First Black Krim tomato of 2017

It's early to be harvesting tomatoes in this area, I know. Here's the back story.

This tomato plant overwintered on my balcony because I planted the seeds in 2016 a bit late. So it sat there through our torrential rains of 2016 and did not even try to bear fruit. Did I also say that the balcony in the winter also gets basically zero hours of direct sun? Definitely no incentive to do anything but survive. Nonetheless, I chose to keep it because I had read tomato plants, in its natural environs, could be perennial plants and just maybe I could get a head start on tomatoes in 2017. I got the poor plant into the ground March 16, a month after I started seeds for this year's tomato plants, and it did well, which is why I have a tomato to harvest so much earlier than normal for this garden plot.

Making seed balls

As part of the community garden outreach, the task at hand was to make seed balls. We mixed wildflower seeds into dirt, add water, and make meatball size seed balls. They are to be tossed into sunny areas hopefully with a water source.

More info here

Seeds balls are an ancient technique for propagating plants from seeds without opening up soil with cultivation tools such as a plow. The rediscovery and popularization of seedballs (or “Clay Dumplings” as he called them) in modern times is typically ascribed to Japanese natural farmer and philosopher Masanobu Fukuoka. As with many natural farmers, Fukuoka believed that tillage over large areas is laborious, destructive to soil health, and ultimately not needed and thus a waste of time and energy. Thus, seedballs have become an important aspect of many natural farming and conservation enterprises around the world.

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March bouquet of freesias, fava bean tops and nettles

Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt. Anonymous

I've got freesias, fava bean tops and stinging nettles bouquet to take home from my garden. These are the first of the freesias. I sauté the fava bean tops in extra virgin olive oil and garlic. I make tea from the stinging nettles.

Fava flowers

Light rain this February morning. The fava beans have shot up in size and are flowering.

Rumi: You are not a drop in the ocean. You are an entire ocean in a drop.

after the deluge, January 2017

We had around 7.81 inches of rain this month, a real treat after several years of very little rain. I am not savvy enough to be able to find historical records although I know they are out there.

As an indication that southern California was even wetter in the mountains, it was a good month for snow at Mammoth: 245.5 inches of snow. This was apparently the most ever in one month since the 1969-1970 season.

Before the deluge, I planted seeds (carrots, spinach, radish, arugula and peas) in my garden plot. Nothing showing up so far.

However, the violets are in bloom. These are volunteers. I don't know the species. Family: Violaceae. Viola sp.

The aloe is also in bloom. Family: Asphodelaceae. Aloe vera