Freckles Lettuce

I found a new variety of leaf lettuce called Freckles.   Its a leaf lettuce that has a reddish tint to it with red speckles on it.  Its looks really cool and although its probably to hot for it, I decided to plant it.  I purchased a couple of flats of starts from a supplier.  If it does will, I will get some seed and plant some next fall when the weather is more conducive to lettuce.

Here are some pictures of it.  

Dutch Iris - Golden Beauty - Update

I planted a row of dutch iris last fall and they are doing very well.   I had tried growing them in raised beds but they didn't do so well - so planted them directly in the ground and they are doing much better.  The soil may be too warm for iris bulbs in a raised bed.    They are about to bloom - and it looks like they will be blooming all at once.   Here are some pictures of the plants and the buds about to open

Planting Jalapeno Peppers

We spent the day planting some Jalapeno Peppers.   They are young seedlings that are 3 week old.  They will get fairly big so we planted them 7-8 inches apart so they have room to spread.   Jalapeno's are very prolific once they get started.     Here are some pictures of the planted in my flora-flow bed and also planted in a raised bed that is 3 feet wide.

Propagating Oriental Lilies

I am experimenting with Oriental Lily propagation.    I received some oriental lily bulbs last summer and decided to remove some of the scales to reproduce some bulbs.   I took of 3-5 scales per bulb - then planted them.   The scales were placed in damp peat moss and placed in a bag.   I stored them in  the basement where the furnace is located so it was a warm spot.  They should also be stored in the dark.     Here is a picture of a oriental lily bulb and also the scales after removing them from the mother bulb.  I didn't take these pictures last summer when I completed this task, so these are stock photos from the internet

I would check the bags regularly and add water too keep the peat moist.    I opened the bag up this month and was pleasantly surprised by 2-4 bulblets on each scale.        Here are pictures of my bulblets and also the scale which has dried up to almost nothing.    The bulblets all have nice roots and some are starting to sprout shoots.  These should be big enough to bloom in about 2 years.

Gopher Hunter

I was watering some of the vegetable area that isn't tilled yet because I need to till it.  Its very hard to till when the ground is hard and dry.    As I was watering, I noticed our Corgie - Lucy was walking through the wet area - sticking her nose in the water.   She then walked over to me with a half alive gopher in her mouth.   The water must have flooded their burrows and she got it when it was forced to the surface.   Here's a picture of her with her "prize" at her feet.    Its a pocket gopher which burrows all over the place and will burrow under your rows and pull your vegetable down into the burrow.

Raspberry Planting Event - Set up through Eventbrite

I set up the Raspberry, strawberry, and tomato planting event on Eventbrite so I can limit the number of people who are attending to 60.  We had 85 for the last event it was too many.  I couldn't help everyone who had questions.   The participants will also get to take a Raspberry plant home so I have a limited supply.   The event is sponsored by the Riverside Food Cooperative and Fox Farm.    Here is the link to register with eventbrite for this event.  https://eventbrite.com/event/16146875740/?utm_source=eb_email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=new_event_email&utm_term=eventurl_text

Irises In Bloom

Some of my Bearded Irises are blooming.  I wasn't expecting them to bloom this early.    Some were planted over a year ago and are doing quite well.   Loop the Loop was just planted about 4 months ago and have some very short stalks of flowers.

Here is Epicenter - first time this one has bloomed for me.

This one is clarence - This is a reblooming variety that is a light blue/white color

And finally - this one is Loop The Loop.  Its supposed to be a tall iris but because I just planted them - they blooms are very short.