Friday, August 11, 2006

Grapes are starting to ripen. Brown Turkey fig shows promise.


Canadice Grape. Not quite ripe. These are beautiful when they develop the full red color. Grapes make excellent edible landscaping because:

1. They can be grown over a deck or sidewalk, so their 'yard footprint' is small. Grown on an arbor over a deck, they make cool shade and provide a mediterranian feel. Like a vacation in ancient rome.
2. They dont need any fertilizing (In fact, if they are fertilized, they grow too fast and dont have any grapes).
3. They grow very easily.
5. They are good for you, one of the top 10 antioxidant foods.
6. Home-grown grapes taste much better thean the grocery store grapes.



Price Grape. Nice "Grapey" flavor. The first ripe grapes in our yard.



Brown Turkey Fig. These will probably ripen in September. Posted by Picasa

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Tomatoes. Bike. Figs.

Tomatoes are bearing bowl-fulls daily. Lots of cherries, tart & sweet and juicy and tomatoey.

Gave some Cherokee Purple away. This tomato is amazingly good. People love it so much, it's better to share it & see the response, than to eat it. Almost. Well, not really. But it is very fun to see how people respond to these super delicious tomatoes. I love sharing them. LemonBoy, different flavor, more tropical fruit - but still very juicy and very good. Tomande - wow. But that Cherokee Purple is amazing.

Biked another 22 miles today. Constantly hungry. BP 139/84. On bike days (or rather, nights after bike days), I sleep like the dead. It's great. Very few bikes on the road, but last year it seemed like there would only be one or two per day, now maybe a half dozen.

I finished the breba figs. Vancouver Brunswick had only one breba; Ilet it ripen until there was clearly the beggars robe. This fig was sweet as candy; almost maple sugar. Petite negri had about a dozen brebas; also much better when fully ripe (although each looked like a bird had poked one poke in each fig). Main crop: I counted about 30 on Brown Turkey, about 30 on VB, and about 100 on PN. I'll try not to "count them before they hatch" - oops, already counted. Oh, and Marseilles - one fig. But all I want is to get a taste. Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Gratuitous Cat Photo. Bike Statistics. Vitals.

Her name is George W Bush. She kills mice. She tolerates poodles. She was homeless and starving. Now she's not.

Today's bike ride, another 22 miles today. I added a mile each way for safer route and more peaceful ride. That's 66 miles so far this week. Lask week was also 66 miles, also, so 132 since starting after the broken rib incident.

Weight this am 209. BP 129/89 HR 78. This compares to January, 239#, 163/105. No meds. Posted by Picasa

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Ecola State Park, coastal Oregon.


Day trip, needed some perspective.  Posted by Picasa

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Raspberries

This raspberry (Summit) is in its 3rd year. It was included in a shipment from Raintree Nursery, starting with a single 1 foot tall cane.

As an "everbearing" it bears 2 crops - one in May-June, one in Aug-Sept. There were about 2 quarts overall earlier this summer; if last year is an indication there will be a bit more this fall.

These never make it into the kitchen. I eat them off the plant.

I have another variety, Fallgold which is also 'everbearing', and has larger, juicier yellow berries. These are very sweet. I dont know which one I like more - probably, the one that I am eating at the time.

I grow this bramble as a shrub, like a rosebush. I don't need a long row - this "shrub" is enough for two people. The garden "footprint" is about 4 square feet (2 feet by 2 feet). Each year, I add a few inches of compost to the soil surface around the bramble. In early Summer a bark chip mulch is added to the soil surface on top of the compost. They don't get any other fertilizer, and no sprays at all. They are surrounded by an edging to hold in the mulch and provide a slightly raised bed, although some canes have spread beyond the edging. These can be easily removed with a pruning shear.

Maintenance is minimal. Once a cane has completed its crop, it is pruned off at the base (I removed the 2nd crop canes last week). In the fall, when bearing stops, the bearing portion of the cane is removed, leaving the lower portion for next year. That's all for the pruning.

Raspberries were eaten in Troy (Western Turkey) by the ancient Greeks. The Romans spread them through Europe. They were enjoyed by European royalty, and byalso native Amercans prior to the presence of Europeans on this continent. There are varieties native to Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Posted by Picasa

Friday, August 04, 2006

Global Warming



Scary stuff.

Four local fig trees

Here are 4 fig trees along the route to work. I dont know the varieties. Once I start looking, I see them everywhere.


Posted by Picasa

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Heliotrope, Bike log, Tomato time.

This is a heliotrope that overwintered accidentally. The pot went into the garage while cleaning the yard. It stayed dry all winter. It was brought back out when cleaning the garage. It started growing and here it is. It has been fed some compost, and now watered regularly. This winter maybe it will be overwintered intentionally.

The scents and fragrances make the garden a great place to putter. There is usually something during the entire growing season. The strongest ones now are lilies, heliotrope, lavender, and rosemary. Some basil and mint as well.

Bike: 60 miles this week. Varying the route to keep it interesting. Avoiding traffic when possible. I like checking on yards. There are quite a few fig trees around town, many with ripening fruit. Also, quite a few yards and tree spaces with ginkgos. Many yards have gone brown for the summer - either more people are thinking about water conservation, or just lazy about watering.

Shared tomatoes are popular at work. Lemon boy is producing enough to start sharing. Cherokee purple - great tasting, not that many tomatoes yet. I get a small cucumber about every 3rd day. The cool thing about trying new vegetables in the garden is that I eat things that I would rarely buy, like the cukes.

Plan for tomorrow:

Big-time homework day (arrgghhhh). Set aside to time for fig and tomato check for blog. Maybe bike to different work location to catch up some paperwork there in the afternoon, weather permitting. Posted by Picasa