I love getting my hands into the dirt and working with God to make beauty come out of small seeds and transplants. I share the experiences of an ordinary gardener with photos and words.
In the left background is an Italian CyrpeCypress tree. In the foreground is a combination of black sage and rosemary. The orchard is in the background on the right. This is quite a contrast from my original herb garden when I planted it a couple of decades ago. This is what this section looked like in April, 2007.
It was too hot to stand still and wait for the quail family to come out of hiding so I could get a photo, but I often see the mother with her chicks running for cover in the brush as I go by. They live on the section of our land that is near the entrance. That's our oak tree in the background.
The Herbs on the Slope
I planted my first herbs in Templeton on the slope close to the front door. For years they've grown wild, and I discovered when I took these photos that a coyote brush plant had sneaked in under the rosemary on the back edge and grown large enough to smoother whatever is under it. Probably my oregano and tricolor sage. Rosemary is still growing strong in back. But I'd like to concentrate on the flowers here.
The lavender was among the first plants I placed on the slope. I got it from the now gone Sycamore Farms herb farm. The sage below was planted at the same time and came from the same place. The santolina (golden) was planted later. It probably also came from there.
This last photo shows an overview of the slope. The taller yellow flowers are volunteer dusty miller plants that reseeded from some older transplants. The santolina and lavender are on its left. You see mostly rosemary and sage on the right, with thyme in the foreground. All these plants originally came from four-inch pots around 2006, so you can see how much they have grown. For the last three years they have had little attention.
I love Apple blossom time. It happens in May. These apple blossoms are in a very old tree on my Templeton property. I've been here for 23 years, and the tree was mature when I arrived. It's not a perfect tree. It has a couple of dead branches that need to come off. It is decorated year round with Spanish moss. But when it comes to bearing fruit, it's the most reliable fruit tree we have now.
Whenever the apple trees bloom, this song comes to mind: "Apple Blossom Time"
I love apple blossoms so much I made myself a hat to remember my favorite apple tree. You can get one, too, or, if you prefer, a set of stickers or a greeting card to remember this lovely time of year.
I wrote this post to begin the 2016 A-Z Challenge The requirement was to post at least one photo a day of subjects in alphabetical order with a few words to explain the photo. My theme is, of course, plants and gardening.
I'm not
sure if we should go ahead and let it try to bear fruit this year or not, since it probably should put it's energy into repairing itself.
We now have two other apple trees to care for, a young Fuji and an older prolific tree that looks rather like a McIntosh, but we didn't plant it, so we aren't sure what variety it is. I think it's time to get this book that's just about apples -- The Apple Grower: A Guide for the Organic Orchardist
. The reviews indicate it's just the book we need at this point in time. I want the Fuji, which does have some tiny apples on it, to get what it needs to bear delicious fruit, and the older tree badly needs some attention, as well.
God seems to have built into every living thing the urgent need to be fruitful. Gardeners are reminded of this every spring after the rains when the weeds begin to sprout everywhere. But it's also true of the larger plants, such as the apple tree you see here. This is a huge tree, spreading as far on the side you can't see as on this side. Since we moved to Templeton in 1993 it has borne truly delicious apples. Unfortunately, we did not have the time nor knowledge to properly prune this tree those first years and last year it caught up with us. Here's what the tree looked like in May, 2010, while it was recovering from a severe blow to its growth which is explained in this short video.
Of all trees on our property in Templeton, this red delicious apple tree was our pride and joy. We counted on its bountiful crop each year. We were sure 2010 would bring us more apples than we'd know what to do with. And then the tree split from the weight between the two main branches. I cannot locate the pictures I know I took when the tree first split and we took measures to tree to save it.
Our friend Tim and my husband tried to tie the tree together and prop up the branches with all manner of improvised supports, since the tree was loaded with fruit we were hoping to save. We thought it might still ripen. But it didn't. Tim was here again yesterday. This is how the tree looked when he arrived. You can see some of the props still there, made from whatever we had at hand.
Kosta (my husband) and Tim decided drastic action was necessary and that there still might be a chance to save the tree. As you can see in this close-up of the limb ends (above), this tree is still alive in spite of all its been through. Were we to leave it alone, it would still try to burst into bloom and bear fruit. That's the nature God built into it. Kosta and Tim decided, though, that the tree needed to save its energy to repair itself if possible, instead of trying to blossom and bear fruit. This is how the tree looked by the time Tim went home. Sad, isn't it?
The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, as Job learned long ago. With Job I echo, "Blessed be the name of the Lord." Perhaps he will yet resurrect this tree and make it fruitful again. It wants to live. that is obvious from its buds. I have given up my expectations, and will be pleasantly surprised if I ever see another of its apples. Meanwhile, I still have the hat I made last year when the tree was in full blossom. If you like, it, you can get one, too, by clicking on the link below.
After a day of amending soil in my raised beds and planting tomatoes at dusk I'm too tired to write much. I feel my eyelids drooping, as well they should, since I had only about an hour or two of sleep last night. I just lay awake, thinking about the garden chores that needed doing today. Finally, at 4:40 AM, I jumped out of bed and made a list, thinking that if I slept in, my husband could go and buy the items on my list before I got up.
Fat chance! I finally gave up trying to sleep about 5:30, ate, and got out to the garden as soon as it was light. But I'll talk about that more next time, when I've had time to edit today's pictures.
For now, I'll go back to the apple blossoms, which are finally in bloom this week. I was almost afraid the tree wouldn't bloom this year, since we performed some major surgery on it after a main branch split off in the fall winds. Then we pruned it for the very first time while it was still dormant. We were anxious to see if it would produce again this year. As you see in the picture at the top, it is loaded.
For the first time this year we have set traps for the little moths that lay the eggs which turn into worms in the apples. We had rather gotten used to eating our apples in pieces after worm removal. We hope we will have more worm-free apples this year.
You are seeing only half this tree. It has another side which is just as large and just as load with blossoms. I think we really will have to thin the fruit this year. For some reason the picture is not loading for me today, but if I click on the blank spot where the picture is supposed to be, it takes me to the picture. If you don't' see the picture at the top, try clicking that empty space.
I think I'd better go to bed now, before my eyes just close on me.
. The reviews indicate it's just the book we need at this point in time. I want the Fuji, which does have some tiny apples on it, to get what it needs to bear delicious fruit, and the older tree badly needs some attention, as well.
