Seed Starters February 3, 2010

We are excited to have some seed starters planted and watered.

Our list so far:
Tomatoes
-Beefsteak
-Jubilee
-Plum
Peppers
-Anaheim
-Jalepeno
Greens
-Mesclun mix
-Spinach
Herbs
-Dill
I made a makeshift greenhouse out of a plastic storage bin, which I think will be perfect to keep the temperature up and the moisture in.

In addition to figuring out what else we want to grow, our next task will be to improve the soil out in the yard. It is clay soil, and will require some serious amending to become viable. We are currently shopping for some cheap compost, which I think is the best remedy for clay soils. No huge hurry though, since the seeds starters will take at least a few weeks to be ready for transplant.

-Alex and Allison

Hello, Stranger February 1, 2010

This is some Little Red Riding Hood graffiti art on a lamppost on our street. North Oakland is covered in graffiti, and this is one of the few efforts I’ve seen that I find tolerable. I really like it actually. It’s a pretty picture, but has such a sinister implication…

Avocado Tree January 29, 2010

We have an avocado tree in the backyard. What kind of Avocado tree is it??? Please read on….

The most common variety of Avocado is Hass (not Haas). Hass avocados are the most popular avocado for a number of reasons, but they haven’t been around all that long.  The cultivar was patented by a mailman in 1935 and rose to popularity sometime thereafter.

We were convinced that our tree was not a Hass. Not only does the tree appear to be really old, possibly predating Hass’ dominance, but the fruit just doesn’t resemble the big meaty avocados that are sold in the grocery store.  After some investigating, we found this website, which convinced us that our tree was of the Fuerte variety. Our fruit is relatively small, has a thinner skin, and looks exactly like the Fuerte’s pictured on the website.

Here’s a fruit still on the tree.

Avocados will never ripen on the tree. You have to pull them off and let them sit for at least a week or two before you can eat them. You can actually use the tree as a mechanism for storage, as they will hold the mature fruit in stasis indefinitely until it is picked. We finally pulled a dozen or so avocados off of the tree so we could try them out. Working off of our Fuerte theory, we expected the fruit to soften, but not darken; Fuerte will stay green as they ripen, Hass will turn black.

After two weeks or so, here’s what happened.

The skin is pretty dark! As far as I can tell from my wikipedia-level knowledge, Hass avocados are the only kind that turn dark as they ripen. So these must be Hass? Maybe someone who knows Avocados well can chime in?

Not that it really matters when you have the end product on the plate….

Alex and Allison

Christmas Card January 27, 2010

For anyone who didn’t see the Christmas card, I thought I’d post a copy of the photo here:

It was taken in Alameda, an island immediately off the coast of Oakland.  Looking north towards the mainland across the channel are the well known shipping cranes of the Port of Oakland. I call the cranes robots, Allison calls them dinosaurs. I thought it would make a nice photo, and serve as a proper representation of where we live now. The cranes are the first things that come into view when driving east over the Bay Bridge towards Oakland from San Francisco,  and in some ways have come to define the visual conception of the East Bay. It is a stark change from the landscapes I am used to photographing, but sometimes you just have to work with what you have…

Speaking of change, expect to see some new subjects matters on upcoming blog posts. We like to blog about whatever we are filling our days with. As of late, it’s a lot less skiing, mountains, and travel, and more home improvements, design, gardening, and cooking. It is a new direction, but one we are looking forward to!

We will part with one of our awkward Christmas card reject photos. Happy New Year!

Alex and Allison

Maroon Bells At Midnight August 12, 2009

I’m working on my night photography skills.  Tonight I dragged Allison up to Maroon Lake to watch the meteor shower and to take some pictures of the night sky. We only had about an hour of meteor watching before the moon came out. The moonlight made it much easier to make a photograph, but I would call the trip strictly a learning experience.

In a total of 2.5 hours, I tallied about 40 meteors streaking across the sky. Allison counted about 3 before she passed out cold.

But what a beautiful night…

Alex and Allison