That's fantastic! Want to come to my house next weekend? I really like your tomato cages, they look like they would make nice plant supports actually. I can tell that your border is going to be wonderfully floriferous this year.

Wow your potager looks wonderful! What kind of tomatoes did you plant? Everything looks just great!! You'll be eating those juicy BLT's in no time!

Steven, you have me grinning from ear to ear this morning. I'm so delighted
to gaze upon all that you've accomplished!
It's AWESOME!!!

Lifting my coffee cup to salute you,
PattiOh

Oh Steven you are amazing ! What a wonderland of visual treats . What are the plants in that border....especially the blue ones ? I love looking at your garden. Caroline

Absolutely beautiful Steve - you will be rewarded this summer for all your planning ahead. Definitely want to see more pictures as the season progresses. Thank you for sharing your little piece of paradise....

Lynne

Keep the photo journal coming! I love seeing a garden take shape like this. Hope you have a bountiful crop!

Cameron

Steven, you did a great job! I can't imagine anyone in your neighborhood registering a complaint.

Be sure and take a picture when its all filled in, too.

You and Brian deserve to break open a bottle of Napa's finest and celebrate a great job!

Marilyn

A beautiful vegetable garden is truly a work of art. It should be situated in the place of honor and admired by all passers by. Steven, you have outdone even yourself.

I, too, would like to know what tomato varieties you chose.

Rosefolly (who loves fresh homegrown tomatoes with a love that borders on sin.)

Steven it looks absolutely lovely, you are very talented indeed. I hope you post pictures as your garden matures. Your neighbourhood would be crazy to object to this piece of living art. When the Tomatoes are ripe, slice a couple up, arrange on plate, a few slices of baby mozzarella on top and a bit of sweet basil. Drizzle a nice olive oil and a sprinkling of balsamic vinegar over the top. Cover with plastic wrap, place in a sunny spot for a half hour to let the juices marry. A nice loaf of crusty bread to mop up the juices, a bottle of wine. A nice lunch or snack for the two of you.

A......

Steven, I remember when you first posted here looking for advice on starting a cottage garden. Now I do believe you have achieved just that. A perfect potager for a perfect cottage and garden. : )

A, I love tomatoes as you described. They make a wonderful summertime snack and are so good for you.

Diana

Steven ~ You are a wonderful garden creator. You have done a beautiful job and I can hardly wait to see everything growing and filling in. Please keep taking and posting pictures of this wonderful work of art you have created. I am in awe and a tad 'green'.

I'm sure your drink was great and your night's sleep restful after all that work. Did you have a margarita? :-)

Happy Gardening ~ FlowerLady

Well worth the effort!!!! Picture perfect!

That looks fantastic! You should be so proud of all that hard work. Are you like me and have to go look at what you planted every single day? I would love to know what that pretty blue flower is in the front of the second picture?

Susie

steven,

Ya got it goin' on! That is absolutely gorgeous. Where in California are you? I'm just curious, I promise I won't stalk your yard :-) I'm from the Bay Area originally.

bloominganne

Steven, how very nice this turned out ! I love the beds on either side of the path. I wish you a bountiful harvest !
Kathy in Napa

Good heavens! There's a 'Growing Tomatoes' forum?
Steven, your potager and border look fantabulous - keep posting their progress!
Anne

Wow-how impressive! So much work, but doesn't it feel great to sit back and look at what you accomplished? Just beautiful!!!!

Gee, thanks everyone for the pat on the back. I was absotutely exhausted all day at work. When I got home and read all the comments, it made the aches and pains all worthwhile :)

Tomato drumroll: Roma, Super Girl, Yellow Brandywine, German Striped, Black Zebra and Cherokee Purple. The Roma I could do without, but Brian insisted.

Caroline and Susie, I think you are referring to the blue in the lobelia at the lower end of that picture. Other blues in there are scabiosa and linarea. There's all sorts of goodies in those beds, most of which has yet to do its thing. I should have flowers going off at different times all spring and through summer.

Aftermidnight, that is one of our favorite ways to use fresh tomatoes. Brian has also mastered the art of making pizza with them. My favorite way to enjoy a tomato is to grab a ripe one warm from the sun, rinse it off and eat it like an apple. YUM!

Bloominganne, I'm in Vallejo California. Stalk away! Where are you from in the Bay Area? I've now lived here the majority of my life and am happy to call it home.

Anne, lol, yes there really is a growing tomatoes forum. Those folks are serious about their 'maters. There's a gardening fetish for everyone at the Gardenweb. If you can't find it here, you can't find it anywhere. Of course, this forum is the cream of the crop ;-)

Diana, I was just thinking the other day how much I've learned since I first posted here. I was finally finished with container gardening and into real dirt. The work ahead of us was intimidating to say the least, but it has been a wonderful journey. I'm really starting to feel like a gardener.

I appreciate all your comments folks. I think I'm headed in the right direction with the front landscaping. We still have much more to do, but we're in the final push. I'm thinking we may have everything finished by June (well, as finished as any garden ever is).

Steven

p.s. Flowerlady, I had a three-finger bourbon, over ice with a splash of branch.

Steven, I grew up in Oakland and most of my family is now in Napa/Santa Rosa. I have a niece that lives in Vallejo. I've been in Atlanta for 6 years and still get homesick. I'm retiring in just less than 2 years and it looks like I'll stay here since I can't afford to move back :-)

I must say that I do like experiencing more of the seasons as compared to the Bay Area ... now that I'm getting used to it. July and August are brutal and no one seems to get used to that, even the natives.

bloominganne

I think you should post a before picture with all that glass. It is so awesome what you have done to the area in such a short time.

What a beautiful bed Steven! It's so pleasant to look upon. The borders looks so beautiful all in bloom. Your soil looks dark and rich. I'm sure your plants will be very very happy there.

One word of caution and not to rain on your parade what-so-ever...but you have chosen all indeterminate types of tomatoes with the exception of the Roma. You may already know what that means but in case you don't, they are going to get very very large and have almost a vining habit to them. I would say you are going to need several very tall, very strong stakes (2x2's would work nicely) to stake these plants up with. At least two per plant, three would be better. As they start to grow you'll need to be dilligent about tying the vines upward on the stakes. It is possible to keep them pretty much inbounds doing this. If you don't they will sprawl out and could easily cover an area 5x5 or greater per plant and they'll smash the wire cages just becuase of their weight. The Roma is a determinate type and will grow bush like but still will get to be about 3x3, the cages will hold this one pretty much in bounds. I hope this info is helpful.

The other difference between determinate and indeterminate is that the determinates will set fruit and ripen all at once and then they are pretty much done for the season. Indeterminates will continuously set fruit throughout the season until they just wear out and die or freeze (not likely in your warm zone lol).

Roma's are wonderful for making sauces with if you do any sort of canning. They are also a good choice for salsa's. You may end up liking them just for these attributes. Not much flavor for slicing and eating though.

MeMo

A standing ovation for you...clap clap clap clap clap.

What an incredible journey from what you started with to what you have now. I will toast you with coffee and Bailey's. (Still to cold to work outside much)

Really Steven, you've humbled me to get moving. I'm at the "where do I start" stage but I know I could start anywhere and it'd be an improvement.

Bravo to you...need a trip to Annie's as a reward?
georgeanne

You are just one big bundle of energy, aren't you ? You are really tackling some major projects and completing them to perfection. All that hard work pays off, as everything you do has a wonderful quality to it, and you inspire me to jump up and get busy in the garden.

Carol

Anne, I know what you mean about finding it hard to move back. If we ever left the Bay Area, we would be priced out of the market. It's insane trying to get your foot in the real estate door here. That's why we bought in Vallejo. Good things are happening here. We bought at the right time.

MeMo, I have a confession to make. That soil looks dark and rich, but don't be fooled. That's the grapeseed compost I use. It really does look like that beautiful soil you see in places like Illinois and Iowa. The soil, although nicely amended and rich, is actually a medium brown in color. And thanks for the tip about the indeterminates. Tomatoes are the one plant I know a bunch about (thanks Grandma!). I'm fixin to get monsters this year if all goes well. Those cages are actually welded steel and are about four feet tall. I'll be adding one of the five feet tall squiggly stakes in the center this weekend for added measure. I know this probably won't be tall enough, but I don't dare risk doing anything much taller. They will just have to spill over the top and cascade some. Better that than no indeterminate heirlooms at all :)

I've been looking all over for that one pic I have of the front yard with the glass mulch, Texas. I've found the ones of the concrete backyard. I'll keep looking. This is the house of a million photographs.

Georgeanne, thanks for the standing O. Sometimes I get in a gardening funk and let things slide. Then I get that dreadful feeling of being overwhelmed. The best way to rid yourself of that feeling is just to walk out and yank a weed. Then another one. Toss a bit of poop on something. Clean out an old pot. Before you know it, you've spent half a day in the garden and you can see progress. Nothing kicks up the motivation like seeing progress.

Carol, what a nice thing to say. I wish I had half the energy I did even five years ago. I've hit my mid-40's and I am starting to feel my ambition (mostly in my back). My vision ain't what it used to be either. But I'll be going until the day they take the gardening trowel from my cold, liver-spotted hand.

Steven

WOW! Beautiful work, steven! You are amazing.

Steven, that looks GORGEOUS. Look at all your rich, black earth and such a nicely placed garden.
I'm interested in finding out how Earl's method works for you. I like some things about it, but am wondering if this Epsoma product is organic or not. I'm kind of anal about that!

GGG

Very nice! I hope you'll post pictures as things continue to grow.

DD1 has lived in SF for three years while attending FIDM. For the first two, she lived downtown (Nob Hill, then SOMA)...but after two she needed to get out of the city (aka wanted a car again) and has been renting in Emerald Hills. Her dream since she was in 4th grade was to live in SOCAL - she recently had a couple of job offers and will be moving there in May. I will miss going to visit her in SF. What a great area!