Saturday, September 1, 2012


Garden blog for September 2012
August has proved, once more, to live up to a well deserved reputation for heat, heat and more heat.  With some stead fast work it is hoped that your plants were spared from getting fried and you have enjoyed a bountiful harvest.  Those vegetables that our gardeners are reporting to have had especially large harvests of include: cherry tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers and corn.  But enough about last month, let’s get ready for September.
September is our busiest month of the year!  First we are harvesting those abundant crops and keeping our plants vibrant by watching for pests and clipping out dead or spent plant sections.  Remove those plants that are not thriving and either replant or make space for a new crop.  Go ahead…don’t be scared.
Second, it is time to begin our plans for Fall.  It really is just around the corner.  But we have a few surprises in store like Santa Ana winds with their hot and extreme drying effects.  So adjusting watering patterns would be a great start.  For some, that means changing sprayers to a drip system as the winds will assure that every drop of water ends up several feet away from the intended target.  Also, it may be best to change watering times to dawn or dusk to allow the water to soak in before the wind and heat evaporate all the moisture.
Third, write down plans for winter and spring blooming flowers to plant.  A few nice choices are snapdragon, cineraria, stock and alyssum for seeds.  For plant starts, it is a good time to find calendula, candytuft, Iceland poppies and most any daisy variety.  This is also the month to select all of the bulbs that you will plant later and see in the spring.  A little bit more about bulbs in a few weeks.  October, our best planting month, is still ahead but these early plans will make certain that your favorite varieties are not sold out and that they arrive in time.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

San Bernadino Master Food Preservers: Welcome

San Bernadino Master Food Preservers: Welcome: This link will get you to the SB Master Food Preserver blog.   It is an amazing site that will help you to preserve those hard worked plots of vegetables and fruit.  Please visit it often. They will post public meetings, recipes and any other helpful information related to preserving ...

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

August planting schedule

  August is here and most areas of the country are seeing the beginning of the end of the garden season.  Not so for those of us in Inland Southern California!  This month is a wonderful time to put in new plantings of all the "hot weather" crops: tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, peppers and chard.  Beets, carrots and radishes can be put in on rotation to make certain that you have an adequate supply for September to November.  All these can be seed or transplants from the garden store.  Do note that it is getting a tiny bit late but with care you can plant cantaloupe, pumpkins, honeydew melons and beans.
  The next few months are great times to begin seedlings indoors for cooler weather crops: broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and celery.  These will need about six weeks indoors before putting them into the garden.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

This Saturday, May 26, 2012, we will be planting herbs,deadheading roses and working on weeds at the garden.  Please come out to work or bring refreshments.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Del Rosa Neighborhood Action Group (DR. NAG) will be selling plants to raise money for their group. April 28, 8-noon at the United Methodist Church
3350 Del Rosa Ave, San Bernardino, CA 92404

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Welcome to the St. F.E.M.O.C. blog site.  Here we can share our gardening information about gardening in our unique climate of Southern California.