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The Novice Gardener

~ Food & Garden

The Novice Gardener

Tag Archives: nature

Peach Blossoms

22 Wednesday Apr 2015

Posted by Angie | Fiesta Friday in Edible Flowers & Weeds, Foraging, Gardening

≈ 62 Comments

Tags

earth day, earthday 2015, edible flowers, nature, peach, peach blossoms, peach tree

edible peach blossoms

My peach tree is in bloom. I have yet to taste a single ripened fruit from this tree, even though this scene recurs every year for the last five years.

This is a Flat Wonderful Peach and it suffers from brown rot. Before the fruits reach a decent size, they usually start rotting. Anybody has suggestions what to do? Organically?

The flowers are supposedly edible in small quantities (according to Green Deane of Eat The Weeds), but I’m not taking chances. I’m only using them to decorate my Thai Beef Salad.

Oh, and Happy Earth Day!!

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Groundhog Day, in August

30 Friday Aug 2013

Posted by Angie | Fiesta Friday in Daily Prompt, Poetry

≈ 28 Comments

Tags

animal, fauna, funny, groundhog, humor, nature, poem, post ideas, postaday, whistle pig, writing prompts

sneaky groundhog

The snap peas were decimated.
The lettuce, mowed down.
The red cabbages, gorged to stubs.
The straw that broke the camel’s back was the lone Brandywine tomato,
In that stage between green and red.
Gone, all of it.

Devastation is a repeating theme in the garden this year.
Mr. Rabbit was highly suspected.
He was seen in the vicinity of Stella d’ Oro.
But in the front yard, outside the fence.
He looked rather benign and sluggish.
Didn’t even flinch,
Even as I came within a few feet.
So I let him be.
He couldn’t have done all that damage, he’s so languid.

I was right, it turned out.
It was this fellow all along.

groundhog eating grass funny

Mr. Groundhog, who has many aliases.
He goes by Mr. Woodchuck sometimes,
Also Mr. Whistle-pig.
Can’t blame him really.
With such a reputation,
He’d rather remain unidentified,
And have Mr. Rabbit take the blame.
Sneaky!

Link: Daily Prompt: A Little Sneaky

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I found a four-leaf clover, then I found a diamond

29 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by Angie | Fiesta Friday in Family, Foraging, Travel

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

atlantus, Cape May, Cape May diamond, four-leaf clovers, horseshoe crabs, Jersey Shore, nature, sea rocket, Sunset Beach

Well, Sabo found the diamond.

And it’s the Cape May kind.

Still, it’s a treasure.

It took an hour of looking and digging to find it.

Out of thousands of rocks like these,

Sunset Beach rocks

sometimes you’ll find this,

Cape May diamond

The rest of the haul from Sunset Beach.

sunset beach haul

Did you see the perfect green heart? I found that one.

Earlier in the day, I found other greens, in my backyard. They’re all perfect, too, including the one chewed up by bugs.

four leaf clover

four leaf clover

four leaf clovers

There’s another kind of green that I found, growing on the beach. Looks like something that you might be able to eat. Snaps easily, the leaves succulent. No, I won’t eat it. Not without proper ID. Just curious.

sea rocket.pptx

Sea rocket?

sunset beach1

Beautiful Sunset Beach. The Jersey Shore offers much more than Snooki and The Situation.

SS Atlantus wreck

Wreckage of SS Atlantus that can be viewed from the beach.

fishing in sunset beach

This guy caught something alright. A pair of mating horseshoe crabs.

Next time, we’ll be staying til sunset. What’s the point of going to Sunset Beach, otherwise?

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Figgy Too

03 Friday May 2013

Posted by Angie | Fiesta Friday in Gardening, Travel

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

food, growing fig, Italy, landscape trees, nature, Rome, Tiber

A very nice friend heard that my Figgy didn’t survive winter. So what did the very nice friend do? She presented me with a baby Figgy taken from a sucker of her own grown-up one. Thanks a bunch, Angie! You are a sweet angel.

TB named him “Figgy Too” and we all started treating him like a family member. My deprived kids, who’ve been asking for a puppy for 3 years now, like to pet Figgy Too on her little leaves that are just starting to sprout. TG decided it’s a girl.

Figgy

I have always loved the way fig trees look, even if I didn’t always enjoy the fruits. It’s the seeds thing, you know. I was scared to bite into the seed cavity. Who knows why, I didn’t feel the same way about strawberries. Anyway, figs make great edible landscape trees. So tropical and cool with those big, lobed leaves. I like sassafras leaves, too, by the way. I had one sassafras growing, now gone. Too dry, I think.

In Rome, I saw fig trees growing wild, seemingly sprouting anywhere, even out of the cracks on old walls. One, spotted on the Tiber River wall, was even bearing fruits. Small, green fruits, but still fruits.

Gardening with John Steedman has graciously allowed me to use his photo of a fig tree sprouting out of a wall, much like what I saw in Italy.
fig on wall

Isn’t it funny how something much coveted in one place is taken for granted elsewhere? Just like olive trees; I covet one right now. In Italy or Greece they are probably taken for granted, even if they represent a value to the people there. Since they grow so easily. At UCLA there were olive trees that were seen as a nuisance because of the stains the ripe olives create when they fall off the trees. Can’t tell if they are still there or not; I left the area many, many years ago.

I let it be known to my kids that Figgy Too is a first-rated pedigree pet. She came from Angie’s tree, that in turn, was the offspring of Angie’s dad’s tree, that was brought all the way from Italy. A bit of advice from Angie, coupled with online research, provided me with enough information on how to best care for Figgy Too:

1. Try growing her in a South-facing site with plenty of sun, better still if against a wall because the wall will give her extra heat and protection in the winter.

2. She will not flourish in a heavy clay soil that drains poorly. So amend the soil with a mix of compost, perlite, and sand. Figgy Too will prefer alkaline soil, so if our soil is acidic, we’re to add lime.

3. Protect her from winter freezes. Wrap her entire being with burlap or cloth. Then wrap the whole thing again with plastic for further insulation. The plastic should never touch her bare branches.

4. Give her fertilizer only if she is growing in a poor sandy soil because she really doesn’t need a lot of fertilizer. Use a high-phosphorus fertilizer. Too much nitrogen will prompt her to produce leaves at the expense of fruits.

5. Don’t wait years for Figgy Too to give you fruits to start loving figs. Go now to the farmers’ market and start enjoying them!

Here’s hoping that Figgy Too will survive many long, happy years.

Note: Angie has a few recipes up her sleeve that will convert anybody into a fig lover. She will share those recipes, I’m sure. The best ones I heard are the savory dishes in which the sweetness of the figs is tempered by the saltiness of other ingredients. Er… Ang, no pressure, but we’re chomping at the bit here. Or is it champing at the bit? Will someone please tell me, once and for all, which one is correct?

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Fiesta Friday #433

Fiesta Friday #433

Now that the daughter is home for her summer break, I’m being spoiled. Spoiled with good food, that is. Mostly pasta. The daughter IS the pasta princess. Her Spaghetti Carbonara is assolutamente perfetto. See? Absolutely perfect! I am one happy and content mom! Features Coffee Cookies Strawberry Crunch Bars Instant Pot Sesame Honey Chicken A […]

Fiesta Friday #432

Fiesta Friday #432

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Fiesta Friday #431

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I wish all Fiesta Friday Moms a very happy Mother’s Day in advance! I hope your families will spoil you rotten on Sunday and treat you like a queen for the day. Or the week. Or forever… Because, honestly, all moms deserve to be treated that way ALL the time. And I’m a mom, so […]

Fiesta Friday #430

Fiesta Friday #430

These are the priorities in my life right now: Weeding Mulching Weeding and mulching ALL my spare time is consumed by those chores.  Meals have become predictable – Chinese takeouts, Chipotle drive-thrus, and Panera pick-ups. My poor family! Or rather, poor me! This is why someone else needs to learn to cook! I did bring […]

Fiesta Friday #429

Fiesta Friday #429

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