Saturday homework

Just homework today.
Goals tomorrow:
Get through homework backlog (yeah, right)
Inflate bike tires. Leave them for a few days to see if they deflate.
Bake pie.
Make lunches for Monday

I'm keeping the birds well fed. There were very few insects around this summer. Maybe the birds helped.

It's hard to get a good pic of the birds. I don't want to sit waiting for them. There are birds at the feeder almost constantly.

My buddy Charlie.

He stays by my side while I'm doing homework.  I couldn't survive without him.

My home office window.  The orchids are in an in-between stage.  Not growing much, not blooming.  The holiday cacti are blooming like crazy.  One cymbidium has started sending out spikes.  I haven't decided if I should leave the others outside.  It's starting to become chilly.

Apricot Pie

These were apricots that I processed and froze this summer. I baked the pie using instructions for peach pie but cut back the sugar by about a third. This is my usual olive oil crust, but I used vinegar instead of lemon juice. The taste of vinegar cooks out, but it makes the crust very flaky. Yummy pie!

Rainy and Chilly

Turns out yesterday was the perfect day for a little planting - today is chilly and rainy. The rain will settle the bulbs and onion/garlic sets in nicely.

I read about planting garlic.  Some gardeners plant on the shortest day of the year (Winter Solstice) - we are WAY ahead of that.  Some plant in early October.  So I'm in good company.  The various ones that I'm sure I have missed in the ground have not sprouted above the ground, so I'm not much behind mother nature on that either.

I planted the following. They were from Dutchbulbs.com. The photos are from that site as well. I ordered them this summer, this time a small number due to I know I would not have a lot of planting time.

"Blushing Lady" Narcissus. Six bulbs. Something to add variety to the many others already planted over the years.

Narcussus "Dinner Plate". There were two very large bulbs - the size of Amaryllis bulbs.

Hemerocallis "Sixth Sense" listed as "6" flowers with ruffled petals in cream and gold tones with a red eye and wired edge. Mid-season, rebloomer, tetraploid, semi-evergreen." Being semi-evergreen it may not be as hardy as a dormant variety, more hardy than an evergreen.

Hemerocallis "Startle". This is a dormant variety, so considered more hardy.

Lilium citronella, an old variety. I like these. They are also labeled as "Yellow Turk's cap lilies".

After some time off from gardening

During the past couple of days, I've started again.  In an era when many are jobless, it's important to have perspective.  Still, it is nice to do what I enjoy,

This week I bought 2 large plastic bins for container planters.  I planted garlic and multiplier onions.  One variety of garlic has been growing in my yard for 6 or 7 years, Incehlium red.  The plants that I had in containers did very well.  The plants in the garden were inhibited by weeds.  I also bought via mail order, from Southern Exposure, a couple of German Garlic heads.  These had huge cloves, but were a bit soft.  Both are planted.  If they grow, I'll have above 50 heads this fall.

I planted white potato onions this week, also in container.  This year the patch was overtaken by weeds, and I'm more and more sold on containers.  This is a bit late.  I've planted them as late as January, and I think they did OK, so late Oct planting should work too.

There are still some peppers and tomatoes and figs. Not bad considering I let them all go to weeds this summer.

Orchid Report

During all of the destruction, construction, work and chaos, I've tried to keep the orchids properly placed, watered and fed. There may be a few casualties, but I think most have come through it. One concern was the fumes from floor finishing - it may be a while before the effects show up, but there does not appear to be any immediate death due to that exposure.

A new addition, Brassada Orange Delight "Hilo Sunrise". It was in spike and is now blooming. Bright and cheerful, compact size. If it stays small, and grows new, blooming pseudobulbs next year, that will be great.

Yamamoto Dendrobium Spring Dream "Apollon". These are the first blossoms on growth in my hands. It's interesting that so many of the Yamamoto Dendrobiums bloom in summer and again in winter.

Another view of Spring Dream "Apollon". The central eye is greener than shows up on the digital photo.  It has a single keiki, which is cool. If there were a lot of keikis, it would be a sign over too much nitrogen, but this one is on old non-blooming growth, and is a single keiki.  I will let it grow in place for a while.  There is also a new growth from the base.  Once the plant is done blooming, I will change back to a higher nitrogen orchid food to encourage the new growth to develop.

Yamamoto Dendrobium Yellow Song "Canary".