Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day September 2010
This morning I walked around my yard and snapped a bunch of pictures for bloom day. Then I decided I didn't really care all that much about the pictures I took. So this afternoon, Judy and I headed over to our friend Eve's place so we could take pictures of her...
Identification time!
It's not really a big secret that I am not a plant geek. In fact, up until a few years ago, I never had much use for flowers. There. I said it. However, I've been coming around, and it would be nice to at least know what's growing in my own yard. Posting pictures...
Pumpkin Pies Coming Up!
I'm going to be quite happy with my squash plantings this year. I didn't get my seeds started until the first week of June. Since I had no beds set up for the squash, I just cleared out the overgrown weeds in my compost area and stuck the seedlings in the extremely...
Mess o’ Beans – Mix and Match
Four plus pounds of various beans are pictured. I was nearly bowled over at the amount of beans I picked. If you had asked me a couple months ago I would have said we’d be lucky to get a handful. Since Noel didn't get around to fencing the garden this year,...
Rod’s Refrigerator Pickles
My cucumber plants have finished producing for the season, but I have no complaints. I had a bonanza this year. The Japanese Climbing Cucumbers not only grew up the trellis where I planted them, but also vined around the amaranth plants next to them and spread out...
Help Us Get to 1000 Fans on Facebook!
Hey, are you on Facebook? So are we! But we know we have a lot more fans than our page currently indicates, and we're counting on you to help us find them. So here's the deal: help us get to 1000 fans by September 21, and we'll give all fans a coupon worth 20% off...
CobraHead vs. Thistle
Well, we Wisconsin CobraHeaders finally got our act together and started making videos in the garden. This is one of our first attempts from yesterday. Here, Noel deftly extracts a tap-rooted thistle from his pepper bed. We will be posting many more how-to videos as...
Chile Pequin
One of the benefits of not mowing my lawn as often or thoroughly as might be indicated by societal norms is that I get all sorts of interesting and sometimes useful plants that just show up. One of these is Chile Pequin, a semi-wild hot pepper of Texas and Mexico....
Potato, Summer Squash & Quinoa Soup
This recipe was a collaborative effort between Geoff and me. Quinoa potato soup was a staple in Ecuador where Geoff spent a year studying in college. We made up a recipe based upon his memory of an Ecuadorean soup. Due to an abundance of summer squash in the garden...
Ball Horticultural Company
CobraHead is actively involved in the Mailorder Gardening Association. Anneliese and I attended the MGA summer conference in downtown Chicago this past week. In addition to the seminars, workshops, roundtables, networking and evening fun, we also had an afternoon...
Bigger is Not Always Better
Judy just posted a few days ago about how she is trying to pick the zucchini before they get oversized and unusable. I'm not going to go too far about her best intentions going awry, but as you can see, I found a couple of lunkers in the summer squash bed,...
Easy Fruit Fly Traps — Or, DIE, BUGS, DIE!
Well, it's harvest time again, and the fruit flies are starting to find their way into the kitchen. They have also managed to find their way back into my worm bin, and I'm not totally cool with that. I don't think Phil minds too much, but I'm not terribly fond of the...
Zucchini Heaven or Hell?
It definitely depends upon your perspective. For us we’re at the beginning of the summer squash season, and so far so good. I’ve been very diligent in checking and picking the young fruits every day. Yesterday morning I looked to see what we’d have for dinner &...
Counting Cucurbits Before They Hatch
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...
Bloom Day July Sunflowers
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...
Chinese Red Noodle Beans
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...
Bountiful Bouquets
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.
Faux Chocolate Covered Strawberries
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...
Two for the Price of One? Transplanting Corn
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...
The Karpophoreo Project
A couple of weeks ago I met Steven Hebbard at workday for a new community garden in Austin. Steven heads up The Karpophoreo Project. This Austin based venture works with formerly homeless members of the Austin community and others to grow good food. Karpophoreo means...