by Geoff | Nov 10, 2009 | Gardening
In late October I harvested my first crop of Satsumas. I planted a “Dwarf Owari” Satsuma in the early spring of 2008 in the front yard of my east Austin home. That year it produced a few jasmine scented flowers, but no fruit. This year it flowered in late March and produced eight fruit. I eyed those fruit longingly all summer long waiting for them to ripen. The weight of the fruit nearly bent the tiny tree over to the ground. By the time I picked the...
by Geoff | May 17, 2009 | Gardening
Last Saturday Raemelle and I had the opportunity to attend a workshop about Medicine Wheel Gardens at the Alma de Mujer Center for Social Change. I want to convert a section of my front yard to an herb garden and the able crew at Alma de Mujer gave us some inspiration. Ana Lara, Alma’s Program Director, led the workshop. Before we went out to the garden itself the participants spent some time sharing information about the different kinds of illness that...
by Geoff | Jan 29, 2009 | Gardening
On Monday afternoon I went out to my garden to harvest spinach and chard for the evening meal. However, I discovered some friends who were also helping themselves to the spinach and devastating the beets: Texas Leaf Cutting Ants (Atta texana.) I hadn’t noticed any sign of them the previous morning, but in less than a day they had eaten about one third of my beets to the ground and severely damaged the rest. Initially panicked and upset about the rapid loss...
by Geoff | Jan 21, 2009 | Gardening
Last January the Arthouse at the Jones Center here in Austin hosted an exhibit by architect Fritz Haeg called Attack on the Front Lawn. The hands-on installation presented examples of projects from Los Angeles to London to South Austin that transformed front yards into food gardens. The presentation inspired a couple of good friends of mine, Courtney Morris and Martin Perna, to rip out the front yard of their East Austin home and fill it with vegetables. Last...
by Geoff | Oct 27, 2008 | Gardening
Last month the entire CobraHead family had the opportunity to visit several of the stunning gardens and nurseries of the Portland, Oregon region while attending the annual Garden Writers of America symposium. When I say family I don’t mean it in the figurative sense. In case you don’t know, we are a Mother-Father-Son-Daughter operation My interests tend towards edible and medicinal plants, but the collection of Japanese maples and conifers at Iseli...
