Jalapeño, sweet pepper, and basil jam

Today I attempted my very first preserving and canning.  Made five 8oz jars of yummy jam.   Wasn't that hard and so far all the lids are correct. Can't wait to spread a little on some crumpets that I recently discovered at the local HEB.  A coworker of mine from England used to have her relatives bring me a pack every Christmas because you just couldn't find them anywhere around here.  Was excited to gin them and they taste just as good.

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

Getting the fall garden ready

So after a couple of days a good rain, today was a good day to get the beds ready and plant some seeds.  I removed what was left of the cantaloupe vines and tomatoes and planted some seeds. I also took some cuttings from the cherry tomato plants and transplanted those into different beds.  While transplanting some the cherry tomatoes I found this little green fella, first one I have ever seen.   

Hopefully he is taking care of these little things. 

For this year's fall garden I planted cantaloupe, carrots, watermelon, beets, broccoli, cilantro, brussels sprouts, and kale.  Plants that are continuing to grow from the summer are tomatoes, jalapenos, eggplant, sweet peppers, and celery that I took from the kitchen and planted.  The Swiss chard which was completely eaten by bugs, a couple of weeks ago, I just cut everything off and after the days of rain, new leaves have started to grow.

The herbs are doing pretty good still, after the rain the basil has sprouted back, the mint has come back and it looks like new basil has started popping up in A few new places.

Can't remember if I posted this in my last post but some onions that I planted four years ago in one of my old beds are still growing. I transplanted them to some new beds and they are still looking good. We cut off the tops and eat fresh scallions.

About a month ago I planted some tomatillos and forgot about it. Plants that were popping up where I planted them. I. thought they were weeds and so I ripped them out but it looks like that's what a tomatillo plant looks like.  So I'm gonna leave them in this time.

I decided to make some markers for my plants because I always forgot what I planted and the old markers I used had either faded or they broke so this time I took a paint pen and wrote on some rocks I had in the backyard. 

I am still thinking about transplanting my grapevines but my neighbor keeps telling me not to. He tells me I should make some cuttings and then plant those into my new spots. I just don't like how my trellis project looks and I want to build a new one. I want to take the the cross support beams that I used for my grapes and move them to the side of my bed and use it as a wall for my cucumbers and watermelons to climb up. The only problem would be that after a while the plants would block out the morning sun from the rest of the garden. 

Some other good news that happened to me this week, a friend of mine called me up because he got a garden plot at community garden in downtown Austin and wants me to help him out getting it started. It made me feel good to know that my gardening experience is getting recognized.  

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

Prepping for the fall

So with fall weather approaching, it's about time to get things ready for my fall garden.  I trimmed my tomato plants and with their trunks a good inch and a half thick, I pulled them out I the ground and transplanted them in a different location.  Three I them went in the ground where an old raised bed was.  I dug trenches and buried them sideways.  The Roma plants, I transplanted in my front yard to test the soil and amount of sun.  Ideally I would love to make some beds for the front yard or even plant fruit trees or more grape vines.

I also removed all but about two cantaloupe vines.  The ones left still have some melons on them. 

The compost in the barrel was golden ripe which prompted me to turn the stationary compost heaps. The center was like chocolate cake but the sides still needed some more time. Hopefully it will be ready by spring. 

Since the weather usually doesn't start dropping until late October to even mid November,  I think I still have about two more weeks to get my seeds into the ground.

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

End of summer harvesting

I have pulled the third cantaloupe and so far the first two were good.  I have got three more still growing on the vines that I hope to enjoy in a week or two.

The aphids are terrible and my DIY garlic pepper spray just isn't working and they are devouring all of my large red tomatoes.  I went ahead and pulled most of all the remaining green tomatoes, which I plan on roasting on the grill and making salsa and/or some fried green tomatoes.

The eggplant plant only produced one decent size vegetable.  Will have to check out some paleo recipes to use this one. 

I need to start planting seeds for the fall right about now but never do because the summer crops usually keep producing till mid to late September.  However, looking today, many of the plants are already showing signs of dying.  I hope to get out later this week to clean out the beds, add some good compost, and plant some seeds.  School starts back up next week so this week is my last chance. 

Ideas fall garden:  

Brussels sprouts, pumpkins, kale, broccoli, sweet corn, bell peppers, cucumbers, carrots, watermelon, beats, and tomato transplants

I recently read that tomato transplants might do well in central Texas in the Fall. So I am going to experiment.  It will be more of an experiment with transplanting cuttings since I haven't done it that much.  Will also need to do it later on with my grape vines.  

Speaking of grapes,  I didn't bury the timbers in deep enough and the cantaloupe vines have started making them lean.   I tied some runner strings to the top of the timbers for the grapes to grow up but it's not fairing out like I had imagined. I have been considering spending some money to make a really nice arbor walkway on the back of my house, move the grapevines, so they will grow and provide a covered shade porch.  Having the grapes in the back of the garden, they are getting crowded out and don't get enough sunlight.  I have also been thinking about doing something in the front yard as well.  Not sure yet though. 

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

Best cantaloupe ever

First melon that I have successfully grown!  And it taste amazing.  

I have a few more on the vines so if I am lucky it's going to be a good few weeks. 

Get dirty and keep on gardening!