Category Archives: Gardening
King of Fruits? Things I learned about the Avocado Tree.
One of the best surprises about our house was learning that our neighbors have a giant avocado tree that hangs over our property. Like most California natives, I grew up on avocados. I thing they are one of the best fruits full of good fats and nutrients.
Last year was a bummer. The trees didn’t produce very much fruit. Guess the weather wasn’t good for it. It was a major let down, but I hoped the harvest would be better this year.
So you can imagine my excitement now that our tree is now covered with fruit.
So are the squirrels who have been dropping the fruit like mad after eating one bite. (Don’t worry – I try to save as many as I can that they bite into. I just cut that part off the fruit before using.)
I did learn an interesting fact though – avocados do not ripen until they fall or are picked from the tree, so the squirrels are actually doing me a favor by dropping the fruit.
California produces about 90 percent of the nation’s avocado crop, but most are grown in Southern California because avocado trees are very susceptible to severe cold. How this particular tree survives the winter frost is a mystery. From what I can tell, it must be a Mexican variety that has the greatest tolerance to cold.
Speaking of the actual avocados. Our avocados are not your typical Hass variety you find in the grocery store. They have a smooth black skin and are smaller than the Hass avocado with little tiny seeds. The skin is very thin and a little difficult to peel, but I am working on my technique.
At first I was going to try and pick as many as I could at once, but now I am just using what drops which is plenty.
I see a fruitful month ahead of me. 
A single California Avocado tree can produce about 500 avocados (or 200 pounds of fruit) a year so I am just taking it one avocado at a time.
Hog meet Lawn
Poor Nate has been trying to fix two broken gas lawn mowers for weeks. We inherited them and hoped we could save some money by fixing one up. Unfortunately it wasn’t that easy and at some point you have to realize the cost of a new mower out ways the time and energy fixing up an old, used one.
Luckily with a few clicks of the mouse, I was able to order a Black & Decker MM875 Lawn Hog 19-Inch 12 amp Electric Mulching Mower with Rear Bag
on Friday afternoon and have it delivered Saturday morning. Cost was about 200 bucks and I only paid an additional $3.99 to ship it next day. I kid you not. Three dollars and ninety nine cents. You got to love Amazon some times!
Let me backtrack a little and explain that I had been researching electric mowers for a while before we inherited the two broken gas mowers.
Although dealing with a power cord is a little cumbersome, an electric mower made sense for our small yard for a variety of reasons.
1) It takes up very little space.
2) Its super easy for someone like me to operate with a flick of a switch.
3) We don’t have to keep a can of gasoline in our shed anymore.
4) It had awesome reviews from a few friends who have one and also on the internet.
5) It was about 100 bucks less than a battery powered model which in my mind didn’t justify the convenience of a battery.
All in all I am really proud of this purchase. I hope this little mower lives a long and healthy life at our place. All it has to do to pay its keep is work about a half an hour every other week. Not a bad deal at all.
Feline Friday: Loki as the Garden Help
I am very lucky to have a little furry helper in the garden.
This is what I was doing.
and this was how Loki helped me.
Let the recap begin!
Its been a VERY busy few months for me and Nate. Lot of family stuff plus I had a chaotic election season (Vote June 8!) and Nate’s been in the thralls of school.
Any spare moment we were not at the office, we found time to get a few things done on the house. So let’s start with five big projects in our backyard.
1. Removing the Planters
Slowly, Nate and I have been removing the concrete planters along the back fence. It has required a great deal of patience and hard work to remove all the old growth and transport wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow of dirt to other places in the yard.
Nate also tackled the persimmon stump.
2. Corner Bed
Some of the dirt made its way into my new corner bed. Earlier I posted about my transplanted hydrangeas. I actually ended up moving them a second time, but this is there final destination!
I also transplanted some other plants in the backyard including our Pineapple and Mexican Sage. They are already doing quite well.
3. To the Dump
Nate took two trips to the dump disposing the old solar panels from the roof, the pool heater, the fiberglass sheeting on our patio, a concrete border from the front porch and countless other junk-able items. I’ll recap the removal of the fiberglass and concrete border in a separate post.
4. The Pool Equipment
Well, you may remember that Dad and I took out that nasty pool heater awhile back. Well soon after, we hired a local service to keep the chemicals in check. Leave it to the expert to find a “leak” in our system.
Basically, the equipment was super old and not doing a very good job. We made the decision to install new equipment that would be more efficient, quieter and effective.
Since the new equipment has been installed, our pool has been crystal clear so I think it was well worth it!
5. Light Fixtures
I was really happy to exchange the old spotlights on the back porch with new metal light fixtures. I was pleased that I was able to do the whole project by myself with no problems. It was a perfect project for a Sunday afternoon.
All these little improvements continue to make this house ours. I am really excited to share our vision of the completed backyard with you in the near future.
Don't let this be you.
Let this be a warning to everyone.
Wear gloves when working in the yard.
Tomato, Okra and Chard – Oh my!
All spring, my goal was to get my veg garden in. It was my #1 priority.
I first got rid of all the plants, weeds and rocks. Nate was a dear and helped my clear it all out.
I drew out my plan – three long beds with mulched space between.
Then I double dug the dirt about 1 foot or 2 deep along the entire length and added about 2-4 inches of dirt to each bed.
I installed 4 pots to give the garden some depth and then I began to plant.
The first bed (closest to the backyard) was planted with two rows of golden chard, marigolds, alyssum, a serrano pepper and a pot filled with apple mint, lemon balm and 1 eggplant.
The middle bed (the longest of the three) holds a small terra cotta pot planted with thyme, thai basil and alyssum plus two tomato plants, sweet basil, purple basil, 2 cilantro plants, two rows of okra and two cucumbers. I also planted more cilantro seeds so I would have the plants staggered a little.
The final bed was planted with purple bush beans, parsley and more basil seed, nasturtiums, alyssum and arugula. Another terra cotta pot holds two types of sage and more alyssum.
I also put a pot in front of my gas meter. It holds a second eggplant and mint.
The concrete bed that wraps around the house, holds to rows of lettuce.
I plan on planting two more tomatoes in pots for the backyard. I am still a little concerned that the tomatoes along the side garden will get enough sun.
