Organic Gardening Info from Peaceful Valley

Olive trees, whether they fruit or not, are beautiful ornamental trees with soft gray-green foliage. They require little fertilization and can be grown in just about any type of soil so long as it is not water-logged. This year we have 14 varieties, 13 of which fruit. Imagine curing your own table olives next year!

Staff picks include Calletier, Frantoio, Pendolino, Picholine, and the non-fruiting Hills of Santa Cruz.

Learn more about growing olive trees, olive oil, and curing olives from Steve McCulley of Apollo Olive Oil on our blog by clicking here.

Citrus trees are evergreen plants with bright green foliage & fragrant flowers. They are easiest to grow in zones 9-11, and possible to grow with winter protection in zones 6-8, and are beautiful indoor plants.This year we’re carrying 10 aromatic varieties.

Citrus needs a certain level of accumulated heat in order to ripen. Since lemons are eaten for their acidic taste, they don’t need the accumulated heat in order to sweeten up and are therefore suited for cool, coastal climates. Grapefruit and oranges need a high accumulated heat and only reach peak quality in hot inland and desert areas. Most citrus are self-fruitful.

Read our Citrus Growing Guide online here

Our Contest Winners, Jesse and Celeste Jackson.

Congratulations to our greenhouse winners Celeste & Jesse Jackson of Smartsville, CA! Of all the people who entered the contest online and all the customers who made purchases between July 1 – August 31, 2009, Celeste & Jesse were selected at random to win this fabulous 6′ x 8′ redwood greenhouse (they are pictured in the 8′ x 12′ model in our nursery). They will be sending us updates about their new greenhouse on our blog once they get it assembled. Congratulations!

As Christmas and Chanukah inch closer to us, us order department people are getting more and more calls from customers looking for that perfect gift.  Here are some great ideas for that gardener in your life:

• As always, your easiest option is the brand new Gift Gard.   Unlike the old, bulky gift certificates, these gift cards feature a beautiful design, are compact and reloadable, and available in any denomination from $10 up to $500.  They are good for any item we carry, and are redeemable online, over the phone or in our retail store.  And as always, each gift card comes with a gorgeous full color greeting card, which can be customized with your holiday message.
• Garden tools are also a great option, and are easy to buy. We offer a wide variety of tools to fit anyone’s gift budget, from inexpensive trowels (starting at just $9.99) to the long lasting, high quality Stockton Heath long handled spades, shovels and forks (around $70). We even have a nice selection of children’s tools and accessories for that “budding” gardener in your life.
•  Still available (but not for long!) are the long time favorites, the Amaryllis Bulb Gift Kits.  These all-inclusive sets come in a sturdy wooden box, making them easy to wrap or ship.
• While we cannot guarantee, at this point, the exact arrival date, our bare root fruit trees are coming back soon!  Choose from over 100 different varieties, including the hard-to-find 3-in-1s!  Imagine the bounty that will be gathered from a tree bearing three different kinds of fruit!
• Speaking of fruit trees, an essential tool for any harvest is the Long Reach Fruit Picker.  This handy tool extends to add almost 10 feet of reach to get those hard to reach apples and pears.

On anything you order, we can include a personalized, hand written greeting card for just $2.49.  Choose from 11 different styles, or trust us to pick one for you.

As always, if you have any questions in picking out that perfect gift, just give us a call.  We are all happy to help, and we always love receiving Christmas and Chanukah cards from our loyal customers…we always have a wall full of well wishes.  We love getting to know our customers on a more personal level!

Happy Holidays from the Peaceful Valley family!

We recently replaced our old, antiquated warehouse lights with a system that automatically turns lights on and off depending on where people are working. We are also using much more efficient bulbs. By doing this we’re able to save a significant amount of electricity. It’s a little different down there, getting used to the dark areas. But saving energy like this is a good thing.

Additionally, the old lights are here for sale for a deep discount. They’re pictured above. Why? Because they are excellent grow lights. Come by or call us for details…