Plant Talk: P-Patch Harvest Already - Even Ripe Tomatoes Before the End of July

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July 31, 2011

P-Patch Harvest Already - Even Ripe Tomatoes Before the End of July

My daughter was so excited by her July 30 harvest she sent me a photo, saying "we're going to eat all of this tonight for dinner." She's a talented and creative cook, which inspires and informs her Squire Park P-Patch plot...last year she had a dismal experience, with an explosion of weeds and not enough time to keep it all up. Obviously this year is going better, and I'm so impressed she's already harvesting ripe tomatoes! Even after our record cold spring and a non-starter of a summer, she has a table full of chard, beans, pea pods, zucchini, carrots, and two kinds of tomatoes. The little orange cherry tomatoes are 'Sun Sugar', and the larger red ones are the Czechoslovakian heirloom 'Stupice'.....

which is early-ripening (obviously) delicious, and the plant is compact so perfect for a P-patch gardening...she sent me proof - here's 'Surplice' ripening in Katie's plot....

Posted at 07:00 AM in vegetable gardening | Permalink

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New Book: Petal & Twig

Petal & Twig Made The New York Times!
From Anne Raver's review: "Valerie Easton, a Seattle-based garden writer, discusses the art of growing and arranging cut flowers in “Petal and Twig: Seasonal Bouquets With Blossoms, Branches and Grasses From Your Garden” (Sasquatch Books; $16.95). Written as an informal diary, with photographs of arrangements from her own garden, and tips on cutting and keeping flowers fresh, the book inspires ideas not only on what to grow but on how to combine (or not) those beauties inside. See review here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/29/garden/new-books-on-growing-and-arranging-flowers.html?scp=1&sq=petal%20&%20twig%20anne%20raver&st=cse
The first reviews on the new book are in! From Publisher's Weekly:
"Open your eyes and keep it simple: those are two lessons Easton passes on from her own 40 years in the garden. When selecting and arranging flowers for bouquets, you needn’t spend a bundle buying a bundle of imported flowers.....The result will be unique, local, imaginative, and inexpensive. Color photos throughout illustrate and inspire."

In the News

Montreal Blogger Reviews "A Pattern Garden"
I was so pleased to find that "A Pattern Garden" is still being reviewed...check out Allan Becker's generous review on his Garden Guru blog.. I felt like Allan really understood what I was working towards in that book....he writes...."There is a delightful abstract quality to this publication. In it, the author takes good garden design to a higher, more spiritual level. Instead of discussing the aesthetic and scientific elements of design, as so many traditional garden design books do, she focuses on the role played in garden design by archetypal ideas - a.k.a. patterns - that reference the longings of human beings. These pleasure and comfort-rooted ideas are those that inspire designers to create gardens that are satisfying beyond their beauty." see more at http://allanbecker-gardenguru.squarespace.com/journal/valerie-easton
Planting art
Check out this interview with Val in the Chicago Tribune on using art in the garden...

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The New Low Maintenance Garden

Reviews Are In....
"Over the years, countless books have espoused a low-maintenance approach to gardening. None have been as engaging, practical, or inspiring as this latest of Easton's contributions to the gardener's bookshelf,"
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"This book is an invaluable addition to the garden library – destined to be a classic for many years to come."
- Garden Design Online

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The banner and portrait photos were taken by Jacqueline Koch; all other photos by Val Easton unless otherwise credited.

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