New Faces and Old Invaders

Popping up in the garden this week, these pasilla chile seedlings are making their debut. I'm excited for these because they are extremely tasty, not too spicy (but more than a bell pepper), are great stuffed, and used for chile rellenos.

Peppers are some of my favorite crops to grow. Pound for pound, it's hard to find another fruit that provides so much savory flavor and health benefits.

I also have this Anaheim chile plant that is showing its first fruit.

Another very tasty crop will be onions, which this group of seedlings will be producing later this season.

In a crack on the patio bricks, an oregano seed has taken root.

It's not where I want it, so that makes it a weed. Out it goes!

Darryl
Copyright 2014 - Darryl Musick
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Enjoying the Fruits of our Labors

Gardening is in full swing. Chores are being done with regularity and, in this warm drought year, the plants are doing spectacularly well.

We've been working our behinds off and, now, we're going to take a little break to enjoy the results. Check out the cherry tomatoes sneaking in to the hanging dendrobium, above.

Speaking of orchids, the cymbidiums on our orchid bench are almost overwhelming in their color.  My mother in law gets mad because I'm behind on my cymbidium care chores but they still bloom anyway.

The Moonstone and it's unknown neighbor rose let me know they're doing well in the drought. They survived our earthquake too, but that's a story for another day.

Double Delight still delights...

...and Mr. Lincoln is producing it's usual platter-sized, deep red blooms as it always does at the beginning of the blooming season.

Here's a very delicately colored pink bougainvillea to finish off this week's look at the beauty side of our garden.

Darryl
Copyright 2014 - Darryl Musick
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Lining Up the Lemon

Our Meyer lemon tree started off as a sapling only twelve inches tall. How it's grown over the years.

I've pretty much left it alone, just trying to let it establish itself in our tiny, three-tree citrus grove.

I think it's had plenty of time now. I'm going to trim it up to get it to start growing in the shape I want it to.

The loppers make pretty easy work of it, just chop a few of the bottom branches.

I'm not going to touch anything on top in the big producing area. I want fruit this winter so, for now, this is the shape I'm going to be happy with.

Darryl
Copyright 2014 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved.

This Year's Feeding Schedule

My new lawn is looking a bit spotty in parts. Although it's still pumping up a lot of grass (with a lot of mowing), I think maybe the two weed 'n feed treatments might have given it a bit of indigestion.

I think it might be hungry but for food not laced with poison.

It's off to my friendly garden center to pick up some nitrogen-rich fertilizer.

The nurseryman there says I've got great timing. A rare rain shower is forecast tonight and putting fertilizer on your grass just ahead of the storm is the peak time to do it.

I load about three pounds into my feeder and shoot it out across the lawn.  Let's see if the grass likes it.

My lawn feeding schedule will be once a month for this season.

The other plants will be getting this liquid fertilizer.

Just dilute into a water pan and sprinkle on everything. This will happen every two weeks.

Hope the plants are happy with the food.

Darryl
Copyright 2014 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

A Chore Left Undone

Until today, that is. A couple of years ago, my wife bought a jasmine plant with the intention of putting it in the pot where we had a morning glory growing.

Even the best intentions go awry, sometimes. The plant languished in our herb garden with the promise of "someday." I guess she had enough, so she finally got around to doing it this past weekend.

Fairly straightforward, clean out the pot, stick in the plant, and water in.

Here she positions the plant and cleans off the dead roots. She's much more careful than I am about these things.

In the end, here's a tidy jasmine in the pot. But wait, what's that at the bottom of the pot?

Turns out there's a lavender volunteer from a nearby plant growing out of the bottom of the pot. Handy little find. I transplant it into our citrus grove so when it grows up, it can attract bees to pollinate our fruit.

Darryl
Copyright 2014 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

Attack of the Killer Mockingbirds

Well, maybe not killer. I'm not even 100% sure it's mockingbirds but something's been eating my tomatoes and I've heard their calls mocking me in the morning (mockingbirds are an ongoing pestilence in our garden).

Before I get to that, however, we've got to take a look at the status of the backyard.

Our last in-ground tomato plant has just been played out.  I was going to harvest it this weekend before pulling it out but, as you can see from the top, something beat me to it.

No use delaying the inevitable, out it goes.

Now, it rests on the top of the weekend's clippings in our green waste barrel.

Next, I'll need to prepare the two blank spots in our side garden, above. Zucchini on the right; onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, and something else to be determined on the left. I think I'll skip the corn this year, maybe some nice, big pasilla chiles instead. Those are delicious!

It's citrus bloom time again. Here's the Meyer lemon buds...

...and here's the Cara Cara orange blossoms.

Finally, I'm able to scrounge this little last harvest. The last Meyer lemon, some tomatoes from our Cherry Falls hanging basket that'll go on some burgers I'm grilling tomorrow, and a tiny little zucchini I'll chop up into tomorrow's eggs.

Darryl 
Copyright 2014 - Darryl Musick
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It's a Blooming Early Spring

Yes, it's dry, it's warm, and now the plants think it's spring. 

We've got the yellow cymbidium at the top open this weekend.

This one is just starting to bloom...

...while this one's been open a couple of weeks now.

In addition, the bougainvilleas never went dormant. While most of them are leafy and green, this bright coral one is in full glory.

We're still picking tomatoes...

...although our cherry tomatoes are twice as big as the regular ones.

This zucchini is making quite an effort, too.

And, always, these super-hot chiles are ready to spice things up.

Darryl
Copyright 2014 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved 

Winter Wonders

OK, it's official...our governor has declared a drought emergency. We've known we've been in a drought for over a year and with not a drop this January, I guess Mr. Brown could not deny it any longer. 

What this means is that we're heartily encouraged to cut our water use by 20%. This will soon become mandatory should this very dry winter continue. The water company will tell us how much we can use and any amounts over that will be charged at double or triple the rate...something like that.

It's good that I put in the drought-tolerant lawn this fall. Now, we'll see just how tolerant it is. 

In the meantime, this hot, dry weather has fooled some of the roses into blooming again. Look at the front garden, up at the top, and this Mr. Lincoln.

'Magic Moment' is spectacular right now.

Enjoy it, flowers, because pruning time is coming very soon.

Oh, almost forgot...we got our first orchid bloom of the year this weekend with this cymbidium.

Darryl
Copyright 2014 - Darryl Musick
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A Lush Lawn?

Coming back from our little hiatus to update you on the big, fall lawn project.

After a couple of months of dethatching and aerating, I overseeded a couple of weeks ago, set the sprinkler timer to water three times a day at ten minutes each time, and left for Tennessee.

Gone for eleven days, I was anxious as to how the lawn would look when we returned.

As you can see from the picture above, the seeds have sprouted. They're not quite established to the point where I feel comfortable mowing them yet, so I will let them go another week or two before trimming.

It's looking promising. Here's the before picture...

...and here's the after picture.

Darryl
Copyright 2013 - Darryl Musick
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Guavas and Wine

Just a quick hit to show you our current harvest. 

This is what we're getting about every other day off of our guava tree. Other than that, not a whole lot of gardening going on this weekend. Maybe next weekend when I've got five days off.

Darryl

Food for Thought

While the summer harvest has ended, it's time to look forward to fall. Our grapevine above is showing signs of impending dormancy. After the leaves fall, I'll remove the critter netting.

This picture shows a branch of the guava tree, hanging perilously close to the ground. It's because it is weighted down with fruit.

We've got hundreds of fruit, like this pair, that will be ready soon.

This nice size example will probably be first.

Our citrus will provide another mediocre crop this year. The tangelo is starting to show some color. We'll be eating this around Christmas.

I've got a few tomatoes to eat this week...

...and we literally cannot keep up with the massive productions of chiles we have this year. Here's a plate we're drying out on the patio.  A lot are just falling to the ground because we just can't pick 'em or eat 'em fast enough. 

That's a problem I'd like to have on all of our food plants.

Darryl
Copyright 2013 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved