First produce of the season

The benefits of watering your garden with pure natural rain.  

The radishes are looking good and tasting even better.   With a nice bite to them, they have been the perfect addition to a real "garden" salad with the butter Bibb lettuce that is still growing from the fall.

Some jalapeños and Aladdin peppers are here thanks to the bountiful rain we have been blessed with for the past week.  For cast predicts two more weeks of rain which is wonderful for the garden but even better for my watering expenses.  

Tomato plants are a good three feet high and have several green fruits on them.  Maybe in a week or two some will be ready for picking.  Can't wait to make some roasted green salsa.  

The beets from the fall are likely as big as softballs, but can't decide what to do with them.  Roast them and put them on a salad and pickle the rest.  May try eating the greens as chips or sauted.  

Transplanted mint is doing well, but the cilantro and basil are not. I think the zucchini plants and tomato plants are blocking out to much sun for them.  Will just have to wait and see.  

The mystery tree is growing rapidly. The leaves look like a maple tree.  Need to do some research soon to see if it's a tree I want to keep.  The only trees I like are ines that give me something to eat.  Speaking of trees, the peach tree has a a couple of fruits on it already.  

Picked up a fig tree thanks to a student who gave me a gift card to Natural Gardeners.  Planted it in my new butterfly garden beside the future pergola.  

I finally got the three pergola post in the ground and planted three of the five grape plants beside them.   Not sure where to put the remaining two vines.  One of the ground vines as tiny little grapes on it.  Can't wait for it to grow and cover the future pergola where we can sit, enjoy the weather and view, and share a meal with family and friends. 

On another note, just returned from a trip to Boston where a visit to Fenway Park , I got to see a rooftop garden in person.  It was pretty cool. 

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

Spring break garden chores

It's that time to get the beds ready for the spring/summer garden. I decided to move my raised beds around to get maximum usage of every bed. With the old layout, two beds got shade early and provided little growth.  The new layout will hopefully allow better usage of soaker hoses and sun exposure.  I also designed it to allow a space for a plum tree in the back.

I had to transplant my onions, cilantro, and celery.  Lucked out that it rained the day after to give them a good soaking to take root. 

The Swiss chard continues to grow like its a perennial.  I have planned several meals this week to use it and the cilantro. 

I had and wanted to transplant the grapevines (only one of five didn't make it). I think the oregano smothered it out.  I had an idea to build a pergola and plant them so that they would grow up and over it. Problem is that I don't know when I will have time to build it.  I also want and need to make some cuttings to root some more vines.  

The biggest achievement was finally getting the old cedar trunks out.  I even got rid of them on Craigslist within two hours of posting it.  I moved the old grape trellis to the side and plan on using it to train future cucumbers and cantaloupe vines.  

I spread out some oregano to grow in different places and built a little butterfly garden to help with pollination and insect control. 

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

Yummy celery grown from grocery store left overs

So I've seen on Pinterest suggestions of veggies you can grow in your garden using leftovers from your grocery store veggies.  I tried celery and after about two months here is what I have.

Tried it today and it is so much better than store bought.  I have never liked raw celery but this away delicious.  Not fiberous at all.  Spread some peanut butter on it and it was the perfect healthy snack.  

Future experiments may be garlic and ginger. 

Get dirty and keep on gardening.  

A bunch of sweet and jalapeño peppers

Sweet peppers are looking good.  Thinking about making some chili rellenos with them.  Most of the seeds I planted a few weeks ago have sprouted.  The tomato transplants however did not take as I had hoped. Got some good rain this weekend that helped out a lot.  City water is ok but old fashion rain is the best.

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

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!