Blackberries. The mulberry ended its amazing run a couple of weeks ago. A tiny, unripe marionberry. These have a very distinct flavor. You get a blackberry/raspberry flavor with more sweetness than a blackberry and more tart flavor than a raspberry. Since I can't grow regular raspberries down here: I put in a couple of Mysore … Continue reading Today In The Garden
I have a few types of flowers that I grew up seeing in my granny's flower gardens. Bearded iris were her favorites, my mother's favorites and mine. But there's more. Daylillies were always in my other grandmother's garden. She would plant them in huge drifts. I have always grown gladiolus (as annuals), paperwhites, daffodils and … Continue reading Bulb Flowers For Texas
Stormy day gives me some much needed recuperation and rest. I'm noticing that I can still do what I did in my youth, I just get injured now. I've got tennis elbow from driving tposts a couple of weeks ago with a sledge hammer. Unfortunately, even though I bought a driver to finish the tposts: … Continue reading Rain Drops Keep Falling On My Head…
Marionberries and tomatoes Tomatoes Potatoes and tomatoes Onions Corn is tassling! Bananas Muscadine grape High density, hugelkulter tree bed. Block of corn Iris. One of my very favorite flowers! Double bloomed daylillies Blueberries (I already ate half of them!) Tons of daylilly blossoms ready to open. Come outside to visit. I'll save a seat for … Continue reading Today in the Garden
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
Who knew these make great wine? Update: this recipe came out excellent. I did not have to backsweeten after about a year and a half of aging. It really mellowed nicely. The sharp notes from the peel, are now smooth and give it depth. Although, I think I'll make it next time without the peel … Continue reading Armenian Cucumber Wine
Corn Blackberries Persimmons (Fuyu) Tomato in a hydroponic bucket Potatoes, tomatoes and onions I'm using for scallions Marionberries, tomatoes and iris Peppers are perennials down here. These are bird peppers from last year. These were a gift from a great neighbor who loves to garden. Cherries on the left. I replaced the apples with a … Continue reading In The Garden
I'm trying a lot of new stuff this year. I've got wicking beds started. I made huge, permanent ones for fruiting bushes. Beginning of permanent wicking beds. Find this project here: wicking bed Then I have some specialty holes I have for two trees that don't like my soil. Completely replaced soil, plus small raised … Continue reading Off Grid Hydroponic Buckets
I live in Texas. Things get hot fast and our springs are usually very hot, windy and dry. Putting out transplants is tough. If you are using grow lights and have sprouted your seed indoors (or if you bought from a nursery that grew inside a greenhouse): your plants are not going to like immediate … Continue reading Planting In A Raised Bed: Getting Around Hardening Off
Long day today, but it was nice out, so I didn't mind. Worked on the wicking bed. I did a lot of it trying to film with my video camera but I need to sit down and actually read the directions. I'm really not good at electronics! Shoveling a bunch of gravel into my wagon … Continue reading Crazy Day, Numero Dos
Today and tomorrow are going to be in the 70's. Probably the last two days like this until fall. So, I'm trying to get a ton of stuff done. My husband was supposed to go after the boxwoods that are out of control. I needed to cut back the giant fig I have. Since I've … Continue reading How Much Craziness Can One Girl Get Up to In A Day?
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.
A little off from my usual topics, but we went to the air show today. You can probably guess what career my husband used to have (although, he flew a desk.) My dad and pretty much every male in my (and my husband's) family has served. Part of the rescue reenactment. Lots of fun today. … Continue reading Crazy Daily Fun
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
Had to net the mulberry tree. The new green growth will harden like this before I get the net back off, so it will have a sort of weeping form. That's fine by me because I don't like climbing ladders to mess with fruit trees. These mulberries are way ahead of anything else in the … Continue reading Crazy Garden Updates
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!
Crazy Green Thumbs 