Sunset magazine recently released the New Sunset Western Garden Guide. Western gardeners like to call it “the gardening bible”, and this 9th edition of the book is better than ever. The little line drawings of past editions have been replaced with thousands of color photos and, as always, the book is chock full of information on plants and how to grow them successfully in your zone. The Western Garden Guide is really a wonderful starting point to begin exploring all of the varied and interesting plants (especially ornamentals and natives) that grow in the West. I was especially pleased to see that they call out plants that are important for beneficials and pollinators with an icon. As part of the book’s launch, I was invited to Sunset’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California to tour the gardens with other garden bloggers and eat breakfast in the Sunset test kitchen. It was such a wonderful morning! The test kitchen looks out over an herb garden and outdoor kitchen and the vegetable test garden is like an amazing idea lab and dream backyard garden wrapped into one. I am happy to report that the garden is not too precious. It is clearly a real garden. They have a few weeds here and there and Johanna Silver, Sunset’s test garden coordinator, admitted they have problems with squirrels and birds eating seeds and seedlings—just like the rest of us!

The garden features an amazing coop tucked away into a back corner, and it is home to a few very happy and spoiled hens. The coop was made by a local California company, Wine Country Coops. The coop sits up off the ground and has a wire floor, which allows the chickens’ droppings to fall through onto a layer of bedding below. The coop is right by the compost pile, so I imagine it is pretty easy to keep things clean and tidy (something I cannot say about my own chicken’s lame coop). They also have a generous covered run.

The test garden is about the size of a small city backyard, so there were quite a few containers scattered around and lots of trellises. My favorite was this bright orange, powder coated steel trellis. Johanna had just planted some peas at the base (and covered them up with a strip of row cover to protect them from critters).

The greenhouse is surrounded by garden beds, which helps integrate the structure into the rest of the space. During my visit the beds were filled with overwintered cool season crops.

Mature artichoke plants filled in the corners of the garden. Seeing them made me determined to grow artichokes in my own garden this summer! I love their silvery grey foliage and the architectural presence of the plants. The garden featured many other perennial edibles, including mounds of herbs and a potted lemon tree.

Sunset also loves to grow kale. I spotted ‘Red Russian’ and a curly green variety as well. Even though it gets quite hot in Menlo Park in the summer, I’m told kale can grow year round there if it is given a bit of shade during the hottest part of the year.

This pathway is composed of wooden odds and ends. I really love the pathway’s geometric design and that it made use of material that would normally be tossed aside. The Sunset garden is open to the public during their annual Celebration Weekend, which takes place this year on June 2nd and 3rd. I encourage you to go if you have the chance. You will surely walk away inspired! I know I did.

One of the best reasons to grow kale is that it produces a delightful extra edible: broccoli-like flower buds. Kale belongs to the Brassica (cabbage) family and it is a biennial, which means that it spends its first growing season developing a strong root system and leaves. In most climates it survives the winter (it needs a bit of protection in colder zones) and then it flowers and goes to seed in the second year. Right now all the kale in my garden is topped with a loose topknot of buds. I recently pinched some of the top buds back to encourage more to form at the leaf axils—the point where the leaves join the main stem. I’m also continuing to harvest the kale’s leaves, which we saute, roast, and puree in smoothies.

Sometimes the flower buds of brassicas are referred to as rabe or raab, which is derived from rapa and means turnip in Italian. Kale, mustard greens, Brussels sprouts, turnips, bok choy, chinese cabbage, and broccoli rabe (pictured below) all produce delicious flower buds that absolutely deserve to be eaten instead of tossed into the compost pile. I harvest them when the buds are tightly packed, just ready to burst open, and flowering—they are delightful at every stage. The yellow blossoms taste like their parent plant, only sweeter with a floral undertone. We like to lightly steam rabe or saute it with garlic and olive oil and then finish it off with a squirt of lemon juice and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes and sea salt. Yum!

Yesterday I finally had a chance to  get outside for some much needed garden time. My garden is a bit of a disaster at the moment, but luckily I had my four bird brained companions, Inky, Clyde, Bumble and Boo, to “help” me clean up. I started by harvesting the remains of our Swiss chard, arugula, broccoli rabe, purple sprouting broccoli and kale flower buds. I tossed the stalks and assorted leaves into the chicken run for them to snack on. I don’t have a wheelbarrow at the moment, so I emptied out the compost bin one tub trug at a time and spread the compost over three of my beds. It was really satisfying to see last year’s yard waste return to the garden. Then I gathered up weeds and spent vegetables, raked up the decomposing straw in the pathways, and tossed it all into the compost pile. I ended the day by planting a few lettuce seedlings and some radishes in my trough containers.

I’ve still got quite bit to do to get my garden in ship shape for spring, including:

* Move the portable chicken coop over the weedy area behind our garage (my plan is to let the girls do my weeding for me).

* Re-seed doggie-destroyed areas of the lawn

* Trim wisteria (which is threatening world domination) and flowering jasmine (which is eating the garage)

* Pre-sprout peas and plant them

* Direct sow carrots, radishes, spinach, mustard greens, arugula and turnips

* Plant kale seedlings

* Plant artichokes

* Buy and plant bare root strawberries

* Construct hoop houses over beds (to protect the crops from cabbage maggot fly—eww!–and carrot rust fly)

* Plant greens in my wooden crates

* Plan my new herbal tea garden (several kinds of mint, bee balm, and lemon verbena are on the list)

So what’s on your chore list right now? I’d love to hear!