Plums & Dog Photos


Another photo of the La Salle sunflower.


I have a young Improved French prune/plum tree. This year 4 plums grew. One fell off the tree a month ago and the birds got another. These are the remaining plums. I hope we can eat them this weekend. I might try to take the yeast off the skins and make a sourdough starter.


Yesterday, when I first gave the pups the orange ball, Carbon got it first. That didn't last long...


Button got the ball and jumped on top of the dog house, the only place Carbon can't get her. He barks a lot and tries to jump up, but he just can't do it. To see the chase scenes, go to my overflow dog blog.

Purple silk & orange ball


This is a strawberry flower blooming off of a runner.

The corn didn't grow very tall, but but it looks like we should have a few ears. I've been hand pollinating the silks being they all seem to be maturing at different times.

This is my first hand-full of green beans. Variety is Blue Lake Pole. I ate them raw in a couple of minutes. mmmmm...

The dogs got a new toy today. It's an orange ball made by West Paw Design, the Huck. It's made from 10% post-industrial waste and the manufacturer will recycle it when the dogs are done with it. Plus, if the dogs destroy it, they will replace it for free. That's a challenge that Button likes. :) Tomorrow I'll post photos of the dogs playing with it.

The dirtiest dog... ever & some garden pictures

A lot of good it does to wash this little dog. She loves to roll around the backyard in the dirt. Then she comes into the house to shake off. Fun.


Developing raspberry. This variety is Caroline. I also planted another variety called Tulameen, but it got a slow start.


I planted a few Basil plants and Thyme that I started from seed.


Finally a honey bee sighting, but there was only one. I'll have to keep an eye on the oregano to see if more show up. More about bees soon...

2 Sunflowers



Here is my newest sunflower. Variety is La Salle. It has a small seed shell compared to some of the larger sunflowers I grow, but the seed inside is just as big.

Sunol Regional Wilderness Park & Sunflower



Sid and Carbon during our hike. Carbon is the one with the red backpack. He carried their water, poo bags and eventually Button's poo.

Some pretty rocks at the end of Indian Joe nature trail.


Yellow California hills with Live Oaks and bright blue sky. The temperature was in the mid 70's at the park.


I spotted some woodpeckers in the distance. After some research, I think they are Acorn Woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus). Makes sense, we were surrounded by Oak trees all day.


Another photo of the woodpecker.


After the hike we took the dogs to Pet Food Express for baths. They fell asleep, on the back seat of my car, on the way home. So cute.

Droopy McSunflower

Sunflower and Orange Strawberry Tomato


Orange Strawberry tomato is a favorite at Carmel's Tomato Fest

Drooping Sunflower

As the seeds develop the center become less flat and increasingly heavy. I weaved it through the raspberry cage for support.

Today's title


This is a close up of the sunflower. If you click on it you can see a larger image to see the details.

Raspberry flowers

So now there are white flowers on the bean too. I'm not sure if I have different varieties or if that is just the nature of Blue Lake Pole. The brown seeds, to the right, are cilantro.

Overcast Sunday


This a flower from a Pink Beauty radish. In the background you can see the seed pods already forming. They look like little elephant tusks.


I'm growing Blue Lake Pole beans this year. I got my seeds from Seed Savers 2008 Year Book. CAPEG, is Seed Savers code for the person I purchased the seeds from. I don't think I ever grew a bean with yellow flowers before. They are usually white or purple.

Sunflower du jour


The flower head is getting heavy from all the developing seeds.

Today's Sunflower

The bees do not seem interested in this sunflower. This one grew from a seed that the birds didn't get last year. I grew 2 different varieties, in this bed, last year. Mammoth and Lyng's, so it could be a the result of a cross-pollinated sunflower from last year.

Mother's Day Video


Carbon & Button wishing Grandma a Happy Mother's day in 2008.

Parsley Seed Saving

Yep, the same sunflower one day older.


I'm saving seeds from my Giant Italian Parsley. I probably have enough seeds to plant several acres of parsley.

Sunflower and Water lily

Today's sunflower photo does not look much different from yesterday's.


This water lily is a very pale yellow. It is about 8 inches across.


I wanted to show how much the water lily rises out of the water.

We ate the 2 tomatoes last night tossed with some pasta, olive oil, herbs and garlic. The tomatoes were almost completely solid. Very few seeds.

Sunflower & Tomato Nets


I decided to keep taking photos of the sunflower until I get bored with it. So far I still like it.


This might actually be the first ripe tomato of the year. It was hiding in the lower part of the plant. It is also an Anna Russian. Much bigger than the first.


This is a net I made to keep the tomato flowers from cross-pollinating. I want to save seeds from the tomato plants I bought from Master Gardeners this year. I'm also saving seeds from the pepper plants I bought. They are all open-pollinated plants, so the seeds will be true to the original plant.


I thought this was a pretty picture of the tomato flower in one of the nets.

Sunflower and First tomato

The Sunflower has completely opened now.

Anna Russian - Green shoulders are a common characteristic of this variety.