Category: Propagation

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Trimming the claws

I trimmed off several branches from both blackberry plants that had leaves with this mystery curl. It looks a lot like online pictures of leaf curl virus damage. It was not a leaf rolling insect, those I leave alone and consider just part of the ecosystem. The raspberry leaf curl virus can kill a whole plant apparently so I wanted to be safe.
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Loofah central

Last year we grew a lot of loofah (luffa? I’ve seen both spellings) gourds and processed them (removing the outer skin from dried gourds) here in the front garden. Obviously a few seeds escaped!

We have almost two pounds of seeds if anyone wants to grow their own…
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Basil and oregano pizza

Basil on top of cheese and oregano is hiding below cheese. Salad is the big Boston lettuce that is heading right now.
Basil outside hasn’t come up yet so I’m still nursing along the window basil. I’m hoping this harvesting will encourage them to get bushier and more leaves. The red rubin in particular are spindly. The mammolo basil (the green ones) have bigger leaves but not very many.
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Bean sprouts (and their friends)

Slippery silks pole bean are up in both beds 1 and 4
Marketmore 76 cucumber in bed 4.  None of others up yet.
Vaquero bean (a pole bean) in bed 1.
Bolas maycoba bean next to lettuce leaf in bed 6.
Greasy grits bean (a green pole bean) in bed 1
Mbombo beans (a bush type) in bed 5.
Blue lake green bush (another bush type) in bed 5.
Dutch corn salad greens beginning to make immature seeds.
“hilled” potatoes with more dirt added, so they will grow more roots and thus more potatoes.
Inca pea beans are the only ones not up yet.
Oregon sugar pod peas all fruiting now with more flowers.
The lettuce is thinking about bolting so I’m picking any that are growing taller.
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BEAN CENTRAL HERE WE COME

A very kind friend came over this evening and helped us attach a 100 ft roll of welded steel fence to our new wooden backyard fence. Now all I have to do is clear more of the non-bean plants near the fence base, and wait a few weeks for the soil to warm up sufficiently for tepary beans. I might start some runner beans in the shadier areas so they stay cool longer.

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How can things grow this much in a week?? Backyard edition

More wow!!!

Englemann Daisy blooming.
Bachelor’s buttons are not native but were in a mix I got and do get some nice little bees.
I believe this is greeneyes from seed from Mom.
Hedeoma seedling from seed from Paula in western Oklahoma. It’s in the cactus planter.  You can also see a baby moss rose and some widow sedum.
I think this is going to be an Echineacea, could be either the purple or pale one as I’ve planted seeds of both.
Rudbeckia (I think?) leaves are wonderfully soft.
Cilantro is blooming beautifully!  Future coriander.
One parsley is thinking about blooming.
Walking onions are so cool.
Gaillardia blooming!
Sooooo many evening primroses!  Last week only a few were open!
This mound of Oxalis was here when we moved in and it just gets showier all the time.