Cherrio, Licorice

Licorice

May 5, 1991 – May 10, 2011

The Empress of the Garden has left our garden for one much more beautiful.  Thanks for keeping the varmint population down.  Thanks for keeping any other pet of the garden in line.  Thanks for hanging around so loyally for 20 years.  I’ll miss you.  Tell everyone “hi”.  Dang it.

You can read a light hearted remembrance of Licorice posted by her original human.  Pets are a wonderful thing.

Onions, Garlic, & Birthday Wishes

Technorati Tags: onions,garlic,Licorice

The water is off the onions and garlic.  Now it’s time to wait for the greens to dry a bit before they get pulled out of the soil and put on the drying racks to cure a bit.  The garlic will be braided and the onions stored to use as needed.  Garlic will be planted in October for another harvest the following May.  More onions will be planted to enjoy as green onions throughout the summer and brown or purple onions when they mature.  All the onions are started from seed in place.  They are some of the easiest plants to grow.  I encourage anyone starting a vegetable garden to start with radish seeds and onion seeds.  Everything germinates (sprouts) quickly.  Results are quick.  Harvest can begin in just a few weeks with tender radishes and green onions.  By harvesting early and often, you’re providing room for the remaining vegetables to mature.  Extra bonus:  a package of seeds is so inexpensive that it’s worth a try.  All that is needed is some loose soil, full sun, and some occasional water.  A sack of garden soil from a garden center is a simple way to start a small experimental garden.  Make sure to puncture the bag to allow for drainage. 

Mother Earth News – Spring 2011

 

Special birthday wishes to the Empress of the Garden, Licorice.  She was born in the garden 20 years ago.  Congratulations old girl!

 

Note:  Windows Live Writer has been updated and I’m just getting acquainted with the updates.

Garden Update

Lavender is clipped on a regular basis then dried for use in potpourris.  I did notice that lavender buds are being used to toss at weddings in place of rice or birdseed.  I like that choice.

Dove chickies have hatched up in the grape arbor.  Don’t they know that dove season starts on September 1?  Perhaps they’ll simply hang out in the garden for a while.

The tomatoes just will not stop producing.  My freezers are stuffed and I have loads of salsa.  There are little yellow blossoms on most of the plants.  In the background, the apricot is screaming for an espalier pruning.  This will probably be the sixth trim this summer.

Summer sweetness plumps up the peaches as they continue to ripen.  I enjoyed a peach this morning and thought it was great.  Farmer MacGregor didn’t think it was sweet enough yet so I won’t harvest just yet.

The chives are blooming and need to be snipped.  Most all the herbs in the garden are growing well – chives, parsley, basil, thyme,  and rosemary.  The summer savory I planted with the beans never germinated.  I planted twice.  It must have been a dud package of seeds.

I’m not sure how to best preserve the peppers since the favorite way to use them is in salsa or stuff them with cream cheese, wrap them in bacon and bake them.

Pumpkin looks forward with anticipation for the upcoming dove season.

Licorice continues to supervise all activity in the garden between naps.  Looks like she’s ready to take a dive.

Long Live the Queen

The Queen of the Garden celebrated her 19th birthday on Cinco de Mayo.  She enjoyed all the treats she could eat then perched up on the steps to oversee her staff (me) work in the garden.  This is a routing (sans treats) she does most every evening.

Here’s what’s going on today:

The Malali Watermelon have sprouted (05/06/10).  They were planted 8 days ago (04/28/10).

 Lemon Squash is planted adjacent to the watermelon.  It was also planted 8 days ago (04/28/10).

Volunteer potatoes are sprouting amongst the green bunching onions.  They will be removed to make way for the tomatoes.  Potatoes and tomatoes do not grow well together because of the spread of blight.  So…the potatoes gotta go.

The lavender will probably be harvested Saturday morning.  Unfortunately, I do not know what variety of lavender I have.

The Red Flame Grape vine is getting a grip on the arbor.  Color and intensity was boosted to see the twining.

Yesterday, the potted citrus (lemon & mandarin) had all the pansies removed, soil fluffed, and were deeply irrigated.  Today, they look a bit better.  I’m confident the lemon will progress; but the prognosis for the mandarin isn’t good.

As the sun sets, the Queen gives her approval to her staff for a job well done then takes a nap because it’s so tiring being the Queen.

Happy Birthday, Your Majesty.