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Tea Plant Journal: Tea Plant Has Buds and a Flower Plus a Seed Pod

August 8th, 2009 | Author: Dot

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: ” Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing. ‘ — Camille Pissarro

Little Green Buds on the Camellia Sinensis Tea Plant 26 July 2009

Camellia Sinensis Tea Plant My first impression of the tea plant was that it appeared to be such a humble and modest looking plant. Some months ago I obtained this real tea plant and have been working to keep it growing here in Southern California.

This was in April I was just happy to have a chance to see the real tea plant that produces what I have drunk all my life without a second thought.

Camellia Sinensis Tea Plant Flower 26 July 2009 SoCal

Camellia Sinensis Tea Plant with Buds and a Flower

Late in July, I was getting ready to visit my mother in Hawaii when I passed by the tea plant and noticed that there was a tiny flower about the size of a quarter peeking out from under some of the tea leaves. I took a picture and also noticed that there were some green flower buds hanging on the tea plant. These were not very big as you can see from the picture with my hand holding a branch. It is such a modest flower that this camellia sinensis produces.

Camellia Sinensis Tea Plant Seed Pod, 26 July 2009, SoCal

Camellia Sinensis Tea Plant with Green Seed Pod

Looking even closer at the tea plant, I found a green seed pod nestled just above the plant tag that came with my camellia sinensis. It is round, green, hard and about the size of a hazelnut. Now I will eagerly await the maturation of the seed pod to see if I can propagate the plant — all just out of curiosity.

Well, that keeps us up to date on my watch over the camellia sinensis tea plant. It was a bit odd to be able to capture photos of buds, a flower and a seed pod all on the same day.

Aloha, DoT

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Grow Tomatoes Review: Earl of Edgecombe Heirloom Tomato

August 7th, 2009 | Author: Dot

Salad Plate with Earl of Edgecombe Heirlom Tomato

DoT’s Thot: Home is where tomatoes grow in the garden. I do believe this is one reason I feel so happy when the tomatoes go into the ground in the backyard. This point in the year has come to be a tradition and a marker in our lives at home. Here is a tomato that found its way to us from New Zealand and frankly, I want to give this heirloom tomato a permanent spot in our backyard tomato garden.

Beautiful Golden Orange Earl of Edgecombe Tomato

Earl of Edgecombe Heirloom Tomato Description

Earl of Edgecombe heirloom tomato is an indeterminate tomato plant that hails from New Zealand. When the Sixth Earl of Edgecombe died in the 1960’s, the relative and heir to the title lived in New Zealand as a sheep farmer. He went to England to claim his title and brought this tomato to England and it became the Earl of Edgecombe tomato.

The plant is surprisingly disease free and is resistant to blossom end rot, cracking, and other diseases. It has a lot of foliage and provides good cover for the developing fruit. This is a very good trait for my Southern California garden, because some other tomato plants with fewer leaves sometimes develop “sunburned” fruit with faded white spots on them.

The fruit are slicer sized, about 3 inched in diameter and are a gorgeous orange-gold color, very uniform in appearance, without any green shoulders. The plant was listed as 73 days to maturity. The seedling planted in the ground in early March yielded the first fruit on July 5, 2009 in our garden.

I was impressed with how well the plant did and how very beautiful the fruit were. Next we need to review the taste of this smooth-skinned, lovely heirloom tomato.

DoT's Earl of Edgecombe Tomato -- Two Slices with Top

Grow Tomatoes Review of the Earl of Edgecombe Tomato

We sliced our tomatoes and first just tasted some plain. Yum. Not only was the external skin an unblemished rich orange-gold, but the internal flesh was again uniformly colored, somewhat lighter in color, but what a beautiful yellow-gold. Firm, but not crunchy, the tomato is very tasty, juicy, not watery, and leaves a nice tomatoey aftertaste.

Then we made a caprese salad out of this heirloom tomato, fresh mozarella cheese, fresh basil leaves. I picture the salad here before adding the salt and pepper, and balsamic vinegar and fine extra virgin olive oil. This was one of the finest heirloom tomato salads we have had this summer.

Earl of Edgecombe Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad

Bottom Line: Earl of Edgecombe Heirloom Tomato One of the Best

My bottom line conclusion is that this is an excellent tomato, one of the best of the season. I will most definitely want to plant Earl of Edgecombe Heirloom Tomatoes again next year, because of the excellent balanced flavor, the meatiness, firm, yet creamy texture, beautiful deep orange medium sized fruit.

Both the skin and flesh are a gorgeouis even deep color. The tomatoes on my plant were also smooth textured and less showed very few cracks. Productivity was not as high as some, yet most satisfying. This is an exceptional tomato.

Aloha, DoT

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Scene in Hawaii: Hawaiian Snowflakes, Rainbow Shower Tree Haiku

August 6th, 2009 | Author: Dot

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.

Rainbow Shower Tree Flowers, 4 August 2009, Honolulu, Hawaii

Rainbow Shower Haiku, Honolulu, Hawaii 4 August 2009

Closeup of Rainbow Shower Tree Looking Up 4 August 2009, Honolulu, Hawaii

DoT’s Thot: It is August here in Hawaii where I am visiting my mother. The rainbow shower trees are in full bloom. There are also white shower trees, yellow shower trees, and pink shower trees, all sharing their blossoms with us. It is beautiful and the graceful swaying of the leaves, the colorful, delicate petals drifting about. and gentle breezes make me feel at home once more.

Rainbow Shower Tree In the Neighborhood 4 August 2009, Honolulu, Hawaii

Aloha, DoT

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Posted in Extra Info, Garden, Thots |

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Asclepsis and Lantana: Food for Monarch Butterflies

August 4th, 2009 | Author: Dot

Asclepsis and Lantana Planted Together for Monarch Butterflies

DoT’s Thot: I was thinking of and feeding the Monarch babies, then I realized I should think of the Monarch Butterflies and what they need for food as well.

Asclepsis Provides Milkweed Leaves for Monarch Butterfly Caterpillers

Asclepsis Provides Milkweed for Monarch Butterfly Caterpillers

I first focused on the asclepsis mikl plant that I needed to feed the Monarch Butterfly caterpillers that would grow up to be the lovely orange, black and white butterflies. In another post, I explained that I was familiar with the crown flower in Hawaii, but not with the equivalents in California. In browsing around I happened upon a description of this asclepsis pictured here and got some seeds about 3 years ago. It worked and I have had a number of generations of Monarch Butterflies.

Lantana Provides Nectar for Monarch Butterflies

Lantana Provides Nectar for the Monarch Butterflies

This year, I realized that the Monarch Butterflies themselves would appreciate some flowers that appeal to them for food as well. Luckily I read that they like Lantana blossoms and I have a bush right in front. This year I planted some asclepsis in front of the larger lantana bush to make a mini-habitat.

Plan to Expand Monarch Butterfly Way Station

Next year, I hope to be a regular way station for the Monarch Butterflies and feed the monarch butterfly caterpillers even more . Because the seeds of the asclepsis burst from their pods and fly all over the place, I think I’ll move the bulk of the asclepsis to the backyard. I do still wish I had the familiar crown flower, but have not succeeded in finding it here in California. Hence, this asclepsis has to do.

Aloha, DoT

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Posted in Extra Info, Garden, Monarch Butterfy |

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Grow Tomatoes Review: Packing Tomatoes for a 400 Mile Road Trip

August 3rd, 2009 | Author: Dot

A Large Christmas Gift Box Reused to Send Heirloom Tomato Gifts Packing

DoT’s Thot: Heirloom tomatoes are so wonderful to eat, but can be more delicate than the hybrid tomatoes. I have now sent tomatoes on a 400 mile road trip twice to Berkeley from Orange County, CA. The tomatoes arrived in great shape and I thought you might like to see how an amateur enthusiast shared her heirloom tomato gifts with others.

Save and Reuse Large Flat Christmas (or other) Gift Boxes for Packing Tomatoes

I had saved some Christmas Gift Boxes and took the largest one for packing tomatoes. First, I doubled the box by putting the bottom of the box into the box lid to make it stronger. Next, I put in some crumpled up newspaper pages to give some cushioning for the precious heirloom tomato gifts.

Write the Name of the Heirloom Tomato Gifts on Paper Towel Quarter-Sheets

Then, I selected pretty specimens of the various tomato types. I cut paper towels into quarters and wrote the tomato’s name on the paper towel piece. Then I gently nestled the tomatoes into the box, rearranging and adding crumpled newspaper as the filler. The effect was quite impressive.

Most times, I would have had a large insulated bag to slide the box into (the bag is one that looks like a large over-the-shoulder-bag). Not having that this time, I then took a kitchen tall plastic bag and slid the box into it and made sure that this sat on the top of the most level and cushioned position in the trunk of the car.

For good measure, I wrapped one of those frozen “blue ice” packs in a towel and nestled that next to the box to keep the ambient temperature cooler around the tomatoes. The tomatoes made the trip quite nicely.

Hope this helps– Aloha, DoT

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