Windy but otherwise perfect gardening weather has kindly descended upon us here at the One Acre Ranch, misting cool rain over the newly planted Mirasol, Guajillo and green chile peppers. There’s already a tiny green tomato on one of the German Johnsons, and all the rest of the tomatoes are turning a good-looking dark green, probably due to the moisture and a couple of handfuls of my secret organic feterilizer worked in at the bottom of their planing holes.
But the star of the spring garden show around here is a puny 24-inch-tall Feijoa bush that, along with two others, was deposited in the cold dirt in the front yard in December, a couple of days before we had our first freeze and then a stretch of lousy winter weather.
Inauspicious beginnings notwithstanding, the baby bush popped out a few flowers, including those in the photo, a couple of days ago. They not only look good, but (so I read) the flower petals are edible.
Also known as pineapple guava, the feijoa originates in the Andes foothills, loves the heat but tolerates colder weather than we get here, and produces green egg-sized fruit the flavor of which apparently accounts for the pineapple guava name.
I don’t know if you can make smoothies or cobbler out of ‘em, but I expect to find out.
