Under the Solano Sun

I think I finally figured out how to grow tomatoes. This is my fourth year growing tomatoes in the backyard, and two months into the season it feels like the first time I'm having real success. It's not that the first three seasons were complete failures, though at times it felt that way.

Marigolds also known as Cempoalxochitl are associated with ancient offerings to the dead, it played an important role in Aztec ceremonies dedicated to deities within the Tlaloc rain-agriculture-fertility complex.

In my research on African Violets, I have found so many wonderful other members of the Gesneriad family! The one that really has caught my eye are the Streptocarpus . The genus is native to Central, Eastern and Southern Africa, including Madagascar and the Comoro Islands.

It's raining, but it's not water from the sky. It's fruit drop from my Satsuma mandarin tree. Small, immature fruit is littering my patio and my garden bed. The official name for this event is June Drop, but it can happen May though July. For some reason, it seems worse this year.

In March 2022 we were able to visit relatives in Tampa Bay, Florida. One day we visited a lovely open-air marketplace in nearby St. Petersburg. Walking back to the car, we passed a lovely, massive tree with sturdy branches that came off the main trunk close to the ground.