Guess What's For Lunch... and for Dinner?

Remember the garden survivors from the brief frost we had?

I talked about it on my last post (click here).

Well look how GINORMOUS (yes, it's a word.... in my dictionary.  ;oP)

they are now!

 

... and they are in containers!

To give you perspective,

here is how large the leaves are compared to my hand.

 

 ...and its babies?...

these don't look like babies...

..and no folks, these aren't watermelon.

(at least that's what the nursery said!  O_O)

 

But for dinner tonight?

We are having broccoli!

 

The florets are a little on the small side...

But it's plenty enough for a family of 4!

S2 loves it with melted cheddar.

...and for lunch?

I'm going to satisfy my udon craving...

After all, I just harvested my first ever bokchoy!! 

 

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They Survived!

Ahhh  Florida!

I really thought that my veggies that I planted 

before the last frost were not going to make it!

And although my okra did not make it

and my more mature basil, my squashes survived!

and so did my tomatoes.  ;)

and the broccoli!

Did you know that brocolli leaves are edible?

Can't wait to make some broccoli pesto!  YUM!

***

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R1's Tree

There are 5 "suha" (pommelo) trees in our little orchard.

This website (click here) talks extensively about its medicinal value.

This blog (click here) talks about its folklore.

Here are some excerpts from the posts:

Philippine

Legend has it that the town of Lucban in Quezon Province in the Philippines derived its name from lukban or pomelo tree.  The legend tells of three hunters who, while resting under a large shady lukban tree, got fascinated by the beautiful color and lovely rhythmic chirps of kingfishers (birds). The superstitious hunters took the incident as a sign of good fortune and decided to settle in the place and named it “Lucban.

Japanese

The Japanese refer to the pomelo as buntan or zabon after the name of Cantonese captain Sha Buntan, who is said to have introduced the fruit in Japan in the late 1700s while, on the other hand, the fruit is known as yòuzi in Chinese.  A variety referred to as the “honey pomelo” is called pinghe pao which is said to have originated from the Ming Dynasty around 1528.  The story tells of a Mr Xipu who owned an orchard and was fond of cultivating fruit trees but his orchard was destroyed by a flash flood and only a pomelo tree was left standing after the flood. He cultivated this pomelo tree which eventually bore fruits which were “very big with golden skin”.  When the fruits were finally harvested, Mr Xipu opened one and found a shiny, transparent flesh which tasted as sweet as honey and had very few seeds. Thus, this variety was named “honey pomelo” thereafter.

 Chinese

The Chinese consider pomelo as the “fruit of reunion”. It is among the traditional food being served during the mid-autumn festival or mooncake festival because it has a round shape and the sweet fruit is believed to scare off evil.  In ritual baths, the Chinese boil the skins and the leaves of the pomelo to “ritually cleanse a person and repel evil”.  

***

Grown from seed, Daddy planted them and named each one for his 5 grandchildren.

Every time he came to visit, he would check up on his trees.

Excited last year that one of them bore some fruits.

I talked about it click here.

Coincidentally, it is R1, the first grandchild and tree to bear fruits.

We harvested the fruits yesterday, afraid of the frost.

Daddy was so excited. 

The fruits are as big as his head!

He wanted to count each and every single one of them.

He counted a total of 107

 not counting some of the earlier harvests 

to check if they were ready for picking

and the one left that was too high to pick..

...and when he was all done, 

of course he had to taste  

I love my home and gardens...

each tree full of meaning.

Each harvest a wonderful memory. 

 Truly looking forward to many more happy memories and

fruitful harvests!

***

If you want to follow me on twitter, my handle is @ECKDesign2.

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Sweet Lemonade

Whoever said that life only gave you lemons when times are bad is wrong!

As a matter of fact, it is when life is sweetest that life gives you the most...

Everything is a balance and the universe always tries to keep you centered.

There will always be both good and bad.

So when your boughs start to get heavy,

harvest the fruits!!

Because what you thought would be sour lemonade

would actually be the sweetest!!

Thanking the heavens for my blessings.  

***

If you want to follow me on twitter, my handle is @ECKDesign2.

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Adventure 9- Dance Like No One is Watching

People wonder... why are my fruit trees always laden with fruits?

Why is each bough so heavy that we have to prop them up with 2 by 4s?

It's because of beautiful visits from friends such as this!

Beautiful creatures that sport the most fantastic of colors.

This one with bold blues that the camera couldn't capture well....

But it lingered around for a while and let me visit with it.

Then other friends came to visit too!

Some of them as curious about me as I am of them!  LOL!

Hermine's visit may have been unfriendly to some....

K manor lost power for over 27 hours...

but despite the inconveniences, we enjoyed time with family.

...and to the rest of the green around us?

They loved her visit!

Typically, I'll get a bloom or two....  but ALL of them?!?

As for me, the rains were a welcome friend...

..and I ran towards K Manor Woods and danced!

And I thanked the heavens for allowing me to just "BE".

and to continue to bless me with all the bounty.... and for LIFE.

It really is true...

that when you give with pure heart.

You will always be rewarded back.

***In case you missed it***

Click to read my adventures and story:

Celebrating 50 Story

Adventure 1

(By the way, I already started on this through the Couch to 5K app!)

Adventure 2

Adventure 3

  Adventure 4  

Adventure 5
Adventure 6 

Adventure 7- Celebrate the past, the present and the future.

Spend time and Enjoy with family and friends.

ADVENTURE COMPLETED.

Adventure 8- Wine and Paint- ADVENTURE COMPLETED.

Adventure 9- Dance like No One is Watching- ADVENTURE COMPLETED

***

If you want to follow me on twitter, my handle is @ECKDesign2.

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My Hero

The phone rang early this morning. 

 It was my mom.

"V!"  She always calls me by my middle name when she is excitable or upset.

"V!  Come over here ASAP!  Your dad is on a ladder outside.

I have tried everything to get him down and he won't listen to me!

That's it!  I'm done with him!  Come over here and talk to him!"

So I did.

Still half asleep I went over there in my pajamas.

When I got there, mom shooed me to the back yard.

Sure enough there he was up high on the ladder

trying to harvest some calamansi fruits.

I yelled at him and told him to come down,

I told him that this is why they need to live closer to me.

I need to be able to keep an eye on them.

He knew  I was mad.

He got down the ladder and I lifted the metal thing as if it weighed nothing.

I picked it up and threw it over the fence...

and told him I was taking it home with me.

And as I pushed it in the car,

I started crying.

I thought of Daddy.

Of how much he loved gardening,

Of how he has always been my hero.  

My knight in shining armor that always protected me.

And now i am afraid that any little thing, any fall, could be devastating to him.

I felt so helpless.

And so scared.

And so I did the only thing that I could do.

I went back to the car and took the ladder out.

I drove home and packed up all my gardening tools.

And went to him and said, " I will help you get your calamansi."

He said no.  He was mad at me.

I didn't blame him but i went on the ladder and started cutting and pruning the trees.

Bringing the heavy laden boughs down.

As I swayed on the ladder, he came out to make sure I was okay.

And he silently sat near me as I continued to cut the limbs.

Watching over me as always...

It was a tiring day.

An unexpected workout.

But so very much a heartwarming experience.

I am glad I went.

And that I stopped to think....

of him... and his feelings... and his helplessness.

Oh Daddy, I love you so much.

You will always be my hero and my strength.

*****

If you want to follow me on twitter, my handle is @ECKDesign2.

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Loving the Rain

I really can't believe that summer is almost over!

I feel as if my list of to-do in the beginning of the summer only got longer.

 I wanted to make some gardening headway in the yard

But just never seemed to have had a chance to get any extra time.

 The weekends have been too short and there is barely enough time

 to get the mowing done before the rain comes.

But I am oh so glad of the rains because I have been rewarded!

 By flowers that bloom by surprise!

 by tomatoes that just sprout out of nowhere

enough basil for pesto to last through the winter.

enough lemons to always have lemonade...

...and if not, there are the calamansi (calamundin) trees...

a bunch of bananas with several hands...

the promise of a first "suha" (pomelo) harvest...

even the nursery of baby loquats are getting taller...

The only dismay are the squirrels that loved our Asian pear fruits too much.
What had been a tree full of fruits disappeared
and we were left with just one!

It's the brown little potato looking thing to the left of the chime...

T and I had a fun time doing one of our recycling projects to save this one pear.
We made some wind chimes out of recycled bottle caps
and hung one right by the lone fruit.
It is our hope that any squirrel that tries to get it will be startled by it.
Therefore leaving it alone.

I'll keep you posted if it works.
Stay tuned for a post on how to make the wind chimes too!

Lastly, I want to introduce you to "The President."

He was given to me by one of my students in the beginning of the summer.
He is a Gator Glory, a plant developed here at UF.
He was just but a toddler when he was given to me and now look how he has grown!
Thank you Angelina M!

What about you?..
Has the rain just been as generous to your garden?

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