Gardens, gardens, gardens everywhere
Perhaps it’s the almost perfect weather....or perhaps it’s the rich soil. Whatever the reason is, it seems anything we plant in the ground thrives.
When I lived in Florida, my Lilies of the Nile (Agapanthus) bloomed just once: in the summer. But in the Bay area, it seems it blooms year round. And goodness, they grow profusely that one must divide and subdivide frequently in order to control the growth.
In our island paradise we call Alameda CA, we do have some seasons, albeit a lot milder than elsewhere.
In Alameda, we have the Alameda Backyard Growers.
Lately, we’re also seeing several vegetable gardens in the front yards.
In our backyard, our priority was to have some fruit trees. And happily, they have been quite productive. The Meyer and Lisbon lemon trees, for example, produce abundant fruits that we are happy to give away.
In the fall and winter, some of our fruit trees lose their leaves even while they are chockful of fruit. We have two persimmons trees, and they’re prolific producers. So in the fall, we have an abundant harvest.
The most fascinating to watch is the big plum tree that in the winter looks so gnarly that it may be mistaken for a dead tree. But in spring, it's like a Phoenix that comes back to life and literally bursts into white blooms that look like snow. And in the summer, it produces buckets of the juiciest, sweetest and most succulent plums.
Aaah.....the joys of living in paradise we call Alameda and why it’s a great place to live....especially when we have a big backyard.
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