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Camarillo – Strawberries and Farmers Market

June 17, 2012

Bishop Camarillo Farmers Market, Gardening, Healthy Lifestyle, Strawberry, Vegetables 8 Comments

My wife and I escaped the Bakersfield California heat for a couple of days and visited my daughter and grandkids, 2 of 3, in Camarillo. daughter Melissa took us out to a small roadside stand adjacent to the strawberry fields. As they were picking they would bring the boxes of berries up to the stand…..fresh!!!! Literally minutes from the field and the taste….as if they were dipped in sugar. We have never tasted such good berries. Many times growers go fo the biggest and brightest berries but without flavor. These were very good size but the finest flavor…wish mine at home were this good….close but not quite. In the slide show below is a visit to the farmers Market in Camarillo. My wife Kathy did some comparison tasting and the berries from the stand out on N Lewis R. at Las Posas in Camarillo are the best!

I wish that I had brought my good cameras….I had intended to bring my Nikon D200 and the Nikon J1 but forgot…More of that CRS stuff. So – I did the best I could with the iPhone!

Saturday in Camarillo – high of 68 F, high in Bakersfield when we arrived was 108 F! Oh well – it is a dry heat!

TTFN

Bishop

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Farmer Kathy

June 9, 2012

Bishop Family, Gardening, Healthy Lifestyle, Relationships , , 5 Comments

In my line of work – the work that pays the bills – I am sometimes forced into that “make hay while the sun shines” mode….I am in the midst of one of those modes.  About 7 straight weeks of United Airlines seats and connections – I am still longing for Continental Airlines service because it disappeared at the merger – hotel beds, cardboard tomatoes,  Avis rental cars and an occasional bit tongue when dealing with my clients.

I am fortunate to have” Farmer Kathy” at home while I am away. Now, she does not necessarily have my level of passion for the garden but she seems to love me enough to take on most of the farmer duties. She waters, she pulls weeds – in this task she may exceed my attention to detail, thanks Hun – she gladly harvests the goodies….this morning( June 6th)  she told me about all of the blackberries she picked, many eaten on the spot – I was hoping some would make it to the freezer for my jam making efforts. She noted that the strawberry harvest is slowing down but the Sequoia plants in a bed near the back door are setting fruit! The tomatoes…. the slicing ones are overwhelming our needs and will need to be shared! Many of the cherry tomatoes succumb to the same fate many of the blackberries encounter…..immediate onsite consumption…..I can’t say as I blame her……..Farmer Bishop behaves in pretty much the same way.

A view of my garden taken about three weeks ago – just a reminder of what I am missing!

Coming up soon is a period of 8 0r 10 days when the Decker farmers will be on Holiday….Hopefully we can draft Lizzie and her young son Caleb who live just down thw street to swing by to harvest a little and apply a bit of water as needed. Daughter Lisa lives nearby and loves sliced cucumbers tossed with seasoned rice wine vinegar and sea salt…..I will see if I can trade some of her time for cucumbers!

I wanted to install a webcam so I could watch my lovelies out in the garden on my trips away but have run out of time…I may not have been able to convince the CFO, also known as Farmer Kathy, also known as my wife – that the camera is a necessary expenditure. Hmmmmm, I have been known to buy some things without consultation in the past and slept on the couch as my wounds healed….. Could it be worth it is the question I need to ask????????

TTFN

Bishop

 

Making Ready to Transfer the Worms

May 7, 2012

Bishop Composting, Gardening, Healthy Lifestyle, Organic, Potato Growing, Rubbermaid, Vegetables, Vermicoposting , , , , Leave a comment

The worm bin is getting to be well filled with that wonderful stuff euphemistically referred to as worm castings – worm poop – I use Rubbermaid containers…36 quart size to house them. They reside in the garage year round and the Houston heat does not seem to bother them. I actually made two bins when I ventured off into worm world. I have found that 4 months or so is an ideal time to let the little guys toil away in darkness before preparing their new abode and harvest more of the good stuff.

As part of my ongoing research into growing methods…..not really research, its just that I get bored easily and I am always want to try something new and different. The back-up bin was put to use growing potatoes. In addition to the 4 foot tall wire baskets housing potatoes I tossed a handful of extras into the bin filled with about 8 inches of soil. Over the next few months I kept adding shredded leaves and compost as the plants grew. Yesterday I decided it was time to make ready the bin for the worms and dumped the contents – potatoes, leaves, compost and all.
I was pleasantly surprised…with minimal efforts I have 8 or so pounds of naturally grown potatoes. My wife is wanting to cook the new potatoes today….I agree hun!

TTFN

Bishop

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