Drippin' Green

Garden Report 2013.05.06

2013-05-06T21:35:00.001-05:00

Panorama of the garden.

Mowed the grass/weeds/feral plants around the garden today and discovered that cilantro is as persistent a weed as parsley. It was all over the garden space. Hopefully that means that I won't have to plant it again and they both provide the bonus of a wonderful fragrance especially when mowed down!

The lettuce is basically done. A few leaves can still be picked and the bed needs to be cleaned out.

All the garlic was pulled yesterday. For a crop not recommended for this area, it did very well. Our winters are not considered cold enough for good garlic bulb formation. But last winter was very mild and it appears to have done fine. So, more garlic for cooking!

Herb bed. Sage, Thyme, Oregano & Parsley.

Squash, watermelon vine (not visible),
dill and marigold in foreground.

Tomatoes are growing, blooming and setting fruit. Temperatures continue to see-saw but no apparent problems. Pleased with the ollas. (Ollas explained here) Water required to keep the bed moist is much less than using above ground watering.

Cucumbers are slow getting started but are growing. Think they need some real warm weather.
Blackberries are starting to ripen.

Garden Report 2013.04.23

2013-04-23T14:49:00.001-05:00

Lettuce is nearly finished. Starting to bolt as the temperatures increase.

Dug one of the garlic bulbs because there were small cloves starting to form on the stalk/neck. My research tells me that there is no harm in the cloves forming in the neck. I was very pleasantly surprised with the size of the underground clove and will leave the rest in the ground for a while longer.

Cut the first artichoke and discovered that there are 3 more small ones forming on the plant. This is the first experience growing artichokes. My advice so far, feed heavily.

Tomatoes and peppers are blooming and setting fruit.

Just love finding these guys, swallowtail butterfly caterpillars. They are so bright and colorful.

Garden Report 2013.04.14

2013-04-14T23:35:00.001-05:00

Tomatoes and Peppers are growing and blooming in spite of the crazy temperature swings over the last month.

Overnight frost protection has been required for 5 nights since they were put in the ground but no apparent damage from the cold nights. Offset those nights with highs that have already reached 90. Crazy.

DS Ollas are performing well. The ground is staying moist. Keeping my fingers crossed that they will be up to the task of real Texas heat when it arrives.

Lettuce, lettuce and more lettuce. So fresh and flavorful.

Radishes are finished and garlic is showing signs of being almost ready to pull.

Two varieties of Garlic

Zucchini

Cucumbers, watermelon, squash and flowers have all sprouted but are still very small.

Blackberries are blooming.

Blessed with rain over the last few weeks so the landscape is green for now.

Garden Report 2013.03.13

2013-03-13T17:52:00.000-05:00

Currently producing includes lettuce, green onions, asparagus and radishes. Lots and lots of lettuce.

Tomato plants required protection for two nights this week with lows in the mid 30s but they made it safely and now the temperatures are rising.

Sprouted or transplanted: garlic, tomatoes, peppers, carrots and leeks.

Cucumbers are not up yet.

Planted the remaining garden today. Zucchini (3 varieties), tomatillos, watermelon and several flower varieties. Never had any luck with melons. I think the soil is too alkaline and too heavy but will try one more time.

Fig tree and blackberries are leafing out, pear trees are blooming.

Garden Report 2013.03.07

2013-03-07T16:34:00.001-06:00

Planted tomato bed with olla.

Today was the day.

Put tomatoes and peppers out in the garden. (Old pots with bottom removed are placed around newly set out plants to protect them from the wind.)

Also planted cucumbers seed.

Trying something new this year. Ollas, unglazed ceramic pots that are buried and filled with water. Kind of pricey so I only bought two large ones to try out this year. More info available here - wiki entry and local vendor.

Planning

Much blooming underway.

Garden Report 2013.02.15

2013-02-15T16:14:00.000-06:00

Haven't been here in a very long time but spring is coming.

I was headed to the garden today to take a picture of the leaf lettuce.

Camera in hand.

As I passed the redbud tree, I realized there was a pretty goldfinch sitting on one of branches. And then he was gone.

Missed opportunity but here are a few of the current sights.

Garden Report 2012.05.25 and Sage Discussion

2012-05-25T14:18:00.000-05:00

Garden continues happily but more rain is needed soon. Temperatures in the upper 80°/90° are drying out the soil quickly.
Tomatoes large and small are ripening.

Clockwise from center top: Cherokee Purple, Grape Tomato, Golden Jubilee, Black Cherry, Sun Gold and Bradley.

Picked the first cucumber.
Picking squash, both yellow and zucchini, regularly.
Blueberries continue to produce.
Green beans are blooming again.
Watching the figs but they are not ripe yet.

My cousin, who lives in the UK, and I were discussing sage today. So here are pictures of my sage for comparison with the English varieties.

First, the cooking herb version of sage from the garden.

And the Silverado Sage shrub that is purported to predict coming rain when it blooms.

Garden Report 2012.0505

2012-05-05T14:09:00.001-05:00

Everything is still growing and blooming, though we need rain!!!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Picked the first blackberries (2) and the first zucchini today.

More green beans, carrots and a few more snow peas.

Garden Report 2012.04.26

2012-04-26T10:22:00.001-05:00

Pulled remaining broccoli stalks although conflicted that they should be left as worm sinks.
Pea-sized figs on the tree.

Today's harvest - green onions, green beans, broccoli and snow peas.

Garden Report - April 2012

2012-04-24T12:27:00.001-05:00

Lettuce that was allowed to flower.

It’s already late April, time to start my garden reports again.

The lettuce is finished for the year in my Texas garden. Yesterday I pulled all the remaining lettuce because it was going to seed. I am sorry to see the lettuce supply end. We have been eating fresh garden lettuce for 2 months, since mid-February. There are a few green onions that remain but they will need to be pulled soon before they get too strong.

A few snow peas have been picked with more on the way.

It won’t be long before there are fresh blackberries and green beans.

Snowpeas

Blackberries

Young green tomatoes

Tomatoes continue to bloom and the already set fruit is growing nicely.

The fennel (butterfly/caterpillar food) is growing nicely but the current pest seems to prefer the chinese cabbage.

Fennel

Caterpillar munching on chinese cabbage.

Busy Day at the Feeders

2012-02-12T15:26:00.005-06:00

It must be the cold.

A large flock of finches have almost emptied the black oil sunflower seed feeder by mid-afternoon and the newly filled suet log is also nearly gone thanks to the sparrows and titmice.

The finches are not at all shy about continuing to feed while I take pictures.

House Sparrow in the abelia --
waiting for me to go away so he can return to the suet feeder.

No winter here

2012-02-10T12:58:00.000-06:00

We have had little cold weather this season but some rain has fallen. Only a few light freezes, a very mild winter: 6 days in 2012 with temperatures 75° and above. Weather.com's 10 day forecast shows 4 days with chances of rain but again no real cold weather.

Dripping Springs, TX (78620) Weather

Updated: Feb 10, 2012, 10:25am

UPDATE DATA

TodayFeb 10	Sat11	Sun12	Mon13	Tue14	Wed15	Thu16	Fri17	Sat18	Sun19


AM Showers	Mostly Sunny	Mostly Cloudy	T-Showers	Sunny	Scattered T-Storms	Few Showers	Partly Cloudy	Sunny	Mostly Sunny
61°FHigh	55°	46°	69°	74°	73°	72°	65°	67°	68°
37°Low	35°	41°	44°	55°	54°	49°	42°	45°	51°

The drought is not over but the grass or at least the spring weeds are happy. So tempting to start planting the garden but it's actually about 2 month early.....

Currently from the garden we have fresh
lettuce, spinach,
green onions, parsley and cilantro.

The Mt. Laurel is starting to bloom and Lady Banks is confused with a few patches of blossoms already open.

First 2012 Happenings

2012-01-21T15:06:00.001-06:00

Lesser Goldfinch
1/15/2012

2012 is starting much like 2011 ended, warm and dry. So far January's rain came on the 8th/9th totaling almost 1". High temperatures have been running in the 60°'s and 70°'s with even one day reaching 80°.

Outdoor time has been spent raking post oak leaves, cleaning out flower beds and putting down new mulch.

Parsley is coming up everywhere in the garden. It must be considered an invasive.
Green onions from seed are growing but slowly due to the lack of moisture.

Lettuce is also maturing slowly but some young leaves are ready to be cut and used in a salad.

My gardening goal for 2012:
Plant more Flowers in the garden/beds this year.

New mulch in beds

Mt. Laurel pest
1/21/2011

Birds after the Weather Changes

2011-12-05T13:17:00.001-06:00

December has started with drops of hope. Three days of near-continuous, slow, gentle rain totaling over 2.5 inches and temperatures have dropped to highs in the 40's.

Today is cool, 42º at 1:00pm. No freeze yet but do have at least two predicted for this week. There are still a few tomatoes and peppers in the garden to be picked. Lettuce and spinach have sprouted with the rains so perhaps we will have fresh greens in the coming months.

Feeder Line

Today, the doves and cardinals have found the corn and the smaller fellows are lining up for the feeder.

White-Winged Doves on a chilly Texas day

Fall Tomato Pest

2011-11-07T20:08:00.001-06:00

There were almost no tomato worms during the summer, I blamed the heat and drought.

To my surprise, I found a huge tomato worm on one of the rather pitiful fall tomato plants. He waited patiently while I went back inside for the camera and then posed very still while I took the shots. Appreciated but his mistake.

Note the dropping on the branch behind the worm.

First Freeze Warning - Fall 2011

2011-11-03T17:34:00.000-05:00

The first freeze warning of the season is predicted for tonight. It should only be a light freeze or more likely just near freezing.

Regardless, it was time to move the potted plants. The most tender came inside the house but most remained outside in a protected location on the back porch.

The back porch faces east and gets sun until early afternoon so it is the warmest place outside the house. A good thing in the winter but so not a good thing in the summer. Normally, the west side would be warmest but here the west side is shaded by large oak trees so without direct sun it is not as warm.

The pepper plants are still loaded with peppers so I picked what was ready and left the immature peppers to their fate. If they freeze, oh well, I guessed wrong.

The sweet peppers, I can deal with but there were just too many hot peppers for us. The Jalapeno peppers and New Mexico Big Jim peppers have both done very well in the heat and drought.

A quick phone call to the chef at one of the local restaurants, Rolling in Thyme & Dough, and the peppers were an ingredient in Bistro night Pepper Stew. It's refreshing to discover that the barter system can still be used Drippin'. We haven't outgrown that country practice, yet.

Too many hot peppers =
Lunch for 2 at my favorite local restaurant.

Halloween = Pumpkins

2011-10-25T21:33:00.001-05:00

Enjoying a cool morning after a walk.

On Oct 8th and 9th, 3 inches of glorious, much needed rain fell on Dripping Springs. A few days later, the rain flowers popped out in celebration of the moisture. The long range forecast, however, indicates that the drought will continue at least through the winter.

Our temperatures cooled from the brutal summer highs but we are still having frequent days in the upper 80°F. The AC was turned off for several days but has been turned back on when the daytime temperatures rose and the humidity returned.

Most of the pumpkins are harvested. When I cut the first pumpkin for cooking, I discovered that just because the pumpkin is orange, it isn't necessarily ripe. So, I adopted the practice of letting them cure/ripen on the counter in the kitchen for 7-10 days before cooking.

There is a steady supply of Pumpkin bread and I discovered a Pumpkin Gingerbread Cake recipe that is yummy. Also, I cooked and froze 4 cups of pumpkin pulp for Thanksgiving pies.

The garden struggles on with supplemental watering. I question the wisdom of using the water but so far haven't stopped.

The peppers, both sweet and hot, are still covered with fruit.

I planted green onions in the garden and cilantro in pots. Soon, I must decide whether to plant lettuce.

Just Pictures

2011-10-12T11:20:00.004-05:00

Lantana

Pumpkin

Rain flowers / Rain lilies

Another Chair DONE

2011-10-07T16:49:00.000-05:00

Finally, two years later, another chair has been refinished and caned. 2 down, 4 more to go.

Caning took 3 weeks to complete but I didn't work on it everyday. There were are number of days during the last 3 weeks spent waiting at a surgical clinic, doctor's or therapist's office due to my husband's bicycle crash. He is on the mend and looking forward to riding again.....yeah me too.

Left - Ready for caning
Center Top - Work in Progress
Center Bottom - Finished
Right - Me with Finished Chair

Hints that fall is coming

2011-09-20T17:07:00.000-05:00

Finally, summer seems to be releasing it's grip on central Texas. The temperatures have backed off the records and we even had a little rain last week. Our rain gauge measured 3/4 inch over 3 days; no drought breaking downpours but measurable rain!

Chairs Before and After

With the cooler temperatures, I have resumed the much delayed task of refinishing and caning the dining table chairs. I found the dining room set on craigslist and was delighted to discover a uniquely carved oak set with 6 chairs. We got the set home and I started the project promptly but that was two years ago and only 1 of the chairs has been refinished and caned. My excuse is that I wasn't sure the cane seat would survive use so let's call it a testing period. Seriously, I did worry that the cane would split or break but, after 2 years, the one finished chair is intact so the project can go on!

The chairs need the blackened lacquer removed first and then new lacquer applied. Furniture refinishing, while messy and smelly, is not difficult. Some patience required and acceptance that the furniture is old therefore scratches, cracks and color differences are part of the appeal.

Ready for caning

The really slow part of this process is caning the seat. Caning was completely new to me so I purchased a book The Caner's Handbook by Bruce W. Miller and Jim Widess. It provides step-by-step instructions with pictures on the different styles of caning and I recommend it to anyone who wants to undertake a caning project. All the supplies needed to cane a chair can be purchased online.

Caning this sort of chair seat is a 7 step process. The first 3 steps are easy and relatively quick. The remaining steps get progressively more difficult as the tension on the cane continues to tighten as each layer is added.

Caning Step 4

I have completed refinishing on two more chairs and started caning one seat. My goal is to have the seats caned before Thanksgiving (this Thanksgiving, 2011). I'll keep you posted.

1st pumpkin 2011

Oh, the garden?

I did keep the a garden alive through the record breaking summer and have a few pumpkins as well as both sweet and hot peppers to show for the water bill. The fall tomatoes are blooming but haven't set any fruit yet.

Hopefully this tiny pumpkin will be sufficient for a loaf of pumpkin bread.

In pursuit of good Mozzarella

2011-08-03T17:56:00.000-05:00

With fresh tomatoes from the garden and no source of really good mozzarella cheese, I decided to try my hand at making cheese.

Recipe: Compliments of Condé Nast Digital and for the story behind the recipe.
Ingredients: Required a trip to Central Market (ok, twist my arm) for rennet and citric acid. No source for buffalo milk so settled for organic cow's milk.

There are lots of recipes for Mozzarella cheese, some claiming that you can have a finished product in less than 2 hours but I chose the one that discusses failed attempts and purporting to have the answers. It was not a 2 hour process, closer to 7 hours. As I worked my way through the detailed, meticulous steps, I realized this recipe was the perfect example of "cooking for engineers"; the complete opposite of my usual style in the kitchen. What recipe calls for 1 1/8 teaspoon of anything? But cheese making is completely new to me, so with no sense of appropriate or right, the detail was helpful.

Mozzarella Draining

Aside from a good recipe, the key to the process appears to be your ability to keep milk within a 4 degree temperature range for hours on end. Not hard, just painfully demanding of your attention.

Initially the milk did not curdle to the "soft pudding" consistency. After some research, I discovered that Junket rennet, the brand available from Central Market, is not recommended for cheese making. So, based on the recipes in the Junket package, I increased the rennet to 1/2 tablet of Junket and waited another 30 minutes. The process then continued as described in the recipe. Cutting the curds, allowing them to sit undisturbed for increasingly long periods of time, straining the curds into cheesecloth and allowing to drain. The final steps of pouring hot water over small portion of curds and working with your hands appears to require precise temperature control and practice but I did get it to reach a sort of elastic state. It was not completely smooth but I deemed it passable after the hours spent on the process.

Fresh Mozzarella

After cooling and serving with fresh tomatoes, my verdict is -- way too much trouble for result. It was good, but no better than mozzarella that I can buy at the store.

I would try again if raw cows (or water buffalo) milk was available but processed milk seems to lack the fat content and flavor to produce a good mozzarella.

It was an interesting experiment. Anyone need rennet tablets? I have lots.

Blooming Sage

2011-07-03T16:12:00.002-05:00

Silverado Texas Sage

Luck did not deliver rain on July 1st or 2nd either.

It was 99° at 1:00pm in Austin today, too hot.

But the sage is blooming, bright pink clusters almost obscuring the more familiar silver foliage.
Local folklore maintains that blooming sage is a reliable rain forecast.
Let's hope that folklore is right this time rather than the old-timer who told me that the plant is also known as the "Lyin' bush".

Time will tell.

July 1 Note

2011-07-01T11:27:00.000-05:00

Ignored the garden for one day yesterday to pick peaches in Fredericksburg and came back to wilted tomato plants and a zucchini that should have been picked yesterday. There is a 30% chance of rain today, perhaps we will get lucky.....

Image for today is a swallow update. 4 chicks (is that the appropriate term for swallow hatchlings?) are keeping the parents busy.

Other sightings

2011-06-27T13:23:00.000-05:00

The barn swallows built their nest in a new location this year and the little ones have hatched.

Noisy bunch.

Mom and Dad are both pretty protective but I was able to get a few pictures before they got too close to my head on the fly-by.

Heat and Bugs and No Rain, OH MY!

2011-06-18T15:48:00.012-05:00

Heat / drought stressed garden - June 2011

What a spring 2011 has delivered! As I write this at 4PM, it is 103° and it is not even summer yet. OH MY, indeed.

With sufficient watering (don't ask about the water bill), the garden is still alive. Production has slowed but, remarkably, some of the heirloom tomatoes (Cherokee Purple and Homestead) are still blooming and setting new fruit even in 100°+ days.

Carolina anole (Anolis carolinensis)

All manner of crawling and flying pests have descended on the garden. Birds and bugs abound. Nets have been placed on the tomatoes but they still manage to peck holes in some and I pick off as many bugs as I have the patience to find. The grasshoppers, however, I have no defense for. The grasshoppers are currently still small but it's a race: the heat, drought or grasshoppers.
The anoles have not abandoned the garden and help keep the bugs down, at least the small bugs. I am not sure why this one was still brown as they do change to bright green. Could the heat slow down that mechanism, as well?

Eggplant

Things still producing at this time:

tomatoes
jalapenos
cucumbers
eggplant
squash (yellow and zucchini)
an occasional green bean

Lots of fresh salsa made here this year.
Enjoying lemon cucumbers and fresh tomatoes. Searching for another recipe for squash and eggplant.

The garden only gets my attention in the mornings before about 10AM. After that hour, the heat has driven me inside to the artificially cool house to work on such productive tasks as writing this blog.

When does fall arrive?

Sunflower