Definitely Not a Farmer!

 

Garden Harvest

I am definitely not a farmer!  M pulled up the other two potato plants on Friday and pictured above are the twelve potatoes he dug up!  Three of them are about the size of a small egg, three are smaller than that, and the other six are probably the size of quail eggs!  

Of the eight corn plants we planted, three plants tasseled and formed one ear of corn each, two plants didn't do anything, and three plants got trampled by garden critters (I am assuming) and died.  Of the three ears of corn, something ate one and you can see the other two, rather stunted ears of corn.  Each is about three inches long, if that!    

The plum like fruit is not a plum.  It is a "blue" tomato, according to M, who grew it in his garden and brought it for us to try.  We haven't tried it, yet, but, I believe the inside of the tomato is red.

Well, obviously, nothing much of a garden harvest,when it comes to potatoes and corn, this year.  However, the kale plants are still growing like crazy and it looks like we'll have a nice moringa pods harvest, later this year.  

On Saturday, daughter spent some time sorting through, packaging, and labeling all the seeds I've saved so far, to grow next year..  Yes, we are still planning to grow some vegetables next year, too.  In fact, we've already bought four more metal raised beds as we've decided that raised beds, with wire mesh to keep the garden critters out, will be the best way to proceed.    

I am grateful for:

- Even the tiniest of potatoes from the garden 
- Daughter's enthusiasm to continue trying to grow vegetables
- M's help with the garden and willingness to help
- Water for the garden
- Optimism which enables us to keep trying to grow things in our dry and hot climate

Are you growing any vegetables in your garden?  If so, are you getting a good harvest?

May Flowers

 

Iris 

I took a stroll in my own garden, this week, on Tuesday, to see what was in bloom.  No sculptures of pollinators or model trains in my garden, but, the majority of these flowers have a story behind them (many of them are rescued plants that M has rehomed in my garden) and sometimes, a flower can hold a secret!  

Neptune Rose  

The Neptune Rose plant was a birthday gift to me from my gardener friend M.

Iceberg Rose 

The iceberg rose grown as a standard was rescued by M and rehomed in my garden.

And Friend (Earwig)

Rescued Pink English Rose with Anise Scent

This is the first flower to appear on the rescued rose that M rehomed in my garden.  I found the rose  on the ground when I was watering the garden on Tuesday; it had not broken off, but, it was blooming on such a slender stem that the flower was too heavy for the stem.  I propped it up on another stem to take this picture.  The next day (Wednesday), when M was here, I saw that there was a second rose on the same plant, but, I didn't take a picture of that one.  M doesn't know the name of the rose.  I am wondering if it is a climber and might need some support?

Double Petalled Kalanchoe (another rescued plant)

Daylily

Chive Flowers

Nasturtium

Four O'Clocks/Mirabilis

Scaredy Cat (Coleus Caninas)

The flowers on the scaredy cat plant (which doesn't seem to scare any of the garden cats) are nearing the end of their blooming period, but, there are still enough flowers to keep the bees happy.

Gaura

Potato Flowers

For the first time since I've tried growing potatoes, I've flowers on one of my potato plants!  I am thrilled to bits!  I've three potato plants growing, this year, from some supermarket russet potatoes that started to sprout before I could eat them.  

Calla Lily

And Friend (Grasshopper)

And those are some of the flowers blooming in my garden in May.

I am grateful for:

- May flowers

- For M bringing me bulbs and rescued plants

- For M's help with the garden
- For the joy these flowers bring to me
- For water for the garden

I Got Stung!

Garden Chair

On Friday afternoon, my daughter and I visited the Descanso Botanical Garden.  We had a lovely time and on the way home, we picked up some Thai food for lunch.  But, I will write about that in another post;

On Friday evening, M was here to tend to the garden.  I went out to the garden to chat with him and sat down on this chair that he had just vacated.  And I felt a sharp pain on the left side of my behind and I wondered if a piece of the chair had broken off and pricked me.  I shifted in the chair and felt another sharp pain, and I wondered if I had sat on a rose thorn.  I wondered if M had pruned a rose and somehow, left a thorn on the chair and got up to see:

Do you see anything?

I cried out to my daughter who was seated on another chair that something bit me and she came to see:

Do you see it now?  Two tiny black legs?

She checked under the chair:

Bumblebee/Carpenter Bee?

M thought it was a bumblebee, but, it was black and we think it is a carpenter bee.  

Carpenter Bee

Fortunately, I am not allergic to bee stings (I've been stung by a bee once before, when I was a young girl and while my finger swelled where it was stung, nothing else happened).  Also, bumblebees and carpenter bees do not have barbed stings so, there was no sting embedded in me   Although the sting was painful, some antibacterial ointment and an icepack helped.  M says he gets stung at least once a month!  Poor M!

On Friday, I was grateful for:

- Not being allergic to bee stings!
- Daughter was with me to help apply the ointment and bring me an ice pack, etc.
- A lovely visit to the botanical garden 
- Daughter treating me to lunch and an almond croissant 
- A safe drive to the botanical gardens and back

I will definitely check the undersides of my garden chairs before I sit in them from now on!

Have you ever been stung by a bee or a bumblebee or a carpenter bee?

On Saturday

 

Carrot Harvest

On Saturday, daughter and I took a walk in the garden and she pulled up the rest of the carrots we grew.  It's not a lot, but, we are very pleased with them.  I will add the carrots to a stir fry I am planning to make and the leaves will be cut up finely and made into a mallung with grated coconut, turmeric, and other spices.  

More Amaryllis

The second stem of amaryllis has started to bloom.  I am hoping that the amaryllis bulb will form new bulbs and I'll have a clump of amaryllis growing in the garden.

When M was here on Friday, he started clearing the area behind the shed and removed over half of the plumbago hedge that was growing along the wall:

The Cleared Area

We have big plans for this area, so watch this space!

Word seems to have spread among the garden birds that the blueberries are ripening:

Birds Perched On Wire Near the Blueberry Bushes

This pair of birds (not a good photo at all, since I took it from inside the house) were inspecting the blueberry bushes  (not seen in the picture - the tree in the picture is one of the lemon trees).  I think they might be finches; the male bird (perched lower on the wire) had a red throat.

I picked another handful of the early ripening blueberries and made some blueberry pancakes for brunch:

Blueberry Pancakes with Bacon and Syrup

Sorry, birdies; you've got to share the blueberries with me!

For dinner, I baked two frozen pot pies - a beef pot pie for myself and a chicken pot pie for my daughter as she prefers it to the beef.

For dessert, I made avocado pudding with three ripe avocados:

Avocado Pudding

I now have three avocado pits in jars of water, waiting to see if they will sprout.

On Saturday, I was grateful for:

- Time spent in the garden with my daughter

- Garden flowers
- Garden produce
- Working appliances

- Daughter doing my laundry for me

Saturday's joyful activities included doing some weaving on the new loom.

Plans for Sunday include some cooking and cleaning and putting away my laundry.

How is your weekend coming along?

Starting April

 

Dr. Huey Roses

The Dr. Huey rose plants are among the most commonly used rootstock roses to graft hybrid tea roses on to as they are very hardy.  In my garden, I have at least six Dr. Huey rose plants happily growing after the hybrid tea roses died out.  M doesn't much care for them and they bloom only once in the year, but, I love them because they are so hardy!  

Being the first of the month, I made milkrice and seeni sambol (a spicy onion relish) for brunch.  I also dusted the living room and picked some fresh flowers to bring indoors:

White Gladioli

M was here to tend to the garden in the afternoon.  Even though we had a shower of rain on Tuesday night (the forecast had said 0.1 inch of rain was expected, but we actually received 0.31 inches!), he watered the garden as the rain hadn't been enough  He also did some weeding and I asked him to prune some of the euphorbia tirucalli plant that was crowding out the nectarine tree.  Finally we transplanted one of the gazania plants that was growing in a pot in the backyard, to one of the front garden beds.  I am hoping that it will grow well there and I'll get more gazania plants in the front.  I used to have gazanias growing in the parkway at one time, but, they died over time.

M enjoyed a slice of the banana bread I had baked on Tuesday evening to use up some very ripe bananas:

Banana and Walnut Bread

Daughter and I had already enjoyed slices of it on Tuesday night while it was still warm from the oven.  We had more banana bread today, too.

In the evening, after a cup of tea, I drove daughter to the Mall where she was meeting two friends to see a movie.  I just dropped her off and came home; one of her friends gave daughter a ride home afterwards.

I spent a quiet evening, watching the news and a few online videos.  After dinner (rice, beef curry, cucumber salad), I did the dishes, wiped down the kitchen counters, and ordered groceries to be delivered on Thursday afternoon.  This time, I was careful to specify which items I didn't want substituted and on those items that I OK'd for substitution, I chose the specific item with which to substitute.  Let's see how that works out.

On the first day of April, I was grateful for:

- The start of a new month

- M's help with the garden
- Water (and some rain) for the garden
- Daughter was able to get together with her friends
- Being able to order groceries online

Wednesday's joyful activities included spending time in the garden.

How was your Wednesday?  Are you excited to start a new month?  

Dr. Huey Red Rose

On Wednesday

Purple Martha Washington Geraniums

On Wednesday, M was here to tend to the garden.  I walked around the garden with him, both of us pointing out the new developments we were seeing to the other.  He mentioned that one of his clients wanted some damaged azalea plants taken out and I offered to rehome them.  I had made yogurt on Tuesday and I offered him a bowl of it with my homemade strawberry jam and he enjoyed it.  

I made a flan, too, using the box of flan mix I had bought.  It used to be that this flan mix came with a packet of caramel syrup to be spread on the bottom of the dish before the mixture of flan powder and milk was poured into the dish to set.  Well, apparently, the box of mix no longer includes the packet of caramel!  I'd call it a cost cutting measure, except for the fact that the price of the box of mix, even without the caramel, had increased!  Anyway, I made a caramel syrup and the flan turned out well.  

Daughter made us cold cuts sandwiches to have with our tea in the evening as we had not had a proper brunch (I ate a bowl of yogurt with strawberry jam and daughter ate a bowl of flan!)  For dinner, I cooked half of the green beans that had been delivered on Monday and we ate it with leftover rice and curries.  

I did a little sewing on the quilt top I am making and watched some videos online.  Later, I texted one of my cousins to check on her.

Wednesday was a fairly relaxed, quiet day and I was grateful for:

- A sunny and warm day
- M's help with the garden
- Medications to keep my health maintained
- Emails and texts with friends and family
- Time to sew

Wednesday's joyful activities included tending to the garden with M and sewing.

I'm hoping for another relaxed, quiet day on Thursday, too.

How was your Wednesday?  What are your plans for Thursday?

Still In The Garden

 

The First Tomato Sighting

I'm still in the garden!  Still in the stonery, too!  There are about three or four self-sown tomato plants growing in the stonery and guess what I saw the other day?!  Yes, the first little tomato has been sighted!  It's tiny, less than one inch in diameter, but, it's good to see the first tomato!  I'm hopeful that it will be joined by other baby tomatoes, soon, and they will all grow and ripen.

New Leaves on the Bay Laurel

There are new leaves on the bay laurel tree that M rescued from another client's garden and transplanted in mine in January.  It had been growing in a container in that client's garden and when the container broke, the client apparently didn't want it planted in another container or in the ground and had told M to get rid of it.  He texted me to ask if I would be willing to take it and I said yes!  I am taking the fact that it has new leaves as an indication that the transplanting was successful and the tree is growing.

Feijoa (Pineapple Guava) Flowers

The feijoa (pineapple guava) tree is full of flowers, too.  I am hoping that we will get more feijoa fruit this year than we got last year.  Last year, the tree was covered with flowers, but, there were only about a dozen fruit in total.  They were delicious, though, and I was thankful to have them.  

Daughter watered the garden plants on Sunday and M will be here to water them on Wednesday.  

I am grateful for:

- My garden
- Baby tomatoes
- New bay leaves
- Flowers on the fruit trees
- Water for the garden

My joyful activities have included spending time in the garden; there seems to be something new to see almost daily. 

Are you starting to see anything new in your garden?  Or are you still waiting for spring to arrive? 

The Ever Evolving Stonery

The Stonery: March 2026

There was an area just to the side of the backdoor steps that was bare ground, with a wooden post supporting the patio roof.  It would get very muddy when it rained (which, admittedly, is not that often in southern California).  In the spring of 2024, I started placing some stones and small rocks I found around the garden at the base of the post, to add a little interest.  Almost immediately, my gardener friend M started to tuck in some plants around the stones as you'd find in a rockery and I started to call it a stonery (as the stones were too small to call it a rockery).

When I took the picture above of the stonery, earlier this month, I thought of how this area has evolved over the past couple of years and thought I'd do a blog post about it. 

Here's how this area looked in March 2024:

Sedum and a few Succulents

 In May 2024, the sedum had flower buds:

The Stonery - May, 2024

In June 2024, the sedum was flowering and we had added an edging of small rocks around the stonery to set it off:

The Stonery - June 2024

Apparently, I didn't take many pictures of the stonery during the summer, but, here's how it looked in September 2024:

The Stonery - September 2024

The sedum had almost finished flowering and the "scaredy cat" plant (Coleus caninus) cuttings I had planted were trying to take over the whole area!

Here's how the stonery looked in October 2024:

The Stonery - October 2024

In early November, I decided that I wanted a paving stone pathway leading from the back steps to the garage, because the ground got quite wet and muddy when it rained.

New Pathway and Stonery - November 2024

Then, I decided that I wanted a slightly different design, so, M changed the way the pavers were set:

Newer Pathway Design and Stonery

The stonery and pathway in January 2025:

The Stonery - January 2025

M moved up the stones right to the edge of the pathway and transplanted a hellebore plant from elsewhere in the garden and one of the nasturtium seeds he planted germinated and started to grow.

By February 2025, the hellebore and nasturtium plants were flowering:

The Stonery - February 2025

But, in March, the nasturtium plant became a casualty of a tussle between the garden cats and a raccoon:

Uprooted Nasturtium - March 2025

It had been snapped off at the root and eventually died.  I was very disappointed.  However, a second seed germinated and grew; not as well as the first plant, but, it produced flowers and set seeds which have since germinated.

Here's how the stonery looked at the end of March 2025:

The Stonery - March 2025

The cabbages that grew from a stem I had rooted in water and planted had grown better than I had expected!  They didn't form a head, but, I didn't mind that.  I picked and cooked one of them and allowed the other to bolt.

Here's the stonery in April 2025:

In April 2025 - Viewed from the back steps

April 2025 - Viewed from the front

The cabbage that was allowed to bolt was flowering.

Here's how the stonery looked in May 2025:

The Stonery - May 2025

The cabbage had finished flowering and seed pods were starting to form and the second nasturtium plant is starting to flower.

I didn't take a photo of the stonery in June 2025, but, I took a photo of the daylilies that were blooming:

Daylilies in the Stonery - June 2025

I didn't take any pictures of the stonery during the summer, either, but, here's how it looked after a shower of rain in November 2025:

November 2025

There are a couple of self-sown tomato plants growing in there and one or two nasturtium seedlings!

After that, I didn't take any photos af the stonery or post any monthly garden updates for one reason or another, until I took the first picture at the beginning of this post and the ones at the end of this post. The stones are still there, but, right now, this area is full of plants that are hiding the stones:

Plant Filled Stonery

I'm loving it.  I hope you've enjoyed seeing the evolution of the stonery.

By the way, I had written this post earlier in the day and was ready to publish it, but, then, I got signed off of Google and by the time I realized it and signed back on, I had lost most of the post and had to redo it!  Grr!  I hate when that happens!

M was here today (Wednesday) and he showed me that the amaryllis bulb he had planted in the stonery is starting to grow!  I hope I'll get an amaryllis flower!  In the meantime, the yellow iris he planted in the stonery is flowering:

Yellow Iris

I am grateful for M's help with the garden in general and the stonery in particular.