Ahhh rain, beautiful rain! Monday afternoon we packed up from our audit in Melbourne and got just ahead of the advancing and ominous storm that was moving in. We made it home with an hour to spare. The relief was almost audible as the earth soaked up the long awaited tropical rain. These storms have rain bands that come and go in a fury. One minute we are assaulted with sideways rain and the next the sun is beaming down. AJ doesn’t sleep with earplugs, like I do; so he has spent a restless week being awakened by pelting rain and the NOAA Weather Radio alerts.
The Storm Total Precipitation Map only shows us as having received 2.5″. This is erroneous, as our rain gauge collected 7″ over the course of the week. In one week our desert has been restored to its lush tropical glory. The brown, crispy grass is recovering and growing where there seemed to be no life remaining. The animals and insects are rejoicing, although I have yet to hear the chorus of toads and frogs.
AJ almost went stir-crazy being cooped up inside for so long. We got wet going to work a couple of times, but for the most part we were able to dodge the rain getting in and out of our job sites. He made the best of being indoors for so long and got to work figuring out how to fix the broken antennae on the Mercedes. I’m sure you know the routine by now. He got on the forums, asked questions, searched around, asked more questions and researched more. By yesterday afternoon the majority of the storm had passed and he got busy taking the antennae apart on the living room floor. Before long it had been put back together, tested, taken apart again, thoroughly greased, put back together, tested and declared “Fixed…for now, but it may not last long”. It may last forever, but saying that is just not his style.
I wasn’t feeling up to par, so I spent most of the week taking naps after work and lounging around. I don’t seem to have the Cabin Fever gene.
When the rain stopped, I was anxious to get outside and survey the garden. Everything had grown dramatically.
The watermelon vine took off like a shot.
The best surprise was the promise of great future photo ops and bananas, as one of the banana plants is getting ready to flower and fruit. We have two banana stands, both of which are mixtures of plants from here in the park and some grand plants from AJ’s grandmother’s yard. The latter are said to produce large fruit like the kind you find in the grocery store. We are anxious to see what this alien-looking pod reveals.
Another fast growing tropical fruit is the papaya. I transplanted my baby papaya seedlings too quickly and most of them died. I do have a few strays lingering about the yard, but was disappointed with my lack of a papaya tree. They grow and fruit quickly and produce a nice umbrella-like shade. Two weeks ago Mike (the man who is responsible for giving us the opportunity to make a living, and also a good friend) dropped by bearing the gift of this teenage papaya tree. Thrilled with the jump start we put it right into the ground, and AJ got to work doing what he does best when it comes to horticulture: watering. It was touch and go for a while, but the week of rain was just the right prescription. The little papaya is doing fine.
It doesn’t look like much, but the grass is much greener.
The muskmelon is going crazy. It’s very healthy and takes quite well to being trained into one direction.
Baby muskmelon
The red peppers are almost ready.
Another red pepper waits in the wings.
Last week I was dismayed to find the blooms and baby cucumbers wilting and dropping from the vine. A close inspection caused me to suspect that this was an inside job; and I was correct. I learned about the dreaded Pickleworm (Diaphania nitidalis). Don’t let the cute sounding name fool you, these critters are pure, green, hairy evil! The picklelworm was happily boring along the inside of the stem destroying everything in its path. I did a quick inspection and plucked off all of the wilted tips, in order to eliminate any additional perpetrators. Had I been in my right mind I would have taken a photograph of the little monster. Instead, I put him on top of the freezer where he was sure to fall prey to a lizard, and scurried inside to research cucumber pests and how to eliminate them.
I was waiting to get into the Atomic Grow™ until I had time to properly document my applications. Leafminers and aphids had become a minor annoyance, but the pickleworm put me over the top. I hadn’t even purchased a sprayer (as recommended for proper application) so I mixed some in a spray bottle and set to spritzing everything in sight. Atomic Grow™ is designed to make plants so healthy as to resist pests. It is all organic and not a pesticide, but I’ll let the results speak for themselves. Because of the heavy rain, I can’t say exactly which forces were responsible, but the cucumber plant went bonkers and the lone remaining cucumber tripled in size this week. I hope that we are soon overrun with cucumbers and are no longer this thrilled with a single vegetable. For now, here is our bouncing baby “Marketmore 76″!
Leafminers have been having a heyday with all of the tender, young plants, including the collard green. The unscathed leaves are the ones treated with Atomic Grow™ this week.
This bean plant had all but bought the farm when I gave it a spritz of Atomic Grow™. It was covered with aphids and had dropped most of its leaves. The aphids died instantly and new leaves appeared within days. I don’t expect this plant to do much, but it’s a nice testimony to the powers of Atomic Grow™.
Here are eight heirloom tomato seedlings; two each of Black Krim, Brandywine, Cherokee Purple and Indian Stripe. AJ and I are planning another extension of the garden in the form of a tomato field. We will collect more buckets, bury them halfway in the ground on “The Back 40″, plant one tomato per bucket and build natural tomato cages for each. He is so impressed with the performance of the one cage we built that he wants to experiment with more. The tomato garden will be designed to tie in with the main garden. At the rate we are going, the entire lot will be an edible landscape.
The Cardinal Air Plant is now putting out the pretty purple blooms. What this plant lacks in general personality it makes up when blooming.
Now for my highlight of the week: The Lubbers are here! I have been drawing and photographing these massive grasshoppers for years and always look forward to their emergence. Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers (Romalea guttata) usually make an appearance, en masse, in the form of a group of small black nymphs (insect children). Over the weeks they grow and molt until they reach adulthood. As youngsters they congregate on some juicy plant and eat for a few days before moving on to the next. They are sadly maligned and have a reputation for devouring everything in their path. An undeserving reputation if you ask me. They do favor amaryllis, but all of the plants quickly recover and may end up healthier for the natural pruning. I have yet to see them strip any plant to death. I’ve kept my eye out for them this year, but hadn’t seen any yet. Yesterday I was sitting at my desk when I saw this character nibbling on the jasmine before moseying along the roof of the shed.
Lubbers aren’t bothered by much and never seem to be in a hurry. They must know that they are toxic, as they show little fear (only mild annoyance) at being disturbed. Their great colors and docile disposition make them perfect models for an insect photography nut like myself. This one has just molted and has a bent wing. It’s of little consequence since they have no need to fly, and couldn’t if they wanted to. A single lubber has a large range and will be seen casually lumbering about the entire yard throughout the summer. Later in the afternoon this one had already made its way to the back yard (about 20 feet away). I guess I will have to think up a name for it. Suggestions welcomed.
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