Check the garden now! Claudia has really been working! All five boxes are planted. We have tomatoes all along the fence and in one of the boxes. Beans are on the short fence in the corner that don't show on the cam. We have squash, bell peppers, more beans, arugala (sp?) and more. Had deep watering day before last. While watering unattended the hose developed a leak and flooded the area. Won't have to water again this week with rain due tonight:-) Weather has been warm at night in the 50's and 70's during the day so things are growing!!
Stay tuned.
posted by Bill Swingle 3:17 PM

Sunday, April 13, 2003

Wow - Long time no update but hang in there. We are starting a new garden this year with 5 Four Square Foot plots!
Camera to be turned on soon!.

posted by Bill Swingle 8:27 AM

Monday, September 24, 2001

Just a quick update. We have not put any new updates here for 3 weeks now for several reasons as you can imagine. I'm still in shock over the the deaths from the WTC and Pentagon. We just returning from a week long vacation. The garden is doing fine and we will be updating the web page next week after we get caught up around here with the normal day to day business.
posted by Bill Swingle 8:26 PM

Saturday, September 01, 2001

Don't miss the pictures of the "Invasion of the Tomato Worms" this week. I'll put them up on Week 23 pictures. We've not added anything here for the past two weeks so don't be looking for it. Today we harvested the larger part of the tomatos. I would estimate that we brought in close to 50 pounds of ripe tomatos. We washed about 1/3, sliced them and put them into freezer bags for cooking this winter. The tomatos taste much better than those we get in the local markets but they don't come close to the tomatos we used to grow in the San Bernardino area. Lompoc does not quite get hot enough and the days of good morning sun are limited because we are so close to the ocean. But it is still worth growing your own! Sq #3 replanting didn't do so well. We didn't add any organic compound to the square and it certainly shows in the outcome. We are considering moving some of the plants from square 4 (cantaloupe) and putting them into square 3 after we have added organic compost. Garden and learn!
posted by Bill Swingle 5:50 PM

Tuesday, August 21, 2001

Updates for the page will come later this week. We were away for the weekend and did not do the normal page update. Temperatures outside of our area are easily in the upper 90's to 100 degrees. I wonder how the small gardens are doing in those temperatures. We have overcast mornings until about 11 am.
posted by Bill Swingle 2:43 PM

Tuesday, August 14, 2001

Here's an opportunity in Lompoc!! If you are interested - send me an email for specifics or call 736-8564 (Audrey Mosby) for details and directions. Check this out:

Jim and Audrey Mosby are having an "open house" at their farm on
Saturday, August 25, from noon to four o'clock for members of the Lompoc Valley Community Supported Agriculture, their friends and families. The general public is also very welcome.

As a very satisfied member, who always looks forward to delicious fresh vegetables, packed in a cool styrofoam chest, that arrive at my
doorstep every Tuesday, I would like to take this opportunity to urge
you to come and see "our" farm.

Sincerely,

M. C. Miller
posted by Bill Swingle 7:18 AM

Monday, August 06, 2001

Yesterday began the expansion of our three squares to five giving us 20 square feet of garden plot. Later this fall/spring we will add two more. The lumber and nails for the additional 4 squares cost less than $25.00. I removed a 4 foot square of grass from the yard yesterday and capped one sprinkler head. The pictures for week 19 are up and you will see all the seedlings that are just right for planting. These were grown in the window sill and sprouted weeks ahead of schedule. I planted seeds in the garden in square 3 at the same time and they have yet to sprout. The tomato, cucumber, lettuce and squash have been great! We do have 4 tomato plants that are not bearing a lot because they are diseased with a fungus. They are also the only plants that were put in a spot where we grew tomatos last year without any problems. No gofers to report in the garden area. We have one tunneling about 100 feet away in the grass. So far he is keeping his distance. One tomato worm was found and destroyed last week.
Square Foot Gardening at Claudia's
posted by Bill Swingle 8:39 AM