Growing A Mango Tree

Some of you who read my blog may think I like gardening.  I love other peoples gardens.  I love to look at beautiful flowers and plantings, but the actual process of gardening for myself is low on my list of favorite things to do.  I don't like to sweat or get my hands dirty.   I plant plants that take care of themselves.  However, I do love to propagate plants.  Whenever I prune or trim, it is very difficult for me to throw away the stems.  Many of my plants have started out as a stick or small starter plant.  That brings me to my story for today.  Last Mother's Day, my oldest daughter stopped by in the late afternoon with her family.  They had spent the early part of the day with my son in laws mother.  When they came into the house, they brought some trash from the car that needed to go into the garbage.  They had an overripe mango that I separated out to go into the compost.  As I looked at the fruit, I wondered if I could start a plant from the seed.  I took off the fleshy part and put it in the compost.  Then I took the large flat pit and tried to break it open.  It was really tough and I couldn't do it.  I thought if I planted it, as is, it would probably never germinate or it would rot.  I decided to wrap it in wet paper towels and put it in a plastic baggie.

I put this bag in a dark place for about two weeks or more.

I put the mango pit wrapped in moist toweling away for several weeks, I can't remember exactly how long.  I would check it once in a while to make sure the toweling was damp and look for sprouting.  One day I noticed a small sprout peeking out of the pit.

The pit has softened up and this sprout appeared.

This really is a sprout.  It looks kind of creepy.  It looks like a hairy creature with a leg sticking up.

Inside the pit was a bean type seed starting to sprout.

The mango pit had softened up, and I could remove the seed very easily.  There was a clear covering around the bean.  I tossed the casing, covering and planted the seed.

The pit opened like a clam shell.

I found an old hanging pot, covered the seed with soil and set the planted seed outside.  I pretty much forgot about it.  It was two months ago that I put the mango pit into the plastic bag.  Now it looks like this. 

It will probably turn into a nice house plant for a while.  We can't grow mango trees outside in Wisconsin because the winters are too harsh.  Another problem I see is that they can grow to fifty feet tall  plus who knows what kind of mutant fruit it may produce.  It was fun to see the propagating process and will be interesting to see how big it gets before winter.

A Michigan Lily In Wisconsin

We have a very unusual lily plant.  The first time I saw it, it was growing in my great grandmother's garden.  It looked like a tiger lily but it grew on a very tall straight plant.  She died many years ago but we still own the house.  In order to keep the house in the family, we bought it.  That was a gigantic mistake, but I won't go into detail about that in this blog.  All I will say is that property values have fallen, and we have a renter who has made matters even worse.  No matter how much care or lack of care, these plants survived.   I never had a chance to ask anyone what the plant was called.  When we moved to our home, I dug up some of the plants.  They have done very well here but I still didn't know what they were called.  After an internet search, I believe they are called a Michigan Lily.

These lilies are over six feet tall this year.

Close up of the bloom

Unusual placement of the leaves

When the blooms first come out, they are straight.  Then they curl backward.

Young Baltimore Orioles Are Out Of The Nest

Today, July 3, 2014, I am just going to post some photos.  I like to track the progress of the Baltimore Oriole.  So far this year I have blogged about the arrival of the Oriole, the building of the nest, the laying of the eggs and now raising the babies.  At this stage the young ones are nearly as large as the parents.  The males don't have the brilliant color so it is hard to tell the female from the babies except when they are feeding them.  If you would like to read other blogs I have written on the Oriole, just type 'Baltimore Oriole' in the search box.  I have written about them several times.

This is a new feeder.  We hung it in the window so we can see them up close.

View from inside the house.

They sure can mess up a window but it's worth it.

Two Very Busy Days With Our Grandchildren

Earlier this week, we had four of our five grandchildren staying with us.  Dylan couldn't come because he was away at EAA Air Academy camp.  They were all very good kids but oh so LOUD!  We barely speak in our house.  My husband has heard all my stories over the course of nearly fifty years and I have heard his.  I lived with dad until I graduated from high school and then talked to my mom every day until her death.  There may be a few stories that haven't been told, but not many.

The kids chatter much of the time.  They love their electronic devices.  They try to explain what they are playing and how it works.  I usually don't have any idea what they are talking about.  We confiscated all the electronics before bed on Monday night.  The allure is way too great, even in the middle of the night.  The only one spared from the electronic addiction is the four year old.  He still plays with actual toys.  The downside was that our only granddaughter has her alarm set on her ipod.  It went off at 5:30 am and then every 10 minutes until she got up.  I couldn't shut it off.  She has a code that has to be punched in to turn it off or turn the volume down.  I guess she needs to get up at 5:30 to get some alone time from her little brothers. 

I did insist they go out and play a little.  They had fun with the squirt guns.  I let them go outside in their pj's because I knew they would get wet. 

 

Later in the afternoon, we had round two of the squirt gun wars.  I loved seeing them giggle and run around.

The squirt guns were a big hit.  They got soaking wet but it was worth it to get them outside.  Melissa is almost 14 and doesn't want anything to do with all these boys.  She found some skeins of yarn in my yarn stash.  Then she found a sweater pattern on the internet and started to knit.  She only did five rows but it kept her occupied.  I taught her to knit several years ago, and she is good at it.  She just doesn't have the patience yet.  She wants the project to be done in a couple hours instead of several weeks.

After supper, I took the little one to his mom and then we met my son in law for Melissa's softball game.  As we were sitting there, the day changed from hot and sunny to cool and cloudy.  Pretty soon, it started to sprinkle.  The beauty of being a grandparent is that you don't have to sit through games if the weather is bad.  Parents have to stay no matter what.  As we headed home, the sky opened up and it poured down rain.  As we pulled into the driveway, the sun came out again.  As I walked into a quiet house, I saw a beautiful rainbow.  It was a perfect ending to two very busy days.

Crustless Broccoli Quiche

This is a fantastic gluten free recipe. 

Crustless Broccoli Quiche

4 cups broccoli florets
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups coconut milk or heavy cream
1 Tablespoon melted butter
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4-1/2 cup grated cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Butter a 10 inch round baking dish.

Cook broccoli in the microwave or steam for 4 minutes.

Whisk the eggs, milk or cream, butter, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
Stir in broccoli and cheese plus any other ingredients you like.
We used Canadian Bacon but you could use sausage or regular bacon.

Pour into baking dish and bake 20 minutes or until it is set in the middle.