Nature and Gardening

I moved into a new place in May and have been having to deal with something I've never had before... a yard

It's been a learning experience. And I want nothing more than to get rid of all the grass and do something more low maintenance. Neighbors have some creeping thyme in their yard which seems quite nice. That or clover. Also was left some planter boxes that have some sage growing in them that we're trying to find uses for. And as a sort of house warming thing a friend of mine got me some carrot and lettuce seeds!

Earlier in the year I collected some fruit from a Ficus macrophylla which is a rare tree in my area. After annoying my wife by soaking the fruit in water on our counter for a few weeks, then sowing the seed in a small humidity box, I had almost given up hope when nothing germinated for over a month. But this past week, some finally popped up. I transferred a few into bigger containers but I need to figure out what to do with the rest.

Hoping to grow some magnificent trees someday. Here’s what they’ll grow into for the uninitiated:

I’m also trying to root and propagate some water spinach I bought at a farmers market recently. Delicious, I hope it takes. Got some good roots growing but the plant looks a bit sickly. I am going to move it to a more sunny position and hope that helps.

A maple tree I planted last fall has almost doubled in size which is a really good growth rate.

On a less successful note, I think I didn’t water my raspberry enough and it looks pretty dead. Was a bit of a stretch in my climate but my wife loves them and I love her… oh well.

Hey, I got a squash! Did I pick it a couple weeks early? Shut uP!!!

We've been getting corn, plenty of salad greens, green beans out the wazoo, tomatoes galore, and plenty of peppers!

I've been collecting the ground cherries dropping off the bush and made my first jam ever! It didn't make very much... BUT IT'S DELICIOUS. It tastes like....roasted pineapple pie, maybe?

I sort of took a year off of gardening, but some of my perennials are doing great. My Jasmine is growing a lot. It's gotten to the window above the trellis. I might need to consider trimming it. I don't know if it's actually bad for the house or not lol.

I've seen a lot of wildlife. I saw a spider that caught a dragonfly right outside my window. That was amazing to see. Plus I saw a opossum last night (my favorite animal).

My chilies are ripening and I'm looking forward to trying out some new hotsauce recipes. Sadly, due to an aphid infestation killing all the new flowers, it'll be the only harvest this year.

But with a bit of luck, the plants will survive the winter and bare fruit again next year.