And Grafting Starts

It was such a nice day to work in the garden. Temperatures were in the mid to high 70s and I could here the bees buzzing around the flowers that were blooming in the backyard.

Inca Plum Blooms

Some of the fruit trees, specifically the Plums trees, were starting to flower and bud, so it was time to start grafting. I took the scions out of the refrigerator and inventory of what I got.

2016 Scions

I collected the Plums, Plucots, Pluots, Apricot, Cherry and Avocado scions… found my grafting knife and grafting tape… got my camera and started grafting.

I did a total of 11 grafts including:
– Asian Plums: Elephant Heart and Black Splendor
– Apricot: Canadian White
– Plumcot: Apex
– Pluot: Prosser and Dapple Dandy (Dinosaur Egg)
– Cherry: Coral
– Avocado: Mexiola

So Many Fruits…

I just updated the What’s Growing? page and didn’t realize how many fruit trees we have until I listed them all down. Below is the list so far, not even including all the grafts that I have made.

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Weekend Gardening… Stinky-Stinky!…

Saturday, June 10, 2006

I didn’t do any gardening, but took a few photos in the garden.

The Avocado that we found sprouting in the compost bin last year has survived the winter outside very well. I didn’t realize how much it has grown in 11 months. I’ll have to repot this into a 5 gallon pot soon.

One Year Avocado

My Mom harvested the Shallots she planted a while back, but the bulbs didn’t get too big. They were growing in a mostly shaded area and the soil needed to be amended badly. We are going to replant the smaller bulbs in the newly amended veggie bed under much more sun. Hopefully that’ll make a big difference.

Shallots

She was telling me that she loves these either chopped up with tomatoes and added to fried fish, or pickled with Garlic, Carrots, Green Papaya and Labanos (Diakons/Radish).

Later in the afternoon, we went shopping at Target, the Filipino Grocery Store, Food for Less and the 99¢ store. At the 99¢ store I got a grafted Cactus that was starting to flower and my Mom got a bunch of six Lucky Bamboo both for 99¢.

Sunday, June 11, 2006

I did a bunch of this and that on Sunday.

I sprayed the Roses, Snapdragons and Dahlias with half and half solution of skim milk and water. Hopefully, this will deter black spots and mildew or rust (I forgot which one).

I also sprayed almost everything’s leaves with fish fertilizer. Stinky-stinky!!!! Note: remember to close your windows if you spray your plants with fish fertilizer!

We had more Taro and Ginger sprouting in the kitchen, so I planted those in six-packs.

I emptied the one-galloon pots that had Caladiums from last year, which all died… but I found tons of earthworms which I relocated to veggie bed #1.

Earthworms

The Cucumbers were getting too big for the 12-pack Mini Greenhouse, so I transfered them to 4 inch pots, because I haven’t finished the other veggie beds.

I continued to work on veggie bed #2, but I still have to finish one of the side, which has Breaded Iris and Chocolate Mint growing against it. I think we also have some Hyacinth bulbs there which I have to dig out carefully.

I planted another Coleus pot with ‘Saturn’s Rings’, ‘(Mislabled) Show & Tell’, ‘Burnt Sienna’ and Heuchera ‘Amber Waves’.

Avocado + Oxalis

It’s been a tiring two days, with me and my Mom going back and forth between home and the South Bay for my sister-in-law’s father’s funeral.

We got to visit my Aunt’s and Uncle’s second house; the one with three Avocado trees. I was excited to actually see a real life Avocado tree.

My Aunt also gave me some Oxalis weeds that I’ve been wanting for a while. They looks like this. I know they can spread rapidly, but I’m going to plant these in a pot to keep it at bay. We have some other types of Oxalis weeds, but the are not at all as rampant as I’ve heard people say they are. I just think these Yellow Oxalis are so pretty.

Late, but…

I took a day off of work today to bring my mom to a doctor’s appointment. Before we left, I had the chance to check out the back garden, which I hardly get to see in daylight since the days are so damn short.

I turned the compost in our new Smith & Hawkins BioStack Composter, which I won at a city composting workshop, and can definitely feel the heat being generated. I want to get another one, so if you are in the San Francisco Bay Area and want to get rid of yours, I’ll take it.

Compost bin photo

Sunday Gardening…

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…

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 :)