Sacramento Vegetable Gardening

Sacramento Vegetable Gardening Bill & Venus Bird are a weird and wacky gardening couple who call Sacramento home and garden in a backyard filled with raised gardening beds and fruit trees. Both share a love of heirloom tomatoes and vegetables and start most of what they grow from seed. Venus -- a former reporter at KTXL FOX 40 and NewsTalk 1530 KFBK in Sacramento -- serves as the inspiration for an experimental garden that is always growing in size and scope.

Web Site: http://www.sacramentogardening.blogspot.com/


The Show

The Show

Wonderful Pomegranate in Full BloomIt's Memorial Day Monday at the Bird Ranch and the Show is on full display. It happens at this point every year it seems. Some years the show is a little better than others. This happens to be one of "them years." The...

The life of a (small time) potato farmer

The life of a (small time) potato farmer

All Blue Potato FlowerIt's been said -- by those who are much smarter than me -- that once you grow potatoes, you will always grow potatoes.This also includes the caveat of: Whether you want them or not.I'm here to tell you that the old saying is indee...

And So It Begins…

And So It Begins…

Bird 2012 Heirloom Tomato Crop (Partial)Ready or not kids -- the 2012 summer gardening season is now swinging into full gear. Got those tomatoes planted yet? Check! What about those cucumber vines? Check! Watermelon and pumpkin seed planted? Check! Gre...

A Gift for Mother’s Day

A Gift for Mother’s Day

From L-R: Gene, Mildred, Mom, Francis. The Doran ClanMother's Day is somewhat difficult for both Venus and I. We both lost our mothers at far too young an age. Venus' mother passed from cancer in 2004, not long after we were married and barely a year a...

Spring season quenches our artichoke desire just fine

Spring season quenches our artichoke desire just fine

The Wife That is Venus with "Godzilla"It's a seminal moment in the world of backyard vegetable garden. One doesn't grow an artichoke the size of the wife's head all that often. Yet that is the "vegetable of the day" that the wife that is Venus is holdi...

The Greens of Spring

The Greens of Spring

Bowl of Home Grown Color...And so it begins. My favorite garden season followed by my most treasured garden season. Spring and summer are a delight for gardeners like myself. These seasons bring a bounty of delectable, mouthwatering, homegrown produce ...

Honey Bees: Baby, It’s SWARM Season!

Honey Bees: Baby, It’s SWARM Season!

Hello Kitty Hive Back in ActionHey Baby? Wanna get stung?Gentlemen -- it's not the kind of pickup line that is going to win many style points -- if you get my drift. While some ladies might be up to the challenge, a line like this is likely to result i...

Gardening hits and misses

Gardening hits and misses

If you've followed this rant for any length of time, you probably know that the Bird Back 40 is a creation that Baron Victor Von Frankenstein would be proud of. It's one massive experiment in all things gardening and fruit production. I don't follow ru...

Heaven is right out my back door

Heaven is right out my back door

Vine Ripened Tomatoes in WinterWith all due respects to Kevin Costner -- Heaven is not located in a corn field in Iowa. I know this to be true because I have found Heaven. Heaven is right out my back door.Heaven is located just off the main campus at t...

The largest root vegetables we have ever grown

The largest root vegetables we have ever grown

Overgrown Raised Gardening BedMonsters lurk here...The name of the blog IS, after all, Sacramento Vegetable Gardening. I suppose I'd better get back to writing about THAT -- rather than grapes, bratty cats, shelving purchased from Target and a million ...