Tuesday, February 16, 2021
January sky
Since it never (or rarely) rains in California, we mostly have to trudge along with blue skies. Sometimes, though, we get treated to a beautiful sunset.
Sunday, February 14, 2021
The Last Mandarin Orange
Today I picked the season's last piece of fruit from our Satsuma Mandarin Orange tree. The tree starts bearing in late November and has given us a steady supply of sweet and juicy mandarins all the way through to today. The great thing about these is that they are easy to peel. The even greater thing is that they are home grown, we can walk out and pick one anytime from about November - February and they taste far better than anything you can buy at the store.
The Satsuma Mandarin has been called the "perfect" fruit tree. For citrus, the trees are hearty and are said to tolerate below freezing temperatures. They are self pollinating. And, best of all, the fruit is delicious, super easy to peel and has no seeds. In our garden, they are also the first of the citrus to bear, which means come Fall the Satsuma Mandarin gives us the welcome first taste of sweet and juicy citrus for the season. The only downside is that the tree tends to be alternate bearing with a heavy crop one year and light one the next. We had a heavy crop this year, so I'm thinking next year is going to be light.
Below you can see the loose orange peel that just breaks away clean from the fruit.
Saturday, February 13, 2021
Garden Update
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.
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.
Saturday, January 30, 2021
Hawaiian Avocado
Monday, January 25, 2021
New Years Eve - 2021
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.
Saturday, November 28, 2020
November Sunset from Cobb Estate
Monday, September 14, 2020
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.