What's Blooming? 7.13.22

 Here are some daylily hybrids I created some years ago while playing mad scientist.

This one is more lavender in person.  Cellphone doesn't catch the true color.

This one is not so good.  I think I'll get rid of it and plant a better one in its place.

The Alstroemerias that I bought are responding to the TLC I gave them.  It's mostly just opening buds that were already there.   I think more will develop soon.

This looks better in person.

Sedum in a barrel.  This is a few years old.  I started it from a bunch of discarded pieces about six inches long, just piking a stick into the ground to make a hole, then pushing the sedum pieces into the hole.  Sedums are incredibly easy to start and grow.  This barrel never gets watered or fertilized.  They are too packed in together for weeds to grow.  It's a great plant.

Ant Protection For Ripening Figs. 7.3.22

 When figs are ripening, ants usually find them and tunnel inside.  They can bring molds and spoil the fig before it's fully ripe.

I usually forget until the figs start to ripen, but not this year.  It's a simple treatment.  Wrap plastic wrap fairly tightly around the trunk, the spread on some Tanglefoot,  Tanglefoot is a very sticky, gooey substance, thicker and more persistent than vaseline.  Ants can't climb past it.

Now they are protected against ant damage.  It's a good idea to remove the Tanglefoot strip after the fig harvest.  I've forgotten at times, and fungi grew between the plastic and the bark, damaging the trunk.

Now the fig trees have "The four protections"-

(1)  Pruning height to deter deer.

(2)  Yellow Jacket traps to deter yellow jackets.

(3)  Scare tape to deter birds.

(4) Tanglefoot to deter ants.

Will there be figs this year? We should know in a few more weeks.

Sandwich Bread. 7.2.22

 Today I broke in the new electric range, baking a loaf of sandwich bread.

The flour must have been more moist than usual - by the time I kneaded in enough for the right  consistency, there was enough for an extra mini-loaf.

I didn't know if I would like electric.   The bread loaf baked more evenly and a little faster than the gas oven.  I think it cane out perfect.  Cookies (gingersnaps) baked the same as with gas, but again, about a minute faster.  

I'm not sold yet on having a glass cooktop, but at least it should stay cleaner.  Pots seem to boil faster, but I can't use cast iron so will have to adapt.

Cleome Seedlings. 7.2.22

 Today I planted the cleome seedlings into the meditation garden.  They were small, so not root bound.

Cleome is a warm weather plant, so I had waited until recently to start them.  There were about nine usable seedlings, which is plenty.  

I started these seeds May 23rd.  The germination was slow and uneven, so the plant sizes are variable.  

Potato Flowers. 7.1.22

 Elba potatoes are blooming nicely.  These are a "late potato" but apparently bloom earlier and better than my other varieties.

Bird Deterrent For Raspberries. 7.1.22

 The raspberries are doing great.  Barely beginning to pink up.  Next to them is a redcurrant that birds stripped of every berry.  I didn't get to taste even one.

Strips of holographic tape usually deter birds, so I was generous in how much I tied to the raspberries and to the fence above them.

Here's a video.  I tie it lime a kite tail, so every slight breeze whips the strips around.  It can be noisy and in the sun, the flashes of light are almost blinding.  I added some to one of the fig trees, too.

First Garlic Harvest. 7.1.22

 These are the first of the "Music" variety garlic, that I planted last fall.  I've grown them through many garlic generations here, so they are very well adapted.  The cloves are very large, and strongly flavored.

These are not ready to dig for storage.  The paper-like covering needs to be dried out first.  I think they will be ready in a few more weeks.  Meanwhile, we have fresh garlic from the garden.

Roscoff Fig Tree. 7.1.22

The convent fig tree in Roscoff, France was planted in 1610. The wide ranging branches were supported by granite pillars. The branches covered an area of 600 square metres. The trunk itself had a circumference of 1.75 metres. The tree could shelter five hundred people. The tree lived into the 1980s, when it was removed.

Roscoff is a community in coastal Brittany, in NW France.  

Brutally Pruned "Hardy Chicago" Fig Tree Made A Comeback. 7.1.22

 Here is the Hardy Chicago fig tree that I pruned in March, as of today.

Here is how it looked just after pruning, 15 March 22.

I tipped the most vigorous new shoots, as I usually do, to promote formation of fig buds.  Given the severity of the pruning, it may not bear this year.  Or it might.

(The house has been repaired and painted recently, but it's the same tree).

Removing Rain Cover From Genetic Dwarf Peach Trees. 6.28.22

I removed the rain cover from the genetic dwarf peaches.  It worked - no leaf curl at all  except one branch that was sticking out in the rain.  The bigger tree is Garden Gold (I think).

This tree is very lush, but only about five feet tall.  Under all those leaves one can find growing peaches.  They were too thick so I removed about 90% of them, a few weeks ago.

The First Squash Blossoms. 6.28.22

 The winner for the first squash blossom, is yellow summer squash "Saffron".

The heirloom zucchini, Costata romanesca has a lot of flower buds.  The plants are incredibly vigorous.  They look like rhubarb plants at this stage.

The first flowers this year are all female, which usually means they won't form squashes.  Sometimes they do anyway.

Having an irrigation system on these is a real life saver.  It's a lot less carrying of buckets and hoses.  Squash leaves show water stress by wilting, and there is none of that so far.

Fig Tree TLC. 6.28.22

 So far, this looks like a good fig year.  I counted forming figs on Lattarula and stopped at 50 figs.  There must be at least 30 on Desert King, and at least "several" in Brunswick (a special treat) and even Petite Aubique (heavenly but a poor producer).  I think buds are forming for a fall crop on Celeste and Louisiana Tiger.  The fig trees that bear summer crop have branches drooping to the ground.  The wood is willowy, new growth and figs are heavy.  That would be great, except it places the ripening figs at salad bar height for deer.

I tie the branches upright, using the trunk or other branches for support.  I was cleaning the garden shed and found more yellow jacket traps, so cleaned those and added new bait.

For fig trees that make a fall crop, removing the tips from vigorous new growth stimulates new figs to form.  It's simple.  The growth tips are brittle.  I just bend them and they snap off.  Before.

After

I Made A Quilted, Reversible, Sewing Machine Cover. 6.27.22

 The old Kenmore sewing machine has a cover, but it's gigantic, clunky, and takes up a lot of room.  I thought it would be good to make a quilted dust cover for it.  A clean sewing machine is a happy sewing machine.

This is the result. It's reversible.  In "Sunflower Mode", each end has a pocket and a handle.  

I don't know what the pockets are for.  They are there if needed.  The handles aren't necessary buy are kind  of handy.  Handy handles LOL.

Turn it inside out, and it's in sort of antique'y quilty mode.  No pockets on this side, just handles.  The handles on this side are sewn between the pockets and handles on the sunflower side, so the quilt isn't too thick to sew together.

This started by cutting pattern paper to fit the sewing machine.  I gave it a couple extra inches in every direction because quilts shrink when first washed.

I sewed together a quilt sandwich, big enough to fit the patterns.  One side was the sunflower cotton fabric.  (there was an extra block in the pattern for a front pocket.  I didn't use that).

The other side was from a roll of "vintage look" strips that I bought mail order during the worst of the pandemic.  They were on close-out and I wanted something to learn on.  I just sewed them together to make a sheet.

Between the fabrics, I used 1/4" cotton batting, left over from a quilt.  I had to join together two pieces.  I used the three-step zigzag setting for that.

I'm not sure I knew the Kenmore could fit a walking foot, but it did.  I used that to quilt the fabric in diagonal 2" squares.  I used the guide on the walking foot instead of marking lines with tape.  That went much faster. 

Then I cut it all put.  I lined the patterns on the striped side so they would be even.

I cut binding ribbon from the fabrics for the seams, handles, and pocket tops.  For the ends, I cut it on the bias.  After sewing it all together, and adding the binding, I machine washed and dried the cover.  It's a good thing I made it about an inch too big all around, because that is how much shrinkage there was.

I'll save the patterns.  If I make another, I might leave off the pockets, but make a pouch for the pedal and cord.  The cover is tall enough, I don't have to remove the spool of thread to put on the cover.  I like the reversibility.  

It looks a bit like a big pillow ate a toaster LOL.

(Source - heavily modified from a pattern on the blog Sewcanshe.com).

 Tropical Lightening climbing rose.

It's not climbing yet but the flowers have a sweet tea rose perfume.  Each flower is different from the next.

More Drip Irrigation. 6.24.22.

 I put in a drip irrigation line for the rest of the squashes, as well as so mini dwarf apples and potted lilies.

 

Last year, the squashes were  my biggest watering burden, so I'm glad they are on an irrigation line now.  They are really taking off and growing.  I do need to stake the hoses down.  They are somewhat of a tripping hazard.

Ugly Pie. 6.24.22

 I still had some cherry pie filling in the freezer, so made a pie.  The crust was very difficult to work with, brittle and kept falling apart. My guess is the flour, which was the last of a big bag of institutional bleached white  flour bought by internet during the early part of the pandemic.  The crust was too brittle to top the pie so I tried a lattice topping but that fell apart too.

Still, the flavor was good.  Even the crust was good, despite the difficulty in working with it.  

I think there is some rhubarb on the plant, calling my name now.  Maybe that's next.

Alstroemeria. 6.24.22

 I made a trip to the store and saw these.  They were pretty messy but the price was quite good, so I bought a couple.

I think these are described as deer resistant, so it's a test.  Plus, some survive the winters here.  I have larger Alstromeria that I from divisions last year, in my garden, overwintered from last year.  But these look like they will become quite colorful.  I think they will fill in and bloom a lot more, once they establish.

Hardy Chicago Offset Cutting Starting To Grow Seven Months Later. 6.24.22

 In November I cut an offset from the big Hardy Chicago fig tree.  I was unable to obtain more than a few tiny roots.  I planted it anyway.  This week I noticed a significant start of growth.  Seven months later, and all of the other fig trees are already lush and green now.  I gave it some balanced fertilizer and water.  Now that it is growing, I want to continue the TLC and see if it establishes and becomes a tree.

It's difficult getting the I-phone to focus well on such small buds, so they are a bit blurry.

This is the offset that I started with in November.  I didn't have a lot of expectation it would grow, but fig trees can be surprising.  That's really not much root for such a big top.  On the other hand, sometimes fig trees can be grown grow dormant cuttings that are all stick and no root at all, when they are started.

 

Planting More Seedlings. 6.24.22

 There are a few more seedlings to plant.  

African marigolds - planted the rest of them.  The ones already in the ground are already perking up.

The cosmos seedling that I set out a few days ago are growing.

More seedlings to plant - mostly French marigolds from home saved seeds, cleome, and thunbergia seedlings that I think don't like chilly nights and cool days we have now,

I want to plant those during the next couple of days,

An Excellent Gardening Aid for an Older Gardener. 6.20.22

 I bought this at Bi-Mart.

In this position, it's a nice seat for resting or working in raised beds.

In this position, it's an excellent kneeling pad.  The cushion is just the right firmness, and the side handles make standing up again a LOT easier.

 What a great tool.