Main Street Trees

Edibles in the Landscape

Main Street Trees — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 20:45:11 +0000

Labyrinth Lady Appears in Napa

Main Street Trees — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:31:11 +0000

Much to our delight, this aerial picture of our tree farm seems to have a harvest lady pointing to our Napa tree labyrinth! We didn’t attempt to create this but the sun was at the right angle and the satellite took the picture on the right day of the year at the right time of the day to show a giant lady with a flowing dress and what I call a harvest basket on her head! Although the labyrinth paths were not correct on that day, they have since been fixed to be closer to the old (4K years) pattern called Cretan. Considering that the labyrinth and the rest of the property has plenty of food to put in a basket, we were so amazed when we “found” her. Can you see her??

Dave’s Garden

Main Street Trees — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:56:52 +0000

Main Street Trees’ garden buddies Dave and Suzin have a FANTASTIC garden on La Homa in Napa. If you drive by this month you will see the happiest collection of sunflowers in the area. Dave’s sunflowers are feeding the pollinators, so thanks Dave!

Local Beekeepers!

Main Street Trees — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 02:52:33 +0000

Local Beekeepers!

*Native Bees and Honeybees, like so many creatures in nature have to be protected from poison and have habitat to LIVE in. Learn more from the Xerces Society. http://www.xerces.org

*Practice ecological landscaping. Wild plants and garden plants that have flowers in the fall and winter really help feed the bees and so does some fresh water in the hot summer.

Learn how here - http://www.pfspbees.org/

*Call a beekeeper if you need some bees moved. Don’t kill them!!

Napa County Ag 253-4357 is one place to find a beekeeper.

*Thinking about having your own beehives? Take a class! Join in with local beeks to figure it out BEFORE getting your own beehive. It’s not just about the honey!

*Meet at Round Table Pizza on Solano 3^rd Mondays each month from 6:30-8:30
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/beekeepersofnapavalley -the URL of the online place we announce local bee info like swarms available and when we are meeting to learn.

Backyard Hens

Main Street Trees — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 02:21:39 +0000

When visiting the nursery you’ll see our ten hens, happily patrolling the grounds scratching for tasty bugs and weeds. People are delighted to see how friendly and healthy they are. Many of our visitors decide they would like to have chickens in their own backyards. Napa allows folks with regular sized yards to have some hens (but no roosters.) Nothing beats the delicious fresh eggs! Also, hens provide natural insect control. And they contribute to the composting bin or pile—all for healthier gardens. Ask us about using worms to compost vegetable matter if you don’t have enough room for a regular compost pile. You can make your own fertilizer with your food scraps, weeds, prunings, papers and cardboard scraps.

Valley Oak Goes to a golf course

Main Street Trees — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 01:34:12 +0000

Dave Dexter and his crew from DEXTER estate landscapes moved this huge Valley Oak we grew to a Windsor, Sonoma County golf course from our growing ground at Main Street Trees in Napa. The lobata grew from an acorn that fell from the old trees on our property. This tree was about 15 years old. Valley Oaks are the most appropriate oak tree for our area with clay soil on the valley floor, although Coast Live Oaks grow great here too.

Here they are finishing up the planting of this lovely Valley Oak tree! The Valley Oak likes water and is native so growing on a golf course is a great place. It will provide shade and a place for nature such as birds.

Rainbow Chard

Main Street Trees — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 00:19:06 +0000

This color of Rainbow Chard is as beautiful as it is delicious. Chard usually self seeds so it can provide years of fresh greens for easy cooked or fresh eating. It comes in a ‘rainbow’ of colors and is a delight to have in every garden. It is one of the easiest foods to grow and it does fine in a container. The bigger the container the bigger the plant and much more food to eat.

Fruit / Food Hedge

Main Street Trees — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 00:13:39 +0000

Growing a lot of what you eat can be a pleasant way to live. Gardening can be a lifestyle choice where you get your exercise, fresh air, sunshine, a visit with nature and food for eating and sharing. Even if you rent or are moving soon you can have a container garden that can move when you do. Thinking of expanding your fruit trees soon? You can keep your fruit trees small enough to pick the fruit and prune without a ladder if you train it to be small and keeping it in a container is one way of dwarfing it.

Welcome to our new Blog!

Main Street Trees — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 06:40:43 +0000

We are excited to announce that we’ve got a new blog!

We are happy to have this place to show and tell our friends, neighbors, families and customers all we know about growing natives, food and useful plants with emphasis on sustainable, natural, organic, local, therapeutic and beautiful! Thank you for being part of our project.