Monarch Butterflies ~~ Life In The Garden

Continuing with yesterday's garden theme, we are so excited...we are the proud helpers of Monarch Butterflies.  It all started many years ago when we went to a plant sale.  Below the tables filled with containers of plants, growing in the dirt was a lonely plant.  The manager offered it to use for free.  Really who can turn down free?  We brought it home and planted it in our garden knowing nothing about it.  Soon it died back, but managed to seed in several areas in our garden.  Since it was pretty we thought OK.  Well about 3 years ago we noticed a caterpillar eating the plant and did a little internet investigation.  Wow, we thought Monarch caterpillar.  We watched and studied it daily and delighted when we found a cocoon in the place of the caterpillar.  Soon we saw a butterfly.   Since then the plant has spread across our backyard and managed to start in our front yard as well.  Twice a year we are the breeding grounds for Monarch's with the numbers growing every year.  We spotted so many caterpillars this year the kids estimate between 30 to 50.  

Looking back the Monarch's came when we rid ourselves of pest control.  We used pest control because of our fear of black widows with little kids; however, we learned to fear the pest sprays and how to smash black widows.  We now find ourselves not only the stop over for Monarch's but also funny preying mantises, lady bugs and many other helpful insects and just a FYI even though we had a pest service we always found black widows alive and well in our backyard.

the yellow you see actually is the most 

beautiful gold like 24 karat

as the butterfly develops the chrysalis turns black

they always stretch their wings on our pool fence

munch munch munch

mid June garden

So much for global warming, we had the most wonderfully cool June until the last week and we waved good-bye to daytime temps below 100.  Due to the cool temps (upper 80's) everything took so long to ripen.  Finally, we have figs and horrid humidity.  We look to the gray cloudy sky only to see the rain clouds blow away leaving us high and dry.  We thirst for a wild desert thunderstorm.

little watermelon

jalapeno

corn and squash

newest addition limequat

my favorite plums

more plums

pear

nectarine

apples

hot and spicy peppers

jujubes I have no idea when to pick them or eat them

Mexican Bird of Paradise

cardoon Gobbo di Nizzia

 Thai red roselle and molten fire amaranth

tarahumra popping sorghum

figs

still developing as well Asian Pears, eggplant and passion fruit
ripe and ready tomatoes 

Home Grown Tomatoes

three types of tomatoes

If you purchase your tomatoes at the grocery store you may never know the goodness of this fruit.  Tomatoes are one of the easiest things to grow.  My favorite so far this year is the small round cherry.  So sweet with a crunch when you bite through the skin.  Several of my plants sprouted from tomatoes gone bad and tossed in my garden.  In fact, today I noticed one just plant growing through my asian pear tree and it was almost 6 feet tall.  About half of my plants this year are in pots as a experiment to see if they would remain free of those nasty tomato horn worms.  So far, only one very large one found that I picked off and disposed of in the trash can.  I read that some squish them but I don't have the stomach for that, yeeeccchhh!

Grab a pot and grow a tomato plant

I need to start a garden blog

I adore my garden.  First thing every morning I walk my front and backyard.  Nature is the purest form - relaxation.  Seeing and hearing bees buzzing, humming birds stalking (yes, they follow me around), yellow and red birds collecting seeds, night owl wooing, Monarch butterflies and caterpillars, lizards and the all time favorite roadrunner along with the occasional squirrel, racoons, rat (my nemesis), snake, rabbit, doves...brings me joy.  So, I share with you my delightful little space on this earth.

Step into my garden...

this is my smiling dragon fly

who let me walk up to

and 

flew up and down

striking a new pose for the camera each time

the stalker

at least one of the stalkers

these funny humming birds follow us around 

 often closely sitting and observing our every move

apricots are my favorite fruit

we planted this tree 12 years ago

lovely*amazing* wonderful* plentiful

the melon

we are not quite sure what kind of melon

until this melon appeared 

I thought it was a cucumber plant

pomegranates

we are semi successful here

last year leaf hoppers attacked

so this year we are on the look-out

we started with one plant 

and 

the lazy little eaters

didn't throw away the left-overs

they just threw them in the planters

and

now we have many pomegranate bushes

last year I hit the seed bank in Petaluma Ca

and 

I was intrigued 

cardoon

Gobbo Di Nizzia

sunflowers

our favorite to look at

peaches

abundant for about three weeks

before the heat

birds get the top half

of the tree

we enjoy the lower half

share

figs

why? 

the most under appreciated fruit

happy tree as you can see

fruit fruit and more fruit

aloe and cauliflower

two types of aloe

healing

purple cauliflower

colorful

black raspberries

every year I search

for new berry plants

for our zone 9

leeks

grow staples

save seeds

One of the greatest gifts I have given to my children - appreciate and respect of nature

and my husband too

Happy Healthy Earth Day

I love love love my garden and all of the delights I receive from it.  Here's to the Earth...treat it well

Check out my Flickr page for more of our garden

little mango's growing

We have 4 mango tree's.  One from seed via our compost pile.

I have failed the last three years with watermelon, so this year I decided to grow them in pots and so far so good.

Lettuce in pots keep the bugs away.

This crazy wonderful tree mass produces apricots, way too many for us to eat and dry.

Organic tomatoes a difficult find 

find all you want they will be happy inside

by the littlest finicky eater

One of my favorite rose bushes

Swiss chard, lemon grass and a rose bush - Lemon grass I found impossible to grow from seed.  No seeds needed, woohoo, purchase some at your local grocery store and stick them in some water near a window and change the water every other day.  When roots appear and grow to about an inch, transplant into your garden.

Apple blossoms

Apple applelies

Eat all you want

They will be pink inside but red on the top!

by the Littlest Finicky Eater

Some of our giving trees: tangelo, orange, grapefruit, Big Jim Loquat, ultra dwarf Anna Apple, Shinseiki Asian Pear, Pink Lemonade, Moro Blood Orange, pomegranate, Manila Mango, Stella Cherry ultra dwarf, Desert Peach, Passion Fruit, Golden Delicious ultra dwarf, Fejioa Coolidgei pinapple guava,  Suebelle Sapote, avocado, Manzano Banana, Bartlett Pear ultra dwarf, Fay Elberta Peach ultra dwarf, JuJube, Santa Rosa Plum, apricot, Nectarine, weeping Santa Rosa Plum ultra dwarf, Satsuma Plum, 3 in 1 plum,  pixie Mandarin, Red Baron Peach ultra dwarf, 3 in 1 Asian Pear, Dorsett Golden Apple ultra dwarf, All in One Almond, Goldmine Nectarine...

some of herbs: chives, lavender, cilantro, basil, summer savory, rosemary, sage, dill, fennel, marjoram, lemon grass, borage, oregano, stevia...

some of our vines: raspberry, black raspberry, boysenberry, seedless grapes, watermelon...

some of our vegetables: asparagus. artichoke, cauliflower (purple of sicily), cardoon (gobbo di nizzia), lettuce (rouge d'hiver), radish (chinese red meat), beans (aquadulce fava), beets, tomato, eggplant, squash...

all on 1/4 and acre shared with our house.  I fill every inch of dirt with our edible garden.

Planting Day and list of pesticides in fruits and vegetables

 Today we are planting seeds to start our winter garden, yeah! Seeds purchased from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company.

*cauliflower (purple of sicily)*cucumber (hmong red)*cardoon (gobbo di nizzia)*herbs (borage, cumin, thai dill, caraway, fenugreek)*squash (zucchino rampicante)*pepper (purple beauty,corno di toro giallo)*lettuce (rouge d'hiver)*radish (chinese red meat)*beans (aquadulce fava)

list from

Food News

The Full List: 49 Fruits and Veggies

from best to worst

Rank Fruit or Veggie 1 (Best) Onions 2 Avocado 3 Sweet Corn (Frozen) 4 Pineapples 5 Mango (Subtropical and Tropical) 6 Sweet Peas (Frozen) 7 Asparagus 8 Kiwi Fruit (Subtropical and Tropical) 9 Cabbage 10 Eggplant 11 Cantaloupe (Domestic) 12 Watermelon 13 Grapefruit 14 Sweet Potatoes 15 Honeydew Melon 16 Plums (Domestic) 17 Cranberries 18 Winter Squash 19 Broccoli 20 Bananas 21 Tomatoes 22 Cauliflower 23 Cucumbers (Domestic) 24 Cantaloupe (Imported) 25 Grapes (Domestic) 26 Oranges 27 Red Raspberries 28 Hot Peppers 29 Green Beans (Imported) 30 Cucumbers (Imported) 31 Summer Squash 32 Plums (Imported) 33 Pears 34 Green Beans (Domestic) 35 Carrots 36 Blueberries (Imported) 37 Lettuce
DIRTY DOZEN
38 Grapes (Imported) 39 Potatoes 40 Kale / Collard Greens 41 Cherries 42 Spinach 43 Sweet Bell Peppers 44 Nectarines 45 Blueberries (Domestic) 46 Apples 47 Strawberries 48 Peaches 49 (Worst) Celery

Save the bees don't use pesticides