Juncos

For me, the first sign of winter is the arrival of the juncos. Sadly, the first two I’ve seen this year were the ones who weren’t faster than the cat. Happily, I’ve seen live ones, too, though they’re easy to overlook. They’re about the same size as the infinite number of fat house sparrows draining […]

The Ripening

Here’s a simple season extender. Pick all your green tomatoes, pile them in a basket, and wait. So we’re hitting the two week mark, and there’s maybe a half dozen turning red. And then wait some more. You know, there really isn’t much more to say. Just wait.

New growth springs in fall

There isn’t a whole lot to show off outside, aside from piles of leaves and thickets of dead plants. But inside, my orchid is sending up a new flower stalk. As I mentioned last March, every year, It puts out a new leaf, and then it puts up a flower shoot. Usually when it puts […]

Sunflowers keep on giving

I come to praise my sunflowers, not to pull them up and compost them. When they were blooming, the sunflowers offered pollen to the bees. When they were dying, seeds to the goldfinches. The plants have finished dying and dried up, but they’re not done.

Sunlight Savings Time

It’s not just the end of Daylight Savings Time that tells you winter is coming. It’s the layer of gray coming out in the sky, and layers of warmth coming in as you dress. But I do have just a little bit of sun saved up in this batch of random, sunny pictures from San […]

Still Harvesting

The collards on the hillside were looking a bit clumpy and wilted, and there was a dusting of frost here and there. Oh noes! Were the tomatoes too optimistic?

Alebrije

I’ve been suckered by the craziest thing. Have you ever been to an animal shelter and there’s that one cat (or dog) and you take one look and you know you’re in trouble. Well, I got that feeling when I saw Leroy. He’s an alebrije, a wood carving from Oaxaca. They’ve travelled from fever dreams […]

California goldenrod

While out in my old stomping ground, I also visited the Old Mission Dam. It was built in the early 19th century by the Indians and monks of Mission San Diego de Alcala to create a steady water supply from the San Diego river. Now it’s a quiet little park. There were ducks on the […]

Desert Broom

I’m back. I spent a few days in San Diego visiting family, traipsing about, and of course–bee hunting. Are you surprised? The first place I found bees was on this trail to Cowles Mountain. It’s not exactly Everest, but I grew up just down the hill from here, and the silhouette of that peak haunts […]

Optimistic Tomatoes

If you need a little optimism in your life, grow tomatoes. (Besides, we might all be growing victory gardens next year.) They will keep flowering no matter what, until the first hard frost. Look at this! It’s after Columbus Day, and it’s still hoping. Too bad. I pinched the flower off so the plant will […]