ABOUT US
Our gardening experience collectively covers over 90 years! My husband Tim and I live in Sutter Creek, CA in the heart of the gold country. I began actively gardening in 1992 when we bought our first home together in West Point, CA. Prior to that, we lived in Wilseyville, and I had marveled at Tim's vegetable garden, the sweet peas covering his fence each spring with green cascades, and the luffas he planted along the fence. I was amazed that he had grown something I had only seen in the bath section at Macy's! Cucumbers hung down from netting thrown over fence boards, and wire cages housed bountiful tomato plants. Pepper plants bore white flowers, and okra sported lovely purple blooms. I never knew the flowers were so pretty. Pretty enough to plant with the flowers. I discovered a passion that ran deep through the heart of my family and had been passed down through several generations. My Papa, my mother's grandfather, gardened til he was well into his 90's; I remember gardening with my aunt Grace in Fair Oaks who had a wonderful, wild acre of gardens with flowers, vegetables, herbs, berries, and fruit trees; my Aunt Glorya preserved much of the fruit she grew; jams, jars full of dried fruit, or tasty fruit leathers she dried in the oven. She had beautiful orange trees for morning juice, grapefruit trees, and even a banana plant in that Fresno backyard garden.
My grandma Mary loved growing cut flowers and roses and often lunched under an arbor at the back of her little house, covered in grapevines with long, slender green grapes hanging through the top slats (she called them Lady Fingers). My mom, who grew geraniums and Jasmine just outside her front door at Mather AFB, adored Gardenias. She loved the scent of their white, waxy beauty. She loved all kinds of flowers! Especially when they were from her children. Even if her boys snagged them along their walks home from school! I remember the gorgeous pomegranite tree down the street from our bus stop, a zillion peachy colored flowers heralded a bounty of luscious, red fruit we often snagged.
Tim and I worked for three years on the grounds of our first home in West Point, turning barren, hard red clay soil under pine trees and oaks into a series of garden 'rooms'. I outlined their shapes with a garden hose, and Tim did the digging, adding in our homemade compost. We planted a huge vegetable garden together that first year; it sustained us, our family and friends with tons of veggies each successive year.
Tim had mail-ordered a greenhouse in which we grew seedlings we then sold to Ridge Road Garden Center in Pine Grove; we also created a round-shaped herb garden where a tall pine tree used to stand, covering it deeply with dirt and compost, planting a bounty of herbs like Lemon Balm, Oregano, Sage, Cilantro, Marjoram, Bay, and Thyme. A pathway separated the herb garden from our Coneflower, Heaths and Heathers, Nandina, Strawberries and Lavender.
We had 2 Arabian mares, 2 Angus-Hereford mix cows, 24 chickens of 4 breeds, 4 rabbits (2 breeds), a Peacock who adopted us, a Sheltie dog, several cats, a pond of large colorful Koi, 18 geese, 2 white turkeys, and 24 ducks (Fawn and white runner, and Pekin). This was the good life. Share our gardening and farming experiences, and see our farm animals from 1993 at www.dunnfarm.com
After severe illnesses we each had over the next few years, in 2000 my husband and I decided we had to let go of our dream farm; it was too strenuous and he could no longer work the land as he once did as he had very low energy, and his hands were injured. I had knee and back problems and could barely walk so could not work in my gardens any longer or tend them. Happily, we have had several smaller gardens since then that have taught us new things, like container gardening.
We are finally home once more on an acre of gardens in Sutter Hill, living in an old Italian house. Tim does most of the work and this year and last (2010- 2011), he planted a variety of veggies in two raised beds. We are still excited about gardening! This year he is planting Sweet 100 tomatoes in a barrel just outside the back door so we can harvest often. He also planted our favorite Lemon Cucumber, thin skinned, round, never too seedy or bitter. Great producer too. Brandywine is still my personal favorite tomatoe, though.
Not able to walk around on my own very well, due to degenerative bone disease, I have found new ways to satisfy my gardening needs--container gardening, water gardens, and also photographing these beauties that delight me so. I have written about my flowers and gardens on the garden page, including some photos, at the Gold Country Times website.
Tim and I continue to choose and plant new varieties of plants; we enjoyed lemons from our little tree for years til she froze in the winter of 2010. We do continue to eat juicy white peaches from our dwarf peach tree. Delicious! The tiny, fragrant plums from our lovely spring-blooming tree out in front of the house gives us tons of fruit each year.
I now use an electric scooter for shopping and flea markets, but on good days, Tim helps me walk around the gardens; we marvel at their colors, their beauty, the fragrance. It is one of my most special times to get out and see what is happening all around the yard. I see the peonies, the hydrangeas, the camellias, Iris, and roses, always so lovely.
I always look forward to coming home after work and checking out the gardens on my way indoors. We now take more mini vacations, visiting family all over the states. Of course, we check out the gardens everywhere we travel and sometimes stop to visit a nursery, bringing back a prized purchase, like the purple Rhodo from Oregon. She is doing well, and blooming right next to the stand of gorgeous daylilies.
I am happy to share our gardening experiences and photos with you at www.dunnfarm.com, along with garden tips and suggestions to get you started or give you new ideas for your existing gardens. Welcome to 'Over the Garden Gate'!
Hollyhocks are really pretty, all ruffles and so many blooms. They stand tall and are an asset to any garden. Give them full sunlight; they bloom every year.
Fragrant Wisteria blooms profusely in spring til well past May in our Sutter Creek garden.
Spanish Lavendar blooms profusely in spring well into June.
Our plum tree blooms so prettily in the spring and gives us an abundance of fruit in summer
This lovely red peony blooms every year, just a few blooms. She needs more sun!
