Nest Renewal

A documentation of the metamorphosis of my home. Remember it's posted in reverse-chronological order. (Note: since my remodels are long finished, now it's just about what's going on at my house)

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A ladybug wandering around my Double Delight nectarine tree.

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I just picked this Brandywine tomato. The season was slow to start, but I’ve gotten some gorgeous Brandywine and Maria Nagy Giants this year! I cannot complain.

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I’m loving going into my garden to harvest the woodland strawberries. Thanks to whatever critters have spread these around my garden!

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(Partial) Peck of Peppers

I’ve got a few different pepper plants in my yard this year, which is fun, From left to right: ancho, padron and pasilla. The padrons are much larger than I expected--I guess I usually grow shishitos, which are much smaller. These are about 3-4″. I also expected the pasilla to be more round, and not so long. 

I have two other types--a regular bell pepper (which produced three, and now I’m waiting to see if more flowers develop) and a purple one which a friend gave me (I have to ask him the name, because I don’t recall). Oh, and I still have my lovable jalapeño, now going on its 5th (6th?) year. 

These made a yummy appetizer.

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Thrilled to use my first nectarine harvest in this pie. Included fresh-picked blueberries, also from the garden. I need more room for fruit!

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Peonies Envy

I can’t take credit for the title! A friend used that phrase when I posted pictures of my peonies on FB.

They were spectacular this year (relative to previous years!). I waited many years for these beautiful blooms. I think I got the corms more than 10 years ago. They’ve been in their current spot since ~2016 and they’ve finally settled in. Six lovely blooms this year.

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I had no idea that Iresine Bloodleaf bloomed! In all the years that it’s been in my garden, I don’t think I’ve ever seen flowers on it.

I cut them off :-)

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The lime tree is happy again after its root trimming/repotting from a couple months ago.

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First sign of the begonia tuber I planted. It went into the ground on March 7, so I was afraid the tuber (corm?) had gone bad/rotted. So happy to see it yesterday! 

Begonias remind me of the first time I grew them. Mom had bought a couple of tubers that came in plastic packs. I remember that I put dirt in the plastic pack and set them on a window sill in the kitchen. I carefully watered them and over time, they sprouted. I don’t know that they ever went into the ground, which is a shame, but the process of bringing the tuber to life was so fun for me!

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Favalous!

First time growing fava beans seriously. I find them curious in the way the beans grow upward. So different from string beans!

They were a good filler as I was waiting to get my summer garden in place. I think they’ll all be harvested by the time the tomato plants are just coming into production. Hopefully they aren’t throwing too much shade.

Looking forward to more of these!

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Repotting a rootbound lime tree

This happened March 7. The lime tree was not looking so good, and it’s been several years since I cut the roots back. 

Getting the tree out of the pot was so difficult, and the top of the pot is not even tapered.

You can see how it’s mostly roots!

It took a lot of cajoling to get the tree out. I felt like I was helping a cow push out a calf!

Finally got it out. Can’t see from this poor picture, but the dirt at the bottom was super compacted and also full of roots. Took a while to trim it small enough to get it back into the pot.

So glad I bought this hori-hori knife a while back. It was very useful.

The tree will either survive or it won’t. Regardless, it needed to be done. If it doesn’t bounce back, maybe I’ll find a space in the ground for it.

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I hacked my California lilac back quite a bit this year, trying to keep it away from the roofline as well as thin it out. It bore the shock well and is chockfull of blooms again. Make way for the carpet of purple snow!

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The second blooming season for my nectarine tree. It’s amazing! This year I will leave at least some of the fruit on. I hope it’s tasty !

I guess I forgot to take pictures of its first season. I also don’t remember what kind of nectarine it is! I wanted to say it was a Double Delight (text from Dave Wilson: “Sensational fruit: consistently one of the best flavored yellow nectarines plus magnificent, double pink flowers. Dark red-skinned freestone fruit is sweet, with unusually rich flavor. Very high scoring in taste tests. Heavy bearing tree.” But it doesn’t appear to have double flowers. So maybe it’s a NectaZee?

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Another view of the smoke tree leaves, backlit perfectly. I think this tree is as beautiful when the leaves are dying as when they are forming!

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Three images from my shoulder season garden. Purple smoke tree, shiso gone to seed, Crepe Myrtle getting ready for winter.

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Figmania

So much for my worry about killing the fig tree. It came back stronger than ever, even with some mid-spring and summer pruning.

The figs are big and delicious.

The tree itself is reaching for the wires. I’m guessing it is about 11 feet tall. 

I panicked about two weeks ago when I saw rodent droppings at the base of the tree, just as the fruit was beginning to ripen. I can also see evidence of birds, insects and other critters partaking (partially or fully eaten fruit). But luckily, they are leaving plenty for me! 

More than I can eat, actually. Passing them on to neighbors and friends! And they are getting incorporated into cocktails, syrups and shrubs (aka future cocktails), and other cooking adventures. So lucky to have these beauties!

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I’m proud of my project completed yesterday! I’d purchased an antique drafting table to put into my workshop. The base has iron legs and small feet which does not lend to moving it easily. So I decided to put it on a wheeled frame.

Because the feet are so tiny (1.25″ x 1.5″) I decided to rout a small pit for them to sink into on the 2x4s. Otherwise I think they’d be prone to sliding off the frame. But since the iron feet footprint was not actually square, I had to make sure that the positioning was correct when I connected the two long pieces with the two crossbars.

I ended up inverting the table so the feet were in the air (not completely 180 degrees, which might have provided a more secure working surface but did not feel manageable by myself. After careful clamping and drilling, I was able to take the created frame off and attach the wheels while working flat on a workbench.

But once the wheeled frame was completed, it was still quite a task to get the table onto the frame by myself! But I managed. The frame has a small scuff to commemorate the challenge.

Now I can easily move the table closer to the wall when I need more floor space.