Notes from my patio

Coco said:
Once a wind comes along, youll have a few more dandylions. Then you can make some wine or have a salad! Btw, do you use a 4 to1 ratio for the hummers juice?
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Dandelions are welcome in my yard, along with anything else that comes up green. I think the critters like that.

I put half a cup of sugar in a measuring cup and add water to the 1 cup mark. It's a rich brew, but the hummers love it.
 

Freaky weather. Yesterday it got to 86 and they're predicting today it will reach 90. The humidity is about 20 percent with a breeze coming from the desert. Two weeks ago my tree trimmers got rained out, but they came back last week and did the job. So, my mulberries are looking pretty ugly now. They grow so fast that I have to prune them every year or the branches will rub on the roof and hang over my neighbor's yard.

I transplanted my tomato seedlings into individual pots. They're getting true leaves now. I've got them sitting outside in the sun covered with a 50 percent shade cloth. I bring them in each night.

Most of the birds have gone somewhere else. Still a bunch of hummers and my towhees, but hardly any sparrows or other birds. I hope they come back in the Spring. I'm still putting out oatmeal for the towhees. They come right into the patio with me sitting there. I guess they've decided I'm pretty harmless. They're right.

I did see a lizard yesterday, but the frog has been silent. As Kurt Vonnegut wrote: "And so it goes".
 
Grampa Don said:
Freaky weather. Yesterday it got to 86 and they're predicting today it will reach 90. The humidity is about 20 percent with a breeze coming from the desert. Two weeks ago my tree trimmers got rained out, but they came back last week and did the job. So, my mulberries are looking pretty ugly now. They grow so fast that I have to prune them every year or the branches will rub on the roof and hang over my neighbor's yard.

I transplanted my tomato seedlings into individual pots. They're getting true leaves now. I've got them sitting outside in the sun covered with a 50 percent shade cloth. I bring them in each night.

Most of the birds have gone somewhere else. Still a bunch of hummers and my towhees, but hardly any sparrows or other birds. I hope they come back in the Spring. I'm still putting out oatmeal for the towhees. They come right into the patio with me sitting there. I guess they've decided I'm pretty harmless. They're right.

I did see a lizard yesterday, but the frog has been silent. As Kurt Vonnegut wrote: "And so it goes".
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What type of tomatoes are you growing?
 
My pomegranate is beginning to leaf out already, maybe because of the heat we've been having. It still has a few of the old leaves on it.

leaf out.JPG

Here are some photos that aren't new, but I want to share a few of the insect visitors I've had. The first one is a morning glory plume moth resting on my kitchen door screen. The skinny wings fold out when it wants to fly.

Morning-glory Plume Moth.JPG

Next is a katydid on my patio cupboard. I rotated the photo to make it upright. Pretty thing.

katydid.lJPG.JPG

This is a cute little leaf beetle. He's only about a cm long. See his little black eyes?

leaf beetle.JPG

And finally, a spider mite on the bottom of a geranium leaf. This was taken through my microscope. Did you know that geranium leaves were spiky underneath?

spider mite 2.jpg
 
Grampa Don said:
My pomegranate is beginning to leaf out already, maybe because of the heat we've been having. It still has a few of the old leaves on it.

View attachment 484533

Here are some photos that aren't new, but I want to share a few of the insect visitors I've had. The first one is a morning glory plume moth resting on my kitchen door screen. The skinny wings fold out when it wants to fly.

View attachment 484534

Next is a katydid on my patio cupboard. I rotated the photo to make it upright. Pretty thing.

View attachment 484536

This is a cute little leaf beetle. He's only about a cm long. See his little black eyes?

View attachment 484538

And finally, a spider mite on the bottom of a geranium leaf. This was taken through my microscope. Did you know that geranium leaves were spiky underneath?

View attachment 484542
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Those are amazing pictures, especially the last. I enjoy these change in perspective shots.
 
Grampa Don said:
Freaky weather. Yesterday it got to 86 and they're predicting today it will reach 90. The humidity is about 20 percent with a breeze coming from the desert. Two weeks ago my tree trimmers got rained out, but they came back last week and did the job. So, my mulberries are looking pretty ugly now. They grow so fast that I have to prune them every year or the branches will rub on the roof and hang over my neighbor's yard.

I transplanted my tomato seedlings into individual pots. They're getting true leaves now. I've got them sitting outside in the sun covered with a 50 percent shade cloth. I bring them in each night.

Most of the birds have gone somewhere else. Still a bunch of hummers and my towhees, but hardly any sparrows or other birds. I hope they come back in the Spring. I'm still putting out oatmeal for the towhees. They come right into the patio with me sitting there. I guess they've decided I'm pretty harmless. They're right.

I did see a lizard yesterday, but the frog has been silent. As Kurt Vonnegut wrote: "And so it goes".
Click to expand...
Oh Don such fine weather you have. It's 3 degrees f here.

Years ago, I had a wonderful flower garden and the guy next door had a large vegetable garden. I was used to those wonderful tomatoes and etc. One year I started plum tomatoes from seed, the kind we cook with and he found a corner he let me plant them in. It was right next to his horse's manure pile. We had a great crop!

You're lucky you can continue. Here's to many tomatoes for you.
 
RadishRose said:
Oh Don such fine weather you have. It's 3 degrees f here.

Years ago, I had a wonderful flower garden and the guy next door had a large vegetable garden. I was used to those wonderful tomatoes and etc. One year I started plum tomatoes from seed, the kind we cook with and he found a corner he let me plant them in. It was right next to his horse's manure pile. We had a great crop!

You're lucky you can continue. Here's to many tomatoes for you.
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Thank you, Rose. I can't imagine what 3 degrees must be like. The coldest I was ever in was 18 degrees at a high school football game in the high desert and I about froze in the stands.
 
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