May Lotito

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since Jun 11, 2020
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Recent posts by May Lotito

IYes, they are. I have hollyhock volunteers too and they are not harmed by the 20F hard freeze last week. If the winter is mild, they will probably stay green throughout with some leave mulch. Last plant I had bloomed for the next 2-3 years.

Have you been to Santa Fe? Hollyhocks are very popular in landscaping there. The view of tall flower stalks standing against the colorful adobe walls are so stunning. Somehow my plants never grow that big, could be a variety or soil issue.
23 hours ago
I started a few nectarine and plum seeds this year. They germinated well on paper towels but immediately stunted when planted in ground. I was able to rescue the nectarine but failed to make it work on the plum. It has tip die back and becomes bushy with very small leaves. I will grow it to be a bonsai.
Making Korean yuzu marmalade and tea yuja cheong/yuja cha:

https://mykoreankitchen.com/yuja-tea-korean-citron-tea/

2 days ago
I only do small projects so far so the chance of having adverse effect from dyeing is very small. I do take precautions not to breath in fine powders and avoid skin contact with aluminum ion, and am not using heavy metals. Since I experiment with lots of dye plants and conditions, it is harder to set aside utensils just for dyeing. It's possible not to use alum mordant, for items that don't need to be highly color fast. Alum is working so effectively because it can replace calcium and binds more strongly due to the triple valence. I am fine with the muted tones as the trade off for safety and ease of mind.
6 days ago
The grubs could be the larvae of bess beetles if they live inside rotting wood. They speed up the decomposition process, earthworms will move in to eat their frass. Similar looking grubs that are found in soil or root mass are likely pest beetles. bess beetle
We had a hard freeze three days ago and killed the sunchoke tops. I pulled one up and this is how the tubers look like. I don't think it's a trait to stay jammed. More likely because the top soil is shallow and subsoil is rock hard, plus I watered or mulched just around the base in summer drought. Another plant in a shadier spot with better soil had roots traveling much farther and deeper.
Don't cut them. As I see your tomatoes have lots of suckers so they are not growing in a linear mode, the bigger they grow the exceedingly more nutrient they need. If something runs short from the soil, they start pulling from the old leaves to feed the growing tips and fruits.  This mottled  leaves are rare to see and it took me a while to figure out. For diagnosis purpose, I fixed it with molybdenum alone. You can try wood ash in water for quick mineral recharge, as high pH makes Mo more available. In the future, adding basalt rock dust, alfalfa meal, rabbit manure or worm castings will make the soil rich and balanced.
1 week ago
Do they look like these:https://permies.com/t/165424/Ack-brandywines-dragon-scales
How about the newer growth? Are leaves and flower clusters getting smaller with uneven fruit maturity within a cluster?
2 weeks ago
Nasturtiums root easily from cuttings. Bring some indoors before first frost and you can enjoy the flowers in winter. Give them the warmest and sunniest spot, other wise the vines and leaf stems will get very elongated.

Though not considered invasive, nasturtiums can grow fast and carpet a large area: Monet's garden
2 weeks ago
Check out your local store for any after holiday sale. I got $1 each of these gorgeous black futsu pumpkins. A pack of seeds would cost the same.
2 weeks ago