January and February are optimum months for planting lettuce from seed, according to Charles B. Ledgerwood's Southern California Vegetable Planting Calendar. Here are other his other suggestions, optimum plantings for the month are capitalized.

ASPARAGUS, BEETS, BROCCOLI, BRUSSEL SPROUTS, CABBAGE, CAULIFLOWER, CARROTS, CHIVES, celery, COLLARDS, ENDIVE, FAVA BEANS, KALE, KOHLRABI, leek, LETTUCE, MUSTARD, ONIONS, PEAS, PARSLEY, PARSNIP, RADISH, POTATOES, RUTABAGA, SWISS CHARD, SPINACH, TURNIP, winter zucchini.

If planting your lettuce from seed, why not get a little creative. Whether you have raised beds, or plant your seeds directly in the ground, try planting your favorite different types of lettuce in alternate rows of a shape. Some of my favorite lettuces are the Lettuce "Lollo Rosso," Lettuce "Bibb," and Lettuce "Oak Leaf."

For a great visual in your kitchen garden create simple patterns. Make a quick sketch of what seeds you want to plant in each row. Sow seeds in half circles, spirals, diagonals for something different.

Please comment on your favorite lettuce. Please share a lettuce-growing story you have.

Early last summer on a trip to Napa Valley with my garden friends, we all bought German Butterball potato seed starts to take home and grow in our own gardens. German Butterball potatoes are posh to potato growers and fancy chefs for their unique golden color, natural buttery taste, flaky texture, and easy storage. It was a challenge I had to try.

You can grow potatoes in the ground, but try growing them in a container, for more control and convenience.

How To Grow Potatoes In A Container:

1) Start with a container that is 20" to 30" tall with drainage. It can be a plastic nursery container like the one I used, or a plastic trash can, half wine barrel, etc.

If you do use old containers, be sure to clean, scrub, and rinse well your container. Use a one part bleach to five parts water mixture to sanitize your container against disease, fungus, and whatever was previously in your container. Never use a container that had been used for chemicals or pesticides previously.

2) Fill your container with several inches of loose clean organic soil mixed with peat moss.

3) Before planting, I left my German Potato seed starts in a cool dry area for a few weeks to develop nice eyes. Place your ready potato seed starts in your container several inches deep in your container.

4) Seed potatoes are best bought in late winter or early spring, either from your favorite nursery or seed catalogs like Seed Savers Exchange or Territorial Seed. Always use certified, disease-free potato seeds about the size of a chicken egg. You might be disappointed if you use store bought potatoes which have sprouted eyes for yield and diseases reasons.

5) Your potato starts will start to grow, and when they have about 6-8 inches of foliage, add more of your soil mix covering again 1/2 of your stems and foliage. Repeat this every time you see a burst of new growth with your foliage. Each time you add your soil mixture, top feed your potato plants with 1/2 cup of cotton seed meal or your favorite liquid fertilizer. By doing this you encourage your potato plants to flower. Once they flower, stop fertilizing them.

6) Keep your potato plants moist in their container, but not soggy. Always have them in full sun. During your growing process, you can poke around for your potatoes and dig up a few to look at your progress.

7) After your plants stop flowering and their foliage begins turning yellow, your potatoes are reaching maturity and their full size. At this point, stop watering, and let the foliage tops die back. Let your potatoes cure in their soil for a few weeks. Dig up your potatoes out by hand to harvest.

Garden-fresh potatoes delight your taste buds. Use your favorite potato recipe, and wow your family and friends.

I love to roast mine in the oven with a little olive oil, smoked sea salt, and freshly ground pepper. Yum.

Please share if you grow potatoes in your garden or in a container. Please share which potato favorites you like to grow.

I was caught off guard the other day, and didn't have anything convenient with me to collect my eggs, squash, and cherry tomatoes with. Remember I'm going through a remodel, and life is not normal. Then I thought of my faithful garden hat. It sent me into a philosophic moment, about "using what you have," and "wanting what you have." Something similar to what Sheryl Crow croons about. I'm all about re-purposing and finding atypical uses for things, so it put a smile on my face.

Borrowing once again from Charles B.Ledgerwood's Southern California Vegetable Planting Calendar, best seeds to plant in July are: BEANS, beets, carrots, cantaloupe, celery, CORN, CUCUMBER, leek, LIMAS, okra, SQUASH, NEW ZEALAND SPINACH, and swiss chard. For the best planting months the names are capitalized.

Please share some things you have re-purposed, especially for the garden.

VintageGardenGal Tidbit Thyme...

This week I am attending the national Garden Bloggers Meet Up 2010, an annual convergence of garden bloggers and garden buzz. This year it is held in Buffalo, New York, and to all the attendees good fortune, tied in with a prelude to Garden Walk Buffalo, a free self-guided tour of more than 350 gardens around Buffalo, and the biggest garden tour in America. VintageGardenGal will return next week.

Last month I spoke about Charles B. Ledgerwood's "Southern California Vegetable Planting Calendar" for May. These are his suggestions for the month of June. For the best planting months, the names are capitalized.

BEANS, beets, carrots, CANTALOUPE, CORN, CUCUMBER, LIMA BEANS, OKRA, parsley, PEPPER, PUMPKIN, radish, NZ SPINACH, SQUASH, swiss chard, tomato, jicama, watermelon, eggplant, and sunflower.

It is hard to think about pumpkins and fall right now when we have the whole summer in front of us. Yet, this is the time to start your pumpkins from seed. One of my favorite pumpkins to grow is the Cinderella pumpkin, linked to the enchanting fairy-tale, Cinderella, with her beautiful pumpkin-shaped carriage.

The Cinderella pumpkin is a beautiful rich orange-hued color with deep ridges, and a slightly flattened shape.  Plant seeds in mounds 5-8' apart, mixed with ample compost material. Plant five seeds, 2" deep, to a mound, and thin to 1-3, if needed. Allow ample space for your pumpkin vines to stretch out and grow. Place straw or a thin piece of wood under each pumpkin as it grows. Each vine yields 5-8 pumpkins. Water the equivalent of 1" per week. Best to water deeply, rather than lightly at frequent intervals.

Harvest at about 95 days. Leave at least a 2" or more stem when harvesting the pumpkin from its vine. Mature pumpkins may be carved, used in a variety of fall recipes, and as romantic fairy-tale fall decorations. Please share if you grow pumpkins every year. Please comment on which pumpkins are your favorite.

VintageGardenGal Tidbit Thyme.... Weidner's Gardens is pouring a new cement path this June 12 & 19, and invites you to join in all of the fun and activities.

Seed enthusiast Charles B. Ledgerwood (1906-1999) had a bulk seed business for over 50 years in Southern California, in the seaside village of Carlsbad. His home and store front were literally "a stone's throw" from the ocean. He sold his seeds out of vintage 60 year old bread boxes in a one room store attached to the front of his home. Gardeners and farmers from all over Southern California, frequented his small stucco store with a simple "Seeds" sign above the door.

He loved his seeds, and loved to share his knowledge of seeds, growing practices, and tips with everyone. Tacked high above his shelves was the prophetic quote, "All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today." Charles B. Ledgerwood lived well into his nineties, but didn't sell or leave his seed business to family. However, his seeds and vintage bread boxes live on in full glory at The Urban Seed, Home & Garden, an incredible creative garden shop located in Fiesta de Reyes, Old Town, San Diego. Friendly owners, Maurice Taitano and Michael Bliss, sell seeds and much more for your home and garden. It is worth a trip.

As a guide for all of us in Southern California, Charles B. Ledgerwood created a Southern California Vegetable Planting Month-by-Month Calendar. Here are his vegetable edibles planting suggestions for the month of May. Best planting names are capitalized.

BEANS, BEETS, CARROTS, CANTELOUPE, CORN, CUCUMBERS, EGGPLANT, LIMAS, OKRA, parsley, PEPPER, PUMPKIN, RADISH, NEW ZEALAND SPINACH, SQUASH, SUNFLOWER, TOMATO, JICAMA, WATERMELON, and SWISS CHARD.

Please share what you are growing in your garden now.  Please comment if you are familiar with Charles B. Ledgerwood and his seed business, of years past.

Thank goodness there has been a renaissance in the popularity of farmers markets in the last ten years. If you are not able to grow fresh organic vegetables, believe me, there is someone at your local farmer markets that does.

Farmers markets are a signature of European lifestyle. Europeans generally shop every few days, if not every day for their fresh baguette and croissants. Why not frequent a farmers market one day a week, and introduce it into your lifestyle. You will be guaranteed seasonal selections.

Farmers markets tend to draw colorful and lively people, and it is a fun experience. It is also a way of supporting people who are passionate about growing fresh, often heirloom and organic produce. There are also plant and flower farmers, too, who specialize in amazing heirloom vegetable selections and healthy herbs, to take home for your own kitchen garden.

The Hillcrest Farmers Market on Sundays 9am-2pm (rain or shine) is one of the best in the San Diego area. It is located at 3960 Normal Street, at Lincoln, adjacent to the DMV parking lot, San Diego, CA 92103. It is a worthwhile treat to visit on Sundays.

You can easily make it into a Hillcrest Farmers Market day excursion. This little excursion can be done with your car or if you are adventurous, a bike. Make sure you bring your camera and a cooler to keep your purchased produce.

Start your Sunday morning off, with a little breakfast and an aromatic cup of coffee at the popular Bread & Cie, 350 University Ave., San Diego, CA 92103. Sunday hours are 8am-6pm. (tel) (619) 683-9322.

Proceed with a 5 minute car ride to the Hillcrest Farmers Market, where you will find a bustling hub of excitement. Nearby parking spots are sometimes hard to find. Let your senses fuse with all of the color, aromas, activity. Plan your meals for the following week, with what is in season. I like to purchase interesting vegetable seedlings to supplement my kitchen garden. Look for the unusual such as flavored honey, fresh gourmet mushrooms, fresh hummus, or Greek pastries.

When you are finished at the farmers market, hop into your car for another short 5 minute car ride, and you are in Balboa Park. Visit the Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden, free to the public 365 days a year. This public rose garden is one of the best in the country with 2,500 roses of 200 varieties. Peak season for this spectacular rose garden is April to May. It is located across from the San Diego Natural History Museum.

If you worked up a little appetite, and want a tasty bite for lunch, Mama Testa is a reasonable lunch, serving "rave review" tacos from recipes around Mexico. Just down the street from Balboa Park, Mama Testa is located at 1417a University Ave. San Diego, CA 92103. Sunday hours are Noon to 8pm. (tel) (619) 298-8226.

Whether you live in San Diego, or plan on visiting some day. Be sure and put the Sunday Hillcrest Farmers Market on your calendar or itinerary.

Please share if you frequent your local farmers markets. Please comment if you have been to the Hillcrest Farmers Market in San Diego.

My first venture into growing my own strawberries, was purchasing by a fluke, two pony packs of Chandler strawberries.  That was the winter we received a record 25 inches of rain or so, here in Southern California. I don't want to scare you, but from those original two pony packs I gave away 17 full nursery flats of Chandler strawberry plants to my enthusiastic garden friends that following spring.  Needless to say, conditions must have been optimum.

Picking my own sun-ripened strawberries for morning breakfast is always a delectable treat. My strawberries are so sweet and juicy, and incredibly flavorful. Once you have had your own strawberries, you will be spoiled, and never want anything but your home-grown. Here are some tips I have found growing strawberries in my kitchen garden:

1) Pick a sunny sloping spot with rich, well-draining, preferably acidic soil in your kitchen garden. Strawberry plants are perennials, but should be rotated out after three years, because the plants start to decline. Either replace "your strawberry patch" with new plants, or start cultivating a "new strawberry patch" with your young runner plants. If you don't have space in your garden, a planted strawberry pot or container works well, and is very attractive.

2) Mulch your strawberries with straw, or in my case, I use my compost mixture. This will keep your strawberries off of the soil, discourage bugs, and allow pristine berries to grow and ripen.

3) Provide adequate water. Strawberries need regular moderate watering.

4) If you have the room, I urge you to experiment with different strawberry varieties. Bear in mind there are three types of market strawberries, June-bearing, everbearing, and day-neutral varieties. June-bearing produce one crop of strawberries in early spring or early June. Generally speaking, these are the best quality strawberries you can grow in your garden. Everbearing varieties produce two crops one in June and one late summer. Day-neutral varieties can produce a continuous crop from June to frost. There are also alpine and musk strawberries which are not to be confused, and are a different species.

5) Pick your ripe strawberries regularly, and often. This also discourages bugs from enjoying your strawberries first.

6) After harvest, or in the winter, I prune back my strawberry plants. Be careful not to damage the crown of the plant for the following year. Some gardeners actually lightly mow the tops of their strawberry plants, but I prefer gentle pruning.

There are so many different strawberry varieties available to grow, buy regional strawberry varieties adapted to your particular area. This spring, I got "Strawberry Mania" and planted four different strawberry varieties, one type in each corner of my potager or kitchen garden. I thought it would be fun to experiment in taste, size, texture, and yield.

My point is, a "strawberry" is not just a strawberry. In the above photo, I planted and tasted my favorite, Chandler strawberry, and  a new-to-me variety, Camarossa strawberry, both June-bearing varieties. I planted in two other corners, Eversweet and Sweetheart everbearing strawberries, which are also new-to-me varieties this year. Time will tell how they all will fare in my home-grown taste comparison.

Strawberries are so versatile in baking, cooking, preserves, summer desserts, salads, and simply fresh straight out of the garden. If you love strawberries, try planting your own strawberry patch. For more in depth information on growing strawberries, please refer to some of the amazing new books on edibles, Sunset's Western Garden Book of Edibles and Grocery Gardening, I have reviewed recently.

Please share tips from your strawberry patch. Please comment on the varieties of  strawberries you grow.

I generally plant fava beans in my potager every year. I think it is because they remind me of Europe. Fava beans were a staple in northern Europe before the introduction and popularity of the potato. When I'm in Europe, I see fava beans for sale at outdoor markets, and mentioned often on restaurant menus. While fava beans have been cultivated in Europe for centuries, fava beans are relatively new to the American farm, market, and garden.

I absolutely adore their catchy black and white flowers which remind me of black-eyed peas. Oh yes, and I love their slightly nutty buttery taste, too. Fava beans are also known by the names; Broad beans, Windsor beans, English beans, and a few others. (Please note, in some cases, a few people can be allergic to, or have an enzyme deficiency to fava beans. I have never experienced this or heard of this personally before, but have seen it in my reading).

In mild climates such as Southern California, I sow my fava beans in the fall, and patiently wait 150-180 days later, for harvest in spring. Fava beans are a legume, and require a long, cool growing season. Fava beans are also considered a beneficial cover crop, because they are high in nitrogen, and return nitrogen back, enriching the soil where they are grown.

I plant my fava bean seeds in a large full sun plot in my potager, where their height won't affect my other growing vegetables. Seeds need to be planted about 2" deep, and 6" apart. Allow for about 24" between your rows. Mature fava bean plants, do not require staking or support, and can reach 4' to 5' high yielding apple green pods, 6" to 8" inches long, with 5 to 7 beans in each pod.

The best reason for growing fresh fava beans is their wonderful taste and versatility. You can utilize young tender fava bean pods whole, or shelled when mature. Fava beans can be used in light spring pastas, hearty soups, pureed as a dip, sauteed as a vegetable, or used as a substitute for lima beans. It seems like every year, I see yet another creative way to use fava beans in spring recipes.

If you are not familiar with fava beans, I whole-heartedly recommend growing them sometime. Fava bean seeds are easy to find through your favorite seed catalogs. Territorial Seed and Botanical Interests both carry fava beans. In the garden, fava beans are quite striking in appearance, easy to grow and cultivate, add nitrogen back to your soil, and reap a tasty spring legume.

Please share if you  are familiar with, and grow fava beans in your garden? Please comment on your favorite way to enjoy fava beans.

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