STATE OF THE GARDEN: 1/19/13

Well, I've been doing a lot of work in the garden-- at least compared to the usual-- and I'm finally making some headway.

I'm slowly getting the bougainvillea cut down. I did a batch of it last weekend, and another batch this weekend. I'm hopeful maybe I can get most of the rest next weekend. I started on the really thick branches today, and filled the 65 gallon bin again.

This was it when I started last weekend...

...and this is where I stood after today.

I had sprouts left over from my seed experiments, and I hated to throw them away (I hadn't thought beforehand about what I was going to do with any resulting sprouts). So I stuck 2 of the bean sprouts on the sides of this windowbox...

...and I planted 4 bean seeds and 4 pea seeds in the front and back. Three of the pea seeds have just begun to peek above the surface.

 I also cleaned out one of the deck planters and put 14 sprouts in there, along with 2 pepper plants and a tomato plant.

In the back left, I put 3 Big Red Ripper Pea sprouts (I'll thin to two)...

...and 3 Garden Bean sprouts in the back center...

...and 4 Royal Burgundy Bean sprouts in the right-back corner (which I'll also thin to two).

And I stuck 4 Brandywine Tomato sprouts around my tomato cage, and was actually surprised to see them sprout up as they did (since they hadn't yet actually "sprouted", and I wasn't sure whether the old seeds were still any good).

My jalapeno plant has two little peppers started, and a couple more blooms...

My sweet bell pepper plant seems to have a couple of blooms coming in as well...

I also have a Better Bush tomato plant in this planter, and it had two tomatoes started on it when I got it, and now I see a bloom or two on it.

I also have two pots of herbs, and the top one also has an heirloom yellow cherry tomato plant, and I noticed today that it has a couple of blooms coming in.

I also have a strawberry pot, a papaya tree (I need to get a couple more to plant along the fence), and a passion vine that is loaded with buds.

My first passion flower just bloomed...

It smells so good! Very sweet, almost like grapes, and I can smell it from a couple of feet away. I can't wait until it has more blooms!

And my strawberry has a couple of blooms.

I also finally repotted my poor pineapple. I started this thing probably 4 years ago or more, but it has become stunted. I figure it is probably due mostly to it being in too small of a pot, and a lack of water. So I repotted it today, and gave it a good dousing. Look at the two pots compared!

We'll see how it does now that it has room to grow, a good drink, and a nice spot in the sun.

My one banana tree that was cut down a few months ago continues to grow, but the other three of them remain small. We'll see what happens with them.

My grapevine continues to hang in there. We'll see what happens with it.

My backyard came with what used to be a shade garden before I cut down the ficus, and I've considered getting rid of these snake plants...

But I'll tell ya... these things have been in bloom lately, and boy do they smell good! Sort of like jasmine.

Now I'm second guessing whether to pull them.

I also noticed the other day that I have some blooms on the mango. And those blooms have now changed over to tiny little fruits.

And I also trimmed the mango the other day (I know it isn't the right time of year for it), so I could walk under it. It was hanging too low over the deck, and it was getting impossible to mow under.

My goal this year is to take better care of my garden, and to fertilize my plants. I want to see what happens with the mango and loquat after some fertilization.

After I finish taking down this one bougainvillea, I need to work on the other one that has been taken over by the mango.

I'm trying to decide whether I am going to completely take them down, or if I will try to keep and manage them. I hate the thought of trying to manage those thorny things!

So I'm making some progress, and I'll work on it some more next weekend. But I'm done for today!

Planting a small vegetable garden

Today we spent a couple of hours working in pretty searing intolerable heat in order to prep part of my giant raised bed for plants. I plan on ripping this bed apart and create 2-4 small square beds in its place, or a couple of long, narrow beds. But it will be awhile before I can do that. So for now I decided to prep a portion of it for a small vegetable garden.


Katy was there to supervise our work.



We moved a bunch of the dirt out of a 10x3 foot area, and mixed in potting soil, compost and top soil. Then I planted the poblano pepper, jalapeno pepper, green pepper, cucumber, zucchini, watermelon, cantaloupe and two eggplant.



Plus the other day I potted an herb bucket and in another bucket I put a Rome tomato plant with sweet basil.

But looky here! I was surprised to discover a bloom on the old pepper plant from last summer! This has been totally neglected, unwatered and in a weed-filled pot, yet there it is!


Yes, I weeded it now that I see how hard it is trying to survive. And I still have a couple of strawberry plants popping up...


And my mango tree, despite the freezes we had this winter, is trying to put out a small harvest as well. So far I've spotted two mangoes...



Also the other morning I was out in the yard when I noticed that my mahogany have lost their leaves (which they seem to do this time of year). Then I noticed this...



I haven't figured out what the heck that is! It's webbing full of leaves, forming a basket. I don't know whether that was purposeful or what. But I did see some lovely new little leaves coming in on the mahogany...


My jasmine is in full bloom, and I love the smell drifting around the lanai.


I still don't know what these two trees are that are in front of my lanai, but I like the look of them, even if they are too close to the lanai. They kinda look like Shady Lady olive trees, but I've never seen any fruit on them.

So it was a day of hard work, and I should sleep well tonight! We'll see how the vegetables and fruit do. It's getting hot out there. I hope that I can get them through the heat and keep them well-watered!

Progress Report

Tonight my project, aside from weeding the area in front of the raised bed, was potting some of the plants that I've gotten in the last couple of days.

I got a couple of strawberry plants today. They are two different kinds, so that I can see which one seems to work better. One already has a bunch of berries on it.


I've never had luck with strawberries before, so we'll see how it goes.

I potted the Meyer Lemon (seen with the strawberries)...


...and the Guava (seen with my Bird of Paradise, that doesn't have a place in my yard yet).



I potted Lemon Thyme with my Eggplant.


The pepper appears about ready to bloom.


I put Basil with my tomato.


My little mangoes continue to grow. This is the largest one that I found.


I noticed that my orange tree is looking pretty peaked.


I wonder whether it is the cold weather (I think I left it out during the last cold snap), or if it just needs a good fertilization?

I didn't get to the other stuff (like the Passion Flower and Raspberry, nor get the cauliflower split up into two pots). Next time.