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Rain Garden Oct '18


Rain Garden Apr '19


Rain Garden Mar '22


I don't like mowing grass, nor using much water. I turned this area into a rain garden by digging a basin to catch the roof water that previously ran straight to the street. I dug up the patchy bermuda grass, then dug up the bermuda I missed, spread a native wildflower mix, and added cacti and succulents a coworker gave me from their yard. I then added home-made mulch--some from trimming the oleander, some from trimming mesquite volunteers in the wash, some my neighbor gave me when his wife gave up on her garden, and some from leaves and seed pods someone bagged up and put on their curb. I also put some home compost under the mulch, and have left pumpkins out in the basin to disintegrate as well. As for wood chipping the whole yard--that's what I'm working towards. Since we treated the house for termites and started doing this, the termites have stayed in the yard and out of the house.

Very nice! Looks like a big improvement. I'd like to get rid of more grass eventually too.

This time of year I am full of optimism about the garden. It is full of life and energy, and I love walking around seeing all the plants waking up!

Already going strong:
Plenty of lettuce
Cilantro
Cabbage
Garlic
Peas
Onions
Carrots and Radishes just starting to come up

I harvest herbs - green onions, parsley, thyme, oregano and mint - all through the winter, but it is now time to start harvesting some lettuce. I have tried to keep track of my harvest in the past and have failed to do it consistently so that is really going to be a focus this year.

Still early but things are growing!


Future blueberries:

Baby peaches:






I see conflicting information on the internet about when to thin peaches. I think we are going to wait another month or so before we initiate any thinning efforts.

7Wannabe5 wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 13, 2022 9:32 am

This is why it's often advisable to plant fruit trees on north side of house to prevent early blooming.

Good to know, however it happened to be that the peach tree was on the north side of the house and still bloomed before the last frost date. Moving it inside before the cold snap did the trick to save the harvest thus far.

May harvest update (lbs):
2022: 10.13
2021: 17.08
2020: 8.95
2019: 0.24

Late start this year. Weather was cooler until it wasn't. As such our horse radish leaves and Russian kale, which are usually big producers in spring, only managed to make a small amount of small leaves before they bolted. Rhubarb is doing fantastic but not included in May's harvest.

Yeah, terrible spring. My rhubarb (about the only thing I got planted last year) is also going to town.

What do you do with your rhubarb? I've only heard of people using it as a jam or in pies and thus have been discouraged from ever trying to grow any.

Very recently I just stuck a chopped stalk with a couple of apples in the oven and had it with my porridge afterwards. Also cooked and cooled down instead of water with lemon.

theanimal wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 01, 2022 12:41 pm

What do you do with your rhubarb?

Pies, here. But look at supercook for inspiration.

Bread, strawberry rhubarb pie, crisp. It's a dessert ingredient. Not really suitable for the stoic hardman, fitness freak, health nut type.

Some benefits of rhubarb for those that want food with limited hassle are that it comes back on its own and needs no maintenance beyond cutting away any flower stalks so the plant doesn't waste energy on those, though even that doesn't seem very important. Edit: one more benefit is that it is great at blocking out weeds. No need to weed underneath rhubarb.

Au contraire ... I don't eat meat anymore but rhubarb and pork chops is delish.

It can also be used in Persian type tangy stew (koresh) with lamb. Really, any recipe that calls for tart/tangy to cut the sweet or fatty.

Here is the garden this morning: https://postimg.cc/gallery/26BxMQ1

Sky that looks fantastic. We have almost filled our log store and I am thinking of using a tarp for over-spill firewood, but have been concerned about fastening it as the logs will need to be on hard ground.

Thought I would start logging my garden and allotment here rather than my journal, as there's more chance of picking up stuff from others. Today we lifted most of our garlic from the allotment. There are still some plants in the ground, along with a bed in the polytunnel, which I hope will bulb in the next few weeks. Spare tomato have replaced the lifted bulbs.

How did you decide when to harvest the garlic? I have volunteer garlic and I have never resolved when to harvest.

I have always gone for if the leaves are starting to wilt then to check the bulb itself by gently parting the soil to see if it has swelled. It can be difficult to know because garlic has a wide planting window in the autumn, which means a wide cropping window in the spring/summer. Look for signs of bolting too; if it does the bulb will not be well formed, so best to lift it then.

That's helpful info about the garlic, thanks. This is my first year growing garlic so I will put it to use.

Thanks!

I'm sharing this in the hope others can avoid a crop failure.

I believe this affliction is cucumber mosaic virus. It affects curcubits (squash, courgette/zucchini, cucumber), but also pepper, celery, tomatoes. Infected plants have stunted leaf growth, leaves turn a mottled yellow, and the edges of the leaves will curl. Last year all my cucumbers were completely wiped out; the sole fruit in the picture will likely be the only gherkin I receive from this plant. If you find one of your plants affected, it is best to remove it before the virus spreads. AFAIK there is nothing you can do once a plant is infected.



I have a pet theory now that this pickling variety is susceptible to the disease, as it was infected first last year, with the virus spreading to my salad cucumbers later. It was also the most heavily affected: any new growth appeared completely dry, devoid of green. The variety is Calimbo if anyone wants to avoid it.