April 9, 2010 · 7:18 pm

Spring has Sprung?

What a crazy, busy month March was.  Was it in like a lion, out like a lamb? 

 I’m not sure but on the 18th , I took off from my day job to work in the garden.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day. 70’s.  I made several trips to the nursery for compost/bedding mix etc. to raise my beds.  I have this “island” in the middle of the garden which seemed to have sunk over the winter.  As a matter of fact, I believe all my beds have.  So, I added edging all around the bed.  I then began the laborious task of weeding.  After weeding, I placed newspaper down on the ground and added my bedding mix/compost on top.  I am hoping this will deter the weeds.  I know mulch is also used to deter weeds, but I have found with our humidity  mulch is a haven for pill bugs and snails.  It may be I just haven’t found the “right” mulch.

Now onward to the side beds. 

I have purchased some trellis supports I am excited about.  First, I bought these rectangular trellises which fold flat.  A huge bonus.

Also, purchased this large tomato trellis.  Much sturdier than the ones I have been using.

But probably the support I am most excited about is my tepee.  I am going to plant my Jack Be Little pumpkins around it and then in the center I am going to plant lettuces.   I read this suggestion and thought it was a great idea.

I am almost ready to direct seed my pinto beans, haricot vert beans, purple hull peas, pumpkins, squash and cucumbers.  (I am waiting for the soil to warm up a little more.)  My tomato plants are ready for transplanting and so are my peppers.  The peppers I am going to put in pots.

So that was Thursday.  Sunday morning, March 21, we awoke to this.

Now  we are back up into the 70’s even hitting the 80’s  one day.  The garden is starting to shape up.  My Texas Mt. Laurel is in full bloom.  The blooms smell like Nehi grape soda. 

 My hellebores have been blooming now for a while and lillies and hostas have started to really grow.

I can’t wait to get out in the garden this weekend!

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March 15, 2010 · 5:09 pm

Mrs. Potato Head

I couldn’t wait to get outside to work in the garden this past week.  The first thing I usually do is put on my garden clogs.  It was quite a surprise when this little fellow ran out of my shoe.  Eeeek!

The first few days of our Spring-like days  were still too wet to dig in the garden.  But they were perfect for planting in pots.  Pots like my new “Smart Pots” which arrived and were ready to be filled.  (I got them on Amazon  http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Smart+Pots&x=15&y=20)

These pots are made of a fabric which resembles a heavy felt.  Kinda cool.

The instructions on the bag indicate they can be reused.  I sure hope so.  But in the meantime I am using them for my potatoes.  I bought two kinds of potatoes.

Yukon Gold and a smaller red potato.  Being the enthusiastic gardener that I am,  I had those little red potatoes all planted in their new pots before I remembered it would have been a good idea to take pictures. Doh!  But I did remember before I started on the Yukon Gold.

So, here are the two Yukon Gold potatoes looking at you with their little eyes.  If I had wanted more plants, I could have cut these potatoes into pieces and had more potato plants.  But since these were larger potatoes, I decided to leave them whole.  Each eye will grow a plant.

 

The instructions said to begin with four inches of soil.  ( I used potting soil)  Then place your potatoes on top.  With the red potatoes, I had four potatoes which were about half the size of the Yukon gold.

Then you add about three more inches of soil to cover the potatoes.  I used this stick to make measurements at 3 and 7 inches. 

I used this entire bag of potting soil in the pot to get the 7 inches of soil.

The instructions I had indicated you can “dust” your potatoes with sulphur but I didn’t.  The sulphur was toxic to everything.   I decided it might be toxic to me as well, so I declined.  It might be necessary if you are a potato farmer in the fields.  I decided to take my chances without it.

  Once the potatoes green leaves appear, then you cover them again.  This will make more potatoes for you.  I am going to be covering them with dry leaves or straw.  This will help the bags to not be quite so heavy.

This past week I received an award at work and my good friend Jacque had these waiting on my desk when I arrived at work.

Aren’t they beautiful?  This picture was taken at the end of the week when I brought them home and they were still gorgeous!  Thank you Jacque!!!!!

When I was at the nursery buying my potatoes, I found this wonderful little plant.  (I am easily sidetracked, especially in a nursery.)  It is a Heuchera, called Limelight.  I am such a sucker for plants in this lime color.  Heuchera’s are shade-loving, so I am going to put him in a pot so I can move him around until I find just the right spot.  (I don’t have too much shade in my garden.)

Happy Gardening!!!

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February 24, 2010 · 8:18 pm

Where, oh where, is Spring?

Not here yet, that is for sure.  These pictures are from a week ago when we received 12 inches in Dallas.  In one day.  That has never happened in my lifetime.  In fact, not since 1913.  These pictures were actually taken the day after.  I had to work and couldn’t capture the beautiful scenery I saw on my drive home.  It really was breathtaking.

But then it melted.  With all the water from the snow, the garden is soggy.

I did get outside for a few hours this past Sunday when the sun decided to come out and warm things up a bit.  I mainly weeded.  It has been way too wet to plant my English peas and Sugar Ann snap peas.  So I am a bit discouraged.

I did have some seedlings to germinate.  

 The tallest ones on the left are Porter tomatoes, next  to those are some anaheim peppers.  The anaheim’s  were a free packet I received and wasn’t sure exactly what kind of pepper they were.  Well… it turns out they are also called Hatch peppers and are very similar to Poblanos, which I love,  so I am excited about these.

The tiny sproutlings on the right are Chinese delphiniums.  The nothings in the middle were some coleus seeds from plants I had last year.  I thought I would try them, but they didn’t germinate.

I know Spring is just around the corner.  Until then, here are some Jonquils I picked the day before the snow fell.

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February 9, 2010 · 4:19 pm

It’s Seedy.

 This year I just couldn’t seem to figure out what I wanted to plant.  So I got out all my seeds (this is no small task even in the short three seasons I have gardened veggies) and began to test the seeds for viability.   I then decided I had better get started with sowing seeds which will need a few weeks to get started.   So here is what I already have: 

  • Lemon cucumber
  • Dark Green Zucchini squash
  • Cucumbers (A & C and De Bourbonne)  I have recently read on multiple sites that the A&C are bitter.  They did not do well for me last year but I am going to use up my seed and possibly have better luck.
  • Carrots (Romeo round baby carrots and a freebie St. Valery Carrot)  I have had ZERO luck with carrots.  I am going to plant them in a pot this year.
  • Lettuces – Mignonette Bronze, Tom Thumb two pkgs. of this one – oops, Little Gem, and a freebie Garden Heirloom Blend
  • Herbs – Italian flat leaf parsley, Garden Cress, marjoram, Dill, Genovese Basil
  • Wando peas
  • Sugar Ann snow peas  (These two peas are going in the ground very soon) ( As in when it quits raining.  Yep, here we go again.)

 All of these seeds above can be direct seeded into the soil.  I have also decided which seeds to order for planting this year and which will be transplants.  Please repeat after me:

“I am still a real gardener even if I don’t grow all my plants from seed. “

I was amazed last year at how many of the plants I grew from seed were readily available in local nurseries.  So, I thought this year, I would take advantage of these and purchase only seeds to be direct seeded or those I would be unable to find in a transplant or those I couldn’t help myself from buying.    

But, FINALLY, here’s the list of seeds I ordered.

  • Maxibel Haricot Vert Bean
  • Pinto Bean
  • Florida Speckled Butter Bean
  • Pepperoncini Pepper
  • Jack Be Little Pumpkin
  • Pinkeye/Purple Hull Pea
  • Arkansas Traveler Tomato
  • Porter Tomato
  • San Marzano Tomato

 I also want to plant some onions and potatoes (more on that later).  The Jack Be Little pumpkins I am going to plant using a teepee. I am also going to use a teepee for some of the beans.  I must BE Jack in the Beanstalk as I have nowhere to go but up.

I sowed some Porter tomato seeds which I had, a few bell pepper seeds, some Chinese blue delphiniums and coleus.  I will be buying my pepper plants, hot and sweet instead of sowing the seeds this year.

One of my New Year’s resolutions is to  GET ORGANIZED.  No matter that this is my  number one resolution every  year.  But this year I will have help.  My sister and niece made me this very cute box to hold my seed packets. 

 

Thanks, Lori and Britney.  I LOVE IT!!!!!!!

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February 3, 2010 · 4:28 pm

Flowers, any way I can get em.

This is a short post because the one I REALLY need to publish is not quite ready.  I am checking my seeds for viability and trying to figure out what I want to plant this year. 

I came across this picture in my email from Anthropologie.  And well, it  made me smile in these cold, wet ,dreary winter days.  So I thought I would share it with you!

I love how they made the flowers out of recyclable water bottles.  They  say these water bottles would not decay in the next millenium!  Then they put them together to make this………

Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!

They have used them to decorate their new stores opening in the Spring.   I love the flowers and this very green idea.  Kudos to Anthropologie!!!

 

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January 22, 2010 · 8:42 pm

Aftermath

So a couple of posts back I commented that it had been years since I remembered the weather being in the teens.  1997 to be exact (per our local weatherman) was the year.  Boy, am I ever glad I  purchased frost cloth over the past few years.  I am going to buy even more now.  I found these nifty covers on line which I should have bought, but will asap.  http://www.heirloomseeds.com/supplies.htm

These are one of those genius products I love to find. ( Scroll down to the FROSTPROTEK Cover – Large Round and FROSTPROTEK Cover – Long Bag.)

They will be great since they  actually fit OVER the plants, pot, etc. instead of having to wrap them “around” the plants.  Which means they won’t fall down, looking like they lost their trousers and exposing themselves to the cold.  Arghhh.  Very annoying.

The few plants/tree/shrubs I was concerned the freeze would harm, seem to have come through unscathed.   The first one I worried about was my Texas Mt. Laurel.  It is in a corner, protected by fence on both sides and I did wrap it.  But, it was one of those that the wrap fell down and exposed the top.  However, there was no damage.  I knew this tree was hardy to 20 degrees, but we were in the teens with fierce north winds.  Another shrub I wrapped, were two wax leaf legustrums which face west and are located next to the house (one on each side of entry).  They also seem to be ok. 

I also had coverings on my fall veggies, three large pots with arugula, watercress and lettuce which all came through fairly well.  The one exception was the kale.  This is the one I would have thought would do well. (Maybe in a sunnier location?)

My one disaster was my terra cotta pot which broke. 

So sad.  I have only myself to blame.  I should have moved it to the garage, but oh well.  Terra cotta is so unpredictable.  I have others I left out and they are fine.

I have to say my garden looks terrible.  Not just because it is winter but because it just looks, well, neglected.  This week we are  back up into the 60/70’s.   I know, crazy, right?  Welcome to Texas.  So, hopefully I will be able to get some weeding, pruning, and general cleanup done.

I am also planning to check my seeds for viability so I will know what to order.  I am still in the “thinking” stage but I had better get into the “doing” stage or ALL my produce will be coming from the farmer’s market.

Stay tuned.

 

 

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January 13, 2010 · 6:23 pm

A Gift

Right  before Christmas, my friend Rita gave me a gift…

which started like this…

and now looks like this…

Isn’t it gorgeous?

Thank you, Rita.

 

 

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January 11, 2010 · 7:30 pm

Welcome 2010

 I know I have complained about the weather a lot this past year.  But, it really has been difficult.  I wanted you to read an email I received from a local CSA, Barking Cat Farm (so you wouldn’t think it was just me, hehe).  They and many farmers here in Texas, and across the country had a very difficult year.   We need  to support our local farmers.  Farming is hard work, even in a “good” year.

Hi Folks,

It has been a very long while since we sent out an update. In fact the last update we sent to the whole list was in July, 2009. A lot has happened since then, so we thought we’d tell you what’s been going on and give you an update on our plans for 2010.

2009 or “The Year it Rained Too Much”

2009 was a disaster for us and many other farmers across the country. In our area, we & others had complete crop losses due to the excessive rain. We also know of at least one local CSA that went out of business due to the incredibly bad weather. In the NE part of the US, too much rain was also an issue as well as a large outbreak of late blight spread accidentally by big box stores to commercial growers.

If you are farming, you are at the mercy of the weather. We do plan ahead for problems, but this last year was overwhelming and there was really little that we could do. First we had a late freeze in April that killed crops normally okay to plant by then (tomatoes, peppers), followed by heavy rains in May (preventing replanting of tomatoes, peppers, direct seeding squash, rotting the Akin potato crop in the ground), followed by scorching heat that lasted all summer (algae bloom in the pond that clogged the drip lines, killing blueberry bushes), and then record heavy rains in September & October (disrupting fall planting of broccoli, cabbage, carrots, beets, etc, wiping out the Akin Fall bean crop). The whole recap of 2009 is long and not included here.

So, I am thinking if they are willing to regroup and start again, then by golly, so am I.  Because to be honest, I am already dreaming of those wonderful homegrown tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, …  

  Yeah, I’m hooked.

I may not have the most successful, or most prolific, or most beautiful produce in my garden.  But, it is a source of joy, a stress reliever (most of the time) and a delicious hobby.  So, here’s to Gardening!!!!!!!!!!

Goodbye 2009 (and good riddance), Welcome 2010!!

 

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January 5, 2010 · 6:17 pm

Peek a Boo

Winter is here.  We have had temperatures in the upper 20’s.  One day, we were colder than New York.  What’s up with that? A snowy “blizzard” on Christmas day and  then more sleet and snow.   This week in the teens.  THE TEENS.   It  has been years since I remember it getting that cold in Dallas.  You know why this is happening don’t you?  Yes, because I decided to start a garden blog.  Not a recipe blog or diary blog but a garden blog….sweet.

All of my vegetables I am trying to grow through the winter are covered.  So, I couldn’t stand it.   I had to take a peek.  Juuust to see how things were going.

 

But turns out, they are rather cozy under there.  I harvested some of the watercress, arugula and lettuce for a salad.  The watercress has grown fairly well but the arugula and lettuces are a bit larger than micro-greens.  Oh well, it IS winter.  It’s about this time of year I wish for a greenhouse, but unfortunately I have no room for one.  Maybe I should rent space from my neighbor next door who does absolutely nothing with their outdoor space.  Hmmm.

Seriously, I am worried about some of my plants, shrubs and one small tree in particular.  I have been busily wrapping the tree.  I did cover the top, but just didn’t get a picture of the end results.  You get the idea.

The spinach is about the same size as a few weeks ago and probably won’t grow much until early Spring.   That is, if I can keep it alive.  The kale had frost on it this  morning even with the row cover  and didn’t look too good,  so it may not make it.

The radishes are hanging in there too.

 Most everything else has a row cover or I moved into the house or garage temporarily.  Oh well, this weather should be good for the peonies.

How’s your winter going?

 p.s.  Many thanks to the couple of people who have been checking my blog daily for a post.  This holiday season was just too busy for me.  I hope to get back to more regular posting.  Thanks for hanging in there.

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December 7, 2009 · 5:06 pm

Yin Yang

 Have you ever planted something  just because the seeds were cool?  I hadn’t either until I came across  Hyacinth Bean Vine.  I saw it one day at my  favorite nursery,  on top of a gazebo,  in full bloom.  It was gorgeous!  I decided right then I had to have one.

Since the plant was in full bloom, it was too late to start seeds or even find a transplant.   So I forgot about it until one day the following spring, while browsing seeds, I saw the plant beautifully painted on a packet (Renee’s Garden).  Realizing it was the same vine, I  immediately brought them home.

What a surprise when I opened it up and found this…

Don’t they remind you of the yin yang sign?  The Yin Yang sign means complete balance.  And who wouldn’t want that?

So, this is what those little seeds grow into.

IMG_0720

I love this vine.  This particular variety is called Ruby Moon.  It is so easy to grow, and grows very quickly.  In my area, zone 8b, the blooms continue until October and then it is covered in ruby red seed pods.  I usually save a few just in case it doesn’t reseed.  But, so far it has every year.

I just still can’t decide which I like better, the vine or the seeds.

 

 

 

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