As it turns out, that was a good thing. My daughter in Colorado had been having serious car issues, and in October, her 12 year old Passport just totally died. We started looking for a used vehicle down here, as Hubby wanted to be sure she got something safe. My son, who worked briefly at a car dealership a few years ago, came with us to prevent rip-offs. He saved us at least 10 grand; we ended up buying a new Chevy Silverado and giving the Dodge to my daughter. This meant, of course, that someone (yea, that’d be me) had to drive it all the way from south TX to Colorado, so off I went to stay until just after Thanksgiving.

Things didn’t quite work out that way. My other daughter decided she’d had enough after her son and husband nearly came to blows. I flew home to rearrange my house to fit 3 extra people – no easy task in a mobile home, let me tell you! Hubby and son went to FL the weekend before Thanksgiving, loaded the truck, and turned right around and drove all the way back to TX that same weekend. Then we had to cram a bunch more stuff in an already jam-packed house.

We immediately started looking for a bigger place, but ended up just moving to a bigger mobile home in the same park in mid-December. We’re still house-hunting; this place is better, but still way too small. The kitchen drives me to distraction, and occasionally to drink…

In between moving and rediscovering the “joys” of teenagers – 2 grandsons – all over again, I did a bunch of garden reading. Paul James, the used-to-be Gardener Guy on HGTV (before they went all “landscaping” and “curb appeal”) mentioned a book called “The One Straw Revolution” written more than 50 years ago by a Japanese farmer named Masanobu Fukuoka. Paul said it changed his perspective completely; he might even go so far as to call the book life-changing. Of course I had to read the book after a recommendation like that! And he was right; it did change my perspective completely, and set me off on a research binge that has been most enlightening, and maybe even life-changing.

I read a gazillion web articles, watched Youtube videos, and Googled any number of gardening things. The most useful book I found is called “Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture (Second Edition)“, written by Toby Hemenway. Found it as a pdf on the web, and was so impressed I spent the money to buy it from Amazon. IMHO, every gardener should read this book. In fact, it ought to be required reading in every high school biology class. Also found Rosalind Creasy’s “Edible Landscaping (Second Edition)” to be very helpful. I’m going to be adding pages about these books, and the garden ideas that result, as I have time.

After we were more-or-less settled and Christmas was gone, it was time to translate all the new garden ideas from abstract to stuff we can eat! Though my plans keep changing (a gardener’s prerogative, of course), I started a ton of seeds and started making garden beds. Had a bit of a setback when we had a 3-day freeze, and even some (very little, actually) snow, but Hubby’s brilliant idea saved all my container plants. He told me to move them all to the picnic table, then he hung two big high-intensity work lights in the roof. Wrapped it all up in a big ole tarp and turned on the lights. Even when the power went out, it was warm enough in there (though NOT so much in the house) to keep the plants all above freezing. After it finally warmed back up, we unwrapped it all, only to have to wrap them all back up again a week later when we had yet another deep freeze. Never in the almost 40 yrs. since I first heard of the Valley have I ever heard of weather like that down here.

So, to make a very long story much shorter, I’ve got some garden beds started, more in the planning stages, and a gazillion baby plants growing bigger every day while they wait for me to get my tush in gear and make them a home…

I’m about out of steam for tonight, so I’ll quit for now and continue this novel another day.

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:

Blue Larkspur

Blue Bachelor Button

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…

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.

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…

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…

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…

Later, after it cooled off a bit, I decided to pull everything out of the little storage area behind my trellis. The lawn guy can’t really weed-eat in there, so I figured I’d pull the weeds and put plastic down. I’m down on my hands and knees, trying to tuck some plastic under the lawn mower (which is wrapped in a tarp and stored there, since we got the lawn guy), when….

Yea, you guessed it. Here come the little _________ again. This time they were all over both hands, crawling up the legs of my jeans, and in my shirt. I ran inside, and immediately sprayed WD 40 all over my hands. Believe it or not, that stuff stops mosquito bites from itching and swelling, makes burns stop burning, and takes the sting out of even fire ant bites. Then I ran to the laundry room, started the washer, and stripped. Threw the clothes all in the washer, then stopped it after they were sufficiently covered. Next stop, the shower, after which I put more WD 40 all over my hands and feet where I’d been bitten. Had to apply it once more about an hour later, but the bites haven’t bothered me since then. They still all blistered up, but don’t bother me at all.

So, yea, I hate the little _______.

In my last post, I’d been debating whether or not to start new pepper plants. In thinking about it, I realized that, with all the aphid damage, the ones I have might survive and produce, but they won’t be at peak performance after all the heat and bugs. I have enough room for a few, so I’m gonna go ahead and start new ones.

I’m going to pull the Silvery Fir Tree tomatoes, cracked fruit and all, in a day or two, empty the dirt out and refurbish it, then plant some new tomatoes in that container soon as they’re big enough. I think I’m going to yank the Roma tomatoes pretty soon, too, as they haven’t set much fruit and look like they have some disease. I’ll let the current fruit ripen, but unless they have a miraculous recovery, they’re gone, too. Got some new paste tomatoes started to replace them, anyway. Probably would have had more luck if I’d started the garden in a more timely manner, but that’s life…

We’re actually getting some nice, sorely needed, rain showers today. Very happy about that. Came at a good time, too, cuz it was time to give the garden a fertilizer booster today, anyway. The rain just makes it that much more effective. Hubby’s weather gizmo said the high today was 109! It’s at least 20 degrees cooler now, after the rain started moving through. So thanks, Mother Nature. Appreciate it…

With temps in the 90′s and the wind blowing from the south at 20+ mph for the past several days, I’m surprised my entire garden hasn’t died yet. The wind just keeps sucking out every bit of moisture I keep applying. So far, one pole bean and one tomato appear to have succumbed, but the tomato was never doing that well, anyway. And I do have a spare to plant in it’s place, if it’s really terminal.

Not much to do in the garden except try to keep it alive. I did discover that Annie’s Granny was right, nasturtiums do germinate better outside than in the house, as long as I soak them overnight! Against my better judgment, I went outside and mixed up some dirt that nasturtiums will probably like better than the garden soil and watered it real well. I was hoping it would cool off a bit by now, but I guess not. Still hotter than Hades out there, but I have to go plant the seeds.

Got some other stuff that needs to get done, but this weather is making it all difficult. Sigh…

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. We don’t get to see them as often as we’d like, so it was a nice visit. After we ate, we went to the BIL’s house for a “plant consult.” I answered my SIL’s questions, and took some cuttings from some of her plants.

Years ago, when they first built the house, my BIL planted some ordinary red geraniums in a little garden spot next to the shed, in memory of his grandmother who used to grow them. More than 10 yrs. later, the geraniums have grown into a huge geranium bush, as we have had no hard freezes to kill them. Unfortunately, they’ve also grown long woody stems that flop over and look very untidy. It does have new growth coming up from the roots, so I told her to just cut the woody stems down to the ground, and let the new growth have a chance.

Weird thing is, most of the geranium is red, but there is one stem that produced a mutation and grows pink geraniums. Anyway, I took cuttings from both stems, which I hope will grow. Any geranium that will survive 10 yrs. with minimal care is one tough plant!

I also took cuttings from two shrubs she has. One has pretty dark blue flowers that butterflies and bees just love; I just saw one at Home Depot the other day. Name starts with a “D” but I can’t remember the rest of it. Hers gets huge, and they have to cut it back every year to keep it from eating the house and garden. I’m going to keep mine in a container, assuming the cuttings take.

The other one only blooms in spring, with tight bunches of tiny white flowers that have the most heavenly spicy scent. Have no idea what it is, and she doesn’t remember, but I will find out eventually. Just have to do some googling. I took softwood tip cuttings and some from more mature wood, so we’ll see if they take.

Other than watering baby basils and peppers, and checking on flower seeds, that’s all I did in the garden yesterday. I did play with Monster Mud yesterday; the rosemary pot is finished, I think, with the exception of leveling the bottom so it stands up straight, and touching up the rim to make it look smooth. After it dries about 24 hrs, I’ll waterproof again. When that dries, I guess I have to decide what color to paint it, or maybe just leave it as is.

I also put another layer of Monster Mud on the styrofoam thingy, as it was still too light. Wind’s blowing today at 20 + mph, as it has been for the past day or so and will be for the next couple of days. If I put a beer cooler outside in this wind, they’d find it in the next county very shortly! I think it may be heavy enough now, especially after I fill it with soil and a shrub…

That’s it for now. Got laundry to do, a house to clean, and dinner to think about. No clue what to cook yet. Anybody got any ideas?

This is the leaves and some blooms. The black stuff that looks like tar is part of the bloom. It’s a really cool-looking flower, and I’d really like to learn more about it.



This is a close-up of the bloom, which is my current desktop wallpaper.

Now on to the “Etc…” I hauled the transplanted basils and chamomile babies outside into the shade today, but I had to move them to the other side of the stairs. The sun is high enough now that it peeks into the back of the holding bed about 5pm or so. The chamomile seemed okay, but the basil didn’t seem to like it much at all. Fortunately, the other side of the stairs still has some shade. Once I moved them, the basil perked right back up again.

Built a small planting box, about 2′ long x 1′ wide, under my hose faucet today. I have some lemon balm babies, too, and that seems like the perfect place for them. They won’t get too invasive, because aside from some damp from the faucet, the rest of the area is full HOT sun and concrete clay. That ought to hold them in check!

Made about 20 gal of Al’s 5-1-1 mix today, to fill the lettuce window box and the lemon balm box.

Oh, and Annie’s Granny said she planted some nasturtium seeds outside in the ground at the same time she sowed some indoors. Like me, she hasn’t had much luck with the indoors seeds. I soaked a few overnight, and sowed them right in the container with the moonflower and other plants. We’ll see if they sprout any better.

That’s it for tonight, as I had to actually do some housecleaning today, and I still have alot of baby basils to transplant. Not to mention the rest of my ever-expanding Garden To-Do List…