Hummingbird eggs hatched

The mother bird has been feeding babies for several days now. In the past two days when she feeds the baby bird beaks have been cresting the rim of the nest.
I set up the tripod in the living room and waited for her to come back from a foraging flight and took many photos when she returned.

Hummingbird Nest Decorated with Lichen

The hummingbird has added a considerable coating of lichen pieces to the outside of her nest. It would work great as camouflage in a tree. I'm not sure she's really blending in with the string lights though. She is on the nest for longer periods of time, and away for shorter. Makes sense. She will bring back little pieces of fluff and tuck them inside the nest.

She'll feed at some nearby flowers in the back yard, and also at flowers in the front yard.

I'll start watching for babies in about a week or so.

Lovely Lavender

Lavender, oh how I love this plant. I have planted many lavenders and yet I never seem to have enough. It is easy to propagate by cuttings though, so I'll be making more. I even grew out seeds one year and got some good plants.

I had big plans to harvest the lavender and have long beautiful bundles of it, to give as gifts and so forth. I paid attention to when the lower two flowers opened, and cut the stems before noon. I banded the bundle of stalks with a rubber band. I followed the directions I read in the Lavender book by Robert Kourik. It was time consuming and tedious. And this from a person who is growing wheat with which to make bread. I'm into process, but something wasn't doing it for me with this process. And it made a rather unimpressive bundle once it dried.

A week passed and the flowers opened and drew the bees in. And I had a thought, since I was getting a little low on my batch of lemon verbena syrup, I thought I'd try making lavender syrup.

Harvesting was simply cutting the stems just at the base of the flowering head. I stripped off several heads and got about half an ounce of flowers and calyx. It was fast and easy.

I massaged the flowers a little, to help release the oils, while the sugar water boiled for 5 minutes. 2 cups sugar, 2.5 cups water.

When the 5 minutes of boiling was up, I took the pot off the heat and added the lavender to the sugar water. Cover and let steep at least 30 minutes.

The flowers shrank considerably. I strained it into a bowl while I cleaned the pot, then strained it back into the pot to boil for another 30 seconds.

I let it cool a bit and then poured it into my bottles. What a lovely color the syrup picked up from the flowers. I got myself a glass of ice and put a teaspoon or two of the lavender syrup and topped it off with water. Delicious!

Another bird...

The front yard has large English walnut trees along the street and there has been quite a ruckus lately with a few starlings. We were sitting out on the front porch this evening and spotted what the immediate ruckus was about. An owl has taken up residence in a hollow of a branch of a big walnut tree. Last year, in the summer, we noticed a pair of owls up there and this is the first sign of them this year. I got out the long lens and tripod and still managed to get blurry photos. The owl blends right in with the tree and through the viewfinder it was hard to get the focus just right. I could also go on about camera shake, but that might get boring.

Here are a few photos.

Back to the garden

The hummingbird has been taking up lots of space so I thought I'd best get back to the garden for a bit. This spring has been terrible for gophers. They've been going after the usual favorites (theirs and mine) like leeks, garlic, onions and potatoes. They've expanded their diet by also eating a couple of abutilons (common name is flowering maple but they are not maples), they decided this was the year to eat up the campanula, and interestingly they've been eating tomato plants, which I had understood they would not eat. I have lost several tomato plants to the rodents and, while I've been toughening myself to the losses over the past few years, I find the tomato losses a bit hard to take.

When I look at the front yard and see the lovely, large hollyhocks in bloom, I know it is only a matter of time before the gophers will chew the large roots up until the things fall over. I'm enjoying the flowers while they are here. Life in the garden is transitory anyway. In a side note, Hollyhock flowers are frequented by hummingbirds.

The gopher situation in the back yard (where the tomatoes are) is the most bothersome. I set traps, and so far I haven't had near the success in trapping as I've had before. Though I did manage to snag one in a trap I set last night, which buoyed my hopes of at least getting the leeks to go to seed, so I can disperse them to a wider area. Leek blossoms are also rather beautiful, in my opinion. I suppose I would rather lose leeks than my fruit trees. And I am unwilling to sink hardware cloth into the soil, so losses must be accepted.

Hummingbird update

The Hummingbird has been spending much more time in the nest the past few days, and she is in the nest tonight. I did a little research on the nesting habits of hummingbirds and it seems the female builds a nest soon after mating, then after a day or two lays up to two pea-sized eggs. She'll incubate them for two weeks or so, then she'll tend to the babes by keeping them warm and feeding them frequently until they are feathered enough to regulate their own body temperatures. Not sure how long that process lasts, a few more weeks I think, then they'll leave the nest.

You won't see any egg pictures from this nest because I feel that would be too intrusive. I've been out in the general vicinity of the nest, keeping my distance, moving slowly, and she's stayed in it the whole time. She usually makes a chirp as she leaves the nest and goes off for a while, then returns for a while. She was gone in the late afternoon and early evening, but I did see her profile out there tonight, so I'm guessing she's incubating eggs.

I'll be sure to try for photos of the babies, without bothering the family. It is all a bit wonderful.

Hummingbird in the Nest

This hummingbird will avoid the nest if I am hanging around nearby outside, or too obviously gawking from the living room. It has been chasing away scrub jays and doing the intimidating hover/chirp at the cat. I have found if I hide behind the curtains just so, with my camera focused on the nest, I can get more photos of the bird in the nest. It doesn't stay long, so I have to be quick, but I got a few that I've cropped to show more of the bird.

Nest Expansion

Day two of nest building. These photos are shot from underneath the nest and it looks like those green pieces could be lichen, but I do not know. Top photo taken around 8 a.m. and bottom photo taken around 11:45 a.m. The bird is building at a pretty fast pace, but I suppose that is what one might expect from a hummingbird.

New Resident

We light our patio with LED string lights, which look very festive and are much easier on the eyes than the bright spotlights that were installed before. We've noticed a hummingbird hanging around the string lights, and hanging around the patio area - buzzing by for a close look at us while we drink coffee in the morning, and taking a close look at the cat, when she's on the other side of a glass door. The hummingbird has been a regular visitor.

Today I noticed it buzzing around and stopping by the string lights rather frequently. It seems to be building a nest on the string lights. I took a few photos of the brown duff after it had been back and forth all morning.

A little later the hummingbird was back at the nest site, and I caught a picture of it, sitting there. The nest site is in a spot I can see from my office, at a short distance, and directly out the living room window, at close range. I'm a bit thrilled with the idea of having a hummingbird nest to watch all summer.

Nanking Cherry Harvest

Almost half a pound of nanking cherries in today's harvest. These fruits are about the size of a garbanzo bean that has been soaked. They are a little tart and have a pit, but not so large as to make it undesirable to eat the fruit. The pit comes away easily from the flesh. This is the second spring for these plants, so I'm impressed at the amount of fruit on such young shrubs.

In future years, and larger harvests, I imagine I'd make preserves out of these, but this year they'll just get eaten up.

Solar Powered Laundry Dryer

The weather has finally been warm enough to fire up the old solar powered laundry dryer that I use in the warmer weather.

Our place came with a big electric plug for the motor-driven laundry dryer, so I'm glad to be able to lighten the electricity usage.

Some things are a little stiff if they dry on the line, so I sometimes put the things in the electric dryer for a few minutes to get them a little hot and pliable, then I hang them on the line and that seems to really make a difference in the feel of the cloth. Some things go directly to the line without going in the dryer, like these sheets and pillow cases. They'll dry pretty quickly with the warm, gentle breeze we have today.

Making Dolmades

The grape vines are producing lots of leaves, many of which are rather tender just now. I also have a couple of small fennel bulbs and lots of top setting onions, scallions, leeks, and various herbs around. I decided to make vegetarian dolmades for an upcoming art reception at a non-profit art gallery, where I have a couple of pieces on display. I looked at several recipes, in my various cookbooks and online, and I had a couple in front of me for reference as I went. My practice run went well enough that we ate all of the dolmades and I decided to refine my process based on the first go-round.

Today I went out and picked many grape leaves, no smaller than the size of my hand, and only the tender ones. I also harvested the other things I mentioned above: fennel bulb, leeks, top-setting onions, scallions, mint, and parsley. I used a store-bought yellow onion (certified organic and grown in California) and I used Arborio rice (I do not grow rice in my garden, but live in a rice-growing region so it is a locally produced ingredient).

Fresh grape leaves, and other ingredients.

Bamboo steamer lined with fresh grape leaves.

Preparing the leek. Sliced down the middle eases rinsing of any dirt caught inside.

Chop chop chop.

Mixing leeks and rice.

More chopping.

Laying out the blanched grape leaves.

Filling

Folding

Rolling

Uncooked dolmades in the bamboo steamer lined with fresh grape leaves.

On the stove for approximately 45 min.

Cooked dolmades await.

Viola! They are steamed to perfection! Now they will cool and then wait in the fridge (where the flavors will develop overnight) until the reception tomorrow evening. Of course I had to sample one to make sure it was cooked!

Alpine strawberries

I picked a small bowl of alpine strawberries.

These are small strawberries packed with a concentrated strawberry flavor. These are a real treat to eat, and grow in part shade and take summer drought (the plants go semi dormant) and will produce all summer with some water. I grow them back under the big oaks and with the fig trees. Not very filling, but very delicious.

Garden walk with insects

I took bumpy walk through the garden last week and found some insects in various places. Lots of chard is in this video, and ants on the fava beans at the end.

Currants & Gooseberries

currant

gooseberry

These gooseberries and currants bloomed early this spring, and we had lots of rain and cold during and after their blooming so I was worried the berry crop might be compromised. Same situation for the peaches and apricots, all were rained upon during bloom. I went out today and lifted a prickly branch of the gooseberry (last year's wood) and found a lovely row of berries filling out quite nicely. On the black currants I found clusters of the immature fruit here and there. I still won't have enough for jelly this year, but I'll eat them out of hand when they are ripe. In the fall I made a few cuttings of the black currants and put them in the front yard, in the berm and basin area. I just stuck the dormant wood into the soil. They seem to root fairly easily, so I will continue to increase my stock that way. They don't seem to be bothered by the walnuts either, so they will make a nice addition to the walnut guild.

Ants

Warmer weather means ants in the garden.

The image on top shows the ant on a leek leaf. The image on the bottom shows ants on a swelling flower bud on a peony plant. I expected to see aphids in association with the ants on the peony, but since I noticed them I've been looking every day and do not see any aphids. Perhaps the peony is secreting something the ants are harvesting? I'm just not sure.

Ants spend a lot of time moving material in the garden, they are an important part of building soil. They aerate the soil, add organic matter, move seeds around, and eat plenty of fallen fruit.

Strawberries

The strawberries are starting to ripen. I picked this group this morning. Everyday brings more sweetness to them. I've yet to taste from today's harvest but I'll eat them even if they are a little tart. It is the first fruit from the garden.

Lovely Chard

Various chards I harvested and washed. The ones with the wide stems and pink streaks are likely a cross between some red chard and some Glatter Silber chard. Chard will cross readily with other chard. I generally cut the thick stems out and cook them separately from the leaves. They can be blanched in water with a little lemon added, and served on their own. Sometimes I chop and sauté them with onions to add to soups. The leaves are delicious steamed or sautéed with a little garlic and olive oil, or with a little bacon, wine vinegar and red pepper flakes. Chard is very versatile and its mild flavor makes it very pleasant to eat frequently. It is also extremely easy to grow, and if let to go to seed (in its second year, it being a biennial) many delightful variations can occur. When it starts to send up a flower stalk, it can be cut and used as mulch too, which is handy when transplanting seedlings that might like a little mulch.

Spring Rain

Rainy day today. We had a good downpour for a while. Rain delays turning on the irrigation. I wish I had installed my rainwater tanks last fall. Big projects take time and money though, so I'll get to the tanks when I can. I've calculated the amount of water I can harvest off my roof by using Brad Lancaster's books Rainwater Harvesting vols. 1 & 2.

They are both filled with excellent ideas for using water more efficiently and valuable information on how to harvest water. I checked the average annual rainfall in this area (26 inches or 2.16 ft) and measured my roof area. I'd be harvesting water from less than half the roof surface, since I'd put larger tanks in the back of the house and probably no tanks in the front of the house. The formula is catchment area (sq ft) x rainfall (ft) x 7.48 gall/ft x coefficient (80%). Two downspouts in the back of the house would put out approximately 16,500 gallons per year, much more than I could reasonably be expected to store in tanks. That's why Brad Lancaster says "the cheapest place to store water is in the soil," and he advocates the generous use of mulch, and turning one's garden soil into a sponge of organic material - roots, organic matter, organism, and more.

I'm looking at getting two 1550 gallon storage tanks, which would make a tiny dent in my watering needs during the summer, but those drops add up. One of the main issues in this climate is we get our rain over half the year and then no rain during the hot half of the year. Until I get those tanks, I'll be working on building the sponginess of my soil.

Most of the water in the front of the house goes into the soil. The driveway and sidewalks drain into garden beds or to the ever-shrinking lawn. Some water from the road runs into the berm & basin I put next to the pavement, watering the plants in that garden system.