Second cinder block bed. I've got drain tile coming but it's late. Still need to line this one with pond liner. Spring is when I get serious about my garden. Weather is nice. Trees are coming in the mail. I build beds and start corn and all sorts of good stuff. The last couple of … Continue reading What Have I Been Up To?
(This is my opinion. Maybe other people have a different experience.) I used to love Goodwill. I have lamps, silver plated candlesticks, milk glass... just a bunch of random great stuff I purchased there over the decades. I don't own anything worth much, but I own some stuff I think is really cool. Little online … Continue reading Why Can’t You Shop At Thrift Stores Anymore?
So, this year I am starting really late. I'm out beyond where I should be, to be planting corn and potatoes. But, hey, you work with what you got. Because I was so sick a few weeks ago the weeds in the yard are tall and happy and laughing at me! Oh yes, they think … Continue reading Oh, The Weeds…
Fig pushing out leaves. Random fig I took a cutting from, when I was pushing a stroller through the neighborhood, about 12 years ago. I got a lot of plant starts back when my kids were in diapers. I had a stroller sling to carry (and disguise) my pirated plant pieces! This is a Celeste … Continue reading Fig, Breba Crop. Spring in San Antonio
Well, I repotted the tree that had fireants in it. This tree is two years old and I just haven't had time to put it in the ground yet. It's also in a pot because it came damaged with the box opened and the roots smashed by UPS. It really struggled last year, it still … Continue reading The Fire Ant Saga
Photos my mom sent me from her front porch of the morning mist at her ranch in Colorado, 2023. It is so beautiful up there. Cold, but beautiful! Love to wake up with a hot cup of coffee and listen to the elk bugle. Picture from the other side of the mountain, in Colorado Springs.
The birds plant these for me. They look like a holly, but they aren't. This is a wild edible berry that grows down here on the edge of dry forests. What is it? It's a Mahonia trifoliolata (aka agarita berry). It's a type of barberry and is our South Texas version of a currant. Harvesting … Continue reading Plant, Plant, What Is This Plant?
The pear is covered in bees and butterflies, drinking nectar. Usually I've got better control over my beds, but I barely made it around the yard. At least I'm not still in bed. Gotta be a good sign! Blueberry flowers. Daylillies are up! Blueberries and weeds. I have a lot to catch up on. The … Continue reading Crazy Good Signs Of Spring
If you are following up on how my low chill, sweet cherry trees in a high density grow bed is going: the plants are doing really well. I did have to put shade cloth on them during our awful dry, super hot summers. The following video is from a Florida nursery and how they are … Continue reading High Density Cherry Tree Pruning. Year 1-4
Heavy flowering in my pear tree. It's a little cool out today, but not a danger to the blossoms. Low chill sweet cherry. I put two of these in last year. Royal Lee and Minnie Royal. They made it through our scorching summer last year. Hoping for good things this year! My son's lemon tree. … Continue reading Springy Dingy
These bananas are giants. Quite a bit of work to prepare the bed for winter. Just like the fruit, cut stalks quickly turn black from oxidation. What banana stems look like on the inside. I used a pole saw on these. However, it was a lot of work. This year I'm going to buy an … Continue reading Over Wintering Bananas, In San Antonio, Texas
I am doing my spring yard cleaning. Up first was the birdbaths. I rinsed and wiped them out. Then I put vinegar and water to fill them. Then I put paper towels to hold the vinegar on the ring of scale (from my gunky, high pH, calcium and lime filled tap water) around the rim. … Continue reading Spring Cleaning part 1
Photos from the end of last year's experimental fruit bed. Above that is: a current bloom on my son's lemon tree. The cherries shot up, even in our miserably hot, dry summer. These are cut low to keep their canopies low so that I can net them easily to keep the squirrels and other rodents … Continue reading Crazy Photos From The Garden
If you saw my post about my past and the song "Used To Be Young" and maybe you have a similar background... Even if you are just interested in becoming a unique, strong, emotionally honest woman: who loves herself deeply and forgives her mistakes... Or, maybe you feel like you are at the end and … Continue reading Crazy Green Thumbs Reading List
My totals from 2023 back to when I started. The highest viewership year, I was picked up by a large aggregate site and I had an article published in a magazine. Interestingly, the two years before 2023 my husband was working out of state and I had exactly zero time for my blog. That aggregate … Continue reading How to Write A Successful Blog
I love using milk jugs! My kids drink a lot of milk and we always have empty gallon milk containers. These are always useful in my garden! I use them to harden off transplants and in this blog entry: to keep tender plants (like tomatoes) outside, where they're warm and have plenty of light, while … Continue reading Quick Mini Greenhouses From Milk Jugs
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!
So now that we're past the #!$@:! Frigging pool noodle lollipops, I have some relaxing projects to round out a candy themed Christmas display. First are the super simple candy cane straws. You can make canes with a bunch of PVC elbows but I think those look way more like a PVC pipe creation rather … Continue reading Candy Cane Straws and Ice Cream Sundae Outdoor Decorations
This tutorial shows you how to make the best looking pool noodle lollipops out there. Don't mess with the dollar store noodles. 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 … Continue reading Big Beefy Pool Noodle Lollipop Decorations
So. I know better than to try and grow a large scale "defiance garden". That's what I call growing things that your climate and soil won't support. But, I'm a gardener. The whole point of gardening is to place plant matter in places that didn't have them before. Basically anything you purposefully put in the … Continue reading What If It’s Too Hot? Growing Fruit Trees In Texas.
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