The feel of an impending summer

Despite a cool undertow of some light wind, the feeling of the warmth of summer pervades today.

She has reared her head and starting to wake up, though 'winter' is not over yet.

This is important for me, as one who loves to garden, to pick up this tactile information from my surrounds.

There are consequences which relate to some food plants I have thriving at the moment.

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Broccoli and leek, being cold season plants, (just like southern relatives) will be ready to leave soon.

So I will eat them whilst they are at their best.

The heat, which will just increase from now on, will be the end of them so I need to get them first.

If humans didn't pick up these nuances in the past, we would have died out.

Broccoli has such beautiful coloured leaves. 

A lovely change of hue to the evergreen of always green, of every kind of green kind of plants we live with 'cause this is the tropics!

Bring on some flowers, I say.....

Nasturtium and marigold (Calendula officianalis) 

Beautiful to look at and lovely to eat...

The nasturtium flowers; which I have been sharing with friends for the last 2 days; are stuffed with a philly cheese and mixed with spring onions and garlic chives from the garden.

The marigold gets tossed over the salad greens which dresses them up beautifully.....

....and the days are warm enough to enjoy salads all year round.

Oxheart in the tropics

 This has been my pride and joy.

The oxheart. An acid free tomato grown from seeds given to me by my dear friend, Nell.

I am so happy at least one of them have bloomed and pumping out some really great tomatoes.

 I rang my friend Nell last Saturday night and mentioned to her about this beautiful robust tomato about to come out as a debutante.

My concern was about the change of colour which would let the birds know.

It was the race against time. 

Will the birds get it, or me?

 It was the birds.

The very next morning I went out to check on the oxheart at 9.30 am.

So between daybreak and 9.30 am they had some and hopefully swallowed some seeds which they might bird-poop everywhere, consequently spreading these tomatoes around.

Look at the size of it in my hand!

You can see on the far left of the fruit is where the birds ate from. 
What an achievement for the tropics!
I have spent some time this afternoon saving seeds from this robust parent, placing them out onto paper towels to dry.
I will sow them next dry season and assist in their evolution.

...and share and eat them.

............they're magic.

Sunbeams for a sunbeam

I forgot the leeks from the list!

So here they are, leeks, leaking through a sunbeam, chasing sunbeams.......

Progress

The prodigal returns....

I have been really busy in my garden and I am about to fill you in on what I have growing since the last post.

Um.......edible plants, that is........

Here we go:

pepper (white/pink/black);

Paw paw (lots);

Lemon tree (10years old and a housewarming present);

dwarf lime;

dwarf orange (Washington navel); 

dwarf avocado;

dwarf blueberry (this is the folly one!);

basil, (lemon, thai, purple and common);

pineapple (lots, with about 4 just starting to fruit);

Louffa (also known as Italian luffa);

cherry tomatoes (self sown and lots of them);

lemon balm;

shallots;

coriander;

galangal;

ginger;

tumeric;

sweet potato;

eggplant;

beetroot (for the leaves mainly);

broccoli (also for the leaves);

thyme;

oregano;

passionfruit (leaves for the leaf eaters and then they leave my other plants alone);

garlic chives;

spinach (2 varieties which perform well in the tropics);

chilli;

jasmine (the flowers are those used in tea);

pumpkin (risen from the compost soil I spread around);

mustard, osaka purple (which have a bit of heat in them when they are raw);

peppermint;

spearmint;

lettuce (about 3 different varieties of what some people call 'fancy lettuce');

marigold (calendula officianalis, the edible one for its leaves and flowers);

nasturtium (leaves and flowers also edible);

torch ginger (edible-these I have transplanted from where they were crowded out by mondo grasses and stopped flowering. The build up/wet will be the time for me to find out if they like their new home. They are an understory plant so need some protection from direct sun. I have planted them under the terminalia tree.)

Not sure if I have listed everything so I will add more as I go along........

Metaphor of old and new year

In the driveway. They get knocked over when I open the gate.

Terminalia again. Old giving way to new.

Terminalia babe. Note the tender, new, shiny leaf.

Down by the beach. Fresh new starts, tendrils reaching out.

Old and new, brown and green, water and sunshine.

Hi, I am back after a 3 month hiatus. 

Thank you for waiting with me.

Hope your 2011 is filled with life in all its mysteries and beauty.

May you find some magic in your everyday.

mysterious oak from Sherwood Forest (UK)

Here is our local Terminalia spp. again however I have also put in two photos of oaks from Sherwood Forest (UK). 

Which numbers are they?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

oops!.... the mother got left behind

female sunbird

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                        


                                                                                               photo courtesy of Uta Heidelhauf. Copyright.