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More sowing…

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I made even more newspaper pots this evening and planted more leafy vegetables: Salad Bowl Lettuce, Grand Rapids Lettuce and Correnta Hybrid Spinach.

My oldest brother and sister-in-law came by and picked up some extra plants that we had, so they can plant it in their new house. They took some Bamboo, a Fig, some Ferns and a Pomegranate. These are plants that we have lots of. My mom takes division and give them away…

Right now I’m looking at some greenhouse plans. I’m just interested of the cost of building one from scratch versus a pre-build one that you just snap together. hmm?… I’m just curious…

The Scent of…

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I made more newspaper pots and planted four kind of Asian vegetables: Chin-Chiang Cabbage “Hybird Summer Boy”, Misome Japanese Greens, Upo (Bottle Gourd) and Komatsuna “Hybrid Senposai”.

I know the Upo is probably too late to plant, but I want to see how it grows. I’ll make sure to plant is early next year.

As I was planting (at 9pm), I can smell the scent of our Dama de Noche plant. I think it’s called Night Flowering Jasmine in English. It is very fragrant and reminds me of Hawaiian leis.

Speaking of Asian vegetables, I harvested another eggplant and my mom made this Filipino dish called Pinakbet

Some of the ingredients include: Japanese Eggplant, Ampalaya (Bitter Melon), Sitaw (Yardlong Bean), Tomato, Garlic, Bagoong (Tiny Fermented Shrimp) plus more. It may look like a weird dish, but it’s good :)

I also found some Ginger rhizomes growing, so I placed them on a moist paper towel and placed it in a plastic bag. Hopefully it will grow roots and I will be able to grow it.

One last photo… My Pink Echevaria at work only has one flower left.

Also posted in Gardening

Monday…

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I went to the library again and got five books:

– Propagation Basics by Steven Bradley
– Plant Propagation A to Z by Geoff Bryant
– Drip Irrigation for Every Landscape and All Climates by Robert Kourik
– Rodale’s Successful Organic Gardening Vegetables by Patricis Michalak
– Gardening 101 by Martha Stewart

I transplanted my overwintered Coleus Wizard Rose triplets into a bigger pot. Here’s the clippings before and after. (The parent plant and more cuttings are in my July 8th entry right above the hula guy.)

Before (June 3)

After (July 11)

Here’s some pics from the garden:

Tendergreen Bush Bean

Chater’s Double Hollyhock

…and for dinner, we finally had that Yellow Submarine Cucumber, which at 10 inches long and 3 inch diameter, was still young (seeds were still soft)

Sunday Gardening…

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Sunday, July 10

Early this morning, I harvested my first cucumbers and eggplant. The huge cucumber in the photo is labeled as Yellow Submarine Cucumber. It hasn’t turned yellow as the tag shows, but that thing is 10 inches, but the tag says 8 inches, so I decided to go ahead and harvest it.

Yellow Submarine Cucumber, Lemon Cucumber, Hungarian Sweet Wax Pepper, Millionaire Japanese Eggplant

Fay Elberta Semi Dwarf Peach

The Sweet 100 Tomatoes are really to harvest, but I’ll do that tomorrow.

Our pruning shears are a bit dull, so I sharped them with a sharpening stone, and they work so much better. I don’t think they ever have been sharpened.

I repotted the Avocado that I “discovered” we had (see yesterday’s post). My mom kindly gave the plant to me :)

I took some pictures around the garden…

Tropic White Guava

Alstroemeria seed pods

Sun shining through a Canna Lily leaf and a close up the flower

Found Avocado…

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Lately, I’ve been thinking of what kind of trees I would like to have once I buy my own house. I want something that is not only nice, but also serves another purpose like for fruits or shade.

A few entries ago, I posted pictures of a Lemon Grass that I grew. commented on it and mentioned an avocado, which I didn’t even think of. So I read the link that she gave me and have been reading up on growing avocados.

I told my mom that I want an avocado tree and guess what she said? About 6 months ago, she found 2 seeds in the compost pile that were sprouting and she planted them. She told me that they are under the plum tree. So I checked it out and what do you know… we have a couple of avocado plants…

Found Avocado

I’m going to replant these into a large container tomorrow and give them more sun so they grow well… Ya, know… for my future back yard :)

Saturday…

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This morning I did a lot of weeding in the vegetable beds. I pulled out the spent Snap Peas and the bolting Lettuce. I also cut away the dead or dying leaves on the bottom part of the Cucumbers and Tomatoes.

Bolted Lettuce

The Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans and Tendergreen Bush Bean are both doing well. They are actually growing better than the Bataw that my mom transplanted.

My grandma, aunts, uncle and cousin came by and came over in the afternoon and we all gathered in the garden checking out the plants and picking fruits (pears, peaches and plums).

I potted the Coleus “Pineapple” and “Copper Splash” cutting which I took on the 27th. It took about 12 days for these to root. I also took cutting of Coleus “Wild Lime (mistagged)” and “Gay’s Delight”.

In the front yard, I cut down the spent Gladiola stalks and removed all the dead leaves off the Yucca which has grown so big.

All in all, I think I collect six 5-gallon pots full of leaves and spent flower for the compost pile.

TGIF…

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Friday, July 8

At work, I butchered the Coleus that I overwintered in my office. The plants are so leggy (about 3 feet tall). I’ll root the cuttings and plant them as a group once they’ve rooted.

Overwintered Coleus Wizard at work

Coleus Wizard Green(?) Cuttings

Coleus Wizard Rose Cuttings

After work, I passed by Target and bought a Yellow Cape Fushia (Phygelius Funfare) along with an untagged striped Coleus.

I also passed by Home Depot and got another bag of potting soil and steer manure. I also got a six pack of Sonnet Mix Snapdragons, to plant along the ones I planted yesterday.

Once home, I saw my mom’s broken Jade plant (see previous entry). I’m not sure what to do about it so I just left it for now. I’ll post a query online and see if anyone has any suggestions.

I planted the Snapdragons and pulled some weeds while my mom dead-heads the roses and Kelly (our dog) plays on the grass.

Lemon Grass Update…

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About a month ago ( June 13 entry ), I potted a Lemon Grass stalk that I rooted in water. It’s doing well and the side shoot has emerged. Some of the outer leaves of the main stalk started turning brown, so I removed them, which revealed more shoots.