by Noel | May 10, 2012 | CobraHead, Gardening
Here are two videos about garlic and inter-planting garlic with salad greens. I plant garlic here in southern Wisconsin in late October. I plant the cloves along the top of ridges of a raised bed that has been shaped into three ridges (or two troughs). After I plant the garlic I mulch it deeply with straw. I plant the garlic on the tops of ridges in my dense clay soil because garlic likes to be well drained. I’m minimizing the chance of the garlic getting...
by Noel | May 2, 2012 | CobraHead, Gardening
There are normally three steps to growing vegetables that require indoor seeding. First you plant the seeds in a growing medium into a flat or a small container. Second, you transplant the sprouted seedlings after they have established themselves into a second, larger container. This is called potting off and it gives the seedlings room to expand both their root system and their leaf growth. Then, when the weather is right these transplanted and firmly...
by Noel | May 1, 2012 | CobraHead, Gardening, Recipes
Judy and I enjoyed a great light meal last night that was mostly from the garden – a salad with a side of roasted asparagus. The roasted asparagus recipe: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash & dry asparagus spears after removing woody ends. In a large bowl pour in 1-2 T. olive oil, mash in 1-2 crushed cloves garlic, 1/2 tsp. seasoned salt & freshly ground pepper. Toss in asparagus spears & gently mix until well coated. Place on a greased...
by Geoff | Apr 24, 2012 | Gardening, Recipes
Driving around Austin during the past couple of weeks I have seen hundreds of loquat trees, Eriobotrya japonica, loaded with ripe fruit. Here the trees are mostly planted as an ornamental, in part due to their tropical looking foliage. The fruit, however, is delicious. Loquats are originally from China and are distantly related to apples. My friend Bianca says that growing up in San Antonio, they referred to loquats as ‘Chinese plums’. I find the...
by Noel | Apr 23, 2012 | CobraHead, Gardening
I tried something new (for me) this year in planting my potatoes. Geoff mentioned this method to me years ago and I never got around to trying it. I kind of forgot that it was he who told me, but he was quick to remind me when I showed him what I did. The logic is simple. Plant your potatoes at the bottom of a trench, then hill up the dirt from the ridges of the troughs around the plants as they grow. Potatoes only grow up, that is, their tubers won’t...
by Geoff | Apr 3, 2012 | Gardening
We are pleased to announce the two winners of the Botanical Interests’ Seed Collections! Janiece won the Basic Bounty Veggie Garden Collection. Her favorite vegetable to grow is the Sugar Snap pea. Chris McDiarmid won the Heirloom Tomato Seed Collection. That’s good, because her favorite vegetable to grow is the tomato. We picked our two winners at random from the 94 entrants who all left a comment on our blog naming their favorite vegetable to grow. Tomatoes...
