Archive for the ‘Garden’ Category
In My Mother’s Garden: Shell Ginger Hidden Among the Red Ginger
Shell Ginger, Honolulu, HI 12 August 2009
NOTE: DoT has been posting from Honolulu since late July when she left California to help her mother through some medical procedures. She will be doing so until she can return to Orange County.
DoT’s Thot: It has been said that you can’t go home again, but it is true that you can visit and remember times and things past. Here is another flower from times past.
Shell Ginger Hidden Among the Red Ginger
I was taking pictures of red ginger in my mother’s garden when I noticed some white among the green and red. “What could that be,?”, I thought to myself, pushing aside the red ginger stalks. Hidden among all the red ginger was this one blooming stalk of shell ginger.
I took the pictures, put them on my computer to show Mom. She was utterly surprised, telling me that the shell ginger had apparently disappeared some time ago. The stalk of blossoms is modest for the shell ginger, but we were so pleased to see the blooms. So, here is our garden scene in Hawaii to share with you.
Shell Ginger Closeup in My Mother's Garden
Close Up Details of the Shell Ginger
When you look at an individual shell ginger blossom, the name becomes even more appropriate. The pearly white outer petals, which look like little white shells, open to reveal a very pretty red veined yellow center. This ginger does not have the fragrance of my father’s favorite ginger, the fragile yellow ginger, but is a very pretty one to look at. This was a nice surprise for both Mom and me.
Aloha, DoT
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Grow Tomatoes Review: Neves Azorean Red Tomato
NOTE: DoT has been posting from Honolulu since late July when she left California to help her mother through some medical procedures. She will be doing so until she can return to Orange County
DYT Neves Azorean Red Tomato July 24, 2009
DoT’s Thot:
Neves Azorean Red Tomato Characteristics
Neves Azorean Red Tomato is an indeterminate tomato plant (I) which is reputed to yield 1 to 3 pound fruit. The tomatoes are a deep red and very beautiful. In my southern California garden, these tomatoes proved to be a late season heirloom beefsteak tomato. The seedling for this tomato went into the ground in late March and I harvested my first four Azorean Red tomatoes on July 16, 2009.
Neves Azorean Red Heirloom Beefsteak Tomato Review
This heirloom beefsteak tomato slices up into a beautiful presentation and had a full, rich flavor. The deep red color is very attractive. My tomatoes did not achieve the large size that this tomato is reputed to have, but yielded a nice collection of tomatoes. There were more tomatoes ripening on the vine and still growing in size, but I had to leave my tomato crop late in July to come to Hawaii to help my mother through some medical issues. I wish to plant Neves Azorean Red Tomato again, since late season tomatoes give me an extended season with the tomatoes that I love so much.
Bottom Line: Neves Azorean Red Tomato
This tomato is on my plant again list, as I wish to have some nice red tomatoes toward the end of the season and an heirloom beefsteak tomato like this would be very welcome in my kitchen. My recommendation to self is to prune, watch the fertilization and try for larger fruit next year.
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In My Mother’s Garden: Red Ginger in Hawaii
Red Ginger After the Felicia Tropical Storm Showers in My Mother's Garden
NOTE: DoT has been posting from Honolulu since late July when she left California to help her mother through some medical procedures. She will be doing so until she can return to Orange County.
Top View of Red Ginger Plant in Bloom
DoT’s Thot: “Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountain is going home; that wildness is necessity; that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life.” — John Muir
Muir Woods did inspire me in the same way — my mother’s garden along the mountain side in Palolo Valley has also always seemed like a small trek into the wilderness. Wherever she could squeeze a plant in, in it went. Now that I am waiting for her surgery date, I go outside to take photos in my mother’s garden and share them with you.
Red Ginger Plants Sprouting from Between the Bracts of the Red Ginger Flowers
Red Ginger
One of the long-time residents in my mother’s garden has been the red ginger. It is hardy, a steady bloomer, and provides blossoms that are useful for tropical bouquets and for memorial offerings in the house or at the “haka” or graveyard. The beautiful red hue and stately, simple shape make this a highly desirable flowering plant in any garden scene in Hawaii.
As the plants mature, some of the red ginger blossoms will sprout young ginger plants from between the red bracts of the red ginger flowers. Mother reports that these can be planted to start more red ginger plants. Alas, I do not live in Hawaii and so cannot take these home to plant in my yard in California.
Red Samoan Ginger -- Bunching Ginger
Samoan Ginger: a Red, Bunching Ginger
A newer variety of red ginger that grows in my mother’s garden is what she introduced to me as a Samoan Red Ginger. It is much fuller and resembles a kind of tight bunching of the red ginger described above. It has a very heavy and full head of red bracts in a conical or “Christmas tree” shape.
Samoan Red Ginger Detail Showing White Bud and White Blossom
Actual Red Ginger Flowers are Modest, White
The real flowers are actually some very small and modest white blossoms among the red bracts. I have included a closeup so you can see them. Standing among the stalks of red ginger, I remember my childhood and the many occasions that these blossoms found their way into our home or as gifts to family and friends.
Aloha, DoT
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Grow Tomatoes Review: Aussie Heirloom Tomato
A Pair of Aussie Heirloom Beefsteak Tomatoes July 24, 2009. SoCal
NOTE: DoT has been posting from Honolulu since late July when she left California to help her mother through some medical procedures. She will be doing so until she can return to Orange County
DoT’s Thot: “Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi Oi Oi!” I heard this from an Aussie at a Cub Scout Camp when my boys were young. I thought the young fellow was saying “Ozzie, Ozzie, Ozzie” as in Ozzie and Harriet. Only some months later I suddenly realized that it was “Aussie”, like in this Aussie Heirloom tomato.
Aussie Heirloom Beefsteak Tomato Characteristics
Aussie is an Australian Heirloom Beefsteak tomato, a regular leaf, indeterminate tomato plant (I), which was a late fruiting tomato for me — having planted the seedlings into the ground in the third week of March, I harvested the first two tomatoe on July 24, 2009.
The Aussie heirloom tomato is reputed to be resistant to both early and late blight. In our garden patch, this tomato appeared very healthy and yielded nice, clean-looking tomatoes.
Aussie Heirloom Tomato Slices on a Dinner Plate
Aussie Heirloom Tomato Review
Aussie is an Australian Beefsteak tomato bursting with great flavor; an excellent blend of acids and sugars. When we ate the tomatoes, we discovered that the is a very attractive consistent red, smooth skinned, and meaty. Having a nice tomato flavor, the Aussie heirloom tomato is a very satisfying tomato with a taste that lingers pleasantly on the palate.
A sweet tomato, it has just enough of an acidic touch to make me want to eat the whole thing all by myself. The plants produce well and some recommend it as a show competition tomato.
Grow Tomatoes Review Bottom Line for Aussie Heirloom Tomato
The bottom line on the Aussie heirloom beefsteak tomato is — there will be a spot for the tomato in my garden row as one of my late producers to extend my tomato season next year, provided I can find the seedling at the tomato sale.
Aloha, DoT
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Scene in Hawaii: Hawaiian Kiawe Tree Revisited
Kiawe Beans on Hawaiian Kiawe Tree in Hawaii Kai, 3 August 2009
Under the Kiawe Tree Looking at the Ocean Horizon, Hawaii Kai, August 2009
NOTE: DoT has been posting from Honolulu since late July when she left California to help her mother through some medical procedures. She will be doing so until she can return to Orange County.
DoT’s Thot: I suddenly remembered the burlap bags of kiawe beans for the cows!
Hawaiian Kiawe Tree at the Park
Last week, I took my mother for a drive. At 92, she is not up to walking about, but a drive to the park for a little breeze and to see the ocean and rest our eyes on the horizon is a nice occasion. We took a drive to Hawaii Kai and stopped at a little park. I stopped under a large tree and was enjoying a look at the ocean when I suddenly realized that I was under a kiawe tree.
Kiawe Tree Seed Pods Fed the Cows
I looked up and saw some of the yellow bean pods hanging from the tree and flashed back decades to a time when as a little girl I remember picking these up under such large trees with gnarled branches on Oahu in what was then a kind of rural area — Waialae. Today, this is a fully developed neighborhood. Back then, there were little farms and these huge kiawe trees here and there. We called the seed pods “kiawe beans” and collected them to sell to the dairy man.
Gnarled Kiawe Tree Branches, Hawaii Kai, August 2009
Took Some Pictures of the Kiawe Trees to Share
My mother and I reminisced about the burlap bags we filled with the beans to sell to the local dairy for $1 a bag as feed for the cows that gave the milk for the little children on Oahu. I remember having to avoid any fallen branches, because there were long thorns on those. In addition, the gnarled branches have a very unique and rustic appeal. I took some pictures. Reluctant to leave my mother in the car alone, I did the best I could sitting there. It was a little excursion down memory lane for Mom and me.
Aloha, DoT
Related Articles and References:
- Wikipedia: prosopis pallida
- Growing Bougainvilleas
- Prosopis pallida: kiawe, keawe, algaroba, mesquite by Kim and Forest Starr
Related Posts:
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