to ensure that Americans are entitled to know what is in the food they purchase. 

Having always been interested in pure food, the Gettle family has joined the Label GMO effort in California where they also own the Petaluma Seed Bank, a retail outlet for Baker Creek seeds. 

Much of the world already requires labeling for genetically engineered foods.  Fifty countries, including Japan, China, and the entire European Union already label foods with genetically engineered ingredients.  Americans, too, deserve the right to choose between foods containing GMO and non-GMO ingredients. 

The Committee for the Right to Know is a grassroots coalition of consumer, public health, environmental organizations, and food companies in California that is seeking the labeling of genetically engineered foods (GMOs).  On November 9, 2011, the coalition submitted the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act to the State Attorney General for the title and summary, prior to circulation as an initiative measure for the November 2012 election. 

The initiative needs 504,760 valid signatures by April 20 to make it on the November 2012 ballot.  Signatures can be declared invalid and thrown out for a number of technical reasons.  Therefore, the campaign plans to collect a significantly higher number of signatures to make sure they have enough valid ones to qualify.  It is imperative that anyone interested in having the right to know what is in our food should sign the petition. 

Jere Gettle teamed up with Pamm Larry, founder of labelGMOs.org, to raise awareness of the initiative.  He designed a special seed packet to be used for the campaign.  The seed packets, packed with Baker Creek's non-GMO San Marzano Tomato seeds, are being distributed free all over the state of California.  The San Marzano has been a favorite tomato of California gardeners for generations, and the campaign packets have become instantly popular.  Anyone who would like to help distribute the free packets at farmers' markets, gardening events, or any other venue may simply email  jeregettle@gmail.com with a mailing address and number of packets requested for distribution.  Thousands and thousands of the special packets have already been sent for distribution, and many more thousands are being printed and packed. 

While other states are also working on campaigns to get GMOs listed on nutrition labels, the Gettles are currently concentrating their efforts in California where there is large population of like-minded people in support of the measure.  The feeling is that if the initiative passes in California, then other states will quickly follow.  In most cases, it will not be financially feasible for companies to develop food labels listing GMOs only for the California market and also develop food labels without the listing for other states. 

Anyone interested in joining the effort to require GMO ingredients to be labeled should contact www.labelGMOs.org to find out where they can sign a petition, how they can be trained to gather signatures, how they can donate to the campaign, or simply where they can get more information.  Our right to know what is in our food depends on this ballot.  Please don't wait to contact Jere Gettle at jeregettle@gmail.com or Pamm Larry at labelGMOs.org..  Let's get labeling on the ballot!

Kathy McFarland is a Baker Creek employee and life-long gardener. 

Our Quest for Pliny the Younger

Some may say that planning a mini-vacation around the release of a beer is crazy.  Those people don't know my husband and I, and clearly they don't know good beer.  Months ago we vacationed with friends in Bodega Bay and took a day trip to Russian River Brewery in Santa Rosa to try one of our favorite beers: Pliny the Elder.  Soon after that trip we found out about Pliny the Younger, and that it would be released for two weeks in February.  A Triple IPA? Another trip?  Um, yeah, we're game....  and it was booked. 

"Fourteen Days of Younger" it is called.  I wish I could say we all felt younger after we left the brewery, but sadly the day after we felt like a bunch of Elders that tried to act like we were Younger!  Perhaps that headache was a reminder of why one should not partake in too many beers that boast a 10.5% ABV? Do we regret it?  Heck no, we're ready to book our next trip!

February 3rd through 16th. That's it.  Friends that went towards the beginning of those "14 days" waited in line for four hours to get a taste of Pliny the Younger.  This is a beer that is not available in a growler, nor is it available via a bottle.  Your only way of having it is in a 10 ounce glass, for $4.50, at the brewery itself.....  unless you just so happen to come across one of the few establishments that get it for San Francisco or Sacramento Beer Week.  If you want to get your hands on it next year, I recommend going the 2nd week.  Our wait was less than thirty minutes to get inside- on the 9th, during lunchtime (a Thursday!).    

And was it worth the wait?  Um...  that's my husband savoring his first sip (gulp?) after 30 minutes of waiting outside.  Pliny the Elder is a double IPA, Pliny the Younger is a triple- and I'd say that the Younger was twice the flavor that Elder had if that makes any sense?  So that would be a BIG FAT YES.

As much as we were there for the Younger, Russian River Brewery had 22 beers on tap when we were there.  They had so many beers available for their favorite customers that they couldn't fit them all in their beer sampler.  So many favorites available!  We recommend sampling Blind Pig, the Pliny's (both of them), Segel Select (if you like hops), Rejection (their Black Pale Ale- great for folks who like Pale Ales AND Stouts), and Supplication, Temptation and Consecration for you Sour beer lovers (which we are...they are yummy...stock up when you are here). 

Elder, meet Younger.  Younger, meet Elder. Of course we had to compare Pliny the Elder(left) to Pliny the Younger (right).  As much as I love the Elder, I have to admit that the Younger was totally worth a weekend away from Sacramento to go and try.  So much so that I will be on the hunt next week to try and find it here in Sacramento during Sacramento Beer Week (ahem, if you're going to The Art of Beer event, I'll be volunteering there! And if you're going to Sacramento Brewers Showcase or Capital Brewfest- we'll be drunk there!) 

Elder, Younger, Damnation, Rejection, Mortification (their Quadruppel Belgian, my 3rd fave of their offerings)....  Oh my... After a few trips here we've moved past the sampler pack- we come here and order exactly what we know we'll like.  And there are so many that we like.... 

More beers, 8 growlers To-Go of Damnation, Rejection and a whole lotta Pliny the Elder (Argh- I wish they'd fill the growlers with Younger!), a bunch of food in our bellies, and we were on our way back to the beach house in Bodega Bay. 

If you're ever in Santa Rosa, you must come here.  If you're ever within an hour of Santa Rosa, you must come here.  And to somewhat keep this blog post gardening related, if you are attending The Heirloom Exposition here in Santa Rosa (Sept 11-13th, 2012), you must come here!  See you in September!  You'll know where to find me :)