by Noel | Aug 3, 2010 | Gardening
I commented earlier that this year I cleaned off my compost area and stuck in some squash and melon starts. I didn’t start the seeds until the second week of June, but as you can see from the first picture, the plants are doing quite well. For a while I was worried that I was getting all foliage and no fruit. That is not the case. I counted well over a dozen relatively large squash and pumpkins hiding under the leaves and several are very close to...
by Geoff | Jul 15, 2010 | Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, Gardening
Close Up Sunflower One might not be able to tell from this photo, but I was standing on a ladder to get the shot. The tallest of the Mammoth Sunflowers that I got from Renee’s Garden Seeds finally opened up at a height of ten feet six inches. Looking Down on Sunflower Here is the perspective from below. Sunflower from Below The plant reached well above the edge of the roof. Leaf Damage from Caterpillars Last week I had to take action to save these...
by Geoff | Jul 9, 2010 | Gardening
Austin can be a tough place to grow vegetables. But little by little I have been picking up on techniques that led to this past year being my most productive vegetable garden in Texas yet. Of course, the first thing that I had to learn about is Austin’s split garden season, with most crops grown either in the fall or the early spring. This is pretty much the only way to grow crops like brassicas and sugar snap peas. And honestly, it’s pretty awesome to...
by Anneliese | Jul 7, 2010 | Gardening
I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I’ve chosen a roommate who will occasionally create things like this: A few days later this one showed up. It’s nice to know that the blooms in my terribly overgrown garden aren’t going to waste.
by Judy | Jun 29, 2010 | Gardening, Recipes
Our June-bearing strawberry patch is done for the year. The berries needed to be picked every day for about 3 weeks or so. We put some away in the freezer – bagged a few for future smoothies, sliced and lightly sugared some for future short cakes or pies and made a couple jars of jam. The best part of having backyard berries is eating them fresh every day. But have you ever wished for something just a little bit more than fresh fruit for dessert but no time...
by Noel | Jun 27, 2010 | CobraHead, Gardening
As usual, I’m putting too much time on the road and not enough time in the garden. Flower and garden shows and other trade shows on weekends throughout the spring and early summer have kept me from where I’d rather be. I planted a bed of sweet corn on June 7th. That’s a lot later than recommended, but I’ve been much later than that before and still had a fine harvest. I normally plant two beds of different varieties, but this year I was...
