Harvested Worm Castings

At home, we harvested the worm castings from our vermicomposter.  I used the castings in a pot near the front door that had some white fly problems, plus gave some to the roses, apple tree, valencia, and peach.  Giving the worm tea regularly to the roses seems to keep at bay the bugs that want to eat it.  I also gave a good dose of fish emulsion to the struggling bougainvillea on the west side.

At the community garden, I continue to harvest kale, tomatoes, yellow crookneck squash, and green beans.  I really should remove the tomatoes to make room for fall planting, but I hate to do it when I'm still getting fruit off them.  Having put in more chicken manure, steer manure, and bags of coffee grounds recently really gave things a second wind.  The yellow crookneck was from a mixed seed pack that in theory had zucchini and pattypan as well, but none of those came up.

Fertilized Community Garden

I've had a fabulous harvest of tomatoes that are now petering out.  The green beans have been a small quantity, but ongoing.  Today I pulled the bulk of the remaining carrots, plus a beet, and some kale for dinner.  Once in the last month, I went out to the community garden at night to hunt for hornworms.  My friend and I found only one, but what it lacked in numbers it made up for in size.  I think it ate the competition.  We also found two chrysalises.  Contrast that to a hunt for similar at home where we found about 16 on three plants!

Since I could see bare soil here and there again, today I spread 2 bags of composted chicken manure and 1 bag of composted steer manure in the community garden.  Makes for happy plants but stinky soil.

At home, a plumeria I got as a cutting about 2 or 3 years ago is blooming beautifully.  We stick our noses in its flowers each time we pass.  It is still in the pot I stuck it in when it was a bare branch.  I hope to plant it sometime soon, since it seems to be happy in its spot.  It is slightly under an overhang of the house, which I hope will shelter it from future frosts.

Community Garden and Home Garden Updates

I've been getting a great harvest of yellow crookneck squash, which I'd planted from an old seed pack that, in theory, contained 4 different types of summer squash.  But each plant that took was yellow crookneck.  We like it most roasted with garlic cloves, crimini mushrooms, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

We're also eating tons of tomatoes - I think they were Celebrity.  They are plenty tasty and are resistant enough that they're doing reasonably well.

I had the pleasure of trying a friend's plum tomato called Enchantment that was incredible!  I hope to track down a source for that one in the future.  Wonderful flavor.

At home today I used fish emulsion on our trees: apple, navel, valencia, peach, pomegranate.  Also gave some to the roses and bougainvillea.  I'm hoping it will perk up the latter, which has surprisingly few leaves.

Fertilized Community Garden and My Favorite Gardeners

I used the organic vegetable fertilizer today at the community garden.  Last week I harvested the last of the turnips.  The lettuce is starting to bolt, so I'm trying to eat that up aggressively.  Unfortunately, slugs love my lettuce.  Today I picked a head of lettuce and removed 2 slugs from it.  I looked around for me and didn't see any.  While reaching for a bag, I turned the lettuce upside down and another slug fell out next to my foot!  Then, I looked more carefully to see if there were any more hiding.  I found one that had a good grip, so I turned the lettuce upside down again and shook it.  The slug clung on tenaciously, but 3 other little caterpillars sprinkled down!  Good grief!

I'm also harvesting some very nice carrots, some of which are surprisingly fat considering that I never thin the carrots.  Also, some beets and the chard is nearly as big as my 7 year old!  Here's a picture of the chard with DD and my niece's Flat Stanley.  I know the Flat Stanley looks like a snowman, but this one is from Connecticut, so it looks different than our San Diego Flat Stanleys.  Oh and check out our matching Yosemite shirts.  DD thinks it is so cool that our we're shirt twins!  We just had a wonderful family trip there with friends.

And here's a picture of the garden with my two favorite gardeners!  DS just turned 11 and DD is 7 1/2.

Fertilized at New House, Community Garden

We moved in Sept 2015 and now I'm finally getting around to the bare minimum of yard work.  We have a citrus tree in the front that looks a lot like a Valencia Orange.  The prior owner thought it might be a mandarin but was unsure.  It doesn't look like a mandarin.  Another in the front that is almost dead, but resprouting from the stem.  It is labeled a Washington Navel Orange.  There is a tiny Anna Apple.  In the back there is a small Babcock White Peach and Pomegranate.  All of these I fertilized today.  Plus, I did the potted herbs and veggies, the carrotwood trees, a bougainvillea, and 2 star jasmines.  I hope to plant some more citrus soon.

Also, about 2 weeks ago I fertilized at the community garden. From there we've been eating kale, beets, bok choy, and one strawberry!  Also, this week I picked some radishes.  DD and DS planted some of that garden this winter and nothing is labeled, so it is a surprise when things come up.