Question:
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For Ann, here is a lemon from the organic lemon tree in my backyard. No, I don't have a green thumb :). It's a constant battle with the bugs and the slugs! But the lemons seem to thrive on neglect. Right now I am having a bumper crop and trying to find ways to use them all up! I read about preserving them, but that sounds like lots of work, especially when I have fresh lemons year round! I used to live in NY, and this is such a treat to be able to grow anything in this beautiful southern California weather :) So, life has handed me lots of lemons, I'm going to make lemonade
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Thats so nice to have a lemon tree. Lucky you! :)
Hi SuzanneT,
I'm glad that your tree thrives on neglect and you don't have to use any sprays. I guess each area has its own set of insects, and I have to get a quarterly yard spray to kill the really bad things like asps and fire ants. I just don't want to eat things grown in my garden after they have been sprayed with
the pesticides that are effective for things like red mites. One solution is to hand wash every leaf. Well, that just isn't practical so I plant tomatoes and harvest until the bugs discover the plants. Then I just throw the plants away.
I've had good luck with basil and peppers, but that is about it.
I do grow flowers. Lots and lots of flowers everywhere.
Ann
garden tip,,,plant marigolds around your tomato plants,,,,,no bugs or worms!
Say,,,you have 4 tomato plant, put a marigold between each plant and one at the end of your row. I like yellow or orange because it brightens your garden.
It worked for me in Ohio, Colorado and now NC.
Thanks for the marigold tip. Sounds lovely. I'll try it next year. We are heading into water restrictions (unless we get some rain very soon) so starting a fall garden won't be possible this year. I'll be lucky to keep what is growing alive.
Ann
One thing you can try doing with all those lemon is what I do. I eat 2-3 lemon a day by quatering then and eating them like a orange. They are real low in calories, sugar and they are great at cutting down your closterol.
Mitch
I love the smell of fresh lemons and also adding them to my spring water... :) and there is NOTHING in this world like fresh squeezed lemonade with a sprig of fresh mint...I'm not sure I could eat them like a orange tho.
For some reason I can't get the song " Lemon Tree " out of my head!
Karen :)
Karen, oh, darn, now you've got me humming that song "Lemon Tree"!!! I hate it when that happens, and a song is with you for days and you just CAN'T get it out of your head! :)
Nope, don't think I could eat a lemon like an orange either......... but I DO remember at Christmas time when we were kids, we used to get a candy cane and stick it in half a lemon and suck the lemon through the candy cane - did anybody else do that?
Ann, I have lots of flower gardens as well! I *DO* use chemicals on some of those, mostly the roses. Could you start a drought tolerant fall garden? Aren't you back east?
Granny, I planted yellow and orange marigolds all through my vegetable patch. Unfortunately, my dog Skippy has taken a liking to marigolds this year (yuck!). Last year it was red flowers - any red flower that was below knee level was decapitated. I have to put wire cages around all my strawberries and beans. I found out a few days ago that he also likes peppers - he even ate the asian hot peppers!!! :eek:
1 Attachment(s) Ann - or anyone..... I'd love to hear about your flower gardens! I've been gardening for years, but this was my first full year gardening in southern California. It sure is different! Who would have thought that you plant snapdragons in the fall and winter, and throw them out in the spring to plant 'summer' flowers! Ha! I guess I prefer the 'cottage garden' look - I like flowers everywhere, and nothing is neat and orderly in my garden! Here's a picture of a corner that I took the other day. My Plumeria is in full bloom, but it's one of the few tropical plants I have - guess I'm a New Englander at heart! I don't know if you can see it, but that's one of my dogs in the back, burying something no doubt.
What a lovely flower bed Suzanne. What a beautiful mix. I did find your dog in the photo. When I first moved here, there wasn't a single flower bed in the yard. So every year, I kept digging out the grass and making new beds. I needed color. There was just too much green. I mix it up too, with lots of colors and also have hanging pots on my oak tree branches filled with flowers. I like being able to have flowers of some type year around too. Sometimes we get just below the freezing mark, and I have to run around and cover everything up with sheets, but its worth it. After all these years, I have large flowering bushes. I think I'm the only person in the USA who doesn't have a digital camera, otherwise I would love to post pictures. Right now, the mix of light blue, bright yellow and hot pink in the front beds is really pretty.
Some of the prettiest flowers I have ever seen are those in Portland, Oregon in the springtime. The tulip trees are spectacular. They seem to have the perfect climate for flowers.
:cool: :cool: :cool:
Answers:
Thats so nice to have a lemon tree. Lucky you! :)
Answers:
Hi SuzanneT,
I'm glad that your tree thrives on neglect and you don't have to use any sprays. I guess each area has its own set of insects, and I have to get a quarterly yard spray to kill the really bad things like asps and fire ants. I just don't want to eat things grown in my garden after they have been sprayed with
the pesticides that are effective for things like red mites. One solution is to hand wash every leaf. Well, that just isn't practical so I plant tomatoes and harvest until the bugs discover the plants. Then I just throw the plants away.
I've had good luck with basil and peppers, but that is about it.
I do grow flowers. Lots and lots of flowers everywhere.
Ann
Answers:
garden tip,,,plant marigolds around your tomato plants,,,,,no bugs or worms!
Say,,,you have 4 tomato plant, put a marigold between each plant and one at the end of your row. I like yellow or orange because it brightens your garden.
It worked for me in Ohio, Colorado and now NC.
Answers:
Thanks for the marigold tip. Sounds lovely. I'll try it next year. We are heading into water restrictions (unless we get some rain very soon) so starting a fall garden won't be possible this year. I'll be lucky to keep what is growing alive.
Ann
Answers:
One thing you can try doing with all those lemon is what I do. I eat 2-3 lemon a day by quatering then and eating them like a orange. They are real low in calories, sugar and they are great at cutting down your closterol.
Mitch
Answers:
I love the smell of fresh lemons and also adding them to my spring water... :) and there is NOTHING in this world like fresh squeezed lemonade with a sprig of fresh mint...I'm not sure I could eat them like a orange tho.
For some reason I can't get the song " Lemon Tree " out of my head!
Karen :)
Answers:
Karen, oh, darn, now you've got me humming that song "Lemon Tree"!!! I hate it when that happens, and a song is with you for days and you just CAN'T get it out of your head! :)
Nope, don't think I could eat a lemon like an orange either......... but I DO remember at Christmas time when we were kids, we used to get a candy cane and stick it in half a lemon and suck the lemon through the candy cane - did anybody else do that?
Ann, I have lots of flower gardens as well! I *DO* use chemicals on some of those, mostly the roses. Could you start a drought tolerant fall garden? Aren't you back east?
Granny, I planted yellow and orange marigolds all through my vegetable patch. Unfortunately, my dog Skippy has taken a liking to marigolds this year (yuck!). Last year it was red flowers - any red flower that was below knee level was decapitated. I have to put wire cages around all my strawberries and beans. I found out a few days ago that he also likes peppers - he even ate the asian hot peppers!!! :eek:
Answers:
1 Attachment(s) Ann - or anyone..... I'd love to hear about your flower gardens! I've been gardening for years, but this was my first full year gardening in southern California. It sure is different! Who would have thought that you plant snapdragons in the fall and winter, and throw them out in the spring to plant 'summer' flowers! Ha! I guess I prefer the 'cottage garden' look - I like flowers everywhere, and nothing is neat and orderly in my garden! Here's a picture of a corner that I took the other day. My Plumeria is in full bloom, but it's one of the few tropical plants I have - guess I'm a New Englander at heart! I don't know if you can see it, but that's one of my dogs in the back, burying something no doubt.
Answers:
What a lovely flower bed Suzanne. What a beautiful mix. I did find your dog in the photo. When I first moved here, there wasn't a single flower bed in the yard. So every year, I kept digging out the grass and making new beds. I needed color. There was just too much green. I mix it up too, with lots of colors and also have hanging pots on my oak tree branches filled with flowers. I like being able to have flowers of some type year around too. Sometimes we get just below the freezing mark, and I have to run around and cover everything up with sheets, but its worth it. After all these years, I have large flowering bushes. I think I'm the only person in the USA who doesn't have a digital camera, otherwise I would love to post pictures. Right now, the mix of light blue, bright yellow and hot pink in the front beds is really pretty.
Some of the prettiest flowers I have ever seen are those in Portland, Oregon in the springtime. The tulip trees are spectacular. They seem to have the perfect climate for flowers.
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