San Diego Garden Journal March 2019
Here we are, looking from the back porch toward the back of the yard. Soon, once the Mulberry has leafed in, you can hardly tell that there is a house anymore.
The round black growing spaces in front of the picture above are holding these beauties - well, they are beautiful to me. They are Bok Choy gone to flower. The flowers are tasty as a snack and on salads and the young seed pods are very good as well. And, of course, seeds are good to have for the next crop.
These aren't new Bock Choy plants but a variety of summer plants like eggplant, tomatoes, and such. The indoor heat mats ran out of space, and we were hoping that the stones warm up in the sun and give some radiating heat to the seed flats.
From the seeds, I am looking at the greywater basin I surrounded with Artichoke plants. They are looking good! Now, we just have to hope that the gophers are not going to get them.
In the same area are a lot of wild radishes blooming. Bees and other insects love them and the flowers and pods are tasty for humans to eat as well. You have to pick the pods early. They taste like radishes in the salad, are great in stir-fries and make a great fermented vegetable.
I also pick the leaves and bring them to the chickens.
These two are sitting on top of each other to lay their eggs. The white one was seriously broody last year. I hope that they will skip this year. I have already way too many chickens. Eggs anyone? I will sell for Steem or trade :)
Right out of the chicken enclosure are two hugelbeds. One of them is covered with California Poppies. They are so pretty!! Imagine whole hillsides filled with these flowers. No wonder people went mad in Southern California trying to get the perfect Instagram shot - never mind that they were destroying the flowers and habitat in the process. Lake Elsinore and the crazy masses made it even onto the Daily Show.
Nasturtiums are growing under the Guava and all along the side of the water ditch. Unlike the California Poppies, they are not only pretty but also edible. Every part of them. The flowers make any salad beautiful, the leaves taste like watercress and the seeds can be pickled and used like Capers.
The Goji Berries are leafing out and some flowers are already open. They are not the best variety I have eaten, but still are good.
Also on the Hugelkultur bed is a large Rosemary bush. Such pretty flowers. And insects do love it a lot.
Last year, I was building compost piles in this area and grew cucumber and squashes right in the compost. This year, they got spread out and we planted lettuces, beets, onions, garlic, and assorted other annuals. A gopher ate two lettuces the evening I took these pictures. I am happy to report that he is no more.
Fava Beans are growing all over. They are not only delicious, but are good nitrogen fixers and are so pretty.
Ana Apples are growing well in our warm climate and produce twice a year. Can't wait for the first apples.
The Donut Peach is blooming and I am so happy about that. It had started to bloom earlier in the year when we had a hot spell followed by an almost freeze. But things are looking good!!
Calendulas are planted all over the place. Different colors and all are nice spots of colors between the mulch and the greens.
Cherry blossoms are always a welcome sight. Hopefully next year I have time to graft a different variety. These warm-weather cherries need to have a pollinator of a different variety to produce.
I was going to show you my front yard as well and there is much more to see in the back. But this post is getting a bit long and I am tired LOL. Keeping the front for another post. But let me show you what the "girls" were up to.
Yummy!
This was supposed to be an entry for the garden Journal challenge - but I think I am too late...
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Well first of all, your girls have been pretty darn busy! I can't believe you have too many chickens! Nobody has too many chickens! Your yard is incredible with all the new growth and everything that is coming up!
I must comment on those beautiful poppies because they are so gorgeous and yes! On the hillsides they rule! You have outdone yourself this year and my goodness! I'm coming to your house for dinner. Thank you for showing off your homestead and I hope you have a most incredible day!
Love to you and yours!
!tip
Thank you so much!! I will make you a huge omelet!
The girls are doing great but so many people have chickens these days that it is hard to even trade them. I was selling them for a while but won't for too cheap (unless I get paid in Steem)
Hehehehe! My brother raises chickens too, but, he went for all special breeds! LOL
He is doing well with selling their eggs, people come from all over to get them. He also sells his duck eggs and he raises peacocks.
I don't blame you when you put your heart into it!
I'm still thinking of that omlet! LOL
!tip
There are so many interesting chicken breeds out there! He probably can sell fertile eggs for incubating too. Here, having chickens has become a thing with the alternative-minded folks. And the "regular" people don't want to pay. They go to the store and think they can find eggs cheaper - which they can. But they are nothing like the eggs from truly happy chickens.
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Seeing your artichoke plants makes me even more excited because I have four of them in my grow tent right now (my first year attempting them).
Thank you for the tour!!
You are welcome. Hope you get some!!
The first thing I saw in the pictura (picture) was that it was a house and wondered what will happen here today. Glad to know my assumptions were true, if this was the past.
These florals here are very beautiful, the yellow stands surprisingly out from the green in a great and pretty way. I would love to grow these flowers if I had the time to plant and nurture some plants... Anywho, looks like these flowers' seeds are ready!~
D'aw, looks like we shall be staring at fertile dirt here for a while. Anyways good to know the variety of flowers (and plants) jam packed here. Also good to have preventive measures against the cold climates and protecting those baby seeds!~
That a bush, and that's grey (yes I know see "greywater" but what!)? Well I need my entire life to be changed to include this inside the family of bushes! Because they look like some fanning leaves being grown out or just humongous leaves. Glad Mother Nature can be tricky!
Glad to hear about radishes (are they really wild if they are being cultivated?) are surviving and blooming quite well. Also good to hear about that!
Wow, they're a power couple alright! These chickens better be treated and cared for nicely for providing those eggs!
More flowers, now poppies based in the states! Peck, well they're beautiful of course and we like to have the memory implanted (as we are encouraged) than it living. So shame for that but someone benefitted from their environment being disrupted and harmed.
I can go on and on about the rest but I sound like a gushing and heart-eyed broken record, so let's move on to the picturas (pictures)!~
Picturas (Pictures): Well firstly they are all sharp and clean with details! Secondly, full of variety all of them. Lastly, it feels like I can reach in to smell the flowers and take an egg for myself and incubate in my house. They're that lifelike that it's like I am staring out a window!!!!~
Thank you so much!!
re: radishes. I am not cultivating them or ever planted them. I just harvest the flowers and pods and the greens for the chickens. And rip them out where I don't want them. The root itself is small and not very good. For that, I do cultivate radishes that are bred to give me a nice juice root to eat 😄
Love your gushing...
Welcome for the comment! ~^^~
Well, happy harvesting in any way yah can!~
Gushes some more
Thanks for sharing the post again!
I wish I lived close enough to get some fresh farm eggs from you! Your plants are so diverse and beautiful. I can't imagine the amount of work you have to do to take care of all of that!
I wished you were too! Totally would give you eggs :)
What a productive garden you've got happening there! I never thought to eat the flowers and seed pods of the bok choy or radishes I always thought when they went to seed that was it for them - not any more!
Where abouts are you gardening in? Lucky to have all those different type of fruit trees!
Beautiful pictures and I love your chickens and colored eggs! If I lived closer I would buy some from you!
I am in San Diego and I do have a lot of fruit trees - I also killed a lot LOL. I got in with the rare fruit growers and learned grafting and such and have planted all kinds of things - but there is room for a lot more. At one point I counted and had about 80 fruit trees. But I might have killed a few since LOL
Wow! Awesome - such a productive garden! Grafting is a good skill to have!
You gave so much going on. I love Mulberries and the silk worms that go along with it. We used to have a few mulberry trees when I grew up and haven't seen one for years.
Thank you so much. We don't have silkworms here - at least I haven't seen any. But Mulberries are so delicious and there are so many varieties. I have some black ones that are already turning and the White ones haven't even started to bloom yet. Long season. Yay!!
Oh, California Poppies are orange? Or is that the Sun playing tricks?
Cool garden. Do you have pictures of water running around?
Yes, they are orange. They are a native to California. Water later LOL have to find a pic.
The garden looks very lovely and I still love your chickens, they are adorable.
Thank you so much. Wished you could come and visit them!! 😄
It really looks great @mariannewest!
I imagine that achieving this costs a lot of care, time and patience :) I am not really a garden person, but I love to look at nicely cared green gardens. Maybe some day I begin to get more interest in actually taking care myself. Until then I just watch and enjoy others :)
I must say that I kind of respect people putting so much time into such valuable things like nature. You must also feel very nice I can imagine if you look at the end result after putting so much work and showing great patience :)
Thank you so much for your comment. I do love gardens but can't say that mine is nicely kept. It is pretty much a wilderness garden. I allow many plants to self-seed and just take over - or I eat them LOL
Hahaha, at least you have a lot different plants in your garden. I still need to figure out what I can do with my very small garden. Maybe when I am ready, I can ask you for some tips :)
Sure. You will be amazed how much you can grow in a small space.
Thanks a lot!
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A yummy post indeed. Specally the eggs. I miss that from my childhood. We had a big patio where we could grow even oranges and had all kinds of domestic animals.
You have a well-kept and organized garden. Such a variety of plants.
It feels good to be able to provide for ourselves all we need for a healthy diet, including medicinal plants.
The irony of my country is that when things were going well, people were able to build their houses the way they wanted and sacrificed dirt, playgrounds and gardens for extra rooms and garages, and the like. Cement/concrete covered it all. Now there are few houses with dirt to plant anything, and now we are urged to cultivate our own food.
I hear you!! People here also are building big houses and no land left. My house is very small compared to most everyone else's - but I rather have a big yard than a big house.
We had a Permaculturist from Cuba come to San Diego and he talked about how people had to learn to grow their own food after the fall of the USSR. Many community gardens had started and people are growing food in all kinds of containers and everywhere.
I hope you have enough people left who know how to cultivate food. The good part is that there are so many intensive methods now and so much can be grown using aquaponics and hydroponics. For that, You don't need dirt...
Wishing you all the best and hope that you will participate in all Freewrite House Contests and activities. Maybe that can help a little...
Thank you. Well, about the cubans, we have had our fair shared of their wisdom. They seem to do well in apocaliptic scenarios. The Castros made sure Venezuela would be un ruins so that their advising and tech support would appear as heaven-sent.
We did have our attempt at urban farming. The government event created a ministry for that. It did not work.
There is still plenty of good land and people to cultivate it, but when government controls everything, expropriates land and then ruins it with corruprion and ineficiency, it is mighty difficult to catch a break.
I'll try to catch mine with the freewrites and some of your contests. Need to focus
I hear you. That guy was not a Government guy at all. He was/is a Permaculture teacher and was here to promote an international Permaculture conference that was held in Cuba -at a time when it was still illegal for Americans to travel to Cuba on their own - maybe it is again, I don't know. but he told us how hard it was and that people were starving.
I so hope that your country recovers faster.