Sunday, October 14, 2007

Chores, sharing, fall update

No photos today.

Steve from Scappose is now in possession of most of my remaining 'orphan' figs - they were not doing so well in containers, there is no room in the garden, so I'm glad that they have found a home. good luck and farewell, Brown turkey, melanzana, and a Hardy Chicago. He brought a nice canna to add to the collection.

Figs are bearing about 1 per day, enough to keep me interested and grateful. thoughts for next year's figs: I wont worry about summer crup. I'll prune more severely in the Winter, for an earlier main crop. Maybe Lattarulla will bear an actual fig now that it's in the ground, on the SOuth side of the house. It will also get a more severe pruning.

Grapes are still bearing, remaining varieties are Canadice and probable Niagra. The probable Niagra is a green seeded grape that grew up into a cherry tree.

Tomatoes have a few stragglers.

Planted several rows of Inchelium garlic in back, and a few German Red garlic in front. I might like the german better.... stronger and larger cloves, but not as productive. Last year i planted them 3 or 4 weeks earlier. Didnt have time until now.

Planted heirloom Yellow multiplier onions, this time some in small bunches for scallions, and some in rows for eating onions. About 30 planted altogether, not a lot but there isnt much room. I do like the flavor. Last year i planted them 3 or 4 weeks earlier. See above.

Planted 80 tulip bulbs in bunches of 3 to 5.

There were 6 nice large cayenne peppers on one pepper plant. Nice little harvest.

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Fall

The brugmansia like this weather. The most blooms ever.
My favorite fig, "Vancouver" Brunswick- giving me about one fig per day. They ar enot all ripening at onc,e which is great.
Petite negri. When they ripen, there should be lots, soon.
The main tomato that remains is principe borghese. The others have a few stragglers, too.
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Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Bathroom Project




Bath-tub to be redone on Friday, then all that remains is paint the doorframe and replace the door. I'll check the used house parts store for a 'classic door' before going to Lowes or Home Depot. Then..... Bathroom #2?Posted by Picasa

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Peaches. Bulb Planting. Puttering.

Wednesday I noted that some peaches had fallen from this miniature tree. I picked them up, and more fell off. There were about 30 peaches. This is Garden Gold miniature peach. The tree is 3 years old. Unlike Honey Babe, it didn't have much problem this year with leaf curl.

These were very tasty. They have prominant fuzz, which is something that I like about them.

I got inspired, and a Raintree Nursery catalog came at the same time. I reserved another genetic dwarf peach, this time El Dorado.

Site for peaches at Raintree Nursery is here.

I also saw the Tri Lite peach/plum hybrid. It will replace a nonproductive apple (golden delicious) in the yard. Not a genetic dwarf. Site for tri-lite is here. Dave Wilson Nursery's photo of Tri Lite is here. After enjoying the Flavor Delight Aprium and various pluots, I feel inspired to try another Zaiger tree. Dave Wilson Nursery's description of the interspecific hybridization ast Zaiger genetics is very interesting and can be found here. They also devoped a 3-way hybrid, peach, plum, apricot, that they have called a "Peacotum™", which apparently is not on the market yet. They report this one as having a 'fruit coctail' flavor. I think that when this one comes onto the market, an existing ornamental or fruit in my yard wil have to give way to it (unless it costs a fortune, which it might).

Today I also planted 64 "Fortune" Daffodils (photo examples from google search here) , One globemaster allium (google search result here), and 6 each "City of Haarlem and Gipsy Queen Hyacinths (here and here). Oh, plus I finished off a 35-bulb bag of "Tete-a-Tete" Narcissus (here).

Bulb planting is an act of faith, suggesting hope that the upcoming Winter will pass and I'll still be here. Also an investment in the future, knowing that when they do come up I'll be watching closely, hoping for releif from the darkness of winter.



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Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Crinodonna. Anigozanthos

This Anigozanthos did well this year, blooming most of the summer, and proved to be tolerant of sporadic watering. The yellow variety (not pictured) has green leaves but didn't produce a single flower this summer. Does that mean it will be a winter bloomer?

Having seen these outside in Las Vegas, I suspect that they just aren't Pacific Northwest material, but will continue to try.
Posted by PicasaThis Crinodonna has bloomed reliably in this location for 4 summers in a row. This is the first year for a pair of flower stems. The photo does not catch the subtle apricot hue of the blossom. It's quite striking.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Charlie "Sit!"

Not much of a plot but it captures some of Charlie's 'spirit'.

Doggie Video Test

Sunday, September 16, 2007

White Marseilles FIg

This is "White Marseilles" = Lattarulla = Lemon fig. It's been growing in a container for 3 years. This summer it "almost" had a fig but that fell off, so I've never tasted one from this tree.

It wasnt happy in the container, drying out too fast. The leaves are pale and look ready to fall off now, ahead of the other in-ground fig trees.

This location is the former home of a raspberry that got out of hand, the berries were small. I like the Fallgold better - bigger, sweeter, and smaller plant. So, I dug out the raspberry, and planted this tree into the ground. Added crushed eggshells for calcium, and covered the soil with a leaf compost mulch.

I lso planted 30 bulbs of a small narcissus around the edges, for Spring color.
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Bathroom Project

Posted by PicasaAnother step closer. Hired a plumber to finish the fixtures. First he spent a lot of time saying that the plumber who roughed in the pipes did it all wrong. Then he said that the new Toto water saving toilet could not be installed on the original drain pipe and that the tile coult not be drilled. So I did it yesterday, he was wrong on both counts and now we have a new water saving toilet. Then he only managed to get the sink 1/2 done, so I wound up finishing that. Apparently the original plumber installed the wrong pipe for the bath tub spout - a part will be sent in the mail to replace that, and I hope that it will work.
Still major progress in the right direction, with a working sink and toilet, ,and a tub that is 'almost there'.
Now to spackle over the cement board above the tub, then prime and paint.