Garden Lanterns

It took forever, absolutely forever to complete these. But finally, finally, finally, I hit upon a way to keep them upright, not sinking away into the ground and stable. Whew!

Daytime

Nighttime

Once More, It's Spring in the Desert

In fact, it's a mini "Super Bloom" for the Echinopsis subdenudata 'Dominos'. Since early spring, it has been blooming, but only one or two blossoms at a time. But today, well today, is a good day.

Even the honeybees seem to agree - 

No Complaints

 Well, it's looking to be a really crappy year in the vegetable patch, but there are compensations: 

LILIES GALORE

No, you can't eat them - poisonous to you, me, cats, dogs, most everyone - but a feast for the eyes!

The Box

It's 9" by 12", wood, probably pine, and became a favorite snoozing spot starting in September, 2021:

It's still is a favorite spot, even though the fit is a bit tight:

Spotless

It sure looked like a ladybug, except it was the wrong color, no spots, and was sitting on this extremely weird bug-esque thing. The sort of thing that you would swat away and then step on, even with our smack-in-your-face insect apocalypse. 

And then it clicked: it's a newly hatching ladybug. Pristine, shiny and still developing.

So I watched it for a bit, got bored and went back to planting stuff. Then I remembered to go and take another look. 

A newly minted Seven-Spotted Ladybug (coccinella septempunctata)!

 

The Sweet Season

Sweet Peas (Lathyrus odoratus) Hi-Scent

Green, Greener, Greenest

Not exactly the super bloom along the Bolinas Ridge Trail on Mt. Tam, but a wonderful hike, regardless.

I have no doubt that in a few short weeks, the lupines will be fully in bloom. Then you will need to stand back and keep your sunglasses on. 

Springtime!

 Maybe? Fingers crossed...

Calendulas

Laundry Day

Who knew that a kitchen cloth that had been rinsed in bleach could be so much fun...

Una Abundanza (An Abundance)

So the tromboncino squash didn't do poo-poo this past summer, but the other guy sharing the turf did just fine: two 10+ pound Marina di Chioggia squashes (Cucurbita maxima). 

Green-gray on the outside, orange on the inside, it's considered one of the premier winter squashes. Sad fact is that I don't really like winter squash very much. Soup is fine, ravioli is tasty, but that's about my limit. 

Now you may wonder why I would grow something that I don't really like. Well, we were given a squash, which was turned into a delicious soup. So I saved some seeds, thinking that it would be my chance to see whether, with one of the best squash varieties in town, grown under ideal conditions (tee-hee), my narrow, judgmental mind could be persuaded. 

And the answer? A big fat "maybe". I looked at a ton of recipes for roasted squash - considered to be the best technique for enhancing the flavor - and (mostly) followed the instructions. Tasted it, and decided that it was simply, wonderfully, just okay. Excellent for your health, pretty on the plate, far superior to anything you could get in the market, easy to grow and very productive, but... just okay. 

Having said that, and having even done the required homework, I can now honestly recommend Marina di Chioggia squash. Especially if you like that kind of thing.