I opened up my compost bin the other day to dump some stuff in and this is what I found.
I raked up all the loose black sunflower seeds hulls under my bird feeders and dumped them in the compost a couple of weeks ago. I know there were some undisturbed seeds in all those hulls and apparently they’ve all sprouted! I stirred the top of the pile around a bit and discovered that the worms LOVE it! Sunflower seed mulch. Who knew?!
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Right now I’m in the middle of a project that is taking up most of my time, but I try to spend a half hour in the yard a day. Watering seems to be taking up most of that time right now. I’m trying to keep my salad crops from wilting up. I have also noticed that my strawberries need a regular drink or the berries aren’t as tasty as they should be. I’ve got at least six different kinds of strawberries planted right now and I’d like to be able to notice the subtle differences in them, but I haven’t been tending to my crop as carefully as I should and they have all suffered a little bit.
It’s always a tricky balance with the watering. We all tend to overwater most things in our garden. A little drought strife isn’t necessarily a bad thing on a lot of plants. I planted aloes to cut down on water usage over a spot where I had freesias growing, knowing that I was probably going to lose a lot of the spring bulbs, but SURPRISE! The bulbs all came up like gangbusters so now I’ve got the best of both worlds in that strip.
Obviously, don’t completely dry things out, but a little sagging isn’t a bad thing. Here’s a sage in a pot that looks a little droopy. I need to plant it but, like a domino effect, I’ve got two other jobs that have to happen before I can get this plant in the ground.
Sorry Mexican Sage, but you’ll be fine. I’m just toughening you up.
You'll be fine.
On the harvesting side of things, I was able to snag a bunch of pole beans. We’re having those for dinner tonight! Bon appetit!
Fresh from the Garden!
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Last week I found a Kishu Tangerine tree while I was wandering at a nursery. I have been looking for this citrus variety for awhile so we’ve now got it planted in the backyard! I lucked out again and got a bonus tree planted last week, too. A friend called to say she had bought a Smoke Tree for another friend, but that friend wanted a smaller tree, so the Smoke Tree came to live with us. We planted it in the front yard. It’s about 9 feet tall in the ground and has a great shape already, so it was a real treat to get it planted out there. Now it is safely staked so its job is to grow strong.
There are a few things to consider when you want to plant a tree. Location for light and appropriate space for growth, how much water does it need, what is your water source, how messy the tree might be. Also, when digging the hole for your tree, make the hole twice as wide as the plant’s container, but no deeper. The reason for this is that when settling of the dirt occurs, you don’t want to find the crown of your tree below the dirt level. Also, DO NOT backfill the hole with soil amendments. This discourages the roots from spreading out. Use the dirt that came out of the hole.
Here are a few pointers for planting trees from San Diego Gas & Electric:
“Right Tree, Right Place” – Utility Line considerations
Other Tree Planting Considerations
Don’t forget to hug your tree once in a while. Who couldn’t use a hug?
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“My garden will never make me famous. I’m a horticultural ignoramus, I can’t tell a string bean from a soy bean, or even a girl bean from a boy bean.” ….Ogden Nash….
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My friend, John, lives on a busy street and doesn’t have a ton of yard to garden, but he makes the most with what he has. This entire patch of strawberries started with only six plants! In a year he has multiplied his crop by ten-fold! That’s a LOT of strawberries. There is still some lettuce interspersed throughout from his last year’s garden, which is a bonus.
I love his sign!
Isn’t this SO much better than grass?!
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Rodney, my mailman, delivered my new book today. I knew what it was by the way he was hunched over as he walked up to the porch for the big hand-off. I was happy because it finally arrived, Rodney was happy to offload the weighty tome. Tonight after dinner, feet up, a glass of wine and my new book. Life is good!
I’ve seen this book a few times and finally, despite the price, decided I HAD to have it. It’s pricey, but WOW. I’m actually going to go through my gardening books and clean out, because this new book will take the place of a number of books already on my shelf.
Read this LA TIMES article about the book.
TGIF!!!
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