March 6, 2013 Gardening…

Everyday when I go out in the garden, I check the seeds that I’ve sown to see if anything new have sprouted. As I was walking by, I noticed that the soil in the two trays with the Wildflower and Flower Garden Mix was uneven. I think the birds have been using this as a bird feeder! Argh!… I’ll probably have to sow more seeds and put these trays into a dome or in the patio.

Carrot (Blend of Color Mix) Sown

After harvesting some carrots yesterday, I was excited to sow more seeds. I planted a square 3″ cell pack with Blend of Colors Carrot Mix. I’ll have to search online to see if I can get just purple Carrots.

Homemade Cactus Mix

I was running out of Cactus Mix, so I mixed up some using 4 parts regular potting soil, 1 part play sand and 1 part perlite.

Lithops lesliei Albinica Sown

I used this mix to sow Lithops lesliei ‘Albinica’ seeds into a 3″ pot. I can’t wait for these to grow.

Snow?

I’ve been watching the fruit trees to see what fruit tree is about to open it’s bud so I can start grafting onto it. So far the Asian Plums have bloom and the flowers are starting to fade. It looks like it’s been snowing.

Stark Saturn Peach in Bloom

The Cherry and the Peach trees look like they will open within a week. The Stark Saturn Peach graft has already bloomed ahead of it’s host Elberta Peach.

Thai Basil

After heading back inside when it got too dark to garden, I plucked the leaves off a bunch of Thai Basil I bought at the Asian Grocery… and saved a few cuttings to hopefully root. I’ll make a Basil Eggplant dish with the leaves tomorrow.

Neighborhood Bird Chirping and Chirping and Chirping and Chirping…

There is a neighborhood bird that recently has been chirping its head off… even at 2am in the morning!!! He or she use to perch on the antenae on top of our house, but lately, I’ve noticed that it chirps on the tip of our neighbor’s 20+ foot tall Mediterranean Cypress.

Anyone know what this bird is?
[Update] A fellow Flickr user identified this bird as a Northern Mockingbird or Mimus polyglottos.

Below are photos and a video showing the bird’s chirping. (This was taken in Vallejo, CA (Northern San Francisco Bay Area) in early June 2012.)

Neighborhood Bird Collage