News from LAGUNA HILLS NURSERY

Laguna Hills Nursery

Time to Plant Onions

Greetings!

This week has had gorgeous weather...dry and sunny with comfortable temperatures. Might as well put it to good use.

Onion seedlings have arrived. We'll bring your order to each farmer's market location. Pick them up and plant them as soon as possible. Pick up planting instructions also. Do not store them in a bag (an open box is better) as the green foliage tends to rot when enclosed. Plant them before the end of the month for a good harvest. Space them 3 to 5 inches apart in a sunny location with excellent drainage. It is important not to plant too deeply. Fertilize generously to promote size and sweetness. Looks like we'll be watering the garden this winter.

Our second bare root supplier has delivered. See the list below for some additional uncommon but tasty garden goodies.

At the Old Towne Orange Farmers & Artisans Market we have moved our booth to the non-certified area (under the parking roof). This means we can carry non-certified plants. We'll bring as many seasonal herbs and vegetables as we can.

At the Mission Viejo Farmer's Market we are not certain how much we will be able to offer yet. However, we will bring all we can this week.

Additional Bare Root Cultivars
In addition to last week's list we will have the following:

Cherry Minnie Royal $38
Cherry Royal Lee $38
Cherry combo (1 of each) $70

Nectaplum Spice Zee (rootstock Lovell) $24 (small caliper)

Nectarine Arctic Star (rootstock Citation) $26
Nectarine Panamint (rootstock Citation) $24

Plum Catalina (rootstock Citation) $26

Pluot Flavor King (rootstock Citation) $29
Pluot Splash (rootstock Myro) $26

Additional Potted Edibles from our Bare Root Suppliers

note: own root means the plants are not grafted and were grown as rooted cuttings.

Blueberry Sharpblue (own root potted) $18
Blueberry Star (own root potted) $18

Fig Black Mission (own root potted) $22
Fig Flanders (own root potted) $22
Fig Panache (own root potted) $22
Fig Violette de Bordeaux (own root potted) $22

Pomegranate Desertnyi (own root potted) $20
Pomegranate Parfianka (own root potted) $20

Vegetables Available This Week $3 6-pack

Broccoli Purple Sprouting

Broccoli Waltham #29

Cabbage Copenhagen Market

Cabbage Red Acre

Cauliflower Cheddar

Cauliflower Graffiti

Cauliflower Green Goddess

Lettuce Red Sails

Lettuce Romaine Green

Strawberry Sequoia

Herbs Available This Week $3 quarts

Arugula

Basil African, Opal, Sweet

Catmint Six Hills Giant

Chervil Vertissimo

Chives

Cilantro

Dill Bouquet

Fennel green & bronze

Mint Chocolate, Mojito, Peppermint, Spearmint, Variegated

Oregano Betty Rollins, Gold Variegated

Sage

Sweet Marjoram

Thyme English, French

Last Week For Bare Root Strawberries
Albion

Fruiting Cherry Trees for Orange County
cherry minnie royal

A perfectly ripe cherry is one of the most desired of all natural foods. Most experienced gardeners know that traditional European cherries are not grown commercially in a climate like ours. The orchards are generally located in mountain valleys where frosts are common in winter. The minimum chill requirements generally range from 600-800 hours. Also, most cherry cultivars require cross pollination with a different cultivar that blooms at the same time.

2 relatively new (introduced about 6 years ago) mild climate cherries are Minnie Royal and Royal Lee. The are currently listed as both having chill requirements of 200-300 hours. (Royal Lee is probably slightly higher than Minnie Royal.) This means that they should produce fruit just about every year, just about anywhere in Orange County. Minnie Royal ripens about mid-May, Royal Lee a few weeks later. Although cherry trees can produce fruit the 2nd year, it takes some patience (5-8 years) to get a large crop.

Situate the 2 trees within 20 feet of each other for pollination. The soil needs to be moist and very well-drained. If you have heavy clay, make a hill of half native soil and half sand and plant the trees near or at the top. Cherry trees are not good container plants as the soil has to stay cool. Container soil gets too warm in the summer months unless the pot is clay or in a very cool location.

Please visit us at our farmers market locations.

NEW

EVERY FRIDAY 9am-1pm

Mission Viejo Farmers Market

Mission Viejo Library

200 Civic Center Drive, Mission Viejo

Exit 5 east on La Paz, right on Marguerite, right on Civic Center

EVERY SATURDAY 9am-1pm

Old Towne Orange Farmers & Artisans Market

Historic Villa Park Orchards Packinghouse Chapman College
304 North Cypress Street, Orange

Located at the corner of North Cypress and West Palm

EVERY SUNDAY 10am-2pm

The Great Park Farmers Market

The Great Park, Irvine

Exit 5 at Sand Canyon, turn south onto Marine Way (parallels east side of 5) and follow the signs

26285 Verona Place
Mission Viejo, California 92692