fall leftovers

Here is what's left in the garden from last fall. I must say I am proud of the spinach, which wouldn't even sprout for me last year. Abbey and I have been picking and eating it for the past few months now, and it just keeps on growing. The trick with planting spinach seeds is weather-related. Last fall I planted it the first rainy cold-front and thats what did it. Also, we have snap peas which have sprouted and are sending out their little tendrils looking for something to grab onto. The broccoli is all gone, as I harvested what was left after taking these photos.

Sorry the posts have been both brief and rare, It's just that season.

Spinach

Last of the broccoli

Snap pea sprouts

Cilantro

Texas

Proud to be Texas born 'n raised.

Bailey and Gunner

It's been a while, months in fact. Sometimes we need to be reminded of genuine curiosity.

Photolog 10/15/2009

With this post I come armed with a new camera, a Nikon D-40. The pictures are coming out much better than my hundred-dollar point-and-shoot Olympus POS, and I hope to get back to blogging more often now that the weather is cooperating with my gardening efforts. Look forward to next week's post, as we going climbing this weekend with the new camera (and the dog).

Last week I planted some pretty stressed out broccoli transplants (they were the only ones left at the garden center). I also, in anticipation of rain, planted spinach seeds last Friday. Amazingly, it rained that night and off and on for the next two days! Now I've got little spinach sprouts :).

The fall tomatoes are a disappointment once again, partly because I did not prune them. They are nine feet tall and have basically no fruit. Note to self: next fall do black-eyed peas instead of tomatoes.

The basil is out of this world though, and is enough to supply four families with year-round pesto. (Anyone interested?) I bought it in a container with four separate sprouts and just planted them as they were without spacing - a technique I will have to try again next spring. The bees love it, and I have to keep pulling off the flowers to prevent a permanent basil infestation. I'd bet the honey made from basil flowers is delicious!

Spinach sprouts! Barely bigger than an acorn.

Elephant Garlic

Broccoli transplant.

Fall tomatoes

Bailey by the Basil.

Murder in the City by The Avett Brothers

I had the pleasure of seeing these guys at Austin City Limits.

Travels with Bailey

On August 14th Bailey and I left for Hollywood Florida to pick up a Casita travel trailer for Jamye. Here are some pictures of the trailer and my trusty companion. We went to the beach early on a Sunday morning and were the only ones for miles! It was her first beach trip, and she loved it! We spent the remainder of the week making our way home with the trailer. I had fun meeting up with my aunt and cousins in Destin FL, and stayed with my grandparents in Houston for a night before finally coming home on Thursday.

Franz Ferdinand - Take me Out

A fun band I discovered on Pandora... these guys have been around for a while. The song really gets going about a minute in. I'll post an even stranger video of theirs later this week. Think Interpol and Modest Mouse with the goal to get people dancing. I especially like the music sync with the shifting boxes and the little professor guy with the pencil... Enjoy! (and expect to see more posts that have nothing to do with gardening... because it's too damn hot!)

In the heat of summer

I haven't been able to do much blogging lately, so here's an update. The only thing that's growing in our time of 100+ temps and drought is Basil and Okra. I can't wait for a rainy season! Abbey got some Okra seeds from a plant-exchange deal and I planted them in the right side of the garden about three weeks after the other Okra, that's why they are a little smaller. It will be time to plant fall tomatoes soon, but I think I am going to save the space for leafy-greens. I am also definitely going to plant Broccoli again, and I think I want to try soybeans... see y'all in a bit.

Harvest: 6/3/09

Well, I pulled up the onions and carrots because the soil temp is preventing them from getting any bigger. The onions were a bust (the largest bulb being only 2 inches across), I think I will try planting them again in the fall. The carrots turned out better than I thought though - pretty good for a spring garden in south Texas. I also picked some tomatoes and my first squash. De-lish!

Nothing is wasted! The tops of the carrots and onions are now the top layer in the compost bin :)

Elephant Garlic