My next Vegetable Gardening 101 class will be at North Haven Gardens on August 28th from 10am-1pm (or whenever I finish answering questions). You can print out the new registration form HERE and bring it to NHG or call 214-363-5316 to register over the phone. The cost is only $20 for NHG Grow Card Members or $25 for non-members. The class will be held at NHG in the large meeting room at the back of the greenhouse. Feel free to bring snacks or your lunch.

By now, many of your spring planted tomatoes have run their course, especially determinate varieties. Some indeterminate cherry-type tomatoes can make it through the heat of the summer and give you some fall harvest, but in our climate it's best to go ahead and remove most of your spring planted tomato plants (put them in the compost) and plant fresh fall transplants now. You have from late June through mid-July to plant them for best timing. Just like the onset of hot summer temps will shut down fruit production, so will temperatures that are too cool. So if you wait too long to plant your fall transplants you may also have poor fruit set. Check your local garden center now for transplants!

Ok, I know this isn't gardening related, but I just had to put my big sweet kitty Paco to sleep today. He was just the biggest, prettiest, sweetest cat. He was pushing 19 years old in this photo. First my chicken Einstein last week, now Paco. What a week. They were loved!

Quart-sized 'Sapho' tomato transplants are in-stock at North Haven Gardens right now! They are for planting now through mid-July for fall harvest. Don't wait long to get them...there is a limited quantity and they won't last long!

Sad to say that my little Einstein is being put to sleep this morning. 

We spent the last couple of weeks medicating and hand feeding her everyday. While we were in Arkansas for the past week, she stayed with the vet (A & B in Dallas on Garland Road). They took care of her, changed her meds, fed her, etc. Middle of the week they said she'd improved and was starting to eat on her own. But yesterday they called us to say that she just has too much neurological damage to be able to survive on her own. It's just so crazy how a little thing like getting some string wrapped around her leg could turn into a death sentence. We're still baffled as to how she went downhill the way she did. She went from being the spunkiest of the bunch one day, to the sickest and weakest ONE day later. Well, she's been quite the fun little chicken and we're really sad to see her go. Such is life in livestock I suppose. :(

If you're in Texas, and you planted garlic cloves cloves last October, now is the time to harvest. Typically, you'll want to stop watering garlic two or three weeks before you harvest it. When is the perfect time to harvest garlic? Well, honestly that comes with a bit of experience. One indicator that you can use, but it's not foolproof, is to harvest once the foliage starts to die back. By mid-May (in Texas) you should start pulling some soil away from the base of the plant to inspect the bulbs. You'll want to see fully formed bulbs with a complete tunic/sheath (push your fingers down into the soil to feel the bulb). Bulbs should not be splitting.

My common garlic, which I harvested yesterday, is just perfect. Really nice sized bulbs with fully formed cloves and a nice sheath. I've got quite a haul this year. Once you harvest your garlic, you'll need to let it "cure" for two or three weeks. After you lift the plants from the ground, wash the soil off the bulbs and the roots, but leave both the roots and the foliage on the plant. You'll want to either hang them in a place that is warm with good air circulation to dry, or spread them out in your garden or on some newspaper to dry. The nutrients in the leaves will move down into the bulb and the sheath will become dry and papery. This helps the bulbs store for much longer periods. Here in Texas, with our intense sun, you're best to dry your bulbs out of direct sunlight or they will scald.

 

I probably let my Elephant garlic go a little too long - I could have harvested it a week ago. It has now gone to flower. A few of the bulbs have started to split just a little, which just means they won't store as long. But most of them look pretty good.

You'll notice the little "bulbils" attached to the bulb. These are basically baby bulbs or seed bulbs. You can pop these off the bulbs and replant them right now for your next crop of garlic next spring. For common garlic (and you can do the same with Elephant garlic) you'll want to pick a couple of bulbs that have nicely formed cloves as your "seeds". After curing, you'll store these bulbs in until fall. Then, you'll split the cloves up and replant each one just like you did this past October. Or, you can eat all your garlic and just buy new seed bulbs!

So my little Houdan, Einstein, managed to get some string wrapped around her leg last weekend. I discovered it last Sunday after my husband came in and said she was hiding from the other birds behind the feed bucket. The string must have inhibited her from getting around normally or eating. Because she looked weak, I guess the rest of the girls ganged up on her and pecked at her. I separated her into her own coop this past week to give her a break. 

 

But she still looked sad and wasn't eating much, only drinking. Her buddy Phyllis went in to see for for a little bit. So cute.

Last night I checked her crop, but it felt normal, checked and cleaned her vent..no egg impaction. I gave her a bit of flax oil but this morning she was the same so we went ahead and took her to a vet that specializes in birds. Apparently, the stress of getting ganged up on by the other gals and not eating caused her to have high bacteria levels in her GI tract.

 

This is her swallowing some of the antibiotics and baby bird food I'll have to feed every day. Poor thing...Hopefully we'll be able to get her healthy again over the next week or so and can then reintegrate her back into the flock.

For the last few days I've found Phyllis squeezed into the laying boxes with the other gals while they are trying to lay. This evening I found her sitting on all the eggs! So, I do believe my lovely Polish has gone broody on me.

 

 

So that's where all my darn eggs are!