You Need to Grow Where the Sun Goes!

The newest addition to my ever expanding veggie garden. In addition to the two boxes we added to the back this past weekend, which filled up the remaining sunny real estate, we added three new beds to the front yard. The sun is plentiful up there and it seemed a shame to me there were no tomatoes growing in such a prime spot. Also transplanted a bunch of Iris pallida from the backyard to camouflage the concrete retaining wall on the edge of my yard. It's obvious I'm not finished planting them yet, but they will contain an assortment of tomatoes, peppers, bush beans and maybe a dwarf bush zucchini. Photos of backyard beds to come...

It's a banner year for snakes in the Halleck garden. As you can see by the blurriness of the photo, it wasn't exactly easy to get a shot of this squirmy little guy, but you get the idea. It is a Texas brown snake. I have a bounty of babies in my garden this year. Just about everywhere I've started to dig around one of two if these little guys has popped out. I was removing a decaying stump from the back fence and fount a nest of them. I'm a reptile/amphibian enthusiast so snakes and the like bring me no end of entertainment. But I do realize there are a lot of you out there that would not be thrilled to find snakes in their yard. Texas brown snakes and rat snakes are non-venomous and they are a great natural pest control. They have small mouths so their prey tends to be small as well..they eat snails and slugs so they are great for gardeners. So your backyard chickens are safe...yay for snakes.

A Favorite Tomato Cultivar

Ok, the yummy orange paste tomato I tested last year for Organic Gardening magazine is one of my current favorites. This is a tasty paste tomato, similar to a Roma, but with lemon yellow flesh and a light sweet flavor. It's heat tolerant, compact with good fruiting. Can't wait to make some golden spaghetti sauce this year...

The three ornamental peaches I planted last year are all popping. They are each a double flowering variety called 'Peppermint'. Blooms appear in shades of hot pink and white/pink stripes. They are the fascination of my 1 1/2 year old neighbor, Madeline. And the other neighbor, Lonnie...who is not so much 1 1/2 but who nonetheless gets all giggly like a little girl when new things are blooming in my garden. Delights for kids and not so much kids alike! Purrrty.

Mustard Green 'Southern Giant Curled'

I grew a wonderful mustard green in the garden this past fall through winter and it's still going strong. It's called 'Southern Giant Curled' and you can procure the seed from Botanical Interest. I'd direct seeded it out into the garden and it's been as happy as could be all winter long. But I sort of forgot about harvesting much of it. I mixed some of it into a fresh salad the other day and was reminded about how tasty it is! Sweet tasting leaves followed by just the right amount of spicy mustard flavor. This variety is very slow to bolt and the plants in my garden haven't even thought about blooming yet. It's a pretty plant to boot...

Even on chilly winter days when your toes feel like ice cubes...well, my toes always feel like ice cubes. After a bit of an ice-storm here, the sunshine is back but it's still too cold for me to venture outside. Maybe in a couple of hours. I'm on vacation right now so I'm taking advantage of my free morning to relax, have some coffee, start some seeds and record things in my garden journal. Which I'm TERRIBLE about doing by the way.That's what happens when you're a professional horticulturist...you do all the things you tell your students/clients NOT to do! lol. Actually, it's one of the reasons I started this garden blog. Not because I wanted to showcase any brilliant garden writing, have a million people view my garden, or any such pursuit. I started it so my friend Carolyn and I could keep up with each others gardens and so I could keep better track of what I did and when.

So right now I'm starting more seeds of the varieties I test for Organic Gardening Magazine, I can't divulge the variety names for the test plants (names have been blotted out for your own protection!), but there is an assortment of tomatoes, spinach, celery, squash and more. The test spinach has already gone out into the garden, along with the cutting celery and lettuce. In addition to the test plants, I'm also getting some seeds going for some of my other standard favorites. Tomatillos purple and green, Tomato 'Aunt Ruby's German Green', 'Green Zebra', 'Marvel Striped' and a few others.

I keep all my seeds in plastic buckets with lids so I can tote them around. Seeds packets are sitting in piles around me at the moment...oops, just dumped a bunch of okra seeds all over the floor...those will go directly into the garden in April. Still trying to decide what else I'll start indoors right now...

I say "Winter" in quotations because I know that what we experience as winter here in Dallas is not really winter when you talk to someone from Minnesota...but hey...it's what we've got!

Just a few photo updates from the veggie garden this weekend. I direct seeded some spinach and peas into the garden, which you can get away with doing this time of year here. I've you've never grown peas or beans in your garden before, you might want to use a garden inoculent first time around. Then make sure not to overfertilize with too much Nitrogen. Legumes will fix most of their own from the soil, so too much supplemental Nitrogen can result in lots of growth, but not a lot of fruit.

I seeded some fava beans, a bit to late, last fall but I've been amazed how well they've made it through the winter. We have had a pretty good run of hard freezes lately, with 23 F a few nights ago. I've not covered the plants but they've toughed it out just fine. Even started blooming again a couple of days after flopping over completely in the hard freeze. I'm so proud of them...

Baby broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower are coming along. Actually, we harvest broccoli most of the way through winter, but the rest take a bit longer to mature. Can't wait for the Brussels sprouts. I'll be setting out another round of Cole crop transplants in a week or two. Oh, and I'm terrible about pulling radishes when they're ready...I always seem to leave them too long in the garden. Resulting in giant overgrown monsters! They are still quite edible, but will develop scabbing on top of the root where they're exposed to light. I have some of the biggest radishes I've ever seen...

No Idea What to do With Your Homegrown Turnips?

So if you veggie garden on schedule here in Texas, you should be harvesting turnips right about now. I'd say most people my age would ask the question: "What the .... do yo do with TURNIPS?" Well, they're actually quite tasty, and super easy to grow here. Just sprinkle the seeds directly into the garden in fall and late winter (now), then the seedlings and then just leave them alone until they mature. Don't let the turnips get too big before you harvest them, the flavor is better when they are medium sized.

You can make a "mash", as the British would say"...I like to combine potatoes and turnips together to make a mash. Boil your potatoes and turnips (separately) to a mash appropriate softness. Drain and mash or blend with some butter, fresh parsley, salt and pepper, a bit of cream and some horseradish. MMMM. yes horseradish, that you also grew in your garden and processed...and is sitting in it's jar in you fridge.

OR, you can make these yummy Potato and Turnip cake's from her majesty Martha Stewart:

Serves 4

• 1 pound russet potatoes (about 2 medium)
• 1/2 pound white turnips (about 1 large)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

Directions

1. Coarsely grate (with a box grater or a food processor fitted with the grater attachment) potatoes and turnips, all scrubbed and trimmed. Squeeze to remove as much moisture as possible; transfer vegetables to a medium bowl. Toss with coarse salt and ground pepper.
   
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Form potato mixture into four tightly packed patties; place in skillet, flattening gently with a spatula to a 3/4-inch thickness. Cook patties, turning once, until browned and cooked through, about 10 minutes per side (reduce heat if patties start to brown too quickly, and add more oil to skillet if necessary). Transfer to paper towels; sprinkle with salt.

OR, how about this Turnip Puff from Cooking for 2's website:

• 3 cups cubed peeled turnips
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 egg
• 4-1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Dash pepper
• Dash ground nutmeg
• TOPPING:
• 2 tablespoons dry breadcrumbs

2 teaspoons butter, melted

Place turnips in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook for 10-15 minutes or until tender. Drain; mash with butter. Cool slightly.

Beat in egg. Combine the flour, baking powder, brown sugar, salt, pepper and nutmeg stir into turnip mixture.

Spoon into a 3-cup baking dish coated with cooking spray. Toss bread crumbs and butter; sprinkle over casserole. Bake, uncovered, at 375° for 30-35 minutes or until heated through and a thermometer reads 160°. Yield: 3 servings

OR you can roast or broil them with some olive oil and salt. Super yummy. They are also good mixed into soups or stews like you'd use potatoes. The greens can be braised or steamed with a bit of garlic, butter and lemon juice.

I know, I know...turnips can be an acquired taste. I think it's time we acquire it.