Posts under ‘Oakland’

Gardeners, plant and nature lovers can join in Green Thumb Sunday every week. Visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

This morning, I breakfasted on tomatoes. This wouldn’t ordinarily be a big deal. After all, it is still tomato season in California. I’ve been breakfasting on tomatoes since they showed up at the markets this year. In fact, this time of year, it’s not odd in the slightest for me to have more tomatoes on [...]

After all the drama with hauling and drilling and casters and dirt, it was time for what is, every time, the least dramatic, easiest part of the process. The tomatoes. I planted them. With four seedlings, it seemed reasonable to put two in each wine barrel, but that left room for other things. I still [...]

I will admit that though I completely expected to have to drill holes in the wine barrels, the thought of installing casters is not one that particularly occurred to me in the initial planning stages of the whole patio garden deal. But as I stood on the BART platform in San Francisco one night with [...]

I have rebelled against the issue of putting drainage material in the bottom of containers since I started gardening in Iowa. From day one of this adventure, I took one look at the bags of pea gravel and thought, Haul a bunch of rocks home from the store just to line the bottom of some [...]

Every year, it arrives before I know it. My Mom celebrates her birthday on May 4, usually Mother’s Day comes a few days or even a week after that, and somewhere right in the middle, my blog celebrates another anniversary. Today, this blog turns four. And I’m not going to lie to you…it makes me [...]

One of the last gardens my friend Michelle and I visited on last weekend’s Bay-Friendly Garden Tour was one of my very favorites. You, good readers, know my preference for all things edible, so this shall come as no surprise: It was a kitchen garden, but one designed, beautifully, by Leslie Bennett and Garden Fare [...]

I must admit that I really did not roll in a particularly punk rock fashion on Official Garden Tour Day. I might as well just be upfront and honest about that. I forewent the combat boots for perfectly Berkeley-esque sandals, and left the bourbon at home. I had a beer at lunch, though, people. Don’t [...]

There is no question that I should, by now, have dirt in my wine barrels. I should have them fully prepped, and I should be ready for Pilar’s seedlings to show up, since she swears they’re almost big enough to send home with me. In fact, I should probably already be growing lettuce. Or herbs. [...]

This is just a taste from today’s Bay-Friendly Gardens tour. More to come! Gardeners, plant and nature lovers can join in Green Thumb Sunday every week. Visit As the Garden Grows for more information.