The guideline for harvesting dragon fruit or pitaya is: pick four days after it turns color (turns entirely from green). It has been four plus days and we will pick and cut the fruit open.

Wasabi (wasabia japonica), a rare culinary ingredient once said to only grow in specific areas of Japan. With known success of growing wasabi throughout the world, we are going to give this plant a go.

Today we received via parcel three wasabi plant starts. They have been planted in pond that mimics the plant’s natural environment– a stream bed. With much optimistic and with luck, perhaps we too may be able to grow this lovely plant.

Los Angeles area, California, Zone 10b
Climate: desert

Whenever there is a plant that is difficult to find or germinate, we turn to Richter’s Herbs (richters.com). Leading up to this unboxing, we have been busy building a special home for some of the plants in the box. See Part 1 of the small pond build, https://youtu.be/fXVMaCOdfpg

***Spoiler Alert***
Plants in the box are:

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Dragon fruit or pitaya have some of the more stunning and dramatic blooms. Their massive blooms last but a day. The display begins at dusk and ends mid day (the following day).

Turning a brick planter under the patio to grow a special plant that is on order. The plant will be revealed at a later time.

With Fall about a month away the weather is starting to get a little wonky. The days are hot and the nights are cooler. Too hot to start most of the fall crops and too short of time to continue summer crops. As a result, some of the planting space is now in limbo; waiting for the weather to smooth out.

There plants are continuing to do their thing. On the tea bush (camellia sinensis), seeds are forming and you won’t believe how big one of the pods are!

Here’s what the garden looks like.

In the Permaculture / Resort Garden, the dragon fruit or pitaya is starting to turn color and before long we will be able to enjoy it. Here’s a look.

Also, to our disappointment, the Russian Comfrey Bocking #4 root cutting did not sprout and it looks like they rotted away.

A dish two years in the making and many hours of research. A very popular Thai stir fry of chicken and basil is commonly made with Thai basil. However, the origins of the dish is made with a different type of basil. In a quest for authenticity, the Thai holy basil was sought out. There are many different spellings for the Thai pronunciation of basil (kra prao, gapow, gra prao, etc). This basil is also sacred in Indian culture. It is also know in Hindi as Rama Tulsi. If you will like to learn more about Holy Basil or Tulsi, be sure to check out this video: https://youtu.be/bHEkaTv9OXg

This Panache fig aka Tiger fig tree was purchased at the beginning of the year. It made two figs and it feels like it is taking a very long time to ripen. Getting especially antsy, we are going to pick one and find out if its ripe or not.

The panache fig is a very elegant plant. Its leaves are subtlety variegated. While its fruit is not so subtle. The strips on the fruit shows us why it is also known as a Tiger fig. Furthermore, the fruit is uniquely variegated.