Figs: Summer crop harvest

Over the past 2 weeks, all of the breba figs ripened. These are the "Summer crop". The number was very limited, although the trees are loaded for fall (main) crop.

Not pictured, I tasted the first 'ever' figs from the Lattarula and King trees. Each had a different flavor, both sweet, juicy, 'bright' flavors. Lattarula was yellow-ish with a tan center, and King was green with a red center.

Petite Negri, Black with dark red center, sweet and rich flavor.

The Petite negri tree is kept to 7 feet tall by pruning, although it is marketed as 'dwarf'.

"Vancouver", which was grown from a cutting from an unidentified tree, likely "Brunswick", bore 5 large juicy figs. Brown color, inside is golden.

Yum!

Annual flowering of the Tan Hua, or Bunga Bakawali

More accurately, it is an Epiphyllum oxypetallum, jungle-dwelling cacti that live on tree branches and rocky outcrops far above the forest floor.

This cactus was started from a cutting, given to me by a friend. Her mother brought it to the US from Hong Kong when she emigrated. The only name that she knew was "Chinese cactus", although in reality, it's not Chinese. They originate in Mexico, central America, and Brazil. The exact origin is uncertain. They have naturalized in South Asia and Southeast Asia. This species blooms once annually. The flowers open once, during the night, then whither in the early morning and die. Their extravagant, sensual appearance, and ephemeral character, are symbolic of how beautiful, and brief, life can be.

They are grown in southern China, where they are known as Tuan Hua. Here is an article about a neighborhood in Taipei, gathering to watch one open. There it is known as "Tan Hua Yi Xian" (A Flower That Vanishes as Soon as It Appears)

I've brought it inside each winter, and leave in on the North side of the house each summer. Last year it had only 2 blossoms. The year before, it hnad a fungal infection and most of it died. This Spring I transferred it to a larger pot. The growth medium is Miracle Grow potting soil. It's growing nicely. Not a compact plant, it takes a lot of room. Fortunately, we have the space. It's easy to grow from cuttings. One small section broke off this summer. I kept walking past it thinking, "Maybe I should pot that up". Finally, feeling sorry for it after 2 or 3 weeks, I did. After 3 weeks, that section is now growing and has added a new leaf-pad, larger than the original cutting.

In South Asia and Malasia this flower is known as the Bunga Bakawali. The blossom is supposedly controlled by a night spirit, but this must be a fairly obscure legend, I could only find hints of it in a google search. I a reader of this blog knows more, I would love to hear the story.

For members of the diaspora from Southern China and Southeast Asia, the Bunga Bakawali can be a living reminder of their origin. "It was when she said that I understood everything. This flower reminded her of that distant childhood she once had, the innocent little child she once was, and most importantly, the people she truly misses, her mother, her sisters"


At 5pm, the "Dutchman's pipe" stage. The buds are starting to swell.

At 830pm. Even at this stage, they are quite beautiful.

Fully open at 10pm. This year the fragrance fills the night sky. It's raining, but this plant is in a sheltered location away from the rain.

Also at 10pm. This doesn't quite match the legend of opening exactly at midnight, but it will be open then as well. It may be confused by the time zone, of course.

8am. Having had their moment in the night, the blossoms close again. Three did not open last night, so will be expected to open tonight. That doesn't quite match the one-night-per-year legend either, but close enough.

Backyard Chicken Day

The hens are settling into a new routine. Today, I cleaned their egg house and hen house and gave them a thick layer of fresh straw. The straw from the the egg house went for mulch. It contains minimal chicken poop. The straw from the chicken house and chicken yard (actually bamboo leaves and dried grass from the yard) will go into the compost pile. Since I have been giving them fresh weeds several times weekly, the uneaten weed scraps piled up into a thick carpet. I removed that carpet down to the bare earth, then replaced it with bamboo leaves until I ran out, then some fresh straw. The hens quickly pulled away the fresh straw, to scratch for bugs and worms in the soft soil.

Currently the lone white leghorn, purchased as a 11 week pullet this spring, is the sole egg layer. I bought her, and her Americauna companion, thinking that it would be easy to tell which hen lays which egg. Then one started crowing, and blamed the Leghorn. Gave her away. Then the crowing continued. It was the Americauna. So we had an exchange again. Now the leghorn is laying an egg daily. All of the eggs in the photo are her production.

With the debacle of gender confusion, and the nonlaying status of the 2 old hens, Ning wanted to give away the older ones as well. So there are now 2 new breeds in the yard - Australorp and Rhode Island Red. Both are considered good layers, so Ning should be happy. They haven't started laying yet. I think the Australorp will start in about 2 to 4 weeks.

What's up in the Kitchen Garden?

I'm so excited! The peaches are getting bigger and more colorful. This is Honey Babe. It fully recovered from the peach leaf curl of 2008, and the preventive measure last winter was completely successful. How cool is that!

We ate several Lemon Boy and a big bowl of Supersweet 100 this week. I added some high nitrogen organic liquid feed last week, based on advice from the Davis Calif garden show. I neglected to feed them in May, so most of the plants are smaller now, compared to last year. Even so, it looks like there will be a good crop of tomatoes and peppers this year.

The zucchinis are also starting to make up for lost time. These are the easiest crop of the garden.

Grapes are not even close to ripe yet. This is Price grape, trained over a gate. The vine is about 6 years old. It will be the best crop ever for this vine. I watered deeply, twice this summer. Otherwise it's getting its water from deep in the ground. I read that grapevines can send roots incredibly deep, so they shouldn't need much water from above.

I like the tower method of training cucumbers. We're getting about 1 cuke daily now. These are chinese cucumbers. By the end of summer, these cukes will reach the top of the tower, 7 feet. Training vertically reduces risk for mildew, and the cukes are easy to find and pick. Plus, it's a very small location, and the tower makes the best use of this garden niche.

What's blooming? Aug 1, 2009

With the recent heatwave, the flowers are showing some stress. I have not watered every day, but try to water the veggies and major flowers every other day. Mulch helps. The fruit trees get water once weekly. The fruit trees that I planted this year, get deep water every other day. The lawn is brown - better for the environment, and it's what I do every summer.

Most of the lilies are scorched. A few, in the shade, are looking better. The sunflowers are courtesy of the birds, who managed to spill seeds all over the place.

Bird-planted sunflower.

This lily in in the shade, on the North side of the house.


Rose-of-Sharon is an unsung hero of the flowering shrubs. Even with neglect, scorching heat, and less than ideal location, it's blooming like crazy.

Who is visiting?

The map is about to be archived, meaning that the display will be wiped clean and start fresh. That way, it doesn't become a red smear. This is the last map before archiving. There have been 18,880 visits in the past year, and 39,980 visits in 3 years. Welcome to the garden!

My recent lack of posts. Garden log

Dueing the past few months, there have been fewer posts on growing greener. Despite that, there have been many readers checking in on the garden.

I've been making multiple trips to the midwest, with 2 very ill parents. The work schedule has been extended as well. This is not complaining - in this economy, just having a job and career is something to be grateful for. But it has meant significant neglect of the backyard garden and the blog.

So here are a few updates. Pictures to follow.

The chickens -

The Americauna pullet turned out to be a rooster. Not allowed in my town. Can't be kept secretly, either - he was announcing his presence early and loudly. SO he was given to a coworker. His fate... "Don't ask / Don't tell".

The Leghorn has grown up and is laying one nice, large, egg daily.

The Australorp pullets are nearly to laying size. They have a definite "hen-like" appearance (although so did the Americauna).

The tomatoes -

2 days ago I picked 3 medium sized Lemon Boy and a big handful of Supersweet 100.
The plants have remained small. Last week I added some organic high-N food to give them a boost.

The figs -
One ripe "Vancouver" breba yesterday. One getting close. Two ripe Petite negri, probably tomorrow. Two Lattarula probably ripe next week - that will be the first from these trees. Not much, but they are loaded with figs for fall crop, so I'm happy to get a preview.

The Peppers -
All are loaded with fruit. Not large yet, but peppers don't need to be ripe to be eaten.

Other Crops -
Roma beans yielded a bowl of beans last night. The summer crop of raspberries is done. With the recent heat, some of the leaves are scorched, but it looks like there will be a big fall crop. I'll post some peach photos - getting closer! Pears weighing down the tree. Lots of cucumbers. Zucchinis once again giving more than we can eat.

Flowers -
These have sufferred neglect, the most. Lillies are blooming, and fragrant. Some are scorched. I'm definitely moving more toward Xeriscaping with more succulents next year - the sedums and sempervivums are surviving like shamps. The night blooming cactus has the most buds, ever. Probably bloom in late august.

I have some photos to upload tonight.

With my Dad on hospice, and my Mom having Alzheimer's, there is a good chance that there will be more deferred maintenance in the yard. Even so, doing the gardening and writing about it give me peace of mind and something to look forward to, so I'll work on posting at least once weekly again. I ordered a large # of bulbs for fall planting, just to have something to look forward to. I have plans to re-engineer a couple of garden beds for better access and improved spacing. This will involve further encroachment into former lawn. No problem. I let the lawn go brown, so at least no mowing now.

What's blooming?

Family illnesses and other issues have kept me from keeping up with the garden and blog. Despite neglect, the garden appears to be growing rampantly. Weeds too, but despite being unsightly, they are not enough to get in the way of the veggies, fruits, and flowers.

What's up in the Kitchen Garden?

Ning's happy about his cherry tree producing so many cherries.

This is about half of the cherry crop. Yum!

Lots of stuff in bloom now.

Strawberries - Getting about a pound every day.
Raspberries - A bowl full daily now.
Tomatoes - All in bloom now.
Figs - The few brebas are getting larger, not there yet.
Peaches - I'm wondering if I should have thinned more. They are weighing down the tree branches! WIll need to get some supports soon.
cherries - I also summer pruned them. CUt most new growh back to 6 inches to a foot, in most cases leaving the first tuft of leaves pluys a few. Most of the removed growth was about 2 feet in length.

Epihyllum forst bloom

This hybrid epi was purchased as a rooted cutting 2 years ago. This is the first bloom. The variety is "Piccolo". It opened last night, and is still open now, 24 hours later, so the bloosom has more staying power compared to the one-night-stand of Epiphyllum oxypetallum.