Veggies, Fruits and Projects

Despite the fact that daytime highs have been 109 - 117 for the past two weeks, the garden still is producing a varied bounty, including Anna apples (about 1 1/2 bushels so far), Ruby Seedless Grapes (nearly 15 lbs so far), tomatoes and habaneros.  Half the Annas were turned into a gallon of applesauce on Saturday and most of it is gone already.  Some of the grapes were picked just a little too early, in order to save them from the marauding birds, so I'll probably be making grape jelly real soon.

Some of the Large Red Cherry tomatoes.

Lots more on the vine.

Habaneros ripening.

My new toy makes peeling and coring apples a cinch.

Applesauce cooking on the stove.

The finished product.

This is about 1/2 the grapes I've picked.

I've been trying to grow some of the seeds I got from the 'Minerva' amaryllis and while some have sprouted, the seedlings have not fared well and all of them died, presumably from getting too dry, so I made a cloche out of an empty 2 liter soda bottle and put the last of the seeds under it.  Well, after about 3 1/2 weeks I finally got a single sprout and it's doing rather well under the cloche, so I sowed some seeds from 'Red Lion' and placed them under another recyled cloche; now to wait for results.

Recycled 2 liter bottle cloche.

"Minerva' seedling about 6 weeks after being sown.

I got an early Father's Day gift from my daughter and I decided this one better stay in the house or she may cause a riot among the bachelors out front.

She has ample "assets" in front and back.

Since I call my house "Dove Manor" due to all the doves I get at the feeders, I decided to make it official and make a plaque for the front entrance.  I used a faux slate roof tile, cut to the appropriate size, then covered it with painter's masking tape.  I then taped a printout of the design I made and used a razor knife to create a "stencil", removing the masking tape where the paint was to be.  Then it was spray painted white and when dry, the tape was removed to reveal the design on the plaque.  Using a special adhesive made for concrete and stone, I placed the plaque on the pillar closest to the front gate.

The uncut tile.

The plaque covered in painter's tape.

Preparing to cut the design into the tape.

The finished plaque hung for all to see.

Happenings 5-30 to 6-4

Despite the heat (108+ for the past 5 days) things are still blooming, especially the glads, as yet another unknown one bloomed.  The roses are also still blooming, as are the daylilies and the cannas.  I actually got some seeds from the cannas and it looks like more are developing.

Unknown glad.

A collage of all the other glads that have bloomed this year.

Climbing Joseph's Coat

A carpet of miniature roses.

I harvested more Anna apples and will be making applesauce with them and also harvested the first of the Ruby Seedless grapes, which my wife tells me were delicious.  The asparagus beans have gotten so much larger in just a few days and I'll be picking the first ones soon. Since the potatoes didn't survive the heat, I planted squash in the bed and the zucchini and butterstick have already sprouted, as have the purple tomatillos in the "salsa" bed.

Zucchini and butterstick squash sprouting.

Purple tomatillo sprouts

I found another interesting insect in the front flower bed, a Thread-waisted Wasp, Ammophila procera.

My neighbor gave me a tricycle planter that she no longer wanted that has three planters; it was a bit rusty, but I gave it a new coat of paint and looks like new.  I lined each of the planters with weed fabric attached with zip ties, then potted each with Moss Rose, Portulaca grandiflora, that should spill over as they begin to fill out.

Freshly painted and waiting for plants.

Lining's in place, now for planting.

I think it came out beautifully.

I also had purchased some plastic stacking pots a few weeks ago and after a visit to WalMart where I bought some daylilies on clearance, I found a use for them.  I planted each tier with a different variety, of which there are Stella d' Oro, Eenie Allegro and New Toy.  If they grow, then this Fall I'll transplant them into the bed with my other daylily, and if not, then at least I tried.  I may get a few more of these for succulents.

More Blooms and an Update on the Edibles

The glads continue to bloom and new ones are opening almost daily; too think I missed this last year when I was on vacation; so glad I didn't miss it this year.  Three of the recent bloomers are new to my garden this year, 'Blue Lagoon', 'Sun Kissed' and 'Black Walnut', while 'Peter Pears' and 'Fiorentina' are repeat performers from last year.

'Blue Lagoon'

'Sun Kissed'

'Black Walnut'

'Peter Pears'

'Fiorentina'

Some of the grapes are starting to get just a hint of color and it looks like they're going to be small, just like last year, but they were really sweet and tasty just the same.

I harvested the first Anna apples on Monday, one pound's worth, and I'll soon be making apple sauce and apple butter, as this year's crop looks like it'll be the biggest ever.

The five-section tomato cage I made last year is quickly filling up and all five varieties are producing fruit. The Black Krim and Roma are on the ends and haven't taken off as well as the Aunt Ruby's German Green, Large Red Cherry and Mortgage Lifter have.  The mystery tomato that grew out of the compost last year is definitely a slicing variety, as the fruit are as big as my fist.

The one Asparagus Bean, aka Yard-long Bean, that survived the attack of the cutworms has begun to bloom and I planted additional seeds, since it seems that the Bt worked to eliminate the cutworms and the new seedlings may stand a chance of growing up to produce for me.

Due to a number of factors, the planned berry patch didn't happen, so I planted the strawberries and the Thornless Boysenberry in one of the raised beds and made a trellis out of twine and bamboo for the boysenberry to climb.

The potatoes that showed so much promise have succumbed to the heat, so I sowed seeds for Yellow Crook-neck Squash, Zucchini and a Yellow Zucchini.

Visitors to a Flower Bed

I have a flower bed in the front yard that contains glads, blue salvia and red cannas, all of which are in bloom right now and as such have sent out an invitation throughout the area to all manner of insects. This morning I took a few photos of some of those visitors, some beneficial as pollinators, some beneficial because they eat bad bugs, and some that eat good and bad bugs alike, being indiscrimiate and eating whomever comes along. 

A bee fly.

A skipper, Hylephila phyleus 

A ladybug, another of the good guys.

A damsel fly.

An assassin bug, Zenus reanrdii, eating a micro wasp.

Another assassin bug, this ones got a small bee.

Mason Bee "Condo", Pallet Decking and Other Happenings

As you may recall, back in February I received a mason bee block and waited expectantly for the bees to emerge.  Well they emerged and reused the empty cells in the bee block to lay new eggs, but I decided that the few bees that the bee block can produce aren't enough, so I spent some time working out a plan to produce more bees.  Today I put that plan into action, buying a pine 4" x 4" x 8' and cutting it into pieces that fit neatly into the triangular space above the door to my Tuff Shed, a total of five so far.  I developed a grid on my computer to space out where to drill holes into the blocks, then printed it out.  I used a tack hammer and a small nail to make pilot holes to mark each location where I needed to drill.  I taped a "stop guide" on the drill bit so I wouldn't drill more than 3" deep, so as not to drill all the way through the block.  A few hours later, I had the bee blocks drilled and hung to form a "Mason Bee Condo" that by my estimate can accomodate just over 1800 bees.  It may take a few years before every cell is occupied, but when that time comes, there's still room to add more "units" to the condo, with maximum occupancy estimated at nearly 5000 bees, enough to pollinate the entire neighborhood.

Mason bee condo waiting for occupants.

In my last post, I noted that I'd gotten a load of pallets and would be using them as decking in the back yard and for paths between the raised beds; yesterday I placed one of the pallets down next to the one done in April.  Since there weren't enough cross members to be able to walk on it without falling through, let alone place any plants on them, the pallet required modification.  I got a supply of additional boards at the same time as the pallets, so I just needed to screw them down and trim them to the right length.

The new pallet has boards that are more tightly spaced and easier to place plants on.

The Aunt Ruby's German Green and Roma tomatoes have set fruit, three more glads have bloomed, as has the Climbing Pink Peace rose and the sunflower seeds are almost ready to harvest.

Aunt Ruby's German Green

Romas

Gladiolus 'Superstar'

Gladiolus 'My Love'

Gladilous 'Flowersong'

Climbing Pink Peace; note where the leaf cutter bees have been active.

Sunflower seeds almost ready to be harvested.

Last year I planted some ginger that I bought at a local oriental market and one piece grew, but recently it died, so I bought some more and there are three shoots coming up, so hopefully this year I'll get some healthy plants for my efforts.

Ginger shoots.

Lastly, this year I've been proactively spraying the grapes with Bt to hopefully stave off an onslaught of grapeleaf skeletonizer moths, and while it hasn't completely rid the vines of the caterpillars, they have been much fewer that years past and any that do show up die within a day or two of being sprayed with more Bt.

These died soon after being sprayed with BT.