A Gardener's Notebook

Archive for the ‘Announcement’ Category

Gurney’s Seed and Nursery and Spring Hill Nurseries is continuing their photo contests started last month. “For the remaining photo contests, the companies have decided to raise the stakes, giving away two $100 Gift Certificates for each contest; one for each brand.”

You need to be a fan of the Gurney’s or Spring Hill Nurseries Facebook page to enter the contest.

Here are the upcoming topics and closing dates:

August:

Topic: Rainy Day Photos
Dates: August 9th, 2010 – August 16th, 2010

September:

Topic: Kids in the Garden
Dates: September 6th, 2010 – September 13th, 2010

October:

Topic: Pumpkin Carvings
Dates: October 18th, 2010 – October 27th, 2010

November:

Topic: Birds of a Feather (Bird Photos)
Dates: November 15th, 2010 – November 22nd, 2010

December:

Topic: Christmas Decorations
Dates: December 8th, 2010 – December 15th, 2010

January:

Topic: Winter Wonderland
Dates: January 10th, 2011 – January 17th, 2011

One thing I am looking to do is grab some audio and video with allotment gardeners in the UK. I hear so much about allotments and the various reasons people garden there and I want to take some time to talk with them and get their thoughts and advice.

I am scanning the maps and satellite pictures of the UK cities we are visiting and think I have found several allotments. Now I just need to take the time to go there and see what is happening. If you have any advice on places I might visit, please pass along a note in the comments.

I only had a few minutes to drive through the park, but here are 3 photos of this year’s Japanese Cherry Tree bloom at Lake Balboa [Map]. This park is in the Sepulveda Basin, near the corner of Balboa and Victory. Each Spring the cherry trees explode with color for just a few weeks.

View Larger Map

My past experiences with unconferences like BarCampLA, PodCampAZ and my own CareerCampLA started me thinking about some sort of gardening/nature/outdoors unconfererence here in the Los Angeles area (or elsewhere). I am totally sold on the concept of unconferences and their ability to facilitate sharing the knowledge we all have with each other and the world.

For a gardening unconference, I could see presentations by attendees on their own special and specific interests like roses, vegetables, sub-irrigated planters, and a host of other topics. For a nature or outdoor conference, I would be interested in bringing in interested individuals as well as groups dedicated to endangered species, habitat preservation, hiking and more.

Any interest in an unconference like this here in the Los Angeles area? Leave your questions and comments on this blog post using the Comments like above or below this post.

Tomatomania is coming again to Encino, California and other locations both east and west. Check out the web site for complete information.

From the Tomatomania web site…

One of Los Angeles’ oldest garden traditions meets one of its newest sensations as Tapia Brothers Farm Stand hosts the largest of the TOMATOMANIA! seedling sales.

To get there drive north on the Ventura Freeway (101N), pass the 405 fwy and exit at HAYVENHURST. Turn right at the stop, then make a quick left into the very busy parking lot.

If you’re driving south on the 101 exit at BALBOA, turn left at the stoplight, go under the freeway and then turn right on BURBANK BLVD. Turn right on HAYVENHURST and right again into the parking lot.

We’ll be open from open 9-5 all three days and there’s plenty of parking available. How many seedlings do you need? We’ll have almost 300 tomato varieties and everything you’ll need to have the most successful tomato season ever!

Wear your TOMATOMANIA! t-shirt and get 10% off your purchase!

March 26 – 28

Tapia Brothers’ Farm Stand
5251 Hayvenhurst Ave.
Encino, CA 91436
818.905.6155

Here is a video from an earlier Tomatomania event.

If you have reached this page, you can see that I am in the process of moving A Gardener’s Notebook from Blogger to WordPress.

You can still find all the old content on the old A Gardener’s Notebook home page.