Walled Courtyard Garden

Temperatures in Temecula is extremely hot in summer and can get pretty cold in the winter. Frost damage to tender plants are a definite. Hot, I think will not be a problem as it will allow me to grow the tropical and sub-tropical plants I love and hankering to plant. Cold is another matter. My dream of course is to have a glass greenhouse that any self respecting gardener dreams of. Alas, it cost way,way,way too much. We priced both fabricated and build from scratch greenhouse of the size we wanted. We needed to spend at least $200,000!!! Not happening.

We compromised and decided to build a walled courtyard garden on one side of the house. It was the side of the house where we removed the roses bushes. It would provide protection from the  strong winds particularly in winter, that exaggerate the cold factor. We are going to see what we can grow under this condition before building a greenhouse. We increase the height of the garden wall from 6 ft to 8 ft for additional protection.

Roses to Go

The house came with rose bushes around one side of the house. They were flowering despite neglect. I have never been one for rose bushes because of the thorns and also the chemicals needed to keep them at their best. Even so, I admit to being sad that I had to remove them. Remember, our moto is if you cannot eat it you cannot grow it. Granted you can eat organic rose petals......

Lap Pool

The decision to have a house in Temecula did not sit well with the younger members of the family especially my teenage son. I do not blame him as it is far from his friends. It must be unsettling for him to imagine that when he goes away to college he would come "home" to a new location. My daughter feels it too but because she has been at college the past almost 3 years, the impact is "less." Her friends being older can and do come out to her. I am hoping that now that my son is driving, he will be less upset about it.

We looked at the big picture and decided we would put in a pool to entice our almost adult children to come visit us when they have left home. It would be a place for their friends to hang out as well. Building the pool was the first landscape project we did as it involved huge machinery, lots of digging, moving of earth, laying of pipes and electrical. We did not want any planting to be damaged in the construction that invariably happens.

Edible Landscaping

"What utensils do you eat with", was a question asked on a Food Network show. You know us Malaysian, we use the fork and spoon, chopsticks and even our hands. A light bulb went off in my head! I had found THE NAME for this, my new gardening and lifestyle blog. I EAT WITH SCOOPS, SHOVELS AND SPADES. We indeed have been eating with scoops, shovels and spades ... and sweat and tears, for many years now from our garden. The satisfaction of making a meal out of ingredients you just pick from your own garden is indescribable.