Side Garden Upgrade

Katy Dickinson garden, San Jose CA, 23 March 2022

It’s time in the San Francisco Bay Area to start planting our summer vegetables. Since I have some time during GTU‘s Reading Week, I cleared out winter weeds, dug in compost, and added tomatoes, basil, and borage to my planting beds. I left the rhubarb in its wheelbarrow since it seems happy. This year, from Yamagami’s nursery I bought three cherry tomato plants for salads and snacks (Yellow Pear, Sun Sugar Hybrid, and Super Sweet 100), plus three Ace tomatoes for soup. I also upgraded the Guadalupe River bank area next to the planting bed. The big yuccas, huge prickly pear cactus, and an elderberry tree dominate that space. There are also three lavenders (French and English) and two California Sagebrush (Artemisia Californica – from Jessica) continuing from two years ago. I just added four gloriosus “Heart’s Desire” prostrate ceanothus to fill in under and around the cactus. Another ceanothus “Centennial” plus some yarrow (Achillea Little Moonshine, and Red Velvet) will go in the front yard. I mostly add California Native Plants for long-term plantings. I am looking forward to everything growing happily all summer!

Katy Dickinson garden, San Jose CA, 23 March 2022

Katy Dickinson garden, San Jose CA, 24 March 2022

Katy Dickinson garden, San Jose CA, 24 March 2022

Katy Dickinson garden, San Jose CA, 23 March 2022

Princess – cat garden guardian, 24 March 2022

Ketchup – cat garden guardian, 24 March 2022

Update 24 March: I decided to go camping with Jessica and the TechWomen in Yosemite this weekend, so I planted the ceanothus Centennial in the side yard, supervised by guardian cats Princess and Ketchup. I am also moving some of garden stones into the side yard where they will be more visible.

Update 28 March: My neighbor Russell gave away some of his extra heirloom tomato starts today – so I added a seventh (and final!) plant to my bed. The little plants are enjoying today’s rain.

Ceanothus Centennial, Katy Dickinson garden, San Jose CA, 24 March 2022

Marvel stripe heirloom tomato, 28 March 2022

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TechWomen Volunteer Day in the Garden

TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022

Today was TechWomen Volunteer Day and twenty-three of us gathered at St. Stephen’s-in-the-Field Episcopal Church – Community Garden in San Jose, California, to work together. We divided into three groups: the Hunters (looking for oak seedlings to pot), the Killers (taking down an oleander hedge), and the Diggers (making an accessible path for elder gardeners). We included technical leaders from the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia, some of whom were novices and others who had deep gardening experience, as well as two regular community garden volunteers and four TechWomen mentors. My daughter, Jessica Dickinson Goodman, manages the community garden but she was managing another TechWomen volunteer group today, so I was in charge. It was a fun and productive day!

Launched in 2011, TechWomen is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and is managed by the Institute of International Education (IIE).

St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022

TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022

TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022

TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022

TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022

TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022

TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022

Lizard, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022

TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022

TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022

TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022

TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022

TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022

TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022

TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022

TechWomen Volunteer Day, St.Stephens-in-the-Fields, San Jose, California, 18 Mar 2022

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Willow Glen Garden Update

Cercidium Floridum, Desert Palo Verde, Parkinsonia Florida, San Jose CA, June 2021

Now that I am done with Spring 2021 classes, I have been able to tend my garden. Our house in Willow Glen (San Jose, California) was built almost 100 years ago in the old bed of the Guadalupe River, so the soil is amazing. Yesterday, we planted a green-bark, yellow-flower Palo Verde tree (Desert Palo Verde – Cercidium floridum – Parkinsonia Florida), that should thrive in our increasingly-hot summers. The tomato garden I planted in March is starting to fruit, and the giant white bird of paradise (Strelitzia nicolai), Pink Stripe Flax (Phormium), Matilija Poppies (Romneya), and four types of yarrow are blooming exuberantly. The oak tree named after my friend Seham Aljaafreh, who helped me plant it in 2014, has doubled in size this year.

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  Tomato bed, San Jose CA, June 2021

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  First tomatoes, San Jose CA, June 2021

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  First tomatoes, San Jose CA, June 2021

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  Strelitzia nicolai, giant white bird of paradise, San Jose CA, June 2021

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  Blooming phormium, San Jose CA, June 2021

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  Matilija Poppy, Romneya, San Jose CA, May 2021

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  Front garden bed, San Jose CA, June 2021

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  “Seham” Oak, San Jose CA, June 2021

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Good Year for Cactus

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  Opuntia Santa Rita in bloom, June 2020

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  Opuntia Santa Rita in bloom, June 2020

Regardless of the COVID-19 pandemic, wildfires, and terrible air quality, my cactus garden has been happy this year. Several species which usually only flower once a year have bloomed again. The local honeybees are delighted to roll around in the pollen of huge flowers. There was enough prickly pear cactus fruit that my daughter Jessica made syrup from it, and John made pancakes to celebrate!

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  Prickly pear cactus, June bloom

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  Prickly pear cactus, Oct fruit

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  Prickly pear cactus, Oct fruit

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  Euphorbia mammillaris, Corn Cob Cactus, Oct 2020

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  Making cactus fruit syrup 1

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  Making cactus fruit syrup 2

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  Making cactus fruit syrup 3

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  Cactus fruit syrup

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  Pancake breakfast with cactus fruit syrup

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  Peruvian cactus, Sep 2020 fruit

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  Peruvian cactus night bloom, Oct 2020

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  Peruvian cactus bloom with bees, Oct 2020

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  Peruvian cactus bloom with bees, Oct 2020

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  Balloon barrel cactus in bloom, Aug 2020

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  WP668 caboose with cactus, Oct 2020

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  Night blooming cereus cactus, Oct 2020

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  Crassula perforata succulent, Oct 2020

More on the WP668 railroad caboose.
Updated 21 Oct 2020.

If you want to receive Katysblog posts by email, please sign up using the Sign Me Up! button (upper right on Katysblog home). Image Copyright 2020 by Katy Dickinson and Jessica Dickinson Goodman.

Micro Farm Update

My Willow Glen micro farm is thriving. I usually grow cactus, and herbs like fennel, rosemary, and sage. Since we are mostly staying home because of the Covid-19 pandemic, I am taking the opportunity to grow vegetables. I started this project in April by converting a section of our little orchard. The first fruits of my farming efforts are cherry tomatoes and delicata squash. Both indicate their readiness by a color change. The tomatoes shift from green to yellow to red. The delicata squash start white and develop green lines as they mature.  The tallest plants are sunflowers, which are currently competing with the apple tree for head room. I am expecting beans, peas, corn, and watermelon over time.

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Images Copyright 2020 by Katy Dickinson.

Making a New Vegetable Garden

Inspired by my daughter Jessica’s gardening efforts, I am branching out. I have always been a serious gardener but mostly focused on flowering plants and cactus. Jessica’s enthusiasm for gardening edible and native California plants is infectious. We have lived in the San Jose neighborhood of Willow Glen for over twenty years – on the bank of the Guadalupe River. Chuck and Kathleen Purdy who owned our house before were great gardeners. They passed on to us many fruit and nut trees, including a small orchard.  Some of the fruit trees have died over the years, leaving space for my son Paul to store his curing logs for woodworking, and for me to create a market garden next to the prickly pear and yucca hedge.  Paul and John used some old steel beams we had for the six foot by eight foot raised border. Jessica brought over some of her seedlings and 12 bags of garden soil with fertilizer which I have dug in to create a good planting bed. Paul also took the wheels and handles off of two old wheelbarrows for small beds. (Other than the new soil, plants, and mulch, this new planting area was created with materials I already had.)

So far, I have planted:

• Three Sisters (a gift from Jessica): corn, beans, and squash (with a sunflower) – 6 sets
• Cherry tomatoes (“Husky Cherry Red” and “Cherry-Red”) – 3 plants
• Marigolds for edging

I am getting ready to plant carrots, potatoes, snow peas and snap peas as well. I bought seeds from Plants of the Southwest – and added a 3-sided trellis to support the pea and bean vines. A Meyer Lemon I planted many years ago is thriving next to the apricot, apple, and white peach trees. I added a brick border for the lemon trunk and tossed in all of the stones I dug out of the planting bed for decoration. Three garden cats (only one of whom is actually ours) – Princess, Ketchup, and Charlie – help us manage the property. I am concerned that the raccoon marauders will dig everything up – I may have to add a wire cover to the planting bed like that of our neighbors.

22 April 2020 – everything planted!

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Images Copyright 2020 by Katy Dickinson.

Updated 26 April 2020

Willow Glen Garden Redesign, 5 Years Later

Redesign Plan 17 June 2015

Five years ago, I redesigned our front garden for water conservation. Partly as a result of my recent experience with a Pacific School of Religion class project helping to plant a food garden for The Village curbside community, aka homeless encampment, in Oakland, I was inspired to replant some of my own garden in Willow Glen (San Jose, California). John Plocher and I had to reroute the watering lines. I also had to remove couch and Bermuda grass volunteers, and relocate the many big pink worms that get mixed up in the work.

My 2015 plant list included:

• Achillea tomentosa – woolly yarrow (yellow/grey) – still thriving
• Agapanthus inapertus (purple) – still thriving
• Bearded iris (red and purple and yellow and white) – still thriving
• California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica, orange) – still thriving
• Dymondia margaretae (yellow/grey) – removed, could not take the heat
• Helictotrichon sempervirens – Blue oat grass – removed, could not take the heat
• Lantana (purple) – still thriving
• Lavender (Lavandula – purple, of course) – still thriving
• Muhlenbergia rigens – deer grass – removed, got too big
• Narcissus – daffodils (yellow – full size) – still thriving
• Verbena lilacina (purple) – replaced twice and finally removed, could not take the heat
• Verbena peruviana (red) – replaced twice and finally removed, could not take the heat
• Phormium – flax (purple/brown) – died and was replaced with a similar plant

What I have now includes more California natives, which I hope will handle San Jose’s increasingly hot summers better.* New additions are in bold:

• Achillea Millefolium “Sonoma Coast creeping yarrow”  (California native, white)
• Achillea Tomentosa – woolly yarrow (yellow/grey)
• Agapanthus inapertus (purple)
• Bearded iris (red and purple and yellow and white)
• California Poppy (California native, Eschscholzia californica, orange and yellow)
• Ceanothus hearstiorum “Hearst Ranch buckbrush” (California native, from San Luis Obispo County, purple)
• Ceanothus megacarpus “Bigpod ceanothus” (California native, from the Central Coast and Channel Islands, white)
• Echium wildpretii “Tower of Jewels” (red)
• Lantana (purple)
• Lavender (Lavandula – purple, of course)
• Manzanita “Emerald Carpet” (California native, from Mendocino County, Arcostaphylos, white flowers, red fruit and bark)
• Narcissus – daffodils – full size (yellow)
• Narcissus “Tete Tete” – miniature daffodils (yellow)
• Penstemon baccharifolius “Rock penstemon” (a Texas plant, but the only red bloom that day in Yamagami’s Nursery natives section)
• Phormium – flax (pink/brown)

On 9 February, I took out three of the lantana and replaced them with low-growing manzanita, which is a California native that I hope will be less bushy and aggressive. There are still two of the lantana, much pruned back.

* “San Jose will go from having 7 days a year on average above a heat index of 90 degrees between 1971 and 2000 to 24 days a year by mid-century and 53 days by late century, at the current rate of emissions.” – Paul Rogers, “Bay Area likely to see more 100+ degree days in coming years, new study finds,” The Mercury News, 16 July 2019.

10 Nov 2015
4 Feb 2020
10 Nov 2015
4 Feb 2020
9 Feb 2020
Daffodils, 4 Feb 2020
Princess, the Garden Guardian, 2020

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Images Copyright 2015-2020 by Katy Dickinson.

9 Feb 2020 – added a photos of 3 new manzanita