Posts

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Indoor baby tomatoes!!!!!!

I found two baby tomatoes on the dwarf Audrey’s Love Tomato!!! The dwarf Bendigo is very tall and has some flowers, but no fruit yet. I have been just brushing the flowers with my fingers and shaking the plant a bit for pollination.

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Garden intervention

Our friends have been having trouble getting native plants established in their yard. In the past we’ve done spring and summer transplants and they’ve put in seeds too. Nothing has taken, so today Paula and I delivered and planted two of our hardiness species.

A stalk of Maximilian sunflower settled into a yard with Bermuda grass.
Their old Christmas tree shelters the newly moved dirt from Dog Ideas.
Showy evening primroses in their enclosed garden area.
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Moving the Max

Big empty hole in the prairie patch where we dug up the Maximilian sunflowers.
We brought a single stalk here from our old house and now it’s a massive 2×3′ ish patch.
Broader view. Put more cardboard down to kill Bermuda.
Briar just sat here while plant stalks went everywhere.
Such dignity.
Found a lost loofah in the front yard afterwards.
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Crabapple pastilas

I got the idea to make this fluffy pastry from an Atlas Obscura article.

Before the 10 minutes of whisking.
Just started.
Getting fluffy.
Sure glad we have a machine!
Essentially applesauce meringue!!
Paula smoothed them out with a pastry cutter (see top pan) and then we put them in the oven.
We did 6+ hours at 180°F. The two in deeper pans took longer even though I tried to make them about the same depth.
All baked!
Cut up. One had its crust flake off.
I forgot to keep some aside to paste together layers, so we get single layers.
It’s very nice! Like sweet tart astronaut food!
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Finally some rain (plus snow)

Snowed Saturday overnight, so this is Sunday morning.
Heated bird bath, much luxury.
Hopefully the bit of snow kept baby cacti and succulents and Hedeoma safe with a low of 12°F overnight.
Leaves and wire mesh stayed put.
So did the towels. We’ll probably uncover again in a few days once the next deep cold snap is over. A season of extremes!
This strawberry had a flower. Bad idea.
Rain barrels all open so they don’t crack.
Sugar peas definitely done this time.
The rain softened the ground enough that the three of us managed to dig the shallow trench needed for the border (to keep Bermuda grass out of raised beds) in about 40 minutes before dinner tonight.