HAPPY BIRTHDAY FARMER JOHN!!!!!

Happy Birthday Farmer John!                             Today would be your 82nd Birthday….

It sure has been different here on the NSAFarm without you …Let me tell you what’s happening just now….All the narcissus are blooming like mad!...The new flush of cool weather ground covers have taken over and are creating a green carpet with many small colorful blossoms…. The Occalass bloom in pink and Yellow, Violets are a sweet purple, the Nasturtium a sweet bright green,

many different Wandering Jews, Mint, Plectranthus, the prickly Nettles in back with the Horehound all grey green in its clumps that are here and there out back & in the way back... The Iris are standing at attention everywhere with their leaf spathes pointing to the sky preparing for their spring bloom bonanza…. giant Crocosmia, Crinums,

 Narcissus,

And Naked Ladies are all are pushing up there varied greens of all different leaf structures & textures that precede their blooms….and the tropical Guavas are nothing short of prolific as was theSapote!

Had an amazing flush on the Cemetery Rose south-east of the Sapote with the Barrel Cactus and crown of thorns…. Snail vine is all thick and green with new flowers coming on…. and the exquisitely wonderful one-of-a-kind seedling grapefruit is full of ripening fruit…. all the Oranges, Tangerines, and misc Citrus are turning from an inconspicuous green to lovely sunny oranges and should be ready to enjoy soon!… The kitchen house pond avocado orchard is in full swing with the Baba-Cado seedlings with the Pinkerton's down to just a few fruit left…


the Limes are waning but still offer the perfect amount for the kitchen’s use… the Montclair-clothesline Meyer Lemon is coming on full blast bright yellow with tons of fruit!.... the asparagus fern is taking over the clothesline-bamboo fence with its happy little, almost heart shaped leaves & it’s covering almost the entire porcelain throne garden as well!..


Everything in this garden is happy with the 17+ inches of rain the last storm system droped as it passed through last week…. It’s a wonderful thing when Mother Nature waters, she doesen’t miss a single inch of the property….WOW!


A particularly green and happy NSAFarm this Birthday Dad~

Our wish this year is that your love, light & blessings continue to shine in the hearts and minds of all that you touched this life…..We all miss and love you and thank-you for all the joy, kindness, and love you have brought to us....

Zbogum Dad!

Botanist Oscar Clarke describes the plant collection at the NSA Farm....

This 33000 sq. ft. Property's Mature Botanic Gardens are something to see!
An Enjoyable and Extraordinary Collection full of Rare and Unusual plants gathered from
all over the World during the past 40 years, includes Eatables, Medicinals, Ornamentals
and more than 200 fruiting Trees and Vines.
Many, now towering, are simply spectacular, and provide a one-of-a-kind, Lush and refreshing, tropical Environment that only mature plants can offer. The Tree canopies,
plus two hand-built Native-Stone, Koi ponds, serve as host to many local Migratory
Birds and Butterflies, Dragonflies, Ladybugs and the highly important pollinator, the
Honey Bee.
With a fully Automated Watering System, the Apples, Figs, Avocados, Peaches,
Loquats, Citrus, Mulberries, Grapes, Guavas, Feijoa (pineapple guava), Walnuts,
Bananas, Apricots, Plums, Nectarines, Jujubes (Chinese date), Pomegranates, Tree
Spinach (Chaya), Tapiocia Tree - Manihot palmata (related to cassava, the source of tapioca),
WhiteSapote, Mimosas, Boysenberries, Raspberries, Bay, Passion Fruit, Mint, Lavender,
various Aloes and Cacti are just a few of the plants that populate this distinctive
Botanical Collection.
In my opinion, this property is Delightfully Unique, put together with an eye for the
exotic and unusual. Its significant plant diversity and usability, is the result of many years
of painstaking labor and care, making it an important, and quite valuable Botanical
Collection, to whoever decides to purchase it.


Oscar F. Clarke
Retired UC Riverside Herbarium Curator/Creator and Author of: “Flora of the Santa Ana River and Environs, with References to World
Botany”
Oscarfclarke.blogspot.com

SWEET GINGER BLOSSOMS

Happy Thanksgiving!

Want to share a few pictures of some of the late blooming ginger in the front yard meadow....they have been finished for a few weeks now but with the magic of pictures i can bring them to you today...This day of thanks for all we have..... May the love in your heart's spread out to all the world!!!!



Peace, Rena at the NSA Farm

Old Plant Lable on the Ground....

WhileMonica and I were walking the NSA Farm property, we stumbled upon this plant label...pepino dulce var. ....not knowing what it belonged to, i looked it up....a fun investigation..here is what wikipedia says pepino dulce is: ... Solanum muricatum a species of evergreen shrub native to South America and grown for its sweet edible fruit. It is known as pepino dulce ("sweet pepino") or simply pepino; the latter is also used for similar species such as "S. mucronatum" (which actually seems to belong in the related genus Lycianthes). The pepino dulce fruit resembles a melon (Cucumis melo) in color and flavor and thus it is also called pepino melon or melon pear, but pepinos are only distantly related to melons and pears. A close relative of other nightshades cultivated for their fruit, including the tomato (S. lycopersicum) and the eggplant (S. melongena), which its own fruit closely resembles.

The fruit is common in markets in Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru and Chile, but less often overseas because it is quite sensitive to handling and does not travel well. Attempts to produce commercial cultivars and to export the fruit have been made in New Zealand, Turkey and Chile.[1]

wish i had some images for you ....you'll just have to look it up..! 

Visitors!

last week, Monica Dirac came to visit the NSA Farm, have a plant walk and pick up the sweet kittens & momma cat who had made their home in the front yard. She has a lovely property in Devoree and the new additions to her animals hopefully will keep the mouse population in the horse/hay barn down to zero! Monica is a fellow plant lover CRFG member and friend of Dad's ... well, as always, you can't leave the NS Farm empty handed..! here she is with all her new treasures!

the new family having a snack...

practicing climbing...

stopping for a drink at the local watering whole  (a nursery pot on the front porch works just fine!)

there go my garden shoes!  wonder if it found anything?  HA!

guess not....

For fun... here are a few pictures of her place and all her animals!

in the orchard with Digby one of 5 dogs, looking up (s/w) at the house...

the caboose sits up hill to the north of the house

Stumpy the turtle..

Ghost the horse..

and one of 4 young alpackas....

Brachychiton rupestris

During a recent visit and plant walk at the NSA Farm with Monica Dirac... we passed the lovely new leafs on the Brachychiton rupestris  in the front yard... knowing that it bloomed like crazy, we began to look for seed pods...low and behold...Monica spotted them.... they are a lovely little boat shaped packet with the seeds looking like a nest of birds....I then realized that i hadn't posted the pictures that I shot of it flowering like crazy a few months ago!  so here they are!  Enjoy!

Here is a bit of what Wikipedia has to offer about it;

The Queensland Bottle Tree (Brachychiton rupestris) originally classified in the family Sterculiaceae, which is now within Malvaceae, is native of Queensland, Australia. Its grossly swollen trunk gives it a remarkable appearance and gives rise to the name. As a succulent, drought-deciduous tree, it is tolerant of a range of various soils, and temperatures.
It can grow to 18-20 meters (40 feet) in height and its trunk has the unique shape of a bottle. Its swollen trunk is primarily used for water storage. On every tree the leaves are variable from narrow and elliptic to deeply divided. Clusters of yellowy bell shaped flowers are hidden within the foliage, and are followed by woody boat-shaped fruits.
Bottle Trees are commonly found planted in streets, parks, on farms and as features in gardens. Roma, Queensland is one country town with prominent bottle trees. They also grace the new entrance to the Geelong Botanic Gardens (38° South Latitude). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brachychiton_rupestris

for fun!

Here is an old picture of John, doing what he loved best... digging in the dirt .... taken in the late 60's, probably 1967 or 1968 by my recollection....thought you'd all get a kick out of seeing him durring the time when he first arrived at the   NSA Farm!  

this was also taken of John in 1968 I'm pretty sure and it's on the Farm.... pretty bare don't you think?! i believe that he is sitting under one of the locust trees to the north of the property....the difference of then and now is completely mind blowing! 

Monarch Butterfly's are here!

I've been wanting to write about the Monarch butterfly's that pass through the NSA Farm property every year....the Asclepia tuberosa also know as 'butterfly milkweed' that is pervasive and blooming this time of the year is the a favorite food of the Monarch... and while at the kitchen window, looking out on to the kitchen pond area and the asclepia in bloom there, there it was! The biggest most beautiful Monarch having a snack on the asclepia blossoms! i ran to get my camera and managed to snap off a few (lousy) pictures .... some times it all falls into place and other times...well this is the other time! hope that another opportunity is forth coming and I can up date you with a better shot!  Untill then...I hope you enjoy these....

Epiphyllum in the Locust Tree

A very mature Epiphyllum in the canopy of the Locust tree in the courtyard just before it was to bloom...this one blooms at night & will last in to the morning then fades.....so you've got to catch it when it's ready! I did! after many tries....

now some close ups of the buds ....

the night they bloomed...

early morning with the blooms still fully open..wow!

early morningEpiphyllum, according to the Wikipedia, has 2 synonyms: Phyllocactus and Phyllocereus. It blooms only at night with large fragrant flowers of many colors... Epiphyllum species are added to some versions of the hallucinogenic drink Ayahuasca.  Here again, Dad was cultavating a plant with useable properties....

Buzzy Bee!

here are some pics that I thought you'd enjoy!  

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Flanders Fig

wish all the trees had lables...Dad knew them all....can you taste it?  Yummy!!

What's Blooming!