The lychee is starting to look like Christmas tree

I got Pink Lady apples!

Silvia

Happy Fathers Day!

We just finish building my new raised bed by the roses and it is free! It is 4x4 made of cedar and it was for sale at the hydroponic store where I shop, I had a loyalty card from them after a few purchases with $50 so I used that and it was free.

Silvia

Silvia - Everything looks so beautiful! ...the squashes, the food, the lychee tree. What will you be growing in your new raised bed?

You have a nice variety of winter squashes. Do you have a favorite? What is the name of the knobby variety? Congratulations on producing some apples. Not many people in this area can say that they grew their own apples. :)

Do you have any special plans for the eucalyptus? Potpourri?

Christine

Hi Christine

Thank you. This season all the squashes are very tasty, I roasted a variety with just salt and pepper and then I use a food mill, the one that I use for tomato sauce. Added some spices and chicken broth to thin it out, it was amazing, especially when I decorated with the crab and the pepitas.
The big knobby variety is the Italian Marina de Chioggia, I have not use it yet but I will and I let you know about the taste.

I had in Phoenix the apple variety Anna and I thought is time to try something else, one of the ones that I like is the Pink Lady and it got the chill hours needed even with the warm winter that we had, another that has apples is the Thomas Jefferson favorite and I am glad about that.

The area where is the new raised bed is on the east side of the house, I have a bottlebrush, an atemoya, the plum and the roses so I can only grow small crops there like herbs or small veggie plants like onions or peppers.

I saw the fast growing eucalyptus trees in Mark's house, he said his were young when planted and now they are tall and they are good for repelling bugs, Willy liked the idea and he said he knows where he wants them.:) they are thin and probably will put them around the porch area...

While some veggies are declining, the other plantings are taking off with the rain, at least I don't have to water, the fruit trees are doing great.

Tamarind has flowers and the atemoya has small fruits, the plants from the last party are all doing well.

Bi-color butterfly bush

Small leaves tibouchina

Thornless blackberries

Silvia

Close to an inch of rain here today, none at work only twenty minutes south? Your garden looks great! I thank Lou every time I look at how fast those trees are growing and the full grown one, knowing they will all look like that in few years...! Overnight UPS on some of that delicious food would be nice, J's working late so it will probably be a Tombstone pizza........:).

All your squash dishes look and sound yummy! Thanks for sharing. One half of our mango is finished but the back half has 4" fruit on it. We're lucky to get them before the birds and bugs eat them up.

Hi Mark

Willy is your good student, he loves the eucalyptus trees that we saw at your house, I do too and cannot wait till they grow...he conveniently forgot that he was going to make a copy of your birdbath.:)
I wish that you all live closer, then we could have drinks, some garden food and wonderful plant talk along with few jokes...
I cannot believe how some of the gifted plants are growing fast with the rains.

The red cloak

Cheryl's sunflowers with chaya and dogwood on the sides growing fast

Lots of figs coming up

Silvia

Thank you Wordie, you are lucky to have ripe mangoes! any food homegrown should make us proud.
I get my inspiration on what is coming out of my garden and I use it or preserve it for later. The dinner was Middle Eastern theme this time so all the dishes had that type of flavors, I am really happy to see the surprise guests faces and happiness after finishing the plates. I know then that I did something right and of course the veggies are the stars.

Avocados are on the menu every day this time of the year....

Silvia

Sivlia - I see that you have a young chaya plant. Are you planning on eating the leaves? I have a chaya bush that is at least 10 years old now and I enjoy it as an ornamental. Never had the courage to eat the leaves.

Mark - Well you got the inch of rain on Saturday evening when I only got a sprinkle, but I got that 1 3/4 inches on Monday morning (3:30am) with all of that earth-shaking lightning and thunder in the middle of the night. Very scary. I'm sure you heard it.

Christine

I love the lychee tree! I have one that I've been nursing along for a few years( I live in between Orlando and Daytona) and they don't like the cold we get. Mine is just getting to six feet tall now and this year has looked it's best. How old is yours and when did it start producing?

Christine, the chaya looks nice as an ornamental and no I am not planning to eat the leaves, I have already to eat so much from the garden that is hard to keep up...
I still have collards and kale, not buggy yet but with this hard rains I have been cleaning the garden and picking up the veggies, now I have a load of cucumbers and green beans in the fridge, I already used the big tomatoes for sauce to keep in the freezer, I dried another bunch, made salsa today and later I will have to use the cherry tomatoes, probably I am going to dry them, love my dried banana for snacks. I just cannot believe how my small garden produces so much, it is a good thing. And rains, thunders and lighting are almost every day here.

Silvia

Silvia,

Nice looking squash harvest as you usually get each year. My two Granny Smith apple trees are finally old enough to be making apples for me this year even though it was a warm winter. You might want to try the Granny Smith apple tree in your area as a late fall ripening apple variety. The Marcoun apple trees you convinced me to buy are still growing but too young to make apples for me yet and I will need a cold winter for them to produce. I have warm, cool, and cold winter varieties of apples to cover whatever winter we have.

Lou

Hi Jagerbomb

I also love the lychee tree and how it looks this year, it really brightened up the yard, neighbors asked me about it for the first time about what it is because it looks so pretty! fruits are good too. All my planting in this house are just a few years old and newer, the lychee probably is 4 years old and I have this picture of the fruit in June 2011

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Silvia

Silvia, your photos are like garden porn. They should be illegal!

My harvests look pathetic compared to yours!

Hi Lou

Thank you, I like the winter squash because they keep longer time than other crops and I get to use them in a lot of dishes sweet and savory.

Thanks to you and Mark I will have the eucalyptus growing in my yard.

That is good to know about the Granny Smith, that will give me a different tasting apple, cannot wait till you get your Macoun apples,please let us know...

The other apple that is fruiting is the Spitzenburg

And another picture of the lychee tree

Silvia

Thank you The Tradition, I like that! lol. When people come to my house, they are surprised to see that I have a very small garden, the trick is that is so well utilized that the harvest is big and after that I have to think how to use it the best way, usually don't make the same dish twice, especially when I have company, at the winter squash dinner they were saying that the last time they were invited they had the best meal of their life, and I tried to think what they ate and could not remember so I asked them what was on the menu that day.:)
I really like a big variety in the garden, most crops do well for me, some are more successful than others.

Silvia

sylvia, you are amazing. any idea which blackberry you're raising there? i've tried several, and they've all disappointed.

what date do you plant your squash seeds? and, direct sow?

Speaking of Winter Squash:

Sylvia, when do you usually start your seeds for fall planting? My wife would like me to grow some Acorn Squash for her and I have found that I should be able to grow the Table King variety since it is more bush-like than sprawling. U of F says August for planting my fall crops, but I wanted to pick your brain for your experiences. You're a bit further south than me, so I will have to adjust accordingly.

Thank you Michael!

The blackberry are Arapaho thornless and I put 2 plants close to the fence, they always produce for me and I like them better than blueberries, purple sweet potatoes are planted at the bottom.

If the weather is good I plant squash at the end of January or beginning February, this season was weird we had a warm winter and then it got cold. I use the pantera bowls or any other container that size and put the seeds there, it is easy to cover them if frost is predicted, the containers are put in the raised bed, when done I just take the container out and pull some of the roots that grow through the holes. I do that with summer and winter squash, the idea is that the soil is always new. This is not a new idea, long time ago as a child my father took me to the Amazon forest and the nomad tribes planted the crops always in new soil, when the soil was used one season they moved to some other place and build a new home with materials from the area. With my small garden I don't have to rotate or worry about the nematodes when using new soil in the containers.
Sometimes I plant a small variety squash for the fall season somewhere end of July, any kabocha is good, acorn are very productive but don't last too long after harvest.

May 2012 winter squash harvest, the big ones are an Italian variety

Silvia

Hi Leekle

I grow the variety Table Queen acorn squash and is always very productive for me. Usually I put them at the end of the raised bed for the vines to run even when they are compact. It is a good idea to wait sometimes for the heat and the bugs to ease a little bit but we have to be careful not to plant too late either. You can do a test plant some in July and others in August and see what works the best for you.

Some Table Queen acorn squash

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Silvia

Michael - How are you? I have been thinking of you and your family, wondering how you are doing. When I drive past your house I see that your front yard is looking nice.

Silvia - Where do you get your Table Queen seeds? And, I agree with your statement that you get an incredible amount of food from your small yard. Just amazing.

Christine

I find that Silvia is correct in trying to plant in succession, like two or three seeds every week starting mid July. That way you are bound to hit the prime time for the squash to be successful for the fall planting. I find each year the prime times vary so the successive plantings will cover the best times for that year. Once you do this for a few years you will get to know the fall 'planting window' for any particular plant for your area and then only plant three times (your early window, mid window, late window) and then guarantee your success. It is very hard to tell somebody 'when to plant now' because in only 5 miles distance the timing is so different.

Lou

Thanks Silvia and Lou, I'll take that advice to heart and get my seeds ordered. June is almost done (say it ain't so!) and July will be here in a blink.

Afterthought:
Why do the seasons fly by so quickly now that I'm doing this gardening thing?

Christine, we were also thinking about Michael, Willy and Tom asked me...glad that he is fine and gardening.

Table Queen seeds are available in a lot of seed companies, after I made an order with Peaceful Valley they gave me few packets for free and the squash was one of them.

My yacon patch is looking really good, I am going to find out the recipe for yacon syrup, very healthy!

Hi Lou, yes succession planting works the best for our weather in spring and fall, that way something is going to survive for us, the seasons are always changing from one year to the next even with the fruit trees.

You are welcome Leekle, time flies when we are having fun!:)

Silvia

christine! i'm sorry to have fallen out of touch with all my deland garden friends. work, life, kids, fishing... but i'm still gardening and i plan on getting back in touch with everyone this summer. i need your advice on bees! mine are doing great, and i'm thinking of getting another hive... check out my blog for pictures of our recent honey harvest. (yeah, i know, i'm butchering the frames... there was a reason!) we got so much honey, and it was light and delish.

silvia, you are amazing. you & christine are the two best gardeners i've ever met, and i've met a lot of gardeners... i should try out squash this winter. funny that i've never tried to grow any before!

Here is a link that might be useful: honey harvest

Silvia - I was getting really close to thinning out my yucon patch when you mentioned making syrup. Perhaps I should wait until you get more info.

Michael - Sure, it's a good idea to add another hive. We have had 4 hives for several years now. Four to five hives seem to be the limit that we want to have.

Well, about butchering your frames - no excuse for you! :) You should have contacted me so you could have used our centrifuge. It's really important to preserve the comb so the bees can refill them. It takes a lot of their time and resources to start from the beginning again.

We harvested our honey 2 weeks ago which turned out to be 10 gallons. This is what we have left due to giving some away. The extra, we should probably sell.

Nice to hear that you are fine and doing well. I was beginning to wonder... Thanks for the very flattering gardening compliment. Don't be modest, you are are a very good gardener too.

Christine

Michael, you and your son are looking good! the honey too.:) You are a very ingenious and great gardener and last time I saw your garden, it was very inspirational and beautiful!

Wow Christine! all that honey, you have been working very hard like the bees. I will let you know about how to make the syrup when I find more about it....

Silvia