The afterlife of tomatoes...

In the bedding department we were hit pretty hard by the cold weather last week resulting in the demise of all of our fall season tomatoes. We had hopes that they could overwinter in the make-shift greenhouse we had constructed for them but that was simply not the case.

So what happens at Alden Lane when one of our green friends doesnt make it? WE compost them.

Composting has been going on at Alden Lane for over a year now, not only have we cut our dumpster pick up costs by over half but we have a large amount of usable freshly composted soil we can use in our landscaping. The demo farm we have back behind the nursery is the setting for our composting action. Anne who is the landscaping queen is responsible for initiating and keeping the program running.

I love our R2D2 rotating composter!

Another thing that I have been doing this week is planting up massive amounts of bare-root artichokes and rhubarb. We have a multitude of onions, strawberries, rhubarb, artichokes and horseradish available for you edible gardening needs.

Greengoods department just got in the majority of their roses, they don't look like much now with their stems all bare but come warmer weather they will amaze you with their vibrant perfumes and colors. The rest of our yearly rose order will be coming in the first week of January so stay tuned.

We are also getting in our fruit trees in about two weeks!

and lastly...
Cyndee, our general manager, told me today about a new movement that is picking up speed that we just signed up for called 'the 3/50 project.' The concept is based around supporting the economies of our local communities by spending our money at our favourite local shops and businesses. So pick three local businesses you could not imagine living without and spend $50 a month at them. The reality is that without the support of our local communities even well established bedrocks of the community are being threatened by the economic low we are in.
For more information please visit http://www.the350project.net/

Jo @ Alden Lane

Open Heart Vegetables

About two years ago the massive oak tree that was in the circle entrance came toppling down in a wind storm. We have tried a few things to spruce up the area but have added some new life with a vegetable garden this season. We also have a 'farm' on site that is planted with fruit trees, vegetables and even has a hen house. In fall we open the 'farm' up with our Harvest Tours where children and their parents get to see the inner workings behind growing food.
Pic: the first harvest donated to Open Heart Kitchen

The produce from these sites is donated to the Open Heart Kitchen and sold at Aldenlane's own Farmers Market located near the registers.

Jo @ aldenlane

Moving Bees

You have probably seen at least a few bees buzzing about the nursery, that is because our giant oak trees play host to a couple hives. On hot days we can see them making furious circles out in front of their hives trying to cool of the interior of their arboreal homes. Other times we might come accross a large clump of them attached to a plant or pot. When we see them lounging about in a large clump it is when the hive is splitting or when they are searching for a new place to call home.

Don't be afraid of these high energy beings, we work with them constantly, marking places off with yellow caution tape to protect our guests. Sometimes if their swarming becomes a nuisance we will get an apiary specialist to come in and remove a hive.

Bees are essential to any garden environment because they aid plants in pollination. So if you can learn to get over any fears you might have of these flying acrobats please do so. If a bee takes a special intrest in you it usually is not because it is being aggressive, take it as a compliment that you smell good.

Happy bees= fruits and veggies

Jo @ aldenlane

Izzy

Here are some pictures from when we first found the 'impatient kitten'

Her name is now Izzy, short for Isabel.

She has grown up considerably into a beautiful young lady!

Jo @ aldenlane

Nestlings

A plethora of baby birds have graced our nursery in the past two weeks!

Sue from the Greenhouse found a baby mourning dove resting in a houseplant recently delivered from San Francisco. Heather and myself became its temporary caretakers and at first we thought it might have broken its wing because it was holding it in a funny manner. With the advice of Cyndee we decided to release it near a family of nesting doves.

I had heard from Anthony that there was a hummingbird nest somewhere on the grounds but neither of us knew where it was. Christian, our new intern from Germany came and showed us because he had seen them the other day and had never before seen a hummingbird.

Jo @Aldenlane

Impatient Kitten

This last tuesday a precious gift was delivered to our nursery in one of our regular plant delivers from Fredriks. A newborn grey tabby kitten was found by Jeff in an impatien hanging basket still on the delivery rack. This newly arrived fuzzy grey being still had his/her umbilical cord attached and had survived a 20+ mile journey in a cold delivery truck. He/she could fit into one hand and had not yet opened her/his eyes.

He/she was adopted into the Aldenlane family and was taken home by Jeff the first night. Anne has become her/his adopted mother and brings him/her to work every day. She/he has grown considerably and nurses from his/her bottle constantly. He/she definately has a strong will to survive, eating up everyones affection. Just today he/she opened his/her eyes for the first time.
Anne has still not found a name for him/her yet and many of us around here have come up with our own pet names for him/her.

I personally call her/him 'little Imp' (short for the impatiens he/she was found in).

Jo @Aldenlane

Our Mother's Day Turtle

Her name is Ivy, she is a red-eared slider turtle that was given to the nursery from a .Donna who tends to the water plants near the pond noticed that Ivy's abdomen was swollen last week. After some research by both Donna and Gerry from Greengoods they realized that Ivy was carrying eggs! The nursery also has two male red-eared sliders who are much younger and have finally come of age to aid Ivy in becoming a mother.

It was Donna and Arturo who discovered these two younglings and they are aptly named: Donnatela and Arturtle.

Donna prepared a sandy place where Ivy would feel inclined to lay her eggs. Cyndee found Ivy today laying her eggs on the opposite side of the pond in a nice patch of sun. Cyndee, Greg and I watched Ivy meticulously dig a shallow hole today and though we did not see her lay any eggs we are excited about the possiblity. Ivy used her back legs like hands, shoveling out moist dirt and then basking in the afternoon sun. After some minutes she began to expertley cover the hole using tapping motions to pack the soil. We all found it fitting that she would laying eggs right around Mother's Day and were in awe that she was doing this all by instinct.

Red-eared sliders can lay 20-30 eggs May through July, so I will keep you all updated if we see any fledgling turtles being born.

Jo @Aldenlane

Of tomatoes and painted ladies

Ginger's Tomatoes
Walking into work this Tuesday morning I found Cyndee, Brian, and a couple of our carryouts rapidly unloading newly arrived tomatoes from Suncatcher Harvest (those delicious heirloom varieties that Ginger and her husband grow so well). I put on my gloves and jumped right into the frenzy quickly getting caught up in the feeling that spring was finally here. I learned that we had sold out almost every single tomato this last weekend and were in desperate need for more. While I was unloading and placing the tomatoes in their respective places many customers were flooding in excited about the newly arrived shipment. Somehow we all managed to simultaneously dispense gardening wisdom while organizing the tomatoes based upon size of the fruit and alphebetical order. Before we knew it the tables of the vegetable section were stocked full of pungeant young tomato plants.

Painted Ladies
I was standing there mystified by the profusion of butterflies making their way about the nursery, known as 'painted ladies'; they seemed to flutter about me enfolding themselves in the currents of air and wind. My co-worker Josh broke me out of the butterfly induced reverie and said that there was something I just had to see. We made our way to the large order holding area and I found myself standing underneathe a canopy of fluttering orange-brown butterflies. They clustered together holding onto the mesh netting that covers the holding area, taking flight, dancing about, and then taking refuge once again. The entire nursery has slowly become a haven for these migrating beauties as they make their way up towards Davis.

Jo @ Alden Lane