Can you spot which individual Lithops has set new leaves since the previous photo taken April 9, 2012?
Lithops (April 9, 2012):
Lithops (April 9, 2012):
Author Archives: joelignacio
Compost and Worms!!!…
We have two BioStack Compost Bins: bin #1 has unfinished compost and bin #2 has compost which is pretty much done. One thing I like about the BioStack Compost Bins, is that each bin has three levels which you can remove and add to… so you can adjust the height of the bins. Since we currently have more unfinished compost, I took one of the levels from bin #2 and added it to bin #1.
They are filled with tons and tons of worms!!!
Neighborhood Bird Chirping and Chirping and Chirping and Chirping…
There is a neighborhood bird that recently has been chirping its head off… even at 2am in the morning!!! He or she use to perch on the antenae on top of our house, but lately, I’ve noticed that it chirps on the tip of our neighbor’s 20+ foot tall Mediterranean Cypress.
Anyone know what this bird is?
[Update] A fellow Flickr user identified this bird as a Northern Mockingbird or Mimus polyglottos.
Below are photos and a video showing the bird’s chirping. (This was taken in Vallejo, CA (Northern San Francisco Bay Area) in early June 2012.)
Malunggay (Moringa) Progress…
My two Malunggay 
seedlings are doing well. Two of the four seeds that I planted sprouted on May 8 and six days later, they are about 1 and a half inches tall and look like miniature trees.
They so cute… I can’t wait until it gets bigger…
Humongous Epiphyllum ‘Newport’ Cactus Flower!…
My hanging Epiphyllum ‘Newport’ Cactus is blooming for the very first time… and the flower is humongous!!!
Wish List: Red Podded Peas…
I just harvested some Golden Podded Peas and searched the internet to see what the fruits should look like… and I happened to stumble upon photos of Red Podded Peas, which lead me to the Red Podded Peas label search in the Daughter of the Soil blog… Golden Podded Peas are new to me and I’ve never seen red ones…. They are gorgeous and I’m searching to see if any are available for sale anywhere. Hope I find some.
Wish List: Reel Mower
I never thought of a manual lawn mower, but I think it’ll be cool to have one. I kinda want to get rid of gas powered one, since it takes up so much space and is noisy. I’m eyeing an American Lawn Mower 14 inch Deluxe Hand Reel Mower for $66.49 from Amazon. Let me give this a couple days to see if I still want one.
Kiwi Plants Finally Moved…
I’ve rooted Kiwi from cuttings (since 2007), but didn’t really know where to plant them, so they have spent years in 1 gallon pots. I placed the pots in an empty space in one of my vegetable beds and over the years they have grown roots outside the pots and established themselves in the bed.
They were getting bigger and bigger and I had trouble accessing the middle part of that vegetable bed, so this year, I decided that they have to move!… I decided to permanently plant them into the two large blue bins behind our storage. They should get ok light there and they’ll finally not be in the way, so I can easily plant in that vegetable bed again.
I moved them (4 total plants) in a span of two days late February, before they fully awaken from dormancy… I first moved two plants into one bin. The roots of the tall ones where big!… I had to cut some, but I think the plant will be ok.
I amended the soil with compost and fed it with general organic vegetable fertilizer and Azomite.
I did the same with the remaining two plants… I think they will be much happier here and hopefully they’ll bare fruit this year.
I have to go through my photo library and figure out the planting history of each plant, since a couple of them have lost their tags.