Between chop & drop and this Chip Drop service, I don’t ever pay real money for mulch. A couple of times a year, I’ll buy about 4 bags of $12/bag compost from a local supplier…it’s even cheaper if you bring your own 5 gallon buckets and scoop it yourself ($5/bucket). And about twice a year, I spend $30 for a 5-gallon sized-container of worm castings and toss a couple of handfuls of that at the base of each tree/plant.
Eventually, I’m going to buy a small electric-powered wood chipper so I can run small tree branches through it for when I do stuff like trim the moringa trees at the end of the winter (those trees respond really well to repeated hacking back).
try again to grow a loquat tree since now I have the right microclimate (morning sun until 11, then shade rest of the day here in AZ)
try again to grow a starfruit tree
spray paint another mural on another part of the concrete block fence
save up some money to get one of those fancy moon gate trellises from Gardeners Supply in Vermont (they have an online store). Plant a native vine to grow on it so we can create another “outdoor room” sort of feel in one part of the backyard.
plant a long curved semi-circular row of Mexican feather grass in the backyard. Looks lovely when it sways in the breeze. Saw this at one of the local botanical gardens once.
Am totally jealous of everybody’s lush vegetables! I have a heck of a time growing stuff like that!
Sound great @sbinaz, however I never understand loquart, what the heck is there to eat, too many seeds. What’s your point of view regarding this fruit.
Eating a ripe one fresh off the tree is SO good. They’re never in a grocery store because they don’t keep well beyond a couple of days. Tried some at a friend’s house in southern CA and holy mother of God, it was so juicy and good!
My friend at work told me that are good for the heart, but I don’t have room here. I’m into collecting jujube varieties now. Watch me go over board acquiring them, lol. It’s plant addiction.
Sweet and crunchy, like a small apple. It grows really well in hot and dry climate. Lots of health benefits like it helps with sleep, lower blood pressure, etc…
Well DANG. Had a very little “garden” this year. Cherry tomatoes in pots in the front yard (south facing). Lots of little green balls. Maybe a few dozen red ones already harvested. Today all the green fruit was gone, together with the top half of the plants. Don’t think it was squirrels or rabbits (the lower leaves without fruit still there, and only the tops the plants were decimated).
Oh, we grew Black Krim for the first time this year, and we’ve harvested several. Because the coloring is unusual, I wasn’t quite sure when they were fully ripe. I went by softness, and the three that we’ve eaten were delicious. I’ll definitely look for more plants next year.
I wasn’t sure I picked one yet. Last year I grew Cherokee Purple, so I try Black Krim this year. But nothing large and dark purple that I picked except Heirloom Marriage Cherokee Carbon.
Garden bounty!! Cherry tomatoes and hot peppers—I spent the day making raspberry habanero jam and peach habanero. Also made Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Sauce with Onion and butter (from my Amish paste tomatoes). H is going to use the cherry tomatoes to make a cherry tomato pasta with feta.
I seriously underestimated the bounty we’d get from our garden. I’m harvesting several pounds of various things every day, from okra and tomatoes, to squash and cukes. Still not enough peppers, but that’s OK.
Even with us giving away bags of produce to friends, family and even random people like my favorite cashier at the local store, the tomatoes are overwhelming my husband (who does all the cooking/preserving/canning).
But I’ve been so pleased with it – it’s my refuge from the world. And I’ve managed to grow great little personal-size melons, which are so delish! Pic is of one called Sugar Cube; so dang sweet.
My cherry tomatoes are 3 varieties: Sun Gold, Midnight Snack and Black Strawberry.
My favorite tomato is an heirloom, Paul Robeson, but I’m loving so many others this year. Tomato sandwiches daily in this house.
After sitting without any signs of blooming through the entire June, my deck tomato garden has exploded with fruit! Just gave away a box to our friends, and the garden produced more this morning! The polka dot thing is my iPhone 12 case for scale.
