Spring
Many of the plants I put in the ground over the Winter are doing well. Many of the seeds sown have come up and I've got a nice crop of California poppies blooming now and some pea blossoms on the way.
I've got beets, brussle sprouts and purple tomatillo in containers on the deck, and seedling chard, kale, basil and mustard greens in the conservatory. I built a few raised beds in the South/side yard over the weekend where I hope to locate the greens.
The bare root mixed graft prunus tree I planted last Spring had so many proto-fruits on it that I thinned them out. Some of the fruit is already more than 1" diameter. I'm looking forward to being able to eat off the tree, especially after getting my first harvest off the owari satsuma mandarin trees this Winter. The Eureka lemon tree I put in the ground last Spring continues to struggle.
The bees overWintered well. Too well. I didn't react quickly enough this Spring to their rapid growth and two of the three colonies, Ульяна and Lotta, swarmed this week before I had sense enough to split them. Both have occupied queen cells and I'm trusting that the successors will be in place soon. No idea when the Queens took off or where they went.
My big headache lately has been a Notice of Violation from the City of Oakland stating that my 20 year old conservatory was built without a permit. Apparently the Notice was sparked from an "anonymous" complaint, which I am confident was placed by the real estate developer that flipped the house to the South of me. In any case, it has cost me more than $4000 and four days of vacation so far, and I haven't even started the real work of earthquake retrofits. I applied for the retroactive construction permit about a month ago and am still waiting to hear back re:approval. The cost has pretty much absorbed my resources for the Summer, so I'm not planning on any travel.
I've got a staycation planned in July where I hope to finish up some painting, repair the back fence, move the mailbox to the front fence and paint the front fence. If all goes well, I also hope to build a doghouse and possibly adopt a dog during another September staycation.
I've got beets, brussle sprouts and purple tomatillo in containers on the deck, and seedling chard, kale, basil and mustard greens in the conservatory. I built a few raised beds in the South/side yard over the weekend where I hope to locate the greens.
The bare root mixed graft prunus tree I planted last Spring had so many proto-fruits on it that I thinned them out. Some of the fruit is already more than 1" diameter. I'm looking forward to being able to eat off the tree, especially after getting my first harvest off the owari satsuma mandarin trees this Winter. The Eureka lemon tree I put in the ground last Spring continues to struggle.
The bees overWintered well. Too well. I didn't react quickly enough this Spring to their rapid growth and two of the three colonies, Ульяна and Lotta, swarmed this week before I had sense enough to split them. Both have occupied queen cells and I'm trusting that the successors will be in place soon. No idea when the Queens took off or where they went.
My big headache lately has been a Notice of Violation from the City of Oakland stating that my 20 year old conservatory was built without a permit. Apparently the Notice was sparked from an "anonymous" complaint, which I am confident was placed by the real estate developer that flipped the house to the South of me. In any case, it has cost me more than $4000 and four days of vacation so far, and I haven't even started the real work of earthquake retrofits. I applied for the retroactive construction permit about a month ago and am still waiting to hear back re:approval. The cost has pretty much absorbed my resources for the Summer, so I'm not planning on any travel.
I've got a staycation planned in July where I hope to finish up some painting, repair the back fence, move the mailbox to the front fence and paint the front fence. If all goes well, I also hope to build a doghouse and possibly adopt a dog during another September staycation.