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| The Peaches Are Forming |
Thursday was another cloudy day, with some rain in the early morning. The rain had ceased by the time I woke up, however. I walked around the back yard, today, and as you can see, the garden is doing well with all the rain.
The peach tree has set fruit, but, according to M, some of the fruit are showing frost damage and, of course, we will have to thin out the fruit in the weeks to come.
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| Peaches Close Up |
The plum tree is full of flowers and I am hoping that I'll get some fruit, later on:
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| Plum Flowers |
The nectarine tree is still thinking about it:
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| Nectarine Tree |
The orange tree is full of buds - the garden will smell so sweet when they start to flower:
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| Orange Flower Buds |
Nearby, a clump of purple osteospermum is flowering :
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| Purple Osteospermum |
The self-seeded broccoli plants are growing well, too. No signs, yet, of any broccoli forming, but, I'll be happy with just the leaves!
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| Broccoli Plants |
The lettuces are ready to be harvested! They are sharing a bed with some of the snow peas.
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| Salad, Anyone? |
The rest of the snow peas are sharing the planting bed with the broccoli:
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| The Rest of the Snow Peas |
I picked a few more snow pea pods, this afternoon, and added them to the ones I picked on Wednesday; they were sauteed and eaten with rice and chicken for dinner.
Today, I am grateful for:
- Having a back yard
- Rain to water the garden
- The fruit trees seem to have survived the winter
- Being able to harvest lettuce and snow peas
- The promise of fruit to come
Today's joyful activity was strolling in the back yard and picking snow pea pods for dinner!
Thanks for the tour. Everything is certainly thriving. If this rain keeps up, you may have to start mowing your yard. :)
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, June. :) The garden is thriving and, according to the news, our reservoirs are filling up nicely! More rain in the forecast for next week! Ha, ha, M usually "mows" the backyard with a weed whacker every so often - I don't think he can get his lawn mower between my planting beds! :D
DeleteYour garden blooms are gorgeous! I hope you get to enjoy lots of fruit. Everything is soaking up the rains.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Celie. I'm enjoying all the flowers and hoping for lots of fruit! More rain in the forecast for next week! I'm starting to sprout gills, I think! :D
DeleteYour garden is looking lovely with lots of promise of edibles to come. I hope the rain continues for a while at least to give your garden the water it needs and to save on your water bills. xx
ReplyDeleteThank you, Eileen; I'm hoping the garden will produce well, this year. Yes, more rain in the forecast for next week - Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday! I haven't had to water much - just the blueberry bushes as they are not receiving any rain where they are, under the patio overhang.
DeleteYour plants are looking good and appreciative of all the rain you've been having. I think it's wonderful you can step outside and pick your own fruit and vegetables. What a beautiful colour your osteospermums are.
ReplyDeleteThe plants are really receiving all the water they need! I love being able to go out into the garden to pick some fruit or vegetables. This might be a good year to plant more vegetables as the ground is quite wet and, hopefully, we will not be under drought time water restrictions! I love the purple osteospermum! I will be sure to save some of the seeds from the purple plants and scatter them about!
DeleteHow lovely to have fruit trees blooming and even baby peaches forming. I hope that plenty have survived the frost.
ReplyDeleteWe had a bit of snow and then rain the entire morning, a kind of "dirty day", with slush everywhere. I did some grocery shopping while DH visited with friends in a cafe and we met up in the library.
The garden is really thriving with all the rain we've had. We will need to thin out some of the peaches, anyway, so the frost damaged ones will be the first to go.
DeleteSnow and rain will definitely make for slushy roads and pavements. Sounds like you had a busy morning. :)
By the way, you have a request from another reader, Debra (56 Steps) on my March meal plan week2/week3 post, for the recipe for the baked falafel. :)
Happy to oblige. I didn't include the sesame seed when I made this but I will another time.
DeleteFALAFEL
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (1 tsp dried)
1/4 tsp baking powder
In bowl, mash chickpeas with potato masher or the back of a large spoon, stir in celery, onion, parsley and baking powder. Mix well. (Do not puree in food processor).
In separate bowl, whisk together until well blended:
2 tsp sesame seed
1/2 tsp garlic powder or 1 clove garlic finely chopped
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 egg
Pour into chickpea mixture and stir until well blended.
Cover and LET STAND for one hour.
With wet hands, shape into 1 inch balls. Flatten slightly and place on lightly greased non-stick baking sheet.
Bake 350°F for 15 minutes until lightly browned. Serve warm with nippy yogurt sauce:
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 Tbsp green relish
1/4 tsp sugar
1 tsp curry powder
Mix well.
Thank you, Bushlady.
DeleteThank you Bushlady for taking the time to post your recipe.
DeleteI enjoy falafels and would like to try a good baked recipe.
Debra
Really enjoyed our little stroll. I think I could do with 15 mins wandering round your garden and chatting with you. Feeling blah and generally discouraged at the moment. But a virtual tour is a good alternative and I'm thrilled to see the baby peaches. That's a new one for me. I'm wondering what effect all this rain will have on the garden, specifically fruit trees, as the year goes on. I notice here the difference a particularly wet or dry period can make in any given season. I wonder if some of the plants will show better resilience this year when the inevitable heat/drought comes. Trying to remember the smell of orange blossom and failing, but it looks beautiful. I'm getting my pompoms out for the self-set broccoli...
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lady Ella; I, too, wish you could visit for a stroll in the garden. I'm sorry to hear that you are feeling blah and generally discouraged; to be quite honest, I haven't been in the best of moods, myself, due to a couple of things that happened over the weekend, but, as I told one of my friends, last night, I need to put it behind me and stop moping! Rudyard Kipling's poem, "If", comes to mind. :)
DeleteIt's been several years since we had this much rain, so it would be interesting to see the effect of the rain on the garden. I have rather sandy soil (according to M), so the water will drain fairly quickly, but, hopefully, there will still be some available to the roots, deep down. If the drought time water restrictions are lifted (our reservoirs are filling up nicely, according to the news), then, I will be able to water the plants in the summer and that will help.
I'll just have to keep taking pictures of the garden and see how things progress. :)
It certainly is looking beautiful. Thanks for going out and taking us on a tour!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Hope you enjoyed the tour! :)
DeleteIt is wonderful to see everything coming back to life again, now that spring is on the way. I wish I could say the same of my garden but the weather hasn't helped so far. X
ReplyDeleteIt won't be long before your garden, too, springs back to life! Something to look forward to, I'm sure. :)
DeleteWhat a nice fruit orchard tour :)
ReplyDeleteYou really do have some fruit on that peach tree! I still can't get over it's robust nature.
And more self-seeded broccoli. I remember last year your broccoli plant went on and on doing good things from the side shoots.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
DeleteM thinned out some of the peaches, last week. He will continue to thin them in the coming weeks. Ideally there should not be more than 3 or 4 peaches per branch and they should be spaced 4-6 inches so they can develop fully. I hate to thin the fruit, but, I don't want any more branches to break, either! The poor tree has already lost its top!
Yes, last year's broccoli was well on its way to becoming a permanent plant! But, towards the very end of summer, the leaves became more leathery and the florets became rather stringy and tough. I collected a bunch of seeds from the plants, but, didn't get around to planting them! Maybe I should plant some of them now to harvest the sprouts - they are supposed to be good for you!