Fall Weather

Fall is here and I couldn't be happier with the weather.  It's cooling down and the rain is still only intermittent.  Plants everywhere are loving it too.  This little guy was just growing away in this planter near one of the shopping centers nearby.

Cooler weather also means less need to water so much to keep things from dying.  Not too little though, so much still has months to grow and become hardy for the winter.  We have turmeric that I still need to figure out what to do with.  The fig tree I plan to mulch so it stays warm over the winter.  Probably also get something to go over it so it might have a good start in the spring as well.  Early to rise early to fruit.  No figs this year after its near death experience last winger.

The plumeria will have to come inside when it gets too cold.  Also have to figure out when that is going to be.  This is the first time I've gotten one of these to grow so well and not die after a week.  I can't have all of the plants people give me die immediately.  That wouldn't be very encouraging.

I have a few seeds that I want to get going too.  One is a pine seed I got from a nice tree outside a hotel.  I intend to plant it where it can really take off and not destroy my foundation or water/irrigation lines.  So much to do and no time to do it in.

Fall Tomatoes

I have to wonder what tomato I got these seeds out of.  I thought they were more round than these.  All of the ones here are kind of pointy and long.

I guess the cross pollination came into play here.  This happens a lot in producing fruit.  Apples particularly are planted in areas with varieties that you eat and varieties you plant because they give off a lot of pollen. This makes it unlikely that the seed you get out of an apple will produce a tree that will give you the same kind of apple.

At any rate they look good and are a decent size.  The one in the back should be good to eat tomorrow and the two in front there in a day or two after that. Several green tomatoes are here and there and I expect it to continue through early fall.

Another seed I got recently is a pine seed from a hotel pine tree I was near.  The tree was trimmed a lot and not too tall but it looked nice.  Thinking about planting it at the edge of the HOA lot where the drainage goes.  Pine trees usually have a pretty good root system and there near the lake will keep it in good shape through the hot summers we get here.

Cacao Leaf

I think I've said this somewhere before but it's amazing how much like a city a leaf looks.  You have the main highway down the middle of the leaf with collector streets merging at intervals and little neighborhood streets coming off of those.

A leaf really does have the water and sewer system going on through the veins you can see.  They do double duty though unlike a man made city where you'd better separate them or face a major disaster.

Even the drainage, or rainwater, that hits the leaves will travel down these paths and end up flowing off of the point of the leaf.  Trees that are more adapt to a rainforest environment even have a more pointed tip to the leaves to assist the water as it pulls together toward the tip and falls off of the leaf to minimize the weight, and thus potential damage, on the branches.

Pine needles are really good at this.  The pointy long leaves barely hold any water at all, dripping like nobody's business.  We used to camp a lot and the piny woods of East Texas was a favorite.  The smell of a pine forest after a summer rain is something you don't soon forget.

A good leaf picture also makes a good desktop wallpaper.  Not sure if this works real well since it's only taken with my iPhone, but it could be worse.

Tyrrell Park

We went back home for an herb festival and to visit family.  The weather was nice but a little windy.
While at the park we took some great pictures. Quite a lot of developing had been done since the last time we went there, nearly ten years ago...
Among the highlights are the wild onion and the Yellow Crowned Night-Heron which took a little while to figure out what it was.
Of course I liked the familiar pine trees and many magnolias. Down in the Piney Woods National Forest there used to be the largest magnolia tree until it got damaged in a storm and came crashing down...
Still a wonderful trip to the coast.