Published September 15, 2005

Many of us find real solace in our gardens, even in our one proverbial potted geranium, especially when times are tough and, as Gene Burns said on KGO-radio, “the country gets into a funk.” A cheerful way to get out of a national or personal funk, at least for me, is to cultivate that garden.

Several local businesses have spruced up their garden efforts lately. Sonoma Valley Bank has its usual gorgeous array along Napa Street and Second Street West, and Pardon My Garden on East Napa Street has planted fresh new snapdragons in its planters along the sidewalk. The Robin’s Nest, a great little discount kitchen and culinary shop, has planted new snapdragons in their planters, with the help of neighbors at Pardon My Garden. Grazia Bianchi does a great job with colorful flowers flowing from large planters. Murphy’s Irish Pub back in the Place des Pyrenees has added an attractive railing and cheerful colorful planters after a customer stepped backwards off the little curb and broke her hip.

Jolly Green Goddess heard from a reader, Ann Deseran, who has “started a little business” called “MiniBlooms” with her husband Andy. “MiniBlooms” plants and maintains flower boxes and small perennial beds year round for local businesses, starting with the girl & the fig in Sonoma and the fig café, where they have placed curled parsley, Iresine Hebstii, and Cinnamon Red Hots Dianthus. Call (707) 938-5072 or email adeseran@comcast.net.
As a cross-column item, it is worth noticing that fabulous Berkeley chef and restaurateur Alice Waters, owner and founder of Chez Panisse and its offshoot idea, Edible Schoolyard, is celebrating ten years of teaching kids to respect the value of growing fresh and organic food, and eating it, of course!

Our early Fall has been as confusing to our plants as it is to us home gardeners: our wisteria leaves are starting to turn yellow and orange, while lovely purple and lavender flowers are blooming again on the same plant, and tomatoes and their vines are showing signs of old age.

A visit to Sonoma Mission Gardens led to all sorts of great advice to pass on. So far this Fall they have only organic “cool weather” veggies, which is good news for all of us.
Before we get into vegetable planting recommendations, remember that if you plant winter veggies in the same location where your summer ones were, you must replenish the soil. Corn and tomatoes especially suck vital energy out of the soil, so clean out the vegetable garden, put healthy (but probably dead or dying) plants in your compost pile or container, and throw the ones that looked diseased away in your garbage.

If you want to plant fall veggies in the same space, you have to add either a soil booster or compost to your garden to replenish it. It’s the same principle that applies to our bodies: If you walk briskly for three miles for the first time, and then get up and do it again, you might well be out of energy. If you take too much energy out of your soil, it runs out of energy as well.

While you can now buy locally produced “Mango Mulch,” it’s a lot cheaper to make your own, although it takes time and won’t be ready for this planting period.
As promised for a few weeks now, here are the simple guidelines for composting. Your Jolly Green Goddess has listened to lots of advice and read too many books on this subject, so here are my favorite simple points.

Collect your material in either a pile or a container. The latter helps keep out raccoons, skunks, and other local animals. Heat builds up in a compost pile as stuff decomposes, so turn it over every so often. The heat actually shows that the process is working. Some books suggest that the best compost results from putting in a balance of green and brown matter.

We use an old plastic garbage can with a hole in the bottom that allows bugs and microorganisms in the soil to crawl up and contribute their efforts and poop to the decomposition effort. Sprinkle with water once in a while just to keep the process going.

What to put into your compost:
1) Kitchen vegetable and fruit waste.
2) Leaves, young weeds, bedding plants, remnants of vegetable plants, hedge clippings, old straw and hay.
3) Organic chicken or turkey manure.
4) Tea and tea bags, coffee grounds.
5) Cardboard, cardboard tubes, paper towels and bags, sawdust.
Things you should not put in your compost:
1)Meat, fish, cooked food.
2)Newspaper, disposable diapers, cat litter, glossy magazines, dog and cat poop.

As the compost all cools naturally, worms will show up to break it up (down) further to complete the process. When the pile is completely cold, the material is fully broken down and can be applied to your soil. You might have some ready to use in six to eight weeks, depending upon how much elegant garbaaaage your household generates.

“Compost Tea” is a brew made by putting ready compost into a nylon stocking or burlap bag and then placing the bagful in a large bucket, barrel, watering can, or even a large kitchen pot and filling the container with water. Let the stuff steep like tea for a few days, then pour lightly on plants.

A Sonoma composter, Nature Technologies International, LLC, is making compost tea and selling it at local nurseries and online at www.nature-technologies.com. (707) 938-5857. This “tea” (do not drink!) consists of “garden compost, worm castings, and protozoa.”

Before JGG jumps into mentioning specific vegetables to plant, I caution that we could still have a hot spell or two before Fall really settles in.
Cool weather veggies now in some nurseries, including Sonoma Mission Gardens, include several broccoli varieties such as Atlantic, De Cicco (a European heirloom broccoli), Waltham, and Italian Green. Look for cauliflowers such as Snowball, Violet Queen (purple head), and Early Pearl, a whiteish color. Gardeners will find several kinds of boks, as in Chou or Tat Soi, leeks, Walla Walla onions, strawberries, and extremely healthful kale, spinaches, and chards. We can plant new garlic and onions nearly year round, as well.

If local gardeners are thinking of planting perennial flowers, Fall is a good time because this season stimulates root growth.
Cheers!

Kathleen Hill is co-author of Sonoma Valley-The Secret Wine Country and Napa Valley-Land of Golden Vines. Kathleen is also the host of the Kathleen Hill Show, Mondays from 3 to 4 pm on KSVY- 91.3 You may reach Kathleen at hilltopub@aol.com.