lemon tree

lemon almost ready for picking


baby lemons


more new lemons

This tree was given to me by my niece and her boyfriend as a housewarming gift ... It has just been doing great ever since I got it . I water it regularly and make sure it gets plenty of sunshine .  Since I am in New York I will have to take it in the garage for the  cold winter months ... as long as it does not freeze it can stay outdoors . 

Its important that once the flowers appear on the plant that it gets plenty of water and fertilizing is crucial to getting a good yield of lemons especially if you plan on keeping the tree in a pot like I will be doing .. fertilizing 4 times a year is best .

If bees do not pollinate the flowers the little lemons will just shrivel and drop off the plants ...be sure to move the pot and place it where you see any sign of bee activity .

As you can see from the photos it is full of new baby lemons :)  , And 1 looks  nice and turning yellow  which will be ready for picking  soon .

Jamun Tree

Jamun Tree

I grew this tree from a pit in Florida , I had given 2 to my Brother and sister In Law and they were nice to give me this one back when we moved back to New York . I am hoping it will continue to thrive in a pot . 

I absolutely love the taste of this fruit .




Ripe Jamun Fruit



The tree can reach heights of up to 30 m and can live more than 100 years. Its dense foliage provides shade and is grown just for its ornamental value. The wood is strong and is water resistant. Because of this it is used in railway sleepers and to install motors in wells. It is sometimes used to make cheap furniture and village dwellings though it is relatively hard to work on.

Jamun trees start flowering from March to April. The flowers of Jamun are fragrant and small, about 5 mm in diameter. The fruits develop by May or June and resemble large berries. The fruit is oblong, ovoid, starts green and turns pink to shining crimson black as it matures. A variant of the tree produces white coloured fruit. The fruit has a combination of sweet, mildly sour and astringent flavour and tends to colour the tongue purple. The seed is also used in various alternative healing systems like Ayurveda (to control diabetes, for example[1].), Unani and Chinese medicine for digestive ailments. The leaves and bark are used for controlling blood pressure and gingivitis. Wine and vinegar are also made from the fruit. It has a high source in vitamin A and vitamin C.

IMPATIENTS

IMPATIENTS

When we moved into our new house the end of June , between unpacking and planting vegetables I really didn`t have time for flowers this year. I was surprised once I turned on our sprinklers that impatients were sprouting everywhere :) I love flowers and  I can`t wait to start planting next spring. Got any ideas for a flower garden in New York ???  whats good ? whats not ? I am thinking I may try to go with yellow and red flowers , I don`t believe I have ever done that color combination before but have seen some pictures and the color combo are really striking and bold .

Red Hibiscus

My hibiscus

I had these in Florida in different colors .

My sister gave this one to me as a house warming gift
when we moved to New york but silly me I planted 
it in the ground forgetting this is a tropical plant and
now I need to uproot it and put it in a container for
the winter or it will freeze this winter.

Peppers - spicy hot

l
long hot peppers



round cherry peppers



banana peppers

We all Love the hot peppers in our family


The round cherry peppers are great for making stuffed
peppers ,Or dried so we can use them on our pasta.

The long hot ones I like just fried  or dried which we later
fry to eat them like chips ..MMM MMM

The yellow banana varieties I like to throw in a Ratatouille
 or what us Italians call ``JAMBOTTA`` A mix of different peppers
is even more interesting to the eye.

Tomato

Our tomato  plants

I can not believe that these tomatoes just do not want to get
ripe this year... Its almost fall and I have only picked a handful
of tomatoes so far. Its just so nice & tasty when they are hand
picked from your own garden , the store bought ones cannot
compare in flavor.

I can`t wait till next years planting season ! More veggies and
more fruits to experiment with. :)

Parsley/basil

Our Parsley/basil

If you look real close you will see a nice fat Caterpillar eating my parsley !

This variety is used more for cooking and is more fragrant than  the curly parsley which is used more for garnishing because it looks prettier. either one is a must have in any garden.

Fig Tree

Our Fig Tree


This is the white variety and it bares fruit twice a year .
This variety grows quite large figs compared to other varieties
being grown here in New york .

When we lived in Italy we would  eat these as a meal .
I remember some red varieties that had figs the size of an orange.

Mint

My Mint


I always enjoy an ice tea w/ a sprig of mint in the hot summer days . I like it so much that I have been making marinades for my steak and chicken  with it .

My husband is from India and he likes to make mint chutney . I have started planting it around the house hoping it will spread around fast because making chutney requires a big load of mint..

Basile

My Basil


You can`t make a good sauce without the basile :) I love the fragrance it gives the sauce , Its a must have in any garden.

Lychee fruit tree

My Lychee plant

I love this fruit , it is sooo soo juicy .

This is how it looked when we got it from the nursery but the following year it grew to twice the size and started producing more fruit, The leaves got greener and happier .

I learned that a lychee requires lots and lots and lots  of water maybe thats why they are so juicy.

Grape

My grape @ the Florida house

I never really learned how to prune it but since then I have been doing alot of reading and I think  that I now know what to do :)   

Now all I have to do is buy some grape vines for our new house .

I prefer the white grapes over any other varieties.

Pidgeon peas

PIGEON PEAS

Can you believe I picked those just off of only 1 plant !! ???

I love them , they are not as sweet as regular peas and you also have to cook them for a long time . they are great in stews .

Okra

If you look closely near the stem you will see the okra...okra only growns along the stem as the plant grows taller.

  

This is an okra flower...this is one of the pretties flowers from any vegetable I have ever grown
I like to keep this in the garden just to enjoy the beauty of the flower. My husband  is a fan of okra so the vegetable doesn`t go to waste.

Pineapple

I haven`t figured out yet how to make them grow as big as the ones you get in a supermarket but the pineapples I grow are 1/4 of the size but they are the sweatest I have ever tasted . I think i`ll take the sweetnes over size any day ! :)
It is so nice to watch it start to bloom , they have a purpleish flower which is so pretty . If you click the photo you can see it in greater details . The hardest part is watching it grow for months and when you are ready to go pick it you find that a squirel beat you to it !

Now that I have moved from Florida to NY I will have to try growing them in a pot and see how well they do .