January 2021 (Part 2): A Stormy Gift in the Month of Birthdays

garden back pano to SW in rain jan 27 2021 - 1

Aftermath of the Jan. 26-27 storm: the back garden

Chris:

Rain finally came to our region at the end of January. Too bad it came with 50 mph winds, which uprooted trees throughout the Valley, including Sacramento. But when all of 2020 had given us only about 2 inches of rain–16 inches below normal!–we were still thankful for the almost 3 inches we’ve received over that past three days. Meanwhile, the storm produced blizzard conditions in the Sierra, with an accumulation so far of more than 5 feet of snow–and more in the forecast for the next week.

In our microscopic smidge of the Valley, the storm tore off small branches from the sycamore and brought down about a third of our remaining oranges (see below). But though all of the trees, bushes, and plantings were whipped around, and some wound up off kilter, all stayed in the ground or in their pots sheltered near the house. Best of all, the new fencing I’d had put up after the 2017 storms held firm and helped buffer the back garden.

So I’m basking in the psychological sunshine of this temporary reprieve from the drought–and we may even get some more rain soon.

Here’s how the winter fruits and veggies are doing:

Lettuce and Chard. This year’s crop of leaf lettuce has been our best, with three of the plants in chicken wire cages to keep back the birds. A fourth plant is in a small pot near the house. Swiss chard has done well in the cool temps (below 60 F.), but is primed to take off once temps rise in February. Four healthy plants are in pots on the veranda, and two more are doing well in ground.

Leaf lettuce in chicken-wire cage in back garden

Swiss chard in ground, back gerden

Green onions and Bulls Blood beets. I missed not having these around for the past couple of seasons, and I’m glad I’ve brought them back. Six plants of each are in the large raised bed (see above, top) or in pots. All were planted in early November–a month later than my typical fall planting because of the persistence of hot weather through October. But all are on pace for harvest in February, with my having clipped off some of the onion sprouts for our salads already.

Green onions in red pot, back garden

Bulls blood beet plant in raised bed

Broccoli. All six of the plants, which were started in November, have sprouted heads, though these are much less mature in January than those in previous seasons, which were planted in October. Most notable about this year’s crop, which are all planted in the ground, are that all six have stayed alive despite some having been damaged by the birds and by the cabbage leaf butterflies. I’m interested to see what happens now that we’ve gotten more rain and when the temps start to rise back to the 60s.

garden broccoli head and leaves jan 23 2021 - 1

The largest (18 in. in diameter) of the six Green Magic broccoli plants.

Oranges and Meyer Lemons. We’ve used about 60 of the oranges so far for juice, some of them gleaned from the ground after having fallen. Then, when the storm hit on January 26-27, 50 more oranges fell, all of them firm and healthy! Because the overall orange crop is smaller this year, the size of each fruit is greater, with some as large as grapefruit. The skins are not overly thick and all the fruit are very juicy. About 150 more remain on the tree–and I hope they stay put for a while. The longer they stay on the tree, the sweeter they become.

Two of the many clusters of navel oranges before the late January storm

Oranges and meyer lemons being made into orange-and-lemonadee

As noted in last month’s blog, the meyer lemon crop is our largest ever (about 150), as the bush has enlarged over the summer by 25% and the lemons are thickly clustered. And, because the fruit are small, very few fell off in the wind.

garden meyer lemon clusters on tree jan 29 2021 - 1

Meyer lemon clusters, our best crop, in January

As a result of the strength of both types of fruit, we’ll have juice for a few months to come. We’ll probably also be freezing some juice for the summer. We’ve already begun giving away some of the oranges and lemons to neighbors and to the local food bank–especially some of the 50 large, firm oranges that fell in the storm.