Gardening

Kirstie_H · July 2013

I'm jealous, but gloat all you like. I enjoy seeing what's possible with some gardening skills and a good growing climate!

I'm having mixed success this year. Harvested some sweet peppers already, and my various cherry tomato plants are producing in abundance. My other tomatoes are a bit slow, and my heirlooms look like they're not going to give me much, if anything at all. May be a bit early for them.

My miniature cucumbers are quite happy, too. I should be making my first batch of dill pickles later this week.

gagrice · July 2013

It is not all great. My wife's cucumber plants had all the leaves eaten off them this morning. Then some of our big tomatoes were chewed up. We were out there this afternoon and found out who is doing the damage. A family of California Weasels. This is the first time we have seen them actually eating our crops. I thought they were more carnivores. I will have to set traps and catch them.

stever · July 2013

Now you know where your rabbits went....

gagrice · July 2013

We are completely over run with rabbits. I poison the squirrels to protect the quail. Not sure what will get rid of the possums, racoons and weasels.

stever · July 2013

They were there first and by planting a grocery store for them, you've become the attractive nuisance.

gagrice · July 2013

Are you basing that on Biblical chronology? :shades:

According to all I can find the CA weasel is strictly a carnivore. So our leaf and tomato thieves are probably the mocking birds. We did observe them eating the leaves off the snow peas last Winter. I am thinking the Weasels are here because of the very large quail population we have created. By killing off the quail egg stealing squirrels we have provided a good food source for the weasels. The information says they will attack animals up to rabbit size. We have plenty of rabbits for them to eat. Kind of cute critters.

imidazol97 · July 2013

> Kind of cute critters.

Unless you're a rabbit!

Are those California weasels a protected species?

As for the possums and getting rid of them, it is possible to poison them. They like fat and meat IIRC. I had read up on how to attract them to traps when we had a neighborhood possum use the area under our ground level wooden deck as a maternity ward.

gagrice · July 2013

I don't expect we will starve as a result of the various critters. I caught a young possum once in my trap and did not have the heart to kill him. I don't think the CA Weasel is endangered. They seem to be a new arrival in our area according to a friend that is a wildlife photographer.This is the first year he has seen them around San Diego. Common in the Sierras.

I am eating lots of Tomatoes and peaches now, mmmmmm

gagrice · July 2013

These are the most prolific tomatoes so far. They are large very mild and not many seeds. The color is mango orange. We are really enjoying them. Plan to harvest some seeds off a couple.

Here compared to a hybrid sungold. Which have been producing continually since April.

Lunch time

Mr_Shiftright · July 2013

What kinda peach is that? OHenry?

gagrice · July 2013

The peach trees were here when we bought the place. They have been the best of the fruit trees. Very sweet and the come off the seed nicely. Wife has frozen a quite a few bags of them. They are not large peaches. About the size I have bought in Georgia on vacations. Very similar in size and taste.

gagrice · March 2014

Only fruit are citrus. Lots of flowers starting very early. we have Freesia, Iris and alstumeria in abundance all around the house. The Pride of Madera are in full bloom attracting thousands of bees. We were blessed with a flock of Cedar Wax Wings, and only the second year we have had robins.

gagrice · August 2014

We have been eating tomatoes at least twice a day for over a month now. And the vines are still filled. Thought I better post two of the prettiest heirloom tomatoes I have ever seen. They are from seeds we harvested last year. Called Maiden's Gold. Make a beautiful salad.

gagrice · August 2014

This may be our best tomatoe year yet. We have 27 plants with 20 varieties of heirlooms. Our figs are doing well this year. I planted the trees 7 years ago when we moved here. Love fig jam.

PS

We give the excess to our family and neighbors. The hassles to sell at the local farmers market are not worth the $$effort.

slorenzen · August 2014

@gagrice said:
This may be our best tomatoe year yet. We have 27 plants with 20 varieties of heirlooms. Our figs are doing well this year. I planted the trees 7 years ago when we moved here. Love fig jam.

PS

We give the excess to our family and neighbors. The hassles to sell at the local farmers market are not worth the $$effort.

We have 18 tomato plants this year, and can't eat 'em fast enough. We've been giving them away as well.

A very good year for everything we've planted, except for the artichokes. We had a VERY cold freeze last December which really set things back a bit, including the wild blackberries around here.

Kirstie_H · August 2014

@slorenzen said:
A very good year for everything we've planted, except for the artichokes.

Interesting. Our artichokes have not produced a THING this year. The plants are huge, but no 'chokes, and I grew them from brand new seeds. I thought I'd developed a brown thumb.

slorenzen · August 2014

@Kirstie_H said:
Interesting. Our artichokes have not produced a THING this year. The plants are huge, but no 'chokes, and I grew them from brand new seeds. I thought I'd developed a brown thumb.

Yeah, out of 5 plants, we got 2 artichokes...actually, more like 1.5. They were very small, and tough as leather.

stever · August 2014

@slorenzen, fig jam? Is that different from fig preserves or just a regional name thing?

My grandmother made fig preserves and every once in a while I get a huge hankering for some, but I rarely will finish a jar once I get some.

gagrice · August 2014

@stever said:
slorenzen, fig jam? Is that different from fig preserves or just a regional name thing?

My grandmother made fig preserves and every once in a while I get a huge hankering for some, but I rarely will finish a jar once I get some.

It is about the same thing. Jam the fruit is more puried and preserves leave larger chunks of fruit. Compared to Jelly which has all the seeds and pulp strained out. I like them all.

gagrice · August 2014

@slorenzen said:

This has been the worst summer for our fruit trees. Only a few cherries that the birds got. One plum off two trees. 3 apricots off a new tree I planted. The apricot tree that was here when we came has never produced fruit. Time to pull it out. Our two peach trees never set on any blossoms this year. We have a few puny apples and pears. Overall a total waste of our precious water. Our navel oranges were good for several months and we always have lemons. We have really poor decomposed granite soil here. Probably a waste of time trying to grow stuff in the ground. All our veggies are in soil hauled in or bagged potting soil.

stever · August 2014

Thanks, I bet I'd like the jam better.

We had zero pears this year at our old house in the UP (feels good saying that. ).

The prolific apple tree was just starting to get going when we left. It could be a heavier year for it, but I still bet the new owner gets to pick up (or look at) 40 five gallon buckets of fallen apples the next few weeks. We let him some zukes, crooked neck squash and the two potato plants that made it (out of ten - the ground is probably ruined from all those rotting apples, lol).

slorenzen · August 2014

@gagrice said:
This has been the worst summer for our fruit trees. Only a few cherries that the birds got. One plum off two trees. 3 apricots off a new tree I planted. The apricot tree that was here when we came has never produced fruit. Time to pull it out. Our two peach trees never set on any blossoms this year. We have a few puny apples and pears. Overall a total waste of our precious water. Our navel oranges were good for several months and we always have lemons. We have really poor decomposed granite soil here. Probably a waste of time trying to grow stuff in the ground. All our veggies are in soil hauled in or bagged potting soil.

Got enough bees to pollinate things?

I have a pear tree that gave us 1 pear this year. Normally, we get a couple hundred.

We had a low rain year, but NOTHING like what California has suffered over the last 2 years.

My garden is mostly in raised beds with soil I bought at a local place. Really good soil, but $40 per yard. The natural soil here is clay, and requires a lot of work to make it productive.

On another note, is your son finding this area to his liking? It's been pretty hot this summer(28 days of 90+ since 1-July), but lower humidity than Indiana, I'm sure.

gagrice · August 2014

@slorenzen said:
Got enough bees to pollinate things?

We have lots of bees around us. Our peach trees never bloomed at all. Same with our big plum tree. We had the strangest winter. Very cool days and
warm nights. Not a single frost this last winter. Just much colder than normal days. Climate change for sure, Not warmer though. We have had a lot of 90s this July and August. Never hit 100 yet. The tomatoes like it and our plumerias have never been this prolific with flowers. Also healthier leaves. I think the humdity is higher as well. Could explain a lot of things.

gagrice · August 2014

@slorenzen said:
On another note, is your son finding this area to his liking? It's been pretty hot this summer(28 days of 90+ since 1-July), but lower humidity than Indiana, I'm sure.

Just talked to my Daughter in Law. They are loving Cottage Grove. My son went right to work early Monday morning at Buster's Cafe. Not sure how good it is. The prices seem a bit high to me.

http://www.bustersmainstreetcafe.com/

gagrice · March 2015

It is the first full day of Spring. Our heirloom tomato starts are doing very well. Already transplanted about a dozen to the big growing pots. I think I have counted over 80 plants. Probably give some away as we cannot use that many plants.

gagrice · March 2015

Freezia did well this winter and early spring.

Also an abundance of Cedar wax wings and robins this winter.

gagrice · April 2015

First baby quail of the season wandered out onto our deck. I was only fast enough to get these two.

My wife made me get rid of all but this pencil bush when we moved in. They were less than a foot tall and sold well on Craigslist. So over the last 8 years this pencil bush went from being less than a foot tall to over 10 feet tall. I think it is really cool in the morning sun. If you break off a piece the milky substance is highly toxic.

We have Amaryllis in pots all around the place. First year the snails did not wipe the blossoms out.

stever · April 2015

We get Gambel and Scaled here but haven't seen any chicks. We're going through to a $14 quail block every 2 to 3 weeks now (helped along quite a bit by the bunnies). Easier than scattering cracked corn like we did most every day for the Californias back in Boise.

The pencil brush pic reminds me that I need to look up mountain bluebird houses - our Taos friends are coming down again and they have a half dozen boxes so they should be able to clue us in. Can't say that I've seen any here though. The redpolls are nesting on top of the shades on the west side of the patio; must be their second fledging since they've been there for two months now.

stever · April 2015

Rabbit, quail, roadrunner and wildlife on the back road home:

gagrice · April 2015

Steve, we buy 50# sacks of quail food at the feed store. Been around $22 last few times. Probably lasts 6-8 weeks. Good thing it is 80% Millet. The stuff you get from places like WalMart have a lot of Milo, that most birds won't eat. I avoid cracked corn as it attracts the squirrels. We also toss out sunflower seeds for the jays.

gagrice · April 2015

We get 3-4 types of doves. Including the Eurasian ring neck, that are large. And the very large Band-Tailed Pigeon. So we fatten all the birds for the various hawks that perch in the big trees. Or just bathe in our bird bath. I don't have to move from my desk to get these shots.

stever · April 2015

No trees here so squirrels aren't an issue.

We did the mill&feed routine in Boise but haven't found "the" feed store here yet. All these years and I thought that millet was the junk filler stuff. The quail do seem to like the blocks - it's probably the molasses or whatever they put in it for the binder.

We're housesitting two cats for several months so between them and the outside "pets", our "seed" bill has exploded. There is a wild bird store here but I'm afraid to go in there.

ray80 · April 2015

Just for something different this year I actually had the garden soil tested ( lived here over 30 years and never had it done). The extension sevice does it for free and I go by there every day. Came out surprisingly well and only need a little fertilizer and lime, plus per theier suggestion (and already my idea) more compost and composted cow flop. Maybe I get get something to grow if I water enough.

Bird feeding is out for now. Despite the suggestions from state in very early spring I left feeders out. Easter Sunday I had just gotten up and put coffee on and happened to look out living room window. Out of the very bottom corner I saw some movement, looked out the window right next to it (two windows together) and there was a Black bear walking across the front step ( quite an early morning surprise to say the least). The critter had taken down bird feeder I had on hanger attached to house, must have seen my mug when I went into room and gotten scared and decide to move on.

gagrice · April 2015

Black bears are a problem for my wife's brother and wife in Washington. They have to take the feeders in every night. And no more hummer feeders as the bears will tear down the fence to get them. Ground squirrels I can handle, not all the big critters.

stever · April 2015

gagrice said:
I don't have to move from my desk to get these shots.

My pics (except the free range cow) were taken from my "desk" - whatever chair or couch in the living room I'm sitting in working on the laptop. I do have a desk in the spare room but the feeder is just out of the line of site for it. No bear spottings.

gagrice · May 2015

Two batches of quail came out of the brush to eat. They won't stay small like this for long.

gagrice · May 2015

About 30 heirloom tomato plants up and blossoming. No tomatoes yet. Fig tree is loaded this year. My favorite jam. Pulled out all the cherry trees. This is just not good soil for fruit trees. The plums are doing well. First time in 6 years that we have a good crop. Not worth the water we have dumped on them.

stever · May 2015

Naturally my eyes went straight to the background yucca.

About once a year a get a hankering for fig preserves (my paternal grandmother made them). After a few days I switch back to my usual berry jams, and I wind up throwing the jar of fig preserves away.

gagrice · May 2015

We had 3 varieties of figs. Only the Mission figs survived this lousy heat. They all do great along the coast. I love eating figs. We have friends that don't like them and bring us fruit from their trees. Very short shelf life. I am more likely to toss the raspberry or strawberry preserves.

kyfdx · May 2015

Fig jam and prosciutto pizza is the new hip combination.

stever · May 2015

My brother was just talking about tomato jam.

I said - ketchup?

Hey, it's tomatoes and sugar (well, high fructose corn syrup).

gagrice · June 2015

A very frustrating year for our garden. My wife is ready to pull out our 30+ heirloom tomatoes. She raised over 100 plants and we gave them to family and friends. The ones she gave away are already producing beautiful tomatoes. Which we have gotten a few. The only difference is we are at the 2000 foot level and they are all down in the lower 400 ft above sea level. Most of May and June until this morning we were in the clouds (heavy Fog moisture). Reading about people trying to raise tomatoes along our coast it seems they don't do well with fog. We have had blossoms for over a month and not a single tomato set on. They just fall off. I am hoping today will be the end of the June gloom fog for us up here on the hill. The plus is our plum tree has been loaded and they are very sweet. Our fig trees are also loaded with fruit. No peaches or apricots. Apples look pretty good. Flowers everywhere.

gagrice · June 2015

Here is proof it is not our heirloom seeds or plants that are to blame. This tomato is from one of the plants my wife gave her nephew. He lives down the hill from us at the 450 ft level. His plants are loaded. I guess as long as we get tomatoes all is good.

Can anyone ID this flower. Someone gave me some bulbs. He had no idea what they were.

stever · June 2015

Looks like some kind of fancy lily. Some of them grow from bulbs. Perhaps an amaryllis?

stever · July 2015

Got a neighbor's pet chowing down on the basil and other plants in the front courtyard (was at the feeder so put her
behind the walls for safekeeping until they claim her).

stever · July 2015

Our houseguest got picked up a little bit ago. The jury is still out - could be a hen with a big comb and waddle or could be a rooster that hasn't learned to crow yet.

gagrice · September 2015

Some very strange things are happening in our garden. First time our TX sage has bloomed profusely. And our apple trees with fruit nearly ripe, have new leaves and blossoms. Must have been the heavy rain a couple weeks ago. Been high 90s ever since then. Not sure what the orange flowered bush is. I know the bees love all our flowers.

stever · September 2015

Texas sage does well here too. We just have a "new" one and the blooms have been sparse to date.

My wife thinks that the plant in your other pic could be a trumpet vine.

Seems like we have stuff blooming around town all year long. Been a nice surprise.

gagrice · September 2015

It could be some sort of trumpet plant. The flowers are different than the huge trumpet vine we have. And it is a big bush. We see them around here 20 feet tall or more covered with those bright orange flowers.

stever · September 2015

Got 5 lemons on this Meyer (was loaded with that many from the nursery). Note the lithop in the same pot, really fun plants. We had several in Boise and "lost" a couple in the yard. Some varieties look like driveway gravel.

The lemon will overwinter inside; the pomegranate bush should survive outside okay.

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