Corner Garden

The plants in this corner garden need to be trimmed. They are starting to cover one another and there is too much red.

This corner garden is just messy. I need to work on it soon.

This Biwa (Loquat) tree is doing so well considering the size of the pot. Biwa are now producing fruit, but this tree is still young and hope I get fruit next year or the year after. I have a few trees spotted around my property.

I threw Nasturtium seeds in this planter last year, because it was difficult to attract pollinators to this Avocado tree when it was flowering. I've since trimmed the tree, but it is re-growing and hope I will have better luck next year.

Radish

I am finding a few Radishes popping up. Nice find. 

 

Carrots (Ninjin)

Carrots are growing well. I'm starting to see the ends poke up from the soil, but still small.

Tomato (Beef Steak)

There are still a few Cherry Tomato plants producing Tomatoes and new ones about a foot tall, but got my first beef steak Tomato of the season. It is flawless. 

 

Bok Choy

I planted Bok Choy seeds the first week of October and it took four and a half months, but I got some pretty decent Bok Choy.

The Bok Choy I picked was in the space at the top right. There is a tiny Bok Choy plant there that was covered by the one I picked, so hopefully it will grow larger. There are 4-5 more plants to harvest when I need them. In the meantime, I'll just let them continue growing.

Surinam Cherry Tree (Brazilian Cherry Tree)

The buds on this Surinam Cherry tree (bush) are starting to blossom. So many flowers it is incredible. 

Peach

 

There are only a few Peaches on this tree, which is not unusual since it is an early harvest. Some are starting to ripen, so I've been wrapping each Peach with a special bag that ties to a branch and catches the Peach to prevent damage. 

This is a Peach that recently dropped. It is small, but tasted great. 

Atemayo Fruit

 

I've seen this fruit many times at the farmer's market, but never gave it a second look due to it's appearance. It just doesn't look appetizing, but decided to give it a try. OMG! It is now one of my favorite fruit. 

The Atemoya (aka, ice cream in forest) is a hybrid of the Cherimoya and sugar apple, which are both from the American tropics. 

Atemoya is extremely sweet, like eating sugar out of a bowl of cold water. It has a mild flavor of apple or pear. You can taste the flavor as you spoon out the meaty white portion of the fruit, but the brownish edge near the skin of a super rip fruit is like eating moist sugar. It's that sweet. The skin is soft and tasteless, so I mistakenly ate much of it too. The seeds are large and slightly toxic, so do not swallow them.

I planted a few seeds to see what I get. This is a hybrid fruit, so it is best to buy a grafted tree to get fruit true to the mother, but I like experimenting. A grafted Atemoya tree should start to produce fruit in 2-4 years, but when grown from seed may take 5-7 years.  

Papaya Fruit

I have two Papaya trees. One is completely full of fruit, but they cannot grow too large since the tree is so full, but the other tree does not have many fruit and each is getting quite large. 

Surinam Cherry Tree (Brazilian Cherry Tree)

I just took a picture of this Surinam cherry tree (bush) using a flash and found the buds show up so clearly. Every little white dot is a bud. This bush produced a few cherries last year, but if all these buds pollinate there will be hundreds of cherries. I have three budding bushes and excited to see how many cherries they produce.

Today's Harvest

(02/14) Green Peppers, String Beans and Strawberry.

Lettuce (Sunny)

I typically pick the outer leaves of Sunny Lettuce plants as I need it, but I have some much now I'm just cut the entire plant. 

 

Dracaena

I picked up more Dracaena cuttings for my collection. I like this verity. The leaves are thin and twisty, as well as multi-colored.

 

Cherry Tree Cutting

I planted the Cherry tree cutting I got the other day. It had been in water for probably a week, but the blossoms were falling off and leaves were starting to open, so decided to plant it. I used some rich soil with lots of organic material and used hormone power in hopes it will root. I feel it is tough to grow a hardwood from a cutting, but I read it can be done and will give it a try.

Acerola Cherry (Barbados Cherry) Blossoms

My Acerola Cherry (Barbados Cherry) tree is starting to blossom a little early. Typically it starts blossoming in March and is in full bloom by 1 April. Acerola can blossom and produce fruit 3-5 times a year.  

Bougainvillea Vine

I was able to get some cuttings from this beautiful Bougainvillea vine. The owner said this vine was planted 25 years ago. 

Red Bougainvillea vine cuttings. Should blossom next year.

 

Dracaena

I added yet another Dracaena to my collection.

Cherry Blossom Branch

This is a Cherry Blossom branch I purchased for 200 Yen ($2) along the side the road when driving up North to see the blossoms. The blossoms are pinkish-red in Okinawa, while the blossoms are white in Mainland Japan. I think both are beautiful. I will try and propagate this cutting. 

Passion Fruit (Purple)

The first Passion Fruit of the season. It was laying on the patio this morning.

Strawberry

First Strawberry of the year. I picked it a little early so the birds don't get it. It needs to ripen a little more. I hope it is sweet.

Cherry Tomato

This is the last self seeded Tomato plant from last season, but it is full of Tomatoes. I have more than 10 other planters with self seeded Cherry Tomato plants, but they are still small.

 

Strawberry Guava (Blossoms)

Strawberry Guava are starting to blossom.

The bushes are full of buds.

Mango Tree (Blossoms)

Every branch on my Mango tree is full of blossoms. 

Surinam Cherry Tree (Brazilian Cherry Tree) Blossoms

My Surinam Cherry trees are blooming and full of buds.

Guava

I found one of the wrappers on the ground. I am not sure if birds pulled it off or the wind did, but the result was the same.

The birds had a wonderful meal :)

Passion Fruit

 

Passion Fruit starting to ripen.