One of the frustrations of maturing (read: getting old) is that my desire to create and produce has grown dramatically, but my ability to sustain that desire is pitifully lagging. The garden is where it’s most evident. After two full days getting the winter vegetable garden ready to plant, I am suffering the consequences this morning. Thankfully, it’s Sunday and there’s football on TV. I wonder if Susie is going to buy this story? Like many Southern California gardeners, I fight two particularly invasive weeds in the veggie garden. If they are ignored, even for a short while, they take over. The weeds are Bermuda grass and nut grass. One bird flying by and pooping on the garden can be all it takes to drop the seeds, which start the battle. In my case, it doesn’t help that our Icelandic horses eat dried Bermuda grass, so the seeds are everywhere, including in the horse manure I use to fertilize everything on the property. After years of irrigating the vegetable patch with soaker hoses, I decided it was time to add the new low output rotor sprinklers instead. It seemed like a good time to tackle the encroaching Bermuda at the same time. Using the bucket on my garden tractor, I pushed the top 8” or so, of topsoil to the back of the patch. Taking the mat of summer Bermuda with it. Next, I laid out the irrigation-system, using half inch PVC and 6 MP rotor heads with a 360 degree pattern and a 5’ throw. I placed them about 5’ apart, so each will overlap the next heads spray pattern. The ideal distance between heads is 10’, since each is throwing 5’, but I’m hopelessly poor at planning these things. Once the irrigation was hooked up and tested, I started returning the soil by hand using an 18” landscape rake. It’s important to sift the soil in such a way that even the smallest pieces of grass, roots and runners are removed. Even small pieces are viable and can start the problem anew. Since the grass is dormant during our cool season, I’ll see how well I did next June as things heat up around here. Along the edge of the garden where my Bermuda lawn and the garden interface, I added an extra bit of deterrent. I scraped the ground clean of any Bermuda, and then laid a line of old chicken feed bags end to end overlapping one another by and inch or two. On the top of the bags I laid, a 4” inch flake of alfalfa. Next, I’ll cover the hay with compost and soil. The bags and hay will eventually break down, but should provide a year or two of added barrier from the invading grass. Every two weeks we shoot my Garden Guru segments for Fox 5, and I spend the time in between preparing the garden we plan to use next time and getting plants, soil, bugs etc. camera ready. For example, next time we shoot I’ll be doing a segment on growing lettuce and herbs in pots. Not everyone has room for a garden. If I plant a couple pots now, in two weeks they will be over their transplant shock and should look good on camera. I also plan to show how to grow a pineapple from a store bought fruit. Part of the process is to dry the pineapple top, in preparation for planting. I need to start now to be ready by then. The biggest job has been getting the vegetable patch ready and partially planted. Now that the irrigation is in place and the soil is back in the bed, I’ll add about 6” of fresh compost, and turn it in. I also need to erect a potato cage so we can plant potatoes in a separate environment. It helps avoid nematodes, and makes harvesting a snap. The winter garden is my favorite in Southern California. It’s warm enough to grow crops all season, and cold enough to grow a large variety of cool season plants. My favorites are, onions, garlic, broccoli, cabbage, Swiss chard, kale, kohlrabi, cauliflower, potatoes, and of course, lettuce. Lettuce can be planted every 2 weeks and you’ll never need to depend on over priced, over sprayed store bought stuff again. It grows well in a pot, and can be placed on a small deck or balcony in easy reach, of the kitchen. That’s all for now…the game is on…I mean my back is killing me, I better go to the couch.

It's going to be a scorcher this week. Temperatures even at the coast may be in the 90's. Housefly populations are going to spike in the warm weather. Here are a few non toxic tips to help keep them in check. First off get rid of breeding areas...If you have a dead cow in your front yard you're going to be overrun with flies. (no duh!) Even a dead mouse can be huge source for flies, so it you are trapping or baiting rodents, wrap up the dead ones and get rid of them. Even a dog as small as a Pekinese can cause a fly problem if its waste is left on the ground. Pick up the poop! Trapping flies works. Rescue fly traps sold at garden centers and big box stores will help reduce fly numbers dramatically, but must be used outdoors. They stink! You can also make your own traps using plastic soda, water or whatever bottle you have with a small opening. I like wine bottles since the neck is long and tapered. Place some old leftover meat in the bottle. The stinkier the better, and then pour in some water. Make sure your bait is still sticking above the water surface. Flies fly in to eat and lay eggs but can't get out. They eventually tire and fall in the water, or when you walk by the trap, put your thumb over the top and give it a shake, for a quicker demise. Make sure to wash your hands. For more great tips please register for my newsletter on the home page and check out my segments on Fox 5 News at 6PM M-W-F.

Growing food in a home vegetable garden is one thing, but making sure that food doesn't go to waste is another. Anyone growing tomatoes right now knows that it can be feast or famine. We spend much of the year waiting for the joy of home grown tomatoes, and then freak out when bushels of them start overwhelming ones ability to think of new recipes with tomatoes as a main ingredient.  My friend, Sunni Black, continually impresses me with her ability to grow more tomatoes than anyone else I know, manage them well, and turn her hobby into cash. Each of the past few years, Sunni has bought more than 100 heirloom tomato plants at the big plant sale, Quail Botanical Gardens holds each spring. Not only has she filled a big freezer with sauces, soups, and salsas, and quail breasts (that's for another posting) but she made more than a thousand dollars this summer, selling some of the crop to her local market. Nice! I've been harvesting at least 10 lbs of tomatoes a day, for the past several weeks, and am running out of ideas. I need your experience. So here's the deal, I'll share a recipe for killer tomato soup, that my kids love on cool Sunday evenings, and I ask that you share a favorite tomato idea too. It can be a salad, a salsa, a sauce whatever...it just has to be good. I'll let ya'll decide which one is the best, and I'll send a copy of Dead Snails Leave No Trails to the person with the most votes. Loren's roasted tomato soup about 10 medium tomatoes, washed, cored and cut in half 8 cloves of garlic (peeled) 3 medium white or yellow onions, quartered 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 qt. of chicken broth (vegetable broth okay for vegan version) 2 cups heavy cream ( I should be using low fat milk, you can if you want) 1/2 cup of basil 2 bay leaves kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper half a stick of butter (4 tablespoons) Arrange tomatoes, garlic and onions on a large pan, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the pan under the broiler for 15-20 minutes, or until some of the tomato tops and onion tops start turning black. Just enough to add some roasted flavor. Pour the chicken broth, tomatoes, onions and garlic in a big soup pot and turn up the heat. Add bay leaves, and butter and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the basil and either transfer to a good blender like a Vita Mix, or food processor or use an immersion blender. Be careful to add small amounts, since hot soup gasses expand in a blender. I like to push it through a screen colander next, just to make sure its r eally velvety smooth, and then add the cream to your desired richness and color. For big hearty bowls of soup use less cream, but for a really rich small portion before a main course....cream it up baby! Garnish with a little chopped italian parsley or basil and you're good to go. Top that!

Tomato season is in full swing in home gardens, and so is the bragging war as to which gardener in a neighborhood is the king/queen of the crimson orb. My job, as I see it, is to encourage those of you who do not grow your own food, to start, and give you the confidence to know your veggies can be beautiful and great tasting, without breaking your back, or resorting to chemical warfare. The typical American packs away 20 pounds of tomatoes, in an average year. At my local grocery store, they are selling for about $3 a pound right now. So that’s about $60 per family member, and at my house that means $300 for tomatoes each year. In my little vegetable patch there are a half dozen various tomato plants growing and at least 100 pounds of fruit hanging right now. My total investment to get them where they are is way under $20 i n plants, fertilizer and water. Total work preparing the soil, planting, and staking is another hour, tops. I don’t count harvesting as work invested, because it’s so much fun to poke around the plants, looking for that first flush of color. By the way, the first bit of color on the fruit is a good time to pick your tomatoes. They will ripen just fine in a sunny window or porch railing. When kept on the vine, they are more susceptible to pests, and the energy you save the plant by harvesting can go into the next flush of fruit. Every article I write on gardening has a similar theme, and that is the soil. If you take time to improve your garden soil, you will be rewarded with fewer pests, healthier plants and a lot less work. Loose, rich soil, that is filled with organic matter, will also be teaming with beneficial life. Microorganisms will thrive and do much of the work of gardening for you. There will be communities for earthworms, bacteria, fungi, arthropods, and nematodes which will feed your plants and battle the bad guys. In my world, the simpler something is, the more apt I am to do it. Sorry, but the path of least resistance is the road I most often travel. My soil prep consists of compost laid on top of the soil at the end of each crop cycle. In other words, when one season’s plants mature, produce my food and die back, I pull them and cover the soil with several inches of compost. If I do not plan to replant immediately, I just let it lay. Earthworms will begin to carry the fresh compost below ground soon enough, and save me the work of digging it in. If you'd prefer to dig, go right ahead. The best way is a method called double digging, which is pretty easy. You remove one big shovel full of garden soil and lay it aside. Then you just start taking more shovels full and laying them into the hole created by your last shovel full. In either method, it’s a good idea to water it in if you are working in a dry climate or a dry spell. If rain is forecast for tomorrow, then don’t bother. Growing tomatoes from seed is for people with more time than I have. I look for healthy young tomato plants which are hopefully on sale and I like to look for a few reliable varieties and a few odd balls or a few heirlooms. With the vast majority of plants, it’s important to plant them to the exact depth of the soil in the pot in which you bought them. Not so with tomatoes. It’s a good idea to bury about a third of the stem of your new plant. New roots will form along the buried trunk and provide a better foundation for your quickly growing plant. With tomatoes, it is very important to add calcium to the soil to prevent blossom end rot, which turns the bottom of your tomatoes ugly and brown. You can find liquid calcium in your favorite garden store, or sprinkle gypsum into the hole. Bone meal, pulverized eggshells, dolomite, soft rock phosphate and even wood ash also work nicely. The only other thing that really must be done is staking. If tomatoes are allowed to vine on the ground you’ll loose most of the crop to pests, fungus, and big clumsy feet. Since we grow bamboo on the ranch, I use that, but any good sturdy stake or trellis structure will work. Take the time to occasionally tie a few branches to the stake and you’ll find it is well worth the effort. My personal choice is to go to the garden with a glass of wine at the end of the day and spend 15 minutes unwinding, enjoying my garden and tying a couple branches to the stake. Water DEEPLY a couple times a week and then somewhere betw een 55 and 85 days later depending on the variety you’ll be harvesting, sharing, eating and I hope you’ll be bragging too. In a couple days I'll post my killer roasted tomato soup recipe. It's easy and a great way to avoid drowning in a sea of red tomatoes.

7 lbs. watermelon rind/water 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. alum 2 1/2 lbs. granulated sugar 2 1/2 lbs. light brown sugar 1 qt. vinegar 1 pt. water 6 sticks cinnamon 1 tbsp. cloves 2 lemons, sliced

Pare green from rind and discard. Leave small strip of red on rind. Cut white into strips. Boil until tender and clear in water with 1/2 teaspoon salt and alum. Drain. Chill in ice water; drain and dry. Boil sugar, vinegar, and 1 pint water to a light syrup. Add spices in a cheese cloth bag, melon rind, and lemon slices; boil until clear. Remove spices. Pack rind and syrup to overflowing in sterilized jars. Seal. Let stand 4 weeks before using.

Apricot Salsa

Fresh Apricots
4 oz. red onion
1 oz. olive oil
1 oz. cilantro, chopped
1 oz. lime juice
1 oz. lemon juice
2 tsp. wine vinegar
chopped Jalapeno pepper, minced
1/2 tsp. lime peel, grated
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
White pepper, to taste
salt, to taste
Combine apricots and remaining ingredients in bowl, stirring gently. Cover and refrigerate until served