My First Attempt at Blogging

Since I have never written a blog before, I expect my first efforts will be a bit stilted, but probably I shall warm up gradually to it. I haven't looked at many other blogs, so am not quite sure what people write about. The name of this blog "Plenty of Room in the Sky" refers to the fact that you can train some plants to grow upward, to save room !!

However, first a bit about me: Am in my 60's, feel/look way younger, very active. I have always been a person with a ton of energy. My favorite activity is gardening, especially growing fruits and vegetables or edible flowers. A couple of years ago I had enough edible flowers to make a beautiful salad. I remember seeing one in a magazine (National Geographic I think), prepared by a famous chef. It was huge and each layer was a different color - a real work of art.

I was born in Europe. but came to California with my mother, via Montreal, Canada, but apart from short forays to Hawaii and Missouri, California is my real home. I live in South Orange County almost midway between Los Angeles and San Diego.

I have a fairly large garden in a small town, about 300 yards from the beach, but up on the bluffs. The front garden is much larger than the back, but the back is rather attractive, since it has been terraced with a retaining wall. It is not the best garden for vegetables since there is too much shade, but I plant a bit here and there, making the most of every nook and cranny. I am also planning to put some vegetables in the front, where they are not too noticeable from the road.

I have been in this house for 4 years and have improved the soil tremendously with a lot of hard work. The soil was totally neglected and baked hard (adobe) when I moved in, and almost impossible to dig. I have composted and used many bales of alfalfa, plus sand and manure to loosen it up. I also use all the leaves from my large Chinese elm as mulch. The soil has improved gradually, although it is still not perfect. The best growing results come from areas where I have at least 6 inches of compost but that is taking quite a bit of time and effort.

One problem, living near the beach, is that my squash, beans and peas, are inclined to mildew. I bought some Neem to spray on them and that has helped somewhat, but I have to be very careful about watering, especially towards the evening hours. At least I don't usually have extreme heat to contend with, although occasionally when a hot desert wind blows it can get into the high 90's. So far it has never been more than about 98 F. Fortunate since I don't have air conditioning. More normal summer temperatures are in the mid 80's.

Since I have always loved nature I garden organically, and I also try to plant flowers that will provide food for birds and butterflies and attract bees. When I moved here I would rarely see a bee, but now there are quite a lot. On very hot days they come to my pond for water. I have a water plant in a pot on the edge and they crawl about on the wet gravel which is on top. I didn't know bees did that until I saw them. I hear that they take the water back to the hive to keep it cool.

My Chinese elm is a bit of a nuisance, but I can't cut it down since it is a feeding station for dozens of caterpillars each spring. There are so many that the ground is brown with their droppings and for a few weeks it is rather unpleasant. I have also been nurturing a large dragon lizard. There are very few lizards around here now because the large ants they prefer to feed on have been virtually eliminated and I think they also fall prey to neighborhood cats.

Well, that's all for my first attempt. I shall be delighted to receive comments (well delighted with nice comments anyway !!)