2008-03-01T17:30:00.000-08:00

Scroll down for 2010 entries...

http://www.cruzinchristy.blogspot.com/ (This is a one page blog that features a beautiful Western Jack O'Lantern Mushroom which I found.)

http://www.theenglishhome.blogspot.com/ (This blog features photos of the interior of my home. I love decorating.)

MY BIRDCAM is working now! A Logitech Quickcam is hooked to a laptop by USB cable out to the balcony. The camera is taped to a tripod. Not elegant, but it works. The feeders are hung with clamp hooks, ordered from http://www.bestnest.com/. I placed an umbrella over the feeders for shade. My first issue was the minimal settings Quickcam offered. Video was too bright and blownout. I discovered http://www.ebirdseed.com/ and the blog described taping sunglass lenses over the camera lens to better control the outside glare! eureka! I leave my $39 Quickcam outside on the sheltered balcony. It is a cheap, rough setup, but it is working.

This is Bucky...

Check out my article 'Deer, Oh Deer' in the
Monterey Bay Master Gardener's Winter Newsletter, Pg 5
http://www.montereybaymastergardeners.org/newsletters/GOTE133.pdf

NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: My property was certified as a wildlife habitat by the NWF. http://www.nwf.org/gardenforwildlife/certify.cfm

FEBRUARY, 2009 - lawn repair today! Lawn repair is essential now, as the wildlife literally make a mess out of it each fall and winter. Today I cut the lawn, put down some good soil in bare spots, and used my Scotts whirly bird applicator to put down grass seed, and then fertilizer. Last step- heavy watering, which I will have to continue so I turned on my timed sprinklers.

Oops, bad tick bite. Sent me to the Doc's. I was worried about lyme disease as we have so many deer in the area. Took the critter in a baggy and the Doc told me it was not a deer tick and probably not a carrier of lyme disease.

May, 2009...WAR ON THISTLES!!! Crikey! Check Youtube 'Sunnygardener' channel for the video of this! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUyciuD3qQg Since I had my pathway done, the thistles have taken over! They were literally 10 feet tall and 20 feet wide and stretched 100 feet along the pathway!! .
June, 2009...and the main lawn is green and lush, a stark difference from the muddy mess the deer made of it over the winter. I seed and fertilize regularly, with a Whirly bird Scotts spreader. Cutting frequently ensures that weeds don't pop up and it makes the grass thicker.

Rattle Snake!...a youngster, next to the hose I keep at the front of the house. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkmxLjCWTl4&feature=channel_page I started to pick up the hose and got quite a surprise and so did he! He rattled and hissed at me.

July, 2009 and it is time for a little cleanup! The little backgarden is overgrown with nasturtium. They have taken over everything, tumbling in and out of the pots of roses and over the little rock pathway. The sweetpeas grew to 6' tall! Alas, the vines with their delicate tendrils are dried out. It's a good time for a cutdown and cleanup!

Grapevines are in! I purchased two grapevines to train over the wire archway in the rear of the house. They have made incredible progress, planted in 1/2 barrels on each side of the arch, they have fruited already! Update: August 3rd. What happened to the grapes??? They're gone!! I think the birds got to them.
August 17, 2009 The roses have been cut back a bit and fertilized again. I am using Miracle Grow for Roses and I just chuck a handful of the pink 'fairy dust' onto the base of each plant, then water in well.

My pumpkin plants are doing well, as is the squash and my tomato plants, and beans are fab! What I like to do is 'underplant', and it seems to work. I have a prospering, 6' tall tomato plant, healthy, planted in the same barrel as my dwarf Avacado, they enjoy the companionship and are growing abundantly. I planted a pumpkin vine in both barrels which now hold my new Grape vines, and a lovely, hearty, cherry tomato plant in the tube with my dwarf Lemon tree.

September 24, 2009 and we are experiencing an Indian Summer heat wave. It was so hot, I decided to buy an air conditioner for the bedroom and a couple weeks later, I am enjoying it fully! How about the garden? It is getting very hard to keep up with the watering, so I am letting some things go as it is the end of the season.

October 12, 2009, the first big storm of the season is on its way, ahead of schedule! Usually we get our first rain around Halloween, but this year we are expecting a pretty good rain storm tomorrow! In prep, I cleaned out fountains and brought in the pumps for a cleaning. I cleared the deck of anything that will blow off, took in the rug and seat cushions, and today I will put the umbrellas down. So I plan to hunker down and enjoy our first storm, enjoying the fire and just watching out the windows!

New York Trip Oct. 21st to the 26th for Fall Color...and to visit my beautiful daughter. Take note of the photo on the right, we see some fall color here in California, but upstate NY is gorgeous at this time of year. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip, but I am playing catch up now, cutting grass, raking, trimming in the garden. I really hope the rain gets here again soon, so I can relax!

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January 3, 2010...Can you believe it! I have been blogging and doing Youtube video for 4 years now and it is a lot of fun! Today I took a hike and took many photos of emerging mushrooms along Jarvis Road.

Mountain Lions in the neighborhood...I just finished taking a series of 50 photos of interesting varieties of mushrooms growing on Jarvis Road. I plan to have my friend Charlie help me identify them. He has lived in the area all his life, and he forages for mushrooms during the season. Well, I usually walk alone, just after sun rise, and try to take my camera, but after reading this article in the local paper, about my neighbor losing some farm stock to a marauding mountain lion, as well as talking to friends on the trail, I may have to stop my mushroom photog project, as there is a mountain lion stalking the area! http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_14113505?source=most_viewed

Here are some great British gardening movies:

Being There - a movie starring Peter Sellers, as the wise Chance the Gardener.

Greenfingers - a Brit movie about prison gardens, with Helen Miren.

Saving Grace - a widow, left with lots of debt, after her husband dies suddenly, decides to grow pot, in her greenhouse, for money to pay off the debt. Takes place in rural England! very funny.

Grow Your Own - a movie about allotment gardening in the UK.

I'm a big fan of Felicity Kendal, and I first watched her on a Brit TV series around 1975 called 'The Good Life'. She and her husband abandon their jobs and create a self sustaining lifestyle on their suburban property, complete with pigs, chickens and veg garden, doing all the recycling and environmentally correct things, much to the annoyance of their very upscale neighbors. It is great fun! I also enjoy her now in 'Rosemary and Thyme'.

The Sunny Garden