First Herb Garden of Spring 2005

I decided to drive down to Roger's Gardens to see what pepper seedlings might be available. I was happy to discover some Caribean Red Habaneros and Thai Dragons. They are waiting in their pots in a sunny and sheltered location. This is just the start of this year's collection. Hopefully, I'll be lucky and find the rest of the chiles and bell peppers that I'm seeking.

Roger's Gardens is famous for their herbs. I could not resist purchasing a few potted herbs to put together my first herb garden of the spring. The herbs are lush and have a wonderful scent. For my kitchen herb garden, I have purchased English Thyme, Flat and Curly leaf Parsley, Greek Oregano and Sage.

Last year, I had purchased what is called a "patio pot", it is a terracotta pot that is bowl shaped. I think it will be perfect for the herbs. My only fear is that my dog Libby might dig into the pot and destroy the new plants. She had a habit of doing this when she was a puppy. She is now two years old. I think it is time to put the dog to the test. I'd like to start having patio plants again!

Libby Gets in the Way

Spring is always quite beautiful here in Southern California. It was warm and breezy and there were fluffy white clouds in a cheerful blue sky. It was the perfect weather for gardening. I had purchased three bags of Miracle Gro Garden Soil and two bags of organic compost at Lowe's yesterday. Today I opened the bags and distributed them in my pepper bed. Then I took a shovel and turned all the new soil into the old dirt. I think that my soil level is about as high as the cinderblocks. This should be enough to grow my peppers. I probably should raise my bed up another cinderblock level this year, but I'm out of time and my funds are limited. I will simply make due with what I have.

While I was working, I had left the garden gate open. My dog, Libby, ran into my garden. She leaped into my pepper bed and her hind paw got caught on one of the cinderblocks. I heard a loud -yelp- and then she ran out of the garden, limping. I was very worried for my dog since I wasn't sure what had happened to her at first. I checked for snakes and spiders where she yelped, but I didn't see anything. I took my dog into the house and put her into her bed. She laid still for quite some time and her hind leg and paw were very sensitive. Canceling my plans for the morning, I stayed home and kept an eye on her. In a few hours she relaxed and slowly returned to normal. Tonight, she is her usual cheerful self...none the worse for wear. I guess she had simply banged her paw.

Spring has Arrived!

Spring has arrived. My pepper bed has laid fallow all winter long. It is now ready to have new soil added to it and pepper seedlings planted.

Visiting Local Nurseries

I drove down to the beach this morning and stopped at my two favorite sea side nurseries. Both carry larger varieties of vegetables and flowers than my local nurseries. I was looking for pepper seedlings.

I spoke to the vegetable buyer at Roger's Gardens and he said that the peppers were not coming in for another two weeks. They are planning on stocking 40 different varieties of hot chiles and sweet peppers this year! Plus, their supplier is the very same guy I was referred to by my chilehead gurus. I'm very excited. There is going to be far more to choose from than the fatalii and habaneros I was planning on getting. They had a seminar on heirloom tomatoes and hot chiles yesterday at Roger's Gardens. I am disappointed that I missed it since it was put on by Steven Goto of Goto Nurseries. This is a place that I've been referred to as an excellent source of hot chili seedlings. I need to keep up with their seminar schedule better!