Pictures and Notes for Pamelinda and Friends

Hello Bloglandia.

*lots of pictures.

I do not write as much as many do not these days. We have been so overtaken with other things that pleasure and creative writing have been thrown aside.

But I am not here to write, I am just wanting to share some pictures I promised to a friend, to show my gardens such as they are, and the results of her gift.

I will post the pictures and comment above it.

I am a gardener heart and soul. I love nature and our relationship with Her. Nature of course as a living being is symbiotic with us, both biological and spiritually. I cannot explain that to anyone who hasn't felt this, but it is really a beautiful thing. It can only be called love and I am ever faithful to this love.

In current times, once again, Nature is calling for us to merge with Her, to work with Her and to understand that we can not do well without Her. To this truth I am dedicated to gardening, the soil, the trees, plants, wildlife and everything in between. I want to care for and nurture that natural life here. We need each other.

However, this particular area I live in is beyond challenging. I thought I had to give up since nothing is working out right, not even the easy growing plants, like tomatoes, potato vine, and many other things that people can grow in a wide diversity of conditions.....here it is not happening. I even have a neighbor who moved in recently and is a permaculturist. He recently told me he has given up trying to garden here. That is intense. Then the difficulty is not in what I'm doing or not doing, it is the area's energy. It is the first time I have ever seen such energy of Nature go against all my efforts. But I will not give up. I will find out what ails this place and try to heal it. I cannot tell you how much I want to cry over this, but I will persist.

This is a metaphor for what is ailing the entire planet. We must, in love, persevere.....it is our only salvation. If I succeed, there is nothing more important I could do as a living humane being. To heal a sick land, and nurture it back to beauty and bounty would be a gift.

 

So far I have planted over 70 trees and bushes, still in young form so it doesn't look like much, but 5 years from now, this property should have some gorgeous trees, shade, flowers and fruits. That is my hope. I also hope to see this beauty I worked so hard for.

I have a peach tree I particularly love planted close to the house right outside the kitchen window.  I did have some peaches from it the first year I bought it full of peaches. The 2nd year, last year, it gave me only 6, and now it is loaded with peaches. 

 

If we get a cold spell or a frost they will not survive. I am hoping we do not get one. It is currently, on January 1st, 2022, 78 degrees outside and my air conditioner is on....but that could change in one day.

 

 

One of the things I love most about some gardens is an Asian element. I wish I could have pagodas all over the property lit up at night with candles. But I have this one. It is a sturdy element, that gives interest when there is too much space. The birds love  it too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below is a lean-to next to the shed and the large table we built originally because I wanted to have large dinners with lots of people....well, thats not happening....so it is a very sturdy seed table where I grow greens for salads. I can watch them closely in the bins they are planted in they will not dry out as they have no drainage. In the smaller bins I have lettuces which are taking 5 months to grow. An abnormally long time, its just not really working out. I have tried many times and I will continue.  The larger ones are a Spicy Mesclun mix, the only ones that always grows and grows fast. I love this blend.

 

 

 

 

 Below are more greens in window boxes. The one that grows with no help at all is mizuna. Right now I have a lot of it, I don't know what to do with. It is the only one that is hard for me to eat because the stems are tough, and yet this is the one that grows the most. 

The window boxes below the mizuna are lettuces which again, not growing well. They have been this size for months. In the raised bed is lemon sorrel. It is nice in salads. It wilts in the sun but only get sun for a couple of hours, then it stands up again.

 

 

 

 

 

Below is a thing of beauty that stands alone in a spot that has not much beauty. But this pot has a lotus plant in it and in the summer produced 2 blooms. They were precious. I am hoping the coming summer it will produce much more.

 

 

 

 

 

This should have been the first picture. It is the view from the back porch. I have taken down this archway......

 

 

because for 2 years lush green vines did not grow on the 30 foot walkway. So that came down, and I built a circle of lattice wood. I kept one of the arched panels because the jasmine is growing well around it and bought arches for each of the 4 directions, north, south, east, west, to keep it open and so I can drive the mower in there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For this circle garden I wanted to make sure the soil in the ground would be friendly to the plants. It seemed nothing wanted to grow here, so I knew I had to work the soil. This was laborious. First I marked out the circle with a string and spray paint. An outer circle and an inner circle, that gave me a 5 foot wide bed, and a 30 foot diameter. I then laid down many cardboard boxes I got from John's job. Then I laid down bags and bags of compost bought from the store. Then loads of sawdust, then azomite, then grass clippings. There was more but I don't remember. Then I waited for the summer heat and rainy season to cook it down for 3 months to break everything down. When John was laying in the edging to keep the grass contained around the perimeters, he said he saw worms. That is a good sign I thought, the ground must be ready for planting after 3 months of intense heat and rain. I wanted to plant in September but I didn't have the seeds I needed until October. I planted lots and lots of seeds in that 5 foot wide bed, 30 feet around, mostly flowers, because I want a garden and though the seedlings came up quickly, they remain only an inch above ground for 3 months. Only a few plants have grown, like the allysum, and some of the salad greens. And though there are many green things growing in there, I no longer know what is what either because all the tags faded in the sun.

 

 

Below is another angle of the circle garden with the citrus tree that has both lemons and oranges. It is a hybrid.  

 

 

 

 

Below is the inner circle with small salad greens growing. Not nearly as much as I planted, but some are growing. 

Below is a speckling of purple allysum and lots of green things that do not resemble what I have seeded, at all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This below is another section of the circle that is showing white allysum and lots of green mysterious things that will not grow more than this for 3 months now.

 

 

 

 

The sun is too harsh to see what is growing here, but when I try to take pictures when the sun is not so bright, it is too dark. lol.

Anyway, lots more green little things of a mysterious nature. The bushes are hydrangeas I had in pots, that went in to fill this circle. I am hoping that they will bloom in the spring. They should be blue.

 

 

 

 

Below is a camellia that is supposed to be white with pale pink edges, the way it was when I bought it. Now it is dark pink, but at least it is blooming a bit.

Below are the three main raised beds. The have veggies on either side and the center bed should be wild flowers. ahem...should be is key word in the garden. I planted the wild flower seeds in the spring and it took 6 months for them to grow only zinnias and a few forget me nots. It did not do well, despite this soil being one of the best on the market. I replanted lots and lots of seeds in October everywhere and they are also very small still, after 3 months of good weather.

Below is the left bed with a huge lemongrass plant behind it which makes the best tea. In this bed are the tomatoes, which did not do well in the summer, but now we have about a dozen normal sized tomatoes growing which is making me giddy happy. It is totally the wrong time of year, but just yesterday I took off 2 full red tomatoes, and others are ripening up.

 

Also this bed has red lettuce, zinnias, thai basil, strawberries and nasturtiums which are not only a beautiful plant but every part of it is edible. I love the peppery flavored leaves and crazy colorful flowers.

 

 

 

In this below picture you can see the nasturtiums in the foreground doing as they should be around all three beds perimeters. But only this one is doing well. Overall the plants are doing better than in the summer.

 

 

 

 

 

 Below is the middle bed of the wild flower seeds. But since it didn't do anything I began to throw in some edible greens, but they are not doing anything either. Just a few cosmos have come up. The large leaves are hollyhocks, a tall large and beautiful cottage garden flower. They may bloom in the spring. The nasturtiums are struggling here too. I planted nasturtiums all around the edges of all three beds to have an overflowing green mass of coral and red colors. But that is not happening. Only a few plants are doing well, and even though they were all from the same seed packs, they are doing differently.

  

 

This is the right bed, and here are collard greens, cabbages that are struggling even though I never had problems with those before, some romaine lettuce, eggplants and scallions. The empty spaces are filled with edible greens seeds, but nothing came up.

 

 

 This is a small seating area under the carport behind that massive lemongrass.

 

 

 

 

Below are some pink floribunda roses that give off a lovely scent all the time. The smell when I go out there of the roses and the wood mulch I put under the carport is a pleasure. I also have some lettuce seedlings in 4 inch pots that have not grown in 3 months.

 

 

As I was taking pictures my cat Sarah came bolting over to me and then scrunched down in the shade of my legs. She is a huge brat. :D

Well, I think that is all for now. This is the state of my "garden", which is actually much better than the summer was, but it is unusually warm here now, so the tomatoes took advantage as it does go down into the 60's at night, and that is good for us all. This is as much as I could do.

I will however, despite the challenges, continue to garden and love the land, no matter what. It is the truest love we have.....and though She may be sick here, it is my honor actually, not to mention responsibility to help Her heal. When all is well, there will be no greater reward for all.

Blessings for the coming year of 2022.