It's been quite a while since I've posted a Garden Update! I apologize for not keeping up on this site. We had a near fiasco with our neighbor BEHIND us sanding down the trim of their house to the bare wood. To make things worse, it was a VERY windy day when the Painter decided to work. We live in a fairly old neighborhood that was built in the late 1950's and I was frantic that the paint dust that was whirling around us and potentially spreading lead all over our veggie beds!!! I posted what was happening on the RIPE forum and got some suggestions and sympathy. It's great to have support from like-minded folk! So, after worrying about it and having Tim vacuum the first inch of the top soil off (he even bought a brand new shop vac for this). We tested the soil for lead and it was NEGATIVE!!! Praise God! Whew! What a relief!!! I'm still not thrilled about the particles of acrylic paint, but you can only do so much to control your environment in such a confined area such as a city. Oh, how I yearn to have more open land...
So...besides the paint fiasco it is...
HAILING!
In Southern California!
We were blessed with a good amount of rain today.
We'll get a break on Tues and it's supposed to rain some more on Wed.
And I was just about to announce that spring is here. I took very spring-like pictures below!
The "Goldmine" nectarine graft has taken!!!
"Pilgrim" peach also looks just about ready to bloom! Yay!
The others are iffy. Not too sure if they have taken. I think it had to do with how thin I stretched the parafilm to cover the grafts. I didn't have much parafilm since I just bought a strip from the grafting teacher. The film ended up cracking and therefore the graft became desiccated and withered. :(
Day Lilies are showing signs of spring.
Did you know they are edible?
Loquats starting to fatten up. This year, I didn't have the time to thin the fruits, so they probably won't be as large. We did a severe pruning on the tree, so we didn't get as much fruit as the previous years.
Kumquat just about ready!
Alstroemeria in the front and Clivia in the back
Primroses in a pot
Cilantro in a pot in the foreground and Calendula in the background
Here I focused on the Calendula and the Valencia oranges in the back. (yes, that's a compost bin hiding behind the orange tree)
Valencia oranges is about to bloom :)
A quick snapshot of the late winter garden. The Fig tree looks bare from this pic, but it's already starting to bud! We couldn't believe that it was budding fruits too, this tree is amazing!
I'm not sure what these flowers are called... but cute, white and whispering, "spring is here"
Sorry, this is not angled correctly. Nappa cabbage blooming!
2 comments:
Hi,
Where did you take the grafting class? I have been trying some grafts for two years and have had zero success, and now realize I need to take a class.
Thanks!
I took a class that was offered for free by the California Rare Fruit Growers Assn. I learned a few different methods, but the instructor said that the method he prefers gives him 95% success rate. For me it was about a 40% success rate because I stretched the parafilm too thin, due to the lack of supply. ( I bought a small strip from the instructor) Now, I've purchased my own supply, so I am confident that next time I will do a better job.
thanks for dropping by!
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