Mango Update

I was checking on the mango tree this morning, and I saw lots of evidence of helpful little spiders helping to keep it clean of pests for me.






I also saw lots of evidence of new blooms coming into areas that previously didn't have any blooms.






There are lots of little mangoes growing.




My question is this: How the heck will I harvest the mangoes that are growing way up there?!

My Little Stick

Let me introduce you to my little shteek.


What's with this little stick, and why would I keep it next to my porch door?








It's for clearing my path in the mornings, to make sure that I don't accidentally walk through an unseen spider's web! Very important around here!

My New Babies

Well I was finally able to attend the annual Caloosa Rare Fruit Tree sale that I've been looking forward to for months. There were lots of trees there to choose from, with the largest selection being from ECHO. I bought a Passion Flower from them. Below are my new plant additions:

Passion Flower:


Meyer Lemon, which is already laden with small fruits and a lovely bloom:






Black Raspberry (I forget the type, but it is a tropical version that doesn't need cold weather like others). It came with some raspberries already on it, and some blooms:






Guava:


Aloe:


Datil Pepper:


Lemon Thyme, Clover and Rosemary:



Grand Total: $104


This had to be "meant to be". I pulled out my cash, was short, asked Woodrow if he had any cash, and he had $11. I added that to my cash, and was still a few bucks short. Then I found a few more dollars, counted it up, and it was $104 even. It was destiny!

So now I have to figure out what to plant where, and what to leave in pots.

Some other things that happened today:

I've been watching these "weeds" that have been growing under my ficus for a couple of weeks now, wondering exactly what they were. I was amazed at how quickly they grew. Well today I think that I figured out what they are. Sunflower volunteers!




The bird feeder is right above here, and it looks like perhaps the birds missed a couple of seeds. I'm excited to have sunflowers growing!

My tomatoes still look good:


The bougainvillea that I was loving is no longer booming with blooms, but now the one by the shed is.


I've been noticing some webbing on some of my mango leaves, and some of the leaves are chewed up. So when I went to the fruit tree sale today, I took a couple of leaves in a bag. I gave it to a girl that works at ECHO and asked her if she knew what it was. Just as I was handing it to her, I spotted a large spider running through the bag.


"Whoa!", I said, "There's a big spider in there." "Yeah,that's probably what's making the webs on the leaves. That's actually a good thing!"

Yeah. Right. I know that spiders are very useful in the garden, and I love to have them do their thing in secrecy and out-of-sight. However, having arachnophobia, I do NOT want to see them running through a bag I'm holding and knowing that they were on a leaf that I cut from my tree!

When we got home, we let the spider go out by the mango tree.


We hope that he kills many nasty bugs for us.

So it was a really nice day. I finally got some of the trees that I've been wanting, I discovered that I have sunflowers growing, and I learned that I don't have a bad infestation of caterpillars or something on my mango, but just a camouflaged spider that will keep me on my toes now whenever I'm around the mango!

Tons of Little Mangoness

I checked on my mango blooms after the recent freezes, concerned that I would lose my first crop of mangoes, and this is what I spotted:



Upon closer inspection, I saw many, many more:









That's little tiny mangoes, baby! They are still hanging in there, despite all of the cold. I may wind up with some mangoes after all! Then I just have to hope that they are a good batch, and don't taste like turpentine...

Frigid Florida

Well, it's another chilly Florida morning. At 7:30 AM it was about 35 degrees outside. I don't know how cold it got here last night, but seems most of the area was getting down to 27-32 degrees, and the orange groves are in jeopardy. I think that my orange tree is okay.


I brought in my other potted plants and vegetables last night.


Some are already freeze-bitten or haggard from the cold wind. They'll be staying in today and tonight, as there is another freeze warning tonight. The wind chill is 5-10 degrees cooler than the outside temp, thanks to the 20 mph winds, so it really feels like it is 25-30 degrees outside. We won't even make it out of the 50s today.

However the weather rebounds for this weekend, and we'll be 70 degrees again by Saturday. That may be a good day to go kayaking! The cold weather has the manatee huddling together down at the power plant, so as it warms this weekend they will be venturing out into the river to feed. Good day to see them up close and have them interact with you. Last year we had one come right up to our kayak and hang out for probably 20 minutes while it laid on its back and "licked" the bottom of the boat. Must have been some mineral build up or something that it liked. We got to scratch its nose while it snacked on our canoe and snorted water on us. Fun!

One World-One Heart Update

I have decided to throw my hat in the ring with the OWOH Giveaway. See my other blog for more info.

Quick Update

Well it is the beginning of February, and I have been in my place for almost four months now. I haven't had any time in the yard lately, and we've been dealing with really cold weather down here, so there is some frost damage to deal with. At least a lot of the weeds got zapped by the cold!

But I did want to do a quick update of how things look. The container veggies are still going well. Tomatoes are developing and eggplant is getting large. Cauliflower still need to be divided and repotted into a few more pots (too many of them in one pot).

I'm not sure, but the Sweet Yellow Pepper looks like it could have a couple of little flower buds coming on.


The pic is really blurry, but there are two little buds in the center there that may be flower buds coming in!

The seedlings are doing well. The Bibb and Romaine Lettuce and Carrots are looking good. It'll be interesting seeing if I can transplant Carrots into a pot. I think I may try to grow the lettuce in a bag of potting soil, and see how that goes-- just lay the bag down, slice it open, and plant the lettuce transplants.


Likewise the Chives, Leeks and Cilantro are going well. I have the same concerns for the Leeks as I do for the Carrots. I don't know how they will handle tranplanting.


One of my Green Beans and my Rosemary have finally sprouted. Still nothing from the other green bean. I am about to start three more green beans.


I'm wondering what this little thing on my poinsettia is? It almost looks like a flower bud coming in. Do poinsettia actually flower? I've only seen the leaves color up like flowers, but have never seen actual flowers on them.


Also I have a single rangy rose bush next to my deck, and periodically it surprises me with a sudden bloom.


Very fragrant blooms it has!

So that is my quick little update. We'll see whether I have time this weekend to do any gardening.