Cluster of Figs

Figs like so many other fruits grow in stages.  Here you have a fig just about ready to eat next to four others in different stages of development.

At this point if you want the fig to continue to develop on the tree but speed up a little, you can nick it with a knife or other pointy object and it will ripen a lot faster. Typically you wouldn't want to do this with a lot of fruit, like apples, because they would not just ripen but also start to rot.

I went ahead and picked this one though so as not to attract too many birds to the tree.  I know they will eventually see this as a good source of food but I wanted to get first crack at it.  Some birds will nick the fruit themselves once they get used to the fig tree fruiting.  They know that this will ripen the fruit and give them a treat for their troubles.

Talking with Amber we thought of some other fruits that have to be picked individually because they don't ripen at the same times.  To name a few: Figs, Coffee, Cacao, Strawberries, Cherries, Apples, Oranges, Pears, and Grapes.  These last few might be a little surprising but they too ripen at different times.  Some of them are picked by machines though but this lets in less ripe fruit along with the ones that are ready to pick so you don't always get the best quality fruit in that case.

What is your favorite fruit to eat?

Strawberries Acclimating

It's taken all summer but the strawberry plants are finally starting to feel at home. Some of them didn't make it but with the heat, even though it has been a mild summer, took half of the plants. The rest seem to be liking the location we selected and are starting to get bigger. Hopefully we'll have a few berries before the summer is over.
Our trip down south just reminded me of how much I wish we had more rain. We were caught in a sprinkle, not a downpour or a barely nothing few drops. It came down softly and cooled things off a little. Of course after that the sun came back out and turned it all to humidity you could feel. Kind of like when you have a hot shower, you just stepped out, and the mirror is fogged up so thick you think it's just part of the wall.

Winter's Approach

As the days get cooler I have to decide what to leave out and what to bring in. The tropical plants of course have to come in but there are a lot of plants that used to be inside plants that I am leaving outside this year.
Among those that will have to brave the elements are a relatively small cactus that wintered in the garage last year, the day lilly that I have put in the ground which is the bloom you see in my icon, the basil I am letting go to seed instead of trying to winter it and the lemongrass which will probably need mulch. We had to replace the lemongrass from last time since it died, not from the cold but from trying to produce starters for others.
The elephant ear plants by the back fence came back from last year so I don't have to worry about them. I also don't have to worry about our strawberry plants since they all died this summer.

2010 Strawberries

I leave for a couple weeks and *poof* red berries appear! Fortunately I like to eat the little red berries and just like that they're all gone.

I need to water them for the next few months and hopefully I'll get berries all spring. and possibly through to winter.

Strawberries and Cream

Strawberries are one of the tastiest things, aside from banannas of course, that you can put on something, like angelfood cake, waffles, fork. Unfortunately the stores still can't come close to the flavor of home grown. I know, it has to do with picking them so they are still good a week later when you actually buy the thing but there has to be a better way.
When we get back I'll have to go to the store and get some cream to whip up since our strawberries will be ripe and hopefully not eaten by birds or squirrels or whatever else might want to wanter into the yard and devour them.
I thought about netting them or putting them under glass but I have no netting or glass structure that would work so all I can do is hope and see what happens. Same goes with the beets. They have flowered to some degree but I don't know if they are being polinated or not or if the flower stalks will produce seeds. They seem to be very reactive to not getting enough water, flopping over and all. I guess I'll know soon enough.

Spring Clean

Spring cleaning is a yearly task that can really make your home a pleasant place to return to. Especially when you have just picked up that last leaf and brushed away the last piece of dirt, the look of a clean manicured yard is wonderful.
The major problems we came across this year were the ants and having to clean up the oak tree since there were a number of branches that broke in the snowfalls.
A good bit of the color came back on it's own either from seed or from plants that lived through the winter.
We planted seeds last week and the beans, sunflowers, and carrots have already sprouted.
I still haven't gotten a strawberry yet and the fig tree is taunting me with figs that will probably fall off in the next heavy rain.

Spring Flurries

I know that the weather does just what it wants to and answers to nobody, not that it's sentient or anything, but I already have strawberries forming and the last thing I want is a cold snap telling my plants that it's time to sleep again.
Fortunately my plants ignored the 8 inches of snow and kept growing then too so hopefully I have nothing to worry about.
I just wish my beets would bloom so I can get some seeds for this year. The lettuce has already bolted in the back with really pretty flowers and seeds are on the way there but I like beets way more than salads.

Spring Growth

I keep taking pictures of the plants in my yard but haven't had the thought to post them.

Wild Onions

The wild onions are flowering again which means it's time to get gardening with earnest. The days are warming up and the weeds are the first to come out and claim a bit of land for themselves.
Fortunately for my beds I've already taken care of the strawberry patch and onion/garlic patch. I still need to thin out some of the front beds and clean up the side of the house for the replanting of sunflowers. they did so well last year that I can't wait to see if they can do even better.
I spread out some papaya seeds today in various places to see if they will sprout. I know they won't survive the winters here but it would be neat to see one grow.

Spring Yet?

It sure is here. I weeded my strawberry patch and lo there are fifteen plants and alomst half of them already have flowers. The most promising one is about to fruit and has six flowers alone.
I put my plumeria out today to get some real sun and start to acclimate to the outside again.
Thoughts of a sunnier backyard are still making endroads into my imagination and may be a reality sooner than I would have thought. I really need some sun in the back for all of the veggies that I have growing and wish to grow.
The lettuce is blooming and will make some good seed soon. I intend to harvest the seed and replant in abundance at intervals for young greens.
I also seem to have more leeks than I thought I had planted. Some have come up near the garlic and are very happy with their location.
If I can keep the cats out of the boxes then all should be well this season.

Stray Cats in the Garden

I know most people probably don't like strays in the garden since they dig up beds and can pee a lot causing less than desirable smells but I hope there are nearly just as many who don't like to see them die in the yard or other unfortunate ways.
I recently had to get a dead cat out of my neighbor's shed. It got locked in there accidentally last month and seems to have starved.
This does not however prevent me from chasing them out of my own yard just to keep them on their toes. Just this morning I chased the large black one out. It was laying in it's usual place near the strawberry patch which seems to have a permanent indention of it's round body in the grass. This way, although they probably know they aren't in any real danger, they still know who's pretending to be boss.

Winter produce (I ate part of it)

Besides the sweet potato which I already ate there are a lot of plants still doing very well in my garden.
For instance there are a few garlic plants still sprouting green tops and some even splitting. This one is splitting into four garlic cloves.

The onion is doing the same although not as impressively as the garlic. I think it just doesn't want to steal the show.

The cabbage likewise is forming multiple heads. Maybe four but I might thin it a little to make sure all of the heads have room to grow.



The beets are still growing and the foliage which withered a little during the cold has sprung back up and growing well again.

I don't know what kind of lettuce this is but it, along with several others, is doing great. We recently had a rain and you can see some of the drops still on the leaves. Mind you there is still a little bug damage but I don't think they will be bothering it again for a while.

My strawberry plants are shooting off new leaves again. If I keep them protected further then I expect to have a good early crop.

I don't really care for leeks but they seem to grow anyway. The french people, and I know this becuase I read it in a book and asked a real french woman from France, love leek soup. Of course it's not just leeks in a pot of water but neither is tomato soup just a bunch of tomato in water.

Cilantro grows like weeds. In fact these are currently classified as weeds since they are growing out of the specified area for cilantro to grow. There are also cilantro plants across the yard and driveway. Possibly some too in my neighbor's yard across the street. Who knew?

Lastly is the monster carrot. Thst is my hand in the picture. This carrot was the only one to get bigger than my finger and it got a lot bigger than that as you can see. I think the ants had something to do with it though.

This isn't the best picutre in the world but if you click on it you can see the detail and the little sugar ants crawling inside the cracks. All I can say is that at least they aren't fire ants!

Snow Survivors

Survivors of the snow include almost everything.
I wasn't sure about the lemon tree but I figured it was pretty big and should be able to handle the cold weather by now. I was right. Not one leaf fell from it's branches and it's still going strong. Of course it wasn't actuall in the snow but it was exposed to the below 30 degree weather.
A couple of the orphaned cacti died but they were on their way out anyway. They had turned yellow and splotchy. Maybe I should have watered them but since I had no idea what kind of cactus they were I didn't know.
Even the strawberry plants are still green and they did get hit with the snow and cold. Looking forward to some nice berries in the spring and maybe even in late winter if everything goes well.
The cabbage and root veggies are all looking nice. I'll have to remember that for next season.

Gardening with Style

I've heard of stylish gardens and people who have a flair for gardening. A garden can be very complex or so simple it's gorgeous. Our garden is none of the above as far as I'm concerned even if our friends say it's wonderful. I think they're biased.
One thing I don't think I can ever forget is the time my wife and I went strawberry picking and one very cute couple decided to dress up for the event. It was a bless her soul moment because she really should have known better than to wear high heels and such a short dress to pick strawberries. Sun dresses, on the other hand, work beautifully. Unless you're a guy....
Curiously, as far as I can tell, a guy can wear just about anything he would normally wear and still be modest while gardening.

Gardening at Night (Lamb's Ear)

Still doing a little gardening at night. This time I've been checking on how the lamb's ear has been doing. These lamb's ears don't seem to be having any problems with any infestations. It took a few times sowing seed and transplanting into this bed but we finally got them to grow where we wanted them. The trick now is to keep them from spreading like wild fire.




I found an interesting tid bit about what to do with lamb's ear. The usual is to use it like a bandage, but I have also found that it works in tea and tastes very light and almost minty.

Don't worry. I've tried it and it's really pretty good.

I made the tea by steeping a partially dried torn up leaf in a cup of hot water for three minutes.

It's Alive! (Well, most of it)

Well at least most of it is alive, my gardens that is.
Things that have died:
1. Large Squash plants
2. A few Key Lime Sprouts
3. Sunflowers
4. Purple Cabbage
5. Elephant Ears
6. Lettuce
7. A small portion of the strawberry plants

As far as I can tell everything else is still alive and kicking.
Most of the strawberry plants are doing great as well as a number of runners. I believe cats have damaged and killed the plants that are gone using the box for their own relieving purposes.

The pepper plants in the back are perking up and fruiting. The ginger in the back, not inside, is shooting off more shoots.

The canteloupe in the back near the big crepe myrtle is still spreading out, probably because it was protected from the sun.

The cucumber plant isn't thriving but it is still trying to flower and make fruit.

Those are the highlights. Hopefully the rains will keep everything well watered for a while still. I have been slacking a little too much.

2009 Plant Swap Items

There are a few things I will definitely be bringing to the plant swap this fall.

1. Key lime plants started from seed. I don't know if these will actually produce true from seed but I know for a fact that they are citrus and have distinct lime characteristics.

2. Cookies! Once again my wife and I will be making the lemon thyme cookies for trade.

3. Candy Lilly sprouts. Just this week I received a few dozen seeds from a coworker. I plan to plant them in peat pots and hope they sprout within a month. For anyone wanting to trade, be advised that these will not necessicarily make it but I'm going to try.

4. Other plants may include the following: oxalis, strawberry, grape (muskadine / champagne / mix of the two), jujube seeds (possibly sprouted).

Sunflowers and Strawberries

My sunflowers have started to die back and produce some seeds!I wasn't really sure if they would or not so I'm happy to get at least something.

I estimate at least 4 or 5 hundred seeds from this years showing of so far 8 flowers. There are some small buds but I don't really expect them to survive the July heat. If they do...wow...who knows how many seeds they will produce. I might have to start a stand at the local baseball field (Ranger's Stadium), or maybe not.

I'm still waiting to see if some of my root vegetables will seed. Hoping for the carrots and beets so I don't have to buy more seed next year.

The strawberry plants are doing great too. I really have to get these pictures up sooner though, I already ate these and there are now more to pick.

If anyone will be at the Fort Worth plant swap, these will be transplanted into pots this week and will be available for trade. It's shooting off a dozen runners or so.

Feeds

Just making sure the feed works.
Or maybe not since that reminds me that I really need to feed some of my plants.
This is something that I don't really do very well at. Fortunately some of my plants don't seem to need any feeding, but even then they would probably do much better with a feeding every now and then. My strawberries for instance are producing alright still but my wife has really wanted to make some preserves again this year and I really don't want to have to go somewhere else again to get the berries so I guess it's time to feed and really pop thost berries out.

Again speaking of feeding, it's time for lunch.