Thursday, January 17, 2019

The Garden in Mid-January

Double Colored Rose

It rained all last night.  It stopped around 10:00 a.m. and there was short break.  I was thinking I probably shouldn't have rescheduled my medical appointment, but then, wondered if it might rain in the afternoon.  I went out to collect my mail from the mailbox around noon and there was a misty fine drizzle.  Cousin P called after that, and we chatted a bit.  Then, I went out to the back garden to take some photos of the garden, after the rain, and it was starting to drizzle more heavily.  It started raining, again, shortly after that!  I guess I did the right thing, rescheduling today's appointment.  At the time of typing this post (1:20 p.m.), it is not raining heavily, but, afternoon storms are in the forecast.

The garden is looking a bit sodden, but, the plants are enjoying all the rain.

This is the new peach tree that was planted last week:



New Peach Tree
It is a bigger plant than what I planted last time; hopefully, with all the rain we've been getting, it will get a good start, so that it can survive the summer heat!  It is a free-stone, orange fleshed, self-pollinating peach, known as Eva's Pride Peach.  It has some buds on it; I am hoping they will result in some fruit, this summer!  I need to go out and weed that planting circle, maybe this weekend, when the rain is supposed to stop.


Label on the tree

Through the bare branches of the new peach tree, one can see the orange tree:



Orange Tree
Looks a bit water logged, doesn't it?  If it was summer, and the leaves drooped like that, that would be an indication it needs more water!

Under the orange tree, the really, really old (way past Best Planted By dates) vegetable seeds friend M and I planted (well, he did all the work; I just looked on and chatted to him!) are starting to sprout!



Seedlings!
At least, these ones, are!  I can't remember where we planted, what!  But, I think, these are the beet seeds that are growing.  Eventually, I'll thin them out, but, not right now.  I will need to make something with micro-greens when I do thin them out, won't I?  Ha, ha.

Finally, near the orange tree, this clump of crocosmia is starting to flower!



Crocosmia
The twig behind it is the trunk of a tree that refuses to be removed!  I didn't plant it. I don't really know what it is.  It showed up, one day, and we pulled it out.  It showed up, in the same spot, the next year.  Again, we dug it up.  It came back the next year and the year after that.  Finally, I decided to let it grow, since it seems so determined to grow in my garden!  Whatever it is, it has had no flowers or fruit, so far, in the 15 years or so it has been growing!  One of these days, I shall try to take a sprig of its leaves to a nursery and ask if they can identify it.  The closest I can guess is, it is a type of walnut tree!  If it is a California Black Walnut, then, it is considered a protected tree, and removal requires permits and replacements!

This is a photo I took when I came home after grocery shopping, yesterday:


Sheltering from the Rain
I had thrown out an empty bag of cat food, earlier, intending to take it to the recycling bin, later.  Some of the garden cats decided it made a nice, dry bed for them, in that corner, where the rain didn't reach.  There were, actually, three of them, sleeping, there, but the white cat is easily spooked and she ran away.  Later, when I looked out, I saw that she had come back, so I opened the door to take another photo.  She started to run away when she heard the door open, but the other two just looked at me, as if to ask: "Are you going to give us some food?"


Ginger, Snowball, and Tigra (their mother)

My pressure, this morning, was slightly elevated, so I took the morning medication.  My sugar was very low, well below the low number on the recommended guidelines for fasting, so, I drank 4 oz. orange juice and a cup of tea.  The next time I go to the clinic, I will take my blood sugar meter with me to see if it is accurate.  I was going to have a banana for breakfast, but then, I wasn't hungry and I thought it might be too much with the orange juice.

Lunch, eaten a bit later than planned, was a salad with canned tuna for protein (Dancer had some tuna, too!)

Lunch Salad

Yes, I went ahead and added some of the croutons, too (6 pieces, which I thought would be the equivalent of a slice of bread).  I was told to reduce my carbs but wasn't told to go without it, entirely.

Dinner will probably be some of the beef steak with carrots and green beans that I will cook, later in the evening.

Today, I am grateful for:
- The rain for the garden
- Roses in mid-January
- The promise of a new peach tree
- Oranges on the orange tree
- Little seedlings

It is almost 3:00 p.m., now and so far, I haven't done anything, other than take photos of the garden and confirm Dancer's appointment with the vet for tomorrow evening!  The house feels cold because I opened the bathroom window to air out the place.  I am wearing sweatpants, socks, a short sleeved blouse, a sweater, and a cardigan over that!  I hope that I can get to my To Do List, later this evening!

Maybe I'll post an update, later.

How is your day going?  How is your garden in mid-January?

14 comments:

  1. What a beautiful rose, and your peach tree looks very healthy. I hope it does well, also your new seedlings. Well, my garden is resting under its white blanket, thank you, and will continue to rest for some time yet! The squirrels have finally started making their tunnels, which always amuses us. I would like a few tunnels, too, on the really cold days!

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    1. Thank you, Bushlady. Yes, I suppose your garden is resting under its cover of snow. Too funny about the squirrels making tunnels! Maybe you can make a tunnel like Pa Ingalls did in Laura Ingalls Wilder's "The Long Winter" (one of the books in the Little House series). In the book, he dug a tunnel from the lean-to to the stables, because the house was practically buried in snow!

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  2. Lovely garden! It's so nice to see things growing. Everything here is dormant - little colour around except me a few small berries the birds and squirrels haven't got to yet!

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    1. Thank you, Sharon. One of the blessings of being in a more southern, warmer climate, is being able to garden year-round. :)

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  3. Did you plant anything like radishes, cabbage, broccoli? Beet seedlings are usually two flatter leaves, usually with a purplish tinge to them under the dark green main color.

    I'll be interested in your peach tree, since I was raised on a peach farm. I'll bet it's tasty. That is a variety I have never tried.

    I've been having quite a bit of diabetes education lately, as they are putting me through training again since it's been so long and things have changed. This dietician told me that I MUST eat some carbs--those new diets that take them all away won't work for me. So, that's good. She's not saying eat a ton, but a reasonable amount--I've got a schedule for carbs:) Lows are not fun. At all! So, take care of yourself.

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    1. Becky, yes, I did plant radish seeds, so that's probably what the seedlings are! If I remember correctly, they germinate fairly quickly, don't they?

      I'll let you know how the peach tree and the peaches turn out. I had a peach tree, earlier, which produced lovely, sweet, yellow peaches, for about 10 years, but then, it died. I don't remember what type of peach it was, though. The replacement peach tree died during its second summer. This is the replacement for that!

      Yes, I was told to eat less carbs, but, wasn't told to eliminate them completely. More complex carbs, such as whole grain bread, for example, instead of white bread, etc., and one slice instead of two!

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  4. Is it just the three garden cats, or are there more? I didn't realise that you had names for them!

    The rose is glorious. Do you ever pick them to have flowers in the house?

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    1. No, there are more. I really should stop feeding them, but then, they stand by my back door and meow at me and I feel sorry for them.

      Yes, I do pick the roses and other flowers to display in the house, from time to time. Dancer tries to eat them, so I have to keep them out of his reach!

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  5. We had snow overnight. I could shovel if I wanted the exercise, but I don't really have to. There are just a very few centimeters on the ground. My garden plants are hibernating, which is a good thing because the thought of pulling weeds all year long is NOT very appealing to me. Ha. Your garden is looking very green and lush however. What a great start for the new peach tree.

    Your garden cats look very much at home in your yard. You must look after them very well.

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    1. Susan, I am glad you don't have to shovel the snow, this time. The melting snow will water your garden nicely, too. Yes, year round gardening does mean year round weeding! LOL.

      Some of the cats wander (or, even belong to neighbors!) and come to my garden only to be fed, but others tend to spend all their hours in my yard.

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  6. The rose is very beautiful. I had peach trees that were not self pollinating and that was not a good move at all. I need to start working in my yard. Pruning needs to be done in about 3 weeks and then I can begin getting the beds ready for early spring planting.

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    1. Thank you, Anne. Yes, self-pollinating fruit trees are a good thing in a home garden. Especially if one only has one tree of that kind!

      What are you planning to plant in the spring? I am hoping to do more gardening this year.

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  7. Good luck with your peaches. It may be different in your climate, but my experience with the peach tree we had at my old house was the insects and squirrels got a lot more peaches than we ever did. Vigilant spraying was needed for them to reach maturity in good enough shape to eat. And that never happened. We would get one or two good ones a year. But the spring blossoms were wonderful.

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    1. Thank you, Live and Learn. When I used to have my old peach tree, sometimes, the birds got to them before I could! I never sprayed them, either. But, it produced a good crop, especially in the last couple of years. And then, the drought happened and it died in the 2nd year of drought. Maybe the garden cats will deter the birds, this time!

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