Seeing Green on St. Patrick's Day

Finally the drizzle has stopped and the sun is shining.   So far this season I have yet to purchase any plants for my garden.  One of Jennie's friends is a retired teacher and now has a farm in east Austin. At Jennie's last Bunco meet-up, she called and asked if I would like some tomato plants. Of course I said sure any plant that's free is a good plant. Jennie came home with 14 tomato plants of different varieties.

Here is what she brought home:

Blond Koph Chen cherry

Cherokee Purple 

Kellogg's Breakfast 

Dr. Wyche's

Yoder's German

Blue cream cherry

Solar flair 

Hillbilly Potato leaf

German Pink

Creole Original 

and two other varieties that I lost the tags for.   

I put three plants per bed, mixed in to the already abundant cilantro plants growing. I planted 7 of the 19 acorn squash plants that I started from produce bought at HEB.   

The Brussels sprouts are coming up nicely and a few watermelon seedlings have sprouted as well.  Just need a place to put them now. 

One place is the bed I moved next to my patio.  I just need some dirt for it as well as the two keyhole garden beds I built this week for my front yard.   

The idea behind keyhole gardening is to use less water. You build a tall structure with layers of sticks, cardboard, newspaper, leaves, grass clippings, and anything else that will hold water, and then top off the top with 6" of good soil.  In the center you create a place to put in compost and containing leftovers from kitchen scraps and leaves and other grass clippings.  When watering your beds all you do is water the center compost area. When watering, water only the center compost pile so the nutrients from the compost will travel out to your plants surrounding it, giving all your plants what they need.  I used the corrugated tin and cedar 4x4s, to make them appealing and long lasting.   I had some leftover tin so I made a small planter box for under the window.  

I just need to fill them with soil and cap the perimeter of the tops to hid the edges of the sharp tin. 

For what to put into the small window box, I have noticed that the Asian lily that my mother gave me years ago is a pretty hardy plant.  I don't water it at all and it keeps coming back year after year.  So my last trip to Lowe's, I found several on their clearance racks, so I bought 3 different color varieties and a few other perennial   flowers to plant together.  I am not much of a flower gardener, but recently I have noticed several bees and butterflies around my house.  I dream of one day getting fresh honey from my backyard.  One project at a time.  

I'm a little worried about the trees I bought last fall for clearance at HEB.  Out of seven trees, I'm for sure one didn't make it (apple), but the others are really taking their time sprouting new growth. 

I've spent a fair amount of time dividing transplanting my lilies and cannas to new spots around the homestead to test the amount of sun exposure in areas.  

The only money I have spent this season for my garden has been the materials for the front yard keyhole garden beds and a bag of potting mix to start my seeds from grocery store produce.  I am attempting and doing my best to minimize the dollar amount spent on my garden and trying to see how far I can go with what I already have or what I can find for free to reuse or repurpose.

I've been motivated by the recent viewing of a documentary called "The Minimalists" (currently available on Netflix) and rereading a great book called "Serve God, Save the Planet: A Christian Call to Action" by ER medical doctor turned author, Dr. J. Matthew Sleeth.

Well, until next time...

Go garden and Get Dirty!

New month= new experiments

So the kombucha is still going strong in my house.   I drink it every day.   So after talking with my brother a few weeks ago, he shared with me that he tried some coffee kombucha and really loved it. The idea that had come to my mind about a month earlier but since I'm not a coffee drinker her I wasn't sure how to proceed or how I would even know if it was good or not. I decided to give it a try and used just some medium roast coffee from the local grocery store.  My wife texted me this morning saying that it was good!   

Other flavors this time are grapefruit kombucha and a jalopeno kombucha. I wanted to do a pepper flavor every since my wife and I enjoyed a ghost pepper ipa at a brewery in Tyler, Tx.  If you're every in the area, stop by True Vine brewery for a pint.  They always have about 5-7 taps with a variety of choices.  Both the grapefruit and the jalopeno turned out great. 

As you can tell, the jalopeno is almost gone and the coffee is not far behind.  

As far as my gardening for this season, I've been saving seeds from produce bought at the store (organic produce) and planted them about two weeks ago. So far I've got seedlings of acorn squash, butternut squash, watermelon, and bell pepper. From seed packets I've got Brussels sprouts.  The jalopenos and artichokes still haven't sprouted yet.  

I transplanted the fig tree further away from the house and divided my cannas and lilies to other parts of the yard.  

We've been enjoying the wild rogue cilantro that has taken over the beds in the backyard.   Pesto, salsa, and any other meal has enjoyed the added flavor of cilantro in it.  

This spring break my goal is to construct nice beds (keyhole design idea) in the front yard, using corrugated tin and cedar posts.

Until next time...

Go Garden and Get Dirty!