"Soooo, what have you been up to, you crazy little gardener?" Well. Actually, I've been very, very busy. Busy, busy, busy. Mainly, because I don't know how not to be. I fill my free time with projects and experiments. Once I get these ideas for new projects, I get a bee in my bonnet until … Continue reading Hugelkulter High Density Fruit Tree Bed (Or Heather’s Humor Odyssey)
I got a call the other day from a neighbor. "I have seven bricks, do you want them?" "Yes! Yes, I do!" I have plans for bricks, and free ones are the best kind! These plans were sparked by regularly spending hours on Pinterest (Can't sleep? It's Pinterest time!) and randomly remembering a few pins … Continue reading Painting Pavers To Look Like Books
While we were in Colorado there was a trend to rip out anything that was growing and replace it with a gravel landscape. Every time I saw someone ripping out their grass to do this: I wanted to throttle them. Here is why: rock is not low maintenance. I understand those who don't garden are … Continue reading Please Don’t Rock Your Yard!
My raised beds. I keep up with planting and harvest times on my phone. I have a hard copy of spring and fall planting dates in my binder. I have been building a food forest for the last 11 years. I love finding plants that will both flourish in South Texas and feed my family. … Continue reading Keeping Track of a Food Forest
I have shopped at Raintree Nursery (they are a mail order, specialty fruit nursery) for about 16 years now. Some of my favorite fruiting plants have come from them. So, when they put a call out this year for expert growers, with ten years (or more) of experience in their area, I threw my hat … Continue reading Plant Ambassador
Elderberry syrup (also called sambucus) is a fantastic home remedy for colds! The syrup is really tasty (if it's done right) but it's very expensive. The brand we have at the moment. We have a middle schooler and an elementary school student in our home. They both had their tonsils out last year because we … Continue reading Are You Interested In Growing Elderberries?
Fire cider is something I've been aware of for approximately ten years. It's some potent stuff, and my family turns to it when there's illness in our home. I started my home remedy journey with this fantastic book: Natural Health, Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine by Andrew Chevallier I have been using this as my "home … Continue reading Fire Cider: Immunity Booster
There are a lot of things that I've tried to grow in San Antonio Texas. A lot of plants ended up failing because of our heat or our sporadic freezes that nip back or kill tropical plants. A few ended up trying to take over. I'm going to concentrate on a few things whose vigor … Continue reading What To Be Wary Of Growing In Zone 8b.
Merry Christmas 2022! Can't wait to meet you out in the garden this spring! Crazy Green Thumbs
I tried growing mushrooms indoors. The result was some amazing mushrooms. However, there were not many. About a pound or two. The sawdust block that they came in ended up needing water sprayed on it (or the mushroom caps) multiple times a day. It was fiddly and I didn't enjoy it. It also looked pretty … Continue reading Under The Trampoline Mushroom Bed
I decided to add some Christmas tutorials for my decorations outside. I'm creating a candy background for some characters from the Nutcracker Ballet. My first task was making some candy. I decided on pool noodle lollipops, as soon as my supplies arrived I saw that I had several problems. Like many things on my blog, … Continue reading #!$@:! Frigging Pool Noodle Lollipop Decorations
My grandmother used to make cinnamon pickles out of watermelon rind. It was a dessert she proudly put on our plates. They were delicious and in memory of her, I now make them yearly for my extended family and my kids. Last year I also tried a vanilla pickle which was pretty gross. I'm not … Continue reading Just In Time For Christmas: Modern Cinnamon Pickles And Lemon Candy Pickles!
A gallon bag almost full of pomegranate arils. I had a good harvest of pomegranates this year. I also purchased a steam juicer a couple of years ago and had never used it. My juicer is from Europe and is a pressure steamer. I bought it on a clearance site and it had no instructions. … Continue reading Steam Juicing Pomegranates
I have a confession: I am a messy gardener. I have been gardening for decades and I have been collecting seeds all along my journey. I have attempted to organize before. But invariably, half way through the season my carefully cataloged seed packets are a big honking mess. I have tried different ways to organize … Continue reading Conquering Seed Packet Clutter
It's Halloween time again! I'm trying something new this year! Silver Faceless Aliens! They are human height and shape and creep everyone out! I instantly had the idea after looking at this mask. So much fun! Like all of my projects: it's super cheap and has a big impact. I'm making four. Here are the … Continue reading Silver Faceless Aliens
The most expensive part of my garden is the city water that we're on. Our city water is piped in. The aquifer that our land is over does not have good water. We're near an air force base, started in the 50s and I wonder if over the years, that aquifer has been polluted from … Continue reading Watering In High Heat
Nonastringent Persimmon I started working on my perennial food forest about eleven years ago. Gardening is my hobby, not my job, so those eleven years took time I might have used for other things. That time I chose to use in my garden created a solid foundation in feeding our family, outside of the grocery … Continue reading Food Forest
One of my favorite plants to grow down here is hibiscus. It is truly a beautiful plant and the flowers are breathtaking. I am not the only one who appreciates hibiscus. We frequently have hummingbirds in the garden sipping hibiscus nectar. My favorite part about the plant though, is that it's edible. Hibiscus is high … Continue reading Ever Had Spiced Hibiscus Flower Tea?
I live in the South. Where I am: summer ends up getting really hot (above 100° Fahrenheit) with little to no rain for months at a time. In summer we get moisture that blows in from the Gulf of Mexico and that humidity (without rain) is a real problem. There are weeks where we don't … Continue reading Show Stopping, Southern Shrubs
I'm always looking for new ways to use my garden. After years of growing sweet potatoes I came across a recipe that called for the leaves. Sweet potato leaves are edible? Yes. Yes, they are.The sweet potatoes slips I got this year were supposed to be a bush variety. While they haven't thrown vines out … Continue reading The Greatest Green You’ve Never Eaten: Sweet Potato Leaves
Crazy Green Thumbs 