Patio Anoles

This little guy has been hanging around the patio for a few days now.  I'm hoping the greenery will keep him well fed with little critters.  Pretty sure something has been eating my plants and leaving a bit of leaf litter.  At first I though it might be bunnies but the pattern doesn't seem to match.  Bugs are more likely the culprit.

Rainy Season

 

Every year we can't wait for the rain to stop so we can go outside and enjoy nature.  I mean, who wants to slog through mud on trails or have to carry an umbrella while walking around a park?

Then the heat comes and we wonder, for some reason, why we wanted the rain to go away.  Now it's too hot to go walking around the park for more than ten minutes.  Unless of course you go late in the evening.  And even then it might not be comfortable.

So now that the rain is back and temperatures are cooling, we are once again stuck inside until it at least abates for a little while.  Of course with the ground so dry you also have the problem that the ground can't soak up the water.  You know how you pour water on peat pellets and the water just rolls off and beads?  That's what the ground is like in the beginning of the rainy season, it all just runs off.  That's where you get a higher chance of flooding since more water than usual runs off of the ground.  Also what makes irrigating commercial property so important.  It helps prevent worse flooding down the line.

Papaya Leaves

One of the most interesting leaves I've seen on a plant. The water beads on the leaves fairly easily after the rain we just had.  This has to be one of the more easily identified plants out there.  sometimes it can be difficult to tell what the plant is by the leaf if it is more generic but the structure here is pretty specific.

Other specific leaves I can think of are maple, burr oak, onion, fig, and pine.  These are of course probably because of the widespread knowledge of what these plants look like due to either how common they are or, as in the case of the maple, how famous.

In contrast, it can be hard to tell some trees just from a leaf shape. Although the size is different, if you looked at the shape alone of basil, live oak, thyme, and pepper plants, they all look about the same shape. Kind of what makes this leaf so striking and not easily confused with something else

Adorable Little Russet Potato

So cute!

I've never grown potatoes before but I thought I'd give it a shot.  This guy was sticking out of the ground a little so I went ahead and pulled him up.  He had a brother who was no bigger than my pinky finger tip so I buried him again to hopefully keep growing.

So far my garden hasn't grown a lot of food but I'm tickled pink to get this guy.  Who knows how much more is growing under the dirt.  Only time will tell and the plants aren't entirely died back yet so there's a chance for more potatoes in my future.

So far the other plants that have grown well and were usable are:

Bell Peppers (several small ones, way better than last year)

Green Onions (they've kept going and are now almost double in number)

Basil (still growing and have used in several dishes that needed it)

Kabucha Squash (although no fruit, we've made squash blossom quesadillas)

Still waiting to see if the carrots or corn plants will be at all productive.  There are currently 2 cobs developing still but very small and the carrots are visible but barely a root.

Claude’s New Lower Branches

For healthy growth a cacao tree needs to have many branches from the main trunk.  This is the lowest branch Claude has put out so far.  I don't want to mess with it too much although it would be nice if it grew out straighter than this.  I'll take it though.

There are several other locations where there may be new growth.  We've been monitoring this one for months now and it's finally taking off so there's hope for the others as well.

In citrus trees this would probably be viewed as a sucker but I don't think that's the case here.  A couple up top may be though.

As you can see in this photo, the trunk is really starting to look like a trunk with the rougher bark and brown color.  Points along the trunk and main branches will be where later flowers will be able to form and hopefully make cacao pods.  Can;t wait!

Claude Continues to Grow

Claude continues to grow.

Shortly after repotting I decided to take him outside for some sun.  The sun wasn't so bad but the wind kicked up and took out a lot of leaves.  he just wasn't prepared for it.

He's since bounced back nicely with all of these leaves being new.  He's also sprouted a new branch down low which is what I'd been hoping for for some time now. He needs some good branching so that he can produce fruit eventually.  I spoke with a chocolate grower who told me to make sure he's got good branching and eventually I'll need to cut the top off to encourage more outward growth.  That's going to be a stressful event.

Reporting Claude (the cacao tree)

Finally got Claude in a clay pot.  I've noticed for some time now that all of the cacao trees in clay pots do significantly better than those in plastic.  I also got a plastic trash can dolly to go under it so I can move it around a bit more.

I had been a little scared to water him too much since he was sitting on the floor and I wasn't able to tell if there was too much water until it started to spill out from the bottom and I really don't want to mess up the floor.  Now though I can simply roll it to the side and check.  Of course I drilled holes in the base of the dolly so it wouldn't hold water in it.  There is a divot in the middle of it.

After this I added water and no drips!  So I added more water and still no drips. And added water. And added water. And so on.  I think he was well under watered which would explain the slow growth compared to earlier.

I now have high hopes for him to start taking off again and look forward to many more leaves and hopefully height.  There were decent roots in the soil when I transplanted him so I don't think there will be a problem.  I've even already seen a new little leaf trying to form.  I'll check every day for a while to make sure he's happy in his new pot.

Our Late December Tomato

Our tomato plants really didn't do very well until it got quite a bit colder.  Fortunately the freeze held off until we had a few tomatoes on the vine.  This is the best of them.  We still had to pick it green but as you can see it's turning color nicely.

We talked with one of our friends about tomatoes and how you can pick them green if you need to and let them ripen off the vine.  He told us about when he was little and his family had a garden.  They would have a ton of tomato plants and have to pick many of them green before the frost hit.  They would then stick the green tomatoes under their beds until they turned red.  Then they would go sell the red ones at the markets in the winter.  Some of the tomatoes would take weeks to turn.  This guy actually took a couple weeks as well before it got to this state.  Still waiting a little longer for a better color but I'm hopeful.