View of Markham

March 31, 2011   You are receiving this email because you requested it, if not see the end of this email.


In This Email Update...
Red Alert (green, gold, orange, purple too)...
NorCal Camellia Show in Walnut Creek, Saturday April 2d
Lafayette Library Considers Garden Book Reading Area

Red Alert (green, gold, orange, purple too)

It's almost that time of the year again and the weather is making us anxious to get going.  We are talking, of course, about planting tomatoes.  Fortunately Markham's big spring sale featuring lots of heirloom tomatoes and other edibles is on April 16.  Our propagators are growing lots of varieties - some the same as last year and some new ones.  Below are descriptions of a few of the many tomatoes we will have available.  (The descriptions are provided by two of the excellent companies that supply the seed used to grow our tomatoes:  Tomato Fest and Territorial Seed Company).

Brad's Black Heart 
From Tomato Fest Website:         "Originated from Brad Gates of Wild Boar Farms in California who found it in a patch of Black Krim and stabilized the seed. Our TomatoFest organic tomato seeds produce indeterminate, droopy regular-leaf plants that yield copious amounts of 12 oz., pink-black, heart-shaped tomatoes (mostly flattened hearts...some pointy, some blunt) with exceptionally rich sweet complex flavors, typical of the best of the black tomatoes. A good producer in cooler growing regions as well as warmer regions. A Gary Ibsen Favorite. If you like the big, robust flavors of the black tomatoes you will want this one in your garden. Disease resistant."
 

Gold Medal
 
 
From Tomato Fest Website:         "A Ben Quisenberry tomato. Wonderful, 1-1/2 lb., yellow and red bi-color beefsteak tomato with pink marbeling in blossom end, thin skin and luscious sweet, well-balanced flavors. Harvested ripe fruit lasted for a couple of weeks before showing signs loosing it's beauty. Another Gary Ibsen favorite."


 

 
 
Green Zebra
 
From Tomato Fest Website:         "Developed in 1985 by tomato breeder Tom Wagner, this is an unusual and exquisite tomato chosen by Alice Waters for her restaurant, Chez Panisse, in Berkeley, California. The 2-inch round fruit ripens to a yellow-gold with dark-green zebra-like stripes. The flesh is lime-emerald in color that has an invigorating lemon-lime flavor. A great tomato for brightening up salads and other tomato dishes."
 
 

Orange Russian 117
 
From Tomato Fest Website:         A cross between Russian 117 and Georgia Streak producing 1 to 2 lb., heart-shaped fruit, yellow-orange with a pink blush, very meaty with a red center. Flavor is well balanced, big and fantastic.

 

 
 

Stupice
From Tomato Fest Website:         "This potato-leaf heirloom from Czechoslovakia is a cold-tolerant tomato that bears an abundance of very sweet, flavorful 2 to 3-inch, deep red fruit. A 1988 comparative tasting in the San Francisco area gave it first place for its wonderful sweet/acid, tomatoey flavor and production."
 

 

 

Sungold 
 
From Territoral Seed Website:     "Sun Gold's fruity or tropical flavor is a big hit with everyone who tastes it. The bright apricot-orange round globes are 1 1/4 inches across and are borne on long, 10-15 fruit, grape-like trusses. The vigorous indeterminate vines produce equally well in the field and the early spring greenhouse."

 

 

Mouth watering already???... We expect to have seedlings of all these tomatoes available at the April 16th Plant Sale.

http://www.tomatofest.com/
http://www.territorialseed.com/

NorCal Camellia Show in Walnut Creek!! this Saturday April 2d

repeating from last week... For some spectacular flowers, put Saturday afternoon, April 2d on your calendar.

Place: Broadway Plaza (across from Nordstrom's)

Time: 12 noon - 3 pm FREE!!!

Lafayette Library Considering a Garden Reading Area
Lafayette Library patrons and gardeners...the Lafayette Libarary is in the process of planning to use one corner of the library for beautiful books and comfortable seating. They are only in the early stages of this and contacting various interest groups. What the library is looking for is to find out how much interest there might be in this, e.g., imagine dropping by the library after dinner at a nice restaurant and leafing through these beautiful books (e.g. coffee table size, etc.) instead of going home to watch TV.  Or, anytime, just drop in with a latte and while away an hour (e.g., rainy day, kid free time?). The library thinks there might be some interest in this, but it is hard to know who might like to do this and what sort of books they'd like to see. Consider this message equivalent to a little market research. The Lafayette Garden Club is aware of this effort but probably could use some reinforcement from other interested gardeners.
If you are interested in this reading area for the Lafayette Library, you could e-mail Richard Zoller (of the Lafayette Library staff at [email protected]) and/or the Library Manager (Susan Weaver at [email protected]).  The more e-mails we get, the more interest we will assume exists and the more books we will try to find funding to acquire.  (There is no funding, at present.  One step at a time.)  More emails from gardenerrs then the Library will try to have a stronger gardening section. You may also make suggestions as to how this space might serve them better.

 

Come and Visit the Nursery

Yes, spring is here... and the Governor says the "drought" is over... or at least till the next one... Come visit us and be prepared to get your spring, summer, and fall garden started on it way with the warm weather. Volunteers are normally here on Tuesday morning from 9 until noon.
 

The Nursery is located at 1202 La Vista Avenue (off Clayton Road) in Concord (map). On Tuesday's you can drive all the way into the Nursery area. The office phone is 925-681-2968 or you can email to [email protected].

 

We look forward to seeing you soon!

See you soon?... from all the volunteers! 

Plant Sales every Tuesday from 9 until noon
Saturday Plant Sales Schedule for 2011:  10am - 2pm
 2011 Saturday Sales: April 16th, May 14th, June 18th, July 30th, 
September 10th, October 15th, November 5th

Most 4" pots @ $3      Most 1 Gallons @ $5