So far the winter of 2006-207 has been a cool one in the Bay Area. But we got out for a short hike yesterday on Sobrante Ridge, and it was quite pleasant. The trail wasn’t muddy, and the manzanita was in bloom. I’m starting to post some pages on outdoor activities in the Bay Area.
Left Coast Gardening
Our garden lies in what Sunset calls “one of Northern California’s finest horticultural climates.” We are located in an area of wet mild winters and dry mild summers — a Mediterranean climate zone. It’s a region with unique challenges and opportunities. I love gardening here.
Approaches to gardening are strongly determined by scale. Our garden is a small family garden. Its core was formerly a swimming pool. Often we might be growing just a single plant in a container, or a handful of plants, where a larger-scale gardening operation might be planting long rows of crops. Over time we have adjusted to find the right balance for our home garden.
On Top
All this new stuff goes on top
turn it over, turn it over
wait and water down
from the dark bottom
turn it inside out
let it spread through
Sift down even
Watch it sprout.
A mind like compost.
Contents
Flickr Photos
Recently visited posts and pages
- Ginger Beer Taste-Off: Bug v. Yeast
- The Belgum Sanitarium
- Emporium Dome, Westfield Centre (Bloomingdale's), San Francisco
- San Francisco Bay wind patterns
- Photo Wednesday: Muir Woods
- Fisher Contemporary Art Museum of the Presidio
- Deconstructing Casa Sanchez Salsa
- Tavern on the Green NOT coming to San Francisco
- Artemisia douglasiana, Mugwort
- Calandrinia spectabilis
ABOUT THE BAY
As it's evolved, this site has increasingly focused on vita plantae in the San Francisco Bay Area, so I've rejiggered this blog to reflect that. You will still find plenty of more general posts on life by the bay. Visit the site home or try one of these:
And you can contact me here.
As it's evolved, this site has increasingly focused on vita plantae in the San Francisco Bay Area, so I've rejiggered this blog to reflect that. You will still find plenty of more general posts on life by the bay. Visit the site home or try one of these:
And you can contact me here.
"Point Pinole Regional Shoreline" grasses Acca sellowiana aloe applejack Araucaria heterophylla (Norfolk Pine) artemisia Artemisia absinthium Artemisia californica Artemisia douglasiana (Mugwort) Artemisia dracunculus Artemisia pycnocephala (Sandhill Sage asclepias Asclepius cancellata (Wild Cotton) asparagus fern Atriplex leucophylla (Beach Salt Bush) Australasian Babyleaf lettuce biomes bioregions bitters Blue-Eyed Grass bokashi Brown-Headed Cowbird brugmansia Buddha Tree butterflies butterfly Butterknife Tree Calandrinia spectabilis Calendrinia spectabilis California Poppy California Sagebrush Camissonia cheiranthifolia (Beach Primrose) campari Carpodocus mexicanus cats cherries chickadee citrus Citrus Burst rose civic center climate cocktails compost compost tea Cotinus coggygria 'Purpureus' crabapple Cunonia capensis Cunonia capensis (Butterknife Tree) datura Datura wrightii (Sacred Datura) deer dirt drought ducks early girl tomatoes Erigeron karvinskianus Eschscholzia californica euphorbia European Mantis featured Fenugreek fern Ferry Point Ficus religiosa figs flowers Fraxinus latifoloa (Oregon Ash) fuschia gabions Gai Choi ginger beeer Golden Gate Bridge groundhog Grüss an Aachen Grüss an Aachen Rose health herbs house finch hummingbird hummingbird sage iochroma Iochroma coccinea Iochroma cyanea 'Royal Blue' iochromoa Ishikora Improved Bunching Onion jack-o-lantern jasmine johnson's hybrid aloe Jupiter's Beard kittens Komatsuna lemons lettuce Lilac Verbena limes Malva assurgentiflora (Island Mallow) mantis Mantis religiosa markets meta milkweed Miller/Knox Park Mimulus aurantiacus (Sticky Monkeyflower) mint moarch mojito mint mole Monardella villosa (Coyote Mint) natives Nichol Knob norfolk pine onion orange juice Pak Choi papaver Papaver glaucum (tulip poppy) papaver rhoes Pawtucket peppermint perilla furtescens var. crispa Persian Limes persimmon persimmons photo photo-derived art Pineapple Guava) pipevine pisco Pittosporum undalatum Plain Titmouse Plantago subnuda (Tall Coastal Plaintain) Platycerium plums Point Pinole pomegranate pool poppy Prionyx thomae propagation Protasparagus densiflorus 'Meyeri' (foxtail asparagus fern) Ramnus California (California Coffeeberry) Rhode Island Richmond Richmond-San Rafael Bridge rose roses Salvia appiana Salvia melliflora (Black Sage) Salvia spathacea (Hummingbird Sage) Sambucus nigra (Blue Elderberry) Santa Barbara Daisy Scabiosa anthemifolia Scrophularia california (California Bee Plant) scrub jay seeds Senecio talinoides shiso Shiso Britton Sisyrinchium bellum Slater Mill Smoketree snails spearmint spurge squash st. george's distillery Staghorn Fern star jasmine stephen curry. lebron james Stipa arundinacea Stipa arundinacea (New Zealand Wind Grass) Stipa pulchra (Purple Needlegrass) succulents swimming pool to garden Tanecetum parthenium aureum (Golden Feverfew) Tarragon the cocktail garden toyon Tree Fern UC Botanical Garden unknown weed Verbena lilacina vermouth Victorian Box Vietnamese mint vinegar vineyards wall Wan Shen warriors wasp webwork Western Swallowtail Butterfly white-crowned sparrow White Genoa Fig white pelican white sage wormwood yellowfin yellow zucchini
Some rights reserved 2018 Tom’s Garden. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons (attribution, noncommercial, no derivs: 3.0) License (US), although some of the work this blog incorporates may be separately licensed. Text and images by Thomas Christensen unless otherwise noted. For print permissions or other inquiries please request via rightreading.com/contact.htm.