Re: [gardeners] Persian
Ron Hay (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Thu, 08 Feb 2001 07:43:40 -0800
Hello, Penny,
Thanks for the information about Shamshiri.
I just wanted to let you know I finally got around to making the rice
and chicken last night. The rice would feed a family of 12! It is a bit
fussy, but glorious.
The two suggestions I made to Mary-Anne are the following: soak the
barberries for at least an hour; and spread the barberry-onion-sugar
mixture between the layers of rice before you give it the long steaming.
That way, the barberries and onions are nice and soft (Vivian hates
crunchy onions!).
Well, summer was short lived! From 87 on Sunday, with an overnight low
of 58, we went to 39 last night with a high of 60 yesterday. Our poor
plants don't know what to do.
The pomegranate is the first of the dormant fruit trees to bud out, and
it appears it will be in full leaf within about 3-4 weeks. The lovely
red/orange blossoms are one of the glories of our garden.
The roses which were seriously whacked back are now budding/leafing out,
too.
Stella d'oros are popping up, as are Madonna lillies, Turkish crocuses
and ranunculi and gladiolii.
The African daylillies, both the established colony, and the 2 y.o.
seedliings are about to bloom, as well, along with the bearded irises,
which have never really stopped blooming since the fall.
Oh, and the white calla lillies! They are a joy to behold, as they come
out in increasing numbers. I think I will take a bunch to our dinner
hostess on Saturday night as a little day-brightener.
In the back yard, believe it or not, Sungold tomaotes are still trucking
along. I had not been in the yard for several days and was surprised to
find about a half dozen ripe tomatoes on the ground.
This weekend, we will remove the last of the spent asparagus ferns, if
it isn't raining, and fertilize the patch with manure.
We will also cultivate and fertilize the artichoke army, which is just
plain burgeoning, but with no buds yet, as it has been too cool and the
days too short.
We managed to fertilize the citrus right before the last major rain, and
the goodies goe thoroughly watered in. Now, very shortly, we will begin
to see new growth on the Mandarin and blood orange, with the navel and
Bearss limes coming along somewhat later.
The Fuyus' buds are swelling, as are those on the nectarine and the
apricot. I had better take advantage of the daylight and dry weather
this afternoon to give them a good spray of dormant spray.
Well, there certainly is enough to keep the two of us busy for quite
some time, both out front and back, especially since we let our
"gardener" go, since we really don't have that much lawn to mow, and he
does not understand the needs of the more exotic plants we have, which
is not helped by the fact that his English is extremely limited.
Have a good one and stay warm!
Ron
p.s. Hello to all of my other gardening buddies!