Fractal Cauliflower

This cauliflower was so much fun to grow!  I got a bunch of starts at what I'll call a "Squirrel Sale" at a local nursery - a squirrel had munched on many starts in each 6-pack so they were super cheap and I bought a lot.  More survived than anticipated, so we've been eating A LOT of cauliflower.  Some was the usual type that is white with a usual cauliflower form.  This one we affectionately called the Fractal Cauliflower.  It was so beautiful!

In addition to growing cauliflower for the heads, I also like to eat the leaves.  I typically will de-stem the leaf and then stir fry it.  My favorite accompaniment to the greens is crimini mushrooms with salt, pepper and olive oil.  The heads we've enjoyed steamed and roasted.  My mom took some home to make a soup out of.

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After posting this, a friend commented that it is Broccoli Romanesco.  I can see both Cauliflower Romanesco and Broccoli Romanesco on line.  I suspect they are the same thing, don't you?  Since it is such a pale green, who knows what to call it!

Fertilized Carrotwood Tree

I fertilized the backyard Carrotwood Tree with Osmocote and GroPower today.  I've continued to do approximately weekly deep watering of the tree to help it leaf out and get healthier.  Since the fall when the whole thing was looking pretty sorry, one side has leafed out but the other has not.  The side near the neighbors is the one struggling.  I've asked them if their watering/fertilizing/chemicals has changed in the last year, but they haven't really.  That side is harder for me to deeply water due to the slope of the land.  I wonder if it is just a water issue or if one of the main trunks is diseased.

Fertilized Community Garden plot

I fertilized the community garden plot with fish fertilizer on 1/14 and sprayed the asphids again with horticultural oil there on 1/16.

We've had several weeks of warm, Santa Ana conditions.  Today I noticed that tomato plants still in the ground are blooming.  They think its spring.

Fertilized with Fish Emulsion at home, Pruned Roses

I fertilized the South, North and West garden beds with Fish Emulsion today.  The lettuce and beet seeds that I planted in my nematode-infested North bed are hardly germinating.

Pruned all the roses, so now my house is littered with vases of roses that were still on the bushes.  What do other people do in warm climates?  You have to prune sometime, right?  But it always seems a shame to cut off so many flowers.

While pruning roses, I found more raccoon scat.  That thing loves my garden.  DH was kind enough to clean it up for me, wearing gloves and mask and such.  Nasty diseases in that stuff.

Worm Bin, Planted seeds

Today we cleaned out half the worm composting bin to harvest the worm castings and make room for more composting.  I used the worm castings in the N. bed, W. bed, and on both mandarins.

The prior oil spray seems to have improved the black aphid situation on the chard but it is far from over.

The prior compost addition to the N. and W. beds did indeed attract the raccoon back for more digging.  Fortunately, it didn't dig out any plants this time, just the dirt/compost.  I'm sure the worm castings will be a raccoon magnet.

I also planted seeds from romaine and buttercrunch lettuce and for beets in the N bed.  I hope those don't get trashed tonight by the raccoon.

Happy New Year!

Compost to garden, sprayed with horticultural oil

Yesterday while DH was sifting the finished compost, I sprayed the small, dark mystery bugs on the chard with horticultural oil.  They look a bit like aphids, but black.  I've never had any significant bug issues on my chard, but these things are so problematic that some of the leaves look like they are melting to mush.  I also, finally, took the time to separate some romaine and buttercrunch lettuce seeds that I'd saved from last spring.

Today we took that finished compost and put down a good layer in the North and West garden beds at home.  I wonder if that will draw back the racoon, to dig for fresh worms.  Hope not.

Fertilized Citrus

The lowest Mandarin has been looking fairly sorry with some leaf drop and some curled up and yellow leaves.  This one a raccoon had been using its well as a latrine, but I cleaned that up last week.  I checked its drip irrigation and I think one of the emitters may have been plugged, but I fixed that now.  Plus I gave the two mandarins a shot of iron chelate and fertilized all the citrus with organic citrus fertilizer.  We'll hope that helps.  The smallest mandarin (not the lowest on the slope) is teensy tiny and yet has one hopeful little mandarin ripening on it!