Happenings

This morning I picked the last of the Indian Figs for breakfast. I'll miss their goodness. I'm wondering if the pomegranates are about ready as they are the next fruit about to ripen. I've been steaming brocolli and carrots for breakfast as well. Sounds kind of strange for breakfast but vegies for breakfast are said to be good for you.

I planted lots of mesquite seeds this week in the back area by the wash with hopes that some will start to grow. I'm trying to start some figs from cuttings. Some are in water and others with root hormone are in damp earth. My Moringa tree is looking very much like a young tree. I'm trying to start more seeds but they are very hard to germinate. Maybe next year my little tree will give me some seeds to try to start. Local and fresh they may do better.

I got rid of all my roosters this week. I put them on freecycle and a little gal took them all. I have some coming up for next season I'm sure. In the chicken yard I have peacocks with chicks and new chicks being hatched. Finally I have some hens that got it. Two hens were sitting on the nest. As the chicks hatch they hop on the ground out of the nest and one hen is taking the chicks the other hen is setting on the nest. Now that is smart. Before both hens left the nest leaving the eggs to spoil. By the end of the month I should have some more chicks as right now two hens are setting.

We are having monsoon type weather here today. Not much rain for me this summer. Other parts of the valley have gotten rain. I'm hoping this storm will bring some.

Breakfast this morning. Two nice fat Indian Figs. These taste like ripe pears.
I chew the seeds hoping they will add nutrition. I don't really know the
nutritional content of these fruits but I like them and they are filling.

Mesquite seeds. We gathered these up by Luchia's Restaurant last week. I've
been planting them out on the sides of the wash and some of these I hope
to grind for flour. I have not eaten the flour yet and want to try it.

Night Blooming Cerius

Indian Fig

The Indian Fig is a beautiful showy plant. This one is beside the chicken house.
The heat from the chickens keep it from freezing in the winter months.
If they freeze they don't usually die but take a long time to come back.

Indian Fig

This is an Indian Fig. I think the names are all wrong. This should be prickly
pear. These taste very much like ripe pears. The fruits are a bit seedy
a bit like seeds in a tomato. I have been eating these the past few days.

The prickly pear fruit tastes more like pomagranate and honeydew melon.

Demonstration Speech: How to Build a Solar Oven

Here is a good demonstration video on how to make a solar oven

re-tainer

Here is a quick little house.

My breakfast the past week has been about three fat figs gathered from my
trees and prickly pear fruit. These are very tasty and the simplist way to eat
them is to simply take them off the cactus with prongs, hold them with a fork
and slice them in half. I then just scoop out the centers with a spoon. The seedy
part tastes a bit like pomegranate and the green inner part tastes a bit like
honeydew melon. My chickens love them too so I cut some in half for them and
give them all the figs that aren't perfect or have ants in them. It's pleasant
eating from your own land, the plants and trees you've planted and tended
are now givng back. It's like dividends from stocks you own. Trees are a
wonderful investment as are other useful plants.

Harvest

During our last storm the palo verde seeds have been dropping to the ground.
I took a basket and gathered a basket full. Here I'm hulling the seeds which I
read can be cooked like dried beans or made into a flour. I'm going to try both.
To the left are a handful of almonds gathered from under my one year old
almond tree. I took off the husks and will shell them. They are small but tasty.
There are still many more on the tree. I read a report from Davis UC that
two year old almond trees can produce 400 # of shelled nuts. I have planted
six trees this year. I have been paying $5 .- $7. a # at the grocery store for
shelled almonds. The hulls from the shell make good mulch as do the hulls of
the palo verde seeds.

This is my little Moringa Tree. I have two others . They seem to like it
in the dirt outdoors. Once the seeds germinate the little plants seem to
thrive. I'm trying to get some more seeds to germinate right now.

This is a little honey mesquite I planted last Spring. Click on the picture
to see the seed pods in beautiful little clusters. They are turning red.