Heatwave

We have been having a heatwave with the heat index around 106 or more some days. The second day into the heatwave my 12 inch comet in my 150 gallon pond died. The water was like a hot bath temp......poor fish. The heat saps your energy

The rain has been sporadic and arbitrary......pouring in one section.....bone dry in another. Sometimes on the opposite side of the street. It has been weird weather so far this year.

The heat is literally cooking the plants, so the garden itself is not making much progress, but I am making progress on getting a grip on the grass.

One plant that has not been in the least bit fazed by this heat is the passion vine. It glories in it. Growing like the weed it has turned out to be but with oh such fragrant and beautiful flowers. The gulf fritilary butterflies and the zebra longwings are having a field day. Caterpillars everywhere.

I have started severely cutting back on it so that it doesn't choke all the other plants.

Today I also saw several caterpillars of the black swallowtail on the fennel, they are so beautiful but feisty. When you touch them they give off an odor that is supposed to scare you away. The giant swallowtail is flitting around as well as the sulfurs and other butterflies. Butterflies everywhere.

Oh, my meyer lemon has a few small fruit on as well as the calamondin tree. Pineapples are progressing and it looks like my papayas are trying to make a comeback. Can't wait for it to cool down so that I can put in some veggies.

My Garden Album

How Much Space makes It A Garden?

Many people will say "I cannot have a garden, I don't have the space"..... Are you sure? A garden can be any space you have available. A windowsill, an end table that gets good light, your porch or deck......even a closet that is well lit.

There are many ways of gardening, conventional...that is, planted in the ground, in rows, in self watering containers, raised beds. Square foot gardening, aquaculture.....there is a method for everyone. Container and vertical gardening..... You can have gardens within gardens.

Your container may be an egg carton, a storage box, an old dresser drawer or an expensive earthbox. It is up to you, your creativity and your pocket. Gardening can be expensive but if you are serious, with a little creativity, you can cut your costs drastically.

So, tell me about your garden...............

Can You See The Spider

Earlier today I decided to take some photos of the garden and as usual ended up at my little pond in motion (because it is not quite finished although happily inhabited).

I took a few photos with my little digital camera of my fish visiting with me. You can clearly see the mosquito fishes in this one and also some of my koi. What I thought was ripples in the water in in fact .... a spiderweb. Can you see the spider? So here is another mosquito and bug predator.

Update: my raspberry experiment, the plant has now begun to ramble through the hibiscus plants that are close to it. Still waiting to see if I will get any fruit from it this year. My carrots that survived the ant raid are doing well. My beans have taken off since we had some rain.

My taro is showing promise, my yams have sprouted, and the sweet potatoes are making a comeback. My pineapples have fruit, so I should be eating pineapples IF I beat the two legged predators and the raccoons to them.

I am restructuring the garden because of the big losses suffered this past winter and I am moving my more tropical plants to the south side hoping that if we get as cold this coming winter my survival rate will be better. Continuing work on my edging of the beds. Need lots of mulch and composted manure to give a good start to the beds. The grass is as virulent as ever growing oh so much faster than my plants. Digging away as always................

Asian Tigers Are Back!

And the rains came. Very quickly, it made its presence known. You do know that I am not speaking of real tigers or fighter jets? No, I speak of that little black and white striped devil, the mosquito. The one that doesn't sleep. It is present twenty four hours a day. (And please pray that one does not make it inside your house for they will not stop feeding on you or your pets)

But, even with all the rain and the presence of so much water, the numbers seem to be less. Could it be that natural predator/prey relationship is working? Remember, I do not use chemicals. So, my loyal troupe of predators are doing a wonderful job.

Kudos to:

My earthbound crew: the tons of lizards, green and brown anole, the six stripe lizard (at least that's what I call them), and a variety of frogs.

My aerial crew: the birds (martins/swallows/swifts, wrens), dragonflies, bats and any others that participate in the continued decimation of the mosquito swarms.

My waterbound crew: mosquito fish, goldfish, and koi, who patrol the three ponds and the open rainwater barrel.

My appreciation to all of the above. I would otherwise be housebound at this time, or resemble a sieve with the number of bumps from the bites. HURRAY for mother nature!

An Example To Follow

Path To Freedom chronicles the Dervaes Family's Urban Homestead in Pasadena California.

Follow FreedomGardens.org and help meet the challenge for 2009.

Garden visitors

Almost every day I see new visitors to my garden. This shows that an ecosystem is being developed within the framework of the garden, predators and prey and sometimes, just a passerby.

Another visitor that I missed getting a photo of was the larra wasp. Now I think I know why some of my plants don't make it. Where there are larra wasps, there are mole crickets. Predator/prey.

Some of my regulars are frogs, lizards and racer snakes . Ran into a very big frog the other day and missed getting his photo too. Beautiful creature with his green patterned markings. A week ago I almost stepped on a very large rat snake. Beautiful fella or gal also got away, so I missed another kodak moment. I need to have a camera strapped around my neck.

The butterflies are back in abundance, several different varieties, including the zebra swallowtail and the zebra longwing. Oh, if only I could attract the hummingbirds.......but I will plant their garden and hopefully they will come!

Raining Buckets

Well, I prayed for rain.......yeah and rain it did. It has been raining every day and not just a drizzle. When it comes it pours off the roof in torrents sheeting towards the walls of the house. The ponds very quickly fill to overflowing and then I am running around in the rain like a wild thing bailing water so my fishes don't jump ship on me.

The plants are ecstatic but not more so than the devil grass that has grown almost a foot in the past four days. Yeeech.....I hate that grass.

I am digging out the strip of grass that runs alongside the driveway and putting in edgers and plants. It is two and a half by twenty eight feet. When it is complete I know it will look really nice. Right now, there are a few dahlias and a couple of salvias in place. I intend to add some alyssum to provide some ground cover.

Since I am mixing the beds, I will also put in some sweet potato plants in that bed for added ground cover, at the same time growing food for the future.

Once upon a Lawn

I have always wanted my own home. Not a rented or shared apartment, not a rented or shared house, my own home, my castle. I had visions of what it would be....a family home, where my children and my grandchildren could create memories that they would long remember, where family could visit and be comfortable, without someone dictating who could visit and how long they could stay. It was a vision.

My family grew, went to schools: elementary, secondary, college, grad school.....still being a tenant, always at the dictation of a landlord. Then 2002 rolled around and I was able to purchase .49 of an acre in Florida to build my own home. It was during the building boom so it cost a lot more than it should have. Also, the builders way of preparing for building was totally destructive to wildlife. My request for a stand of oaks that I wanted to remain was ignored and every blade of grass, every tree was torn out.

The house was built and then came the lawn....huge lawn. Mixed in that sod was a type of grass known as devil grass. Broke every mower and weedwhacker of my neighbors who tried to help me keep it under control. Huge fine by the code enforcement for tall weeds and grass. The grass is straight from the devil.

My solution is: dig the darned lawn out completely and plant a bio-intensive landscape that will provide food for the mouth and mind for both myself and the wildlife that I love.

This is a recording of my journey to freedom from the slavery of the lawnmower, and my journey towards sustainability.

My Journey Begins

My journey as I turn a sea of sand into an oasis (fingers crossed). It is taking some getting used to. A plant that could be perky and green in the morning...could be fried and dried in the evening. It takes a lot of courage and patience to tackle this sandy soil which is adequately infested with weeds.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog! : D
On this blog I will share pictures of my garden as it progresses. Gardening is hard work but the rewards can be extraordinarily beautiful. Most people think gardens have to be picture perfect, but your garden can be anything you want it to be. Your garden should be an extension of your personality. It could be orderly and pristine, ecclectic, cottage or edible landscaping. My garden is an evolving process. My garden is about me and my needs. It is a therapeutic venture that helps to keep my hypertension in check.My garden includes flowers, vegetables, fruits, wildlife and butterfly gardening and water features. As I said before, it is a work in progress constantly evolving. In a few years, I should be close to my vision. I will share my journey with you. I will offer advice to anyone who thinks I can be helpful to them if they are having problems with their gardens or growing plants. I do not claim to be an expert in anyway. If you are a fellow gardener, novice or seasoned, I hope you will accompany me on my journey and follow this blog. I'll keep it updated with photos and information on my progress on a weekly basis