Raised Beds and More Garden Updates for 2014

Driveway garden

It has been so long since I updated my blog with photos from our home garden, so this post will be for that.  Our new garden plot is keeping me busy, running back and forth every few days to water.  It was nice to be able to stay home this morning and take a few photos, walk around the yard with coffee cup in hand enjoying all that is blooming and growing. The weather is fantastic today, nice and warm.
This first photo shows the garden we always have along the driveway.  I planted 5 tomatoes here and still have room for more once I pull out the kale and swiss chard. It is just now beginning to bolt so I will harvest what I can and then remove it today.  We have the full moon and I want to plant the rest of the tomatoes this evening before it begins to wane. Remember: don't plant anything on April 20-21. Planting by the Moon

Ponderosa

Green Zebra

San Marzano

Cherokee Purple

Black Krim

Lacinato Kale

Giant Mustard

Lacinato Kale, Swiss Chard Onions and more Swiss Ruby Chard

Raised bed in citrus grove with Kale, Swiss Chard, Carrots, Beets, and 4 newly planted tomatoes.  1 of each of Bi-Color Cherry, Brown Cherry, Sun Drop and Green Grape.

This shows our new "L" shaped raised beds.  The left side is planted with Eversweet strawberries, an everbearing plant that is supposed to grow and produce fruit from summer through the fall months.  This is Tony's new project, hopefully the birds will let him have a few. He also planted our strawberry pot with a dozen plants!

The new tomato cages will support 1 of each of Southern Night, Chocolate Stripe, Flame or Hillbilly, Gold Medal, and Goliath. 

Eversweet Strawberries

Loquat fruit

 The loquat grows towards the end of the driveway and is loaded with fruit this year. These should be ready to pick in a couple more weeks; usually in early May.

This is the rose at the end of the driveway.  I bought a seedling of this rose from an old German man about 3-4 years ago. NO kidding this rose was just a foot tall when I planted it and has grown this big in just 4 years.  He couldn't remember the name but told me it was an old variety that he always took cuttings of and grew to sell.  I am so glad that he did!

I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck.
- Emma Goldman

Brave Souls, Autumn in San Diego County

Little 'Ballerina' fuchsia lifting her arm to wave at me as I pass by. 

Even though the temperatures dropped down to the low 40's, I still have flowers on many of my plants. These are both on the South wall of my home and they get a bit of warm sunshine during the day.  This fuchsia grows next to the Iochroma cyaneum seen below, which provides just enough shade for it.

Iochroma cyaneum is a flowering shrub or small tree from tropical South America in the family of Brugmansia.  It has lovely trumpet shaped flowers that the hummingbird and bees enjoy and visit often.  I am happy to see this blooming now with so many of the flowers in my Hummingbird and Butterfly garden spent.  I am training this to be a small tree which will provide a canopy for some of my shade loving plants, like my  madarense geraniums.

This is a repeat blooming Iris, the name escapes me at the moment.

I have 5 Christmas Cactus coming into bloom now, you can barely see the red flowers on the plant below this one.  The white/pink you see here is in full bloom.

A few brave buds and blossoms on one of the two Plumeria plants I have.  This one is 3 years old and I grew it from a cutting.  I did have it in a clay pot but decided in June of this year to plant it directly in the ground.  It is near a sprinkler head, see it at the base of the flower, this provides it with water 3 times a week when needed.  It bloomed most of the summer and is still trying its best to continue.  It is in a somewhat protected area of this Southwest spot, with both a large rosemary and lavender bush nearby to shield it from too much of the hot Southern California sunshine.  

We rarely get below 40 degrees in our zone so I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will do well through the winter.  My other Plumeria is called Golden Rainbow, which I also grew from a cutting in June of 2012.  It flowered once so far and is planted close to this ginger plant shown below. You can see it just peaking over the top of the ginger, at the top right side of the photo.

 Here is my Galangal Thai Ginger plant I purchased in June 2012 from City Farmers Nursery in San Diego.  You may have seen a piece of the rhizome in your bowl of panang curry at your favorite THAI RESTAURANT.  I will need to wait until next year before I begin to cut the rhizomes for my cooking adventures as the plant needs some time to spread.  I am so excited to see it doing so well in this location just off the South side of our patio.

Our loquat tree that we planted a couple of years ago is flourishing.  I am surprised at how many buds are on this small tree. Last year we were able to pick for the first time, and with this many blossoms already on it May of 2014 looks very promising!

I can't leave without showing you a few photos of the pretty fallen leaves from our two Sweet Gum (liquidambar styraciflua) trees. The heavy rains last week and some hefty Northwestern winds left the trees almost bare.

A beautiful carpet just in time for our outdoor Thanksgiving day dinner, providing the sun is shining, rain is in the forecast but I will keep my fingers crossed that we can dine alfresco!

Changing Time

The cloud looked in at the window,

and said to the day, "Be dark!"

And the roguish rain tapped hard on the pane,

to stifle the song of the lark.

The wind sprang up in the tree tops

and shrieked with a voice of death, 

but the rough-voiced breeze, that shook the trees,

was touched with a violet's breath. 

-Paul Laurence Dunbar

Loquat Tree, A New Addition To The Family

Loquat Tree with gopher guard

We celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary Oct 22nd.  This year we decided to buy a Loquat Tree for our gift to each other.  We planted it on Saturday after much discussion as to where it should be planted.  After carrying the tree from the back yard to the front yard and around the house a few times we ended up planting it on the east bank by the driveway.  This is about 15 feet from the citrus trees.  I was told that they grow quickly and we should be picking fruit next year.  The plant to the right of the Loquat tree is my eggplant.  It is still setting flowers/fruit, even though the temperatures are in the lower 50's at night.

Loquat or Eriobotrya japonica is an evergreen large shrub or small tree, with a rounded crown, short trunk and woolly new twigs. The tree can grow to 16–33 ft tall, but is often smaller, about 8–13 ft.
The leaves are alternate, simple, 10–25 cm long, dark green, tough and leathery in texture, with a serrated margin, and densely velvety-hairy below with thick yellow-brown pubescence; the young leaves are also densely pubescent above, but this soon rubs off.

Loquats are unusual among fruit trees in that the flowers appear in the autumn or early winter, and the fruits are ripe in late winter or early spring. The flowers are 2 cm diameter, white, with five petals, and produced in stiff panicles of three to ten flowers. The flowers have a sweet, heady aroma that can be smelled from a distance.

Loquat fruits, growing in clusters, are oval, rounded or pear-shaped, 3–5 cm long, with a smooth or downy, yellow or orange, sometimes red-blushed skin. The succulent, tangy flesh is white, yellow or orange and sweet to sub-acid or acid, depending on the cultivar. Each fruit contains five ovules, of which one to five mature into large brown seeds. The skin, though thin, can be peeled off manually if the fruit is ripe.
The fruits are the sweetest when soft and orange. The flavor is a mix of peach, citrus and mild mango.

Last years anniversary gift was a Brown Turkey Fig Tree.  It gave us around 10 figs this year.  It really is not much larger than when we planted it, but it did have a lot more leaves.  I was thrilled to get that many figs after the first year.  I hope our Loquat is as generous!

Think Like a Tree

by Karen I. Shragg

Soak up the sun
Affirm life's magic
Be graceful in the wind
Stand tall after a storm
Feel refreshed after it rains
Grow strong without notice
Be prepared for each season
Provide shelter to strangers
Hang tough through a cold spell
Emerge renewed at the first signs of spring
Stay deeply rooted while reaching for the sky
Be still long enough to
hear your own leaves rustling.