February 2015 – Never Enough Dirt

February 25th, 2015 roundup

By BrianT
on Feb 25, 2015
in Amaryllis, Bulb, Flowers, Poppy, Ranunculus, Vegetable

February is coming to a close but not without a few surprises to be found and a conclusion to be had.

Last year was the first time that ranunculus was planted. When it died off, the tuber was saved but not properly stored. Mold got to them and whether they’ll grow was up in the air. A fresh stock of ranunculus was purchased and planted as an insurance policy. The growth of the ranunculus from the new stock pretty much indicates that last year’s molded stock will not grow again.

I pass by this amaryllis at least several times a day and did not noticed that it was sending up a flower bud. What is exciting is that this is its first flower bud. In 2012, I purchased an amaryllis bulb and grew it for the first time. When the flower died, I left the plant along believing that the flower would reappear the next year. Instead of a flower, side shoots shot up. It was then that I figured out that in order for the bulb to flower again that it was necessary to cut back all of the foliage. Otherwise, it will form bulbils. With four bulbils of various sizes, I planted them and three years later, the largest of the bulbils is ready to flower. Exciting!

Here is momma amaryllis in the terracotta pot and her offspring. One of the offspring only has one leaf blade and has a ways to go before it will flower. Offspring #4 not pictured.

Last year, fennel was planted for the first time. It was a surprise to discover how big the plant gets. Fennel also seeds profusely. This is one of the few fennel that seeded itself.

California Poppy(Eschscholzia californica) flower bud. — California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica) flower bud.

Clivia(Clivia miniata) — Clivia (Clivia miniata)

February fruit tree round up

By BrianT
on Feb 24, 2015
in Avocado, Blood orange, Citrus, Featured Post, Fruit, Lime / Lemon, Navel orange

Fruit trees are extremely practical to have. The fruit can be left on the tree to be used at one’s convenience. An established tree can produce quite a bit of fruit. There may be so much fruit that they may start to rot before they are consumed. What better then to offer your neighbors, friends, and relatives some fresh fruit?

Botanical Interests seeds

By BrianT
on Feb 22, 2015
in Uncategorized

Botanical Interests is one of my favorite seed brands. They have a large and interesting collection of vegetables, flowers, and herbs. On top of that, their seed packets are artful and informative. Best of all, they have the scientific names of the plants. Their seeds are available online but I always prefer to pick them up. Around here, I know I can find the complete catalog at a Armstrong Garden Center. I went in looking for the ‘Dragon’s Tongue’ arugula seeds and came out with a few others. This is already displaying restraint.

February 19th, 2015: seed starting

By BrianT
on Feb 21, 2015
in Artichoke, Bulb, Determinate, Eggplant, Flowers, Gladiolus, Heirloom, Indeterminate, Oregano, Tomato, Vegetable

The weather has warmed up for a couple of weeks now. Night temperatures have not fallen below 60 degrees. Now there is finally time to start more seeds. While it does not look time consuming, it was a bit of a surprise that this took a over an hour to do. One of the tasks was mixing up the 50/50 soil mixture of clay and peat moss. Then filling up the containers. Continue Reading

Euphorbia cereiformis

By BrianT
on Feb 19, 2015
in Drought tolerant

I picked up a new cactus to add to the collection. This is like a zipper cactus but a lot more spikier.

Corn holes, Inc.

By BrianT
on Feb 19, 2015
in Corn, Featured Post, Heirloom, Vegetable

Keeping a garden is often times similar to running a multimillion dollar company. The difference is that with keeping a garden, often times you are both the consumer, local government, shareholder, CEO, CFO, R&D, logistics, and grunt. There are a slew of other differences. For fun, let us ignore those.

Baby food from the garden

By BrianT
on Feb 17, 2015
in Bean / Pea, Carrot / Beet / Radish, Featured Post, Heirloom

The garden generates a greater amount of utility when there is an infant to feed. Growing one’s own vegetables provides the assurance that food is as safe as it can be. Knowing that my vegetables are pesticide free is a comfort that I enjoy to a great degree.

Harder than I thought

By BrianT
on Feb 16, 2015
in Featured Post

The slope is filled with various trees. Left unchecked, the trees will grow in. The work performed three years prior which cut back the vegetation is no longer evident. The most aggressive grower on the slope is the pecan trees. Where they have been cut back, new trucks have grown in. They’ve grown quite tall and now was the time to start cutting them back. This time, I took the task in hand. With my trusty folding hand saw, I make my way up the grade. The trucks were not very big so the thought was that it was going to be a quick sawing session. Well, I learned something about pecan wood this day. Pecan wood is harder than I thought. Not only did it take a lot of work on a 1% humidity kind of day, the felled trees are heavy.

Being a recycle centric person, I salvaged the wood. I am not sure what I will do with it but I have a few of ideas. With the large trucks, they will either be used for smoking/grilling or as dirt retainers. The smaller branches will be used as stakes or kindling.

Planted Moro blood orange tree

By BrianT
on Feb 16, 2015
in Blood orange, Citrus, Featured Post, Fruit

The Moro blood orange tree has been in decline for some time now. With fruit on the tree, the task of planting it into the ground was held off. It is time to plant the tree now that the fruit had ripen. Further, new leaves are growing. There is a rush to plant now as opposed to later when the shock of planting will disturb the leaves. Having lots of prep for spring to complete, planting the blood orange tree is a priority item.

Tools to get the job done. (L-R) Trench shovel, pick mattock, spade shovel, hatchet, bypass pruner

Compost treats and surprises

By BrianT
on Feb 14, 2015
in Ernie and Bert, Featured Post, Fruit, Garden Pals

When the compost bin is at capacity, this pile accepts the overflow. On this day, compost was needed.

There are usually grubs to pull out for Ernie and Bert (the resident Redfoot tortoises) to snack on.

In the compost pile, plants will try to grow. Usually I would find avocado pits sprouting. On this day it took me a little while to determine that this is a pineapple. Of the handful of pineapple tops that are in the compost pile, this one sprouted a new sprout. It has been planted. Now we wait to see if it will grow further.

Browse Month: February 2015