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From the Garden: ‘King Richard’ Leek Soup

By BrianT
on Apr 02, 2016
in Uncategorized

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Plants are the nexus between nature, people, culture, & history. San Gabriel Valley / California.
#authoritative. Earth System Science.

Guatemalan A-Type 'Esther' avocado. This was a bit

Guatemalan A-Type 'Esther' avocado. This was a bit of an impulse buy. The nursery was clearing out avocados with a 30% discount. I looked through the inventory for GEM but found an intriguing one in Esther. A quick research job and I was sold on: green pebbly skin and round. I associate those traits with my preferred taste-- qualities of the modern avocado. Other noteworthy characteristics: "fruit slightly larger than Hass."

The tree has dwarf characteristics. The dominant lateral growth reminds me of Pinkerton. The girth of the trunk is slightly thicker than my thumb. Which is further in age than trees with pencil or pinky girth trunks.

Fruit of Esther matures July-November at the UCANR in Irvine, Calif. My climate is similar and I would expect our harvest window to be the same.

Speaking of the harvest window, the last image shows the varieties that we are currently growing. This collection (when established) will provide us with avocados for most of the year. I still need to find a healthy and affordable GEM or Kona Sharwil to cover the month of January 😉.

Purchased 10/24/2025. Armstrong Garden Center, Pasadena.
Grown by Otto & Sons Nursery, Fillmore, Calif.

#nedfirsts 'Mato Buntan' pummelo. Grafted 6 years

#nedfirsts 'Mato Buntan' pummelo. Grafted 6 years ago onto a homegrown rootstock. You can find that post under #matobuntan .

It has grown slowly. I am not sure if it is because of the rootstock or the nature of M.B. If I had to bet, I would say that the slow rate of growth is rootstock related.

In 2022 with 3 years of grown (which wasn't much) it stood about 2-feet tall in that very container. Sitting off to the side on the lawn for maximum sun exposure it snapped in half when the 6-year old jack knifed his bike on a sharp turn.

Three years later the tree is once again 2 almost 3 feet tall. It set quite a few fruit. I actually thinned the fruit early in the year hoping to only have 1 piece of fruit to try. But where the container sits, it is out of convenient reach. Off in the corner for south facing direct sun and behind multiple layers of coyote desuading fencing.

Today I broke its solitude and accepted its fruit. I rely on the University of Calif., Riverside Citrus Variety Collection website for information on when to expect to harvest. According to this source M.B. is one of the sought after pummelo in Japan; with origins from South China/Taiwan. It doesn't, however, provide information on the season of maturity.
From this observation, it looks like M.B. matures during late summer in my area.

Again, this particular tree is located in an inconvenient location. It is difficult to check if it has adequate water. This first taste test has a few variables that will have to wait until next year's sampling in order to hash out. During the harvest, I noticed that the soil was on the dry side. This may affect fruit qualities.

Picture 1 records the largest fruit we have. From what I can tell, it should be at least double or triple the size. Further, picture three shows that fruit is too dry to consume. This may indicate that the fruit is too mature, the soil is too dry, or both. More likely, it's too mature.
Picture 2 shows the flesh of a properly mature fruit. As far as taste, it is the sweetest pummelo I have ever had. The fragrant pommelo flavor is muted. Even with care peeling the membrane away, the flesh is "spicy" in a bitter way. ...in the comments:

'Skywalker' cauliflower. Seed sprouted on July 23,

'Skywalker' cauliflower. Seed sprouted on July 23, 2025; three days after sowing. 80 days to maturity. This is our harvest at 79 days.

Seeds from Pinetree Garden Seeds (superspeeds.com)

This is a #nedfirst journal post but we have good harvests throughout the year. This is the best harvest yet because the plant was not disturbed by night digging critters.

While not literally a #nedfirsts harvest, this is

While not literally a #nedfirsts harvest, this is the first time our 'Fuji' apple is in this journal. This year we have decent sized apples because I thinned them to one or two per. It looks like I need to thin to one per.

Growing apples and other deciduous fruit in my mild climate can be challenging. Deciduous trees have evolved to survive freezing temperatures by shedding their leaves. They conserve energy by not attempting to push out new leaves and fruit until the warm months.

Without more sensors (like eyes) to gauge the environment, they rely on an internal calculator to determine the seasons. They determine the seasons by internally tracking the number of cold days. When those hours accumulate, they tell themselves that winter is over and it's time to invest energy in growing foliage and fruit.

In agriculture, "chill hours" is what these plants use to determine seasons. Each plant has its own characteristics and will have different the chill hour requirements.

Thus in our mild climate where we average under 200 chill hours, it can be a challenge to get fruit or sizable fruit.

In these categories of trees, the better tasting/ more interesting fruit tends to grow from varieties that require 800-1000 hours.

'Fuji' (200-400 hours) has long been my favorite apple. It is nice that a decent size fruit can be grown where I live-- even if it means having to heavily thin the fruit.

Another caveat of not having the proper climate is timing of fruiting. In a warm climate, fruiting occurs late. The result is a shorter sizing period. This leads to smaller fruit; hence the need to heavily thin so that the limited resources from photosynthesis can be concentrated into fewer fruit.

May 14, 2025. #nedfirsts 'Lamb-Hass' avocado. This

May 14, 2025. #nedfirsts 'Lamb-Hass' avocado. This variety's peak harvest season is between May to August. From my cultivation in the more temperate climate of Southern California's coastal interior, August to September harvests give typical LH characteristics. Nuttier and creamier. Early season harvests were more reminiscent of olden day avocado characteristics-- more watery; like a 'Fuerte.'

Another observed characteristic of LH is that it has a tendency to alternate bearing of fruit. In a commercial setting, this is not ideal. Even in backyard settings this may not be ideal. Why grow it? For me, to collect and experience a tasty piece of avocado development history.

LH is a 'Gwen' lineage.

The tree was purchased in late January of 2020. The trunk of just shy of the thickness of my thumb and stood 4 feet tall in a #5 container. Now it stands 7 feet tall (was topped off last year) and 7 feet wide.

Summer cauliflower harvest. Seed sprouted April 6t

Summer cauliflower harvest. Seed sprouted April 6th. 'Snow Crown' cauliflower has a 53 days to maturity; making May 29th the expected harvest date.
However, the crown didn't size up until almost a month later.

Seeds from @pinetree_garden_seeds

Note, cauliflower is conventionally grown during the cool months. If growing cauliflower for the first time, it is best to follow convention and available information on cultivation.

#nedfirsts

Happy Solstice. In past years summer arrived early

Happy Solstice. In past years summer arrived early and we would be harvesting sweet corn in May for Memorial Day. This year summer weather is on time. We can now plant the heat loving stuff like okra; which we tried to direct sow but it was too cool and had to sow them as transplants.

Today we harvested our early corn to be able to transplant orka in their place. We harvested 22 ears of 'Early Sunglow' yellow sweet corn.

This year we planted a #nedfirsts 'Fisher's Earliest' sweet corn. Grown as transplants, they sprouted in 5 days on March 24th. Sprouted at the same time, grew in the same manner as Early Sunglow. Both with maturity days of roughly 70. With that number in the calculations, they should have been ready roughly 18 days ago.

The seeds for this corn variety needed a garden to grow in and is grown by me and acknowledged as NED's Surrogate Garden 😉

Taste & Texture: Has the qualities of an heirloom sweet corn-- sweet but chewier. Note that the heirloom varieties tend to have a smaller harvest window. If left on the stalk for too long the sugars become starch and the texture is changed. The chewier texture I am experiencing might be the characteristics of this variety. More likely I may have waited a week too long.

Depending on what era you grew up eating corn, you may actually prefer heirloom qualities. For those who grew up outside of the United States where heirloom varieties were/are still grown, they will prefer and seek out chewy corn.

Lastly, between the two early varieties, 'Early Sunglow' is the better variety for me. The seeds are available for purchase locally and the harvest tends to lean on modern corn qualities at harvest

2025 Citrus Grafting Report. Weather: Unexpected

2025 Citrus Grafting Report.

Weather: Unexpected cooler temperatures and overcast followed by heatwave. Cooler temperatures may have stalled/interrupted healing.

Observed: budwood with greater girth had better results in terms of success rate and connectivity (leaf growth in layman's term.)

This was observed with the 'Santa Teresa' lemon and Fremont mandarin.

Image 1: 'Santa Teresa' lemon on Genoa. The budwood matched the graft wood almost exactly. As a result more cambium contact was made and enabled the greatest amount of connectivity.
Image 2 & 3: In contrast, most graft contacts were 50% at best. This results in a longer healing time and the buds remaining dormant (no leaf growth.)
Image 4: 'Variegated Cara Cara' budwood is very thin. Complete failure on 'Cam Sanh' on 'Pink Lemonade.' Still hopeful on 'Pink Lemonade.'
Image 5: 'Sudaci' mandarin is a novelty tree for me. It is being asked to be a pragmatic tree.
Image 6: One of many successful Fremont. This one is on the 'Sudaci.' Note the budwood girth.
Image 7: The last hopeful 'Gold Nugget' mandarin graft. Graft location is important but sometimes there isn't a better branch to work. The other graft on this 'Sudachi' and the only one on the 'Shasta Gold' were placed on a branch located next to a path; and they got bumped into by me or my kids.
Image 8: 'Parent Washington Navel' budwood were thin. Many were provided and many where grafted onto various trees. We are down to this hopeful graft on 'Robertson' navel.
Image 9: Another successful 'Fremont;' on 'Owari Satsuma.'
Image 10: 'Ellendale' tangor budwood was thin but we have a successful push from 'Algerian' clementine.

Final note: 'Murcott' mandarin growing on the slope is looking to be 2 for 2 with 'Fremont' and fail on 'Ellendale.'

Memorial Day 2025 #nedfirsts 'Dondo Blue' ageratu

Memorial Day 2025

#nedfirsts 'Dondo Blue' ageratum, @pinetree_garden_seeds
'Mahohany Splendor' hibiscus
Yarrow
'Blue Bedder' clary sage
Carnation/dianthus
Sweet Pea

#nedfirsts 'Frosted Salmon' Asiatic poppy.

#nedfirsts 'Frosted Salmon' Asiatic poppy.

#nedfirsts 'Viola Francese' An artichoke type soft

#nedfirsts 'Viola Francese'
An artichoke type softneck garlic. Very photogenic with a purple weathered look (on the first layer of the bulb.) Like most artichoke types, Viola Francese will store well because of the many layers of tight wrapping; keeps the moisture in.

A. Like many garlic growers in California, our garlic was ready for harvest much earlier this year due to a warmer and sunnier winter. These came out in April.

B. I botched our garlic growing this time around and lost our tried and true crop of 'Chesnok Red,' 'Thai Fire,' soft and hardneck garlic from the market.
In my warm Southern California climate, I found that chilling the seed garlic ahead of planting gave the best results. This year I tried to leave them in the fridge longer than a week and up to a month.

The usual mini fridge in the garage probably ran a tad too cold and likely ruined our curated seed garlic. (This year I will be using the fridge in the house and dialing back the time.)

Luckily a series of things happened. I had ordered a couple of varieties to expand with. Fall planting products are usually shipped based on cold climate planting schedules; which is just in time or a bit late for warm climate growers. The box was too big for the mini fridge so they went into the house fridge for about a couple of weeks before it was time to plant them.

'Marathon' broccoli #nedfirsts

'Marathon' broccoli
#nedfirsts

Simplicity is the product of complexity. Embracing

Simplicity is the product of complexity. Embracing complexity is the embodiment of autonomy.

Here's an illustration of the seed saving side of potato succession planting. This started a few years ago. With each harvest, a few potatoes are set aside to sprout and plant. Rinse and repeat (literally.) Eventually the cycles will get closer and closer; yielding more successive harvests.

In each box we have potatoes in different stages of the seed saving process. On the left are recently harvested potatoes. Ideally we will save the 4-6 ounce potatoes as seed; and only a few. Remember, the key to succession planting is to yield what we can eat from short term storage.

The potatoes in the middle are older and closer to sprouting. The potatoes on the right have sprouted and are ready to be planted.

Varieties that we grow are: 'Burbank' russet, 'French' fingering, 'Magic Molly' fingerling, 'Austrian Cresent' fingerling, 'Huckleberry Gold,' 'Viking Purple,' and 'Yukon Gold.' With exception to russets, these varieties are able to tolerate our warm climate for year round production.

A breakfast fit for a mother! Fresh: -- 'Valenc

A breakfast fit for a mother!
Fresh:
-- 'Valencia' orange juice
-- 'French' fingerling potatoes
-- Backyard eggs
-- 'Gaviota' & 'Albion' strawberries
-- 'Sunshine Blue' & 'Reveille' blueberries

Note, our collection of blueberry varieties are selected based on succession bearing and taste. Varieties that have tannins are preferred over shear size. 'Revielle' is coming on just as 'Sunshine Blue' is finishing up. Maybe next year our 'Emerald Blue' will lead the harvest by putting out berries for us.

#nedfirsts Black hulless barley. Pictures captured

#nedfirsts Black hulless barley. Pictures captured during the Golden Hour.

I enjoy pearled barley in soups. Pearled barley is created from polishing the grain. This polishing is not something that I can accomplish without the proper equipment. Hulless barley is a grain that can be consumed after it is threshed. I am curious to know if hulless barley will have a similar enough texture as pearled barley.

If it turns out not to be enjoyable, I will continue to grow it. It grows easily and I can use the grain as chicken and duck treats. The plant as cover crop and mulch subsequently.

#blackhullessbarley

#nedgrafting #nedcitrus #citrusclonalprotectionpro

#nedgrafting #nedcitrus #citrusclonalprotectionprogram
Our 2025 Citrus Clonal Protection Program budwood selection:

1. navel, Washington, Riverside Parent 1873s (VI 1050)
2. navel, variegated, Cara Cara (VI 978)
3. mandarin, Gold Nugget (VI 422)
4. mandarin, Fremont (VI 247)
5. tangor, Ellendale (VI 464)
6. lemon, femminello, Santa Teresa (VI 929)

The Washington navel is not in our citrus collection because it is readily available at the market. Low on the list, I bumped it up because the budwood is fewer steps removed from one of the two original trees received by Riverside, California resident, Eliza Tibbets from the United States Department of Agriculture in 1873. The successful propagation of these trees created the first wealth generating industry in California. More on this if/when we harvest our first Washington navel.

Cara Cara are tasty navels and there is a variegated version; sign me up! Note: variegated foliage contains less chlorophyll; which by logic means that the leaves produce less energy. This translates to lower production and not ideal for climates with less intense daylight.

Gold Nugget commands a higher market price. They are flavorful and sweet when they hit their marks. I recommend sampling/buying a few before commiting to an entire bag. This mandarin has 'Cam Sanh aka King Tangor' lineage. Gold Nugget made the cut for this round because of the feeling that my climate is warm enough to produce a consistently sweet crop along with the premium market price and 'Cam Sanh' lineage.

Fremont has been on my radar. It is a clementine and Ponkan mandarin cross suited for desert areas. According to the description, Ponkan is a popular variety in China, India, and Brazil. Its clementine makeup piqued my curiosity.

Essentially synonymous, it is the geographic, historical, and cultural differences that differentiate clementine, tangor, and tangerines. Horticulturally, this group of citrus tends to be exceptionally juicy and more flavorful than mandarins. As such, I am always on the lookout for a good tangerine.
Ellendale is an Australian tangor and the description and color (in the photos) looked promising to me.

Continue in the comments...

#nedfirsts (reblooming) bearded iris, 'Bernice's L

#nedfirsts (reblooming) bearded iris, 'Bernice's Legacy.'

The rhizome was received last fall (2024.) Bearded iris usually takes at least a couple of years before they start blooming for me. Which is why I start them off on 1 gallon containers for safe keeping and identification (not losing track of what is what in the garden.) When they have matured is when I will plant them out in the garden. That this one is blooming now is a nice surprise.

#nedfirsts 'Gwen' avocado. My avocado growing jour

#nedfirsts 'Gwen' avocado. My avocado growing journey began thirteen years ago in 2012. It took me far longer than expected to figure out how they like to be grown. Our first homegrown avocado was a 'Pinkerton' harvested last year (2024.)

Our literal second homegrown avocado is this 'Gwen.' The tree that produced it was received August 2022. Last year it was mature enough to hang onto fruit but I thinned it down to one; so the tree can continue to focus more energy towards growing.

This variety was patented in the 1980s by the University of California [patent expired, 02/17/2003.] With great commercial potential it was the crown jewel of avocados. However in the fields Gwen was found to be a diva. Additionally, unlike the Hass which turns black when ripe, Gwen remains mostly green. This lack of cuing the consumer along with its behavior in the field led Gwen to fall into oblivion.

For a long time, I sought a Gwen tree to plant. While continuing to keep my eyes peeled, I attempted to grow a Gwen offspring, the 'Reed' avocado. Then in 2019 I found @fourwindsgrowers. A few trees later, success!

Picture 3: The University of California prominently researches citrus, avocado, and strawberry. Gwen is pictured with 'Cam Sanh / King Tangor.' In their respective class, each is responsible for offspring that are presently in demand like 'Gold Nugget' mandarin and 'GEM' avocado.

Picture 4: Girth of the trunk

Picture 5: Gwen tree. Also draped with plants like hairy vetch, volunteer Asiatic poppy, and filet bean; to diffuse our strong California sun.

#nedfirsts 'Marianne Charlton' hibiscus flower. I

#nedfirsts 'Marianne Charlton' hibiscus flower. I enjoy collecting flowers that have colors that are either peachy, dark/black, or blue/gray. Since spring, this young cutting propagated plant has bloomed three times. Today, I was around to photograph it.

Our 5th grader's 3D animal cell project. The teach

Our 5th grader's 3D animal cell project. The teacher encouraged models to be made without spending money. While there are more parts to an animal cell, these are the parts that they are studying.

The cytoplasm is a foam sensory toy. The mitochondria are painted corks and detailed with a permanent marker. Superballs (toy bouncy balls) were used to represent vacuoles. The nucleus is a foam basketball. Our son cut a portion out with a saw and stuck in a plastic marble.

Lastly, the cell wall is half of a Corsican gourd that I harvested about a year ago. I'll take full credit for growing and cutting it in half. The rest of the work was Owen.

#animalcell

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