Eye Candy

The boy and I recently spent the afternoon at the Copia Edible Gardens Festival. If you haven’t been to Copia and you live in Northern California you need to scoot on over there. Not only is it interesting and full of gardening eye candy but it’s populated with people who can actually answer questions. The newest bonus is that the whole compound is surrounded by all the yummy food at Oxbow Market.

We listened to Serge Lebeque of the Bee Club talk about honeybees, why they’re disappearing and what we can do to help. It felt really good, sitting there listening, to know that my family is actively helping. We are not just sitting around worried about what might happen or even worse, oblivious. We have 2 happy hives being cared for in our very own garden. Serge is a fount of information and Jonathan is looking forward to learning even more from him in a two part class offered by our local Junior College.

We were disappointed that we missed the talk about backyard chickens so we went over to the children’s garden and flirted with the Copia hens a bit. We were also checking out their lone rabbit. How any rabbit could survive a Napa Valley Summer outside is beyond me. That rabbit never looks happy. It’s about a million degrees out and all he can do is lay there panting. I guess they keep him because his poop can go directly into the garden. Rabbit poop need not be composted and is a great source of nutrients for plants or your worm bin. Plus, they’re cute and cuddly. Next time your kid asks for one you might consider your garden before you say “No”.
The whole garden there is amazing. It’s a great combination of wild and tamed. They use some great classic growing techniques, three sisters, espalier, and plain old straight rows. For those unfamiliar with three sisters, it’s a Native American technique. You plant corn, add pole beans which will use the corn as their pole and then add a big leafy squash at the bottom to create shade, keep the soil moist and deter weeds. It’s a great system for even the most novice gardeners. The gardens at Copia are also filled with things of more interest. They have really unusual varieties of flowers and fruiting trees. One of the things I love most is their use of different things for trellis and support. The gardeners there get a little creative and I like it.

Inspired by a lush, green covered teepee, I went to the hardware store this week for rebar. I quickly built a rebar teepee for the boy. I planted one Passion flower on it and will add pole beans when the time is right. He’s going to love his new little fort. My teepee consists of 5 poles now but I think I’ll double it for better hideout coverage. We recently saw pink Passion flower at the zoo and the boy has asked me to put some of that on his teepee too. It’ll attract both hummingbirds and girls!



I also had my eye on this arch built of rebar. I took some photos and know just how I’ll tweak it to work for me. Bending the rebar into perfect arches will take some thought but I’m guessing that it’s just a matter of creating a form out of lumber. The stuff we saw at Copia was so simply constructed. They used wire and zip ties to connect the rebar. So MacGuyver!



The boy wandered through the garden plots taking little nibbles here, there, and everywhere. I probably should have discouraged him but the plants were loaded and you just gotta love a kid who eats multicolored beans off vines and asks you to please bring a big torpedo onion home for Papa.

Places like Copia are great for inspiration and motivation. That simple rebar teepee will make a great addition to my garden. It’s useful for flowers, beans, and people, it was inexpensive to build, and I love the slightly quirky look.