Favorite Garden Moments
02 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Flowers, Garden Design, Garden Fruits, organic gardening, Vegetable/ Herb Garden Tags: backyard garden, desert king fig, nadia's san diego garden blog, sunflower photo
This is a photo gallery of my favorite garden moments from the last year.
Desert King Figs and Heirloom Yellow Pear Tomatoes
7 foot Sunflower is a smile maker
Strawberries squeezed in anywhere I can find space
Herbs are always so rewarding to grow: Rosemary, Parsley Chives and Oregano
Sugar Baby Watermelon- another first for me in the garden this year- LOVED them
Growing short carrots was fun and great in soups and stews- super tasty
Dahlia flowers that continued to bloom month after month and made a great cutting flower
I planted Zinnia flowers for the first time in a rainbow of colors- very rewarding flower.
Happy New Year 2012
Happy Gardening
www.nadiaknows.com
Desert King Fig- Ficus carica
22 Oct 2010 4 Comments
in Garden Fruits, Living Healthy, organic gardening Tags: container gardening, desert king fig, Edible Landscaping, Mission Fig Tree, nadia's san diego garden blog
We all know about Mission Fig Trees with the dark purple skin and matching pulp, but have you ever tried a Desert King Fig? I have one of each in my yard and the Desert King with its’ green skin and pink/strawberry colored pulp in the middle is my favorite. The photo below is a combination of the two types of figs.
Desert King and Mission Figs
Fig trees can be pruned to a size that is manageable and continue to produce year after year. I keep mine at a manageable size so that the fruit does not go to waste.
The pink inner pulp of a Desert King fig These figs seem to me to taste sweeter than the mission figs.
A vigorous deciduous tree best describes the Desert King with its heavy bearing fruit and rapid growth. In San Diego near the coast it bears fruit June to August then has a second burst of fruit that produces into November. A great tree for providing a lot of shade during the producing season with leaves that are 4 to 10 inches long. No pollination is needed or any special application of fertilizers or food, it also is tolerant of many soil types. Fig trees also grow well in containers, I have my mission fig in a cut -in-half wine barrel that I drilled holes into for drainage.
Harvest: Figs should ripen fully on the tree when they are slightly soft and only keep for several days. Dry, preserve or eat figs fresh.
Desert King fig gets a visit from some bees
Pruning: Fig trees produce quite well with our without pruning. Avoid heavy pruning once the tree is established and never prune heavily in the winter. Follow this online site to buying bare root fig trees: FIG LINK.
Thank you for visiting today! Enjoy – Create – Grow!
NO BIRDS PLEASE!
24 Sep 2009 12 Comments
in Garden Projects, Vegetable/ Herb Garden Tags: desert king fig, fruit and fig trees, keeping birds away, protecting fruit trees
September is fig season and mine are being eaten right off the tree. I love to share my garden with the birds and the bees, but I will NOT share the figs! I found these great little hanging mirrors threaded on fishing line, and placed them on several branches of the tree. Happy to report that it solved the bird problem this season! The flashing mirrors reflecting in the sun must really bother the birds and they stay away.
As they announce at the Padre games- “Hang a Star on It”. This is for sure a Star idea- try it!
** Use any type mirror in the garden area that you want a bird free zone.
(If you live in San Diego- check out “Leaping Lotus” on Cedros Avenue Design District in Solana Beach. I got the mirrors there- under $5.00 per string).
This fig tree is a Desert King- They are large, deep green figs with a strawberry red flesh and very sweet. I like these much more than my mission figs.
Thank you for visiting my blog: www.nadiaknows.com
“I know I want to keep creating, growing and having fun.”
