Garden
Big Duck, Small Pond
WHy go to the duck pond with all the other ducks wen you can have a water dish all to yourself?
Late summer harvest
Summer still has a month to go, but the garden is starting to look tired. All the heat and sun has the spring plantings kicking out their last. I won't be planting anything new until mid-September when fall crops will have a better chance of surviving. In the meantime, I'm happy that we're still harvesting grapes, tomatoes, squash, peppers, lemons and limes.
Best Pepper Pickling Recipe
Pickling peppers is easy and a great way to store your bounty long after the season is gone Pickling peppers is super easy and tasty too I grow a ridiculous amount of peppers every year. Hot, sweet, large, small, round, bell, horn — if it's a pepper, I'm probably growing it somewhere in the garden. In order to have some for the winter I do a lot of pepper freezing, drying, canning, and of course, pickling. Over the years I've tried a bunch of different methods for pickling peppers and this one is the best for producing great [keep reading...]
How the Herb Garden Grows
In early March I decided to create an herb garden by rounding up a bunch of plants that were growing wild in various locations around the yard. To start I moved a catnip seeding, some oregano and a parsley volunteer. A month later I added some thyme, summer savory and a sage. And a month after that I added a tomatillo volunteer and and a marjoram shoot I found. At some point in May, a Blue Jay decided to add a sunflower or two (scrub jays are famous for stashing seeds and forgetting where). Looks like everything is [keep reading...]
Perlette Table Grape
I bought a dozen 1 year old table grape vines from Peaceful Valley Farms last year (a real deal at just $5 a vine). Last year they didn't do much. I let them run wild and get established. This past winter I pruned and trellised them and have tried to keep them trained on the trellis. Looks like the work is paying off. This is a bunch of Perlette table grapes. I've also got Concord and Black Monukka clusters ripening away. Can't wait to try them. Next year I'm going to see about investing in some wine grape stock. A [keep reading...]
Alstroemeria gone wild
Several years ago my wife was given this Peruvian Lily as a houseplant. It didn't do particularly well in the house (in fact, I thought it was dead), so I dumped it into the garden near the strawberry planter. Not only was the plant not dead, but it thrives in the dry soil and treats us to this show every spring through autumn.
Red Onion Harvest
The ruby ring onions I planted this past winter ready to harvest. I pulled them up and will allow them to dry before tying them up. In total I got about 50 really nice red onions. Considering I bought this seed on sale for 99 cents, I got a real nice return on my investment.
Trailing Blackberries
This is a native trailing blackberry. Usually you find it down along the creeks. I transplanted a few along my lower fence line 20 years ago and the blackberries have never looked back. Tis year the ground squirrels and I are in a battle to see who will get to eat more of them. So far the squirrels are winning.
Hydrangea All Pink this Year
Last fall I put up a rain gutter that redirected water from the roof to the camelias and hydrangea on the side yard. Whatever is in the roof runoff, for the first time all the hydrangeas blooms are pink this year.
Cleveland Sage in Bloom
One of my favorite native plants, Cleveland Sage (salvia clevelandii), which gets its name from the nearby Cleveland National Forest. Looks great, smells great and requires close to zero water and maintenance.