The Twelve Caterpillars of Christmas

Actually, it was sixteen or seventeen Monarch caterpillars, all chomping away at the lone Asclepia plant in the raised beds in the back yard.  Finding them was pretty funny, because I had just given Cindy a tee-shirt for Christmas that said, "Got Milkweed?" http://www.northernsun.com/Got-Milkweed-T-Shirt-%288467%29.html.

How Many Caterpillars????

The ravenous horde of caterpillars had pretty well stripped most of the leaves off that one plant, so we decided to move most of them to the Asclepia plants in the front yard.  Today I counted eight of them on those plants, but some of the caterpillars we moved yesterday looked about big enough to trundle off and find places to attach and form their chrysalises, so they may have done that.

Not Many Leaves Left

They aren't too choosy about where they attach; we initially thought they wanted a horizontal branch or something to attach their chrysalises to, but since then we've found them on vertical surfaces as well.  This summer we had one that attached to the driveway gate post and one that was unfortunately crushed because we didn't notice it had attached to the underside of the cover of the hot tub.

I hope they all survive; the world needs more butterflies.

A Little Off The Top

We had some trees trimmed recently; some had become problems, and Cindy wanted to take out one that was leaning over our property to increase the amount of light the garden could receive in that area.  Because some of the trees we were having trimmed belonged to the neighbors, who had given us permission to cut them, we hired a professional tree company with a master arborist to make sure the cutting was done properly and safely.  Since one of the major branches was above our power line, they had to have someone who was certified for that type of work.

Trees and Power Lines--Not Good Together

What we didn't count on was that it was very entertaining to watch the process from our upstairs windows.

We were amazed at how fast the work went, considering that they first had to climb the huge old Cedar tree and rig up the safety lines before they could even start work.

We also had the largest and probably oldest of our Lemonade Berry (Rhus integrifolia) shrubs taken out.  It was suffering from scorch, termites and Bark Beetles.

Lemonade Berry Shrubs

We like the Lemonade Berry shrubs because they're native, drought tolerant plants that grow slowly and their broad evergreen leaves are supposed to be "spark catchers", slowing down the progress of wildfires, but the big one was just too damaged to save, so we took it out to prevent the spread of some of these diseases to the other plants.  

Walking Sticks

We were talking to a gardening friend the other day about (surprise, surprise) gardening, and she asked Cindy what she should do to help the Walking Sticks she found in her garden.  She was carefully moving them onto her citrus trees in the hopes that they would be a beneficial insect that would control other, more harmful insects.

They are interesting looking insects that are hard to spot because they look just like the twigs and stems of the plants they inhabit.  They are so well camouflaged that I've never actually seen one and don't have any pictures of them.

So she was shocked when Cindy's response was, "kill them all immediately."

Turns out the Indian Walking Sticks that infest Southern California aren't native species and aren't beneficials at all, because they don't eat other bugs, but an infestation of them can devour quite a lot of foliage, stripping leaves down to the stems.

See National Geographic for a great photo of one and IPM Online for more information about them and how to control them.


So our gardener friend decided to feed them to her chickens instead.  Good call.

White Bird?

We've been noticing an interesting bird at our bird feeder in the last couple of months, but haven't been able to identify it.  The bird is about the same size and shape as the House Finches that flock around the feeder, but this bird has a lot of bright white feathers on its head, back and underside.  It's not entirely white; it has some black feathers on its wings, but the amount of white on this bird is noticeable enough to be startling.  Unfortunately, it doesn't appear very often and is so shy that I haven't been able to get a photo of it.

I've searched several bird books and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Bird Guide, but haven't found this bird.  The closest thing I've found is the Snow Bunting, but we are outside that bird's normal range, and the pictures of it seem to show more brown on it than our bird has.

An alternative suggestion from the Audubon Society is that it might be House Finch or sparrow that is a partial albino.  http://birds.audubon.org/faq/i-have-white-bird-my-feeder-it-albino.

Whatever it is, it's appearances have made watching the activity around our feeder even more interesting than usual.

California State Bird?

O.K., I know that the official state bird of California is really the California Quail, but I've heard it said, only half jokingly, that the real state "bird" should be the termite.

If you live anywhere in Southern California, you pretty much expect to have termite damage, but it's really shocking just how much damage these little bugs can do in a short period of time.  We recently noticed that the outside framing around one of the kitchen windows had pulled out from the wall of the house; when we investigated, we discovered that termites had been at work on it.  Those windows are less than ten years old, but the framing around one of them was riddled with termite damage.

Termites At Work

Getting that damage repaired of course led to those fatal words, "Well, as long as we're doing this, why don't we...."  (ka'ching, ka'ching, ka'ching....).  In this case, it was, "as long as we're having this trim replaced and painted, why don't we go ahead and have the rest of the exterior painted, too?"  

Anyway, when the carpenter pulled the window framing out to replace it, I was stunned to see how extensive the damage was; one whole piece of the frame was so hollow that only the paint seemed to be maintaining the shape of the frame.  

We're glad we had it done, but we know more of them are undoubtedly still at work.  

Water For Bees

Shortly after somebody moved into a house across the canyon from us, we noticed a rectangular reddish box sitting on top of what looks like a carport or covered patio.

Red Boxes?--Beehives!

A neighbor, who apparently owns a pretty powerful pair of binoculars, told us that there were several  boxes and that they were beehives.  That explained the phenomenon we had been seeing of numerous honey bees clustered around the edge of our bird bath, apparently drinking the water and, unfortunately, frequently drowning in the water.

Bees In The Water

It had never occurred to me that honeybees would drink water, but apparently they use water to cool the hive on hot days, and to thin honey to feed to larva.  A strong hive can use up to a quart of water on a hot day.

Bees are extremely important pollinators, so we're glad to know they're in the area and hope that the hives do well, although it's distressing to us to find so many of them in the birdbath, which is not really shallow enough for them to get water safely.

Aside from having to fish dead bees out of the water, their presence seems to be discouraging the birds from using the birdbath, so I may have to construct something that will make it easier for the bees to get water without drowning.  One ingenious idea from City Boy Hens is a "landing platform" for them that floats on top of water in a bucket:  http://cityboyhens.com/2014/05/01/making-a-water-source-for-your-honeybees/.

If they keep coming, I may have to try this.

Citrus Leaf Miner

A friend of mine asked Cindy recently if she could identify the bug that was damaging the leaves of her citrus plants.  The insect turned out to be the Citrus Leaf Miner, which leaves distinctive trails across the surface of the leaves as it sucks moisture out of the leaves.

Citrus Leaf Miner Damage

As I was passing our own citrus plants in the pots on the driveway, I noticed that those leaves also showed the same trails.

The larvae of these insects feed by creating tunnels inside the leaves of citrus trees, which create the delicate lines on the leaves.  The larvae then pupate in the curled edge of the leaf.

Because the larvae are tunneling inside the leaves, there's not much that can be done to control them, but the good news is that the damage they cause is usually not sufficient to kill the tree.

Curled Leaf

Maybe we should get the deer back to "prune" the citrus trees again.  http://plantagarden-itllgrowonyou.blogspot.com/2013/01/yes-deer.html.

WTF or What The... Flax???

With California in a prolonged drought, most of us are looking for ways to cut down on our water usage.

This is usually a good thing, but some of our neighbors seem to be taking it to extremes.

Newly Planted New Zealand Flax

The next-door neighbors dug the grass out of their parking area recently.   That's all right with us, we did the same thing years ago because those areas are very difficult to water.

However, they decided to plant three New Zealand Flax plants in that area.  They look nice....for now.  The problem is that they will probably grow...and grow...and grow and eventually overwhelm the sidewalk.  The New Zealand Flax plants across the street are about six feet tall and correspondingly broad now, so unless these plants are a dwarf variety, they will probably eventually be the same.

Mature Flax Plant

That's the trouble with those cute little plants you buy a the nursery; they don't always stay that way.

Ducks On The Pond

One of my favorite places in the entire world is Lithia Park in Ashland, Oregon.

Ducks On The Pond

When we were kids, we used to enjoy splashing around in the creek that runs through the park and running around on the trails, and my sister enjoyed feeding the ducks on the Upper Duck Pond.

There were dozens of fat, prosperous-looking Mallards and Wood Ducks, white domestic ducks, as well as some odd hybrids waddling around, importuning everyone who came near for bread crumbs or seed.  Anyone approaching the pond would be met by a waddling cohort of beady-eyed quackers.  An occasional swan would float by, regarding the scene of frenzied duck feeding with a disapproving eye, but the swans mostly stayed down on the Lower Duck Pond.

Unfortunately, what we didn't realize then was that such feeding wasn't good for either the ducks or for the pond itself.  The bread crumbs deteriorated into a thick green algae, and all the duck poop in the water made it look really nasty.

So the park authorities have now cleaned up the pond.  There are signs all around discouraging people from feeding the ducks.  The pond is much cleaner looking and a lot more serene environment.  There were still two ducks there, swimming quietly around on the pond.

It's probably better for everybody, but I kind of miss seeing the kids feeding the ducks.

Stop Motion

Trapped Wasp

Cindy and I were sitting on our front porch the other night, enjoying the evening light.  I looked up at the eaves of the roof over the porch and noticed five wasps that seemed to be frozen in mid-flight.

I couldn't resist taking a closer look and discovered that some enterprising spider had constructed a web right in front of the wasps' nest and had trapped them in flight as they were either entering or leaving the nest.

It was getting too dark to get a picture of it that evening, and by the time I remembered it the next day, all but one of the wasps were gone.

I guess that's one way to get rid of the wasps, just contract it out to the spiders.

Red Bugs

The County Agriculture Department as reported the first appearance in San Diego County of Red Bugs (Scantius aegyptius) from up north in Ramona  http://www.countynewscenter.com/video?v=155302.

The good news about this pest is that so far it's only eating broadleaf weeds, such as mallows and doesn't seem to be attacking anything else.  However, County Ag wants to know if these bugs show up anywhere else and what it is they're eating.

Milkweed Bugs

The less good news is that these bugs look a lot like a whole lot of other red and black bugs, including the Milkweed bugs we keep finding all over our Asclepia plants in our butterfly garden.

Ours are the Large Milkweed Bug (Oncopeltus fasciatus), not the Small Milkweed Bug (Lygaeus kalmii).  Not that it really matters which they are; we don't want any of them damaging our Asclepia seed pods.

We need the seed in order to propagate the Asclepia plants the Monarch caterpillars eat.

Big Green Worms

Tobacco Hornworm

Another thing we found when we got home was a couple of enormous Tobacco Hornworms  happily devouring the leaves of the Boxcar Willie tomato plant.

I was able to get some good pictures of the insect, so we were able to determine that these are the Tobacco Hornworm (Manduca sexta), which has seven diagonal stripes on its sides, rather than the similar Tomato Hornworm (Manduca quinquemaculata), which has eight chevron-shaped stripes.  As easy way to remember this is that the Tobacco Hornworm has stripes that are straight, like a cigarette, while the Tomato Hornworm has v-shaped chevrons that remind you of vine-ripened tomatoes.

Not that it matters all that much, because both worms have voracious appetites and either of them can strip the leaves from a tomato vine in pretty short order.

Since the tomato plant was at the end of its very productive season, Cindy just decided to take it out and make the bed available for winter crops.

And the hornworms?  She left those under the bird feeder for the birds to finish off, which they promptly did with enthusiasm.

Little Green Worms

When we got home from our trip to Indiana and Michigan, Cindy discovered that the Kale plants she had put in just before we left were being devoured by a host of little green worms called Cabbage Loopers.

Cabbage Looper

These pests are kind of fun to watch because they move around by inching forward and then creating a big loop with their bodies that allows them to inch forward again.

What's not fun about them is that there were a lot of them and they can chew up a lot of plants in a hurry, preferring members of the Cole family, which includes kales, cabbages, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and broccoli, which includes most of the crops Cindy had just planted.

Damaged Kale

They can safely be eradicated by spraying them with Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), but Cindy just picked them off by hand and dropped them into a pail of soapy water, which finished them off.

Apparently they can't swim.

Pure Michigan

At the end of our trip back to Indiana, we drove up to Cindy and Mary's brother Brian and sister-in-law Cheryl's house in Michigan.  As we drove, we commented on commercials we've seen on TV that promote "Pure Michigan".  What does that mean, we asked.  What exactly is "pure Michigan"?

We began to get a clue when we got to their house, which is right on the lake next-door to the house where Cheryl grew up.  It's a fascinating and peaceful scene with the light on the water constantly changing, and the texture of the surface of the water showing every gust of wind or breeze.

Then they took us to the Dexter Cider Mill, a cider mill that has been in operation for over 100 years where cider is still pressed from local apples.  The smell when you step into the mill is rich with an aroma of apples that just says "autumn".

So we bought some cider and some delicious, freshly made cinnamon sugar doughnuts (yum) and ate them down by the river.

It was a wonderful experience.

And when we left their house the next morning, we heard the herons on the lake.




(* I don't know what type of herons they were, but you can hear the Great Blue Heron's call here: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Blue_Heron/sounds)

Once A Garden, Always A Garden

Cindy, her sister Mary and I went back to Indiana two weeks ago to visit friends and revisit some of the places Cindy and Mary grew up.

They told me that their dad, Lou, had created a garden in the back yard of the first house they lived in in Fort Wayne.  The garden was a vegetable garden consisting of two rectangular beds with one side of each shaped like a crescent.  A smaller round bed in front of those contained some beautiful tall, red Canna Lily plants.

As it happened, we drove past the house and noticed that it appeared to be empty, so Mary and Cindy went to peer into the windows and explore the back yard.

They found that the shape of the garden Lou had laid out so many years ago was still visible, although it was now filled with shrubs and was very over grown and unkempt, and Cindy's fingers fairly itched for her pruning shears.

It was obvious that it would take even a passionate gardener a long time to get it back into good shape, but it's also clear that, no matter how many years have passed, once you create a garden, the potential for it is always there.

How To Catch A Grasshopper

Caught!

We were visiting our friend Nan last night and she mentioned that something was eating the leaves of her small lemon tree.  The chief suspect was a grasshopper, judging from the large chunks taken out of the leaves.

As we were inspecting the leaves, Cindy spotted the culprit in the act, chewing away on the leaves, so Cindy showed Nan the way to catch a grasshopper.

It seems that if you approach the grasshopper from either its underside or its back, it will feel the movement of the air as you approach and do what grasshoppers do best:  jump out of your way.

Instead, you need to get something to trap the grasshopper in, and then approach the insect head on, so that when it jumps, it jumps directly into the jar.  Then clap the lid on the jar before it can escape.

What you do with it after that is up to you.

For The Birds

We've been finding quite a few dead birds in our yard lately.  We've found four or five this summer, and that's more than we've found in all the years we've had the bird feeder in our yard.

It's mostly Sparrows and House Finches that we've found.  They usually hang around the feeder for a while, looking puffy and bloated and sometimes showing some downy feathers, which leads us to think some of them might be pretty young.  Shortly after that we find them dead.

We don't know if this is some sort of disease epidemic going around or if they're ingesting something toxic.  We've checked with the company where we buy the seed and they've assured us that they don't use pesticides.  We put in a inquiry to the San Diego Audubon Society, but haven't heard from them.

Cindy also asked the San Diego County Vector Control Program about what might be killing these birds, but they are concerned with larger birds, who tend to be at the top of the food chain and are the ones who may contract and die from the West Nile virus.  They just don't have the resources to investigate smaller birds.

If you find a dead Crow, Raven, Jay, Hawk, Owl or Falcon, please report it to Vector Control at:  http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/deh/pests/wnv/services/chd_wnv_report_dead_birds.html.

I've just found that smaller birds or all types can be reported to the California Department of Public Health at:  http://www.westnile.ca.gov/report_wnv.php

We'll report any future birds we find, although we're hoping we won't find any more.

One More Thing

One thing that did surprise us about the Box Car Willie experiment, where Cindy grafted a tomato plant onto disease-resistant tomato root stock was that the grafted Box Car Willie produced much larger tomatoes than the ungrafted plant right beside it.

A Tale of Two Box Cars

This picture shows tomatoes from both plants: the tomato from the ungrafted plant is on the left and the grafted one on the right.  The ungrafted one was about three quarters of a pound and the grafted one weighed 1 and three quarters pounds.  

That's a lot of tomato.  

"Gracious Outdoor Living"

That's what the catalogs call it when you've got carpets and furniture outside, right?  Only they usually mean carpets and furniture that's intended to stay outdoors, not your inside furniture.

We had to move things outdoors the other day because the fourteen year old water heater finally cashed in its chips and leaked water all over the downstairs, including the carpet and some storage cabinets.

It's all cleaned up now and most of the stuff has dried out; it could have been worse, but it gave us an opportunity to get rid of some stuff we no longer need.

Actually, I thought the carpet looked pretty good outside.

Greatest Hits

I've been writing this blog for four years now, and I've learned a lot about the plants, animals and insects that appear in our garden.  Plus, I've been able to enjoy some really great food along the way.

So I though I would post links to some of my favorite posts from the early years so anyone who missed their original appearance could see them now.  They're also available in the Archives section on the right side of the page.

Plants.  We found these interesting Mystery Nuts cached in a corner of one of the raised beds, so, of course, we planted them.....
      I thought the Leek Flower looked like something created by Dr. Seuss.
      The birds and the bees usually do this:  Sex In The Garden.

Animals.  My all time favorite animal post is the one about the Gray Fox that Cindy saw climbing on our car one morning: Number One Reason Not To Have Chickens .
Followed closely by #2.  Cock-A-Doodle.
And then there are our cats, and the lizards that fascinate them:   Lizard Patrol .
And, of course, one of our favorite Varmints.

Bugs.  Mystery bug--the  Katydid .

Some great pictures of a Monarch butterfly forming a Chrysalis and hatching .

Food:  Meatballs, a recipe we've since refined by adding a quarter teaspoon each of cocoa and cinnamon--yum.  And also Mozzarella Madness-- who knew you could make your own cheese? (Well, lots of people knew, but that didn't include me until we tried it.)

Adventures: No Going Back(ward) .  And the Flower Thieves.

I think that's enough for now.  Thanks for reading my blog, it's been fun!

Last Tomato Standing

Grafted Box Car Willie

By this time it should come as no surprise that the last tomato plant standing is the Box Car Willie plant that was grafted onto disease-resistant root stock.

That plant has shown signs of stress in the form of yellowing leaves, but managed to fight off the powdery mildew and bacterial wilt that claimed all of the other tomato plants this season.

Other San Diego gardeners have reported that this was a terrible year for tomatoes all the way around; we enjoyed a mild winter, but apparently it never got cold enough to kill off all the bacteria and bugs that love our veggies as much as we do.

We are pleased that this plant was so successful, since it shows that it is possible to combat these diseases.  Cindy is hoping to have several other Master Gardeners graft their tomatoes next year so that we can develop more information about what works and what doesn't work so well.

One Very Bad Bug--Bagrada Bug

Cindy was over at the Franklin Elementary School the other day to consult with a volunteer who maintains their garden as part of the School Garden Program, when she noticed some bugs on the Alyssum plants.

The bugs were Bagrada Bugs, Bagrada hilaris, a very invasive pest bug that is a major threat to crops, especially crops such as cauliflower, broccoli, collards, cabbage, kale, radish, rutabaga and wild mustard.  It also feeds on melons, strawberries and members of the nightshade family, such as potatoes and peppers.

The infestation at the school was pretty bad, so Cindy and the volunteer pulled up all the Alyssum plants, but weren't able to kill all the bugs.  They could easily wipe out the vegetables in the school garden.  Since Cindy was just getting ready to plant some of winter crops, including cauliflower and broccoli, it's a good time to check up on what these bugs are and how to control them before we find them on our plants.

For information on how to control these stink bugs, see the University of California's Invasive Pest Management's Pest Note at: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74166.html .

Wait, these things attack POTATOES, too?  Noooooooo!!!!

Desperate Measures

Cindy's continuing quest to get me to eat more vegetables led her to give me the "Garden Sampler" box of Numi organic herb teas for our anniversary last week.

I understand her concern, but really?  Beet Cabbage tea?

Carrot Curry?

Broccoli Cilantro?

Spinach Chive?

Who comes up with these flavors:  the makers of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans?*

The Fennel Spice flavor sounds like it might be all right, but most of the rest of them sound like candidates for the compost heap.

After all, potatoes are the only vegetable that really matters, right?

___________________
*Harry Potter reference

Boxcar Willie Experiment Update

Cindy's experiment with grafting a Boxcar Willie tomato plant onto some disease-resistant tomato root stock is still proceeding, and we're now able to see some significant differences between the grafted Boxcar Willie and the ungrafted plant.  (For a description of the experiment, see http://plantagarden-itllgrowonyou.blogspot.com/2014/04/box-car-willie-tomato-experiment.html).

Two Boxcar Willie Plants, Grafted on the Left, Ungrafted on Right--July 1, 2014

Both plants are showing signs of serious stress; this has been a crappy year for tomatoes all the way around, not just for us but for most of the other vegetable gardeners Cindy knows, but the grafted plant is the clear winner of this experiment.

Both Boxcars on July 20, 2014

These two pictures show the progress of the disease on the ungrafted Boxcar Willie plant on the right; in three weeks the ungrafted plant has wilted considerably, while the grafted plant on the left is still putting out flowers and producing tomatoes.

Fortunately, we have had big, juicy tomatoes from both plants, but it's clear the ungrafted plant is now done.

Boxcar  Willie Tomatoes

Somebody's Thirsty

We woke up the other morning to find that our birdbath in the back yard had been tipped over again.

It's a metal birdbath, about three feet tall; it's not the heaviest thing in the world, but it does take some effort to turn it over.  To my mind, that means it would take a fairly sizable critter to turn it over.  I don't think the skunks or opossums that frequent the neighborhood could have done it.  The Gray Fox or a large raccoon might have been tall enough to do it, but I'm thinking it was probably a Coyote.

The last time the birdbath was tipped over, Cindy saw a Coyote running down the edge of our canyon a few days later.  They seem to have discovered that our bird feeder attracts birds and Ground Squirrels and it looks like they may also have decided it's a good place to get a drink, too.  

Mama Bird and Junior

We've been watching some birds at our backyard feeder today.  The one that caught our attention was a plump little fledgling House Finch that appeared to have just recently left the nest.  We spotted this little guy sitting on one of the metal branches of our feeder continually fluffing his wings.  He had most of his big bird feathers and could fly, but still had some downy feathers on his wings and on top of his head.

Junior House Finch

With him was another House Finch that we thought might be his mother.  Mama Bird seemed to be trying to show Baby how to use the feeder, hopping up on the perch and inserting her head into the holes of the feeder, but Baby was having none of it; he followed her onto the feeder perch occasionally, but never seemed to figure out what he was supposed to do there.  Instead, he sat on the metal branch and chirped at her to come feed him.  When she flew up onto the garage roof or into the Chinaberry tree, he followed her and then followed her back to the feeder.

"MaaaaMa...MaaaaMaaaa, Come Feed Me"

Mama Bird finally gave up and did feed him, but it's pretty clear that she thinks it's time for Junior to get out and fend for himself.

Welcome to the world, little bird.

Back At Home

The problem with going on vacation is that you're continually wondering what's going on at home while you're away.

The pet sitter kept us informed about what the four cats were doing (mostly eating and sleeping), the news media assured us that no meteorites had obliterated San Diego and that the Padres were as pathetic as usual, but there was no way to know what was going on with the garden in our absence.

That leaves the gardener free to imagine that the tomatoes are all dying, the varmints are running rampant and somewhere there's a zucchini rapidly approaching the size of a Shetland pony.

Tomatoes Not Looking Good

When we came home, we found that some of those fears were unfortunately well founded:  the tomatoes really were dying, the artichoke we had recently planted was dead, the back flow valve on part of the irrigation system was leaking, and the radishes had bolted.  Too bad, Cindy really loves her radish sandwiches in the summer.

On the other hand, the green beans were reaching for the sky, producing another bountiful crop, and the squash were looking good.  Cindy picked a couple of the Clarimore zucchini (smaller than Shetland ponies, fortunately) and a handful of tender green beans and they were delicious.

Green Beans Rising

So, back to normal.

And, Of Course....

We couldn't go to Northern California without visiting several wineries in the Anderson Valley of Mendocino County.  You can still find the small family wineries we prefer in the Anderson Valley without having to put up with the glitz and crowds of Napa.

One of our favorite wineries, Esterlina Vineyards, was in the process of moving its tasting room from a mountain top in the Anderson Valley with a spectacular view to a more accessible location further south in Healdsburg, so we didn't get a chance to visit them this time.  To get to their former tasting room, you had to drive several miles up a twisting, mostly dirt road with the increasing belief that you surely must have taken a wrong turn somewhere and you'll probably end up in Canada, before you finally arrived at their tasting room, only to find that their wines, and the view, were definitely worth all that a effort.

However, their move did give us the opportunity to explore two new, at least new to us, Anderson Valley wineries.

Handley Cellars

First up was Handley Cellars, a few miles west of Philo on Highway 128.  We felt right at home before we got in the door, with their terrace of drought tolerant lavenders and grasses.  We loved their Pinot Noir, too, and signed up for their wine club, so we should be able to enjoy more of their wines over the next year without having to lug it all home in our suitcases, although, of course we did lug a few bottles home with us.

The next stop, recommended by our friends in Mendocino, was Lula Cellars, currently located in a shop in Philo.  Lula Cellars is a new winery, established in 2010, but the wines are definitely the work of an experienced and highly skilled winemaker.  While we were tasting their wonderful wines, we heard all about their plans to establish their tasting room a few miles to the west.  So we bought a few bottles of their wine and joined their wine club, too.

A wonderful trip, and so much to look forward to, as well.

Alegria--Always Good

After the shock and disappointment of the closure of the Greenwood Pier Inn, we quickly called our friends at Alegria in Mendocino, where we had planned to stay later in our trip and found that they had space for us for the two nights we had planned to stay at Elk.

The Garden at Alegria

It was just what we needed:  quiet, comfortable and comforting.

We spent relaxing days walking in the Mendocino mist, casually poking through the shops and bookstore in Mendocino and Ft. Bragg, exploring the wineries in the Anderson Valley, or picnicking at MacKerricher State Park north of Ft. Bragg.   

If you go to the Mendocino area, you can't do better than to stay with our friends Eric and Elaine Hillesland at Alegria.

Glass Beach

Another location we wanted to visit on our trip up the Northern California coast was Glass Beach at Fort Bragg.

I've collected small amounts of sea glass over the years, but became much more interested in it a few years ago when I started making flame-worked glass beads.  Most of the beads we flame-workers make have a glossy, glassy surface, but it is possible to create a more matte surface, either by using a chemical etching agent, or by tumbling the glass in a rock tumbler with silicon carbide grit, which is the method I prefer.  If you etch or tumble glass beads made with a transparent glass, the matte surface resembles that of sea glass.

The sea glass at Glass Beach at Fort Bragg was the product of a former city dump; the glass dumped there was eventually eroded by the action of the ocean and created a beach that was largely glass.

However, when we mentioned to local people that we were going to Glass Beach, they told us that it had been pretty well picked over, and that there wasn't much glass left there.  It turned out that they were right about that.  The few pieces of glass we saw were very small.  The glass may have been broken down and eroded by the ocean, but more likely it was just carried off by people who ignored the city's warnings to leave the glass for others to enjoy.  The quantity of sea glass in many places has been declining in recent years, mostly due to the fact that less glass is being used in soft drink bottles, and thus less dumped into the oceans.

We didn't come away empty-handed from the beach, though.  We found one trophy that we carried away with us, only to deposit it into the nearest recycle bin.

Plastic Bottle "Trophy"

Muir Woods

At the top of our list for our vacation trip to Northern California was a visit to the Coastal Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) at Muir Woods.

There is something incredibly peaceful and calming about being among the giant trees in a Redwood forest, and there's absolutely no aroma on earth like Redwoods, especially early in the morning.

Also, fortunately, not too many creatures on earth like the 8 inch Banana Slug we saw crawling over debris on the forest floor.

We spent several hours walking through along the forest trail, through the dappled sunlight filtering through the trees.

The water in the creek beside the trail was low, as California's drought continues, but these trees are amazing survivors, many showing evidence of damage from and regeneration in previous forest fires.

It's always a special place.  Even a short visit to it is, in John Muir's words, "the best gift any tree lover can have."

Elk and The Greenwood Pier Inn

Probably the biggest, and least pleasant, surprise that we had on our vacation trip up the Northern California coast was when we went to check into our bed-and-breakfast inn, the Greenwood Pier Inn at the small village of Elk, a place we have stayed at many times in the past, only to find the parking lot empty and the buildings apparently deserted.

View From the Cliff House Deck

We finally located the caretaker, who told us the place was in foreclosure, the inn and cafe closed and the staff laid off.  We quickly made arrangements to stay elsewhere, but found it tremendously shocking that such a lovely place could have come to that.

The cottage we had planned to stay in, the Cliff House, is truly right on the edge of the cliff above the ocean about a hundred feet below; you can hear the surf crashing on the rocks below all night long.  The view is spectacular; the sea has carved large openings in the rocks just off shore and the tide flows back and forth through them.

Rocks At Elk

The Greenwood Pier was a pier at the small town of Elk where timber was loaded aboard steamers bound for San Francisco in the later part of the 19th century.  Timber and fishing made many thriving communities in this part of the California for many years.

But eventually most of the timber was cut and the fisheries depleted by over fishing; now the chief source of income for people living here is:  tourists.  That makes the decline of the Greenwood Pier Inn at Elk all the more tragic, as the inn, with its restaurant, garden shop and boutique was probably one of the largest employers in what is a relatively poor area.  Its closure, even temporarily, has to be a tremendous blow to the economy of the area.

We have many happy memories from previous stays at this beautiful place; we can only hope that future owners will restore it to its prior glory.

Meanwhile, if you've got $4 million to spend, it could be yours: http://www.showcase.com/property/5926-Hwy-1/Elk/California/9044617 .

Sourdough Bread

On our recent vacation in Northern California, we ate at several wonderful restaurants, but the highlight for me was the Tadich Grill at 240 California Street in San Francisco.  Although it has changed locations several times over the years, this restaurant has the distinction of being the oldest restaurant in California in continuous operation.

Since it's only a couple of blocks away from the building where I used to work, I have some vague recollection of having eaten there once before, but didn't remember much about the food.  Silly me.

As an old-style restaurant in the City by the Bay, they do seafood.  Oh, yes, they do seafood.  I love Dungeness Crab, so of course I had to have the sautéed Dungeness Crab legs, and it was perfectly done.   Cindy finally decided on the sea bass after she heard the people at the next table raving over it, and hers was wonderful, too.

And the sourdough bread--I could have eaten a whole meal of it.  I've had bread that was alleged to be sourdough bread in many other locations in the world, but there is nothing, NOTHING that even comes close to true San Francisco sourdough bread.  Nothing.

Dungeness Crab and sourdough bread.  Sigh.  We'll just have to go back.

California Academy of Sciences

On our vacation last week, we stayed in San Francisco for a few nights and then went up the coast to Mendocino.  We ate at a lot of nice restaurants and visited the many food-related shops in the Ferry Building on the Embarcadero, which is always fun.

But, of course, Cindy can't just relax on a vacation, there has to be some activity related to gardening or plants, so while we were in San Francisco, she wanted to visit the California Academy of Sciences, located in Golden Gate Park.  The building is the largest public building to be rated at the platinum level for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).  It has a 2.5 acre living roof with 1.7 million native California plants and a four story high rainforest.  See "About the Building" for more information.

Well, it certainly sounded worthy of a visit, but thanks to a screw-up with our rental car, we never actually got there.  Who knew Fiat made cars with transmissions that were both manual and automatic?  We didn't-- we couldn't figure out how to shift it out of second gear, making a really interesting adventure driving on the Bay Area freeways, and it sounded like a truck, so we went back over the Bay Bridge and returned it, and by the time we got a different car it was too late to get to the museum.

So we'll save the museum for a future trip.

And just say "no" to anything Fiat makes.

What To Do With Green Tomatoes?

Lots of Green Tomatoes

Due to the unfortunate progress of the fungal wilt affecting several of the tomato plants this year, we've had plenty of tomatoes, but most of them have been green tomatoes taken off the plants Cindy has had to tear out.

According to other Master Gardeners, their tomatoes are not doing well this year, either.  One friend has already ripped out three of her plants.

We're guessing that because San Diego, unlike most of the rest of the country, had a very mild winter so the temperature never got cold enough to kill off the pathogens in the soil.  Those pathogens are now having a roaring old time destroying our tomato plants, but fortunately don't seem to be affecting the rest of the garden.

So what do you do with that many green tomatoes?

So far we've had Green Tomato Pasta, Green Tomato Soup and Green Tomato Bread.

We've had the pasta and the soup in previous years, but I was a little skeptical of the bread, at least until I tasted it.  The taste and texture were very similar to Zucchini Bread, so I guess it shouldn't have been much of a surprise that it was as good as it was.  It could have used some nuts, though, so Cindy has added them to the recipe.

So here's the recipe Cindy used:

Green Tomato Bread
Ingredients
1/2 cup canola oil
8 ounces nonfat yogurt, plain
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup Splenda (or use all sugar--Cindy used sugar)
2 cups green tomatoes, pureed, juice drained and discarded
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves (scant)
1/2 cup nuts  (optional)

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour two loaf pans.

Combine oil, yogurt, eggs, sugar, Splenda, nuts and green tomatoes in a large bowl and mix well.  Sift together all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices and add to wet ingredients along with the whole wheat flour.  Stir together just until combined.
Divide evenly between two prepared pans and bake just until a toothpick comes clean from the center of the bread, about 45 minutes.  Let cool in pans, then remove.

Not Good News

Not Winning First Prize This Year

More bad news about the tomato plants.  Two weeks ago Cindy ripped out the Sweet Seedless tomato plant because it was showing clear signs of some kind of bacterial wilt.

Yesterday, she also ripped out the First Prize tomato plant for the same reason.  As you can see from this photograph, the plant was showing many yellowing leaves and the whole plant had begun to droop over the protective panels.

It had plenty of tomatoes on the vines, but, since the plant was dying rapidly, there was no chance the tomatoes would be able to ripen before the plant collapsed completely.

When Cindy took the plant down, she cut a cross section from the biggest part of the stem, that clearly showed the progress of the fungal wilt, which gradually plugs the xylem tissue and eventually cuts off the supply of water to the plant.

Plant Cross Section

Without a microscopic analysis, we won't know whether this is  Fusarium Wilt or Verticillium Wilt, but in either case, it's not good news for the tomato plant.

Other Side of the Cross Section