lettuce is growing strong

The new lettuce is doing well. We've had much more rain than usual for December, but the little raised bed garden doesn't seem to mind.

winter garden is waking up

Since I pulled up the tomatoes, the raised bed has looked so empty. Just recently, though, the winter crops I planted are starting to sprout. From afar you see only the lettuce, but when you look more closely, the ground is thick with tiny carrots and onions too.

lettuce

onions

onions

onions

carrots

carrots

new lettuce is sprouting!

It's been 15 days since I planted the lettuce and now the seeds are sprouting. It warms my heart to see a little sea of lettuce sprouts spread out over the raised bed.

 I spread the seeds a little close to one another. I imagine I should thin soon.

 

a few ripe figs

The two fig trees I planted on Halloween 2009 are producing a few figs this year.

We didn't have much room on the south side of the house, but I squeezed in a few fig trees anyway. I feel fortunate that the trees seem to have thrived, and we are happy to still have tasty fruit, even in December.

Our neighbor's house is quite close by, so the figs are shaded from the sun in the winter months. Figs often produce two crops, but December does seem a bit late. I wonder if the shade is contributing to the very late crop?

The fruit of the fig tree is interesting inside. Technically, a the fig fruit is a "synconium" - a hollow fruit with multiple tiny ovaries on the inside surface.

 The tiny seeds inside are what give figs their delightful subtly crunchy texture.

interesting grape leaves

 The grape leaves continue through their color changes. There's a certain quiet dignity in these cycles of growth and recession.

Autumn Royal leaves

Autumn Royal leaves

Autumn Royal leaves

It's interesting to see that the Autumn Royal leaves are quite different from the Thompson Seedless leaves.

Thompson Seedless leaves

Thompson Seedless leaves

valencia oranges still hanging on

I planted the Valencia orange tree in August 2009. We didn't have any fruit last year, but this year we might have a small harvest.

Here are a few hopeful candidates that are still hanging on.

no new seedlings yet

I planted carrots, lettuce, and onions eight days ago. The next few days, though, we were hit by a sudden frosty snap. There was thick frost over the garden bed and water was frozen in the hose. I hope the seeds sprout, but it doesn't look good so far.

New Planting

We harvested the last of the tomatoes today and I pulled up the vines. There is something satisfying about putting the vines in the compost pile. It's good to put the nutrients back into the soil.

   After consulting the planting chart from the local agricultural extension, I planted the next round of crops. We chose carrots, onions, and two different lettuces.

wilting grape leaves

A few days ago, I was wondering when the grape leaves would start to fall. Then the temperature dropped last night and the leaves seem to have transformed overnight. Many of them wilted. I imagine they're sending their stored sugars into the vines. 

tragedy in squash-land!

Last night the temperature dropped to 30 degrees for a few hours. We awoke to find our previously healthy squash plants all wilted. There is a small chance that they'll perk up tonight, but probably not. I've been learning much about the randomness of weather and success in a small garden.

winter squash still growing

Some beast has dug up all the carrot sprouts, but the winter squash are still surviving. We have high hopes for squash in a few months.

autumnal grape leaves

 The grape leaves are starting to change colors. It feels very Autumnal, even here among the chaparral.

still picking tomatoes in November

 

It's great to have fresh tomato soup for lunch. 

little guava tree still producing

 

So far, the little guava tree has been our most reliable producer. 

 

Today I picked another bowl of guavas from the little tree that's just barely taller than my knee. 

tomato soup!

Even after our epic battles with the hornworms, we've been lucky enough to still be harvesting tomatoes. Picked a big batch today and made tomato soup. Yum!

tomato and pomegranate salad

We are so fortunate to still have fresh tomatoes and pomegranates from the yard. Here's a salad from yesterday. A little jicama from the grocery store adds a little crunch.

first pomegranates

I planted the pomegranate tree in August of last year. It grew very slowly the first year and didn't produce a single mature fruit. This year, though, the tree looks much better. There are about 10 small pomegranate fruits. We noticed two had burst open today. The little arils (the tiny seeds with red fleshy covering) were perfectly sweet and juicy. I was curious to see if one of the other fruits was ripe inside so I cut one of the other fruits in half. The arils were a little pale and not as sweet as the ripe ones. We are still learning....

Ripe deep-red arils above with an almost ripe pomegranate fruit below.

This one was almost ripe. The flesh of the tightly packed arils is translucent. You can almost see the little seeds inside.

slow joys

We've been having unusual weather for the past few days - gentle misty rain. I've been thrilled since I planted carrots and winter squash eleven days ago and I have barely needed to water. I've been pondering this adventure of gardening. The produce has been great - tomatoes, beans, squash, guava, figs, peppers, grape leaves, a few grapes, etc., but nothing has been very fast. This is definitely not an endeavor for someone in a hurry. Still, I am happy to be doing this. I am learning much and have been developing a deep appreciation for real farmers.

The carrots are sprouting today even more than yesterday. About 20 new plants have popped up. 

 

New leaflets.

 The grape vines have been doing well on the arbor. It all looks a little shaggy now. I'd like to prune soon, but I am waiting until leaf-fall so the plants will have time to transfer stored nutrients into the vines.

 

The strawberry guava bush has been a steady producer lately - about one or two  small strawberry guavas per day. 

 

The satsuma mandarin looks good too. We had an infestation of leaf-miners, but after plucking off countless little larvae by hand over the past few weeks, the tree seems to be recovering.

hornworms!

We had a major invasion by these interesting little critters. Though they have been voraciously chomping on the leaves of the tomato plants, these insects are technically called Tobacco hornworms (Manduca sexta). They are distinguished from their Tomato hornworm cousins by their seven diagonal stripes. Interestingly, these aren't technically worms; these insects are leaf-munching caterpillars of a moth that feeds on plant nectar.

 

Here's one hanging upside down along a tomato branch. Notice the seven stripes and the tiny dots at the top of the stripes. These dots are "spiracles" - little breathing holes for respiration. 

 Here is a branch of one of our tomato plants. It has been stripped almost completely clean by the little buggers.

 This little caterpillar is hanging upside down, probably pondering what to eat next. Notice the horn on the upper right.

 This is the feces of these tobacco hornworm. A few times I've been looking for the little caterpillar, but only seen chewed leaves and these characteristically shaped poops.

This one is grasping a leaf by its thoracic legs and chewing away. When you look carefully in real life, you can see the mouthparts are arranged vertically to allow for easier leaf-munching. 

More poop.