tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62686215851499939612024-02-20T15:25:52.219-08:00Our GardenOur garden is a complicated place. There is not one garden but several gardens. Some, like Japanese Garden, Grass Garden and Vegetable Garden are clearly defined but others merge. But, what a blast we are having creating and maintaining these little patches of seasonal Paradise.Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06329187406214205238noreply@blogger.comBlogger68125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6268621585149993961.post-21536871199968236882016-08-13T18:07:00.002-07:002016-08-13T18:07:30.721-07:00Japanese Garden Renovation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhefSWIWxpAIH4UsMV6a24laD5lxDyDAstErgfLJIjg9HdfmX4f_ndlh4g9kgGiihow3qNdapoSxnKDSy2AmUVoW6zH0j-DccNHiawGsrUDDhf4Y4H-gw7tzTNDIVfrzDg2PZZ4fDLz7lU/s1600/P1000835.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhefSWIWxpAIH4UsMV6a24laD5lxDyDAstErgfLJIjg9HdfmX4f_ndlh4g9kgGiihow3qNdapoSxnKDSy2AmUVoW6zH0j-DccNHiawGsrUDDhf4Y4H-gw7tzTNDIVfrzDg2PZZ4fDLz7lU/s640/P1000835.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was a huge undertaking that took several stages and weeks to complete. I have a Power Point presentation done so now I have to find a way to link it to this page.</span><br />
<br />Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06329187406214205238noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6268621585149993961.post-72883100022638812362011-12-01T08:30:00.000-08:002012-01-12T06:51:02.595-08:00Henry – The Monarch Butterfly<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpTNW0r9JP6bTSMg4CpkVYEY5Flyc87lru3-2ElsiM-idQVSBkDiF_0wenfHJJvMhPlNCI_A7_C1II3XuHgP9pgw7MBlWEzdujD1qejZp0F7lT3x7X2LMRkMTHA0ejcXYILYjc3f9hVng/s1600/Henry_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpTNW0r9JP6bTSMg4CpkVYEY5Flyc87lru3-2ElsiM-idQVSBkDiF_0wenfHJJvMhPlNCI_A7_C1II3XuHgP9pgw7MBlWEzdujD1qejZp0F7lT3x7X2LMRkMTHA0ejcXYILYjc3f9hVng/s640/Henry_1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">On the last day of October Marjo found Monarch Butterfly laying almost motionless between our flower pots. I published a <a href="http://tillsonburgarian.blogspot.com/search/label/Monarch%20Butterfly"><span style="color: blue;">post last November 6</span></a><sup>th</sup> on her find. Well, five weeks later he has a name, his own bedroom and feeding station. I don’t think there is a better name for Monarch Butterfly than Henry, is there? Once a week Marjo buys fresh flowers that serve as his bedroom and this is where he spends most of his time. His day starts around 10:30 when the sunroom warms up, then it is feeding time. He just crawls on hand and with an eye dropper we put few drops of sugar and water solution on his feet that act as sensors. He feeds for about 5 minutes and then it is play time that usually consists of flying and crawling around south window screen. He doesn’t fly too well, part of his wing is missing. I think that he was caught in an air turbulence from a car or truck and he got injured, maybe that’s why he missed the migration window. We have no idea if he will survive the winter but apparently monarchs that come out in late summer, the last generation, live up to 9 months, so, who knows. For now we have a small reminder of summer so we just enjoy this un-usual experience.</span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeB_uYshurNIsiYa__kYcHUNbO52sD7W1C0PJDkl4Rq3_qffydWcElS5ec7LEseM2yQYoH3Zixrx_1n1l8E_bWrjuZKjug_IFK3a8cLGb_epwbjSrK9fLo4hkDzisbZ3428Atkth7QTsI/s1600/Henry-01_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeB_uYshurNIsiYa__kYcHUNbO52sD7W1C0PJDkl4Rq3_qffydWcElS5ec7LEseM2yQYoH3Zixrx_1n1l8E_bWrjuZKjug_IFK3a8cLGb_epwbjSrK9fLo4hkDzisbZ3428Atkth7QTsI/s400/Henry-01_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">From close up he looks like a monster.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWTtQuNbm_PLTuslV25aHoDl5pax3UCR7d4SuUYvumA0MmWuFXe_rpKjKORdiS40f2EUNeh9B2hvDJ5zCJdPrrKyQ4ETPlg8-LvITHzFhoX2DaXIWgwlFpVgrFqhyphenhyphenX3EqX87poyskntKA/s1600/Henry-02_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWTtQuNbm_PLTuslV25aHoDl5pax3UCR7d4SuUYvumA0MmWuFXe_rpKjKORdiS40f2EUNeh9B2hvDJ5zCJdPrrKyQ4ETPlg8-LvITHzFhoX2DaXIWgwlFpVgrFqhyphenhyphenX3EqX87poyskntKA/s400/Henry-02_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Feeding time...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPp8lvrA6DunJRIeE-DpyoFYB3MzMGH49m67XfMASPf9t9J729kh3bJkcCnHj3xWEndmvtwOfDl1AchY6iqpQHqsguea158cxoJKs_2H_GGTqhW0z-f4pIACb-TD63F9VJs2VkhwUPSFY/s1600/Henry-03_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPp8lvrA6DunJRIeE-DpyoFYB3MzMGH49m67XfMASPf9t9J729kh3bJkcCnHj3xWEndmvtwOfDl1AchY6iqpQHqsguea158cxoJKs_2H_GGTqhW0z-f4pIACb-TD63F9VJs2VkhwUPSFY/s400/Henry-03_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">followed by time to play...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Ex2jeGdND5F91kpbqQLIDIVwU52iQusOhJp6QA77HetYPalCSC4fJKUDbutGLuxx97a13JfQGy7oK3rCxS-xJnQrmd72LVVatknPXvI0YnXLIhgbC-Bh4FQ-Jy9VZ6N0V1EWY_X4dIQ/s1600/Henry-4_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Ex2jeGdND5F91kpbqQLIDIVwU52iQusOhJp6QA77HetYPalCSC4fJKUDbutGLuxx97a13JfQGy7oK3rCxS-xJnQrmd72LVVatknPXvI0YnXLIhgbC-Bh4FQ-Jy9VZ6N0V1EWY_X4dIQ/s400/Henry-4_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">...and around 3:30 it is time for bed.</div></div>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06329187406214205238noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6268621585149993961.post-38133447418218181622011-11-13T12:20:00.000-08:002012-01-12T06:51:02.595-08:00Gardening Season 2011 is Over<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBVa99NQHHxTz1-y1-ma5Mvxd7hxHtO4165PXd9-vh5X0sHjK36UN90ZYwYQWF1gc1PraBauEuMEIbMXfSKNUJddZuNyzTJDNwE5wULQiZKI6t5-a0bfSsc0Dd-B3FHxU6OAzB7nsk2ng/s1600/_MG_0777_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBVa99NQHHxTz1-y1-ma5Mvxd7hxHtO4165PXd9-vh5X0sHjK36UN90ZYwYQWF1gc1PraBauEuMEIbMXfSKNUJddZuNyzTJDNwE5wULQiZKI6t5-a0bfSsc0Dd-B3FHxU6OAzB7nsk2ng/s640/_MG_0777_1.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-CA"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Garden is sleeping now with the exception of my arugula that is doing very well in my cold frame. We have made some late season changes on flower island and also the evergreen island. In both cases the changes had to be made because plants there grew way too big. We have removed the decorative grasses and moved Corkscrew Hazel together with some short grasses in their place. The root system balls of the grasses were so heavy that I just couldn’t lift them, I had to wrap a sling around them and drag them out on a piece of lumber and then I had to split each ball with an axe in order to handle them.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">On Evergreen Island we had 3 species of junipers and they too were getting way too big. They were very easy to remove and now we have a small Alpine garden in their place. Both areas look much better. All the containers and planters have been emptied and their good potting soil was dumped on top of my raised veggie bed, but first I laid down weed barrier cloth to make it easier for me to remove the potting soil next spring.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-CA"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Garlic is planted for a month now and spring bulbs are in the ground on both islands. Actually, they were never removed this spring. The dinner plate dahlias were removed 2 weeks ago and I stored each tuber in paper bag filled with peat moss. It will be interesting to see if they will grow next spring, I have never tried to save them before. Before I know it I’ll be growing flowers from seeds just like I did last few years. For now I have a two months of rest. Next garden post will be in February, I guess, even though I still have to spray our peach tree. As you can see on picture at top there are still lot of leaves and it is windy every day so I do have to postpone the spraying every day. But, it must be done.</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsSSLrjgBAVqbQM-BaSZbg_Rjd75zDSxZczLaEX2ss41F_rayRyNEc5DleNsLT1sC-lyWnq_L4QIjihtdg_Iabg5dW8y8ML0Qq8jdnr8ZfA-Y46MwR3XfaGJI5dqACMuIv8nhW39UtkFQ/s1600/IMG_0390_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsSSLrjgBAVqbQM-BaSZbg_Rjd75zDSxZczLaEX2ss41F_rayRyNEc5DleNsLT1sC-lyWnq_L4QIjihtdg_Iabg5dW8y8ML0Qq8jdnr8ZfA-Y46MwR3XfaGJI5dqACMuIv8nhW39UtkFQ/s400/IMG_0390_1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">In three years these grasses tripled in size...</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf1GC6zzDs1hOEX48w4oc-5hsdcufp8Npo_z-P6wBzVyGxhNlqSuYL1biJALbLg_nw3R-iX-1gaEu5xYydG3DoVnMsUZ8Hop4FeZhqB5nR6ll8IdscTIY1Iugthm7jMp-8HlQ5Jmmav-s/s1600/_MG_0772_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf1GC6zzDs1hOEX48w4oc-5hsdcufp8Npo_z-P6wBzVyGxhNlqSuYL1biJALbLg_nw3R-iX-1gaEu5xYydG3DoVnMsUZ8Hop4FeZhqB5nR6ll8IdscTIY1Iugthm7jMp-8HlQ5Jmmav-s/s400/_MG_0772_1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">...so they were replaced. It does look better.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglynLVmD4DjphNnZ_q9DQOIZ-8ucE1sA3wQ0FUITk-kRWUaGituw0PxIHW8Z0eKG9YErVv4BHD9EvhgdCzV8ADnvnf3OGEObfLsRD0Gk-qUCBzU2p3xoWBFsrTB9sap35PbLxSaxc7vN8/s1600/IMG_1328_1_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglynLVmD4DjphNnZ_q9DQOIZ-8ucE1sA3wQ0FUITk-kRWUaGituw0PxIHW8Z0eKG9YErVv4BHD9EvhgdCzV8ADnvnf3OGEObfLsRD0Gk-qUCBzU2p3xoWBFsrTB9sap35PbLxSaxc7vN8/s400/IMG_1328_1_1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The junipers on left side of island were removed...</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0VIWD3cm5DNBZw0fRncCU9KiYNnBF9kj3b-CD1JxU_lM8m8CIBbQWEanhLdvrFCt1EaO2u7quNT-hsEPU28AI1OiZzVY19M_yyN1gHQEeF7lqpbh_M_FLGv8UWmbjdaukR0d6xzBL3v0/s1600/_MG_0775_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0VIWD3cm5DNBZw0fRncCU9KiYNnBF9kj3b-CD1JxU_lM8m8CIBbQWEanhLdvrFCt1EaO2u7quNT-hsEPU28AI1OiZzVY19M_yyN1gHQEeF7lqpbh_M_FLGv8UWmbjdaukR0d6xzBL3v0/s400/_MG_0775_1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">...and replaced with small Alpine garden.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs8d4WhYTRwTRpbtVoPegcq1QPLkwDn60rfg3LvPa1UoKLXrJ4tOZ3dBSajCVjcviqTigfGZj16hdbRpNhLWWyHTUcx8aAjUlIYDaPZzlPws5PdNTgnjiTa_zKKFQjwetf9Eq8AqKBlfU/s1600/_MG_0774_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs8d4WhYTRwTRpbtVoPegcq1QPLkwDn60rfg3LvPa1UoKLXrJ4tOZ3dBSajCVjcviqTigfGZj16hdbRpNhLWWyHTUcx8aAjUlIYDaPZzlPws5PdNTgnjiTa_zKKFQjwetf9Eq8AqKBlfU/s400/_MG_0774_1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Again, it does look much cleaner.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoWX-gBAmI0D9x_NynEdGgE4aDQ2RVXl1U5xyAfBBChTxbrAp4GpwM06iIdpXny-YfR1UNSm2Z9coChX72nodb-CEAAgZbv5RcLyPNi5ePx7d7VTlsdTrIIbtI7EtOB3qQIH6kzNMrjao/s1600/_MG_0773_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoWX-gBAmI0D9x_NynEdGgE4aDQ2RVXl1U5xyAfBBChTxbrAp4GpwM06iIdpXny-YfR1UNSm2Z9coChX72nodb-CEAAgZbv5RcLyPNi5ePx7d7VTlsdTrIIbtI7EtOB3qQIH6kzNMrjao/s400/_MG_0773_1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My veggie bed serves as a temporary storage for container soil.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06329187406214205238noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6268621585149993961.post-67046355811492256712011-11-06T16:06:00.000-08:002012-01-12T06:51:02.595-08:00Monarch Butterfly – Unexpected Visitor<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN83SSQbUfCN05uutZ6ALHcqyc_YIgEg_9dN50DGFzFJF6u5fEWYQf71H6KRXeUiEN81j5mYE-SJOAWmfmGJVX61gCXa2XQ1b4kyN4bsWe_deIJCDWmpFv9YKG43N9SbCoRHcIqqerpn4/s1600/Monarch-01_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN83SSQbUfCN05uutZ6ALHcqyc_YIgEg_9dN50DGFzFJF6u5fEWYQf71H6KRXeUiEN81j5mYE-SJOAWmfmGJVX61gCXa2XQ1b4kyN4bsWe_deIJCDWmpFv9YKG43N9SbCoRHcIqqerpn4/s640/Monarch-01_1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">While we were cleaning the garden and getting it ready for winter Marjo found Monarch Butterfly resting on its side, almost motionless, on the pavement and between dahlia flower pots. It was a shocking discovery since we had already 5 days of hard frost and another 5 days of normal frost. It was a bad start to fall. Anyway, Marjo took him inside our sunroom and placed him on a dahlia that was just cut and placed in a vase. He grabbed the flower immediately and started to open and close his wings. Ten days later he is more active than ever but now we wonder how long can he survive? The sunroom is kept at minimum 14 °C and there is always supply of water and flowers and we know that in their winter grounds in Mexico and California they do not do too much, just waiting their time to move north again. I will post about any changes or happening.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Oh, why do I call this butterfly “him”? Males have a tear drop mark close to bottom of their wings.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcJ1nnc4nBWkNosc0Y6UgVh-ugbuqnMSA_b3PMvXPz2C9_EP_CZ5OWAAnkZFSFNMwgJ5nsW1cE7bsaWmq3k7WFzbSdDANItNdHo9U77uyKEpxkF1VhiGrW7e9ExwWJBPr8JhFizAISH90/s1600/Monarch-03_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcJ1nnc4nBWkNosc0Y6UgVh-ugbuqnMSA_b3PMvXPz2C9_EP_CZ5OWAAnkZFSFNMwgJ5nsW1cE7bsaWmq3k7WFzbSdDANItNdHo9U77uyKEpxkF1VhiGrW7e9ExwWJBPr8JhFizAISH90/s400/Monarch-03_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf5wRue5VUgq75mx_kXQLAwDsBleBQQdtetpp7xYe5pTI3WJm7VF8_Vaqxlb5noVZo4XQDwxVP6fM7OYf7RMnOS8_TN9VxQJPa72n-my1McjQQskLfkcqBImnahVfo2PsREkkYMyq-QBY/s1600/Monarch-02_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf5wRue5VUgq75mx_kXQLAwDsBleBQQdtetpp7xYe5pTI3WJm7VF8_Vaqxlb5noVZo4XQDwxVP6fM7OYf7RMnOS8_TN9VxQJPa72n-my1McjQQskLfkcqBImnahVfo2PsREkkYMyq-QBY/s400/Monarch-02_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ten days later. Doing better than ever</div></div>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06329187406214205238noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6268621585149993961.post-3611844560479985332011-10-12T10:43:00.000-07:002011-10-13T13:16:58.913-07:00Great Way to Shrink Garden Waste<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Since I don’thave a room or place for compost pile I have to dispose of all garden waste either at our town’s Transfer Station or in regular garbage. Lineups at Transfer Station are huge at this time of the year, 60 cars or more. You are looking at half an hour wait to dump few containers. On top of it, the Station is opened only 2 days a week for 3 hours. The smaller neighboring towns have dumps opened24/7! Go figure. Our garden end-of-season clean-up is spread over quite a few weeks so I came up with a good way to shrink the volume so that we can drop it in garbage bag with a regular household waste, no extra bag, and therefore no extra garbage tag (we have to pay user fee for every bag and with weight and bag size limitations). My way of shrinking garbage works even better if there is a stretch of couple of sunny days to dry up the processed waste. All you need is lawnmower that mulches and collects. Even though I have never composted, I am sure that this waste treatment would work great for composting. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Here is what I do.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6uL-qfzBDxpfCzDWN8Uwu-OSqR8zE_vLfRL5h1uJsmByupZgZHBG1-Ad7MbnnHJGIlIDCglue6gV-1KJXdbrptAaIOFmkM2zECm3oW6-o64obdPvyy6qBVOh-PoaB8e7hpxuKhu1SLVPU/s1600/Waste-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6uL-qfzBDxpfCzDWN8Uwu-OSqR8zE_vLfRL5h1uJsmByupZgZHBG1-Ad7MbnnHJGIlIDCglue6gV-1KJXdbrptAaIOFmkM2zECm3oW6-o64obdPvyy6qBVOh-PoaB8e7hpxuKhu1SLVPU/s400/Waste-01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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This is all that was left, about 1/4 of what I started with...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKzScWFeFNQasbxJUzcXCqGdOI2MNyWgfKUCQLsfELdekbOqZyhuKzB41q-eXDVHKrcQgsdciV56iB9Enu6wPTpnzBe9xk0WylPfAWSXeQRoTm2FHeGbTjZj6cLSGP2pzbtGPgtRNIf4ic/s1600/IMG_0386_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKzScWFeFNQasbxJUzcXCqGdOI2MNyWgfKUCQLsfELdekbOqZyhuKzB41q-eXDVHKrcQgsdciV56iB9Enu6wPTpnzBe9xk0WylPfAWSXeQRoTm2FHeGbTjZj6cLSGP2pzbtGPgtRNIf4ic/s400/IMG_0386_1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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and after 2 days of drying it shrunk even more. Ready for a garbage bag.</div>
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</div>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06329187406214205238noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6268621585149993961.post-89922739891558774522011-10-11T07:16:00.000-07:002011-10-12T07:51:40.809-07:00Middle of October Garden Update<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigNhjrBACG8EvO5ViyDVZyPX7m28JTshZWxDJJV1_LvCzAKMJcW3eSniRp3k2ssS0zv6cBsDySkQWbSrNushSQRoox9VWSHcOt0Ksj3Hf_Y0KA3RxvOD8DjuOBDDbROZ9c1b4ID0iDp2M/s1600/Fall_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigNhjrBACG8EvO5ViyDVZyPX7m28JTshZWxDJJV1_LvCzAKMJcW3eSniRp3k2ssS0zv6cBsDySkQWbSrNushSQRoox9VWSHcOt0Ksj3Hf_Y0KA3RxvOD8DjuOBDDbROZ9c1b4ID0iDp2M/s640/Fall_1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Garden is slowly but surely coming to rest. Dahlias are still in full bloom and zinnias were replaced with fall mums. The grasses are now over 8 feet tall and sporting a gorgeous plumes. They are located south of our deck so the back-light shines right through them, just beautiful!<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The roses are big surprise as they are all in full bloom and look better than in summer.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br /><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The Heuchera collection is still in full bloom and their coral bells really stand out.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br /><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: Arial;">Nasturtium and Hemerocalis are still producing flowers and so does </span><a href="http://www.sunnygardens.com/garden_plants/oenothera/oenothera_2377.php"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Ozark Sundrops</span></a>, <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Snapdragon</span><span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: Arial;"> and </span><a href="http://www.mischelsgreenhouses.com/Geranium-Alpine-Acapulco-Pink-_p_116.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Trailing Alpine Geranium</span></a><span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: Arial;">, The Gerbera is not at its best but still sending out new flowers. The Burning Bush is about 40% red so it will be few weeks before we will have a </span><a href="http://www.howstuffworks.com/define-burning-bush.htm"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">real red</span></a><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> burning bush.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br /><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">We will be enjoying our flower garden for a while yet.</span></span></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCOC-gS4oYAj5y2_QX8hp6u7dA4oitFJOdOuzt3_k8Ee7hnVvt3lSXZNGRRSkXKZ9Iz7wHozAVmOxoIEjOFDe48S5spW2AKmbPa30H4Tt14-7PYnHoGdp8dvgphMhyenAMNrBF5BNb7G0/s1600/Fall-01_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCOC-gS4oYAj5y2_QX8hp6u7dA4oitFJOdOuzt3_k8Ee7hnVvt3lSXZNGRRSkXKZ9Iz7wHozAVmOxoIEjOFDe48S5spW2AKmbPa30H4Tt14-7PYnHoGdp8dvgphMhyenAMNrBF5BNb7G0/s400/Fall-01_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Front door with Mumms and pumpkins.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ65GaGgf3mtHIk3VFjvExWyGdZZEpht7XrZQYDSU5-SuVaxV2nAWdc5x9aAvya6B4DhyjWRmZ-cLBcwbdHB5GkbUdHqZrc6Wyhlh9UJ6SEpcuaOTLIrO6YBU0e1xwXRC3-JOlajtiuqU/s1600/Fall-02_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ65GaGgf3mtHIk3VFjvExWyGdZZEpht7XrZQYDSU5-SuVaxV2nAWdc5x9aAvya6B4DhyjWRmZ-cLBcwbdHB5GkbUdHqZrc6Wyhlh9UJ6SEpcuaOTLIrO6YBU0e1xwXRC3-JOlajtiuqU/s400/Fall-02_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Dahlia, Snapdragon, Nasturtium and Mumms</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe2AYrvWx6FMv_n-pXkiZy35RT6hNIlCMdrLIo2WLSUiq4TR-zAWnkBy_7Y5_QY4UZ58a6VSCt5lY6gIZ7P6o_diZG1d47hpHU44hay-pcqtElveok1cIHFOTg0Et7nhrYqyvVM5iRtgk/s1600/Fall-03_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe2AYrvWx6FMv_n-pXkiZy35RT6hNIlCMdrLIo2WLSUiq4TR-zAWnkBy_7Y5_QY4UZ58a6VSCt5lY6gIZ7P6o_diZG1d47hpHU44hay-pcqtElveok1cIHFOTg0Et7nhrYqyvVM5iRtgk/s400/Fall-03_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Fall decoration.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4MLYPWKVsLT7-P2X-eC1djDw9tnVCDtkaa3C2COSp-JFiG-emvTsOsAHUvRwtgA3gpfshTb1PnIhn4jT38dSdKclm1gRmkIA9kyos89dyAC5UIRM70MU77FW4t1b0D0XKwGEWPZT3Qg/s1600/Fall-04_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4MLYPWKVsLT7-P2X-eC1djDw9tnVCDtkaa3C2COSp-JFiG-emvTsOsAHUvRwtgA3gpfshTb1PnIhn4jT38dSdKclm1gRmkIA9kyos89dyAC5UIRM70MU77FW4t1b0D0XKwGEWPZT3Qg/s400/Fall-04_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Roses.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibEzZj5dYLlx0VxpHRfC_UMvYx0B36uLmJvQ-VCSkiuTjfalpjzAKH_pN9OjjbzTl6KMxqmlIXerhpWMLdbqUaHgOOz1WWHTVUe3ujZxJctuIMsZ0EFlEFSIdD4IotFByyvOZlrwqspXc/s1600/Fall-05_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibEzZj5dYLlx0VxpHRfC_UMvYx0B36uLmJvQ-VCSkiuTjfalpjzAKH_pN9OjjbzTl6KMxqmlIXerhpWMLdbqUaHgOOz1WWHTVUe3ujZxJctuIMsZ0EFlEFSIdD4IotFByyvOZlrwqspXc/s400/Fall-05_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">View from kitchen window.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYXN7yrfi_hA3gFp8xNBi1k-x_gK5vNBvp3lMN-eiZ690hT4lq4UG9TaAtgoOACyPpEQGn-0vKz9Vx8oNilOmvDio_a94kV6Q8vCOfxAcxiKKcn9XK8PHl-armuC1ePzpCJuRNEzKirJ0/s1600/Fall-06_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYXN7yrfi_hA3gFp8xNBi1k-x_gK5vNBvp3lMN-eiZ690hT4lq4UG9TaAtgoOACyPpEQGn-0vKz9Vx8oNilOmvDio_a94kV6Q8vCOfxAcxiKKcn9XK8PHl-armuC1ePzpCJuRNEzKirJ0/s400/Fall-06_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Alpine Geranium.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggc-Y5MRHXnjScmR-ap0Gqv47eWT520j84_FjQLDsHmKQYnswLoIO81Mn7_skhIyRRfnPzkHrPfe8r3WIVv5OuLtSi7C8JhLubc5UibT9Fyh9dIkV2uu9tq8Zv3UkY60bUuG7DG07d6Os/s1600/Fall-07_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggc-Y5MRHXnjScmR-ap0Gqv47eWT520j84_FjQLDsHmKQYnswLoIO81Mn7_skhIyRRfnPzkHrPfe8r3WIVv5OuLtSi7C8JhLubc5UibT9Fyh9dIkV2uu9tq8Zv3UkY60bUuG7DG07d6Os/s400/Fall-07_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Heucheras and Gerberas.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKWr-kizG9OhPmbZGFvtNC38-h7tHouLeFAUefeRkcxw2DB_vhdok-T5aB_XFdMZlTJBznc7shMgKGc1CM3Z86v5IrclhJoegHyjzSWrotuUTH6B0-rF4Uu5JK3-uEFoJOsfPDBQI6OkQ/s1600/Fall-08_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKWr-kizG9OhPmbZGFvtNC38-h7tHouLeFAUefeRkcxw2DB_vhdok-T5aB_XFdMZlTJBznc7shMgKGc1CM3Z86v5IrclhJoegHyjzSWrotuUTH6B0-rF4Uu5JK3-uEFoJOsfPDBQI6OkQ/s400/Fall-08_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Back lit grasses.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjN7OZJKOgQRnVstJDlmjMVvJQUe4M7Fu42_6rZAnHaQDAOvliR-ae9Lyj78rwDVpMshG4U1N96TSoVZb5rZER7Rcv-QJ1fmh49UNqpvK4wuznGtfHmuqVu7fTor_cO_4el64cHaNywNk/s1600/Fall-09_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjN7OZJKOgQRnVstJDlmjMVvJQUe4M7Fu42_6rZAnHaQDAOvliR-ae9Lyj78rwDVpMshG4U1N96TSoVZb5rZER7Rcv-QJ1fmh49UNqpvK4wuznGtfHmuqVu7fTor_cO_4el64cHaNywNk/s400/Fall-09_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ozark Sundrop.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidmhHTcSiJlAoSHBnbFhwBTZs-clLud_DtAL-ZyV_hdKaGDC0dsQZnLba6GVAQJHWRoQorAoBSp03Llvj-fTxJ1yRfVkbSquOVXQ0ASBrNTh7NeADYLnvuh2gOsO5F91TY97vNA3BYk7E/s1600/Fall-10_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidmhHTcSiJlAoSHBnbFhwBTZs-clLud_DtAL-ZyV_hdKaGDC0dsQZnLba6GVAQJHWRoQorAoBSp03Llvj-fTxJ1yRfVkbSquOVXQ0ASBrNTh7NeADYLnvuh2gOsO5F91TY97vNA3BYk7E/s400/Fall-10_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Burning Bush and my last pepper plant in container.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2mhazhbUjHmqvpBHX5BHXwH-0IkBFwYz8AYEEXAiSfcHv0ophkgHSa70M6JHYpOMgkhEjbbkbTcrap0HxMipnFZVtU2YP3ymjjAlPjBEpBVWpY7CK29sijn0BF9OzfojVIey7JCh7GO4/s1600/Fall-11_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2mhazhbUjHmqvpBHX5BHXwH-0IkBFwYz8AYEEXAiSfcHv0ophkgHSa70M6JHYpOMgkhEjbbkbTcrap0HxMipnFZVtU2YP3ymjjAlPjBEpBVWpY7CK29sijn0BF9OzfojVIey7JCh7GO4/s400/Fall-11_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Marjo's last project - Alpine Garden. </div><br /></div>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06329187406214205238noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6268621585149993961.post-43747589765885582942011-10-10T13:45:00.000-07:002011-10-12T07:51:40.809-07:00Heirloom Tomatoes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Vs4WEep9778E_rKlKup0Bi7hKL5tsQdTNlsb4rBQJM8nlYDoK1PdaYIPzMaf8lIoK95GNxEFHxZIt3zMmHTw6wCKkCZczApDCnJtWo_vzdDpY7HnB8rKbGtEsP0vRNcreCf4ZS2YFA8/s1600/Heirloom+tomatoes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Vs4WEep9778E_rKlKup0Bi7hKL5tsQdTNlsb4rBQJM8nlYDoK1PdaYIPzMaf8lIoK95GNxEFHxZIt3zMmHTw6wCKkCZczApDCnJtWo_vzdDpY7HnB8rKbGtEsP0vRNcreCf4ZS2YFA8/s640/Heirloom+tomatoes.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Few weeksago I ate my very first heirloom tomato and I was hooked immediately on thetaste of this light yellow tomato. It was given to us by our neighbor who isretired farmer. Apparently, his friends found it among hundreds of plants theygrow for making tomato juice and since it didn’t look red they threw it out.Knowing that we will try anything new food-wise he brought them to us. I do notunderstand why I waited so long to taste these tomatoes since I do shop at localAmish farms and at our local farmers market and they were always available inseason. Looks like my plans for next year veggie garden are changing alreadysince I will definitely grow some heirloom tomatoes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">LastThanksgiving Sunday we went for a ride in the country and we came across a roadsidestand that was selling heirloom tomatoes of all sizes, colors and shapes. Sinceall of them are open pollinated varieties I will collect the seeds fromtomatoes that both of us really like.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Thismorning we did a little tasting and they are really good! They were nowhere assweet as some regular red hybrids, but instead there was nice balance betweensweet and tart. They will be great in salads and relishes, I think. So far Ipicked 3 (and counting) that I will try to grow. Over the winter I will try toidentify the varieties that I have collected seeds from; not an easy task.Maybe I will email pictures to some seed houses and ask if they can help. It isnot all that important to know the name but if somebody will taste my tomatoes,likes them and asks for the name it would be nice to know the answer.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Of course,if you know any of these tomatoes, please, leave a comment.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: Arial;">Here islink to interesting description of </span><a href="http://www.tomatofest.com/what-is-heirloom-tomato.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">“Heirloom Tomato”</span></a><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJbZCWQgIIgsgoNNArJrb9t33szcxTQBfc5XWxk3IU8M0p7jobTUZXNu_MTxsRJSLxTwscBK8lqTEXPmhPJCB99CbvVV34j28pXSWUctrtGIscPDhBz8YxRnzYOiSZaVI-haAvX0a4dnI/s1600/Heirloom+Tomatoes-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJbZCWQgIIgsgoNNArJrb9t33szcxTQBfc5XWxk3IU8M0p7jobTUZXNu_MTxsRJSLxTwscBK8lqTEXPmhPJCB99CbvVV34j28pXSWUctrtGIscPDhBz8YxRnzYOiSZaVI-haAvX0a4dnI/s640/Heirloom+Tomatoes-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></div>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06329187406214205238noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6268621585149993961.post-4579191017326949252011-10-05T17:49:00.000-07:002011-10-12T07:51:40.809-07:00Last Harvest of 2011<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjwxFaYBadYGXuQ5jkeZwzg5FpEXSIUPF7yeUiTLFhfUXwyvBmF03s6ybY4qd_GR5Q_v0HRy7WU91XM6YRanq-NNre8I2_QHMoYazg6-YbmW0aEfmsmxqiUz78_i5Z6nxuG2UWNDr-S2c/s1600/Last+Harvest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjwxFaYBadYGXuQ5jkeZwzg5FpEXSIUPF7yeUiTLFhfUXwyvBmF03s6ybY4qd_GR5Q_v0HRy7WU91XM6YRanq-NNre8I2_QHMoYazg6-YbmW0aEfmsmxqiUz78_i5Z6nxuG2UWNDr-S2c/s640/Last+Harvest.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I have to admit that the end of my veggie garden season came much faster than I have anticipated. It was fun, though. Next year the garden will be very, very different, that much I know. Not only what I will grow but also how much. I do have a rough idea but nothing will be finalised until next spring.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: Arial;">Here is the last harvest of peppers and tomatoes. The green roma tomatoes at top left will be made into relish and some will be sliced and fried even though I have never done that. All the peppers and tomatoes will be cooked together with onions and garlic and frozen. The dish is a sort of casserole called </span></span><a href="http://visitbudapest.travel/articles/hungarian-lecso/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Lecsó</span></a><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> and is a popular Hungarian dish that rest of the countries from former Austrian-Hungarian Empire adopted as their own.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br /><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It was a lot of work to seed and slice the peppers but it was so worth it! The picture story will be posted next.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br /></div>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06329187406214205238noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6268621585149993961.post-70655839743838887632011-10-02T10:04:00.000-07:002011-10-12T07:51:40.809-07:00Changes to comments section on my blogs<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It was brought to my attention that it was impossible to leave comments on all my blogs if signed in as Anonymous or other then Google account. I was using a form that switched to another Google web site and in the process the comments got trashed. I have switched to full page comments form that stays on BlogSpot and when tested it worked fine.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span> <span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">My apologies to all that tried fruitlessly to leave a comment or to get in touch with me.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br /><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The fact that many bloggers had and still have same problem is not too much of consolation to me, I am sorry to say. I should have caught it long time ago.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Jerry<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div></div>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06329187406214205238noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6268621585149993961.post-6958829137012925912011-09-29T11:07:00.001-07:002011-10-12T08:08:51.733-07:00Veggie Garden Update, September 29, 2011<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCdAwZU0LpBmMk5RMri2yJ8vvbDAXtDvc3RY_3iegQg59foGZUjEdq7zpmUv11JVNIe8wIvoBf9C345LcV_MAlCSEACfnRpS41yTiWCqPPis8DGXrh9NcTX6_ACiWfVskfN_zk_0J46f8/s1600/IMG_0274_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCdAwZU0LpBmMk5RMri2yJ8vvbDAXtDvc3RY_3iegQg59foGZUjEdq7zpmUv11JVNIe8wIvoBf9C345LcV_MAlCSEACfnRpS41yTiWCqPPis8DGXrh9NcTX6_ACiWfVskfN_zk_0J46f8/s400/IMG_0274_1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">This willbe one of the last updates, I guess. There is nothing more to do than to collectrest of the tomatoes, pick all green and red peppers and I don’t really knowhow long I can pick snow and snap peas. They still produce lots of flowers andpods but with the weather cooling down and daylight being quite shorter I amnot sure if it is worth it to keep those few experimental plants going. It doeslook like that I will pull out everything sometime next week. Of course thearugula and green onions will stay in cold frame and I will have fresh greensway past Christmas, just like I had last 3 years.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I almostforgot about my garlic! Bed is ready and I will be planting in two weeks or so.Right now everything is so wet! So far this month we had over 6 inches of rain! Whata weird year it was. Makes one wonder what the winter will bring. Better notthink about it!</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoHOUOrUTy4BdEfsFnCgNiwKeXvMDChIrVgcUzaN7hjIlkU5VfHzGk15FbrkGZjXAuBfnKarQ620_GW1_C6mFArS5zpXDb053OcHOb6KztabYYR8DQypWlJ_HhgqRXtdlYJosUjsswtYU/s1600/IMG_0276_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoHOUOrUTy4BdEfsFnCgNiwKeXvMDChIrVgcUzaN7hjIlkU5VfHzGk15FbrkGZjXAuBfnKarQ620_GW1_C6mFArS5zpXDb053OcHOb6KztabYYR8DQypWlJ_HhgqRXtdlYJosUjsswtYU/s320/IMG_0276_1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> The peas are still doing great...</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTMpDMuCdIQ1mVZ4lUtG0ZbEyeKIMUgr-YgQiwfRAhclZfAmwnQV_U_WNE7Kju-Cy1tGvDuipgnupB_5YuBoJbin-hhHSP_T4N1ze5_agPZa6kzjI-jBi754pfOK2pIusuJEmVOCIyS0I/s1600/IMG_0277_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTMpDMuCdIQ1mVZ4lUtG0ZbEyeKIMUgr-YgQiwfRAhclZfAmwnQV_U_WNE7Kju-Cy1tGvDuipgnupB_5YuBoJbin-hhHSP_T4N1ze5_agPZa6kzjI-jBi754pfOK2pIusuJEmVOCIyS0I/s320/IMG_0277_1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> and so are red and green peppers.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlceVkxn3l9pNczDXrQIoZjbaG7go7V7kf9GPJcUy23rQZxL8Te0b7zKO0hG9SemwMmiKukAeR6nwYcsXvMBylU3wk8WpLC4Kjo0INIxOZxWrslVMO6HG4RHYKkCbV73UsxflVIqaaN4k/s1600/IMG_0278_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlceVkxn3l9pNczDXrQIoZjbaG7go7V7kf9GPJcUy23rQZxL8Te0b7zKO0hG9SemwMmiKukAeR6nwYcsXvMBylU3wk8WpLC4Kjo0INIxOZxWrslVMO6HG4RHYKkCbV73UsxflVIqaaN4k/s320/IMG_0278_1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5YAAwXThcRrAf7C5SAxS9qlYsEQrRCh2vTwS-lX7urtcpVsY3s6NyQROX1_EeiueCqZ-HXlnIpl9qKPIidARNgj6nfw8PvqaUlXd8K2Q8QuzP8EfHY2R2J_dK7fFHXlfvJhL7stGbfXM/s1600/IMG_0279_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5YAAwXThcRrAf7C5SAxS9qlYsEQrRCh2vTwS-lX7urtcpVsY3s6NyQROX1_EeiueCqZ-HXlnIpl9qKPIidARNgj6nfw8PvqaUlXd8K2Q8QuzP8EfHY2R2J_dK7fFHXlfvJhL7stGbfXM/s320/IMG_0279_1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Tomatoes do look a bit tired, though. They produced so much this year!</div> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirYHiV9rU-5N63bGasNCds749GHEEw0QqfdXkpNTz3XXIU2qhtUNG14aLIW_J0KooM0D3c0x4flVBrdUCgDTh7jzeTjJsi8fT2cMcXEfZN1yzZMvQOY0IteznBdDW7v6oQe8WitVSLAUY/s1600/IMG_0354.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirYHiV9rU-5N63bGasNCds749GHEEw0QqfdXkpNTz3XXIU2qhtUNG14aLIW_J0KooM0D3c0x4flVBrdUCgDTh7jzeTjJsi8fT2cMcXEfZN1yzZMvQOY0IteznBdDW7v6oQe8WitVSLAUY/s320/IMG_0354.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Arugula is doing fine and I will cover the cold frame early in November. I will be picking fresh greens till well after Christmas.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06329187406214205238noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6268621585149993961.post-43083530821412471402011-09-21T12:53:00.000-07:002011-09-22T05:53:40.938-07:00“Our” Black & Yellow Garden Spider “Charlotte”<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Not for the
squeamish!!!<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: Arial;">What other
name can you give to spider? I’m sure that most people in North America have
seen the animated movie for children called “</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte's_Web"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">Charlotte’s Web</span></a><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">”.
Actually, the story is more about a pig then it is about spider, but, who
cares?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Back to our
spider. I have started to feed him earwigs and other harmful bugs and watch him
operate. Am I ever glad that spiders are this small! The speed at which they mummify
their pray is nothing short of astounding! As soon as I placed the earwig in
her web she was there in one leap and immediately grabbed and spun the pray
over few strands of her web. Within seconds you couldn’t tell what was inside
the cocoon. Then she carried the still moving earwig and started to eat it. Totally
gruesome! Only reason I am posting this is because they are gardener’s friends
as they catch mostly harmful insects. She has eliminated quite a few cabbage
butterflies and moths.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Even though
I had camera ready shoot a movie how she starts to catch her pray I was still
too slow. After all, I had camera in one hand trying to hold it and start
recording while feeding the spider with other hand. Basically, I would have to
have as many arms as spider has legs in order to do it or have a helper.</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmeU-leZMvuVZhvnwDZlOeV97AAYyY3wzhAz0YSR4oyT-znFTKcjZ8AjGZNibCIL6niiY8rLmuU_GlwjRnzejnN6DGl5hzwt_tdcC2-1C-o-wO6LDgAYZ0S1ZLDxqkjR7-HMysVyfQ6-Q/s1600/Spider-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmeU-leZMvuVZhvnwDZlOeV97AAYyY3wzhAz0YSR4oyT-znFTKcjZ8AjGZNibCIL6niiY8rLmuU_GlwjRnzejnN6DGl5hzwt_tdcC2-1C-o-wO6LDgAYZ0S1ZLDxqkjR7-HMysVyfQ6-Q/s400/Spider-01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The insect
is wrapped in part of her web that is missing. Also, you can see that she is
shooting new silk directly at the pray. It was so fast and right on target!<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxaH6caGctKtaMIdUIhVqwmOnXkcc0sGg8HxrzsHJyUImKpRitbKWSwJPbgnBVLcHDqtBTmiUPfGEtnCEt6' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had no chance to get the start. She was too fast form me.</span></div>
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Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06329187406214205238noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6268621585149993961.post-52036776077674707702011-09-01T19:16:00.001-07:002011-10-12T08:08:51.733-07:00Fun with Camera – September 1st<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Few days ago I have noticed new tenant in our Japanese Garden pool – beautiful frog that I still have to identify. What struck me, besides colors on frog’s body, was how tame it was. I could come within few feet of him/her and it never moved, just a perfect camera subject. It gave me a chance to try my new 1.4X tele-lens extender for a real close-up shot. I am happy with the quality of this lens, very happy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyDpnZrVgz1DAXOJQNMTodxorf-J2gdcpr0MdTD06t9Q936vADgtkPmPU4SB_PS-cwJzZUwEchhhBm_DL6bYgBcDtd3nlAyDGEKX4T-HUQHRqpuEieHLC-Nx4BMZaGeGLC7_bs4z8JzLE/s1600/Frog-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyDpnZrVgz1DAXOJQNMTodxorf-J2gdcpr0MdTD06t9Q936vADgtkPmPU4SB_PS-cwJzZUwEchhhBm_DL6bYgBcDtd3nlAyDGEKX4T-HUQHRqpuEieHLC-Nx4BMZaGeGLC7_bs4z8JzLE/s320/Frog-01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7BoWk2XWZQmQEELfS-fpBFIL8HyBqlaRsN7V4kgti_CwoAPJ51LMCQBwP-t61d2VYiZ-HHXLeID2xGojQ8ptYvIw6WqQJlRe0vRxLC2rEIgsjxinmt0nZIO4ZIcwrP4uKqEYrFeWAojg/s1600/Frog-02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7BoWk2XWZQmQEELfS-fpBFIL8HyBqlaRsN7V4kgti_CwoAPJ51LMCQBwP-t61d2VYiZ-HHXLeID2xGojQ8ptYvIw6WqQJlRe0vRxLC2rEIgsjxinmt0nZIO4ZIcwrP4uKqEYrFeWAojg/s320/Frog-02.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyu3Bv60sZhKBhUWbcu6Skw8dved9FjMKtG9kGdJ8pYgLXiSahI_CCGF3qc_Ff5dr2y_m1HSZLZBy0lo8OnBMyf1bGkWtk9YO6LvPS2bssZjMLY5aLo9izuLppJgolCVQf_Whk9oEh0Fg/s1600/Frog-03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyu3Bv60sZhKBhUWbcu6Skw8dved9FjMKtG9kGdJ8pYgLXiSahI_CCGF3qc_Ff5dr2y_m1HSZLZBy0lo8OnBMyf1bGkWtk9YO6LvPS2bssZjMLY5aLo9izuLppJgolCVQf_Whk9oEh0Fg/s320/Frog-03.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghHVuPZn2tVhx09pt9xubeIFAxeHGLMRF9k1hnaN7rlfxwv8jpUSXZ7XbqZAmoWaBD8E3TrguYV04DzBbTLCLU8eHsbK_PCf_2xs0SpsNJDALieUawBaJrejPYgQY1F0klbKjWk47lEm8/s1600/Hummingbird-01_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghHVuPZn2tVhx09pt9xubeIFAxeHGLMRF9k1hnaN7rlfxwv8jpUSXZ7XbqZAmoWaBD8E3TrguYV04DzBbTLCLU8eHsbK_PCf_2xs0SpsNJDALieUawBaJrejPYgQY1F0klbKjWk47lEm8/s320/Hummingbird-01_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: Arial;">At the other end of focal lengths are micro lenses. I used one to take pictures of bee and </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argiope_aurantia"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">“Black & Yellow Garden Spider” (</span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Argiope aurantia</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">)</span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">. (Yup, that’s the spider’s name.) Day before, I took picture of the very same spider in same net dismembering white cabbage butterfly. The fact that I had a lens just inches away didn’t bother him one bit, he just kept removing the wings from body.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPRRgha4pg2FJf9zYrMsU2MtvMyxoZBw4I2U183TMDlFGF4xaCoOkMP7PEfk2Eq5tnLq-aEIxNkYUw5caiJR_t1XnEnXSZCRYVmBZ2oM4r1gztbUATFX9lxrXYaCw3nbBXrfip1xXMBLY/s1600/Bee-01_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPRRgha4pg2FJf9zYrMsU2MtvMyxoZBw4I2U183TMDlFGF4xaCoOkMP7PEfk2Eq5tnLq-aEIxNkYUw5caiJR_t1XnEnXSZCRYVmBZ2oM4r1gztbUATFX9lxrXYaCw3nbBXrfip1xXMBLY/s320/Bee-01_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh154GGHr2QXSJZ-rCzNitkP-Syjo96alVnWm46GKEc2hmxoXDyrAyoqoTauM8jnPRYFT8wVnoR6vmnmV1wLomMbh1Msitap-_afgP1Onw90dJaFCdE_dt_sAczIUDSFcg63OkXN_cyqLI/s1600/Bee-02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh154GGHr2QXSJZ-rCzNitkP-Syjo96alVnWm46GKEc2hmxoXDyrAyoqoTauM8jnPRYFT8wVnoR6vmnmV1wLomMbh1Msitap-_afgP1Onw90dJaFCdE_dt_sAczIUDSFcg63OkXN_cyqLI/s320/Bee-02.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOHHRwZ9ZHP5EHfzjdwo8yYpVnCy1FePesXVFBQNA7HgwDvbTjl3XshW3DpjnRIsPDiHcUvuDV1haKXZA40SrkFIoMEqtDpDPsBf99USTrm2R8NVrQKDYm_yg0MfHXX-Bz81xefyi5bS4/s1600/Spider-back_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOHHRwZ9ZHP5EHfzjdwo8yYpVnCy1FePesXVFBQNA7HgwDvbTjl3XshW3DpjnRIsPDiHcUvuDV1haKXZA40SrkFIoMEqtDpDPsBf99USTrm2R8NVrQKDYm_yg0MfHXX-Bz81xefyi5bS4/s320/Spider-back_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgffUWVhVZMUjMxTzDQuU_8gfwUMOSUgrm3XN-t4zAJfbCt2EuIxV5M1kboxNuybegki0hfClNA7WGLFa7c1uwZQJ86rpclEsjzTvgI8yt9EhWfjLN7JqdHErB9EkqZoYmXwy7XYwms-WI/s1600/Spider-front_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgffUWVhVZMUjMxTzDQuU_8gfwUMOSUgrm3XN-t4zAJfbCt2EuIxV5M1kboxNuybegki0hfClNA7WGLFa7c1uwZQJ86rpclEsjzTvgI8yt9EhWfjLN7JqdHErB9EkqZoYmXwy7XYwms-WI/s320/Spider-front_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Walk around the garden with couple lenses stuck in your west and you never know what you will see.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div></div>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06329187406214205238noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6268621585149993961.post-59401547841838730352011-08-24T13:49:00.000-07:002011-08-26T14:07:00.154-07:00Hummingbirds, Part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfM0dwjMcyiwwtudSA721V_Lswd-O9KCHZbOMjdQ6D-QIfl-U6DJ2pHpiDNLNQXuGr8vWT2pwe1lUFV7OD_s8dZi_PzDf9SwvPJUOAnE1wqlg75PTk3irdZzmNEbThqjAOm9GuvSE2dLg/s1600/Hummingbird-A05_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfM0dwjMcyiwwtudSA721V_Lswd-O9KCHZbOMjdQ6D-QIfl-U6DJ2pHpiDNLNQXuGr8vWT2pwe1lUFV7OD_s8dZi_PzDf9SwvPJUOAnE1wqlg75PTk3irdZzmNEbThqjAOm9GuvSE2dLg/s640/Hummingbird-A05_1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I have managed to take more pictures of visiting hummingbirds but still no ruby throat!</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">One day when Lady Luck will smile at me. I have a feeling that when I will see the throat I will not have my camera with me or I will have wrong lens…hmmm, maybe I shouldn’t even think about it or it will happen.</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4HxBfHokg-d_3IURPxUuFJOo3I1ApqaNAXe57kyV7ekA_C9T8OgB02QBOD_pfhLht63mrkEQ5IxigYb3TSUfEwPKi0x64EESxOXKhhb2Ttohm66lyR2a4oeZRkT58ragNxhXgj_Qo2ww/s1600/Hummingbird-A01_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4HxBfHokg-d_3IURPxUuFJOo3I1ApqaNAXe57kyV7ekA_C9T8OgB02QBOD_pfhLht63mrkEQ5IxigYb3TSUfEwPKi0x64EESxOXKhhb2Ttohm66lyR2a4oeZRkT58ragNxhXgj_Qo2ww/s400/Hummingbird-A01_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Let's have red Calibrachoa...</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_oPybuE_FqjqNsCNZB0v9pqNPdAG4YyiQ2JrXGq5KATp5HNkbBm0daN8XkV6flJviEke7TZP5S1lnnW7f-HzPy2-1VfEPLZEPk79w8qQhHUV0yWHiQU2wH_hyphenhyphenBKZAMdqiUHwd1zeIK6U/s1600/Hummingbird-A02_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_oPybuE_FqjqNsCNZB0v9pqNPdAG4YyiQ2JrXGq5KATp5HNkbBm0daN8XkV6flJviEke7TZP5S1lnnW7f-HzPy2-1VfEPLZEPk79w8qQhHUV0yWHiQU2wH_hyphenhyphenBKZAMdqiUHwd1zeIK6U/s400/Hummingbird-A02_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">then white one...</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitYZs9nnZnm5C7JVPusIpVrr6p-07TwuZdk0kFf-_jhFJUR7AyLYAg2cYa83o0dreoTMpXtIDWtqfXLJ1Q_8efdBBNlrvXTAQEFSo_oaptaU0vRoMlRzwU-rZxJQE3Hhr0JWwjByGIZHo/s1600/Hummingbird-A03_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitYZs9nnZnm5C7JVPusIpVrr6p-07TwuZdk0kFf-_jhFJUR7AyLYAg2cYa83o0dreoTMpXtIDWtqfXLJ1Q_8efdBBNlrvXTAQEFSo_oaptaU0vRoMlRzwU-rZxJQE3Hhr0JWwjByGIZHo/s400/Hummingbird-A03_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">and another red one.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigp8BDAGNHizwGLJYV45-iX073IsRmlI6AI3K0RlMkLrKTav-9n1uTTAnzgO5m57h-Mste7Oh7oyuL5EkJ-mIjGVPmgMpENT0mTEXcUB-38zEhRNzqC1rf-Ro2L9W1mIAxkaHkbO-xPwo/s1600/Hummingbird-A04_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigp8BDAGNHizwGLJYV45-iX073IsRmlI6AI3K0RlMkLrKTav-9n1uTTAnzgO5m57h-Mste7Oh7oyuL5EkJ-mIjGVPmgMpENT0mTEXcUB-38zEhRNzqC1rf-Ro2L9W1mIAxkaHkbO-xPwo/s640/Hummingbird-A04_1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">On one shot I got lucky to capture resting hummingbird with his long tongue out and some yellow nectar at tip of his beak. I didn’t see it till the shot was uploaded on my computer and zoomed in.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div></div>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06329187406214205238noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6268621585149993961.post-47503896754348514202011-08-24T13:33:00.000-07:002011-08-26T14:07:00.155-07:00Critters in Our Garden<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It was interesting to see how many welcome and un-welcome critters visit our garden in just 5 short minutes. With all the flowers in our garden it is inevitable that we will see lots of insects and birds. We are lucky that we don’t have any racoons even though they do a lot of damage just 20 meters across the street by digging up the lawns looking for white grubs. Same goes for deer and badgers, they just do not cross the street. Rabbits and chipmunks are another story. I have learned which flowers and plants need protection and which they don’t like. It is unfortunate but I had to put up chicken wire fences around my peas, beans and other plants. Chipmunks might look so harmless and cute but they did chew up my irrigation tubing and dug up some plants. I have to admit, though, they are fun to watch just like the rest of garden creatures.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br /><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">These pictures were taken in just 5 minutes from our deck.</span></span></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Aq3KWsoBh95fhpBda4070cfSv-0Uz_kJRkeibvjjZ_FwYoK1ol0-iPUMqNoKcbICMSZa18s6iA0iO5y7_kpKxuH9zHmEhRU8zwOasft563Ibzsj8E46qYX118-6lhnAYJgDxc3jtGbE/s1600/Rabbit_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Aq3KWsoBh95fhpBda4070cfSv-0Uz_kJRkeibvjjZ_FwYoK1ol0-iPUMqNoKcbICMSZa18s6iA0iO5y7_kpKxuH9zHmEhRU8zwOasft563Ibzsj8E46qYX118-6lhnAYJgDxc3jtGbE/s400/Rabbit_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Garden enemy #1</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwL5DU_S6wMtDRqIR01S80cYLAiKnm8wzqJGdOQe0uQQO7Qm6y4ee_6IJFWxkYMECiIhVodDtKAjrkFxS6bRxk8eXbCd-QlrmGH4F6MkY63S7yoRkYmF8qhJzJHXem4H9gypUSa6ZKa8k/s1600/Chipmunk_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwL5DU_S6wMtDRqIR01S80cYLAiKnm8wzqJGdOQe0uQQO7Qm6y4ee_6IJFWxkYMECiIhVodDtKAjrkFxS6bRxk8eXbCd-QlrmGH4F6MkY63S7yoRkYmF8qhJzJHXem4H9gypUSa6ZKa8k/s400/Chipmunk_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Cute, but can be destructive.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgedqpiclUJCqpto_tp4EtU-l2ojxLkUQJ_2ZlWynFPm_dgaYWGdH9xjmnNNzoBjCV7ZEX-n5xKa2pQVz5LIWu6_6zNllUYtYjeeD7PsrasaOGnpirVav-l8MAhFnHPvuie3AlfbZbwg2Y/s1600/Mourning+Dove_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgedqpiclUJCqpto_tp4EtU-l2ojxLkUQJ_2ZlWynFPm_dgaYWGdH9xjmnNNzoBjCV7ZEX-n5xKa2pQVz5LIWu6_6zNllUYtYjeeD7PsrasaOGnpirVav-l8MAhFnHPvuie3AlfbZbwg2Y/s400/Mourning+Dove_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Mourning Dove taking a break.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8EMpWXHyHYXKYx2AbwtSKOcQU8RCmgjY7iM1lCBIEdshkz-i8n4trdiXmRpzUbO_DrybR5a8timY1jG539-BmVuMPq-KfrwzTmbkrLdxcPn8Bakta67I2joueobGgVHROV7pG_xAI_lo/s1600/Fly-01_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8EMpWXHyHYXKYx2AbwtSKOcQU8RCmgjY7iM1lCBIEdshkz-i8n4trdiXmRpzUbO_DrybR5a8timY1jG539-BmVuMPq-KfrwzTmbkrLdxcPn8Bakta67I2joueobGgVHROV7pG_xAI_lo/s400/Fly-01_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This insect looked like a fly but behaved like a bee.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZnQ9tdYzDA4nIB25WJyz3MuZ9MkFFMB5KGryoTiAN6lkwUx8m5jL0N7K56ykTi5EGddzQWIWnTS5hEr7K5VmzaPpp_ePJ4ZCaFPbmf6rcaRTkAfSucxNcO6lTET8xB8WtNqIKqZM1DaU/s1600/Bee-02_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZnQ9tdYzDA4nIB25WJyz3MuZ9MkFFMB5KGryoTiAN6lkwUx8m5jL0N7K56ykTi5EGddzQWIWnTS5hEr7K5VmzaPpp_ePJ4ZCaFPbmf6rcaRTkAfSucxNcO6lTET8xB8WtNqIKqZM1DaU/s400/Bee-02_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And, speaking of bees...</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3FZlIDSLQeviBnYN_pLfC0X5ZE04i2Sun7lVLiTfGnruqOLxVAoAxM6Kem5Rg25NXxx4QPQVIaxD9MqxbQKRFG7jkwwmcvVt6tfnG9noO8JdM0Z892G34DF6pdmj3yTmFcDxEAiu49h4/s1600/Bee-01_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3FZlIDSLQeviBnYN_pLfC0X5ZE04i2Sun7lVLiTfGnruqOLxVAoAxM6Kem5Rg25NXxx4QPQVIaxD9MqxbQKRFG7jkwwmcvVt6tfnG9noO8JdM0Z892G34DF6pdmj3yTmFcDxEAiu49h4/s400/Bee-01_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">hard at work and not bothering anybody.</div></div>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06329187406214205238noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6268621585149993961.post-21701263653624751592011-08-21T14:34:00.000-07:002011-08-26T14:07:00.155-07:00Hummingbirds<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1CJBEQ8_UqSUY6HiT8VUdrEXnhlyuDPrNbVwj_5KGyWkHL4SsUD_rL2zAnl1cMRcImvbI0Lk-4aMe9AwQrOk88w4WfOAvnojMry6MoBxIIXDy1K4hmre7FEuqVB3WIYo9at6zqXKXWJ8/s1600/Hummingbird.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1CJBEQ8_UqSUY6HiT8VUdrEXnhlyuDPrNbVwj_5KGyWkHL4SsUD_rL2zAnl1cMRcImvbI0Lk-4aMe9AwQrOk88w4WfOAvnojMry6MoBxIIXDy1K4hmre7FEuqVB3WIYo9at6zqXKXWJ8/s640/Hummingbird.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Looks like hummingbirds are on the way South and I am having fun with my Canon Rebel T1i camera and my long lenses. Although I am fairly new to digital SLR camera I am an old hand with a regular SLR, something like 35 years, thousands of slides and so much time spent in my darkroom it is wonder that I didn’t develop night vision just like owls have. What an incredible invention digital camera is! Buy good, fast memory SD card, get a spare battery and you can shoot all you want without any additional cost. I just love it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Anyway, the hummingbirds are feeding on our flowers, especially Cardinal Flower and Calibrachoa (Million Bells) so often now that all I have to do is sit down and wait. I like to use manual focus because I am used to it and because the autofocus with long lens is very unreliable. This afternoon as I was adjusting some settings on my camera flash that is always mounted on the side of my Canon, I spotted one hummingbird coming to the Cardinal Flower. I went to work and this is the result of just about 30 seconds of shooting.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">All pictures were taken with 75 - 300mm f/4-5.6 lens, manual focus, single frame shooting, flash set on E-TTL exposure metering, shutter speed 1/200 (synch speed for flash), aperture automatic, ISO automatic. The planter with the flowers was about 18 feet away from where I was standing. See the arrow.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihwLRmzTRVQM7wC2Ou7PyEPggFquA93RjK0Zl3qUGTiGHANWguuhYHX2o6FUkyqUU82y7HeGAOacp-XfR0Xv7cbXGsBW9w6cwxN5nwW1lAzypMF5aVVec85tHDO93qpBfRY4yH6UrMtZ0/s1600/IMG_0115.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihwLRmzTRVQM7wC2Ou7PyEPggFquA93RjK0Zl3qUGTiGHANWguuhYHX2o6FUkyqUU82y7HeGAOacp-XfR0Xv7cbXGsBW9w6cwxN5nwW1lAzypMF5aVVec85tHDO93qpBfRY4yH6UrMtZ0/s400/IMG_0115.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Since tripod with hummingbirds is not practical, very steady hands are prerequisite. Right hand holds camera and triggers the shutter and left hand focuses the lens. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Now I have to figure out the light angle so that hummingbirds will show off his ruby throat! I will move around and see what the best angle is. Isn’t it nice to have some free time on hand? </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyClisusdO97TuEpOrnCgbmcxya_wEzZb-IqCItHFc9HvKSFyKkKrk7Irm0XlbdyTJWQt6bdtG4jeY47Ic4dBfuyE-7QrKX6IKn0CEuFXXauH75lt9H75j1GepJvUXb2kuuuPk2ODSYPU/s1600/Hummingbird-B-02_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyClisusdO97TuEpOrnCgbmcxya_wEzZb-IqCItHFc9HvKSFyKkKrk7Irm0XlbdyTJWQt6bdtG4jeY47Ic4dBfuyE-7QrKX6IKn0CEuFXXauH75lt9H75j1GepJvUXb2kuuuPk2ODSYPU/s400/Hummingbird-B-02_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdCUpaBDkoSXEPo8FmopV9mS3OW05tzEGjA-406SGYd_y5Kw0wIr9DhOS1aEyPX7BJWeLUYRbjPhGK3vBA31Ag7SA8nnWpXEWS9I2Sc2oDsff3FxGiKJueQFWbwojht3PNrYLj5t7pW8Q/s1600/Hummingbird-B-04_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdCUpaBDkoSXEPo8FmopV9mS3OW05tzEGjA-406SGYd_y5Kw0wIr9DhOS1aEyPX7BJWeLUYRbjPhGK3vBA31Ag7SA8nnWpXEWS9I2Sc2oDsff3FxGiKJueQFWbwojht3PNrYLj5t7pW8Q/s400/Hummingbird-B-04_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj8EJnT5GtSLZgMaFIhX_Xfj4GuHk8Bhupdngj5IGJwXFRtNNQhbERoJAdXo2zBd3L8wOcWMjYjUyc7ineoutb5brXHEgHI4VT9B31Vs0pCzP6rlCzEPk-HD5c_SqNuOa0if3i0VtulAw/s1600/Hummingbird-B-03_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj8EJnT5GtSLZgMaFIhX_Xfj4GuHk8Bhupdngj5IGJwXFRtNNQhbERoJAdXo2zBd3L8wOcWMjYjUyc7ineoutb5brXHEgHI4VT9B31Vs0pCzP6rlCzEPk-HD5c_SqNuOa0if3i0VtulAw/s400/Hummingbird-B-03_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ZDPfMgX15YaqVGPoJ2pZydjMkXq5ng3n3tuW8c7QjDXzrsVvIwmZrkXY91gCpjpPiwXbOkynvi3vyUVkeuI5UnAOGrLE-iy52Zp3b_7mzS3lp9JNhM7T2E-_WSYyLZc1SlNSoQhg48M/s1600/Hummingbird-B-06_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ZDPfMgX15YaqVGPoJ2pZydjMkXq5ng3n3tuW8c7QjDXzrsVvIwmZrkXY91gCpjpPiwXbOkynvi3vyUVkeuI5UnAOGrLE-iy52Zp3b_7mzS3lp9JNhM7T2E-_WSYyLZc1SlNSoQhg48M/s400/Hummingbird-B-06_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These two shots are just half a second apart</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1UUG0Hw5QZWLFJ5VrsOICu_UT0m-GmzHGy0sKNWSirB6iaKxKtb2FK5-bjCLzFigXHeG77qZJ7hFDxqOKG14-a22-5f9IH8PJ2kDmDy2sluWb0r4qfM9vEo-vvTOkL0FTJVM2ZBBVXI0/s1600/Hummingbird-B-05_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1UUG0Hw5QZWLFJ5VrsOICu_UT0m-GmzHGy0sKNWSirB6iaKxKtb2FK5-bjCLzFigXHeG77qZJ7hFDxqOKG14-a22-5f9IH8PJ2kDmDy2sluWb0r4qfM9vEo-vvTOkL0FTJVM2ZBBVXI0/s400/Hummingbird-B-05_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiys69b-6ysf4LZCc47_apctPUS-ZagJE0CmfyEpDQTe2SRsAnPE0HiDuHi93kWfZ3EbwncMhlL_EKu9mFvOL6yNX4j7vLIjRDY12-ZxA4g1O4Zt0PUYXvTAlu8kxAsrKuZYLLBsTXKso8/s1600/Hummingbird-B-07b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiys69b-6ysf4LZCc47_apctPUS-ZagJE0CmfyEpDQTe2SRsAnPE0HiDuHi93kWfZ3EbwncMhlL_EKu9mFvOL6yNX4j7vLIjRDY12-ZxA4g1O4Zt0PUYXvTAlu8kxAsrKuZYLLBsTXKso8/s400/Hummingbird-B-07b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06329187406214205238noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6268621585149993961.post-46148603518076511162011-08-19T17:55:00.000-07:002011-08-26T14:07:00.155-07:00Zinnias<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"><strong>Collecting seeds for next year.</strong></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><br /><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></span></div><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">When I started growing zinnias from seeds back in February I had no idea what to expect. To be totally honest, I had no idea what zinnia looked like. I was ordering veggie seeds from Johnny’s Seeds and before I send it over Internet I have asked Marjo if she is interested in growing some flowers from seeds. Yup, she was. Got a list about double of what my order was. Good, I will learn as I go, I said to myself. I had no clue how to grow flowers from seeds. Some need light, some don’t…you get the picture. Reading the detailed instruction, and Johnny’s Seeds has the most complete and detailed instructions anywhere, is an absolute must. What struck me the most is how tiny, basically microscopic, some seeds are. Lobelia is one that just floored me. It is not a seed as much as it is a dust. Next year I know what to do.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">Back to Zinnias. What an incredibly spectacular plant this turned out to be! It started blooming in April in our sunroom and it looks like it will bloom till first frost, about 10 weeks from now in our zone 6a. And the flowers! Just like small dahlias. Well, the flowers are open pollinated, not F1 hybrid that you can’t collect seeds from, so I have decided to collect seeds for next year. Since Marjo ordered mix where you do not know what you are starting unless you scatter all the seeds over large area, I started collecting separate Zinnia colors and next year when I start them I will know what it is that I am growing. Once I have the seeds I will run a test just to see if they will germinate. I don`t want any surprises next February.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">Besides being beautiful flowers they are also attracting Goldfinches. It didn`t take us long to see that if you do not deadhead all the dry flowers that birds will flock to it like kids to ice cream truck. The seeds are irresistible to them.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7aYWXdDWm2NMzkxkCUzt8U9M9Bqz5HgZ07zWVKl72VF3Utjc2Zr2DMgXIJ0BO81rXADQAF-gjsPHZiuOp6hrrU_bNxS2TWIX8Om9Ot2xVx-qXBfdF93VczczW_SYsccdBg3VTBHHeFfM/s1600/Zinnia-05-03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7aYWXdDWm2NMzkxkCUzt8U9M9Bqz5HgZ07zWVKl72VF3Utjc2Zr2DMgXIJ0BO81rXADQAF-gjsPHZiuOp6hrrU_bNxS2TWIX8Om9Ot2xVx-qXBfdF93VczczW_SYsccdBg3VTBHHeFfM/s400/Zinnia-05-03.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">March 9, 2011</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfPA3QdHtvhorNm6hmqLi2RHD2ovmlA9t8FT3VXiV57yWP13HTZOzspxsuCn5U-5cxWvlXPjtPsozKY1BKAzacZWVvTgArprhcmqPIuGUeC8RjsCoGG1HQjp2Uh3XvbToEv_m3_Mahkxs/s1600/IMG_1372_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfPA3QdHtvhorNm6hmqLi2RHD2ovmlA9t8FT3VXiV57yWP13HTZOzspxsuCn5U-5cxWvlXPjtPsozKY1BKAzacZWVvTgArprhcmqPIuGUeC8RjsCoGG1HQjp2Uh3XvbToEv_m3_Mahkxs/s400/IMG_1372_1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE0UlaDbi0ILz31VytzUlNpcz9RSPM7JsZ-INwet1c3kwBjJzGlgFPd-3buG19ult1Heg_uQ7d7Qow8x9j6vyd9xa0Anh4UZ2FK3zjTGebHyiNLk74gL-hHT2o9hLaZKvY5s7-ks0BBIk/s1600/IMG_1370_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE0UlaDbi0ILz31VytzUlNpcz9RSPM7JsZ-INwet1c3kwBjJzGlgFPd-3buG19ult1Heg_uQ7d7Qow8x9j6vyd9xa0Anh4UZ2FK3zjTGebHyiNLk74gL-hHT2o9hLaZKvY5s7-ks0BBIk/s400/IMG_1370_1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY9istr06C2qw7HdZ0xao8oVB8KJzDgb8Gs-F3j0SfMZ4QZOxbstZ5uLSVg0zh6lp_V7fpU_Tm7_QRBz6vqmgj4R4UOXJ1_oaNPIPuCV2a1Zr2-0ocJNiosfmRO9r-VeMpslVw-9TRq4c/s1600/IMG_1371_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY9istr06C2qw7HdZ0xao8oVB8KJzDgb8Gs-F3j0SfMZ4QZOxbstZ5uLSVg0zh6lp_V7fpU_Tm7_QRBz6vqmgj4R4UOXJ1_oaNPIPuCV2a1Zr2-0ocJNiosfmRO9r-VeMpslVw-9TRq4c/s400/IMG_1371_1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">Five months later from just 9 cells.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">Here are the individual flowers grown from mix.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ICi_hzAcme92eFswj0sWVpUfqrswfQsAofMvpyrbnor6iozGWNFGnYKpGKPPONWpRrrSwWxy9LU8NXmDJXUJ6rhhDFSoP8zVxabKpCdM8qOF7NYbXCZOHOp7fDluHZA9gQmpicFWfWc/s1600/IMG_1347_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ICi_hzAcme92eFswj0sWVpUfqrswfQsAofMvpyrbnor6iozGWNFGnYKpGKPPONWpRrrSwWxy9LU8NXmDJXUJ6rhhDFSoP8zVxabKpCdM8qOF7NYbXCZOHOp7fDluHZA9gQmpicFWfWc/s400/IMG_1347_1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ZF8heoWMJyzAacRJmUeQs8EG_rcPkorgB_N5uHuN8KOOS2v5JG4AgQZNRS8K-jINY-YnEl1DlW1mGSatDKY5EtlUXI88y_9mzJioCfjStruCN23xSmwVSKLLet9gq94rv31zUxu1PIo/s1600/IMG_1349_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ZF8heoWMJyzAacRJmUeQs8EG_rcPkorgB_N5uHuN8KOOS2v5JG4AgQZNRS8K-jINY-YnEl1DlW1mGSatDKY5EtlUXI88y_9mzJioCfjStruCN23xSmwVSKLLet9gq94rv31zUxu1PIo/s400/IMG_1349_1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi8QM164T5Fnl_XxI9-agjdlI93mWHHQxi3zUUUU0ZvmFCRSTIxfko-zF3G4nvIOnP8N1C3dUzt9LBAj7GS-0D6X7lG2ZA_YkWQ6Gwifb9R-FCzCVE7RDKPHulGgTejHW0I8XmCe7-EFg/s1600/IMG_1353_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi8QM164T5Fnl_XxI9-agjdlI93mWHHQxi3zUUUU0ZvmFCRSTIxfko-zF3G4nvIOnP8N1C3dUzt9LBAj7GS-0D6X7lG2ZA_YkWQ6Gwifb9R-FCzCVE7RDKPHulGgTejHW0I8XmCe7-EFg/s400/IMG_1353_1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGY0mFYKvuOK2ILBxcLmqnzSr_jOpCzokG3_0Yu2eFs_0cMvJ1ECHdUhqKoJG2BW0vP-RLF5NIr4x5Yks9JN5Tl9VLjZVvPSwDOzgqmbXoZAfdod7vijI6coCdmmbXII-FnOSNh4_lG7w/s1600/IMG_1369_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGY0mFYKvuOK2ILBxcLmqnzSr_jOpCzokG3_0Yu2eFs_0cMvJ1ECHdUhqKoJG2BW0vP-RLF5NIr4x5Yks9JN5Tl9VLjZVvPSwDOzgqmbXoZAfdod7vijI6coCdmmbXII-FnOSNh4_lG7w/s400/IMG_1369_1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbyzjewKkJQNrdrwvOSDC2dreI068w18C4xZwIHzC-9EIcj5cuqGhIvLDBqxADhI63BxPwNhVBqxqv4gPaouex8tYrlijsqzZb8rZPa02rCjqvG4eqxykC9-qdagbdaF9bPO3I1bmPZUM/s1600/IMG_0101.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbyzjewKkJQNrdrwvOSDC2dreI068w18C4xZwIHzC-9EIcj5cuqGhIvLDBqxADhI63BxPwNhVBqxqv4gPaouex8tYrlijsqzZb8rZPa02rCjqvG4eqxykC9-qdagbdaF9bPO3I1bmPZUM/s400/IMG_0101.JPG" width="400" /></a></div></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="color: black;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It is amazing that such varied colors end up almost identical as a seed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><o:p></o:p></span></span></div></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"></div></div>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06329187406214205238noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6268621585149993961.post-7481253153023033572011-08-15T12:10:00.000-07:002011-08-26T14:07:00.155-07:00Our Peach Tree<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-myfE7CKPNig/TklskZYgFEI/AAAAAAAABJ4/pcyZ5WK-FuI/s1600-h/IMG_0060%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_0060" border="0" height="504" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-gH2GzyiyMXY/TklslN7WegI/AAAAAAAABJ8/3KWRxzA4fFc/IMG_0060_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_0060" width="640" /></a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our peach tree (“Reliance”) is now 4 years old and needed fairly severe pruning. Every expert I have talked to and every article I have read concerning peach tree maintenance have recommended this step. So, I did. Apparently I have done a good job by trimming about 1/3 of smaller branches and all the vertical suckers. In few weeks time the tree was absolutely covered in pink flowers. </span><br /><br /><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-lexuMje7CaQ/TklsmMpNmzI/AAAAAAAABKA/JVCNX5xAAz4/s1600-h/Peach-May-13_1%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="Peach-May-13_1" border="0" height="285" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-RLxo6dRXB8g/TklsmgD5ySI/AAAAAAAABKE/evGnqK65q-g/Peach-May-13_1_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Peach-May-13_1" width="400" /></span></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then, when leaves came out 2 weeks later they immediately started to curl, got brittle and the ones I didn’t remove fell off. The tree got leaf curl, fungus that is dormant in wood over winter and strikes in the spring. </span><br /><br /><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-_FtPZIF2lZ8/TklsnH-9PPI/AAAAAAAABKI/x3NFT8x40LQ/s1600-h/IMG_0440_1%25255B10%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="IMG_0440_1" border="0" height="273" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-5QKa8Hzf_IM/TklsnhYTaOI/AAAAAAAABKM/kG-k8yga8xo/IMG_0440_1_thumb%25255B7%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_0440_1" width="400" /></span></a><br /><br /><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-qT1CeJGd1x4/Tklsom4zvoI/AAAAAAAABKQ/vOncBv6-0Xg/s1600-h/IMG_0443_1%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="IMG_0443_1" border="0" height="272" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-BXyIn7jx5jQ/TklspXwFJgI/AAAAAAAABKU/mNr5BI1U7uY/IMG_0443_1_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_0443_1" width="400" /></span></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is a spray on the market and I have it but we had such a lousy fall that I just couldn’t do it. I needed dry period of 2 days and windless weather. There was not a single day that I could have sprayed. Anyway, new wood started to grow and with it new leaves but the fruits started to fall off just after forming and kept falling off till about end of July. We had 36 peaches left to mature. </span><br /><br /><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-0qQ60tZzghk/TklsqAg3UQI/AAAAAAAABKY/tZKvba9ZaiA/s1600-h/IMG_0061%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="IMG_0061" border="0" height="305" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-09Mfk-B_igo/Tklsxe4yw3I/AAAAAAAABKc/4lMqa9IwPEg/IMG_0061_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_0061" width="400" /></span></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last year the tree was so heavy with fruit that I had to support 4 branches with 2X2 lumber to prevent the limb from splitting. We had at least 200 pounds of fruit from that tree and were giving it away by buckets. Many branches were permanently bent because of the weight.</span><br /><br /><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-zmPngIvvmjI/Tklsx2Mt8eI/AAAAAAAABKg/PaxO1bMOKVc/s1600-h/IMG_0058%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="IMG_0058" border="0" height="305" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-iNUUGy4XiEY/TklsyhKA0YI/AAAAAAAABKk/wkDKNK_phLo/IMG_0058_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_0058" width="400" /></span></a><br /><br /><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-zWlPcQNDfMU/TkltEwBslsI/AAAAAAAABKo/RI2TRT2lhpU/s1600-h/29-07-2009%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="29-07-2009" border="0" height="305" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-v8GLYBDwlmA/TkltFsuj34I/AAAAAAAABKs/wedibo9L00A/29-07-2009_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="29-07-2009" width="400" /></span></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fruit trees are fun to have but, boy, do they ever require TLC! This fall I will be spraying for sure. And next spring I will have to prune again because all the wood grew back, tree’s revenge, I guess.</span><br /><br /><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-QC4YqBGaLVE/TkltGBoEw7I/AAAAAAAABKw/t2VdGuDwD2Q/s1600-h/Peach-8%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="Peach-8" border="0" height="305" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-vpvz-UCHA6g/TkltG9DLiJI/AAAAAAAABK0/UMUInqfY1PU/Peach-8_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Peach-8" width="400" /></span></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of 36 survivors.</span></div>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06329187406214205238noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6268621585149993961.post-15207238764050151572011-08-12T12:21:00.000-07:002011-08-14T12:57:47.865-07:00Flower Garden Update, August 12, 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgehO3UCxwzQXGK6xn3KVYsOY5NWCFlI9efNoTX9bV4Gvnf5aSF8kW3WnakMHpbQbXrOj89a4OI7k6JjnF1mUrUj11LViIhLaTGD6qzkDwbjsxX-evUVt1f66Eayr-Xa_CC3UXJwllpadk/s1600/5-IMG_1323_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgehO3UCxwzQXGK6xn3KVYsOY5NWCFlI9efNoTX9bV4Gvnf5aSF8kW3WnakMHpbQbXrOj89a4OI7k6JjnF1mUrUj11LViIhLaTGD6qzkDwbjsxX-evUVt1f66Eayr-Xa_CC3UXJwllpadk/s640/5-IMG_1323_1.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The weather wasn’t very kind to our flower garden but thanks to automatic low pressure irrigation all plants are doing well with few exceptions. I forgot to feed Lobelia and it does show, big time! I just hope that with some TLC and good fertilizer they will be full of gorgeous bright blue flowers.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_5kOUdFYI2Z2d8WNIqD9eihFqX9ysjOmr-Ltp_-uZA4ls7lsJiDEdHEv21IZewvd9vGKsDKRK88w2_3QRj363t1Z-F4yKEIBjhYrcVQYsdznwy92PQtrIOW0pNJgCbTqVZL7-4_nu2E4/s1600/IMG_1327_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_5kOUdFYI2Z2d8WNIqD9eihFqX9ysjOmr-Ltp_-uZA4ls7lsJiDEdHEv21IZewvd9vGKsDKRK88w2_3QRj363t1Z-F4yKEIBjhYrcVQYsdznwy92PQtrIOW0pNJgCbTqVZL7-4_nu2E4/s400/IMG_1327_1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Dahlias started to bloom in middle of July and now they are all in bloom. We bought the tubers last fall and all 5 were described as Diner Plate Dahlias. Well, three of them are more like little girl’s teacup saucer size and one of these small flower Dahlias is about 6 feet tall! Still, they are quite showy and will last till first frost. At least they did last year.</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9TgMTn1iTOFGgQ0QxjNqPdkdsWNs-sZq8IWCHUIi1kggtjeYHa7ezlURttcm0WxZpKG17miW4qkeK12z_4k_UvYrpUwMKucrIDdevK0RZKgVkabSgIYYm0pemGfiefF4Q5wTRZRQmsj4/s1600/IMG_1322_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9TgMTn1iTOFGgQ0QxjNqPdkdsWNs-sZq8IWCHUIi1kggtjeYHa7ezlURttcm0WxZpKG17miW4qkeK12z_4k_UvYrpUwMKucrIDdevK0RZKgVkabSgIYYm0pemGfiefF4Q5wTRZRQmsj4/s400/IMG_1322_1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOpgIWoNR_OrfW568Nu2vDZfKBRqqhV7x2XlSx2WaFGf3ZxnK5GA-k566EMBtN7qqiL022bxq08a-fEkvep9odqbBXzuYZ8LTV4YOeGh5KqBx9oLgGos5MiiqNeAlziL7raqzoEVdE-W4/s1600/1-Bilbao_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOpgIWoNR_OrfW568Nu2vDZfKBRqqhV7x2XlSx2WaFGf3ZxnK5GA-k566EMBtN7qqiL022bxq08a-fEkvep9odqbBXzuYZ8LTV4YOeGh5KqBx9oLgGos5MiiqNeAlziL7raqzoEVdE-W4/s400/1-Bilbao_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuSE_Uvq3LK8mIoSwZOEJRCRxC7TPxgRxVlz-yLuGo0Df85ELfEiaR7ifCaiNcUBg5euCRBKlV0FtXi0x4pCSWvyM_cUrIvjseHXv5zJBIjiiS0pO-EVSR6ctqkACeyorR6X0xH1BZtG8/s1600/2-Fleurel_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuSE_Uvq3LK8mIoSwZOEJRCRxC7TPxgRxVlz-yLuGo0Df85ELfEiaR7ifCaiNcUBg5euCRBKlV0FtXi0x4pCSWvyM_cUrIvjseHXv5zJBIjiiS0pO-EVSR6ctqkACeyorR6X0xH1BZtG8/s400/2-Fleurel_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7XMJ1XUm_c6aKUTWlmUy_LHDS_qXhk1tzF4bNV_NgjY-AzBRqkPe2u4ytCh0FI1WCiETfWACT3YruOeH5bVggHauxZcP2n4kO4gP2ZeDDrrhRKrIDXgHS7cf9hrGHrxVKvf2trAfm8dI/s1600/3-Rip+City_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7XMJ1XUm_c6aKUTWlmUy_LHDS_qXhk1tzF4bNV_NgjY-AzBRqkPe2u4ytCh0FI1WCiETfWACT3YruOeH5bVggHauxZcP2n4kO4gP2ZeDDrrhRKrIDXgHS7cf9hrGHrxVKvf2trAfm8dI/s400/3-Rip+City_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEc3rGtB0a2mkbJxocZzRX2ZLufzDuvBdy_SJXCD_QkIoRxNr7HKhyWePt1lFfMXjhEEBELU6r9FhrLo-wTT3UKlmfWb3bAQtLb8JH0yEKf_peusbfaWjmXTLk_TVS3wVCBeN965Bk0Do/s1600/4-Roselia_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEc3rGtB0a2mkbJxocZzRX2ZLufzDuvBdy_SJXCD_QkIoRxNr7HKhyWePt1lFfMXjhEEBELU6r9FhrLo-wTT3UKlmfWb3bAQtLb8JH0yEKf_peusbfaWjmXTLk_TVS3wVCBeN965Bk0Do/s400/4-Roselia_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Hemerocalis were a bit of a surprise as to how slow they were to bloom and how fast they faded. Right now there are not that many flowers. Marjo fertilized them so here is hoping that they will bloom again.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilPSA29M2BEjTBTSsyzImQiaU_AiyGGWSuDv1XQqr9Q7YuxEJo9VzGX-ktE6rnBwPwPgHVCrGaXMdLeBvnAptZpQAMkq74p8cg3d9pMsbHAzEg6Ciuxyjz12M6ba4AJikuMQwIFsDtErA/s1600/IMG_1324_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilPSA29M2BEjTBTSsyzImQiaU_AiyGGWSuDv1XQqr9Q7YuxEJo9VzGX-ktE6rnBwPwPgHVCrGaXMdLeBvnAptZpQAMkq74p8cg3d9pMsbHAzEg6Ciuxyjz12M6ba4AJikuMQwIFsDtErA/s400/IMG_1324_1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">Zinnias that I have started from seed last February are just spectacular! So many flowers and so tall, they are taking over our deck stairs and had to be tied because they were spreading so much. </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9g76wnKZAV1T9cyYmFMIF_NndEFT4T4IOmtNX8oUb4j4wcpn5L_WOL8b10Zg_3ISe0zpeWtb2nbh3gUHRCp3W0HlN9oSZJ8DfZTtAegDVUJeLsRx8lb_nFk31j153P34YWqnyMmnDtVk/s1600/IMG_1325_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9g76wnKZAV1T9cyYmFMIF_NndEFT4T4IOmtNX8oUb4j4wcpn5L_WOL8b10Zg_3ISe0zpeWtb2nbh3gUHRCp3W0HlN9oSZJ8DfZTtAegDVUJeLsRx8lb_nFk31j153P34YWqnyMmnDtVk/s640/IMG_1325_1.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">We leave the spent and dried flower heads on because American Goldfinches just love the seeds. They are quite acrobats, hanging upside down from those small flower heads. In addition to Zinnias seeds I give them sunflower heads from our branching sunflower. When the head turns brown I cut it and stick it into flower box on our deck railing. Interesting thing is that only females and immature males will feed oh sunflower and only mature males feed on Zinnias, for whatever reason. I just can’t figure out why. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFF1krQt_Ws3nf3XVfk_vDOICP2GPnZ13Ged0ZZwVsngiz68WYbio61Vab8a2RnjRxyWqW9FDv1p67YjQdyM6fcrSO7T_0MO2hhrV2R_brWR9Tius3H8ws3Mvq8HbBaMuuZpnZU11RqkA/s1600/IMG_1272_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFF1krQt_Ws3nf3XVfk_vDOICP2GPnZ13Ged0ZZwVsngiz68WYbio61Vab8a2RnjRxyWqW9FDv1p67YjQdyM6fcrSO7T_0MO2hhrV2R_brWR9Tius3H8ws3Mvq8HbBaMuuZpnZU11RqkA/s400/IMG_1272_1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQy2AGhaVLHPqFKCgOyQGN129kOord4e7npzY5KJBcd78KXYDAru4eU4zYdO8qi03B-y7wnz2W0KnelU7z-dL-qPUkRjoDU0Zp2QRQRxW07kdqjCz80Iupn5NSg85E6pANfdxchutuaXc/s1600/IMG_1273_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQy2AGhaVLHPqFKCgOyQGN129kOord4e7npzY5KJBcd78KXYDAru4eU4zYdO8qi03B-y7wnz2W0KnelU7z-dL-qPUkRjoDU0Zp2QRQRxW07kdqjCz80Iupn5NSg85E6pANfdxchutuaXc/s400/IMG_1273_1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-W8qfQUksJWHghcF7OEZQjsGHWSePZyJGDuMRNDU1jN39fRprnuRr6jWPkFR15efA8mo2w8tWgkJyy4j1ccS_XxhZJktO4LwCoTZSlhAwEz7MwePra_1hb_LNUOuUJrjbY0BV3saEpsw/s1600/IMG_1274_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-W8qfQUksJWHghcF7OEZQjsGHWSePZyJGDuMRNDU1jN39fRprnuRr6jWPkFR15efA8mo2w8tWgkJyy4j1ccS_XxhZJktO4LwCoTZSlhAwEz7MwePra_1hb_LNUOuUJrjbY0BV3saEpsw/s400/IMG_1274_1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Also, couple hummingbirds are visiting few times a day and each has its own resting spot: one is on top of dead leader of our Fir and second one likes our hanging basket hook.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwr4DuE7lROzkqdMPRsyr6p0_VLtLMFtRidSPEJpFPAwSnQmrvBsguOmaZjmxIbSZ-ODsFzZwBET_fUxRZc0OGbU6YMoxLbXY2IGm6lFtLtX1bVLJkPph6B_tI9fAlRhIUUCrWxSsdLBs/s1600/Hummingbird-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwr4DuE7lROzkqdMPRsyr6p0_VLtLMFtRidSPEJpFPAwSnQmrvBsguOmaZjmxIbSZ-ODsFzZwBET_fUxRZc0OGbU6YMoxLbXY2IGm6lFtLtX1bVLJkPph6B_tI9fAlRhIUUCrWxSsdLBs/s400/Hummingbird-01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht_6rCVMUixl3m3uwNkafermNKrfHmuZtptP7xpuVba-yBcNtJLEA45y_NbxGkQSIWbRxMWcSjnch_RhKUXEsT9Cdx8n2hhpMTxdILKBQxLpIFCTQlVkEA3Br8enPlrr-CcQH9zs4qxyU/s1600/Hammingbird-02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht_6rCVMUixl3m3uwNkafermNKrfHmuZtptP7xpuVba-yBcNtJLEA45y_NbxGkQSIWbRxMWcSjnch_RhKUXEsT9Cdx8n2hhpMTxdILKBQxLpIFCTQlVkEA3Br8enPlrr-CcQH9zs4qxyU/s400/Hammingbird-02.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeWaMWZwVDi3jVoALgCwHmEnlFYFoMu-wiHjivl-avP6lpWRYXeeeNoGn-WezENwAYzUKjJAofe0vZ1yJvhAJ-cdVVzySlYY_AEbMYOldZhpUMEbw2YNYjo9bo2iQPqS5xiv8u3VZqoyE/s1600/Hummingbird-04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeWaMWZwVDi3jVoALgCwHmEnlFYFoMu-wiHjivl-avP6lpWRYXeeeNoGn-WezENwAYzUKjJAofe0vZ1yJvhAJ-cdVVzySlYY_AEbMYOldZhpUMEbw2YNYjo9bo2iQPqS5xiv8u3VZqoyE/s400/Hummingbird-04.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Climbing roses are in full bloom, again. Marjo did some great pruning and they are just beautiful.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1QsCwmvGJISuQwpf5wVl-l2dpzo0rLpsts4mTy1-HQW3UH3drUBf41BN6KMjHias8-JDFOBPN2i2kSdOsT093XcHViIcjQTxIqcpmjSMN0qAo8bxlcE1oUZi8FZmAu7Z53hTZ1uHdY5k/s1600/IMG_1326_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1QsCwmvGJISuQwpf5wVl-l2dpzo0rLpsts4mTy1-HQW3UH3drUBf41BN6KMjHias8-JDFOBPN2i2kSdOsT093XcHViIcjQTxIqcpmjSMN0qAo8bxlcE1oUZi8FZmAu7Z53hTZ1uHdY5k/s400/IMG_1326_1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Two years ago I started hollyhock from seeds and this year it is over 9 feet tall and growing. Flowers are not the largest I have seen but they are quite unusual dark purple, almost black, with bright canary yellow center. I think that next year the flowers will be much larger.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKrc0dwoiC4dKTxAXtVonnle_3eAx8iMIw2P-FGKU1zkhN0g3Q_k4PUtf8359T7iiT14FNaLYW3azNY3XFMmSE91I7qurNOEJYH8MeODaULhLchVIEQKnhY4UJwNObKpogC1jCD5tlkoc/s1600/IMG_1328_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKrc0dwoiC4dKTxAXtVonnle_3eAx8iMIw2P-FGKU1zkhN0g3Q_k4PUtf8359T7iiT14FNaLYW3azNY3XFMmSE91I7qurNOEJYH8MeODaULhLchVIEQKnhY4UJwNObKpogC1jCD5tlkoc/s400/IMG_1328_1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hollyhock is in between evergreens.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Note:</u></b> I am quite late with this post as I have started on August 6<sup>th</sup>. I got new computer on 7<sup>th</sup> and had to install bunch of programs plus move lots of files. Unfortunately, some older (12 years old!) devices will not run on 64 bit Windows 7 OS. On top of it all I have to get used to new operating system and new version of MS Office (2010). It will be a while before everything is back to normal. <o:p></o:p></span>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06329187406214205238noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6268621585149993961.post-7052298021760063002011-08-05T14:30:00.000-07:002011-08-14T12:57:47.866-07:00Veggie Garden Update August 5, 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit0kszn2hl5RMuLJFHANvNYhEohRYs3Nkfe6116vJh6U9LY2AFsZRH9tXdJ7YjEfIyNwJlD4SSgoUUbDInOylSF8ilUhAwCwB9fOIOyda40nfHJsExYCT6a-XznqrWrlVXZwRjdn3mXEk/s1600/A+Veggie+Grden_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit0kszn2hl5RMuLJFHANvNYhEohRYs3Nkfe6116vJh6U9LY2AFsZRH9tXdJ7YjEfIyNwJlD4SSgoUUbDInOylSF8ilUhAwCwB9fOIOyda40nfHJsExYCT6a-XznqrWrlVXZwRjdn3mXEk/s640/A+Veggie+Grden_1.jpg" t$="true" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">With the crazy weather we are having this year it is amazing that almost everything is pretty much on schedule. Big exception is my peach, sad story that requires its own post.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The yellow and green bush beans are done and will be pulled out next week. I am not sure if I will grow them next year since the <a href="http://www.agrohaitai.com/beanpea/yardlongbean/greennoodle.htm"><span style="color: purple;">Chinese Yard Long beans</span></a> taste better and are a lot easier to pick. I think that I have planted way too many for our own use. Looks like I will be freezing some. Despite the overabundance of long green beans I have replanted snow peas for a fall crop as well as Amish Snap peas, new one for me. Since Ferdzy of <a href="http://seasonalontariofood.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: purple;">Seasonal Ontario Food</span></a> had such a positive <a href="http://seasonalontariofood.blogspot.com/2011/07/amish-snap-peas-spring-blush-snap-peas.html"><span style="color: purple;">post</span></a> on this particular variety I had to try them.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Same story with tomatoes, I have planted way too many plants and a variety that realistically can be used only fresh. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have tried freezing the cherry tomatoes but it was a waste of time and energy. Huge surprise for me was paste tomato Margherita. Last week I had a big bunch on that one plant mature at the same time; nice, heavy, bright red fruits. About the same number of the fruits <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>were still green and at least 2 weeks from being ready for harvest. This morning they are on orange side and I have noticed new set of flowers at top of the plant. I have no idea what this variety is: is it determinate, semi-determinate or indeterminate? Anyway, at least I don’t have to pick just few each day. Back to why this tomato was a surprise: they make most fantastic, thick sauce. I have ended up with almost consistency of tomato paste! Not only that, but the taste! So deep and, well, tomato-y (?). I can’t wait to toss the sauce with my fresh pasta! I planted only one plant this spring but next year I’m looking at 3 or 4 <a href="http://www.parkseed.com/gardening/store/TextSearch?storeId=10101&SearchUnion=Y&CustSearchText=Margherita"><span style="color: purple;">Margherita</span></a> plants and only 2 salad tomatoes, 1 <a href="http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-8480-mountain-magic-f1.aspx"><span style="color: purple;">Mountain Magic</span></a> and 1 <a href="http://www.parkseed.com/gardening/store/TextSearch?storeId=10101&SearchUnion=Y&CustSearchText=sweet+baby+girl"><span style="color: purple;">Sweet Baby Girl</span></a>. Cucumbers were another first for me this year and also nice surprise. They are done so I’ll be pulling out the vines same day as beans, there are just few very small and dark cukes. I have enough pickles in jars for us so next year I will plant the same number of plants and in the same container.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Eggplants are another story of way too many for us but at least I can grill them and freeze them. I have 3 plants, all grown in containers, and all 3 are very productive. Variety is <a href="http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-7501-gretel-f1.aspx"><span style="color: purple;">Gretel</span></a>, slender white Oriental type eggplant. Next year I will grow only one of each: white and purple Japanese eggplants, variety to be determined later.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Peppers are doing great as well but I’m not sure if it is worth it to grow them in my very small garden. I can get them really cheap at any Amish roadside stand, very fresh and organic. Same goes for many other vegetables and fruits.</div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">It looks like that plan form my next year veggie garden is well under way! Flower garden is another story, though. That is my next post.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKNVAtm5QHGFVNKmJJqKh6oCVK6ahzHqQ7Ekp8HZjFHvRqMeahR3LXBHoLkzr0L9cVacmkVunGOXzWUgZuFApJw93BsbJ4CnulizDJGjJXhb8IkVP9iKyl27mQrOyv3QciRs5jV1hH-0Q/s1600/2dayharvest_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKNVAtm5QHGFVNKmJJqKh6oCVK6ahzHqQ7Ekp8HZjFHvRqMeahR3LXBHoLkzr0L9cVacmkVunGOXzWUgZuFApJw93BsbJ4CnulizDJGjJXhb8IkVP9iKyl27mQrOyv3QciRs5jV1hH-0Q/s400/2dayharvest_1.jpg" t$="true" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">This is part of harvest over 2 days from my tiny garden. It is way more then we can use fresh.</div></span>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06329187406214205238noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6268621585149993961.post-46738447898587929202011-07-28T18:32:00.000-07:002011-08-14T12:57:47.866-07:00Garlic<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxfB6t5SUbYyiFpS6Rb0UGud3OO-uSrSBO3Xy3DxoJ68rXqAUZAXhZmhEQRbj9JSC3ZUwd1LYnw2UAsJX1ucXJt_4b6Z3y6KnJvgKUXLQzclIJnyewhTLr8dojM8SgKmrS7NEQ8qf1xFo/s1600/Garlic-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxfB6t5SUbYyiFpS6Rb0UGud3OO-uSrSBO3Xy3DxoJ68rXqAUZAXhZmhEQRbj9JSC3ZUwd1LYnw2UAsJX1ucXJt_4b6Z3y6KnJvgKUXLQzclIJnyewhTLr8dojM8SgKmrS7NEQ8qf1xFo/s640/Garlic-1.jpg" t$="true" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">I was late pulling out my garlic just as I was last year. Somehow I got confused because every advice on many garlic dedicated web sites gives different visual signs of maturity. Some say that leaves have to be 60% yellow or brown, some 80% brown, some 2 sets of leaves at bottom…and of course, there is about 2 weeks difference between yellow and brown leaves. Next year they will be out on July 15<sup>th</sup> and that’s it. I will be cleaning them today and then hang them in garage with small fan on for next two weeks.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Last October I have planted German Porcelain, Music, <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Irkutsk</place></city> (Siberian?) and cloves from Amish farmer that I grow for last 3 years. The other varieties were new for me this year and were bought at <a href="http://www.stratfordgarlicfestival.com/"><span style="color: purple;">Stratford Garlic Festival</span></a>. The Music has largest sized bulb and <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Irkutsk</place></city> has smallest bulbs but I expect it to be the hottest of the bunch. I assume that next year the heads will be a bit bigger since they will be grown in same location and apparently garlic likes to grow in same patch of soil. Somehow, the Porcelain and my Amish are almost indistinguishable; same shape and color. Interesting thing about Music is that it was developed from Italian garlic on a former tobacco farm. Our house sits on former tobacco farm, maybe that’s why this strain did so well in its first year. Here is an excerpt from <a href="http://www.seeds.ca/en.php"><span style="color: purple;">Seeds of Diversity</span></a> <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Canada</place></country-region> <a href="http://www.seeds.ca/library/articles/2004_03_Dyer_Garlic.htm"><span style="color: purple;">publication</span></a>:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Music is a Porcelain strain with large, easy to peel, bulbs, a strong flavor and large cloves. It is the most commonly grown type in <state w:st="on">Ontario</state> and is now generally recognized as the <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Ontario</place></state> garlic. It was named for Al Music, who was also a founding member of Garlic Growers Association of <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Ontario</place></state> (GGAO) in 1985, developed the strain after getting out of tobacco production in the early 1980’s.”</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">In 2 weeks I will do my very own “Rye Bread Toast Test” to see how strong each variety is. I will make 4 toasts using rye bread and then rub the clove of garlic on one side only. Each toast will have one strain only. I guess that in order to be objective I will have to rub the garlic exact number of times. There is no way that I’ll be able to go out and talk to other people after this test <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span>!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">I will report on results in 2 weeks.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg50iyxiu25ii95vqxxb4BCohI1EMqKKNK3jt9graGqmJQGDijfKq0RXRSij41qMQOeufQsmBp2UJ4gcRFazd2LAAsZ2PULopxxtTymnwEeXm5hNDbx5M8u_uStDHd3pzE5mCCuntUS_qo/s1600/Garlic-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg50iyxiu25ii95vqxxb4BCohI1EMqKKNK3jt9graGqmJQGDijfKq0RXRSij41qMQOeufQsmBp2UJ4gcRFazd2LAAsZ2PULopxxtTymnwEeXm5hNDbx5M8u_uStDHd3pzE5mCCuntUS_qo/s400/Garlic-2.jpg" t$="true" width="400" /></a></div>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06329187406214205238noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6268621585149993961.post-31770358705836091572011-07-27T17:52:00.000-07:002011-08-14T12:57:47.866-07:00Veggie Garden Update July 26, 2011<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><u><strong>Cucumbers</strong></u></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">This is my first year growing my own cucumbers and to say that I am surprised how fast they grow from flower to mature fruit is understatement. Because of space restrictions in our garden I have decided to grow them (3 plants) in large container on a trellis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also grow peppers (2 kinds), eggplants and tomatoes in containers and all are doing very well. Cukes, however, are huge surprise. I knew that my tomatoes will be super-productive but I didn’t expect cucumbers to be the same. City slicker’s ignorance, I guess <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span>.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Here are pictures taken of same cuke taken over span of 4 days. It doubled in volume every day. Another plant that will be grown next year.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdtNmqE1vZWYuTl6cO932dvgrVLRpoY2cbXMlwo_9ng3neO3tkQD1NY5YHZHUYKxPMKTB7H1j5PhiVxaniMhqZYXDTt7B6Od50nFEByB1aM1yoznl7klsI88qNnxyziaGY83MoV-ok5B0/s1600/Cuke-02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdtNmqE1vZWYuTl6cO932dvgrVLRpoY2cbXMlwo_9ng3neO3tkQD1NY5YHZHUYKxPMKTB7H1j5PhiVxaniMhqZYXDTt7B6Od50nFEByB1aM1yoznl7klsI88qNnxyziaGY83MoV-ok5B0/s320/Cuke-02.jpg" t$="true" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiup1TCWv2mzzyVmSxtrJN6W-y6oRUnQfiniI_Qr_hAqF6p5x_-ev5LoQJaoYj1NPiEyIOr73vGXVul0dTKF5aL-ULorQrtK-p2l8hSkvqWpgerVcgl1Oy9948yvllVJosalTA55jvzQKU/s1600/Cuke-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiup1TCWv2mzzyVmSxtrJN6W-y6oRUnQfiniI_Qr_hAqF6p5x_-ev5LoQJaoYj1NPiEyIOr73vGXVul0dTKF5aL-ULorQrtK-p2l8hSkvqWpgerVcgl1Oy9948yvllVJosalTA55jvzQKU/s320/Cuke-01.jpg" t$="true" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwDycJFHBAWg4JObHwTamOzH8k9A6zSS3RLo4OkilKUvVSNCdYLLeiakVHEGz-IVQN2NJu6y-2dA0iZ09HYcIJ_3C5f1Sh-I4esyv5UGOgBGuK1l2XT5mhuVQN-CqXhFqkyUQ2RZv4Ypw/s1600/Cuke-04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwDycJFHBAWg4JObHwTamOzH8k9A6zSS3RLo4OkilKUvVSNCdYLLeiakVHEGz-IVQN2NJu6y-2dA0iZ09HYcIJ_3C5f1Sh-I4esyv5UGOgBGuK1l2XT5mhuVQN-CqXhFqkyUQ2RZv4Ypw/s320/Cuke-04.jpg" t$="true" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcsVigKOS5WLlENg3CRlRLyOAuw4QcQIlizCTjAXaydSzoCeEabo9_PfUjKmwA4dnGBmqe_9EVhKff6J5magJr3NXeAxrX9V8Vakzc4fuzcJ_RjHmVLS7CWZChN2kOr7_yCTdsQrRT8gY/s1600/Cuke-03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcsVigKOS5WLlENg3CRlRLyOAuw4QcQIlizCTjAXaydSzoCeEabo9_PfUjKmwA4dnGBmqe_9EVhKff6J5magJr3NXeAxrX9V8Vakzc4fuzcJ_RjHmVLS7CWZChN2kOr7_yCTdsQrRT8gY/s320/Cuke-03.jpg" t$="true" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">And, of course, with so many cucumbers harvested daily I had to start pickling them. After wading through dozens of recipes on Internet I have decided to use Ferdzy’s recipe for <a href="http://seasonalontariofood.blogspot.com/2007/07/dill-pickles-by-jar.html"><span style="color: purple;">“Dill Pickles by the Jar”</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>published on her blog <a href="http://seasonalontariofood.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: purple;">Seasonal Ontario Food</span></a>. Now I have to wait 6 weeks to taste the results. What was interesting how fast the cucumber skin turned khaki green from bright green once I poured hot pickling brine in the jars.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQKmtvVDAXAz8uD_L2iPlLlW8WJrqCjMY1lWZcILFAqz0ht7lX8d3Ewdh7Owp1OLXTxf9VFU_cuqxBCKHDPRLYFbIcbeOZQLJEdXDZfKTueBR75pr_F-QOTCe2Zf57DlhsYmIYLaHZ-3I/s1600/Pickles_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQKmtvVDAXAz8uD_L2iPlLlW8WJrqCjMY1lWZcILFAqz0ht7lX8d3Ewdh7Owp1OLXTxf9VFU_cuqxBCKHDPRLYFbIcbeOZQLJEdXDZfKTueBR75pr_F-QOTCe2Zf57DlhsYmIYLaHZ-3I/s400/Pickles_1.jpg" t$="true" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><u><strong>Eggplants</strong></u></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The eggplant seeds I bought were for eggplant Gretel (there is also Hansel </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">) that is white and elongated. Even though I did pick few I haven’t cooked them yet. I did taste them raw and there are no seeds to speak of and not a trace of bitterness, exactly what I am looking for in eggplants. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGqBoAUqZ0qY6PQZ-DETfPpFTG9_9h-lwnxHqGMtfdQnGpq4lBrDnxAzQTBvcm5-rG2JAEMrtzBfsMNSO5ycqKIv2jIAoqNp5NuM33Zo9p83EX675BD-Eqe3-KFTljjaip15uFLeVY7eo/s1600/Eggplant02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGqBoAUqZ0qY6PQZ-DETfPpFTG9_9h-lwnxHqGMtfdQnGpq4lBrDnxAzQTBvcm5-rG2JAEMrtzBfsMNSO5ycqKIv2jIAoqNp5NuM33Zo9p83EX675BD-Eqe3-KFTljjaip15uFLeVY7eo/s320/Eggplant02.jpg" t$="true" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSjSfI1TSA8eaSWW2rxZdP0sgyj-P_Qs58ZpWlZ-j1P8aolmfxuviqxyJJ2DUwjt1tcxrHXFdqJaERhGdhkMLcKI-Mun1hQJ-e7he88urnS_hnRwJNtBnOGf39KavAdBZ6SSn3YVVtIGc/s1600/Eggplant01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSjSfI1TSA8eaSWW2rxZdP0sgyj-P_Qs58ZpWlZ-j1P8aolmfxuviqxyJJ2DUwjt1tcxrHXFdqJaERhGdhkMLcKI-Mun1hQJ-e7he88urnS_hnRwJNtBnOGf39KavAdBZ6SSn3YVVtIGc/s320/Eggplant01.jpg" t$="true" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">I did have one nasty surprise, though: Green part at top of fruit has thorns like cactus but almost invisible and when I touched it, it was almost like an electric shock. Next time I harvest with leather gloves. I’ll cook some with garlic and olive oil and use it as one of the toppings for grilled pizza I will make tonight.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifcXwMSKLt8lo7-4PNkiZulpRcSiSQ7-zNivl5x0HGunAxwpmzqXtYR9sJHtb1_fy-KHlu-7Ex9vAzaNwgEBRDfKMB57gpWp2ejO0fFJiUbQpcZt6REL_uVK3VrJVRrrVvarWMprgbLnw/s1600/Eggplant-03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifcXwMSKLt8lo7-4PNkiZulpRcSiSQ7-zNivl5x0HGunAxwpmzqXtYR9sJHtb1_fy-KHlu-7Ex9vAzaNwgEBRDfKMB57gpWp2ejO0fFJiUbQpcZt6REL_uVK3VrJVRrrVvarWMprgbLnw/s400/Eggplant-03.jpg" t$="true" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Nasty thorns.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><u><strong>Chinese Yard Long Beans</strong></u></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Yup, they are almost a yard long now and growing like crazy. What a great bean this is! The beans are about the size of pencil and no string, no tough parts, just a nice sweet bean that I eat raw when I pick them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are best when briefly stir fried with ginger, garlic and chilies. Also, they are very productive and I will harvest right to the first frost. I did last year</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIsefda2kdZd0awE2rkv7l9uDGhAdpCb4bxsZuKgnXjNlmaUVcvwmktOEPWl0GhVosGcpCYTsqv2Ga2K2SN_yupgwa5noTDF7BCvh4hYJb4FwrfdrxSspqs5QEl021XMad1Geab47zGRI/s1600/Long+Beans01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIsefda2kdZd0awE2rkv7l9uDGhAdpCb4bxsZuKgnXjNlmaUVcvwmktOEPWl0GhVosGcpCYTsqv2Ga2K2SN_yupgwa5noTDF7BCvh4hYJb4FwrfdrxSspqs5QEl021XMad1Geab47zGRI/s400/Long+Beans01.jpg" t$="true" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Tomatoes</u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Margherita, which is a paste San Marzano type tomato is finely getting mature and red and I will pick first batch tomorrow. When I bought the seeds I didn’t realize that this hybrid is determinate, meaning that all tomatoes mature at same time. However, as you can see on picture some are ready to harvest and others are completely green. What gives? Is there something between determinate and indeterminate tomatoes? I must have missed something. Oh, well, I’ll be freezing them, I guess and make sauce later as needed.<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg538inRkGzXljgxT-jMqGzr3RWsCyHkF5_EIgOgOWiKHsDik7qJ-zONW4KuDujwAHtJBvflmYlayP_uQVzmKXVdydoyky-SWPZLDVisQAi75_apJzcg_m53_3lHsn2zQrQIpBUU5RM04I/s1600/Tomato-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg538inRkGzXljgxT-jMqGzr3RWsCyHkF5_EIgOgOWiKHsDik7qJ-zONW4KuDujwAHtJBvflmYlayP_uQVzmKXVdydoyky-SWPZLDVisQAi75_apJzcg_m53_3lHsn2zQrQIpBUU5RM04I/s400/Tomato-1.jpg" t$="true" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg78x-MvUNsio6W0ELvvgd_ugIZ5CxtA0ndthn2BbcLYESr8HV9-m7RSdWqDVxzGwIhVliRrGBCkXmjskhsjK_pGzA6-VXbxe2sCo4NKAKXKoLrAqXDZuJajZQHFGzMziJSetFopkblCeg/s1600/Tomato-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg78x-MvUNsio6W0ELvvgd_ugIZ5CxtA0ndthn2BbcLYESr8HV9-m7RSdWqDVxzGwIhVliRrGBCkXmjskhsjK_pGzA6-VXbxe2sCo4NKAKXKoLrAqXDZuJajZQHFGzMziJSetFopkblCeg/s400/Tomato-2.jpg" t$="true" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">Mountain Magic tomatoes are doing just fine.<br /></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><u>.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Peppers</b></u></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">I have three kinds of peppers this year: Green to Red, Sweet Pimento and Red Cubana type peppers whose seeds I collected from Mexican peppers sold in big box store. The flesh was so red and thick that I just had to have the seeds. I grew them last year and they were very good. Not as sweet as original but still very good. Conditions for growing peppers in <country-region w:st="on">Mexico</country-region> and <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Ontario</city>, <country-region w:st="on">Canada</country-region></place> are a wee bit different, I think <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span>.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The Green-to-Red were first peppers I harvested about<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>3 weeks ago and yes, they were red already! Amazing!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO-CflnIr3pJ0v-CiVOZr_a1eVBHr144XaApZ-d44uAQZT7TAPsZqRr2Ts9f2G9ausg1zxa3K3irCfF5sMmzhzOjEuZ1BbkhfOEOVn0v_wZjyZPRusjrd0QKa3_QBxWp8LQPx4iGkHc9k/s1600/Pepper-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO-CflnIr3pJ0v-CiVOZr_a1eVBHr144XaApZ-d44uAQZT7TAPsZqRr2Ts9f2G9ausg1zxa3K3irCfF5sMmzhzOjEuZ1BbkhfOEOVn0v_wZjyZPRusjrd0QKa3_QBxWp8LQPx4iGkHc9k/s400/Pepper-1.jpg" t$="true" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Sweet Pimento is just few days from first harvest so no idea about the taste and how thick the flesh is.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoRnIz83RWFAN9TW7hQ5GOXXVeOZ9dHdcnyyysmsl5jQf19Nn4DcSH6fnZ9OSAfACN5Ak5gvVofR5HQSc6ZDyDzKlrzyVlx7pVFqQ-BGGBdYeSP36A2613dMni__MENXrO0z1Ly0QCBZs/s1600/Pepper-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoRnIz83RWFAN9TW7hQ5GOXXVeOZ9dHdcnyyysmsl5jQf19Nn4DcSH6fnZ9OSAfACN5Ak5gvVofR5HQSc6ZDyDzKlrzyVlx7pVFqQ-BGGBdYeSP36A2613dMni__MENXrO0z1Ly0QCBZs/s320/Pepper-2.jpg" t$="true" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Mexican Peppers</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Turban Squash</u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">I almost forgot about Turban squash because it is not one of my food crops but Marjo’s pet project that I take care of. It stopped dropping flowers and undeveloped fruits and now I can see decent size squash and a tiny brother/sister. I have noticed that lots of ants were inside some fully opened flowers and that later same flower got sort of choked at stem and then dropped of cleanly like somebody tied a rope around it. Since this was a tobacco field, ants are everywhere in garden! This will be one interesting experiment that Marjo started back in March. We will see when fall comes.<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio2zL_hEleX4QTAl7Lcwj8ouTx4koMpNv1gI9GShoOeGCQs9Va_M4MAe95wlytFrhDXWGSsuNfSW5UYwaE9UQtfoFTe5twPqwIUgV2xzZObW4Lrp3XUZeUkGIGpSRSskYp7F7RcpOhxEw/s1600/Turban+Squash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio2zL_hEleX4QTAl7Lcwj8ouTx4koMpNv1gI9GShoOeGCQs9Va_M4MAe95wlytFrhDXWGSsuNfSW5UYwaE9UQtfoFTe5twPqwIUgV2xzZObW4Lrp3XUZeUkGIGpSRSskYp7F7RcpOhxEw/s400/Turban+Squash.jpg" t$="true" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Besides radishes, Daikon and herbs that’s about all I grow this year. Garlic report will be posted next.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06329187406214205238noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6268621585149993961.post-24211970720779986122011-07-16T19:04:00.000-07:002011-07-17T13:22:52.384-07:00Veggie Garden Update July 16, 2011<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">I can’t believe how fast time flies when you are busy. I just wish I could save some winter time in Time Bank and then in summer draw few hours here and there back. Anyway, we went with Tillsonburg Horticultural Society on 3 day tour of gardens in Gray & <placename w:st="on">Bruce</placename> <placename w:st="on">Counties</placename> in <place w:st="on">Southern Ontario</place> so there was no garden work, just automatic irrigation. The tour was great thanks to incredible talent of our past president (yup, I am a member now). I will make post on some gardens later on when I wade through few hundreds of pictures. Digital cameras are great but at times they can be a real pain in the ass because it is so easy to get carried away. Enough of small talk and back to my small but very productive garden.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXU9MdwA0SW2l7p5e7Ybdl6DdRdCXuZtnFza1dRW1Da1WxhyEWvdhdga03MJ2x_OBxdBKKd0ecLXqnTh3uqqhAbYl4-eUEVwPTnteg7AMMi7rhhLH6WkDg4mxzE8T4CpBDnqvoe7epZVA/s1600/IMG_0332.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXU9MdwA0SW2l7p5e7Ybdl6DdRdCXuZtnFza1dRW1Da1WxhyEWvdhdga03MJ2x_OBxdBKKd0ecLXqnTh3uqqhAbYl4-eUEVwPTnteg7AMMi7rhhLH6WkDg4mxzE8T4CpBDnqvoe7epZVA/s400/IMG_0332.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">When I’ve planted cucumbers back in March I had no idea how many cukes they will give me. I am not complaining, I am just amazed. I pick about half a dozen a day from 2 plants growing on trellis in container.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBG32c3SZiMA8FsfMJ0DC56e1aMmYX4_l6KOaj6mLUst43nWttXlWpQ2dY8egyVILjn9gRSMWqlc0sygqZmi0wJW1uP6iQtf5g9pua-etiffyidGfQvAVmYQicMITyrtb5mYqWeIN3U2o/s1600/IMG_0384.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBG32c3SZiMA8FsfMJ0DC56e1aMmYX4_l6KOaj6mLUst43nWttXlWpQ2dY8egyVILjn9gRSMWqlc0sygqZmi0wJW1uP6iQtf5g9pua-etiffyidGfQvAVmYQicMITyrtb5mYqWeIN3U2o/s400/IMG_0384.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I planted 3 varieties of peppers, all grown from seed as every other vegetable and herb in my garden. The “Green to Red” (from Johnny’s Seeds) is red already! I might pick some in next few days, maybe for my grilled pizza on BBQ.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKLHJ2gbdm41I22qYf5T9WAFdRkd9pO191CFcBdZzL99NMJnnQoz_T12D-utS6bUbqtoDdGmqgyvp3VLe0DRHrfwblzDrDq6TK7w5MIihElUlGXwubmqlF80rCGiTuSqd1rFjfk9XAzlA/s1600/IMG_0396.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKLHJ2gbdm41I22qYf5T9WAFdRkd9pO191CFcBdZzL99NMJnnQoz_T12D-utS6bUbqtoDdGmqgyvp3VLe0DRHrfwblzDrDq6TK7w5MIihElUlGXwubmqlF80rCGiTuSqd1rFjfk9XAzlA/s400/IMG_0396.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Eggplant Greta is full of flowers and one eggplant is already about 3” long and ivory white as promised. This one will be grilled for a sandwich when ready.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzjEuxiBRIFjO-wPZKVRT5a9Ke_kJCl6xPVVU84oKTnOt3afKM_Qux9KKjoyA3sfhaPn_y67_G42FvSnF5RMlgbHh5mheKvSXqpg4VlSErIBUbPFhD3GW2MJ9-ypHD4tWrj5-vkWd_p_8/s1600/IMG_0390.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzjEuxiBRIFjO-wPZKVRT5a9Ke_kJCl6xPVVU84oKTnOt3afKM_Qux9KKjoyA3sfhaPn_y67_G42FvSnF5RMlgbHh5mheKvSXqpg4VlSErIBUbPFhD3GW2MJ9-ypHD4tWrj5-vkWd_p_8/s400/IMG_0390.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Only beans I am not picking yet are the Chinese Yard Long beans. The yellow bush and French green string-less are picked daily and are very productive with great taste.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-egKhbbE1bqs2rfRdper9H4OeFtg2HS1Pg3amL-rMu5klMc0hwrbEPDLNuuSi0vmOIbXtDtI1an6ZITUWhoIMj43m8yj5PYromzphmUUqCTwtc4CdzEWegjLUuit6AsrzcH7P8PO7NsU/s1600/IMG_0383.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-egKhbbE1bqs2rfRdper9H4OeFtg2HS1Pg3amL-rMu5klMc0hwrbEPDLNuuSi0vmOIbXtDtI1an6ZITUWhoIMj43m8yj5PYromzphmUUqCTwtc4CdzEWegjLUuit6AsrzcH7P8PO7NsU/s400/IMG_0383.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>The daikon leaves were shading my tomato plants so I pulled some out and rest got serious haircut, again. The roots are decent size and very hot, right up my alley. They are next year repeat but in another location.<br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVXoMqRkt3zUjMQgVAzjfWZAJM8f8InqsTdDagbwAAIdj2vCCPz5UrrYyF3ONqWEgxmCHBcRBPBoM6AfvxXhCcDQs6rGmkutm5OrQttoshJcJLS1Dxp9zgKUVd4FHiwZgnQ4S2sgrpovA/s1600/IMG_0395.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVXoMqRkt3zUjMQgVAzjfWZAJM8f8InqsTdDagbwAAIdj2vCCPz5UrrYyF3ONqWEgxmCHBcRBPBoM6AfvxXhCcDQs6rGmkutm5OrQttoshJcJLS1Dxp9zgKUVd4FHiwZgnQ4S2sgrpovA/s400/IMG_0395.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Margarita</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTqn1rnT-_OosiT7qkDMG-0Gg-JGvJjUQGrLCB-tewsmAiX5woTshlfdyi6w_VbrWRwOWjEoIIYE72sO0IOCsnrBNLtsWKkhuK-5dfkHKZ96YP1saTTWtf2dMQz5PHzwSdO7aXdJe3rSE/s1600/IMG_0338.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTqn1rnT-_OosiT7qkDMG-0Gg-JGvJjUQGrLCB-tewsmAiX5woTshlfdyi6w_VbrWRwOWjEoIIYE72sO0IOCsnrBNLtsWKkhuK-5dfkHKZ96YP1saTTWtf2dMQz5PHzwSdO7aXdJe3rSE/s400/IMG_0338.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We are really getting slammed with tomatoes already. Only one variety, Margarita, Roma type, is still green. However, that one plant has so many fruits on it that I will have to construct some sort of support. Not only there are many tomatoes, they are also quite large.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Since I thought that snow peas were done I pulled them out and to my surprise I picked about a quart of pods in different stages of maturity. I worked in some manure into old pea bed to get it ready for Amish Snap Peas that Ferdzy, author of “<a href="http://seasonalontariofood.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: purple;">Seasonal Ontario Food</span></a>”, thinks about so highly. I bought my seeds on EBay and they are, supposedly, organic and non-GMO. They will go in as soon as I get them.</div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Except for eggplants and yard long beans everything is being picked every day. Time to find some good recipe for pickles, I have way too many to eat fresh off the vine.</span>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06329187406214205238noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6268621585149993961.post-45992481492498412302011-06-28T07:37:00.000-07:002011-07-17T13:22:52.384-07:00Radishes and Daikon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8cKXMs-VlGeXV5jfOGshgwjvr7HPYcTWAIlFw8O3xh4Cpq2EoRf5BMq7Gv5_B648K_Zs9H136hPhx8k9pyLOWhyphenhyphenFyn2kbQjnHwwR0BTQoD7tGJvFKqkNhu8KGjYzA-eFeMKUWp19F6QE/s1600/IMG_0306.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8cKXMs-VlGeXV5jfOGshgwjvr7HPYcTWAIlFw8O3xh4Cpq2EoRf5BMq7Gv5_B648K_Zs9H136hPhx8k9pyLOWhyphenhyphenFyn2kbQjnHwwR0BTQoD7tGJvFKqkNhu8KGjYzA-eFeMKUWp19F6QE/s400/IMG_0306.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">As a kid one of my favorite sandwiches was slice of rye bread spread with butter or goose fat and topped with salted radish slices. I can still hear the crunch when you have the first bite. I did try to grow regular supermarket radishes but I found it to be a waste of time, energy and space. Two years ago I have ordered Asian type radish seeds from AgroHaitai and planted them later this spring. When I tasted the radish I wanted some more seeds but when I searched for the seeds it looks like they do not carry it anymore. It is too bad, because I do like this radish. Anyway, this radish has same diameter as regular large radish but is so much longer that you could cut it into pieces equivalent to 6 large radishes. What a space saver! I guess it is back to seed catalogs to find replacement.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Daikon is another story all together. We love daikon in any which way: fresh sliced, julienned, stir-fried, boiled in soup, etc. So, I got seeds from same company and what a surprise I had when in 2 weeks I had a field of huge leaves and no sign of root, just a half inch spear. I was puzzled so I have sent a question to my email friend and gardener extraordinaire, Ferdzy at <a href="http://seasonalontariofood.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: purple;">Seasonal Ontario Food</span></a>. Her reply was straight to the point: </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">“I find radishes will just sit there with a lot of leaves and no root until almost the last minute. Then, suddenly, the root will fatten up and they are ready. So if' you are not seeing or feeling a daikon root it probably isn't really there yet. I think it will surprise you how quickly it forms when it is ready though.” </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Well, lots of leaves are gone right now. I did give them good shave in order to give some room and light for my tomatoes. I guess it is now wait and see. I did leave 3 leaves for each root but I am not sure if it is enough.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Lesson learned: “Never plant daikon (or anything else for that mater) if you do not have the space and wait for reply to your question before you take drastic action”. Thanks Ferdzy!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij-d2hw8Kh_ExaqFGChIaJfA_oitJyxnq4H0CUXm75n-kHUNfOWRdAHTnhxb94m-xQboDoPdZtHfA4pYnLcAcW5Lc1EU04_3ortbWMgpYEqkUzVCdDV6hx5_VbwDN7h8GuH78-ZtvnuP8/s1600/IMG_0299.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij-d2hw8Kh_ExaqFGChIaJfA_oitJyxnq4H0CUXm75n-kHUNfOWRdAHTnhxb94m-xQboDoPdZtHfA4pYnLcAcW5Lc1EU04_3ortbWMgpYEqkUzVCdDV6hx5_VbwDN7h8GuH78-ZtvnuP8/s400/IMG_0299.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Daikon was choking my tomatoes so something drastic had to be done.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDjeMRVC9bKmdUnJH-KdgLvUgrhQAoRI58IFn8UodBGuBzjzfJcZbTz_GPHTEa6Lya512BpiQGN4e43PYcev9fgBMJgEuiUOY5lO128t-qy2vpeWT31m5lCmdTOxjByS1FtPI3Q-vyZP0/s1600/IMG_0303.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDjeMRVC9bKmdUnJH-KdgLvUgrhQAoRI58IFn8UodBGuBzjzfJcZbTz_GPHTEa6Lya512BpiQGN4e43PYcev9fgBMJgEuiUOY5lO128t-qy2vpeWT31m5lCmdTOxjByS1FtPI3Q-vyZP0/s400/IMG_0303.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Since tomatoes are so much more important the daikon got serious haircut. The leaves filled large bucket. Because the leaves are a bit hairy they are not good as salad greens.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifBnfmxTytQMGbctVK0c_jJBqHksH9FdL2FIpZKIakQ4Lo1VVRlU_5LShnZ6jUwDKoxHb9DJR72vWgmWODmiIq1oq_9VdAFEUJqtaudk6vPntZLItyfYvqEyrTiqeUKyz2CDKhf76yV0o/s1600/IMG_0313.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifBnfmxTytQMGbctVK0c_jJBqHksH9FdL2FIpZKIakQ4Lo1VVRlU_5LShnZ6jUwDKoxHb9DJR72vWgmWODmiIq1oq_9VdAFEUJqtaudk6vPntZLItyfYvqEyrTiqeUKyz2CDKhf76yV0o/s400/IMG_0313.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">I think that I will have real daikon radish after all.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPGhl215EBas_FkmYASVigK85AqPN7pvnd6W0KTIYDXmfY1H_1R8I3fxB1nHswrFqlq_gnhrOWjlknZ4S0v7fE4KoBZQHTAnlFSZIcbgbuRYtJPnvHaHwgdxyAV8MGuo5VmOGGmVsc8dU/s1600/IMG_0813_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPGhl215EBas_FkmYASVigK85AqPN7pvnd6W0KTIYDXmfY1H_1R8I3fxB1nHswrFqlq_gnhrOWjlknZ4S0v7fE4KoBZQHTAnlFSZIcbgbuRYtJPnvHaHwgdxyAV8MGuo5VmOGGmVsc8dU/s400/IMG_0813_1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">What a great radish this is! I hope that I will find replacement.</div>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06329187406214205238noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6268621585149993961.post-70153036574058369082011-06-22T19:41:00.000-07:002011-07-17T13:22:52.384-07:00Veggie Garden Update June 22, 2011<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Rats, it is 1<sup>st</sup> day after Summer Solstice and days are getting shorter! I am not a great fan of Summer Solstice, no sir!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Not much new in veggie garden: </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitmlGEZVDn3tHser-UZWcDD0pFC7wAFJmzGI13bnfX_L9E2q5Mi8tmuTn-yjNI3QArMRTqXksd6ovQ_MJRCZSsV1fiwWy8ONbDIhBpNJpYe-CM_1At0pEWcdrx-9i-Lkipn-fyNT1p7z4/s1600/Tomatoes_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitmlGEZVDn3tHser-UZWcDD0pFC7wAFJmzGI13bnfX_L9E2q5Mi8tmuTn-yjNI3QArMRTqXksd6ovQ_MJRCZSsV1fiwWy8ONbDIhBpNJpYe-CM_1At0pEWcdrx-9i-Lkipn-fyNT1p7z4/s400/Tomatoes_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Couple</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Mountain</placetype></place> Magic Tomatoes are red and ready to eat but we will wait till whole cluster is ripe and sweet. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-JU54jrJryo76qLavexzQ3VoI_rUP-vq7RR0wnrSyMN3P4uJ-ZpN53Y-NEzYbEGViURyVCyCQXboeq4XIhHSTOPLqqHaYPqjceX9z_ZyY35WpGjJRyrqPyifivPhJ6PBZ7Wqcw-uIcKc/s1600/Eggplant_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-JU54jrJryo76qLavexzQ3VoI_rUP-vq7RR0wnrSyMN3P4uJ-ZpN53Y-NEzYbEGViURyVCyCQXboeq4XIhHSTOPLqqHaYPqjceX9z_ZyY35WpGjJRyrqPyifivPhJ6PBZ7Wqcw-uIcKc/s400/Eggplant_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Eggplant Greta formed fruits and they are ivory white.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitSRMxaKCudVsW73hEI7MI0PbGQoZMlcCzhOOuOqsiWdGwxYS4ojkU8V8CH8Ujp9uTgxtUfphsyQ4BnWax_Oh6uDBdA3XFSn0dIZJbTdkqTyRhQV7szQph61AWw2oBpLezo8VI7Zcjj8Y/s1600/Yellow+Beans_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitSRMxaKCudVsW73hEI7MI0PbGQoZMlcCzhOOuOqsiWdGwxYS4ojkU8V8CH8Ujp9uTgxtUfphsyQ4BnWax_Oh6uDBdA3XFSn0dIZJbTdkqTyRhQV7szQph61AWw2oBpLezo8VI7Zcjj8Y/s400/Yellow+Beans_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Yellow Bush Beans are full of flowers so I should have some beans in couple of weeks.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRB-xEnGypYwdeE_we_IipKwHrl9H6ltRNQj6kOOKy-6M8WsWvbL5HXxfW6E_dCBlEZn0bf1dthvEVJ19uPBynpglXHRGlEOldNIrUZWelj7gIA0HdfXph8WV9_Y9ZHxkIiWgfryzKOQg/s1600/Garlic_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRB-xEnGypYwdeE_we_IipKwHrl9H6ltRNQj6kOOKy-6M8WsWvbL5HXxfW6E_dCBlEZn0bf1dthvEVJ19uPBynpglXHRGlEOldNIrUZWelj7gIA0HdfXph8WV9_Y9ZHxkIiWgfryzKOQg/s400/Garlic_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">My Hardneck Garlic scapes formed full piggy tail and so I will cut them by the weekend. I just love how long they store.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-dIFLVQLyltOKMv5EuT4Hd3stWumCxqQ5tH_UG1TNkJtDD5Wl5h-H3IjTTcyWh2wdYxrEPf-TO3WlHyNikf0i_Fer59nqJtgXT1mY4DbCkikw8qOZxUX2bs-eIACYeszK1Wmdnhg-6m4/s1600/Greens_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-dIFLVQLyltOKMv5EuT4Hd3stWumCxqQ5tH_UG1TNkJtDD5Wl5h-H3IjTTcyWh2wdYxrEPf-TO3WlHyNikf0i_Fer59nqJtgXT1mY4DbCkikw8qOZxUX2bs-eIACYeszK1Wmdnhg-6m4/s400/Greens_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />Unfortunately I have neglected my salad greens patch and they have happily bolted and are in full flower. I’ll give them a good haircut tomorrow if it doesn’t rain.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsQx_Tg9627fgZMyZOpFMXXMrNlJGTZGDxNmjK6QAUa9LaG55Q-3sWw5t2QsSj93faJ8mRDTjr-J4ShtWQpfhBpr3StSeGbPT8LvSDsq7Chp3AhslLycc9YIUWfmRuBgXvEkLPAMv1JyY/s1600/Squash_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsQx_Tg9627fgZMyZOpFMXXMrNlJGTZGDxNmjK6QAUa9LaG55Q-3sWw5t2QsSj93faJ8mRDTjr-J4ShtWQpfhBpr3StSeGbPT8LvSDsq7Chp3AhslLycc9YIUWfmRuBgXvEkLPAMv1JyY/s400/Squash_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />Last winter I started seeds for Marjo’s Turban Squash. Today I counted 8 flowers, some forming fruit already. It is her favorite squash and one that she painted so beautifully. Have a look and tell me if it is not super realistic botanical watercolor painting. Just click <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><a href="http://marjo-art.blogspot.com/p/botanical-watercolor.html"><span style="color: purple;">here</span></a></u></b> and scroll down (4<sup>th</sup> from bottom).</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5y_T2wlEC6AJbUyA02Kcvn_jH4Re4B34Z-I8MFdj07bl8zg496kMFGNThSJv1bgmEJ9NKG_QSr_QU9918u2Ne1jYdaRq_dEkmIQOGF8glxjjXZYuID3wxVaNfCLsOEHPJV5cOn-7hlCE/s1600/Cucumber_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5y_T2wlEC6AJbUyA02Kcvn_jH4Re4B34Z-I8MFdj07bl8zg496kMFGNThSJv1bgmEJ9NKG_QSr_QU9918u2Ne1jYdaRq_dEkmIQOGF8glxjjXZYuID3wxVaNfCLsOEHPJV5cOn-7hlCE/s400/Cucumber_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> Cucumber is new plant to grow for me and since my seedlings failed I bought some. I have no idea what they will look or taste like but it is<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>good experiment for me to grow cucumbers in container and on trellis.<br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Tomorrow I will update on containers and flower beds. </div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><br /></div>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06329187406214205238noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6268621585149993961.post-47950419532586088012011-06-18T13:40:00.000-07:002011-07-17T13:22:52.384-07:00Veggie Garden Update June 18, 2011<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Everything is right on schedule despite a late, wet and cold start. I started harvesting parsley, arugula, mizuno and chives last April and this week I started to harvest snow peas. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Peppers (“Green to Red”, “Red Banana” and “Sweet Pimento”) are doing great and could be used today as green peppers but I want red peppers <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span>. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Tomatoes “Mountain Magic” are turning red and will be ready in a week or so.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">White eggplant “Greta” has flowers and cucumbers started to form fruits and are climbing fast. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Beans started to climb and yellow bush beans have flowers. Garlic is in scapes stage (the scapes started to form piggy tails). I’m looking forward to harvest those and make pesto</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Even though my veggie patch is very small and many plants are in containers we do get a lot of veggies and there is nothing like eating your very own produce. All plants were grown from seeds, just check older posts from March and April.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB67B4pxfXjTV1iEQJqo0ACFdeKM2aqZwV-mWlFdHDXjULfvUD8kwzLALol-k3Q-f9MZyz9-jFoPge1eoYQscxNbOwW48-Skj94gcW-vR-EbAV4zfQWS_sh23WR5fZ3M8WPccTuzPj_SE/s1600/Peas01_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB67B4pxfXjTV1iEQJqo0ACFdeKM2aqZwV-mWlFdHDXjULfvUD8kwzLALol-k3Q-f9MZyz9-jFoPge1eoYQscxNbOwW48-Skj94gcW-vR-EbAV4zfQWS_sh23WR5fZ3M8WPccTuzPj_SE/s400/Peas01_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIqgLe7eGU5ABXRKMK9Jwk9uTLuIcOYTL_laTmobDLNzuKKYULEfQVsTu4Dbbya-ajYM-YPmmM1QpYWpiEAiUT8OPgV-c9mGjRnzA66rDpvf-YZV549Bfwd9NZSmuWwZjSPWcU7x8hV2w/s1600/Peas02_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIqgLe7eGU5ABXRKMK9Jwk9uTLuIcOYTL_laTmobDLNzuKKYULEfQVsTu4Dbbya-ajYM-YPmmM1QpYWpiEAiUT8OPgV-c9mGjRnzA66rDpvf-YZV549Bfwd9NZSmuWwZjSPWcU7x8hV2w/s400/Peas02_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Snow Peas.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYhOheAnfFAv4Fct6Nzybc95w-4t_nrO9pObS2-Hmutcco6NwIoPTbNesfX9qlspDaO9nxR7lVnHjDt-ufxZJ2x-ZJJQMJMsiSwxDYMrwIWmfAjVx8MgBhlmtkI2t4cipwOrVKqqMOE4I/s1600/G-R+pepper_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYhOheAnfFAv4Fct6Nzybc95w-4t_nrO9pObS2-Hmutcco6NwIoPTbNesfX9qlspDaO9nxR7lVnHjDt-ufxZJ2x-ZJJQMJMsiSwxDYMrwIWmfAjVx8MgBhlmtkI2t4cipwOrVKqqMOE4I/s400/G-R+pepper_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">"Green to Red" pepper.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmrmSINPFCnggranXmrqM8jp1OmmIXTs7a9Brm8WqMpEi5VAeWZEhrvhg_S1zr1cyvgIll7NTMBpUO_JXqtSZ9eLEQ0zNWGM986YUIMVCddpB5URfZcCfrwCZoHbDocf4HKeillwwh2uo/s1600/Pimento+Pepper_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmrmSINPFCnggranXmrqM8jp1OmmIXTs7a9Brm8WqMpEi5VAeWZEhrvhg_S1zr1cyvgIll7NTMBpUO_JXqtSZ9eLEQ0zNWGM986YUIMVCddpB5URfZcCfrwCZoHbDocf4HKeillwwh2uo/s400/Pimento+Pepper_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">"Sweet Pimento" pepper.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO4_wVFx97B0NLknlbaHqlNzgi2IueSohyphenhyphenT7KqZozO8abOmIzdjgED8do1UV-xegoOXl5bJXFDoTUSWcJI1d2o_7KcjHSnz06hkvNMmD5V8Ua0BvKBPl-p8wNUJypVBSrIekvFV0w_nZc/s1600/Mountain+Magic_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO4_wVFx97B0NLknlbaHqlNzgi2IueSohyphenhyphenT7KqZozO8abOmIzdjgED8do1UV-xegoOXl5bJXFDoTUSWcJI1d2o_7KcjHSnz06hkvNMmD5V8Ua0BvKBPl-p8wNUJypVBSrIekvFV0w_nZc/s400/Mountain+Magic_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">"Mountain Magic".</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh8StTAMcKfxUF-1up3MCGWPH9VjSsURXkYQ_sGxtptVXppKwDGhFTz66Wnej46v25jm4vgfemBSwUoHzoAnZyOVWNZV5SWAqoc4cBss7Dlof5Pr75IeV_eylAGMjJlseVFl9o7LzEKCg/s1600/Eggplant_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh8StTAMcKfxUF-1up3MCGWPH9VjSsURXkYQ_sGxtptVXppKwDGhFTz66Wnej46v25jm4vgfemBSwUoHzoAnZyOVWNZV5SWAqoc4cBss7Dlof5Pr75IeV_eylAGMjJlseVFl9o7LzEKCg/s400/Eggplant_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">"Greta" eggplant.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvV12e02nQIUzXVFh7GDzhU_dA17tnNtZk2PwRKoea_hB89QtQ_J4yExyUZ_dNtmaHlpzNqiT-bAjNhiYyy9OOMo4hfDCMTqKVK3cg_sGAUXR25mnjtOgU5MeRaW0xApwoRgla9O7GMn8/s1600/Cucumber_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvV12e02nQIUzXVFh7GDzhU_dA17tnNtZk2PwRKoea_hB89QtQ_J4yExyUZ_dNtmaHlpzNqiT-bAjNhiYyy9OOMo4hfDCMTqKVK3cg_sGAUXR25mnjtOgU5MeRaW0xApwoRgla9O7GMn8/s400/Cucumber_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Cucumbers.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ1DRRXN8W3Ps-8HbjqXqEIo4tuldUZAmrI69NOKM65mNObPyiKA7ne1CdtddwCZOGKTHbm8ZSThFcCShkGDKSpgtx4sYuNxpqJAeWKyIZEU2MHzxOt68akc7c3JeE2Y29QMM-KdrVKb0/s1600/Beans_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ1DRRXN8W3Ps-8HbjqXqEIo4tuldUZAmrI69NOKM65mNObPyiKA7ne1CdtddwCZOGKTHbm8ZSThFcCShkGDKSpgtx4sYuNxpqJAeWKyIZEU2MHzxOt68akc7c3JeE2Y29QMM-KdrVKb0/s400/Beans_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Beans and Peppers.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM9Yf27Yjt_6y5RQFM2Gjer5k-wBudEmtMwGFXfkyf2aHG6blUf-_GVuQ6aVd5u8lQy5v5fNaX9Avy8fgVnddBzltt-J1INKhVQsCBvz1jCP5I0Ldr72plBXMe5GCnpfIP2ZtfydZ5qHs/s1600/Garlic_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM9Yf27Yjt_6y5RQFM2Gjer5k-wBudEmtMwGFXfkyf2aHG6blUf-_GVuQ6aVd5u8lQy5v5fNaX9Avy8fgVnddBzltt-J1INKhVQsCBvz1jCP5I0Ldr72plBXMe5GCnpfIP2ZtfydZ5qHs/s400/Garlic_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Garlic scapes form a piggy tail.</div>Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06329187406214205238noreply@blogger.com0