Sunday, April 11, 2010

Getting Back on My Feet

mandarinquat blossom
This weekend was the first time since Wednesday that I was able to get out of bed. Ironic that as temperatures were getting into the upper 80's, I was coming down with the worst case of the flu I've had in a very long time. As a result, I'm completely behind schedule on all of my gardening work and blogging. I had wanted to have a large section of lawn ripped up by now. I guess that will just have to wait until next weekend. Hopefully I'll be back to my usual self soon.

seville orange blossom
My newly purchased mandarinquat and Seville orange trees are blooming at the moment. It's interesting to see how the flowers differentiate from my Meyer Lemon. The mandarinquat blossom (top) is particularly interesting I think. At the moment, I'm battling tiny gnats that have seemingly sprung up from the soil mix that came with the trees. As a result, they have been spending most of their time outdoors. Soon, the rest of the citrus will follow suit.

In other news, I'm still battling the green aphids that came with my Chrysanthemum tea plants. I've found clusters of them on my eggplants, Roselle and artichokes. Aphids are easily killed individually or when found in clusters but difficult to eradicate completely. Hopefully they won't take hold in the garden. When the weather gets warmer, I will introduce a biological agent (like ladybugs) to help keep their numbers in check. The more I think about it, the more annoyed I am that a company would send me infected plants.

stevia
A couple of weeks ago, I purchased a Stevia plant (sweet leaf, sugar leaf). I've been meaning to write about this embattled herb for a while now. The leaves of the Stevia plant are naturally sweet, and extracts made from the plant are 300 times sweeter than sugar. No wonder the artificial sweetener industry worked so hard for decades to get Stevia banned as a sugar-substitute in this country. Hopefully things will slowly change now that Coca-Cola and Pepsi have expressed an interest in Stevia. I don't know about you but all of this sounds completely disheartening to me. Just another example of how our "free" markets can sometimes take away our freedom of choice.

Finally, I can't wait to catch up on all of your blogs. I don't mean to be neglecting my blogging friends. Hopefully, I'll be able to kick this illness soon.

25 comments:

  1. I love citrus blooms. They just put me in a good mood for some reason. Congrats on the Stevia! I've wanted one for years I should maybe finally get it this year...

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  2. Were you in WA visiting Granny, and picked up her flu bug? Better to get it out of your system now...

    The blooms are wonderful, and I can see the differences between them and a Meyer (I've been going at mine with a paintbrush almost every day this week). Even the base of the leaves in pic 2 are different...

    I finally have my fungus gnat situation under control. Neem oil killed the adults, and the BT watering solution killed the larvea... I highly recommend them both.

    I hope you are up n' at 'em soon!

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  3. Oh, Thomas, you too? I can't remember the last time I had to spend three days in bed, I was so darned sick. I guess I should have had that flu shot. I hadn't eaten since Thursday, but tonight I was famished. I've eaten everything in sight! I guess that means I'm better now :-)

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  4. Thomas, it looks like you are on the mend and for that we are thankful. Hopefully each day will find you stronger.

    I had a bug Easter Sunday, hit me in the afternoon while guests were here and continued into the next day. I thought it was a new medicine I was on, but surmise that the "bug" might have been the fish fertilizer I was using: diluted in water and on occasion, bare hands may have dipped into the bucket for a cup or two. It happened once before about a year ago. We have always been "washers of hands", but words of wisdom, I now use plastic gloves when working with the fish stuff and wash, wash, wash my hands!

    Have a wonderful week Thomas.

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  5. Stevia is a clear example of how politics can stop a perfectly good medicine from being offered to people with diabetes.

    Recently I have read that some plants can be sweeter than other. So you would need to taste a piece of leaf on each until you find the sweetest and then propagate it by cuttings.

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  6. Feel better, Thomas. I think the flu is the worst!

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  7. The Citrus blooms look lovely, Thomas. Nice info about the Stevia plant. Thank you.

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  8. Oh, bummer about the flu...no fun! Glad to hear you are on the mend.

    Your photos are gorgeous! My Meyer had a little trouble getting used to its new home, dropping some leaves, but it has lovely pinkish buds now, so I am hoping for some pretty blossoms.

    Don't forget to hydrate and rest, even though you're feeling better. :-)

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  9. The blooms are gorgeous and must smell divine ! Speaking of citrus, I hope you're taking plenty of vitamin C. Glad to hear you're feeling better and hope you get over it soon.

    I thought of growing stevia this year but then declined. Amazing plant. Will be following closely.

    Take care, Thomas !

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  10. Wish you were feeling better Thomas, this nastiness is taking so many down and out! Looking like a repeat of last year- flu season year-round that is. WTF!?!

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  11. I hope you are feeling better soon, why can't it be the lazy gamer-types who get all the bugs and we can be healthy to get out and work? It's not like they move off the couch anyways, right? I got suckered into a potted citrus last week. I also have the Stevia plant, I plant on hauling it into the elementary school next week for a "Ready, Set, Grow!" presentation the MG's are doing - I think the kids will get a kick out of tasting it, I know my son does!

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  12. Thomas, I do hope you are feeling better soon. The flu is so debilitating. Sorry about your battle with aphids. I had them on my eggplants in the garden last spring and they were not easy to control. Then one day they were gone.

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  13. I hope you are really on the road to recovery and can put the flu behind you soon.

    The citrus is beautiful and I imagine the scent is equally entrancing.

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  14. The flu can really bring a person down, but hopefully you'll recover in a few days.

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  15. Glad to hear you're feeling better. Take it slow! The local strain of flu is sneaky and just when you think you're okay, will knock you down again. My husband and I battled it for longer than I care to admit because we didn't give ourselves adequate recovery time in the first place. Enjoy your citrus and the sunshine and see if you can con your sweetie into digging up the lawn for you.

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  16. Not you and Granny. I hope you feel better soon.

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  17. I wondered where you were? I'm sorry you were so sick...that is not fun...and it seems worse when we're adults!

    Interesting about the Stevia plant...I may have to get one. Is it perennial?

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  18. Hey Michelle - it might be a perennial in your area. I don't think it is in ours.

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  19. I have had a stevia plant for three years now. I live in zone 5 in Canada. It is not a perennial here, so I plant it in the herb garden in the spring and dig it up in the fall, cut it down, repot it and keep it in the basement, watering it once a week. Have had no problems with doing that. It grows spindly in the winter but I just cut it back before replanting in the spring.

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  20. Hope you feel better and get back on your gardening soon.
    I've heard a lot about stevia but never really want to grow one, maybe someday, I'm a diehard sugarcane gal.

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  21. Debbie - thanks for the great info!

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  22. I have been thinking about getting a stevia plant for awhile. I want to see if I can put some leaves in my sweet tea in the summer to replace the sugar. I haven't had any luck in finding one though.

    I hope you feel better soon!

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  23. There has been some nasty bugs going around this spring. I had a cold a couple weeks ago that was the worst I have ever had. Hope you are on the mend now!

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  24. Thomas, hope you're on the mend. Getting sick in the Spring is the worst!
    I wonder how you extract the leaves of the stevia to get the sweetening properties or do you just use the leaves themselves?
    I hope you keep us posted on the progress of this plant, too!
    Have a great week!

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  25. HI Toni - I heard you bruise a few leaves and add to your drink for a bit of sweetness.

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