First loquat fruit from our tree planted two years ago. Bees loved the flowers, but we only got a few fruit. Not sure why…birds, squirrels, lack of pollination? Will need to look into this for next year. The fruit was delicious and reminds me of my childhood…
I used to work with a guy who made a delicious Dewberry pie. He would pick them wild from some spot where he would go fishing. I wish I had gotten that recipe!
Flowers in April and Fruit in May. The birds love it too!
…and make room for spring veggies. We planted our carrots in whiskey barrels this time. Success! We will give away a lot to friends and family. I think we should have picked these in February though. Many of them were quite large, but some were really small. Possibly caused by a large ant pile I did not notice in one of the barrels. Not sure what happened. Always learning…
So we got tired of eating broccoli and stopped picking it after a while. The result was a blessing. All through the month of February and part of March, our broccoli bloomed and was covered in bees and butterflies. I wish I could post a video so you could see all of the bees and butterflies, but here is a picture.
The sad part was having to pull it out in order to prepare for our spring garden. It was still covered in blooms when we pulled it. Next year, we will plant some where we can leave it in longer.
Not much is blooming in December. It is important to provide pollen year round. I think I learned about this on an episode of Central Texas Gardener. I hope to add to my list of plants in the coming years. Here is what is blooming in my garden this month:
So I was reading that it is just as important to feed and water birds in the winter as it is in the spring and summer. So, we took an old fire pit and turned it into a bird bath. I think they like it.
Growing watermelon takes a lot of space. Not sure if I will do this again, but it was really neat growing them. I recommend Crimson Sweet because they are small and I think that means they ripen faster and the big melons. This variety was recommended by the County Agricultural Extension service, so I gave it a try. Success. (It helped that this was a rainy year)
These sunflowers are pretty and also provide some relief from the sun when we are harvesting vegetables and pulling weeds in the garden. They do not always get this tall, but this was a rainy year. I think the variety was called Mammoth.
This is where it all started. My husband brought home a tank that we were thinking about using to provide water for wildlife. He unloaded it from his truck and left it outside. A few hours later we got a pretty decent rain. The barrel was almost full the next morning when we got up and there was this little feller looking happy as a clam. Well, the rest is history. We positioned the tank, added rocks and then plants. Now it is a home to many frogs and at times, tadpoles. We have even seen dragon flies grow up in it. See posts in 2017 for current frog updates.
I don’t mind, but I wonder why…
You know, for the last couple of years, I get one good harvest of squash and then the stink bugs come along and get them. I have not found a way to organically get rid of them. I still plant them, because an organic squash can cost $3 here in Texas.
I grew this fig tree from a cutting we took from my husband’s great grandmother’s fig tree. I has been in the ground one year and is already producing fruit.
Update: 2017 – I have taken two cuttings from this tree so far and grown them for a year and given them to my sister in law and my cousin. Great grandma is still feeding the family. I wish there were emoticons on this blog, because that statement definitely deserved a heart.
While walking outside, we found a little surprise inside our Giraffe sculpture, made by my talented husband…a nest!
Say it with me…Mow around the milkweed.
My husband bought me this full size tree. I normally buy very small plants because I am cheap. lol. It is beautiful and I love it.
I love these rainy years. They make me feel like a great gardener. lol I think eight broccoli plants produced good size heads that year. That has not happened again since 2015.
