I know it’s January…but your garden needs you!

January 13, 2009

Halleck_saladgreens Yes, it's January...the time of year in Texas when people like to pretend there's nothing they could possibly do in the garden. Not so my friend, not so!

After catching every virus known to man this past fall, I'm finally feeling my spry self again and managed to get a bunch of gardening done this past weekend. I cleaned up the mess that was my front display beds and planted all my spring-flowering bulbs, which always include a few hundred tulips, Dutch Iris, daffodils, muscari and so on and so forth. My bulb collection is getting out of hand. Each year as I go to plant new bulbs, I inevitably dig up some already inhabiting that spot. Then I feel so guilty and have to apologize to the poor little bulbs I just disturbed from their winter slumber.  Also managed to get some composted cow manure worked into the veggie beds along with a bit of clean up.

Again, this is a great time for the cool-season veggie garden. Right now I've got tons masses of lettuce greens going gangbusters, radishes the size of my fist (that's what happens when you leave them in the garden too long!), turnips, tons of broccoli to harvest, collard greens, baby cabbages on the way along with baby Brussels sprouts. Which btw, if you've never grown and tasted your own Brussels sprouts you DO NOT know what you're missing. They are super easy to grow here and you'll never taste anything like them from the grocery store. Carrots are coming along, but not quite ready to harvest. I have the prettiest stand of Fava beans you ever did see...obviously they are not producing right now, but if I can get them through the last round of freezes I'll hopefully have an 09 harvest from them. Let's see, what else, oh, Pak Choi and spinach and the cutest baby cauliflower heads. I promise I'll get photos posted soon.

Next week I'll be starting my seeds of tomatoes and a few other warm season crops along with a second round of Cole crops (broccoli, cabbage, etc.). Spinach seeds can go outside now along with onion sets and slips. Next month I'll start direct seeding more salad greens, carrots, herbs, plant seed potatoes, rhubarb and more. I might even start an asparagus patch this year. There is just so much to do!

If you live in Texas, it's a great time right now to prep your beds, harvest cool season veggies if you got 'em, plant your bulbs if you didn't when you were supposed to (December), plant dormant fruit trees and any container grown hardy trees and shrubs. Pansies, violas, Iceland poppies and the like can also be planted here right now. And start your spring veggies!


Let the patio begin…

November 9, 2008

Yes, yes, I know...I've been terribly delinquent. It's been hectic. I had surgery last week and of course decided to start all manner of indoor and outdoor home improvement projects at the same time. My house and yard is crawling with busy worker bees as we speak. I keep trying to feed them...but apparently they all prefer cheetos (why do guys eat so badly??) Anyhoo...on to the patio.

So, finally, after a long wait, I'm getting my flagstone pathways in the front and side of house, as well as a patio in the back, installed this weekend. I'm so excited I can barely stand it. I'm one of those folks that will stash and save until I can afford to pay cash for what I want, so I've been waiting patiently for about 4.5 years to have all this house work done. It's amazing the difference it makes having proper pathways.

I went stone shopping last weekend at a local stone distributor and of course i happened to find two lonely half pallets of the coolest green flagstone tucked away on the property. When I asked the sales person if they had more, she told me they'd had that stone for a while and would not be getting any more. Of course, I always have to like the stuff no one can actually get their hands on. So after circling the stone yard for about 30 more minutes, talking to myself, running calculations on my cell phone calculator, I decided to gamble and go for a mix. Because I had to have that green stone. I have a thing about greens. The entire inside of my house is painted varying shades of greens, teals, etc. So I snagged the two pallets of green stone and filled out the order with three more pallets of terracotta colored Oklahoma flagstone. And crossed my fingers it would look good together.

So far so good...here is how it's looking so far. The areas are dug out about 2.5 inches, lined with weed-block fabric, bedded with decomposed granite, then the stone is laid and packed in with more decomposed granite. For those of you wondering about materials, I had about 490 sq. ft. to cover. The flagstone will cover about 80-90 sq.ft. per ton (depending on the type/size of stone - the smaller the stone, the less the coverage). So that was 6 tons of stone (about 5 pallets) and about 6 tons of decomposed granite. groovy. I'll post more photos upon completion. whoohoo!


Frontpath1  Frontpath2 


Patio4  Patio2

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Black eyed peas…

October 10, 2008

Still harvesting black eyed peas...Super easy to grow...can even be seeded direct outdoors in the middle of August during the blazing heat. They germinate quickly and tolerate the heat well. First peas were ready about a month after seeding so it's a quick crop. They've continued producting steadily since. Fresh black eyed (or cow) peas taste great. I cook mine up with a sliced up jalapeno for some heat. Quite tasty. You can let them dry and store them for cooking later...or for seeds to replant. Next time around, I'll definiely plant more so as to get a bigger harvest.

Blackeyedpeas


Sushi at the Hallecks…

October 10, 2008

Homemade sushi at home....yum. I'm a veggie, my husband is not, but we both like sushi. So I thought...what the heck? Let's just make some. Yes, he requires two plate fulls....he says it's like candy. Shrimp and crab rolls for him...veggie avocado, cucumber and carrot rolls for me. Served with soba noodles in a soy/white wine shitaki mushroom soup. YUM. Needless to say, I couldn't finish all my food. I am now officially in love with my new mandolin slicer...I love excuses to buy kitchen gadgets.

Sushi


Leslie feeds the world…

September 15, 2008

So, I put out lettuce seeds last week. We've had cloudy, rainy weather, so perfect for these seeds to quickly germinate on their own without my intervention. Right? Well...some patches germinated...only on certain sides of the two beds I seeded. Hmmm, that's weird...something is not right. So I figured my seed must be old and thew out a new batch of 'Black Seeded Simpson' lettuce while working in the garden. I happen to pass by the spot about 30 minutes later and look down to see what appears to be tiny white specks traveling along in the same direction.

Ant_thief

As I peer closer, I realize it's my lettuce seeds! An army of tiny ants have discovered my seeds are carrying them one by one up to the corner of the cedar bed and dropping them into the crevace between the posts...where they have apparently built a nest. No wonder my lettuce wasn't germinating! So I watched these little guys systematically carry off every single lettuce seed that'd hit the ground. Sigh....if it's not the squirrels..it's the ants. Namaste my little ant friends...Namaste. Enjoy your dinner!


Overdue…

September 15, 2008

So sorry for the overdue update...but such is life! Just a few updates from the veggie garden. Broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower transplants are in the garden now, as well as an additional bed of seeds just started of all the same crops. Also seeded chard, turnips, pak choi, kale and others this weekeend. I'm harvesting black-eyed peas right now - yum! You can seed black-eyed or cow peas here in August, in the hotest part of the summer, and they do just fine. They are a really quick crop and easy to grow. They do seem to have attracted the first of the fall aphids, but that is easily remedied (SQUISH). Still have a second round of egglplant coming on and the peppers will keep on keepin' on until first frost. The fall tomatoes I planted in the front yard are going gangbusters and have already set fruit. The plants in the back seem to have decided they don't want to play this game. Not happy...and I'm not sure why. As you can see on my eggplant photos, flea beetle damage was pretty bad this year. They got to the tomatoes and potatoes pretty bad as well, so that's mostly likely what's holding the Tom's back. Also a photo of a new potato growing fiber back I'm trying out.  

Peas Bean_fava 










Eggplant

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Potato_bag



Kay did the rain dance…yay!

August 22, 2008

Finally...a reprieve. Here in Dallas we've been the beneficiary of some unusual and unexpected, but most welcome, August rainfall. The last week has been cloudy and rainy...it's a little unsettling for this time of year when 105 is the norm...it leaves you wondering what kind of follow up punishment you're in for as a result. Surely...the 100's will return just to spite us. Well, my fingers are crossed at this point that they won't! I usually turn my eyes away from the garden in August...it's just too hard to keep things looking their best. That being the case, plants that take up residence in my garden must have a certain...how you say...fortitude. Survival of the fittest is the name of the game. When we are lucky enough to get a bit of rain and cooler temps, it's amazing how these plants will spring back to life in no time. A few days of clouds and rain allowed my front garden to start looking like it had some life back in it. Here are a few shots of the tough guys...and gals... You'll see tomatoes and herbs in my front beds now, as I plan to work more edibles into the ornamental landscape. The lovely blue tomato cages coordinate perfectly with my bottle tree. Me? Picky? No.... Btw....Kay is one of my staffers...she has magical powers and so does the rain dance. Must have worked.

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Above: Beautiful butterfly on Mexican Petunia. 'Celebrity' Tomato, garlic chives, basil, Angelonia...more.

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Above: Autumn Sage, Mexican Petunia. Rain lily 'Autumn Sunset'

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Above: Mexican Feather Grass, Pennisetum 'Prince', Salvia 'Victoria Blue'. Rose 'Perle d' Or' popping back into bloom for fall.


Fry an egg on my head will ya?

August 5, 2008

It was 107 degrees here yesterday...and it doesn't really cool off much at night. I walked at 5:30 am this morning at it was still hot. We might be lucky today. It might be 105 instead. Whoohooo! Lucky us. So this is my garden right now. Ha! Well, not quite, but almost. Every year about this time I just throw my hands up in the air. Like any other professional horticulturist, I pretty much take the approach of survival of the fittest. I have no patience for watering or grooming...things must persevere on their own. I let it all go to h-e double hockey sticks and then start over in September! Of course it could still be 100 degrees in September around here. You never know. Ok, October maybe...  smile

Cracked_earth


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