What a CUCUMBER!

It had been 2 weeks since we were last up at our Temecula home. I was afraid of what else Mr.Gopher might have attacked! First glance - everything seem alive, particularly the weeds. Promising.

I hear an excited shout from my husband to come look at this amazing squash in the planter. I am puzzled as I did not grow any squash. Maybe a bird drop a seed? My jaw drop!! 

A little gardening

It is frustrating trying to establish a garden when I spend so little time in Temecula. Each time I am there, I can imagine harvesting vegetables from my overflowing planters for the meals. Recently, frustrated by all the travelling of the summer and no creative outlet, I planted some vegetables, herbs and fruits in the planting boxes. I just needed to start.... I accepted that I would have a high casualty rate. I look at it as a learning process, finding out what will grow, how to adapt to the climate.

A creature so evil.........

I stood in utter shock, in front of my beautiful Navel Orange tree that had grown double in size since we put up the walled garden. It thrived from the reflected warmth and wind protection the wall afford it. This spring it was covered with hundreds of flowers, enveloping the garden with the of sweet fragrance of orange blossoms. Hundreds of fruits followed with a promise of sweet delight but it was not to be. My beautiful tree was brought down an evil creature that cut it off at its knees; it ate my tree from underneath. It ate the roots of the tree :(

Young navel oranges hanging on the dead tree....

Who is this creature you ask? None other than the vile gopher. I have not seen the gopher myself but here are some pictures I found on the internet. They are burrowing rodents about 5-6 inches in size.

Temecula Farmers Market

Yesterday morning we finally went to the Temecula Farmer Market. I do not know why we never went before this; I think it is  because we thought we would do so when we eventually move to Temecula. Anyway, I am glad we did but sorry I did not have my Nikon SLR camera with me. I took some photos with my iphone.

We were  pleasantly surprise at how large the market is. Much bigger and nicer than the Santa Monica. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

Mushroom vendor with all kinds of delicious fresh mushrooms. In the background you can see a vendor selling succulents potted up in hanging baskets and various other containers.

My California Pepper Tree is not what I think it is!

Pink Pepper berries

This property is blessed by 3 California Pepper  Schinus Molle trees. It provides shade and beauty on the west side of our house. They appealed to me because of their weeping willow like shape. The leaves will sway in the wind gracefully. In the fall and winter beautiful strings of red berries (peppercorn) drape down from the trees. It remain green 12 months of the year.

Following our principle of edible landscaping, we had to examine if this plant will contribute to our gardening scheme. It already had a lot going for it, as it was providing filtered shade for a growing area- the planter boxes. This will provide a micro climate in the hot Temecula garden.

Lemons from tree to jars

Even before I could reach my Meyer Lemon tree, I could hear the noisy buzzing of bees hard at work and  smell the absolutely divine fragrance of lemon blossoms. My Meyer Lemon tree in Temecula is small, about waist high in height and maybe 4 feet in diameter. Even so it was so heavy with an abundant crop of beautiful, delicious sunshine yellow lemons. I decided to harvest as many of the lemons as I could, to lessen the strain on the tree as the new crop of lemons were developing on the tree. From all appearances, even more fruits will form as the little tree was still pumping out fragrant  blossoms.

So many lemons! Feels like a commercial harvest.

Although I was the only one harvesting the lemons, I was still shocked when I saw the filled crate of lemons. I had to stop harvesting as there was no way I could use all the lemons in a short time. This is posting is about what I have made with them so far.... not very much.

Lemon, Lemon, Lemon

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. But when life gives you LEMONS unlimited, you better think of what else to do!! The Meyer Lemon tree in both my houses are pumping out lemons like crazy. I use the lemons for lemonade, for marinade, for Greek Lemon rice soup Avegolemono and lemon infused desserts. There is still so many lemons left on the kitchen counter and still on the tree.

If only I was not so busy right now, I could be in my kitchen tinkering with delicious creations. But let me tell you something- just looking at the fruit laden lemon trees just puts a smile on me :)

Meyer Lemons galore! They are extremely juicy, flavorful and fragrant. As you can see lots of fruits of various sizes on the tree.