robby: (Default)
robby ([personal profile] robby) wrote2011-06-15 09:43 pm

An Ode To Ammonium Sulfate

The citrus and avocado trees love the fertilizer. I was trying to fertilize everything with coffee grounds, but I don't drink enough coffee to supply both the vegetable patch and the fruit trees. I have lots of compost, but these trees need something acidic with lots of nitrogen.

The allysium plants are still tiny, but they're being helpful by flowering. Until now, I wasn't positive of what they were. The seeds must have spread as I watered, because they are growing in a wider area than I recall planting.

I have songbirds nesting in the privet tree out front, and they were just singing up a storm about sundown. I wish I knew more about birds, but the bird identification sites on the interweb are not so helpful. One type of unknown bird is a large aggressive bird with white stripes on the wings. (I found it, it's a yellow-billed magpie http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow-billed_Magpie/id ) When I water the lawn, or flood the almond tree, I get a whole slew of different birds stop by. Usually the dog ignores them, but I notice sometimes he chases off the big doves, especially if there are a number of them.

The warm weather is causing the lettuce to bolt, and I suppose I should pick it and start eating big salads, and then be done with it until fall.