Pa-Pa-Papaya!

Next to our pond, I’ve planted a beautiful papaya tree overlooking the waterfall.  With the beautiful serrated leaves, the papaya continues the tropical theme of my pond.   Plus, the luscious papaya fruits are an added bonus.  Last year, there was an abundance of fruits, which were blended into smoothies and mixed into fruit salads.   The papaya is quite easy to grow.  Just toss the seeds from a fruit you ate and watch them grow.   The sprouts that are thinned out can also be eaten as a salad.  With the food trend of micro-greens, this is a must try for all the foodies reading this post.  As for the tree,  I just remember to cover when the temperature drops below 32 degree F in the winter and it’s a pretty easy to care for fruit tree for me.  The waxy white flowers are very pretty and plentiful but hidden under the huge leaves.   I’ve included pictures of the sprouts, flowers and fruits for everyone to admire.  Enjoy!

Liriope and Shrimps for Labor Day

For this past Labor Day’s weekend,  there was lots of pouring rain in Baton Rouge, which was not good for our outdoor plans.  But, one of the seven plant mysteries in my garden was solved at last!   (Actually, at any given time, there are more or less than seven mystery plants – like the seven mysteries/wonders of the world –  growing in my garden.  LOL)

Last summer, The Sushiman came home with two little plants from the local Farmers’ Market to add to our front yard’s flower border.   One was a variegated liriope grass and the other remained a mystery until now.  After surviving last winter’s freak snow storm and most of this summer heatwave, this mysterious plant has finally bloomed and it’s a shrimp.   I mean a shrimp plant, Justicia Brandegeana.   I’ve admired this shrimp plant at nurseries but have never realized that it was the same plant growing mysteriously in my front yard’s flower border.   Well, what a nice surprise for us, especially for the Labor Day weekend.  So, now I can enjoy our spicy – boiled Louisiana shrimps while admiring my delicate shrimp plant, too.

Cucumbers Gone Wild

Two months ago, I built 2 trellises  on two of the garden plots for cucumbers.  One of the garden plots had picklers and oriental pickling cucumbers planted at the base of the trellis.  On the other plot, I planted lemon cucumbers, a new variety of cucumbers for me.   Like Jack’s beanstalk, those cucumbers grew and grew and grew.  They climbed up the trellis onto the fence behind it.  Unfortunately, July brought heavy rainstorms which knocked those cucumber vines off the fence but they were not deterred.  They grew over the trellis and onto the surrounding plots.  The vines were so heavy that they knocked the trellis over.   As for the cucumbers, they seem to over-ripen overnight.  One day, they almost ready and the next they’ve turned yellow.   At least there’s plenty to eat.   As for the lemon cucumber,  it’s really pretty but the taste is not anything extraordinary.   In the fact, it’s really spiky but  you can just scrub the spikes off when you wash it.   I find I prefer the picklers since they seem to have a bit more crunch.