Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Hydroponics at Disney

When I go to Disney, I take the greenhouse tour every year. So many neat things going on there. It is also where I purchased my vanilla orchid.

This picture shows eggplant. Although this is hydroponic, my goal is to work in conventional gardening to get some of these same results for the home gardener.

Two Newest Books

Below are the two newest books of the Backyard Farming series. They may be purchased at any bookstore.

By Scent

Did you know that many times you can tell what type of citrus tree you have by the smell of the leaves?

If you have citrus and are unsure whether you have oranges, limes,  etc., just pick a leaf, break it in half and smell. It will usually smell like the fruit that the tree bears. So far, it has worked for me when I've tried it.

Allspice

My allspice tree is looking nice, although it does seem to be a slow grower. I still haven't found out all the information that I need on it, the biggest being do I need a second for pollination. Some articles say yes, others seem to say no. And if I do need a male and female tree, which do I have?

The leaves do smell really nice, however. They have the allspice scent and may be used in cooking just like the berries themselves.

It is funny that, when I tell people that I have an allspice tree, they are surprised as they thought that allspice was a blend of spices!

I also have started some paddle cactus in the open space of the container. Love pickled cactus so the goal is to get enough paddles to make a batch.