FIRST SIGHT OF MY HUMMER

When we came to this house, the previous tenants of this house told us about this hummingbird that comes to their feeder everyday. I was so engrossed in looking at the kitchen, its size, brightness, my living room, bedroom etc etc and I failed to pay attention to this feeder thing that my husband was patiently listening to. When we moved to this house and when we were settling in I saw this cute little hummingbird come to our feeder and drinking the water. I was so excited to see this bird and ran out into the patio. The cute little sweetie got scared of a giant thing running towards it and flew without been able to satiate its thirst.

This is when I was really attracted to these tiny tots. On further investigation, my husband told me what I must add in that feeder. Its an easy recipe. It was just 1/4 cup of sugar filled with a cup of water. "Thats so simple" I thought to myself and started to watch the bird every time it came to my feeder. Its really interesting to watch the bird as they are the tiniest around you and they are so fast in their movement.

If you let me talk I will go on and on about this tiny bird. Let me show you some pics of my Hummer!!!

Spot my Hummer - This is where he will first sit and analyse if his feeder is free to feed.

Second Step: He is actually figuring out the best hole to drink the nectar

Finally settled on one spot quenching his thirst

Its so much fun watching them come to your feeder. I changed the position of my feeder as the hummingbird dint return to my feeder for a while. So this is the new location of the feeder.

Interesting facts about Hummer:

• They can move forward, backwar, sideward, upward, downward. Isn't that amazing?????
• They get lot of energy from just normal sugar water. All they need is 1/4 cup sugar mixed in 1 cup water. This is the ratio that is best suited for them.
• They need sugar after cold night. So they come to the feeders 45 mins before sunrise for their energy.
• The hummingbird that come to my house is Anna's Hummingbird.
• Male: Gorget (throat) and forehead iridescent rose red. Gorget with elongated feathers projecting to the sides. Back, rump, and sides metallic bronze green. Underside grayish, with some green spots. Small white spot or streak behind eye. Tail dark; middle pair of tail feathers green, others gray; all rounded at tip. White tufts on either side of rump.
• Female: Back, top of head, and two central tail feathers metallic bronze-green. Forehead sometimes dark grayish brown. Three outer tail feathers on each side with broad white tips, black central portions, and bronzy green bases. Wing feathers dark. Small white spot behind eye. Auriculars dusky. Throat grayish with some rose feathers, sometimes a large patch. Underparts dull grayish white or brownish gray with some green spots. Tufts on side of rump white.

• The male fights with the female when she comes to the feeder. The male drives her away and wins the feeder.
• I clean the bottle once in 4 days if its too hot. Once a week in winter and refill fresh water. In summer your feeder will get empty in no time

These are some facts that I noticed but there are lots that I read about but don't remember. You can always read about them on the internet. Its fun to know about birds that come to your feeder. :-)

HARVESTING CUCUMBERS

These cucumbers, I harvested few days back. Cucumbers are so fast and you start to get the yield in 45- 55 days. I harvested them when they got 4 inches big as the variety reaches its max of only 4 inches. Let me explain the process of harvesting cucumbers which is very simple. 

When to harvest cucumbers??

Usually, cucumbers can be harvested when they are about 45-55 days depending on the area you live in and climatic zone. For pickling, you can harvest cucumbers when they are more than 2 inches. For slicing, you can harvest when they are 4 - 6 inches in height depending on the variety. 

How to harvest cucumbers??

Just cut the cucumber at the point where it meets the stem. You can cut with scissors or just snap it with your fingers. 

NOTE:

The cucumber plant gives more fruit only if we harvest the mature ones. So keep harvesting as and when you see mature cucumbers. If we leave it to grow further, all nutrients will be absorbed by these big ones. Also, the plant will assume that it has performed it duties and stop producing more flowers and fruits. So keep harvesting to keep the plant producing more fruits.

PRUNING CUCUMBERS

It is very natural for everyone of us who are new to gardening, to sow seeds, water them, replant them at the right time and watch them grow until it gives you desired veggies or fruits or flowers. But it might not strike many of us that proper care needs to be taken to grow the veggies and fruits.

I am learning new things about my veggie garden everyday. There is something or the other that draws my attention. This time it is my cucumber plant that needed my attention. I have trained the cucumber plant to a rod and slowly i would train them onto a trellis. Now the plant has started to flower. I was really excited to spot a cute little cucumber right behind the flower which you can see in the picture :-). But then, the plant needed some pruning.

What is pruning: Source Wikipedia

Pruning is a horticultural practice involving the selective removal of parts of a plant, such as branches, buds, or roots. Reasons to prune plants include deadwood removal, shaping (by controlling or directing growth), improving or maintaining health, reducing risk from falling branches, preparing nursery specimens for transplanting, and both harvesting and increasing the yield or quality of flowers and fruits.

How to prune cucumber plant:

I was reading about how to prune a cucumber plant and I accidentally saw a video in you tube that talks about pruning cucumber plant.

Generally, in a cucumber plant, at each node, there is a leaf, a flower, a fruit, a tendril and a growth point. All you have to do is just cut the growth point so that the fruit gets all the nutrients that is required.

Growth points needs to be taken off as soon as you notice them or else, it will grow bigger and would become hard to cut it from the stem. Also it takes a lot of plants energy and the fruit ends up with very little nutrients.

In the pic, I have clearly marked the growth point. You need to cut the growth point either with scissor or just with your finger nails. They are very tender and are very easy to just snap with fingers.

Will see you soon with more garden tips and experiences soon :-)

TRAINING CUCUMBER PLANT

Plant No.1

I had planted these cucumbers about 5 weeks back. They are growing well. In between there were worms that ate up leaves. I was careless initially. Later sprayed organic pesticide on the leaves and now they are growing fine. The plant has started developing tendrils which needed to be trained. So this is how I am gonna train them. I have a huge birch tree which was already dead when we moved into this house. I just let the tree in its place and now its going to be helping my cucumbers.

Plant No. 2

I had steel rods to train the tendrils on the plant. Once they catch up to these iron rods, I will shift them slowly to the tree which is right behind the rod.

Also, when i replanted my second plant, i accidentally cut the roots at the bottom of the cucumber plant, although the main roots remained intact. Usually cucumber plants do not like the roots to be disturbed. I hope they get adjusted and start to catch up with my first plant.