Yea that Bill always has the best ideas. Mr Smartypants...

I do have another idea though!! Since I had the DIEP with reconstructed nipples...I can tape to my DIEP breasts and say it is just my new nipples!! 2 lychee is plenty enough for my aunt to sample!! hahahahaha!!!

Karen, what are you planning on planting to start out?
And it would be great to have everyone over here to see Hawaii and have a good time!!

Have a great day everyone...off to work now!!

yikes,
i am not sure. but i want more organic herbs and some organic vegetables (i don't even know whether it is too early or late for various types!!) and i think that i am going to buy some shade plants (a lot of shade in my backyard).
i hope i don't kill things immediately.
karen

Harrie
I remember well when I lived in Northern California, and would smuggle fruits and veggies from Oregon...the fruit fly police were vicious...you must be clever....are the Lychee like a nut/fruit....the ones the people in Thailand and Vietnam use on their teeth? You being a dental hygenist must know this!!!
Just be glad you are smuggling lychees on your dieps and not coconuts!

Sheila,

Were you talking about 'bin-lang'? A fruit from the coconut tree and people in southeast Asia chew on it and spit out? (red like blood because of the ingredient inserted in it) No, Lychee is a juicy, sweet fruit. It has red, thin, rough skin (when ripe), very, very sweet, juicy white meat wrapping around a nut. It is bigger than a cherry tomato.

In Chinese medicine, Lychee is classified as a 'hot' food. It means that if you eat too much of it, you can get nose bleed. A famous story about lychee says that the most beautiful woman of the emporer's court in the Tang Dynasty liked to eat Lychee. The Emporer would send out runners (on horses) to southern China to bring back fresh Lychee to the palace when it's in season. This was the same princess who would rarely smile. After she had smiled one time when she heard the sound from the accidental tearing up of someone's silk sleeve, the emporer ordered maids around her to tear up silk cloth just so he could see her smile.

So, go out and get some lychee. Enjoy it as the most spoiled princess once did!

Jackie, is that fruit you are talking about from SE Asia what they bcall the beetle nut? It stains the teeth ferociously!! A hygienist's nightmare. TG we hardly see it!
So Sheila, Jackie explained about the lychee, so I won't have to.

GUESS WHAT EVERYONE....I planted my very first crops today...cherry tomatoes and lettuce! Can't wait to see my first crop!!

Maryanne

Spring Gardens
 

Congratulations Maryanne. Let us know how your cherry tomatoes and lettuce grow. What kind of lettuce did you plant? So far my best veggies have been leeks, green onions and chives. I also had some sprouts. I am waiting on the cherry tomatoes, basil and other things I planted. I have enough leeks to share with the neighbors!! Good thing, because they are so expensive in the store. <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

Elaine, if you have that many leeks, you should call a plumber.

Okay - so how are the gardens doing?

I harvested all of the remaining swiss chard on the weekend and I (actually my husband) put up a trellis and I (really me0 planted some pole bean seeds. All of the different varieties of tomatoes have set fruit but nothing is ready yet. Almost all of the peppers have fruit. Most turn red or orange when ripe but I picked a bunch of green peppers for last night because I made pepper and onion enchiladas and needed them. I had a couple of small jalapenos too. All the herbs are pickable (parsley, oregano, thyme and basil). We have had about 10 cucumbers too. Still eating greens (probably 2-3 heads of 2 week old romaine that is still good and the chard). We are waiting for the yellow, red and zebra tomatoes though. It is the best garden treat.

The flowers are doing well too. Deadheading to keep everything looking good.

How are your gardens?

Elaine,
The lettuce package just says: Lettuce and under that it says Anuenue. It was packaged by Univ of Hawaii.
Tlhe pic on the pkg looks like Manoa lettuce.

When you say you planted sprouts...do you mean like bean sprouts?

Maryanne

Tomatoes are still green, except plum tomatoes on plant my brother gave me in a pot. They have end rot. Eggplant blossoms dried up and fell off. Celery looks good. Vegetables drive me crazy! I prefer flowers.

Spring Gardens
 

Maryanne
Manoa lettuce sounds good. Yum Yum. I think I will get some seeds later. If the lettuce and other veggies are packed by UH they must be things that will grow well in our climate.

Spring Gardens
 

Hi Bill,
You are funny.

spring gardens
 

Hi Maryanne,
The Anuenue lettuce is Manoa lettuce. I asked my friend who has been growing veggies for years. Where did you get your UH college of tropical agriculture seeds?

Elaine, we got it from Farmer's Exchange. A family-owned gardening shop.
Maryanne

UPDATE on Maryanne's garden:
I have been watering twice a day and yesterday I noticed 5 little spouts from my tomato pot!! They are like 1/2 inch in ht.
Can anyone tell me when I might be able to see my first tomato?
Maryanne

Maybe 60-70 days to maturity. Not sure if maybe it's faster in Paradise, but that's what it takes here. You go girl!

spring gardens
 

Mahalo Maryanne. Farmer's Exchange!! We are all going to be eating healthier food very soon. I am still eating leeks, green onion, sprouts and chives, but no tomatoes yet. I am thankful Bill told us how long they take. I am going to plant the leafy things in the fall when Honolulu is not quite as hot. Your climate is a little different in Hilo, so you will have lettuce before me.

okay, i planted the indian corn i bought last year at the store and have several stalks of it. do i let it dry out like they do when they take the corn out of the fields? or how do i know when it's ready? never planted anything other than tomatoes before, at least as far as food goes. i have all kinds of flowers and inside plants

"...how does your garden grow?"
 

OK, all you Mary, Mary, quite contrarys.
How is the Hawaiian lettuce and other container gardens going??
We heard things were planted - and how about harvests?

A very weird year, weatherwise, here. Lots of baby pears on the tree then they suddenly all fell off and we have nothing. Do have some apples, tho. Scanty number of blueberries and the birds got most of those.

BUT - it is a bumper crop of raspberries! Strawberries were also good. We have never had SO MANY raspberries. We thought we thinned them real well in the spring, but they LIKED that, I guess.

Flowers have been a little late. These ivy geraniums are happily blooming now that I moved them. I get that many raspberries twice a day ... been freezing a bag a day! That being after the birds and squirrels get their share ...

This year it has been hot but rainy. I finally have tomatoes that are ready (and this is late for NJ). I have several red varieties and 2 yellow varieties. The zebra tomato plant has fruit but is not ready. Lots and lots of peppers and finally 2 are yellow and one is orange (the lots and lots are still green so I can use them and I just leave them so they will ripen). Cukes were abundant (21 in one day) but are very slow now. I have 3 acorn squash plants and I think a squash borer got one of them as it is wilting a quick death. This is a common bug disease for me no matter where in NJ I've lived. I have lived here (3rd summer now) and never planted squash here so I guess that's the end of the line for me with it.

The herbs are great (parsley, different kinds of basil and oregano. The thyme was great earlier then flowered and is now back again. Thyme is best in the Spring when the plant comes back from the dead). The flowers and lawn are wonderful. I can't say more about both. I guess the rain is what really did it (and I think it is what really delayed the tomatoes). No pole beans yet but they should come in about 2 weeks. I planted these late. If I really do lose the one (or all 3) acorn squash plants, I will put in a fall crop of lettuce.

Garden's good but I will have late tomatoes (and spaghetti sauce) this year and maybe no squash:(