Too pretty to eat and other thoughts/plans

One thing that they don't warn new gardeners about in any of the books at least the ones I read is the internal struggle regarding the harvest because as the
 "Man" recently said about the salad greens is that they are almost too pretty to eat and at times I feel that it all looks too good to harvest. 



There are flowers on one of the pea plants which you can't really make out in these pictures. For some reason the camera didn't want to focus on the peas flowers. 

I think in my next garden planting after all these greens

are eaten and their season is over. I will be planting 3 times as many mustard greens, kale, collards, salad greens, swiss chard, and spinach. I see now were I went amiss in variety. We eat whole meals of greens especially those and so far the greens harvest has only been enough for a side dish or more like a seasoning even though the baskets seem full.

 I think I will also be applying this lesson to future fruit trees. I planted edible flowers, but now I wish I had less nasturtium, sweet alssyum, and other randoms and more things I actually eat a lot of which makes me

think I am cutting down my fruit tree list to only things I am sure the man and I will want to eat and are the easiest to grow like asian pear trees, plum trees, fig trees, and grape vines any other fruit will be done in severe moderation since he and I don't really seem to like to eat a lot of fruit. I'm still taken with the idea of planting pineapple kiwi, but it seems like a lot of work so that may be an even farther in the future endeavor. I would also eventually like to get into citrus or some really exotic fruit trees, but yet again that will also have to wait especially considering how much my mind has changed with new experiences and information and these trees and vines apparently take more work than at this moment I think I am capable up especially with all the moaning I do about watering my ollas and I only do that every other or every third day.

The Manperson made this taco salad eventually with his salad greens. He added soyrizo on top for a hearty vegetarian meal. I almost ate the salad greens for him since he was rationing out theones I saved for him.  Taking out the container everyday and munching on just a few of the salad greens.

Here is my less ornate salad, but still very tasty. Salad greens fresh from the garden do taste better. I also added some fresh mustard green to my salad to give it a bite.

The other issue that comes up is that when the crop is small it seems like too much trouble to bring it in and the temptation to eat it right there is overwhelming. I had three sugar snap peas today. I would have taken a picture but I ate them too quickly. Whoops, my bad. It was a small crop (all of three) and they were kind of small, but very round and not as tasty as I expected, thought the pride of eating something I've grown still makes up for any taste deficiencies. I'm regretting not getting the pea inoculant now. Next year I will go ahead and inoculate. Granted, there could also be something I didn't do. I think it is time to research peas because the plants are also kind of sad right now unlike my brassicas and salad greens.

Lately, my other concern has been the amount of money I have spent and want to spend on the garden. Sadly, money doesn't also grow on trees and I have no plans to sell future harvest. I want my garden to eventually be sustainable and self-sufficient, but bigs plans and ideas are great and all to help push one to do more, but one also has to be realistic and pragmatic about what one can truly handle and accomplish at any given moment in time/life (I'm hoping that is the dregs of the cold I still can't seem to shake or the rain talking, because I know that somewhere inside is the little devil that wants to dream big and accomplish much).

Trying to Solve Some Mysteries

I'm trying to figure out what this vine is with the pointy leaves. When I originally saw it I thought just my luck poison ivy to go with the poison oak, but it is too delicate and pretty to be poison ivy. I did my white paper test on it. Urushiol oil (the stuff that makes humans itch) turns black on white printer paper within an hour or so off rubbing a leave on it. I tested our poison oak and yep it turned black pretty quickly. The stuff below stayed green 24 hours. I described the vine to the natural gardener people and they said it could possibly be peppervine or a type of clematis. I'm thinking peppervine, though I can't find a picture of peppervine that looks quite like this. I did read that peppervine is often mistaken for poison ivy/oak. It's mature berries turn dark bluish-black though they start out green then turn white then red. So as soon as this vine berries baby I will have better idea of what it actually is. It is surrounded by carolina snailseed (the vine with the little red berries).

Check out how different the poison oak looks even small on the right side of the picture versus the tiny vine that I mistook for poison ivy that is growing right under the fence and along it. On the lower left is snapdragon vine. Poison oak and poison ivy look pretty similar, have hardy looking leaves that bruise easily the better to cover you in itch causing sap and change colors with the seasons. They can turn red or yellow in early fall while other plants are still green. The ones in the picture below was a darker green and is fading out, other leaflets of poison oak in the yard have a red tinge right now. The more pictures I see of poison ivy and oak and the more I come across it in nature. I can see why people who are not allergic have actually taken cuttings and planted it in their yards. It only causes contact dermatitis symptoms in humans. Birds (especially catbirds, grosbeak, and robins) eat the berries especially when their is not much else to eat during fall migration to southern Mexico. Poison Ivy has white berries. Poison Oak has yellow berries. They lose their leaves in the fall. And after all the reading tonight, I'm pretty confident that I only have poison oak in one corner of the yard and not all along the back fence.
I showed picture to my chiropractor and she thinks these plants may be cabbages which would explain why the cabbage caterpillars love them. It makes sense. I had narrowed it down to cabbage or cauliflower, but I have a cauliflower transplant and it looks a lot like the broccoli transplant, but smaller.

the word is out...

The bug's must be gossiping.  I'm seeing more and more different bugs in my garden. I haven't been able to catch any of the beneficials on camera. I saw a ladybug today hanging out on one of the desert willows. I'm seeing more and more butterflies. Just the plan ol' white ones. Lots of bees both big and small who seem to like flying in patterns in front of me. I can't decide if they are saying thank you, get away this is mine, or what are you doing here big human. Every once in a while I will even see a dragonfly. I now also seeing spiders. I'm pretty excited now that every time I dig into the earth in the yard I see an earthworm. I didn't see any before I started really mucking about in the backyard which says I have been doing a good job improving the soil.

I'm also seeing more flies and gnats. Snails both big and small. Caterpillars, or just the caterpillar marks on the leaves or eaten leaves, and lots and lots of what I think are caterpillar eggs. I'm also seeing a lot of mystery bugs. I'm not sure I want to know what they are beyond part of my backyard ecosystem. Here are some pictures to peruse.

Magical Mushroom Garden Tour

As a result of the rain, I have mushrooms popping up all over the place in my backyard. They look so magical...

ARG! Mosquitos & Lethargy.

I guess gardening has been so all consuming that I thought because I haven't been really absorbed in it the last few days that I must be over my gardening habit. I actually haven't felt like being outside at all the last few days and have been sleepy and tired. I thought it was the mosquitoes or finally being tired of gardening, but I started sneezing today, add in the lethargy, feeling down, sore throat, runny nose and headache, and it turns out I'm actually sick, not tired about gardening.

I was out trying to get some more done on our drainage trench on Tuesday but the mosquitoes with all rain we have been getting are out of control. In the hour I was outside the other day, I got 20 bites on my arms most of them up and down my left arm and that was with me killing mosquitoes left and right. I didn't bother counting the ones that somehow got through my jeans and clothes. I was getting bit before but not more than 5 to 10 bites on mostly exposed areas. I've seen bigger mosquitoes, but have never been bit like this before. The "man" doesn't seem to get bit at all. I guess I am just super tasty. I think I let it get me discourage, but now I realize that the tired and down feeling must be a result of my immune system hard at work fighting off germs. 

Some extra sleep today and lots of sick type food stuffs and herb tea and suddenly I'm sad I can't be outside gardening and am feeling more positive again, but I'm also in a quandary. I have a lot of half finished projects that just require time and natural materials like leaves. I was able to get some leaves from one of my neighbors on Saturday. He was somewhat bemused I think when I came over and asked if I could have his leaves for my compost pile. I got three 32 gallon trash cans full and they were not even all that noticeable once I stuck them in my piles that I'm hoping to plant on top of one of these days mound garden style.

I hate waiting, but nature can not be rushed. I'm also contemplating what I want for my garden. I've now planted some perennial ornamentals (mostly Texas natives) and though I really like them I'm contemplating if I really want to fill the rest of the back yard besides the future high density orchard with them or if I want to make a go of a forest garden (edible type landscaping) for along the fence and my other open areas. I started contemplating this when I realized I was no longer interested in planting a pride of barbadoes in the backyard when it was on my list of must-haves because I thought it was so pretty, but now I'm thinking it really doesn't fit what I have already nor where I think I am heading.

I'm really fascinated by the idea of edible landscaping and the almost counter-culture nature of it. I was watching some permaculture and forest gardening videos on youtube at some point and one of them pointed out how food gardening is not only good for one, but also a way of protesting our current national food policies. I'm definitely not a fan of frankenfood, genetically modified food, or large food conglomerates that care more about their bottom line.

Mostly though I am interested in forest gardening since it mimics the forest and is self-sustaining, but uses edibles. Less work and food to boot, though maybe more work in the beginning (not such a bad thing since I am highly motivated right now or will be after I totally beat whatever I've caught and may not be later). 

I remember there was a time I didn't understand why anyone would want to plant a flower garden when they could plant a food garden, but I wasn't willing to put in the work for either. Then I started really enjoying flowers. I also started painting flowers. I enjoyed their beauty and the worth of being surrounded by beautiful things. 

Now I'm thinking long-term sustainability and how my garden can also be not only self-sustaining, attractive to butterflies and birds and other wildlife, but also how it can sustain my family long-term and not just with exposure to nature and beauty, but with actually feeding us too through-out the years. I really enjoy harvesting food that I have grown so much so that I'm back to wanting to add a few more raised beds to grow even more vegetables. I'm also rethinking my diagram of ornamental perennials that I was planning to put along the back fence and wondering how I can plant edible landscaping which can cover wildlife habit and human food.

I think I am starting to feel better since the ideas and plans and gardening excitement are peaking through the lethargy again...

Mysteries abound among the new plants...

This is one of the new sections that I've planted. I bought so many plants that I couldn't remember what they were once I got home. Whoops. I need to either never buy that many plants at once or learn to write things down. On the other hand, the surprise once these start flowering will be fun. I will also learn a lot by trying to figure out what these plants are, just once step closer to being able to id them anywhere is watching them grow in my own garden and having to figure out what they are...

I know for sure that on the left side of the bed from back to front is Russian Sage (perovskia atriplicifolia), Golden Thryallis (glaphimia glauca), Burgundy Sage (?). I will probably have to prune, divide or move them at some point since all three of these get larger than the spot available eventually. At the bottom right is Common Bluebeard (caryopteris incana) which seems to be the happiest of all the plants I bought recently. The two other plants are once I don't remember anymore, though I think one of them maybe mexican bush sage.

I also planted another section near the retaining wall in the back, but I can't seem to get a good picture of it, yet. It has esperanza/yellow bells (tecoma stans var. angustata), rock rose, indigo spires sage, pigeon berry, piquin pepper, what I think is a pentsemon (not sure what kind), bicolor sage, mexican marigold, american beautyberry, and another sage possibly.

I have planted future mysteries to solve, if all of it survives to flower. I've been told repeatedly that new plants need to be watered regularly when they becoming established. So far, I've only lost the one plant I bought which I didn't like all that much anyway and my watering habits have been abysmal. I might have watered the first week of some of them 2/3 days out of the week maybe. Luckily, this new batch of plants has the rain. Yep, my garden definitely has a darwinian bent survival of the fittest and mysteries abound. Eventually, I will also witness a space war. Who knows which species will win or will they all live together in colorful harmony?

Routines

Everyday after work, one of the first things I do sometimes even before I go into the house is visit with my garden and check out how my veggies are growing. I didn't get to do that today because I was busy after work and didn't get home until after dark. As much as I enjoyed my evening, I had a moment of sadness that it was too dark (the street light is already out so I didn't even get a dim view) to get a really good look at my garden today to see how my plants are doing. I did go around and take some pictures though. It just isn't the same as getting a good look at them in the full light of day...My grasses look like they are about to be consumed by horse herb. I'm starting to wonder if I should excavate the area around them.

My salad greens and spinach are getting bigger. Most of my snow peas and sugar snap peas are connected to the chicken wire in the 4 x 4 bed. 

The broccoli now looks like it is trying to escape the 4x8 bed. I have all kinds of greens that have popped up. Not really sure at this point what they are though I am thinking of pulling out the seed packets to help with identification. The kale and mustard greens aren't as big because I have been cutting the large leaves and eating them. They were good eatin', but I'm kind of sad that they are so small now. I guess I will just have to deal with how things look after harvest time so that my tummy can enjoy the fruits of my labor.

Book Report: Gardening Success with Difficult Soils

I just bought this book at Half-Price by Scott Ogden which is basically about my calcareous, alkaline soil. I feel lucky I was sitting in a chair and this was exactly eye level (a trick the grocery stores use to make you purchase things). I adore it when a book basically says what I am doing it right, but also adds new information. This book was in the general gardening section and though it says it is for various places it might as well say central Texas in the title, since it mentions Texas a lot. Even though this book does list the evil ligustrum as a possible plant, it also lists many of my other plants as well that I like and have already planted which are not invasive. 

Besides I'm starting to have a new view of invasives which is that if you prune them well they are not that much of a problem. Luckily, I like to prune stuff, it is one of my favorite gardening activities.

I've been contemplating fruit trees in the back of my mind lately. I've been in a quandary regarding ornamentals versus edibles in my landscaping. Edibles seem to take so much extra care and I know myself well enough to know I'm not sure I feel like it. Though, I am coming to understand that it depends on how much one cares about having a big harvest. I like variety and am just happy when something doesn't die. Well, in this new book there is a list of fruit trees that do well in my soil without a lot of extra amendment and work beyond pruning.  I also found this nursery online that talks about high density planting. I can plant up to 12 trees and 3 espaliered trees in the space I was considering for fruit trees using this method. I just need to plant them all at the same time and prune them a lot the first 3 years. I will also if I do this well be able to keep them below 12 feet in height for manageability.

My list from the book: 

Methley & Santa Rosa Plum  

Celeste, Alma, Brown Turkey, Texas Everbearing, White Everbearing Fig

Fuyu Persimmons

Jujube

Pomegranate

Guava

Ayers, Leconte, Shiseki, Hosui, Monterray, and if possible a Korean Pear variety

I also considering other fruit mentioned in the book now like

Rosborough, Navaho, Black Satin Blackberies

Austin Dewberries

Verdelet, Roucaneuf  Grapes

Triumph, Welder, Carlos, Magnolia Muscadines 

The book is from 1992. I need to check for a more recent edition. Maybe it would mention kiwi which I am considering, but can't figure out where to put nor how to build something strong enough for it to grow on. I want pineapple kiwi which is a hardy variety (means you can eat the skin 'cause it has no hair). There also seems to be every growing amount of new plants that have been adapted to central Texas or have cachet now that people are moving toward native plants in the last few years. Still this is a fabulous resource. Hopefully, I will eventually purchase all the books on my like list, but right now I'm mostly checking stuff out from my local library.

More Garden Greens to Eat.

I harvested some more greens today and added them to my  Spicy Chicken Soup. I sauteed 2 fresh diced tomatillos, 2 diced yellow summer squash from the farmers market, 1 diced green pepper from the farmers market,

 and 1/2 a white onion diced in olive oil until the onion was translucent. Then added 2 garlic cloves diced, leftover Roast Chicken & drippings (Chicken was roasted for 2 hours at 325, plain), and 1 can of muir glenn organic roasted tomatoes and green chilies. I put two cans of water in with added benefit of rinsing out the muir glenn can for recycling. Then put in a dash of tumuric, oregano, cayenne, and salt. Brought it all to a boil then put in my garlic chives, sprig of rosemary, swiss chard, kale, mustard greens all chopped and from the garden. I ladeled it out over a little brown rice. Hmm, happy soup for my slighlty sore throat and stuffy head probably from gardening in the rain to be cured with garden produce. Sweet.

Mexican Heather and Woolly Croton-mystery weeds

This top photo with the purple flowers is actually Mexican Heather (Cuphea Hyssopifolia). I saw it yesterday at Lowe's for sale. It is a false heather. Not that I know what that means, different family maybe? It is a small tropical evergreen that usually occurs in zones 9-11. Apparently, it freezes back in the winter. It self-sows, so maybe I will get more popping up in other places in the yard. I could also potentially collect seeds and strategically put them places, probably not, since that would require way too much effort. Isn't it funny what things seem to require tons of effort (like watering for instance) and what other other activities don't seem to be all that hard (like building compost bins, digging holes for new plants in the dark in a rainstorm...)

Woolly Croton (Croton Capitatus)
unlike most spurge does not have milky sap. It apparently is also a good food for doves, turkey, and quail. I've been semi-considering raising quail one day. It is also a good caterpillar food source for leafwing and starred skipper butterflies which means a good distraction for the caterpillars so they are not eating my veggies. I think all this is enough for me to say I'm not going to bother pulling it up anymore. 

One of the mystery weeds was actually also woolly croton if it is allowed to finish growing. All the ones I have been taking pictures of are apparently adolescence. Just goes to show how different plants can look at different stages. I should know this by now considering the alligator juniper looks totally different as a grown-up. The chinaberry is also a super pretty toddler and looks totally different all grown-up.

more weeds & other unidentified plants in my garden

These are still unidentified weeds (I'm calling them weeds 'cause I don't know what they are nor did I plant them). I like the one with the purple flowers. The other has no flowers at this point and is almost indistinguishable from the horseherb. I can definitely see why horseherb is considered a good revegetater for disturb areas. Weeds that I kind of wish I had are dandelion which I like to eat and burdock, though I'm not sure I would be willing to eat them if they showed up voluntarily. Granted, I did eat a wood sorrel leaf and it was tasty.

Purple Nut Sedge

To differentiate from grass, check to see if it has edges. The main stalk is triangular in shape. This is apparently some kind of invasive from Africa/Asia. It likes sun and moist soil. It is only along the right side of the back yard. Interestingly, right in line with the main poison oak mass in the backyard. I also think it is kind of pretty though many gardeners seem to regard it as scourge. 

Apparently, yellow nut sedge which is very similar has a sweet nutty taste. Purple nut sedge is suppose to be pretty bitter, but I guess edible for all that. I haven't tried it and I don't think I will even though I like bitter greens. I'm not sure where I read that nut sedge was edible. I've been through so many weed books and websites I'm not even sure I could find the reference again.

SPURGE

These pictures are two different kinds of spurge with a little horseherb thrown in. Spurge apparently was tried as a purgative at one time with deadly results. The milky white juice that comes out of it can cause contact dermatitis. There are many, many varieties of spurge as you can see these two look quite different. I'm not sure where I read it, but spurge apparently can also be used to

 remove warts, though I am not sure I would be willing to test that. Spurge has no other benefits, though I admit I kind of like the way it looks. I only have a little bit here and there it doesn't compete all that well with the horse herb.

POISON OAK

This is part of the mass of poison oak we cut down. I thought we had pretty much eradicated the poison oak, but the rains have made new little ones spring up all along the fence line. The main one is still dead at least, though there is a smaller one sprouting up near it. I'm still trying to figure out how to deal with it. Apparently poison ivy and oak are part of the cashew family which also includes yummy mangoes. You can develop an allergy to mangoes by handling a lot of poison ivy/oak or so I read. Not sure I believe it.

These two other pictures are poison oak in the spring and winter. The main root which I cut through was the size of a tree limb. It was harder to cut through than the piece of fence I cut off to get to it.

The poison oak was actually pretty in the spring, but ominous in winter. I pretty sure the 'Man' and I are not allergic or we would have had some kind of reaction by now, though we both took multiple precautions once we knew what it was.

Pondering

As you can see in this picture I've mostly taken out the last ligustrum tree that is situated in the backyard. The horseherb that the rain has made sprout in great profusion has really greened the yard. There are still many things to do in the yard, but not many of them all that fun. I'm contemplating what next fun project I can start on. I'm leery of planting next to the fence because it needs to be replaced and I don't know how that will disturb the ground and my plantings, though I did work up a potential planting diagram of what I wanted along the fence. I don't want to mess with anyplace near the patio because we will be taking it out too which gives me 3 to 4 definite beds that I can possible work on next all in the center of the yard. 

 There has been a black cat who has been hanging out in our yard. I saw it looking over the fence today. It was about to climb over. It saw me and dropped back. The next time I went out it was hightailing it out the gate. The other day it was lying in the grass under the have gone ligusturm waving it's tail in charge of all it surveyed until I got too close and it decided to hope the fence.  Wonder if I should start feeding it. I like it's lean black lines. Hopefully at some point I can get a picture of our yard cat.