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[furtech]

With help from martes, I've spent the last couple of days planting more manzanita plants on the hill. Lots of dirty, muddy work. I wanted to get them in while the ground is still saturated from the rains.

Good news: a lot more plants survived than I had originally thought. Several desert mallows and matalija poppies are still alive (including one that I dug up, before I realized that though the top was quite dead, the root ball was still wick and creating new shoots). About 2/3's of the manzanita survived as well. Ironically, the new 1-gal plants I got were probably from the same planting as the ones I got last year, as they're larger than the ones I got delivered and about the same size as the ones in the ground already.

Two new trees to be excited about: I got a pair of Mini Royal Cherry trees and a pair of Surinam Cherry trees ! I'm very excited about both fruit trees.

Angelenos-- ever notice that there are no fruiting cherry trees in SoCal? That's because cherry trees need around 800 hours of freezing temperatures to stimulate them to fruit. The Mini Royal is a cherry tree that will fruit even in areas that don't get any days of freezing temperatures! They also fruit fairly early, with fruit similar to a bing cherry. Finally, a cherry tree in my backyard again!



The Surinam cherry is a tree I've been meaning to get for a while now. Their fruit is neat: it looks like a cherry-sized lantern, with vertical ridges and colors from a bright red to almost black. They grow wild in Florida, apparently, and are often used as hedges there. Ever since I tried one, I've wanted a tree of my own and now I have two!

Talk about a lot of muddy, exhausting work: up steep hillsides, clinging on with a digging tool to keep from sliding down, mud and more mud. I'm not sure why I find this so enjoyable, but I do. At least this time I didn't injure myself. The dogs helped by digging huge holes where they weren't needed...oh, and I hate gophers and squirrels more than ever: aside from the huge erosion and landslide risk they create, they also have been chewing through the drip tubing. I had to make at least two dozen splices where the evil things chewed through them. Much thanks to Roz for the needed help! She'll make a fine ditch-digger someday.

Spider-haters, read no further!
PS, I found the largest black widow spider I've ever seen on the hill. Remember, I've seen a LOT of black widow spiders. SoCal has tons: they really have adapted well to urban environments, unfortunately. This one was HUGE: I had turned a rock over to check the drip-tubing it was holding down and she was right there, somewhat torpid (thankfully). I took pictures, then stuck her back under her rock (if this was in a building or heavily trafficked areas, then squish-- but out there where she belongs? Shrug.) I purposely put her under a link-cut to spare my arachnophobic friends the *horror*. Oh, and this is why you shouldn't make decisions when you are not clear of thought (like, using my own finger for size reference instead of a quarter because I was tired and not thinking...)

Comments

[skorzy.livejournal.com]

I've seen Suriname cherries in a market somewhere.. at sometime.. out here. Didn't get any, but I remember being intrigued by their shape.

Good sized black widow! That's about as big as I've seen them. Though black widows are getting more uncommon around here, being displaced by brown widows.

[furtech.livejournal.com]

I hope the brown widows don't replace them up here: at least the black widows are striking and easily seen and dealt with. Brown-colored spiders don't disturb me beyond the too-many-legs-and-eyes part. Worrying about black spiders is enough; there are just too many brown ones to make it simple.

[fenris-lorsrai.livejournal.com]

You always get SOMETHING that likes to nibble irrigation or water pipes. My father is a camp ranger and everytime he turns on the water at camp in the spring, he ends up having to track down the holes in the lines due to the porcupines. water pipe? OM NOM NOM!

They also like to eat the latrine doors.

Despite seeing the damage, I've never actually SEEN a wild porcupine however since they're nocturnal and aboreal.

[furtech.livejournal.com]

Huh. I never would have guessed porcupines anywhere ever. I can't even tell if they're doing it for the water or just because they like to chew (like when rats or squirrels chew electrical lines). Based on the size of the chew-marks, I'd guess gophers. One time a coyote chewed through a sprinkler cap (darn him).

[brerandalopex.livejournal.com]

[Brer] And rubber car tires, and the side of your house, and anything that has ever come into even slight contact with salt... :)

[vandringar.livejournal.com]

Manzanitas are awesome. I'd been looking for some to plant in Florida, but didn't manage to get any.

Do the Suriname cherries taste anything like cherries? They're really cool looking.

[furtech.livejournal.com]

I agree: manzanitas are spectacular; it only recently occurred to me that I could grow them on my hillside. I see them so often in the chaparral that having them in a domestic garden never occurred to me. The nursery I got them from has dozens of varieties: from high-mountain ecosystems all the way down to desert varieties. They also have a number of hybrids/crosses. I tried to get the fastest-growing varieties.

Suriname cherries (aka, Pitanga or Brazilian cherry) have a more tropical taste. From what I remember, it had the texture of a lowquat with similar flavor (like a cross between a peach and a mango, but juicier). With the wild-growing varieties, the darker (almost black) variety is preferred for its sweetness. The trees I got are a cultivated (and grafted) variety that has bright red cherries. Very tasty (though YMMV-- taste is a subjective thing).

[diadexxus.livejournal.com]

I want to steal those funky lookin cherries and try one!:)

-J

[brerandalopex.livejournal.com]

[Brer] I'll take our 15 degrees below zero and 2 feet of snow in exchange for the absence of black widows and most other inhospitable critters. I suppose nature figures the weather is enough.

That is a cool honkin' big one though. (I've no issues with spiders at least 5 feet away from me, so photos are fine.)

[millencolinf0x.livejournal.com]

I've never seen cherries like that. How interesting! What do they taste like?

[millencolinf0x.livejournal.com]

Whoops, I see you already answered that.

[dustmeat.livejournal.com]

Black widows always meet heavy bricks in my world.

[zillabean.livejournal.com]

I have never seen suriname cherries before, they are beautiful!

Also, I <3 spiders :D I love your posts.

[okojosan.livejournal.com]

That is a nice big fat black widow! I'm glad you didn't kill her.

[octantis.livejournal.com]

Truly he is blessed by the arachno-gods!