Seed an Extra Fall Crop in August

Still harvesting black eyed peas in October!

Black eyed peas are 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 producing 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 definitely plant more so as to get a bigger harvest.

The Ants ate my Lettuce Seeds!

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.

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!

Unfortunately I don't have a photo, but when I walked out of the door this morning to go to work, a female ruby-throated hummingbird was going to town on all the different salvias in my front garden. She took no notice of me and went about her business as I watched her. It was great! I've posted before about my lack of hummingbird sightings this year...so I was very happy to have the encounter...

Okra. You either love it...or hate it. I love it. Especially stewed with tomatoes and peppers. MMMMMMM.

I have a dwarf okra variety called 'Clemson Spineless' this summer. The plants are quite tiny, but the small blooms are still beautiful.

If you're challenged on space, or can only grow your vegetable garden in containers, switching to dwarf or micro cultivars of your favorite fruits, veggies, and herbs is a great strategy. Not to mention, dwarf edibles are much easier to grow indoors. Currently, as of 2024, there are many more dwarf edible cultivars available. While you may have to shop around with multiple seed or plant vendors to find what you need, it can mean the difference between a successful, or not so, edible garden!

"If a man is standing alone in a garden, and he speaks, but there is no woman to hear him, is he still wrong?"

Ha!! I crack myself up.

So I grow hot peppers. Lots of em'. My father in law told me about a dish he'd had that required pickled habaneros, and had gotten the recipe. I told him I'd do him a solid and pickle him some. He lives in Minnesota...not sure how the hot pepper growing goes up there. Pickling is super easy, so if you've never canned anything it's a good place to start. You need glass jars, mason type. Any kind that has a secure lid. For this project I used some recycled tomato sauce jars with the old labels removed. You'll need to sterilized your jars and lids. You can either do this in the dishwasher or boil them for 10 min. My dishwasher is my husband and that dishwasher is often broken so I boil my jars. You'll also need to boil some vinegar. I was filling two 20 oz. jars. I brought 32 oz. of vinegar to a boil. It took about 29 oz to fill the two 20 oz. jars after packed with peppers. So, you'll want to time it so your jars come out of the boiling water and your vinegar is boiling about the same time. You don't want your freshly sterilized jars to sit too long before you fill them. I used whole peppers instead of slicing them well, because a pile of habaneros, plus boiling vinegar makes for an potentially eye searing experience. So no chopping. Plus, they were so pretty whole I decided to use them that way.

You'll want to trim stems off completely and make sure to wash your peppers thoroughly. You'll notice my lovely bowl of peppers is flanked by a wine glass, as these activities are always best accompanied by libations...and broccoli seeds. Yes, it's time. I started broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts seeds today. I also planted black eyed peas and a second crop of potatoes, but I'll leave that for another post (I'm experimenting with some special potato containers, so I'll keep you posted.)

Notice my heavy duty rubber work gloves. It's a good idea to wear gloves when handling this many hot peppers Especially if you're going to be slicing them. The juices from the peppers will soak into your skin and it can be a less than pleasant experience. Also, when you're pickling, you're also dealing with boiling vinegar, which is an acid. If you've got hot pepper juice on your hands and then expose them to some vinegar, about an hour later you'll feel like you dipped your hands in a hot acid bath...and it can last a couple of days. How do I know this? Because I'm an idiot. I've done it before. It was one of the most painful and miserable experiences...don't be an idiot like me...wear some gloves!

So you've sterilized your jars and you've set them on a dishtowel on the counter, your peppers are washed and your vinegar is boiling. DO NOT take the lid off the vinegar and stick your face over it to see how it's boiling. You'll sear your eyeballs, and nostrils out..you'll regret it. Keep your face at a respectful distance. Pack your jars with the whole or sliced peppers, almost to the top of the jar leaving some space at the neck. Turn the heat off the vinegar. Using a ladle, and funnel if you have one, ladle the vinegar over the peppers until it covers all the fruit. You may need to press the top few peppers down into the vinegar (hence the handiness of gloves) and make sure they are completely covered. then screw the lid on securely. Let the jars cool for a while. Whala. You're done. Pickled peppers will keep for quite some time. They don't have to be refrigerated, but they will last longer that way.

Now, you're entire house will reek of vinegar, so I suggest you open a window during this process. Here in Texas this time of year it's about 100 degrees, so it does make it a toasty project, but if you don't ventilate, you might be sorry. Ok, even if you open a window your house is still going to reek. I don't mind it, my husband thinks it's the end of the world. I used apple cider vinegar because I thought it might create a more interesting flavor. Well, that and it happened to be the only kind of vinegar I had in the house. So there you go. It is a bit dark in color, so if you want to see the color on the peppers more clearly use a white vinegar, a rice vinegar or such. Lovely. Burn your mouth to a crisp lovely.

Can't get Enough Pesto?

Sometimes there are foods that you're happy to have just every once in a while. But once you start growing the ingredients, and can make your own, you just can't get enough!

That's the case with pesto for me. Everything is better fresh. Now he makes the 10-year old face and says "Are you going to make me pesto tonight?", on a regular basis.

Slow to flower, this basil cultivar will keep you havesting
PC: Leslie F. Halleck

If you love using fresh basil from the garden, and making pesto, but struggle with basil that flowers to fast and profusely in summer, I have a couple varieties in the garden you might be interested in.

'Pesto Perpetuo' a small variegated variety and 'Sweet Aussie', a bright green variety. Both have a very tight compact growth habit with small leaves. The nice thing about these two is that they are very slow to flower.

While both my sweet and purple leafed varieties are already in full flower and leggy (I should have harvested more) both of these are still very tight with no flowers. Yay. So, if you're a fresh pesto addict like we are, you might give these varieties a try. Great for garden or containers.

Yes...this is one of my dear lady friends that hangs out in my garden. She is the first of 3 very large black widow females I've discovered in my yard this spring by almost putting my hand down on them...I originally found this beauty about 3 months ago...and found her again in the same spot this past Saturday. Since my first encounter with...oh let's call her Vivienne...I've relocated two others to the back alley and told them we had a deal as long as they didn't come back in my yard.

And see, there was this sprinkler timer I needed riiiiight underneath her...I had to scoot Vivienne out of the way.

Sigh, I know I should probalby be killing these chicas, but I just can't bring myself to do it. (I know...I'm threatening the squirrels with my BB gun for stealing peaches but I won't squish the black widows....psycho analyze away...) I've already gotten a brown recluse bite in this yard (still have a tiny spot of death on the back of my calf). But I'm young and healthy so it didn't do much damage. I'm sure a black widow bite would be less than pleasant. But they sure are cool looking huh....