Tag Archives: peaches
Saturday Sanity: The Antidote to the Madness (May 16, 2009) Cactus in Bloom! Gorgeous!rtw
~~By NM-GRL (IA)
Temperatures are heating up…we went into the 90’s then it cooled and today I caught a sign saying 95. So…summer is on its way!
Which means the desert plants are starting to come into full flower. Before I moved here I didn’t realize how wonderful cactus plants could be when they bloomed!
But before I get to some pictures from my house, I have to report on the squirrels. One is particularly bold, heading onto our back porch a mere couple of feet from my back door! The same guy, I think, was caught on my little “couch” (actually a storage unit) picking up corn that had spilled from the containers I use to fill the feeders. Today, I caught one at the side of the yard and I’m betting he’ll be at the pomegranate, which is not starting to form flower buds. (Last year, a squirrel nibbled on those.) The squirrel contingent has devoured petunias and I bought a few more hanging containers for portulacas and cardinal creeper vines, whose red flowers are also a tasty treat. Meanwhile, in the veggie garden, a squirrel has nipped at the sweet potato plants!!! And, I found a big, unripe peach half eaten!
This is getting nasty! I’m seriously thinking of getting an electrified fence around the vegetables at this point!
This weekend I should start bagging the grapes, which are now the size of peas…the work never ends!!
At least the cactus flowers aren’t being eaten!!!! So enjoy! These pics were taken over the the course of a few days, so they are in chronological order…
First, we have a few from 5/8:
Here is a cholla. I picked up a small section and planted this myself a few years ago and now it’s HUGE!
Cholla budding...
A bee wallows in the yellow flower on this cactus:
Bee in pollen...
Another version of a yellow flower, but with a splash of red!
Red and yellow flowers in full glory...
A couple of days later I took this picture with the cholla bursting into bloom:
Cholla blooming...
Cactus Flowers
The next day on 5/11:
A cactus pad full of flowers...
Finally, a shot of the ocotillo now leafed out and the cholla:
Except for the ocotillo which we had planted by a nursery, all the cactus have grown from a single pad that I stuck in the ground. Needless to say, I’m extremely please with the results!!
P.S.–that long “stick” on the left is the base that hold up my longwire antenna that brings in my shortwave radio signals!
Saturday Sanity: The Antidote to the Madness (April 25, 2009) The Squirrels Invade
Originally Posted at InsightAnalytical
~~By NM-GRL (IA)
I had a very busy week in the garden this week and posted the details here.
Today, I finally got the chocolate flower into the ground. Hopefully, I won’t drown this one…it’s tricky with desert plants because they need some moisture to get established when first planted. BUT…it’s sometimes hard to tell what is too much.
The big event of the week actually occurred yesterday. The SQUIRREL WARS have begun in earnest! After the carnage in the garden a week or so ago, when all my baby swiss chard and mesculin was munched on by bugs, I bought on the spur of the moment a 9-pack of buttercrunch lettuce. To be safe, I planted them in the patio pots, in with the tomatoes and peppers. Perfect, right? Wrong! Yesterday afternoon I caught not one, but TWO squirrels brazenly eating the lettuce!
Last spring they also ventured far into the yard. It may be that they are raising a family and need a lot of food. Since the dogs are out for most of the morning, they stay away. But their past behavior has to start coming over the wall from about 1 or 2 pm until about 4. In the morning, the white-tailed doves eat most of the cracked corn I set out in this old plastic fountain that I found in the trash, so this afternoon I put more out and guess what? The two buggers munched happily on the corn and didn’t wander onto the patio. Of course, I had put up some gerry-built chicken wire to deter them…but… Here is a shot of how they peek over the wall…
Surveying the food situation...
Enjoying the free grub…
Wallowing in the food dish...
Frankly, I do have a soft spot in my heart for any animal that sits in its food dish. I had gerbils that did the same thing…the enthusiasm of the act is rather endearing.
I don’t know if I can keep them from my peaches for much longer. I’ve developed a new strategy. Instead of picking up the dog poop and putting it in the garbage, I’ve been tossing it along the other side of the wall near the burrow entrance that is hidden by big rabbitbrush bushes. Why I think any squirrels would be deterred by this, I don’t know…but I figure it’s worth a try! This year I have the most peaches ever and they are already HUGE!
Peaches waiting for squirrel visitors...
I still haven’t finished the new trellises for the new grapes and I have to start training the Flame grape which is already full of little bunches. And, if I had time, I would be bagging those peaches now…my luck can’t hold out!!
Saturday Sanity: The Antidote to the Madness (April 18, 2009) Glorious Organ Mountains; Apricots; Quail on the Wall; Sneaky Slick the Min Pin
Originally Posted at InsightAnalytical
~~By NM-GRL (IA)
It’s been a frustrating week in the garden as the winds have continued and the temperatures have dipped the last day or so. I’ve managed to put a couple of veggies and flowers into the patio pots, only to cover them up again to protect them from the weather.
Yesterday I bought a new Belle of Georgia peach to replace the one that is languishing. I’ll get that in the ground over the weekend.
A big surprise is that I found a little apricot growing. One seems to be finally showing on the flower I saw…but this one never seemed to have a flower that I ever saw, so imagine my surprise to see a an actual baby apricot!! Let’s see if anything more shows up!
Last Tuesday I took advantage of the short trip over to my chess teacher’s house and took some wonderful pictures of the Organ Mountains. These views are literally a couple of minutes from my house…I’ll share one with you now:
Organ Mountains 4/14/09 Looking Like a Painting…
New Mexico has wonderful light, which attracts a lot of artists. The changes in the skies and the light that changes from second to second are things which never cease to amaze me.
Closer to home, the quail are beginning to show up on my wall. I love these guys and their plaintive calls.
A Curious Quail…
Finally, Slick the Sneak was into all sorts of trouble yesterday. We left the house for an appointment and when we got back we found garbage all over the floor! This hasn’t happened in quite awhile. It really was close to the boys’ dinnertime, so I guess Slick was the leader of the pack in search of some grub.
This picture, which I took a couple of days ago, shows the little flash of the devil in his eyes:
Sneaky Slick
Let’s hope the winds die down next week! I have to put up the new grape trellises, plant a chocolate flower and really have to decide if I should bag the peaches. So far the squirrels haven’t shown up, which is amazing. I see the papa or mama when I look over the wall and they gobble up the lettuce and other veg scraps I toss over right away. I suppose they’re busy with babies and as they grow, I’m sure they’ll be hunting for a lot more food…including peaches!
The Fruit is Growing!
~~By NM-GRL (IA-GRL)
Well, yesterday about noon the winds started. So before they kicked up I went out and got some pictures of the various fruits I’m growing…
But first, here’s a picture of the garden “under wraps.” Because I knew the wind was coming, I watered the plants and then put the covers that I’ve been using overnight back on. It was easier that putting up the “windbreak” that you see draped around the edge of the raised beds. Tomorrow, the plants will be in the sun again since the winds will be gone.
Ready for the wind...
As you can see, the Flame grape is already growing like crazy, complete with the beginnings of bunches of grapes!!
A baby bunch of grapes...
The first figs are about the size of a ping pong ball now…
Yummy, a fig!
Last but not least, the peaches…I sure hope I can get the bags on one of the days before the squirrels get to them!! (You can see the tree to the right in the corner in the garden picture above.)
More ping pong-sized fruits...PEACHES!
This may be the most peaches I’ve seen on this tree since I’ve had it. We’ve had a very mild winter and the peaches have grown big enough to withstand the winds (so far!).
This is a standard “Ranger” peach which I’ve kept small. It grows like crazy in this warm corner.
Eventually, I want to remove it and put something in that won’t be “fooled” into an early bloom.
The tree I bought a few years ago and moved last year doesn’t seem to be waking up at all, although I was doing fine after I transplanted it last fall. I’m not quite sure if it’s just slow or dead! The buds have separated from the branches, but they dont’ seem to be doing much. This is the tree I’m hoping to have producing before I take out the Ranger.
I moved one of the artichokes today because I thought it need more sun. Besides, I may be using the space if my big plan actually swings into gear. I’ll know more on Friday…
Hope the weather is good wherever you are today…
April 7, 2009 PLANS
~~NM-GRL (IA-GRL)
After a morning of errands which will extend into early afternoon, I’m loading up the camera with new batteries and checking out all the new fruits that are appearing…the grapes are forming little clusters, the apricot has it’s first flower, and oh, those peaches! If I don’t bag them soon…..MORE later…or tomorrow….I still have to plant!!!
Yesterday, I was driving on Roadrunner Parkway and …you guessed it…I was SWOOPED by a roadrunner. He lost some feathers as he took off as I came down the road…he just grazed the top of my car!
A couple of days ago a HUGE roadrunner was hanging out in the brush on the other side of my wall that back onto the arroyo. I mean, he was BIG…the biggest I’ve ever seen. Must have been about 3 feet from the tip of his beak to the tip of his tail…
Open Range Ramblings 