Garden Pictures - January, 2011

Time for more garden pictures! When I started posting pics of my garden last year, I made a plan to do this every five months to illustrate what can grow in a Sacramento garden throughout the year. Well, apparently January gives us a pretty dismal garden, but it's a pact that I made with myself, so it cannot be broken! We had a pretty hard frost that lasted about a week that really took a toll on some of our plants, as you'll see. I didn't photograph everything because some of our trees, as adorable as they are, are just sitting there. So, I'm showing stuff that actually has some action, or I have questions about, and then a strangely sparse ground that has something to do with my husband, G. Oh, and some new pics of the pets, of course!

This is our nectarine tree. We planted her last March, and over the summer she gave us one beautiful nectarine that we shared. I'm not sure what these little bumps are, they aren't quite green buds, but I like 'em!

This is our grapevine. We're not sure if it's dead from the frost, or just dormant. We're new at grapes. Anybody know?

Okay, this shot has a story. I planted rows and rows of seeds for short, stubby carrots. As planned, up sprouted blades of green, boldly reaching for the warm sky that was lurking above the gray pillows hiding it. So, I come out one day to check on them, and they're all gone! It turns out my dear G weeded that nasty grass for me that was growing in my garden bed. I couldn't thank him enough! Now, instead of grassy, non-existent carrots, I have several of these things coming up, which mysteriously resemble my bulb flowers from the front yard. Did they migrate here, over the fence, and around the corner? I'm curious to know what these little buggers will turn out to be. Maybe they're really mutant, husband-resistant carrots, come to plump up my salad bowl!

Oh, this pathetic bed has tried and tried to provide good service to me over the past several months. G has transplanted our too tart, too small strawberries, that nobody likes, in here in the bottom left corner and upper right corner. That sprig of lettuce in the upper left corner has been growing for about a year and hasn't gotten any bigger. Can you make out the purply leaf near the upper middle? That's a beet plant. I planted dozens of seeds, and most of them came up, only to be gobbled up by pesky slugs. This is the lone survivor, but he is badly chewed, and hasn't grown since the frost. I may harvest it just to see what's underneath. In the bulk of the bed, I've just planted green onion seeds. Gulp...they look like grass when they grow, don't they?

Okay, here's the bed that houses my once flourishing artichoke plant and kale. In the foreground is my once thriving artichoke. That big stalk is the original trunk. Well, I wanted to let one thistle completely bloom to see what it would look like, and apparently that's a sign to the plant that it needs to die. And, it did. We were going to pull it, when we saw new signs of life near the bottom; so here it is again, springing forth anew. The one just behind it, we planted last year. They probably won't give us new flowers until next year. Our kale, to the right of the artichokes, has been hit hard by the frost. I'm hoping for a resurgence in the Spring.

This is our little Mandarin orange plant. Look at the cute, little presents she's giving to us!

Here's Mindy. She and Abby are 9 and 1/2 weeks old now.

And, Abby.

Last time I took pics of the cats, their tags showed our info, and I didn't want all you guys, er, I mean the Internet calling me, so I didn't print them. Now, my kitties are private, so you can see them again. Here's Charlene, on our car, looking superior, as she should be.

This is actually a neighbor's cat, Fancy, who's here 95% of the time, so I included her.

Here is cranky Sparkly in one of the three cardboard boxes that we keep putting out for Fancy.

And here is one of the two brand-new cat houses that G made for Sparkly and Charlene, complete with a porch and roof, a scratching post, and a ledge for their food. The blanket is sticking out of their cozy home. But they sleep in cardboard boxes. And, Fancy sleeps on the soil underneath a folding chair by the door. Silly cats.