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, it depends on what is growing in the pot. If it's flowers you can use bait or poison. No big deal. But this is a fruit tree. I could try drenching with a bucket of neem oil, but I just don't think that's going to do it. How do you know you have ants … Continue reading What Do You Do With A Pot Full Of Fireants?
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
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
An all in one product. I took these photos of the moon: in my car, at the bus stop, in the morning, through a dirty windshield and propping my phone up on my steering wheel to steady it. If you wonder why my photos are as clear as they are: it's my phone. If you … Continue reading Crazy Photos From The Garden
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
When I'd walk through the fields and there would be deep cracks in the soil, it was Kansas summers. The smell of sweat and hard work, it was Kansas summers. Getting sprayed with "Off", examining mica rocks my grandmother had gathered, cigarette smoke drifting past me and the adults drinking Coors beer on folding chairs, … Continue reading In Those Times
What do you do when you have both a perennial orchard and annual vegetable beds? You document. If I hadn't created the folder with growing information for my fruits, I would constantly be stopping to look up the growing instructions for whatever plant is having a problem. Having a binder for your information is really … Continue reading Crazy Photos From The Garden
Who knew these make great wine? I started making my own wine last year. I was gifted a link to a gentleman who makes his own wine from store bought juice, granular sugar and bread yeast. I don't like sweet wines and I really didn't like how his recipe turned out. It's good to add … Continue reading Armenian Cucumber Wine
Winner of the most colorful visitor I've had in my garden. This is a flame skimmer. In late summer I have dozens of large dragonflies. They eat all of the mosquitos they can find. I think they are magnificent! But, this guy is definitely not your average dragonfly! I've only seen the one. In the … Continue reading Crazy Photos From The Garden
This is actually a fruit wine I made with my own fruit and a wine kit. The instructions below don't require any extra equipment. I've made shrubs for years. Fill a bowl with imperfect fruit, add sugar, spices, macerate the mix, strain it, age a few days and add a little white vinegar and you … Continue reading Homemade Alcohol for a Shrub.
Winner of the "weirdest seed pod" in the garden this year: Matelea reticulata (Pearl milkweed vine) I've never seen this milkweed vine before, despite it being native. This plant was so fascinating that I let it go and enjoyed the green flowers, with a pearlescent ball in the center. The seed pod was crazy! It … Continue reading Crazy Photos From The Garden
Homemade yogurt. What do you do if you want to get probiotics into your family but everyone is tired of yogurt? I started making homemade probiotic yogurt last year. It's delicious and everyone in the family agreed. Then, slowly, my husband stopped eating it and then both my sons didn't want it in their lunches … Continue reading Probiotic Water
I have a complete and utter obsession with Leonard Cohen. I have a very diverse interest in music. And although Leonard was a musician: I appreciate his works of poetry more. Leonard created some of the most tender and meaningful poetry of our time. Some poems taking decades to complete. The words are meant to … Continue reading Getting To Know Your Voice.
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!
Crazy Green Thumbs 