California Gardening: What's up?

[Kouign Aman]

Coriander is forming, peppers ditto.

Tomatoes expanding, still solidly green. Way behind last year, even tho they were planted earlier and began blooming immediately. Lots of 'em, tho!

Basil has been munched several times in ensalada caprese.

The munchkin is clandestinely harvesting the tri-color sage for snacking.

[Toliver]

Houston, we have tomatoes!

I posted some pics on the main Gardening thread here.

My brother has lemon cucumbers up the wazoo. Funny thing is he can't eat them since they give him heartburn.

As you can see by the picture, they're quite seedy. Last year I had bought lemon cucumbers from a vendor at my local farmer's market and they were nowhere as seedy. In fact, the seeds were almost like a hothouse cucumber so I was surprised at the difference in the lemon cucumbers my brother is growing.

His yellow zucchinis are just now coming in as are his tomatoes.

To go off-topic, his tuberose are also getting ready to bloom. Their tropical fragrance is amazing.

[hapacooking]

23 Heirloom plants all doing very well. Mostly exotic Black tomatoes, yesterday's fruit count 145! First Harvest Today!

Pimento de Pardron chile 10 plants, first harvest was two weeks ago

New Mexico Big Jim Chiles are slower, no fruit yet

Serrano, Yellow Bell amd Poblanos all doing okay no fruit yet

Arugula - abundant

No apricots this year because of the rain I think

Lemons are abundant

I also tried to grow Wasabi this year, its a bit difficult to grow but I am making moderate progress.

Radishes, onion, corn, carrots all doing fantastic. Cucumbers are flowering.

Chives, thyme,, oregano, rosemary, tarragon, sage, cilantro, basil, dill and parsley all growing like mad

Strawberries and blackberries are abundant, Raspberries and Blueberries are not doing very well this year

Have fun.

[Kouign Aman]

The basil is shot. All three pots have flowered and the leaves have gotten tough. Still tastes fine but the texture is unpleasant in Caprese etc. Time to collect seeds and start afresh, in a shadier location. These pots can serve as bee-bait next to the termaters. Its a bummer because I really wanted to use our basil on our tomatoes (ah well. Its not like we keep a milk buffalo in the back yard for the cheese. I can buy basil too)

The sage is looking fine... it looked so small and overwhelmed in its pot when first planted, now Im wondering if I should get it a larger home.

Tomatoes are reddening :jump for joy:. The Beefsteak plant has only two, both green, both getting huger each day. Two planted Early Girls are abundant and showing color (2 are scarlet.... sooooo close). One volunteer appears to be Early Girl too. Yellow pear tomatoes are few and young. The heirloom (cant remember type) is holding onto a small crop of midsized still green tomatoes. I'm wondering if there is still time to put in more plants, with the way the weather has been.

The orange peppers - the potted plant is carrying large fruit - still dark green. The transplants are flowering madly.

Brusselsprouts - wow! I had no idea how wide those plants get.

The cilantro is also shot. Now waiting for the seeds to ripen. Next crop will get a shadier locale.

Found seeds for the yard-long beans.... where to plant? Such a fun question to ponder.

About a bazillion baby limes formed, but only 3 have remained on the dwarf tree.

Most exciting - we moved the potted guava/feijoa tree this spring and after 3 happy but flowerless years, its blooming madly and I saw one little swelling baby fruit starting to form.

[Kouign Aman]

BLTs with homegrown tomatoes last night - the first harvested this year. Oh joy! Early Girls - sweet and delicious.

One beefsteak fell off and is ripening in the window.

5 assorted plants will not be enough. More will be planted next year!

Just planted seeds for :

carrots, basil, thyme, oregano, cilantro. Gambling on the length of summer.

[Toliver]

BLTs with homegrown tomatoes last night - the first harvested this year. Oh joy! Early Girls - sweet and delicious.

One beefsteak fell off and is ripening in the window.

5 assorted plants will not be enough. More will be planted next year!

Just planted seeds for :

carrots, basil, thyme, oregano, cilantro. Gambling on the length of summer.

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If you're inland, you might make it.

Congrat's on your harvest!

My mom just discovered the dreaded black bottoms on some of her tomatoes. She's taking the appropriate steps to combat it but is disappointed nonetheless. She says she going to work on prepping her soil better next year.

[eje]

I've been a bit depressed about gardening this summer, as earlier I found out that the city will be demolishing and re-terracing the community garden I participate in later this year.

Though, I guess it is nice to start over every once in a while. Hopefully they will give us some of the nice rich composted dirt they make from the citywide composting program. Just need to figure out where to transplant the perennials I want to keep.

Have harvested the first Sweet 100 and early girl tomatoes. I think the heat this summer has helped to make these extra tasty.

The Naked Ladies (Amaryllis belladonna) are flowering!

[Kouign Aman]

The orange peppers are ripe, sweet, beautiful and delicious.

4/5 newly planted pots of seeds have sprouted. I foolishly didnt label so cant yet tell if its thyme or oregano that didnt germinate - maybe by Sunday I'll be able to figure it out.

The tomatoes are nearly done - we've eaten half the crop and the rest are going to go fast, but there arent many new flowers, nor much green fruit.

The guava is covered in little fruit-swells. An object lesson in how a plant reacts to the right amount of light.

Anyone know why the passionfruit vine might be unhappy and yellowish?

[Toliver]

Anyone know why the passionfruit vine might be unhappy and yellowish?

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Googled "gardening passionfruit vine yellowish" and got this Australian FAQ on homegrown passionfruit vines and their problems:

"Passionfruit: Solving problems in the home garden"

The answer to the yellowish-ness may be a typical passionfruit virus called "Passionfruit woodiness virus".

[Kouign Aman]

Many thanks.

All the little limes but one have fallen off. That one is growing well.

Thyme is hanging in there, barely. New crops of basil & cilantro are coming along well and ready for harvest. I pruned the older basil plants and they are leafing in well, so its fresh homegrown basil on the termaters this weekend, and a nice lemon/cilantro sauce for the meat.

I had to replant the oregano but now I see life.

The carrots came up fast, but they are not getting bigger. The potatoes have me mystified.

Gardening is good.

The passionfruit is rootbound and needs feeding.

[Priscilla]

The Naked Ladies (Amaryllis belladonna) are flowering!

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Mine too! My favorite flowers.

I love how, on a hot day, you can practically watch their stalks lengthen, once sprouted.

Some I brought from the house we moved from, and then a year or so later added some liberated from an empty lot down the street about to be graded, and the two groups have yet to bloom on the same schedule, even though they reside in the same bed in identical conditions.

This does lengthen the bloom show, but how long can plant genetic memory be, for corn's sake?

Will be slicng excellent tomatoes, whose existence owes nothing to me except I sometimes turn on the watering system, with dinner tonight, as happened last night.

[Kouign Aman]

There is a flower stalk forming on the tuberrose.

[Toliver]

There is a flower stalk forming on the tuberrose. 

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Tuberose!

My brother grows a small patch of them every year ever since my sister-in-law fell in love with them. Their fragrance is wonderful...like being in the tropics but without the high airfare.

I visited my mom in San Diego for the Labor Day weekend. She was eager to show me some "weird" tomatoes one of her plants was growing. They turned out to be Romas!

There's so much fruit growing on the plant it fell over, stake and all. We re-staked it and tied it back up. I explained her "weird" tomatoes were culinary gold and she should enjoy cooking with every last one of them. My oldest brother (my family's "black sheep gourmet") will have a field day with them when he sees the crop that's coming in.

What a way to end the tomato season...

edited to add: Both my mom and brother bought an upside down planter from some slick salesperson in one of the gardening booths at the Del Mar Fair earlier this year. Both of the tomato plants my brother and mom planted in their respective new-fangled planter died. Rubes!

Edited September 6, 2006 by Toliver (log)

[Kouign Aman]

The Brussels are sprouting. The guavas are swelling. The passion fruit has been fed (fingers crossed). The silly tomatoes have new growth and the late planted oregano, thyme & carrots gave up the ghost after several weeks. They seem to be timing the light, because the weather's been plenty sunny and warm. But the basil plants (4 of em now) are going great guns. Ditto the cilantro.

And the tuberose bloomed, for which I thank you, Toliver. Without your rhapsodies on this flower I too like, I never would have thunk to plant it.

[Toliver]

And the tuberose bloomed, for which I thank you, Toliver. Without your rhapsodies on this flower I too like, I never would have thunk to plant it.

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I like spreading the tuberose gospel when I can.

My brother, who has six pots of tuberose growing, has done the calculating and figures his will burst into full bloom just about the time he and my sister-in-law will be out of town on vacation towards the end of next month. His mother-in-law, who will be minding the garden while they're gone, has thanked him in advance for the flowers that will grace her dining room table and fill her house with that amazing tropical scent while they're away. The deal they made is if anything blooms or ripens while he's away, the MIL gets first crack at it.

The great thing about tuberose is that over the years they will send more tubers out (I believe they sort of stay clumped together) and, if it stays healthy, you can end up with quite a nice crop of blooms per plant.

Enjoy!

[Kouign Aman]

Home grown apples all lovely and red.

[Kouign Aman]

Guavas take forEVER to ripen!

and the little orange peppers keep showing up all ripe and lovely in the dark green leaves. One last lone tomato is nearly ready to be devoured.

The aphids are doing their best to eat all the brussels sprouts, and something white and fuzzy is working on the orange tree. Its time for Better Living Through Chemistry!

(soap for the sprouts. God-knows-what for the citrus).

[Octaveman]

Last June I thought about growing my own lemongrass and Kaffir lime tree out of financial necesity as well as having a supply on hand when all the stores were out of stock. I resisted though because I'm known for killing anything in a pot.

Well, I finally took the plunge and started the lemongrass from a lone stalk bought at 99 Ranch. I kept it in a vase with water and it took about 2 weeks before starting to sprout. A few weeks later, the sprouts were 2 inches long and the stalk got planted. Below is where it is today after 5 months. I also bought a dwarf Kaffir lime tree pictured below that is going strong. It started with just two branches of leaves and has blossomed quite well. The leaves it produces are very fragrant and tasty.

I think all the Aztec gold has been returned and the Curse of the Black Thumb has been reversed. I apparantly CAN keep things alive in a pot.

On a side note, maybe I should get my own orange and lemon tree next.

Edited January 19, 2007 by Octaveman (log)

[Kouign Aman]

Hallelujah! Because New Year's week I started 3 stalks of lemon grass in a glass of water and am hoping they send out roots!

Those plants look lovely! Did you bring them into or near the house during the frosty nights these past two weeks or did they survive on their own? That looks like a pretty protected little corner. Congratulations on your thumb and its new shade of culinary-green.

Where did you buy your kaffir lime? Tho I think I've got a bay laurel as the next in line, before the kaffir lime.

The guavas are still getting bigger, tho the tree is nearly leafless, with these handball sized green orbs on its skinny little branches.

[Octaveman]

Thanks. Yep, brought them close to the house underneath the covered portion of the porch. I think they weathered the chills here. I haven't used any of the lemongrass yet because I'm trying to get it really big before I start hacking away at it.

I got the lime tree at http://www.fourwindsgrowers.com/lore/kaffir_lime.html. Very happy with the leaves it produces. I got the 2-3 year tree.

Good luck on your lemongrass project. Keep us updated.

Bob

[Toliver]

March seems to be "coming in like a lamb", so far.

This morning on my way to work I was surprised to see frost from last night. The storm that came through left very cold air in its wake. I'm guessing it's still too cold to even think about planting anything.

Has anyone started their tomatoes indoors, yet?

[Kouign Aman]

I'm dreaming of starting my tomatoes, but havent yet.

The cilantro is happy and leafy. The basil got wiped out by those few very cold nights (darn it. It was starting to re-leaf on lovely woody stems). The rosemary is more blue than green, from all the flowers.

The quinces finally ripened (my friend who gave me the tree said it was a guava. She was wrong. oh well.), and we didnt like them.

The cold put the deathknell to the passion fruit vine too. The lime tree is flowering as is the apple (something stole all the fruit last year - all 7 of it). Here's hoping March behaves itself!

The lemon grass grew roots. I am very happy about that! Bob, how did you handle it for the transition from glass-o-water to actual dirt? Potting soil? Sand?

etc?

[ludja]

...

The quinces finally ripened (my friend who gave me the tree said it was a guava. She was wrong. oh well.), and we didnt like them.

..

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Sorry about your other plant losses to the frost. Do you normally like quince but these are just poor specimens? I started using quince a few years ago and have found some nice uses for them.

[Toliver]

The lime tree is flowering as is the apple (something stole all the fruit last year - all 7 of it). Here's hoping March behaves itself!

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You're so fortunate. My mom's neighbor has a lime tree that will probably have to be yanked. The freeze that came through did major damage on it and the neighbor doesn't think it will come back.

I also hope March behaves so you don't lose any of those precious blossoms!

[mukki]

My brand-new Babcock peach tree has finished blossoming and appears to be setting quite a few teeny fuzzy peaches. Persian mulberry is still dormant. Boysenberries are just beginning to leaf out. Orange and lime have begun their spring growth. Last year, I had two oranges: I think a rat ate one and the other was picked too early by me. Brand-new Venus grape vine has a few bunches forming.

Tomato plants have just started showing up in nurseries so I now have 3 Red Currants (tasted amazing last year, but I only had one plant and it got spider mites) and one Moromato, which was highly recommended by Laguna Hills Nursery.