The Backyard

 

We love our backyard.  There are many aspects to our yard.  This is a view of the pool from the "Way Back", a term we've been using to separate the regular yard from the rest of the acre of property.

 

 

In the "Way Back" are many trees such as the Arizona Tree on the right with its yellow blossoms.  Through the trees you can see our garage with the apartment on top.

 

 

Here is another view of the Arizona Tree----so named by our dear friend Marian who gave us the tree and told us it came from Arizona.  The bees, especially the big black ones just love it.  In the foreground you can see our Tulip Tree with its purple blossoms.  It was what we call a "volunteer".  Many things begin growing in our yard that we didn't plant.

 

 

A volunteer from many years ago is this fig tree.  We like most of the fruit that our trees produce,  like----lemons, limes, plums and avocados, but we have just never gotten into figs.  This is just a small sampling of the hundreds of figs we get each year.

 

 

To keep everything healthy and happy needs a lot of TLC, like hand watering.  Farmer Duane is an expert at this.

 

 

In addition to fruit, we grow vegetables in the "Way Back".  Here you can see our cucumbers and zucchini doing beautifully.  Once again, Farmer Duane has been the key factor in their success.

 

 

Many pests threaten our vegetables----squirrels, rabbits, crows, so we need to get creative.  Nothing like a watch goose for this.  This bed has not yet fully sprouted.

 

 

One tree that doesn't need much help is the lemon.  It is ever bearing and we have lemons like these all year long.  What a blessing!

 

 

Not all vegetables are grown in the "Way Back".  We don't take any chances with our tomatoes and peppers, so we grow them in pots on our patio.  As you can see, the tomatoes are doing nicely.

 

 

At the end of a long day of gardening, that pool looks mighty nice!