Dwarf Sweet Corn

I just learned from The Apartment Farm that a variety of sweet corn called Blue Jade Corn is small enough to grow in containers. This is intriguing to say the least. In the past I have been reluctant to try corn because of space issues. Once you plant the necessary 4 rows for proper pollination, not much room is left for some of my other favorites. A dwarf variety may be just the thing to try in a few 5 gallon buckets.

One thing I know about corn is that it has been domesticated to the point of needing some pretty specific conditions for reproduction. I have no idea if wind pollination will be able to occur if planted in small bucket sized bunches. I will be following The Apartment Farm through the growing season for updates. If it looks promising, it is on the list for next year.

The Nuances of Zone 10

In searching the web for information on gardening in Southern California, several time I have come across mention of "Sunset Zones." Not knowing exactly what they were, I did a little reading up on the alternative zone map today.

Sunset Magazine developed the concept in response to the somewhat generalized USDA zone map. While the USDA map only looks at lowest temperatures in a given region, the Sunset map takes into account the yearly range of temperatures, precipitation, wind, elevation, and the details of the growing season. According to their map and depending on where we finally settle down in Los Angeles, I will either be in a Sunset Zone 20 or 22.

I will pull the descriptions directly from here on Sunset Magazine's website.

Zone 20 is inland:
"ZONE 20. Hilltops and Valley Floors of Ocean-influenced Inland Southern CaliforniaGrowing season: late Mar. to late Nov.--but fairly mild winters (lows of 28 degrees to 23 degrees F/-2 degrees to -5 degrees C) allow gardening through much of the year. Cool and moist maritime influence alternates with hot, dry interior air."

Zone 22 is a little south and coastal:
"ZONE 22. Colder-winter Parts of Southern California's Coastal RegionGrowing season: Mar. to early Dec. Winter lows seldom fall below 28 degrees F/-2 degrees C (records are around 21 degrees F/-6 degrees C), though colder air sinks to this zone from Zone 23. Summers are warm; rain comes in winter. Climate here is largely oceanic."

As it seems like gardening in any new location is always accompanied by a period of adjustment, I'll use this as a guide only. Who knows if I'll be able to do pots of leafy greens all winter. It will take a few years to figure it out. After all, that's the point of this blog!

Starting a Seed Order

Although I won't be in my new Zone 10 home until April, I will be purchasing seeds this year for the direct planting of summer and fall crops. After reading some very disturbing facts about GMO's and the seed giant Monsanto, I plan to avoid all seed companies that carry their products. In the past I have used Burpee and Park but Baker will be my primary source this year. They carry heirloom, open pollinated, and GMO free seeds. And their catalog is gorgeous.

On the list so far:
Flame Lettuce - a red leaf lettuce that is supposedly slow to bolt
Gentilina Lettuce - a crisp light green leaf lettuce with curly leaves
French Breakfast Radish - an old-fashioned white on the bottom radish
Saxa 2 Radish - a quick (3wks) red European radish

If my garden winds up being a potted garden, I'll still have a use for these seeds. They should provide us with fresh salad material all year long in the Zone 10 climate.

Oh, the Succulents You'll See!

I've been thinking about succulents today. We only received a dusting of snow outside this morning, but the temperature is scheduled to drop into the teens tonight and strong winds are to arrive. I'm dreaming of warmer days and succulents growing outside in the wild. The last time I visited Zone 10 Los Angeles, I spent one day ogling the beautiful plantings at the Getty. Their collection of succulents was impressive and inspiring. I hadn't really considered succulents as anything more than novel houseplants until then. At that moment I imagined my poor, struggling jade plants basking in the California sun.

Although we will need to sell most of our plants when we move, I do plan to travel with one small succulent collection that I bought for Josh at Longwood Gardens. I hope these will get a chance to thrive outside in our new Zone 10 home. The notion of trying to plant things that are suited to the dry climate we will have in Los Angeles is something to consider. I've been keeping my eyes peeled for native plants in the seed catalogs.

Zone 10? Zone 10!

It's January in Jersey City and the temperatures haven't been above freezing in a week. The forecast is calling for a "clipper" tomorrow night to deposit 1 - 3 inches of snow by rush hour Friday morning. Between work, sunsets at 4:30pm, and the holidays, I haven't been to my plot in the Brunswick Community Garden for weeks. The last time Josh and I walked past was during the snowstorm in December. We didn't unlock the gate as the ground was already covered by several inches of snow. It seems that winter does still exist in the Northeast.

This has been my 4th winter in Zone 6A. This will also be my 4th year gardening. Before I moved here, I lived in 6B or 6A for the other 26 years of my life without ever paying much attention to the change in seasons. Now in my 30th year, my family and I are making the first preparations for our move to Zone 10. The gardening potential of Zone 10 has been at the forefront of my mind since we began discussing a move to Los Angeles. Every free moment at my desk has been spent searching for gardening tips and wisdom from the far reaches of the zone map. My seed catalog musings have begun to include items like "Ornamental Cacti Mix" and "Yucca." Lemon, Orange, even Banana are options. Today I discovered David King's blog LA Garden as a helpful resource. I've learned that short day onions will grow best in my new locale.

As my boyfriend Josh, our two cats Mao Mao and Cha Cha, and I plan out the details of our journey, I will be marking up my Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog for items that I think might thrive in our drier, warmer, TROPICAL new home.

For those of you who follow my other blog, SURPRISE! We're moving! Details to follow.