Tag Archives: cucumber

June 10 Gardening…

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Planted another African Violet leaf cutting. This one has solid dark pink flowers.

My Huayna-Picchu Masdevallia Orchid bloomed for the first time last night. When I saw it, an insect was pirched on its top petal…

I still don’t know where to plant my French Terragon (Artemisa dracunculus ‘Sativa’) that’s in a 2″ pot, so I potted it up to a 4″ pot.

I planted four Lemon Cucumbers (into 3 squares) in Veggie Bed #2.

Planted a container with Agrostemma githago ‘Ocean Pearls’ Folia, Layia platyglossa ‘Tidy Tips’ Folia and Pesto Perpetuo Basil Folia.

Links: Autopot Retail Outlet – GardenSmart – Melbourne, Australia

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I really like how their Tomatoes, Cucumbers and Eggplant fruits are hanging from an overhead trellis.

☉Autopot Retail Outlet – GardenSmart – Melbourne, Australia.

Massive Seed Sowing Sunday…

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This weekend, we had beautiful summer-like weather with highs reaching 78°F (normal average is 63°F). Looks like we are going to have an early spring (which is what I think Mr. Groundhog told us). I remember last year, I couldn’t plant outside until May because he had rain everyday in April.

Sowing Seed

It’s funny seeing myself plant seeds… Does anyone else sit down cross-legged with slippers and short on and work on the ground like that? I think I need a potting table…

I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and start planting seeds… and I did some massive seed sowing:

– Lemon Cucumber
– Cosmos ‘Picotee’
– Cosmos ‘Sensation Mixed Colors’
– Orange Cosmos from treebreeze (Thank you for these! :)
– Sunflower ‘Summer Sun’ (Ox-Eye) (Heliopsis Scabra)
– Agrostemma ‘Ocean Pearl’
– Strawflower (Helichrysum) Tall Double Mixed Colors
– Nasturtium ‘Jewel Mixed Colors’
– Zinnia ‘Envy’
– Zinnia ‘Candy Cane Mix’
– Zinnia ‘Dahlia Flowered Mixed Colors’
– Zinnia ‘Giant Cactus Mixed Colors’
– Zinnia ‘Thumbelina’
– Lamb’s Ears (I think they are Lamb’s Ears) seeds that I collect from San Anselmo

Spider Fancy Spider House?
Spiders, Spiders, Spiders: As I was filling the 6-pack cell pots with soil, I found a Spider living in between them. I released it so it can find a new home. My Mom then noticed a Spider that had made a home in our of our decorative bird house. Then when I was sowing the seeds, I notice hundreds of tiny baby spiders around the 6-packs, so I tried to disperse them around the garden to make new homes.

Peanuts: I also took the Peanut outdoors and repotted it (again) into a larger container (its permanent home) filled with potting soil and a lot of perlite to make the soil really loose.

Garden progress:

Recent blooms: Spring Starflower, Rananculus

Spring Starflower Ranunculus

About to bloom: the very first Columbine, Pears, Apples, Clematis, Wisteria

Emerging growth: Forsythia leaves, Taro

It’s Hot…

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Yesterday, I spent the day in San Francisco, celebrating my friend Wincy’s Birthday. We went to the West Portal district and had a Mexican lunch… Yumm!… Afterwards, we walked around the shops. I happened to see a hardware store that was selling a Coleus… so, knowing me I had to get it. Hello Coleus ‘Red Ruffles’.

Today, it was really warm, reaching the mid 90s (°F). Once it cooled down a bit, I fertilized with a water soluble fertilizer, spray almost all my plants. That was pretty much the extent of my gardening.

I did notice that the tomatoes are finally fruiting… and I saw my first tomato!!! YEAY!!! It’s a Great White Tomato that is about half an inch wide. The Cucumbers are also starting to flower. Below is the Sikkim Cucumber blossom.

My First Tomatoes

Sikkim Cucumber Blossom

While in the garden, I snacked on some of our yummy Italian Plum, which I think is my favorite fruit in the garden.

Yummy Italian Plum

Message Bean Emerges

Oh yeah, one of the Message Bean has emerged. The other one rotted :(

Weekend Gardening… Stinky-Stinky!…

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Saturday, June 10, 2006

I didn’t do any gardening, but took a few photos in the garden.

The Avocado that we found sprouting in the compost bin last year has survived the winter outside very well. I didn’t realize how much it has grown in 11 months. I’ll have to repot this into a 5 gallon pot soon.

One Year Avocado

My Mom harvested the Shallots she planted a while back, but the bulbs didn’t get too big. They were growing in a mostly shaded area and the soil needed to be amended badly. We are going to replant the smaller bulbs in the newly amended veggie bed under much more sun. Hopefully that’ll make a big difference.

Shallots

She was telling me that she loves these either chopped up with tomatoes and added to fried fish, or pickled with Garlic, Carrots, Green Papaya and Labanos (Diakons/Radish).

Later in the afternoon, we went shopping at Target, the Filipino Grocery Store, Food for Less and the 99¢ store. At the 99¢ store I got a grafted Cactus that was starting to flower and my Mom got a bunch of six Lucky Bamboo both for 99¢.

Sunday, June 11, 2006

I did a bunch of this and that on Sunday.

I sprayed the Roses, Snapdragons and Dahlias with half and half solution of skim milk and water. Hopefully, this will deter black spots and mildew or rust (I forgot which one).

I also sprayed almost everything’s leaves with fish fertilizer. Stinky-stinky!!!! Note: remember to close your windows if you spray your plants with fish fertilizer!

We had more Taro and Ginger sprouting in the kitchen, so I planted those in six-packs.

I emptied the one-galloon pots that had Caladiums from last year, which all died… but I found tons of earthworms which I relocated to veggie bed #1.

Earthworms

The Cucumbers were getting too big for the 12-pack Mini Greenhouse, so I transfered them to 4 inch pots, because I haven’t finished the other veggie beds.

I continued to work on veggie bed #2, but I still have to finish one of the side, which has Breaded Iris and Chocolate Mint growing against it. I think we also have some Hyacinth bulbs there which I have to dig out carefully.

I planted another Coleus pot with ‘Saturn’s Rings’, ‘(Mislabled) Show & Tell’, ‘Burnt Sienna’ and Heuchera ‘Amber Waves’.

Tomato Harvest + Flowers Starting to Bloom…

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Today I thinned the seedlings in the newspaper pots to a few strong ones. I’ll thinned them to a single plant once they get a little bigger.

I also clipped a lot of dead leaves from the tomatoes and cucumber to make things a little tidier. Anyone know why most of the bottom leaves are dying on my cucumber? Is this normal? or is there something wrong?

I did my fourth big tomatoes harvest and I got a lot, considering I only have two tomato plants this year.

Here are two photos of flower that are about to bloom

Fucshia triphylla Firecracker

Naked Lady

I’m not sure if this Naked Lady is Amaryllis belladonna or Lycoris squamigera. Can anyone tell just from the photo?

Saturday…

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This morning I did a lot of weeding in the vegetable beds. I pulled out the spent Snap Peas and the bolting Lettuce. I also cut away the dead or dying leaves on the bottom part of the Cucumbers and Tomatoes.

Bolted Lettuce

The Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans and Tendergreen Bush Bean are both doing well. They are actually growing better than the Bataw that my mom transplanted.

My grandma, aunts, uncle and cousin came by and came over in the afternoon and we all gathered in the garden checking out the plants and picking fruits (pears, peaches and plums).

I potted the Coleus “Pineapple” and “Copper Splash” cutting which I took on the 27th. It took about 12 days for these to root. I also took cutting of Coleus “Wild Lime (mistagged)” and “Gay’s Delight”.

In the front yard, I cut down the spent Gladiola stalks and removed all the dead leaves off the Yucca which has grown so big.

All in all, I think I collect six 5-gallon pots full of leaves and spent flower for the compost pile.

Hello Praying Mantis…

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After work (Wednesday), I drove over to Yard Bird to see if they had some cheap big pots. I found some 12 incher for $1.97 and got 5. I walked around looking at what trees they had. I’ve been trying to get ideas on what trees to get once I get my own house.

While walking around, I found a Coleus called “Dark Star“, that has very dark foliage that are almost black. I had to get it.

When I got home and separated the pots, I found a baby Praying Mantis hiding between the pots. I was only about an inch long and really cute. I placed it on my cucumber plants and took photos. Hopefully it’ll be okay and survive. Maybe I’ll see it again once it grows up. Praying Mantis are rare in our neighborhood. I’ve only seen 1 in all the years I’ve been gardening.

I potted the Coleus that I didn’t plant yesterday along with two Kongs that I rooted in the new pots. Some were too big so I took some Jade, New Orleans Red and Dark Star cuttings.

It was starting to get dark, but I wanted to finish one more chore. I got some soil conditioner and steer manure and amended a little flat in the front yard so I can plant a six pack of Snapdragons that my brother bought. I also transplanted 5 pots of Calendula that I grew from seeds