Garden Update

Our cara cara tree was prolific this year -- about 80 oranges.  We picked a lot of the bounty today, but have been eating them for some time. These oranges are, I think, better than the regular Washington navels.  They are just as sweet but with a light tanginess.  Less than a tangarine, but more than regular navel.    Plus the color of the flesh is this deep orangy/red.  

The cara cara has an interesting history.   They are thought to be a cross between a Washington navel and a Bahia navel orange that grows in Brazil.  The orange was discovered in 1976 naturally growing at Hacienda Cara Cara in Venezuela.  So, the cara cara was an unplanned naturally growing hybrid.  It has been grown in the US since the 1980's but is still a speciality item in stores and restaurants.

Here is the Kona Sharwill avocado I picked a couple weeks back.  It seemed ripe enough, so we cut into it today and had it for lunch. This was my first avocado from our 3-4 year old tree.  The seed is a little smaller than other varieties and I thought the taste was excellent, just a bit different from our Fuerte avocados.  Also, this was much easier to peel since the peel on the Sharwill is thicker than the Fuertes.  We have been eating the Fuertes since late December and it is fun to have a slightly different avocado to try. There are a few more fruit on the Sharwill and I am going to leave them for couple more weeks before picking to see if the taste changes at all.   

I am watching the stone fruit trees for flowers and our Eva's Pride Peach is first up.  This tree really produced last year and we had jam, ice cream and froze some peaches.  Hopefully around late June we will have some peaches off this tree.  

Hawaiian Avocado

Pictured above are five smooth skinned Fuerte avocados and one smaller deep green Sharwil avocado -- all from our yard.  Our Fuerte tree is mature and we've been eating Fuertes now for more than a month.  Our Kona Sharwil tree, though, was only planted a few years old and the fruit above is the first I've picked from the tree. That makes today a big day.

I am calling the Sharwil my Hawaiian avocado because the Sharwil avocado is what is primarily grown in Hawaii as a commercial avocado crop.  It is reported to be high in oil content and is "considered by some to be the worlds best" avocado.  One site says that USDA restrictions prevent shipping the avocado to the mainland for sale.   But, a Big Island grower says restrictions lifted in 2018 and they do ship Sharwils to mainland US.  Either way, I'm growing one here.

The Kona part of the name I get.  But "Sharwil?"  Apparently the avocado variety was first developed in Australia by Mssrs. Sharp and Williams -- hence the avocado name of "Sharwil."  Kind of disappointing to me.  I was hoping maybe it was a reference to Hawaiian royalty.

I haven't actually tasted a Sharwil yet.  The fruit pictured above is the first I've picked from our tree. Can't wait for it to ripen. 

Our Kona Sharwil tree has had some challenges.  Our Reed and Fuerte trees have done OK with days where we have unusually hot (116 a couple years ago) or cold (in the 30's for us).  However, the Sharwil is bit more delicate than those trees and two years ago it got badly burned.   It seems healthy now and I hope we get a bit more growth this year.  I planted the Sharwil and Reed at the same time and the Sharwil is now maybe a third the size of the Reed.  

  

New Years Eve - 2021

Like everything else, New Years was different this year.  On a typical New Years Eve, the day includes a visit to the Rose Bowl, to watch float decorating and enjoy all the preparations for the game and parade.  This year there was no parade and no game. New Years Eve could have been any other day of the year.  I saw a few tourists that were noticeable for their out of state school gear.  Otherwise, all I saw were the  normal joggers, walkers, bikers, and skateboarders. It was a beautiful sunny day.

So, instead of negotiating the crowds to watch floats getting their final touches, I walked around the stadium with just a few others around.  Turns out the Rose Bowl is a great place for pubic art.  Now good public art is fantastic.  But, in my opinion, too often public art just is not very good.  The Keith Jackson statue at the Bowl entrance is very good especially for those of us who remember Jackson's announcing career and even, like me, hear his voice in our head.  But, the Jackie Robinson statue is extraordinary.  It is the unusual statue and display that is itself worth the trip to see.  The statue depicts Robinson in the uniform and gear he would have worn when he played football for PCC in1937-38.  Of course, he was a four sport star at both PCC and UCLA.     

November Sunset from Cobb Estate

Looking for a late afternoon walk in the hills, and Eaton Canyon being closed unless you have a reservation to enter, I went up to the top of N. Lake and walked into the old Cobb Estate.  There is an interesting Atlas Obscura page on the Cobb Estate and the Marx Brothers' brief ownership of the estate prior to the home being torn down.  
 

Bobcat Fire 9-13

 Yesterday morning the smoke was so thick it permeated our house and was much worse outside.  This is yesterday's morning sun framed by eucalyptus branches.  Thankfully, the air cleared by late afternoon and we actually saw blue sky! The sky was clear enough to see the huge tanker jets making their east over the fire area and then circle back.  The fire has been burning since September 6 and has burned over to Chantry Flat.  The fire is only 6% contained and is going to be with us for a while.  Thankfully, we have had a break in the super hot weather and the highs this week are supposed to be near 90 or a little above.  That's a bit higher than the historic average September highs for Pasadena, which is 89.   

Bobcat Fire

 View looking toward East Pasadena taken from the office building at Colorado and Wilson.  The smoke has been exceptionally heavy particularly in the morning.  Smells like a camp fire.  This photo looks like an old time sepia.  Unfortunately, the photo is untouched.  To the right, I have reprised a post I did about the Chantry Flat fire that occurred in 2008 and threatened East Pasadena.

Summer 2020 Wildlife Update --Deer

Seems every year here in Northeast Pasadena we get a surprise or two.  This summer it was deer.  For the first time in our experience, we have had deer visit the yard.  I have seen this buck maybe half a dozen times  I have seen him on his own. I have also seen him with a smaller buck and, I think, have seen a doe with him too.   

They are beautiful very graceful animals and seeing them has been fun.  I think mostly they have chosen our yard as a shady spot to lie down under the trees.  But, I have seen them move too and this guy can bound over our fence with no effort at all.  Thus far they have done minimal damage. But, I have seen them eating the leaves off our fruit trees and our apple and young avocado have branches that the deer have stripped to the nub.  So, as fun as they are to watch, I have taken to moving the deer along when I see them in the yard.  

I would say bear activity in our neighborhood has been less than in recent years.  Late spring we had a bear cub break through a screened vent and crawl under our porch.  The bear eventually left and the screen was fixed.  We haven't had any problem since.  

Of course, when we first moved here, we did not have any bears around.  We kept chickens, had a small apiary and enjoyed fresh eggs and honey.  We took measures to protect the chickens from coyotes, but did not give bears a thought.  I have posted here about our experience with bears, which reached a low point in 2012 when a bear got into the pen and ate our chickens.    A year earlier, I watched as a bear took out our apiary.    So, we do not have any bees or chickens now. But, we do think about getting chickens again.  

Some other wildlife highlights from the summer:

Twice this summer, I saw a hawk swoop down not more than 10 yards away from me.  I have had this happen here before.  It is thrilling to see a hawk glide downward, ready to grab its prey, and then flap its wings and rocket right back up in the air.  

About dusk one night, as I walked by a large bush in the yard, I heard a faint rustle of leaves.  That's usually a lizard scurrying away, so I stopped and waited to see the lizard. But, there was no lizard.  Instead, I watched as, on the opposite site of the bush from me, a bobcat very quietly exited from under the bush and calmly walked to the fence, jumped up on the fence and then disappeared into the neighbor's yard.  We have seen bobcats here before, but it is rare and always super exciting.   

I have posted before about alligator lizards, which I always find fun to watch.  This summer's pandemic has put me in the yard a lot and I have a few new lizard experiences.  The best was two days ago.  I watched as an alligator lizard slithered out of some tall weeds and went nose down into a patch of freshly weeded dirt. The alligator flailed around in the dirt for a moment and emerged with an earthworm wiggling from both sides of its mouth.  Naturally, when I got my phone out to take a picture, the camera-shy alligator scurried away.

We have also seen and heard from the usual wildlife. We've heard the owls and coyotes (but not seen either).  I see a rabbit or two every morning and there are the squirrels, parrots and tons of doves we also see daily.  But, the real news this summer is the deer.