Blue day and green day...red letter day.

Had a close call yesterday with my son.  We were sitting at a light and two other vehicles decided to run into one another.  We got the secondary whack from one of the cars.    Both cars totaled and significant damage to my truck.  Woke up today feeling really blue and decided to take to the garden for a while to recover between idiot sessions on the phone with Insurance Co.  One question was "Do you think the car that struck you had damage to it before impact"?  Huh?  As it careened towards me at 50 miles an hour I had the sense of mind to note dents in the car before it ploughed into us!  

This was a first so I hope my quota of accidents is filled for a long time to come.

Weeding beckons....

Putting in a summer garden in Montenido

Montenido is one of those delightful little communities tucked away into a canyon off the road to Malibu.  I put in a small summer garden for a client there today and had such a lovely time revisiting the "spent" winter garden I put in last Oct and getting all the new plants in for the next season.  We are a two season gardening climate here.  Montenido has its own slightly more chilly microclimate so one needs to be a tad careful about not putting in summer veg too soon.

When I was done I drove up the road to my dear friend Suze to see her lovely newly planted hillside.  A grand mixture of CA and Australian native plants.  The mountain backdrop to her house/garden and farm is stunning.

Note to self: When I earn a few more shillings I want to live in Montenido....

Paddy Tobin from the Co Waterford

An online gardening friend Paddy Tobin from Co Waterford recently sent me this aerial photo of his splendid garden.  He and his wife Mary are very keen gardeners.  One is really struck by how beautifully green the landscape is in Ireland.  I have not lived there for 21 years and I really had forgotten how lush it is.

Fava beans

My Fava beans are heaving with semi ready pods.  I could not wait anymore and shelled a few today.  Boiled them rapidly for 1 min in extra salty water, plunged them into iced water and took off the inner second shell.  The remaining  spring green bean is delectable. A sweet and smokey complex flavour.  The flowers smell great and the finished plant is a great source of nitrogen when added to the compost pile or dug into the soil directly.  Fava's rule.

Potting up....

I love the term potting up.  It has the whiff of something elicit but it is really all quite harmless.  I bought lots and lots of spring and summer vegetables and flowers in 6 packs and have potted them all up to one gallon size to hurry them along rather than growing in the earth that is still a tad cool.  They can have a month in the pots and go into the ground in early April.  Tomatoes by early June I think.