I bought two blueberry plants from Raintree Nursery a couple of years ago. I'm really enjoying having my own supply. This is today's haul: Just enough to make me happy! The plants are still small, but they're still young. Blueberries need acidic soil and lots of water. They have a shallow root system. You can … Continue reading Growing Blueberries in South Texas
I run a mostly organic garden, because: I mostly grow food crops. The only thing I deviate on, is herbicide, and that only goes in select areas. (Like the gravel play area that I did not create.) Well I also use amdro bait. I cannot abide fire ants in my beds. So, as I'm gardening … Continue reading Local Lizards
Plant these things now! This is a summer tutorial, but you need to start these plants as soon as possible to harvest them this summer! The things I grow in summer are things that I don't have to baby. Today our "feel like" temperature was 103 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm not interested in doing manual labor … Continue reading Low Maintenance, Highly Productive, Summer Vegetables.
Yes, the word "drain" and "tile" put together means black, corrugated, maybe perforated, underground drainage tubing. You know! Because... it does! I mean when someone says: "tile" I immediately think of ribbed plastic tubing. Duhh. And every project I dream up, has stages. (Like my kids lego builds.) There's pictures in my head of what … Continue reading Lots Of Drain Tile And Lunacy
Instructions on use. We're coming up on the last few weeks to get beneficial nematodes in before the summer heat. I buy nematodes every year. Sometimes I add them in fall, sometimes in spring. But no matter which season you choose, heat is your enemy. Full list of target insects and the variety of nematodes … Continue reading Don’t Wait To Get Rid Of Soil Borne Insects.
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!
Today was the solar eclpise. We were in the 99% range. My brother had rented an airstream and was coming down with his daughter and our mom to be under the 100% path. They were smart enough to cancel. We had thick cloud cover. We went outside and couldn't even tell what part of the … Continue reading What Did We Do For The Eclipse?
Finally done with the pawpaw planting. I added a moat around each to gather rain water. When we get rain in south Texas it's like the sky opens up and a giant waterfall replaces the clouds. It's never "a little bit" anything, down here. I'm going to cover these with shade cloth this year and … Continue reading Crazy Daily Progress
Planted pawpaw. Everyone has some sort of limitations in gardening. It's too hot, it's too cold, it's too wet, it's too dry. All kinds of things can be problematic. My issue is my soil. And yes, maybe, it could be worse. I don't know how. Maybe if I lived in the Sahara desert... I could … Continue reading Planting Fruit Trees, In Garbage Soil: Pawpaw Edition
This Easter we went to our family's low country shrimp boil in San Antonio. I love the food every year! This year though, was a bit different. I discovered last year that I can't eat wheat. I've developed an allergy to it, and it's pretty serious. The wheat sensitivity, is way back from climbing up … Continue reading Best Damn Rainbow Fruit Skewers And Dip Out There!
I'm in San Antonio. I grow Asian persimmons and have done so for about twelve years. The first tree was a dud. It was an astringent persimmon, a Saijo. It was fantastically sweet, but had the texture of a water balloon filled with snot. Varying degrees of ripeness from the Saijo. Persimmons can be cooked. … Continue reading Non Astringent, Asian Persimmon In South Texas
Three beds finished with weeding. Still need to clear out the banana bed and remove some bananas that I no longer want to focus on. Corn is up. Tree beds are nearing completion. Done with Roundup for the beds that I don't grow food in. Also sprayed the kids old play area. Someone put gravel … Continue reading Crazy Garden Progress
If you are my age (in my 50's), you might remember the music at the bottom of this post. It's music we don't hear anymore. But in the past: I always heard it at grandma's. I remember eating cereal in the morning at grandma's house. The radio would be on, first came the farm report: … Continue reading In The Garden
Years and years ago: I was with my kids and husband driving around doing chores. My husband pulled up to the cleaners and went inside. From the back, my five year old said, "Where is dad going?" I said, "He's picking up his uniform." Amazement and excitement from the backseat: "Daddy has a unicorn!?!" I … Continue reading Funny Kid Sayings
Tons of Dwarf ever bearing mulberries. Morus nigra are supposed to be the best tasting of the mulberries. If you look online, experts on mulberries say the dwarf ever bearing variety is not a nigra. So, even nurseries mislabel this tree. If you want the nitty gritty try this link. These were sold to me … Continue reading Munch Mulberries Much?
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
Crazy Green Thumbs 