Flowering now in the herb garden!

Pick and taste!

Anchusa azurea – Boraginaceae

“LARGE BLUE ALKANET” or “ITALIAN BUGLOSS”

Borage Family
Native to Italy – Perennial
Cut back after first blooming
Cut back hard after second blooming
Wear gloves
Bee nectar plant
Vase life 10-14 days

Edible leaves and flowers
Mild, nondescript taste
Use flowers to garnish drinks, ice cubes, soups, salads
or candied to decorate cakes
Pick young leaves for salad or garnish
Young hairs dissolve in mouth
BY Kym Farmen, Master Herbalist

Springtime fava bean harvest

For the first time ever I planted fava beans in my plot this winter and they really took off. Fava beans do great in our garden and they're an excellent winter crop. You can grow fava beans to help enrich your soil because they're an excellent nitrogen fixer. To do that, you'll need to cut down your plants right after they flower and before the beans start growing. Check out this video to learn more.

I decided to let my fava beans grow and ended up with a big basketful of beans to enjoy for dinner last weekend. Have you ever cooked with fava beans? I found a simple recipe but discovered that they're a bit labor intensive to prepare. The good news though is that they were yummy and worth the work!

I'd love to document what's growing in the garden and what folks are harvesting throughout the year. Send me your garden photos and let me know if you'd like to post to the blog.

Learning to love compost!

Thanks to all who came out to our compost workshop on the 9th! We had a great turnout and got a chance to learn the basics about our compost systems and how to use compost to improve the soil in our garden.

Special thanks to Brent for helping to organize this event along with Tristan and Carmen from Garden for the Environment for leading the workshop.

We turned the compost in our bins at last weekend’s compost workshop so we have a decent amount of compost ready for your use in the left bin (next to the toolshed). Brent and I will be picking up some compost from the Hayes Valley Urban Farm this weekend as part of the Great Compost Giveaway so they'll be plenty of compost on hand at the garden for your use.

If you need a refresher on compost basics, check out these compost tips developed by the compost team as well as this cool video on vermicomposting with worms.

Here are some photos from last week's workshop. All the great close-up shots were taken by gardener Andria Lo. Thanks Andria!

Garden bursting with springtime color

Rainy chard harvest

Cherry tree blossoms mark a new beginning

I wanted to report that the cherry tree was removed from the garden yesterday. The impact of seeing the tree being cut down really hit me as Gabriel and I were getting things ready for the crew to arrive yesterday afternoon. The cherry tree had probably been a part of the garden for over 30 years and had provided us with beautiful blossoms every spring. It was hard to believe that such a large tree that had been a fixture of the garden since its early years would be gone in just a few hours.

While it was difficult to see the tree come down, our concerns about the fungus damage were confirmed yesterday. Over half of some sections of the base of the trunk and and an upper branch were damaged and the crew foreman expressed concerns that it could have fallen down in heavy winds.

Fortunately, the crew was very respectful of the garden and took
special care to avoid damaging surrounding plots. While the work was
being done, Gabriel and I pruned a large collection young branches
from the cherry tree that were just beginning to bloom. We've left
them in the garden to share with everyone. Please feel free to take a
few branches.

We'll be making plans soon to re-design the area of the garden where
the cherry tree once stood. We had to remove most of the other plants
that surrounded the tree to minimize potential damage and to make it
easier for the crew to do its work. We went ahead and planted two of
the fucshia plants in the back patio area and need to figure out where
the other plants go as we develop our plans for the center garden.

I want to to make sure that everyone who is interested has an
opportunity to contribute their ideas for this project. Please stay
tuned for more details and to learn how you can get involved.

Bluegrass & BBQ at the garden!

It was a real treat to hear the bluegrass trio Walking in Sunlight perform at our annual garden barbecue on September 12! Special thanks go out to Greg, Nathan, and Eva for serenading us with their beautiful harmonies and guitar and banjo playing, and to Nigel for hooking us up with the band.

We had a really great time that day -- enjoying bluegrass on the back patio, delicious food from the grill and potluck, and having fun hanging out in front of the garden.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this event a success, including: David and Josh for handling the barbecue, Rick for taking photos and assisting with set-up, Gabriel for helping pick up some of the food, and Chandler for giving me a hand with the clean-up. A big thank you to Raven, Theo, Maizie, and Ian for the bubbles and wonderful chalk drawings on the front sidewalk!

We had a lot of leftover burgers and hot dogs so I froze them and figured we'd have another cook-out before the end of the year maybe after our fall workday (probably the first weekend in November). Stay tuned for an announcement.

Check out some photos from the event. See you next time!