Getting Ready for Warm Days

We had a pretty mild winter this year.  There was hardly any rain although it rained a little today.  It seems summer is arriving early. Our new home gets hot in the back, so I have started getting some patio items out. The cooling orange bed for the dogs. Crucus likes to jump onto it like it's a trampoline. I also put on a clothesline to dry towels and sheets.

A few weeks ago on my way to work, I saw someone put out a green patio chair to give away. I turned around and put it in my car.  After hosing it down, it's my patio chair now.

A few months ago, one of the neighbors on my block was getting rid off a couple patio umbrellas. Other than they are old and used, they are in perfect shape.  I took both of them since there isn't much shade in the yard until all the leaves grow back on the trees. I have been hoping to find a couple umbrella stands on cragislist.com with no avail. I finally had to buy a cheap one from Home Depot.

A few days ago, I found the umbrella with the stand lying on its side when I got home from work. I guess it was too windy. Now I put 2 of my spare kitchen counter tiles on top of the umbrella stand, and it's perfect. Those tiles are very heavy.

Spring is Here

Orchids are blooming again

Last weekend when I walked into the farm, I suddenly noticed all the colorful flowers. Unlike other gardens, most of my flowers will turn into food. Many years ago, a family friend gave us a pot of orchid. We have since then separated that one pot of orchids into 3 pots. I even transplanted one pot into the ground.  For a couple years, they did not bloom. Last weekend I was surprised to see the flowers in one pot and buds in the other pot that was transplanted into the garden.  That was a big happy surprise for me!

Mizuna blossom

All the mizuna plants are almost as tall as I am, and they are in full bloom. This is what happens since I didn't eat them all. I love seeing a sea of yellow flowers with a lot of bees buzzing around them. Even though I didn't eat all the greens, the bees now can collect the pollens and make honey.  Later on the flowers will produce seeds, and next year I will have mizuna again without doing any work.

Asian pear blossom

Both the pear and peach trees are blooming. A bunch of bumble bees have joined the honey bees. Thank to their efforts, I will have a tree full of peaches again in the summer. I am really looking forward to it!

Bumble bee busy at work

Spring Planting!

Tomato seedlings

March 20, 2011, was Vernal Equinox, first day of spring. We had almost constant rain for the entire month of March; however, today looks and feels like spring. I figure that I need to get out there and start planting. I have some tomato seedlings that need to be separated. I always plant more just in case that some of them don't make it. I also like to give extra seedlings away. People are more likely to experiment with growing food if they can get their first few plants for free. Giving away seedlings is also good Karma building. More than 3 years ago I gave away a bunch of extra tomato seedlings to a bunch of co-workers. One of them is an experienced gardener. He had been propagating from my seedlings and sold over 300 of them at Merritt College's plant sale. Since we have no idea what variety this tomato is, it's been called "Lina's tomato." All I know is that I saved those seeds from some grocery store bought tomatoes. That was probably the last time I bought tomatoes from a store.  I got some of those Lina's tomato seedlings back yesterday because I gave them away years ago.

My barrel of compost

In order to separate the seedlings into individual cells, I need some soil. I have been using one of the wine barrels as a compost tub after the honeydew melons died off. I just kept dumping Dusty's litter box contents into the barrel and mix them all together every few weeks. Now the barrel is full of rich compost and earthworms! These tomato seedlings are still a bit too small, so I will keep them in the sun room for a few more weeks until the temperature stops fluctuate too much. The seedlings could die from frost easily if it gets cold again at night. I am also going to keep a few in 1-gallon pots this year, so I can bring them back into the sun room next winter. I want to see whether I can keep growing tomatoes all year round.

Separated tomato seedlings

I had three 6-cell packs of spinach sitting on the propagation table for the last 3 months. I decided it is time to plant them in one of the vegetable beds. I plant them along the irrigation tube so they can get water after I turn the system back on now that the rain seems to have stopped.

Spinach planted along the irrigation tube