In the Garden, 12/21/2010

Since I have a (temporarily) gimp foot and since it's been pouring rain here for a few days, it's been a while since I was in the garden. Today there's been a break in the weather and I thought it was time for me to go out and pick peas. 3 1/2 hours later I finally came back inside.

Here's how things like a little "pea-picking" task can go here:

1. I head out to the garden to see how the peas are doing. Upon entering, I see that the giant pecan tree has been prolifically dropping leaves all over the place. I walk along the raised beds pulling leaves out. I make a mental note that I also need to clear the blanket of leaves that are on the ground in the garden.

2. I move on to the peas (at this point I'm still on target). I start clearing out pecan tree leaves from around and in the pea tee-pee and discover that the pea vines have been growing very vigorously. The "outer layers" didn't find anything to grip onto before they got too long and were lying flat. One by one I lifted them up and wound them into the trellis. For one side I had to add a supportive piece of wire fencing since there was nothing left of the tee-pee to support the vines. I then commenced picking the mature (and some overly mature) peas.

3. Setting the baskets aside, I decide to move the two cabbage plants that were in the shade to sunny spots in the other beds.

4. I feed everything in the garden a healthy dose of fish emulsion for nitrogen.

5. Then I decide that there's no time like the present to do something about the leaves so I haul out the leaf vacuum and suck up all the leaves, collecting two 30-gallon cans full of shredded leaves. These will become the bulk of my compost for next year along with the grass clippings (when the lawn starts growing again in the spring) and some alfalfa hay that I've got hanging around here.

6. Finally, 3 1/2 hours later I pick up my baskets of peas and head inside for lunch.


Here's how the garden looks now that the leaves have been cleaned up. There will be more. That pecan tree isn't finished de-leafing.



This is my 3rd year attempting Brussels sprouts. Go, Brussels sprouts, go!



That middle bed contains the overly crowded pea tee-pee, a couple of cabbage plants (that are doing very well), some cilantro, and another set of peas. All together there are three varieties of peas growing.



This Navel orange tree is loaded with soon-to-be ripe oranges. The oranges from this tree will keep us in freshly squeezed orange juice for a while and when they run out...



The oranges on this Valencia orange tree will become ripe. These two trees ensure that we very rarely have to buy orange juice. We did have to invest in a sturdy citrus juicer though.