Happy New Year! I pray peace within, health and joy without to you and your family. May 2025 bring all goodness to you if it be within God’s will. As Benjamin Franklin said in 1755, “Be at War with your Vices, at Peace with your Neighbors, and let every New Year find you a better Man.” And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper (Psalm 1:3).
So, we get to the rainy season and, instead, we get hot, dry and windy. Hot, dry, windy conditions challenge the gardener; whereas, any one can be a hero in the garden when it rains. These conditions drive what you plant, because your plants must be hardy to survive extremes. Here, where I rarely irrigate, I find soaking a tree makes it so I do not have to water it for another month. In that time, the rain may have come. Pots need more water. They are limited to the pot and their roots do not reach out to moister, cooler soils. “His leaves also shall not wither.” So, I look to the leaves to tell me if the tree needs water. As you grow more trees, they will work together to keep more moisture and coolness in the soil through their shade allowing you to expand the categories of plants you can grow that will survive the conditions.
Simultaneously and sometimes exponentially, insects can infest, namely, because it is dry and you are watering something, like a vegetable or a tree. Insects are drawn to the water. And they can suck the vitality out of your plants. Thrips gather on tomatoes and peppers and ants can farm aphids and scale on citrus. To minimize the impact of insects and strengthen your plants to flower and fruit, sprinkle some agricultural lime or dolomite around the plants. Lime contains the calcium and magnesium plants want to flower and fruit. And the lime discourages the insects from being around. Win, win.
As a great joy, I would like to share that Alana and Matt Castona had a beautiful baby, Layna, at 8:44pm on December 19, 2024. And December 19 is my birthday! Yes, I get to be Uncle Ted!!!
Finally, we will be having our Winter Sale February 14 and 15. Come celebrate Valentine’s Day on February 15 at our BBQ Potluck 3pm and exchange seeds and plants. Maybe Martina will make a cheesecake like last time!
We will be offering for the first time eight varieties of avocado: Green Gold, Kahalu, Kona Gold, Linda, Malama, Yamagata, Sharwil and Share Well. Also, we will have Hoya Vine hanging baskets: $60(s), $80(m), and $100(L). We will have flats of Tropic Lalo grass $40.
Comments