sb158’s Valley Garden

sb158 | April 10, 2010

Uh oh. Knew I shouldn’t have done it. But I had to. Needed to buy a dog chain that the puppy couldn’t break if tormented by evil cats, and it was just there. Couldn’t help it. It’s an addiction…

I bet you know what comes next. The garden dept at Lowe’s. Yup. Almost as bad as a book store. I needed stuff to make Al’s container mix, and a little batch of gritty mix for the herbs. When all was said and done, I spent about $80.00, cuz I needed seed-starting mix, vermiculite, perlite, orchid bark mix and on and on. Then of course there was the new hose nozzle – old one died – and, oh yea, the creeping lemon thyme, Provence lavender, marjoram, and rosemary I just had to have. And the garden magazine. And the seeds. Only 3 packs, I swear…SIGH…

To make things even worse, I had to lug all that potting soil, etc, to the truck cuz the helper lady was helping a lady even older than me. So I’m trying to manhandle that cart thing in the vague direction of my truck, and I wandered off without the bag with the dog chain in it. The whole reason (so I told myself) I went in the first place. Naturally I didn’t remember until I was pulling in the driveway, so I had to turn right around and go back after it. Was still there, no problem, but…

Oh well. Once I got home, I made a small batch of gritty mix and planted the herbs. I put the marjoram, lemon thyme, and creeping thyme I already had in one of the ceramic pots Hubby got me on clearance last fall, but I also took a little piece off each to try another experiment. Hubby bought one of those cheap little charcoal grills for something or other, but I think he only used it once. The top (pretty red) was just taking up space in the laundry room, so I took off the handles and grill supports, lined it with a piece of coco fiber mat to keep the soil marginally cooler, and filled that with gritty mix, too. I put the little pieces from the other herbs in it, and will plant the common thyme seeds I bought today, maybe tomorrow. We’ll see how that goes.

Once I got done with all that, it was getting dark, and I was starving. Forgot to eat lunch today, and breakfast was a long time ago. Called it quits for today, and made a left-over roasted chicken sandwich.

I know it ’s way late, but one little corner of my raised bed is close enough to the house that it gets some shade even in summer. I had a foot or so of space once I pulled out the borage, so I decided to take a chance and plant some lettuce and spinach. Between the house and the swiss chard next to it, the spot may get enough shade to let them grow, at least for a while. Some of it’s already sprouting – so far, so good. Also planted some carrots. May not do well, but all it cost to try was a few seeds.

Just a couple flowers:

Tired and gotta get up early to ride to McAllen and have breakfast with Hubby’s nephew and his wife. That’s all she wrote, for now…

Category: Seeds/Seed-starting, containers, flowers, herbs | 2 Comments »
Tags: containers, Experimental, flowers, herbs, seeds

sb158 | April 7, 2010

Dang, I hate those evil cats that hang around the dumpster by our place. Went out to water earlier, and one jumped right out of my side-of-the-stairs garden. It apparently parked itself in the big pot with a nicely-growing baby cosmos; needless to say, gotta replant now…
On top of that, it decided to torment the dog so much that she broke her brand-new tie-out line. We found her out on the highway dodging cars. Thankfully before she was road pizza!

I have a cookbook that used to belong to my mom’s mom; was printed in 1920-something. It’s got a lot of old-fashioned recipes, and sometimes I find just what I’m looking for. Wanted to use some navy beans and leftover ham tonight, so went recipe hunting. Finally looked in Grandma’s cookbook. Imagine my surprise when I found a baked bean recipe that had been quantity-adjusted in Grandma’s handwriting. Made me tear up a minute, then I smiled. And used the recipe…

Had to go hunting for a good cornbread recipe to go with the beans; none of the ones I have turned out especially good. Found one on About.com that sounded good. It has to be the best cornbread I have ever made. I used 2 Tablespoons of honey, and it was still very sweet. If you don’t like sweet cornbread, adjust the amount, or leave it out altogether. But it came out moist and light; not at all dry or heavy like cornbread can be.

The beans were good, too; least, I thought so…

Honey Buttermilk Cornbread

Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:

* 2 cups stone ground cornmeal
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 2 large eggs
* 3/4 cup buttermilk
* 3/4 cup milk
* 3 tablespoons honey
* 1/4 cup melted butter, cooled

Preparation:
Heat oven to 400°. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan or spray with nonstick baking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, soda, and salt.

In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, milk, honey, and melted butter.

Stir the liquid mixture into the dry mixture until blended. Spread in the prepared baking pan.

Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

In garden news, yesterday the beans I planted with the repotted mums weren’t sprouting yet. Today they are starting to sprout. Got dill and cilantro sprouting, too. Probably already to hot to get much out of either, but the flowers will attract beneficials, so it’s all good. All the cukes and watermelons still looking good, so I really have to thin pretty soon.

Not much else new in the garden; just trying to keep up with the watering due to the hot wind…as usual…Supposed to get a cool front some time tonight with possible showers. Surely do hope so.

Category: Recipes and Cooking, Seeds/Seed-starting, Veggies, containers, flowers | 1 Comment »
Tags: containers, cornbread, evil cats, flowers, seeds, Veggies

sb158 | April 2, 2010

Been a frustrating couple of days, not as much accomplished in the garden as I’d hoped. Yesterday I managed a few little odds & ends, but it really had to be a housework (YUK) day. So I got a good start, and was just getting into the zone, when Hubby decided to come home and mess up the kitchen I’d just cleaned to make lunch. Never understand why lunch always requires grease spatters, chopped veggies all over the counter, and lots of dishes. What’s wrong with a simple, non-messy sandwich?

So I cleaned up his mess, then went to sit down a minute. When I woke up, it was pretty much time to start dinner. Didn’t sleep well the night before, I guess…*sigh*.

Today I actually did get some stuff done. When I pulled out all the going-to-seed lettuce, broccoli, etc., I just threw it all in my amazing-laundry-hamper-composter. I knew I needed to dump it out, chop it some, and remake the pile properly. Since it was cooler today, I decided to do that first.

I needed to get some SWC’s ready, so mixed the dirt for and filled 4 of them. Noticed that the cosmos seed I planted a few days ago is sprouting, as are the mini-morning glories I put in the top tipsy pot. Lots of teensy-tiny baby chamomile, too! Oh, and the dwarf Unwin’s Dahlia are sprouting.

But last night was the first new Bones show in a couple months, as well as some of my other shows coming back after re-runs…hence the wasted night…

On the up-side, one of the bachelor buttons bloomed today, a pretty pink one. I was hoping for blue (I like blue), but you take what you get in the mixes. It’s still pretty.

Oh yeah, planted some zinnia seeds in one container, and globeflower in another. So, some progress, but not as much as I’d hoped…

Later, guys…

Category: Veggies, containers, flowers | No Comments »
Tags: containers, flowers, seeds, SWC, Veggies

sb158 | August 14, 2009

It’s still too hot; Hubby’s weather gizmo says 111 today. Much as I hated to, I had to go out there and spray the aphids off my peppers again; gotta keep up with it, as the little buggers multiple faster than tribbles(Trekkie reference, y’all). I got myself soaked in the process, which was a good thing. Cooled me off in that awful heat; probably kept me from dying of heatstroke.

Got all my SWC’s cleaned out and mixed some new dirt, getting ready for Round 2, which should commence shortly. Got tomatoes, peppers, and some broccoli, among other things, big enough to harden off. I put them on Hubby’s picnic table, in the shade, but am slowly exposing them to a bit more sun every day. Really gotta watch ‘em, though; this wind and heat will fry the poor little babies faster than I can blink.

Got some seeds sprouting to fill a couple off my new containers, and just got an idea for another one last nite while I should have been sleeping. I’ll start the seeds in a bit.

A couple weird things, though. I was about to pull my cukes, as they just aren’t fruiting, and are infested with whiteflies, among other things. All of a sudden they have just started growing like gangbusters, so now I’m debating. The watermelons in the SWC’s are doing the same thing. For a while it’s looked like they were barely hanging on, so I was babying them along hoping the melons would ripen before they expired. Now they’ve started growing new vines and blossoms, too. We’ll see what happens.

Later…

Category: Planning, Seeds/Seed-starting, Veggies, containers | No Comments »
Tags: containers, flowers, seeds, SWC, Veggies, weather

sb158 | July 24, 2009

Not really much going on in my garden, other than the fact that it’s being slowly baked to death by 111 degree temperatures. Not every day, but it has hit at least 109 for the past several days. Yesterday it was 110. I had a few minor things to do out there, and by the time I came in, I had sweat pouring off me. Didn’t stop for the next hour. Felt all woozy, too. Had to come in and sit in front of the AC for a while just to keep from dying. Would have taken a shower, but had a load of laundry going. Can’t do both at the same time around here…LOL.

By the time Garden Blog Death Day rolls around, I’ll have plenty to share. All the Roma tomatoes have ripened, not that there were all that many. The plants are just hanging around until I pull them out. Got some replacement stuff growing now, but it’ll be a few weeks until it’s ready to plant. I let the sickly zucchini expire, too, so that’ll be in the Death Day post.

The Heatwave tomato plants look awful, too, but they at least have a bunch of tomatoes ripening, if I can get them before the mockingbirds decide they’re ready to eat. The only thing that doesn’t seem bothered at all by the heat is the Lablab bean I planted. It just keeps growing taller, and has finally reached the top of the arbor thingy. Getting some side shoots now too, so maybe the arbor will finally start serving it’s intended purpose by the time I plant Round Two in early September.

The biggest thing I’ve accomplished is finishing the Excel seed-starting chart I got at I Wet My Plants.com. It was fine for Canada, but, boy, did it need a lot of work for South TX. Took me quite some time, and lots of tedium, to enter all my seeds, correlate the planting dates to the Texas Gardener magazine Planning Calender, and get it all set up for my area. Now, however, it is tailored to my garden, and it is really cool. Just print and plant…eliminates alot of the mind-breaking co-ordination two (well, really, 3) garden seasons requires.

That’s about it for now. Got dinner cooking and gotta get back to it…

Category: Planning, Seeds/Seed-starting, Veggies, containers | No Comments »
Tags: containers, Planning, seeds, shade arbor, Veggies, weather

sb158 | July 12, 2009

(insert vile epithet of choice)______________. Fire ants, I mean. Bungled into two separate nests of the little _______ yesterday, with very unpleasant consequences. I’ve mentioned before that the french filet pole beans weren’t doing well, but I don’t think I mentioned the sick zucchini. It’s in one of the containers by the arbor thingy, and it’s only grown a few leaves and two male blossoms since I planted it before I went to Colorado. Whoever heard of a zucchini NOT growing, at least before the squash vine borers get it? So I decided to pull out the french failures and try some scarlet runner beans. I started to move the mulch away to plant the seeds, and was viciously attacked. Got away with only two bites that time; not so bad. I read somewhere that ants don’t like molasses, so I poured about a cup of molasses into a gallon of water and drenched the container with it. I also dumped a bit of Amdro in there. The ants might explain the sickly zucchini and failing beans, at least in part.
(more…)

Category: Seeds/Seed-starting, Square Foot Gardening, Veggies | 8 Comments »
Tags: containers, fire ants, Green Beans, seeds, Square Foot Gardening, WD 40

sb158 | April 30, 2009

This Valley is gonna look like the icon here pretty quick if the heat doesn’t break and we don’t get some rain.

With temps in the 90’s and the wind blowing from the south at 20+ mph (more…)

Category: Seeds/Seed-starting, flowers, watering/irrigation | 2 Comments »
Tags: flowers, seeds, watering, weather

sb158 | April 27, 2009

A very kind blog visitor identified my Mystery Shrub as Ruttya fruticosa. Found some cultural information here and here.

Apparently it’s easy to propagate by seeds or cuttings, so I may try that down the road some time. Got too much other stuff going on right now to deal with it.

Yesterday we went to brunch with my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and his son and wife. (more…)

Category: Experimental, Seeds/Seed-starting, flowers | No Comments »
Tags: containers, Experimental, flowers, geraniums, herbs, Monster Mud, seeds, shrubs

sb158 | April 22, 2009

I’ve mentioned that I bought a night-blooming jasmine and another shrub before. Been looking all over the net trying to find the origin and care for the second one, with no success. The nursery guy said it was called Rutaya, and was new. It must be really new, to be so conspicuously absent from the Net.
I’m posting a couple pics, in the hope someone knows what it is and how to take care of it. (more…)

Category: containers, flowers, herbs | 14 Comments »
Tags: basil, containers, flowers, herbs, seeds

sb158 | April 22, 2009

Whew! This is really the first chance I’ve had since I last posted to post again. I’ve either been busy doing, instead of writing, or too wiped to even type. That heat out there is gonna kill me yet, I swear.

I’ve been planting babies into the garden, like cukes, stevia, and bee balm, or tomatoes into SWCs. (more…)

Category: Experimental, Seeds/Seed-starting, Square Foot Gardening, Veggies | 2 Comments »
Tags: Experimental, Monster Mud, seeds, Square Foot Gardening, Veggies