Our weeping cherry tree is blossoming right now, and it’s been a lot of fun to work in the garden lately. I planted a sorbet peony among other things, and the hydrangea I burned with fertilizer late last year is making a really nice come back. Pretty soon it’ll be real BBQ season (I lovely 76 degree day here today, but so unexpected it’s hard to get a BBQ group going) and we’ll be spending a lot of time back there.

I haven’t planted spring crops yet, but it’s on the to-do list. The chard from last summer is still producing nicely, as is the arugula. The leeks I planted a few months ago aren’t doing well; I think they’ve been too cold at night and too wet during the day and so they never quite spanned out and are still slim and clumped together. The other containers, for the most part, are resting right now. The kale missed its chance when it was attacked by caterpillars at its prime, and I’ll probably uproot it soon. The thyme is still doing well, and I ought to use it more often.

Anyone having luck with other crops in SF?

Served with Zuni Cafe Zucchini Pickles and lettuce from our organic container garden.

I make this salad in several variations, the classic being with croutons, romaine lettuce anchovies and the dressing.

Here’s the recipe for homemade caesar salad dressing.

3 anchovies, minced finely
3 cloves garlic, minced finely
3 tsp capers, rinsed lightly and minced
1 T whole grain mustard
2 T apple cider vinegar or other salad vinegar
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
2 T olive oil

Optional: 1 T creme fraiche, heavy cream, or sour cream; or, 1 coddled egg yolk

Whisk vigorously all ingredients together; will keep in the fridge up to 2 weeks in an airtight container such as a reused jar.

So. My organic container vegetable garden. I started thinning the lettuce yesterday to keep it producing and ensure tender leaves, so above you’re seeing little gem leaves, green leaf, and arugula.

There have been some challenges, which I’ve included in photos below, and I hope others find it helpful when growing in the future as I had a very difficult time diagnosing and treating the problems.

- The red leaf lettuce is almost completely destroyed by either bottom rot or aphids or both; The red leaf lettuce appeared wet but rotting, limp, and grey. What was left of it when it got treated is getting stronger, but I lost a couple of the plants. You can see what was destroyed in the background. This is about 2 weeks after first treatment.

- The lemon cucumbers, which were damaged when I bought them, are struggling but appear to be making do with the way they are; there are flowers that have developed over the past few days and I think I even see the first little cukes. I think they had powdery mildew; I’ve been treating them with serenade disease control and more recently with a neem oil mixture aimed at 3 different plant problems, which is organic appropriate.

- The beets and chard had many leaves rotting at the edges and in blotches, going grey, limp, and just all bad. I picked off the bad ones and have been treating it, but the problem is not 100% gone. They seem to be growing nonetheless, though, and I think it’s because they were simply better established when the affliction started. Here is an upclose shot of the affliction:

- The basil is not growing and has lost its shiny leaves, turning more dull and grey. We’ll see if it survives. It may just need to be warmer; it also had some brown spots on the edges and I’ve noticed aphids under the leaves–I treated it and will continue to, and can hopefully nurse it back to health.

I think part of the problems are aggravated by the heavy fog San Francisco experiences at this time of year; the plants aren’t getting as much sun as they’d like and aren’t fully drying off.

On the other hand, the thyme, tomato plant (first little tomatoes are developing, more flowers are out too!), little gem lettuce and green leaf lettuce seem to be doing well!

The beets and rainbow chard are growing well since I planted them about a week ago. The beets seem as if they’ll do especially well.

Over the weekend I purchased the last of the plants I intend to grow in the coming months and managed to pot everything. Now it’s a learning curve of what each plant needs and monitoring for pests.

Yesterday was a bit of a food adventure, a day-trip to the east bay, a stay-cation. I took a good friend with me over the bay to Oasis Food Market–among other delights, they make their own middle eastern pastries including the filo itself. This is rare. And delicious. We met up with the owner and had lunch, and were introduced to our new favorite pesto-family item, a Turkish spread of almonds, pistachios, and red bell pepper. I managed also to score some harissa to make Smitten Kitchen’s carrot salad with feta and mint. We made our way to Cactus Jungle (bad name, great staff) where I purchased some pots and the lemon cucumber plants a friend told me I might find here.

All and all, the organic vegetable container garden now has:

- Early Girl Tomato
- Little gem lettuce
- Green lettuce
- Red lettuce
- Arugula
- Thyme
- Basil x 3
- Rainbow chard
- Red beets
- Spring onions

All of which I’m very excited about and hope not to kill. Here are some pictures to help me watch it grow (or putter out):

After thinking for some time, I planted a container garden. Actually, I planted half of what I’d like to, and can’t find some of the plants I’d like to plant. Perhaps they’re out of season. That’s how amateur I am.

The beets, rainbow chard, and early girl tomato plant are in pots. I’m awaiting more pots this weekend, in which to put the genovese basil, arugula, red and green lettuces, and english thyme.

I’ve been tending to the garden, too. Last weekend a hydrangea, a fuchsia with light lime color leaves and several other decorative plants went into their new homes. I found a spiral rush (think thick grass worms in the shape of unicorn horns!) and put it in a fabulous galvanized pot. Still have some decorative sage and other interesting plants to put in the ground over the next few days.

A few weeks back I planted begonias, and they seem to be pretty happy where they landed.

Here are some SF purveyors I used in my recent gardening:

Three Bees Nursery

Flora Grubb Gardens

Under One Roof