We’re slowly preparing the backyard crop rows for planting. We just pulled all the weeds & bolting cilantro out to the compost pile. Saturday we enjoyed a fresh fennel salad. Next weekend we’ll test the drip tape, make any repairs, remove cat poop 🙄, and then add compost. 🌱
Harvested our first homegrown Valencia orange this year. So very sweet. Even the pith isn’t bitter. We may want to harvest the rest early if there’s a freeze later this week. Fortunately there’s only a dozen-ish. ~243 mandarins harvested so far — makes great juice 🌱🌳
The Annie Cat.
Veggie sushi for dinner tonight.
Gilias were the first annual flowers to bloom in our yard. Can you believe these are just as or more aggressive at spreading compared to poppies? 🌱
First bloom for our Valencia orange tree. About three weeks early compared to 2020 & 2021. 🌱🌳
Ladybug larva gorging on aphids gorging on sage. And nearby, a bright orange ladybug pupa. 🐞 🌱
Honey bee approaching a nectarine flower. 🌳🌱
Our New Century Asian Pear tree, seeing as it’s already showy as heck, will be glorious in a few years. 🌱🌳
Wednesday, February 16, 2022 →
Our cultivated native grapes are leaking water from pruning cuts, and that is normal. But unexpected. 🌱
Today I noticed my cultivated native grapevines we’re leaking water where I recently pruned them. A quick search revealed that is totally normal. I’ll try to grab a photo tomorrow. 🤯 🌱
Here’s three more flowering cultivated native plants from the front yard: sage, then manzanita, then western red bud.
… and here’s a lovely jumping spider hanging out on a manzanita leaf that’s surrounded by a creeping sage bush. Some white manzanita flowers show through the leaves.
Sure feels & looks like spring in our front yard. I think this is an assassin bug on a newly blooming Ceanothus. 🌱
…. and here is our new (this year) New Century Asian Pear about ready to burst. 🌱🌳
Our Nectarine is very close to blooming. This is its second year in the ground here. 🌱🌳
California Towhee from this morning. First sighting ever in the backyard but have seen these around the neighborhood. They don’t seem to care much for the white crowns & house sparrows. This is my kind of bird.
Almond bloom season is already upon us 😒. You can’t avoid it in most of California.
Okay, for once in my life I managed to replace a key home feature without any frigg’n drama. Kitchen faucet replaced & why didn’t we do this sooner? The last faucet not only started leaking last night but years ago had seized into place - no swivel. Local Ace hardware was ace
Thanks to a Honeywell leak detector, at 22:30 we woke to an extraordinarily loud beeping from under the sink & found there a fresh leak. Could have got worse fast. It’s leaking at the braided hose & coupling. That hose is integrated -not replaceable without a new faucet.
