A Stroke of Good Luck

The monsoon moved in last night. I awoke to flashes of light and the far away bombardment of distant thunder. I ignored it and slept until about 5 a.m. - more lightning and thunder - CLOSE! The monsoon had finally arrived. For us, a wondrous event - the treat of the scent of the desert just before rain-the knowledge we would probably lose power sometime during the day ( we did ), The gratis soft water car wash, the effortless cleaning of the solar panels which we always clean on the beginning of the quarter ( the monsoon obliged ), the filling of the rain barrels, but, best of all, I had just planted the first seeds of my winter vegetable garden yesterday! The peas, carrots, chard, spinach and beets received a lucky send -off!

I look out over the desert and realize the blessing of the monsoon - the relief of plants receiving the precious water needed to sustain and renew them after the long hot dry spell...and of animals who have suffered through the dry season and are now able to return to their secret places - pockets of sweet fresh water! I imagine, too, the exaltation the native people felt during this wondrous time of replenishment. Welcome, monsoon!

The Olive Tree

Originally from the Mediterranean area, olive trees began to be cultivated about 5,000 years ago. People from that era discovered many uses for olive oil. Olive trees ( Olea europaea ) probably first appeared in California sometime during the 1700's. The tree needs a long, hot growing season to fully ripen the fruit. Sounds like a great tree for Borrego, doesn't it? The tree is listed as drought resistant, needs a deep watering only once a month and, best of all, is extremely picturesque! They make handsome accent trees and often have multi branched trunks. Old trees develop gnarled trunks, which give individual trees a lot of character. Fruiting and non-fruiting varieties are available at local nurseries. We have purchased all our trees locally to assure they have been adapted to the Borrego region.

We have two fruiting trees but only one produces large green olives. The other is a nuisance, with a prolific crop of tiny worthless fruit - so, be careful to investigate before you buy! We prune heavily to assure large fruit and to keep the height at about twenty feet. We have had no pest or disease problems, to date.

Make Your Own!
Olives for processing should be picked green as soon as they attain the proper size. We have tried several methods of processing olives, only one of which was successful. We tried making black Greek olives and that was a disaster! It took twenty-one days under a heavy layer of salt and the result was bitter olives and a hole eaten through a heavy stainless steel pot!

For many years now, we have been successfully processing green olives . The first time, however, was mind wracking, since the process involves the use of LYE! WE had never used lye before but - like the average person, thought it should only be used for plumbing purposes and was a substance that could eat through things! We certainly doubted that lye could be used to make anything palatable! We bought Red Devil Lye from Ace Hardware and Kosher salt from the Center Market, and used the recipe provided by a farmer who had been making olives for many years. Our process takes seven days. We measure all amounts carefully and time the "soaks" as prescribed. We use a five gallon white plastic bucket and make about two and one half gallons of olives in a batch.We store the olives in the refrigerator in large glass jars ,loosely capped and covered with saline solution. If the olives taste too salty, we wash them off before serving or, even soak them in fresh water overnight.

I'm not giving away my recipe, for obvious reasons but there are many recipes to be found on the web. If you want to try curing olives, you can find out everything you need by referring to the University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Publication 8267- Olives, Safe Methods for Pickling.

A Great Gift!

We always make more olives than we can possibly consume and have found they make wonderful and appreciated Holiday or Hostess gifts.

AGENDA - 2010-2011

All meetings are on the second Friday of the month at 10 o'clock a.m. with the exception of the October meeting. Don't forget to bring your own chair!

October 21st. Joint meeting with the Art Guild. A Luncheon at the Arches at 11:30 a.m. Holiday gift ideas. Show and tell.

November 12th. How to save money on your water bill- a look at meters and leaks. Fredrickson garden.

December 10th. Cabooses and Buses: Gardens with a focus. The West and Rickard gardens.

January 14th. An Organic Vegetable Garden. The Wilderson vegetable patch.

February 11th. Road Runner Nursery and Tree Farm. Traditional meeting with Mike Spiekerman.

March 11th. The Garden on Palm Canyon Dr. Succulents for the Desert. Glenda Garmon and Gail Van Kamp.

Two Bulbs

Small Bulbs: I'm always surprised when cooler nights arrive and a mass of darling white flowers start appearing in the garden. Known as " rain flowers ", or Zephyranthes, these small bulbs burst into bloom and bright green grass-like foliage following summer rains and cooler weather. They maintain the bright foliage during fall, winter and spring. Each cluster will grow to about 1 foot wide and 1 foot high. They die back in summer and may be divided and replanted in fall ( or now ). They thrive in pots and add a tropical touch when planted along borders or amongst flowers. They are hardy to zero degrees and need water only during summer months. This is definitely a low care - low water use plant.

A starter pot of bulbs makes a wonderful holiday gift and when separated and replanted in the garden will grow rapidly.


Larger Bulbs - Paper Whites: Soon, tiny sprouts will push through the heavy layer of mulch in one of my garden beds. Just in time for the Holidays, they will be a mass of white flowers. Narcissus, another easy to grow bulb which seems to love the low desert! I refer to them as Mer's bulbs because the originals were first planted by my grandmother in her garden in 1932. Clones of these bulbs have been in all my gardens ever since I first dug up, separated and transplanted them from her beds. They thrived, multiplied, have been passed on to other family members and now are growing in many locales, from the beach to the low desert! They will continue to be an ongoing tribute and reminder of her.
Let the plants die back completely before removing yellowed foliage to ensure a good bloom the following year. Divide and separate as needed during that time.

Though I have successfully grown other bulbs and corms in the desert, only Zephyranthes and Narcissus seem to thrive here.

I Wish I Hadn't Read It!

Oh, Mygosh!
Rebecca Blood's book, The Weblog Handbook: Practical Advice on Creating and Maintaining Your Blog, advises DAILY POSTINGS! I had no idea this was the criteria for blogging - in fact, I sort of jumped in, thinking it a good way to maintain contact with members of the Desert Gardeners.

Well, Well, Well
As she says, the more you write, the more ideas seem to pop into your head and beg for a posting. BUT-

Let's be Realistic!
Just so you know what to expect: No daily postings, but about four or five per month - maybe more - who knows?

The Green Ogre

The Green Ogre
The Chamber wants it gone - bad for tourism. The Park wants it gone - it is destroying native plant habitat. I certainly want it gone - I think it is a wildfire waiting in the wings. The Park and the Anza Borrego Foundation have applied for a grant to eradicate it in crucial areas within the Park. The green ogre? Saharan mustard.

The Grant
Would provide salaries for forty workers between January and April and give priority to locals when hiring. It would cover the Henderson Canyon Road wildflower areas, Borrego Palm Canyon and acreage in Coyote Canyon- Each of these, an area of popular interest to the public.

Why it Scares Me: Old Western Movies
The prairie fire ...frightened the settlers , cowboys , bison and natives. It sure scared me, too! Could it happen in Borrego? It seems to me we certainly have the potential...thanks to the dry and brittle Sahara mustard covering acres and acres of land. Is our Fire Department prepared to handle such an emergency?

Borrego Home Gardeners
Each gardener can try to erase Saharan mustard from his property. We all need to make an effort to recognize, remove and dispose of the plant as it appears in our gardens.