Gardens Blog

The Ghost is Here!

Dan Mills — Mon, 09 May 2011 20:36:13 +0000

You can tell Spring is officially here when the truck comes back for it's annual donation to the Gods of Forni- Brown... For those of you unfamiliar with FB... They grow veggie's for some of the best restaurants in the Napa Valley and each year sell plant starts to those willing to make the pilgrimage to Calistoga! Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, eggplant, basil, you name it they've got it! This year we bought 70 little babies and are watching them daily... Each year the owners give suggestions for something new. This year it's a Naga Jolokia pepper, aka the Ghost Pepper. One million points on the Scoville heat unit scale! That's 10 times as hot as a Habanero! Stay tuned for a little private fence and pictures to follow the little beasts development!!

Harvest 2010

Dan Mills — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 15:59:53 +0000

Harvest is finally here and besides grapes the last remnants of tomatoes and figs are being snapped up before the rains ruin them. The last of the summer crop surprisingly to me are always the tiny red Thai peppers...Hundreds of fiery pods from just two bushes. It's as if the heat inside the peppers keep the plant going through the first frosts...

Summer 2010

Dan Mills — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 19:01:15 +0000

Ah Summer is finally here! The weather was wet and rainy up until a few weeks ago... Our tomatoes and basil were shivering in their planters and wondering when the sun would show up... In addition to the perennial apricots, peaches, pears, and plums; we planted 60 starts of tomatoes, basil, chard, peppers, zucchini, eggplant, and strawberries! Guess it's time to get the drip system back online...

Winter Settles In

Dan Mills — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:53:00 +0000

Winter finally has settled in, which for Napa means a generous progression of rain and occasional frosts. Lettuces, citrus, onions, and fresh garlic are still gracing the studio table while stacks of seed catalogs grow in anticipation of the coming growing season...

Wrapping Up The Summer

Dan Mills — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:54:00 +0000

What a wonderful long growing season we had here in the Napa Valley this year! Here we are marching towards the end of October and we're still gathering fresh tomatoes, basil, peppers and zucchini. In the next week we'll be planting for the winter garden adding lettuces, beets, chard, garlic and onions!

The Winter Garden

Dan Mills — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 18:54:00 +0000

Well winter is finally here. A few hard frosts, with some nights in the mid 20's. Surprisingly the citrus is hanging in there, mostly because they're in sheltered nooks and crannies... There are also a few amazing toughies. The arugula self seeded and is going bonkers. The Swiss chard is 3 feet tall and laughing at the cold. Onions that didn't start this summer are suddenly popping out in their beds. A huge sage bush and Italian parsley bush are begging to be used in stews and sauces... Amazing and fun to watch Mother Nature in your own backyard...

Tomatoes & More

Dan Mills — Sat, 10 May 2008 17:55:00 +0000

Ah, finally! The tomatoes are in... This year the crowd pleasing Sun Golds are up front in the raised beds. Tiny marbles of delicious sugary tomato heaven. People who hate tomatoes eat these like candy straight off the vines. Combine a couple dozen with a single Bulgarian Carrot pepper and you have an entirely orange salsa that is sweet and fiery at the same time. A few other heirlooms made the cut this year, but the bulk of the selections are hearty producing reds. The aim is for endless plates of sliced tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and sprinkles of Genovese, Thai, and mini-basil leaves floating in Napa Valley Oilve Oil.... Lunches on the patio straight from the garden!

Napa, at the Threshold of Spring

Dan Mills — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:55:00 +0000

Today I am reminded why this is my favorite time of year in Napa. While the vines slumber, the rest of the valley moves visibly towards Spring. Already, the mustard lies heavily layered amongst the rows of vines, whose recently pruned silhouettes look like clutching fingers trying to escape their plush yellow beds. Piles of vine canes, the subtractions of last years growth, lie tied and sometimes burning in bundles at the edges of vineyards, and wispy plumes of smoke rise and fade in the still air. At this time of year, the mornings are still to cold to plant heavily. Cheating Jack Frost, we risk planting lettuces, chard, spring garlic, broccoli, asparagus, and bare root strawberry starts. Counting the days until it's safe for tomatoes...