Zone 9 Gardening

Blood Oranges

2012-04-12T11:19:00.002-07:00

We live in a citrus oasis. If we do not have a particular tree our neighbors do...key limes, tangerine, orange, grapefruit [both pink and white], tangelo, meyer lemon, lemon... yet, I have found some omissions - blood orange, kiffir lime [I am currently hunting for a tree] to name but a couple odd men out. So about 5 or 6 years ago I took it upon myself to plant a blood orange. Well I had not realized I planted the most persnickety tree bagging me off and not showing a single bud. Finally I had enough and gave it an ultimatum, produce or you will be replaced. Ha! look who has buds. Tho we are still at war, you see only a small sliver of tree produced buds and now tiny oranges; whereas, the rest is still barren.

Blood Orange Trees

info from ~
organic bouquet
urban harvest

mine ~ either a Sanguinelli Blood Orange or Moro Blood Orange planted both and one died so not sure until it fruits

grow in zones ~ 4-11 patio 8-11 outdoors

needs ~ citrus grows best between 55° and 85° F

indoor temperatures averaging 65°

keep soil moist

purchased ~ at lowes or home depot

tend and care ~ heavy feeders, especially iron, manganese and zinc

additional notes ~ yellowing leaves indicate lack of fertilizer or overwatering

the more sun the more production of fruit

citrus do not need to be pruned

visit my other blog for my blood orange sorbet recipe

Five Finicky Eaters

growing asparagus

2012-04-09T11:04:00.003-07:00

information from:
ohio online
USA Gardener
organic gardening

Imagine perfection with just the right amount of sweetness and crunch, this is asparagus. The first time we eagerly gobbled up out first spear we all chimed, "grow more". Asparagus from the grocery store is nothing but a flaccid bore. Homegrown best served freshly cut - no need to steam, boil...However, we recently roasted a small amount and to our utter shock they tasted like a fine steak! Crazy

grow in zones ~ 2-9

companion plants ~ Basil, calendula, parsley, tomato

needs ~ full sun (mine is in partial shade)

good drainage

soil with ph 6.5-7.5 (never have checked mine)

purchase ~ my crowns came from Home Depot with the promise of spears in 2 years and I am happy to report at the 2 year mark they appeared

planting ~ dig a whole no deeper than 5 to 6 inches and don't touch the first year

tend and care ~ asparagus is a heavy feeder and needs regular fertilizing when I remember I use compost worked in the top surface of the soil

harvest ~ I cut them at the dirt level never below

additional notes ~ during the summer the it shoots beautiful fern like leaves to absorb the sun. Cut this back before spring to prevent disease and bug eggs.

visit my other blog for the roasted asparagus recipe

Five Finicky Eaters

praying mantis hatching

2012-04-05T15:30:00.001-07:00

we do not use pesticides and this is one of the reasons why
over the last two days we have been lucky enough
to witness the appearance of one of our
favorite insect from their ootheca egg mass

Beginning of April Garden 2012 Part Three

2012-04-05T13:39:00.001-07:00

leeks - mint - goji berries

anna apple

manzano banana

first ever fruit
stella cherry

avocado

blackberry

asparagus and blackberry

nopales

stevia

desert peach

peach

fig

aloe

cardoon gobbo di nizzia

celery

lavender

artichoke

Beginning of April Garden 2012 Part Two

2012-04-05T13:20:00.001-07:00

corn - bean - squash
sunflower - strawberry

squash

strawberry

jewel blueberry

lemon grass

apple blossom

aloe

potted mandrian orange

pepper

fennel

asian pear

pomegranate

sage

4 way plum tree

blueberry

first year fruited
blood orange

oregano

tomatoes from rotten tomato throw

nectarine

Beginning of April Garden 2012 part one

2012-04-05T13:04:00.001-07:00

planted mid march
row 1 imperial black beauty eggplant
row 2 golden giant amaranth and pepper oncinil greekrow
3 california wonder pepper
row 4 corno di toro giallo
row 5 marvel striped tomato
row 6 black plum paste tomato

row 1 tender green bush bean
row 2 provider snap bush bean
row 3 tavera bush bean
row 4 nates carrots
row 5 buscaro cabbage and ruby swiss chard
row 6 eggplant long purple and early

row 1 puple basil
row 2 poppy joes basil
row 3 borage
row 4 borage
row 5 afgane sesame
row 6 mandquot tree

row 1 sunrise hawaiin solo papaya and roselle thai red
row 2 garden berry wonder wild straberries
row 3 garden berry wonder wild straberries
row 4 garden berry hardy kiwi
row 5 ground cherry
row 6 roselle thai red

row 1 purple cone flower echinachea
row 2 shungike edible chrysanthem
row 3 caraway
row 4 cumin
row 5 variety of melons
row 6 variety of melons

row 1summer squash and squash black beauty
row 2 zucchini ramp and libra squash
row 3 round french zucchini
row 4 cucumber hmong red and lemon cucumber
row 5 small pickle cucumber
row 6 vittoria eggplant

baby preying mantis

praying mantis egg sack

tomato pepper garden
with basil, chilves, oregano,

last years tomatoes reappear

first year ever kiwi

thornless black berries
planted this year

meyer lemon tree potted

mango

small apple

end of aspargus

weeping santa rosa plum

apricots

2011 a year in the garden

2011-12-25T21:10:00.000-08:00

Zone 9 gardening has it all with the exception of my most favorite fruit - cherries. Welcome to my garden where the temperature ranges from 32 degrees to over 125, critters come in all shapes and sizes and everything seems to flourish despite my laziness!

little plants

watermelon varieties

mango

lettuce

chard

apricot blossoms

rosemary

fava beans

asparagus

guava

artichoke

rose geranium

arugula

lavender

artichoke

watching us watching him

2011 a year in the garden

2011-12-25T21:06:00.000-08:00

raspberries

strawberries

jujubes

mexican bird of paradise

cardoon

figs

tomatoes

lavender

sunflower

peaches

black raspberries

leeks

rose

bean

apricot

pomegranate

humming bird

dragon fly

2011 a year in the garden

2011-12-25T20:23:00.000-08:00

right before this picture this guy went for a swim in our pool

our bananas

this little guy and his friends like to scamper into our garage

basic basil

cocoon

our home is the home to more and more Monarch Butterflies every year

one of our beauties

garden warrior

watermelon

jalapeno

corn and squash

tomatoes

asian pears

munch munch munch

plums

sage

pear

nectarine

apples
and

very hot peppers