November 25, 2013
Bishop
Composting, Gardening, jam and jelly, Strawberry, Vegetables
asparagus, carrots, compost, cucumbers, gardening, peppers, strawberries, sweet potatoes, worm poop
I haven’t written much lately about the backyard garden but it has been slowly morphing into a winter garden. I harvested the last cucumbers two weeks ago because I knew that the Houston winter temperatures were coming. On the vines were a few edible and nearly a dozen immature cukes that became worm food. The sweet potato vines finally showed their dislike for anything below 50 degrees F. They weren’t grown for tubers this year, but they did provide great ground cover. I found a couple of nice sized tubers and a bunch that were restricted by the heavy soil to elongated sausage looking things. The dying tomatoes were pulled up along with the Poblano pepper plants.
I left the Serrano peppers in as the plant is still setting fruit. I made a batch of Serrano Pepper jelly last week and may make another batch soon. This week I also made a couple of pints of lemon curd from my Meyer Lemon tree. What an amazingly rich treat – 4 very big lemons, 2 cups of lemon juice, at least 2/3 cup of zest, 12 egg yolks, two sticks of butter and two cups of sugar… I am afraid to calculate the calories per teaspoon! I will send a jar to my granddaughter – she loves it!
Over the past two weeks I pulled about 2 large wheel barrow loads of compost out of my bins to amend the beds. I fed a bunch to the asparagus bed hoping to get it producing better during this next spring. I added a bunch to a section of the beds that I have designated as the carrot patch. That same bed is also home to my sugar snap peas – hopefully this planting of peas will be the one that produces. I tried on two previous efforts to get them to sprout and the cool weather never showed up. They don’t like warm weather! I hope I didn’t miss the weather window!
Some of my strawberry plants are confused. Weeks ago I had a number of them blossom and I plucked the blossoms off. After traveling and working for a few weeks out of town, I ignored them. I now have green strawberries – about 3 plus months too early! My 100 new strawberry plants planted in early October have settled nicely into their new home and will hopefully bring me a couple of good years of harvesting pleasure.
I have four pineapple plants started from tops nearly two years ago. They are now beginning to leaf out vigorously and who knows, this may be the year. A little research says it takes 2 years and maybe more if it is cold, in order to flower. The leaves look like they are becoming mature so this could be the lucky year. I put another top in the ground a week ago to add to my collection. According to the research the buggers will start spreading on their own. May wind up with 30 or 40 before long.
My little buddy Caleb and his now walking little brother Levi, stopped by for a visit a few days ago. Caleb is ALL boy….gotta keep an eye on him. Levi loves to munch on cucumbers off the vine and the cherry tomatoes, not so much for Caleb. They both enjoy the strawberries when they are in season. I hope to have them back this week to help plant my beets and turnips. I was in the process of harvesting the worm poop and adding another bin to the top of my worm composting bins during their visit. Being boys….they both loved touching and playing with the little wrigglers! Mom wasn’t as enthused or amused as the boys were! I sent them home with a couple of long stemmed roses for their mother……she left smiling!
The new carrot patch….waiting for the emerging tops.
The old sweet potato bed – cleaned out and what next ????
Pineapples – hopefully this year they will fruit.
Those danged, confused strawberries.
Strawberry towers planted with about 75 of the 100 new plants.
TTFN
Bishop
November 17, 2013
Bishop
Composting, Gardening, Vermicoposting
compost, worms
My silent workers toiling away in the darkness of the worm bin have been overjoyed of late! My daughter Ashleigh asked me “ Dad, how do you know that they are overjoyed?”
“It’s simple, they wiggle more!”, was my knowing response.
There is a little more to it than that. The red composting worms I use, (Eisenia fetida or Eisenia andrei), are surface or near surface feeders. For most of the summer, up until two weeks ago, they weren’t wiggling much at all. In fact they either stayed buried deeply in the bins or, possibly succumbed to the brutal heat. During the weather change I took some groceries out to the little guys. Not much sign of activity. I was afraid that this long hot summer had been too much for them. I spread the meal out, put the lid on and hoped for the best.
Two days later I took another bowl if groceries out and on the surface, especially on the strawberry trimmings, it was swirling with red wrigglers.
Yes they were overjoyed!
A bowl of yummy worm food
My overjoyed workers wiggling, waving and eating!
TTFN
Bishop
July 28, 2013
Bishop
berrries, Berry Preserves, Canning, Composting, Gardening, Healthy Lifestyle, jam and jelly, mulching, Strawberry
blackberries, compost, compost bin, dewberries, grass clippings., strawberries
This growing season saw a bumper crop of strawberries. The result was lots of fresh berries for snacking and tons for jam making, lots of jam! The blackberries were starting to look really good toward the end of May. I had high hopes for a good blackberry harvest based on the number of blossoms and the large size of the developing berries – and JAM!.
The blackberry harvest started out strong. When I was home more berries made the freezer bag than we used for fresh eating. During my out of town work assignments the ratio was reversed. I still thought I had a chance to load up the freezer but the local birds discovered my luscious, juicy and organically grown berries. I would see dozens of berries that needed another day to finish ripening only to discover them gone, missing – nowhere to be found the next day. Evidence of birds sitting trellis wire was abundant. I guess next year I will have to invest in some netting.
Friday this past week I needed to clear some freezer space for my wife. I had partial freezer bags of blackberries, strawberries and some wild dewberries. I spent an hour and a half scratching the living daylights out of my arms and legs as I braved the thorny dewberry patches only to be rewarded with less than ½ gallon of berries! They have great taste but they are, oh so small. I decided to make a mixed batch of berry jam! Problem solved, room in the freezer and a 9 + jars and jam! I say 9+ because I fill a jar of the foam skimmings’ and the bottom of the pot for my wife. She makes an interesting oatmeal frittata with egg whites and tops it with the lower grade jam. Still tastes great but doesn’t look as nice in the jars.
Garden chores out of the way for today consisted of removing 5 tomato plants that gave their all against this brutal summer that Houston has been suffering through. I replaced them with some grafted varieties and hope to get them well established during the tail end of summer. I hope to have tomatoes through Thanksgiving again this year!
My son and his friend kept the garden well watered including all of those pesky weeds. I should have provided some more detailed instructions on weeding while watering – an alliterative activity that aids the garden. That said….I have been pulling weeds like crazy! They have made a nice layer in the compost bin. I added about 6 inches of leaf mulch and 10-12 inches of grass clippings on top of them. The pile should really heat up now!
I pulled the leaf mulch out of my second bin. I am nearing the bottom of that bin and found some nice finished compost. I spread about 8 – 5 gallon bucket loads of the compost into the bed holding most of the tomatoes and cucumbers. Today being a three t-shirt day in Houston I will postpone spreading the remaining compost for another day…..none of the upcoming days look to promising in the next week so I guess I will just have to suck it up through a few more days and shirts until the job is done.
Thorny, scratchy and very tasty wild dewberries.
Kathy’s Frittata – Her first bite was followed by these words, “Ewww seeds, but tasty!”
TTFN
Bishop
June 12, 2013
Bishop
Composting, Gardening, Memories, Recycling
elephant garlic, Father's Day, wine barrel composter
Thanks Ashleigh and Ben….. I put the “wine barrel tumbling composter” into service today. Y’all did a fine job with the project. I love working on the barrel because each cut or drilled hole gives off the scent of the barrel’s previous content….
I will load the barrel over the next few days. It is hotter than Hades here right now! Pulling up some elephant garlic leeks today in addition to installing the door on the barrel was a three t-shirt day. Absolutely soaked through. Just hand-watering today raised a “sweat”!
The barrel in position behind the garage. Need to trim the center dowel. I reinforced the glued up staves with 1.5 inch aluminum strap.
A look inside showing some slats that may aid in the tumbling action of the contents. Apparently they extend the life of the barrel.
A look from the other side.
The kids made a turned piece of oak to fit the bung hole. It is a handle for rotating the barrel and a reminder of the Father’s Day Date this year. Don’t you just love it.
Some of the day’s harvest – Elephant Garlic.
TTFN
Bishop
June 9, 2013
Bishop
Composting, Family, Gardening, Healthy Lifestyle
compost, compost bin, environmentally friendly
My daughter Ashleigh is an organizing fool. She rode herd on my sons, Ben and Joe in order to clean out the two car portion of the garage. Over a year ago she scored a very nice wine barrel with the intent that I would make a compost barrel out of it. I did some research and also considered making a unique smoker…..I do live in Texas and the south, so, smoking meats of many types is the norm.
As the garage clean out progressed Ashleigh and Ben figured that the ” round tuit” in needed to finish the barrel and get it out of the garage was missing. As a surprise to me they tackled the job.
The barrel intact and ready for modification.
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They decided that they would support it in a horizontal fashion on a large wooden dowel. They used one of my Forstner bits and hopefully, centered the holes so it will tumble smoothly. Ashleigh vacuuming up the cutting….she is such a neat freak….
Doing the clean up
The work crew is shown below with the handiwork in the background. I can’t wait to get the hinged door installed and tumbling compost in the backyard!!!!
Come on Ash….smile
Ah that is better!
I promise some working photos and an update soon.
TTFN
Bishop
May 31, 2013
Bishop
Beans, berrries, Berry Preserves, Composting, Garden Gate, Gardening, Healthy Lifestyle, Organic, Potato Growing, Strawberry, Tomato Growing, Vegetables, Vermicoposting
asparagus, blackberries, foliar feeding, Worm tea
That is a bunch of technical gobble-di-goop that means I made a liquid feed sprayed on the leaves of my plants using the liquid that comes off the bottom of my new composting bins. I am now using “Worm Factory Tray Worm Composter”. It has a spigot on the bottom that allows me to collect the liquid leachate or as some call it “Worm Tea” off of the bottom. Many of the gardening forums are kind of split on the value of collecting the leachate and some say it is an indication a system that is too damp. The design of the “Worm Factory” lets the liquid to drop to the bottom and out of harms way and I am good with that.
My recipe, not exact science, about a pint or so of leachate(liquid off the bottom), a couple of tablespoons of agri molasses and two gallons of water. I ran an aerator for 24 hours before filling the sprayer and applying the mixture as a foliar spray. An online reference says – “Foliar feeding is a technique of feeding plants by applying liquid fertilizer directly to their leaves. It has been known for many years that plants are able to absorb essential elements through their leaves. The absorption takes place through the stomata of the leaves and also through the epidermis. Movement of elements is usually faster through the stomata, but the total absorption may be as great through the epidermis. Plants are also able to absorb nutrients through their bark.”
I used an old beer fermenter that had some deep gouges on the inside…good place for bad critters to hide that can give your beer off flavors …. or worse! A small aerator with a small air stone I have used in my bait buckets provided the tiny bubbles. The molasses provides some food for bacteria to grow….the web has lots of don’t use molasses and some say use molasses and I just do what I want….sprayed the plants two days ago and none of them appear to be complaining today. In Houston….avoid spraying your tomato plants….it could increase the chance of disease. I just poured a litle on the soil beneath the plants.
Mixing bucket and my litle sprayer.
Gate to may Garden
Gate to my garden with the pole bean arches seen behind the gate.
A look back toward my compost bins and strawberry towers
The second round of the strawberry harvest is under way now. They tend to be a little smaller bur I think sweeter. The blackberries are ready to start picking. I should have enough blackberries to make some jam if the the birds and my wife don’t eat too may fresh of the vine! Tomatoes, yes, homegrown and vine ripe tomatoes are finding their way into the kitchen now. Life would so empty without “real” tomatoes, not the gassed store bought varieies! My peppers, Serrano, Poblano and Bell type are all doing well. I had higher hopes for my asparagus this year!!!! Not sure what is up with that harvest. Last year was outstanding. The pole beans are climbing and producing very well. I still have Swiss Chard that looks good even in the Houston heat.
Yesterday was a light day in the garden in terms of labor. I only soaked through two T-shirts! I am always pulling weeds, that is a given. I added some soil to a couple of the potato bins, i.e., grown above ground in containers. I will get a harvest in another 20-30 days it appears. I added some grass cuttings to my compost bin and then layered in some brown material from the other bin. I will check temperatures of the pile today. The addition of grass clippings really heats the pile up.
Heading out in a few minutes to pick before it gets “way too hot”.
TTFN
Bishop
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May 11, 2013
Bishop
berrries, Composting, Gardening, Healthy Lifestyle, Potato Growing, Rubbermaid, Vegetables, Vermicoposting
chard, compost, gardening, potatoes, swiss chard, tomatoes, worms
I seem to celebrate the tomato as if it the crown jewel of the backyard farmer as many gardeners do. Tomatoes do seem to be a central theme with many garden bloggers, “how to” sites, mail order companies and farmer’s markets. That said, I would like to share my growing fascination with potato growing. I have tried barrel or basket growing in the past. This year I have a mix of conventional trenched and hilled in ground method, a barrel and two tubs.
I planted some Yukon Gold taters in the ground and the barrel at the same time. They are doing very well. I had a few leftover and a couple of weeks later I planted them in the Rubbermaid tub I had been using to house my vermicomposting worms. I need to add lots of soil to it tomorrow!!!! I planted another tub a week ago and the shoots have yet to break the surface.
The barrel planted potato eyes were placed in the barrel with about six inches of soil. They took off. I think they benefitted from the warming effect of the barrel. The soil level is up to about 40 inches now and I won’t add any more. The in ground potatoes are also doing very well. The plants are 30+ inches above the hilled up mounds. I have high hopes for a good harvest.
An old garbage barrel with holes in the bottom. Potato eyes at the bottom, 30 + inches below support the lush green growth.
The newest tub was planted with supermarket spuds that sprouted in the pantry. Supermarket spids are not the best choice as they are sometimes treated to inhibit sprouting. The Yukon Gold are actual seed potatoes purchased at Kingwood Garden Center. Helpful folks, lots of knowledge and support organic gardeners!
The tub as it appears when the potatoes are planted. About 6 inches in the bottom,
Soil in this one is up about 10 inches and needs quite a bit more this weekend.
I am looking forward to filching a few “new” potatoes down a foot or so a little later in early summer. I will be watching closely….once they flower and the tops die back I will harvest. The nice thing about using the tubs and barrels is the no digging to harvest. Just dump the container and sort through bounty!
PS – lunch was tomatoes picked today used in a wilted spinach and fresh Chard salad with grilled chicken breast. Dressing was simply EVOO and a blackberry flavored aged Balsamic vinegar. A little fresh ground pepper and sea salt! Just perfect!
TTFN
Bishop
January 30, 2013
Bishop
berrries, Composting, Gardening, Strawberry
berries, carrots, gardening, peppers, strawberries
Maybe not what you were thinking but I went out with the camera this morning after the storm front had passed to check on the garden and in particular, the strawberries. I was greeted by clear blue skies, much nicer temperatures … a nice break from the mid to high humid 70’s we have been experiencing and a seemingly happy garden. The sun felt nice, the shade was cool and the breeze was stirring up the leaves not yet sequestered in my compost bins. While out in the garden I attacked some of the never ending supply of weeds, checked on the carrots, yes-the strawberries too, made notes to pull out the remaining pepper plants and checked on the internal compost bin temperatures…..getting pretty darned warm.
Take a gander at my strawberry shots below….I suspect that I will break the old record…I should have my first ripe berry in just a few days. My guess is February 3rd +/-. I may be able to thank global warming for the bounty. I am continuing my reading and knowledge building with the issues around global warming….an opinion piece will be coming in the near future.
Now for the feature presentation; Strawberries.
January 30th – Should be ripe soon!
One of the Strawberry tower pockets headed toward a bountiful harvest.
A look at one of the ground based plants. I will have to watch for competitors…There are some bugs that also enjoy juicy red berries!
Another ground based plant setting lots of potentially sweet berries!
TTFN
Bishop
January 29, 2013
Bishop
Composting, Gardening, Healthy Lifestyle, Strawberry, Vegetables
carrots, home-brew, Speckled Trout
My three weeks wandering across parts of the Western US is over and I can spend the next several weeks at home, recharging my personal batteries, prepping the garden for spring, investing in some needed family time and possibly brewing a new batch of beer – the beer doesn’t have anything to do with my gardening but it is one of my many vices/hobbies.
Sunday I pulled up a bunch of the purple carrots. My soil is still a bit heavy in one of the newer beds for best carrot growth. They tend to be short, stubby and prone to many forks in the root. Some of the deformations are pretty comical but it doesn’t seem to impact the taste at all! I usually cook them unpeeled….the skin is purple but the meat is carrot orange. When sliced cross cut, the carrot bits have that nice purple edge and the usual common carrot interior color. Adds nice color to the plate.
Freshly picked and rinsed off – interesting, eh?
Oh yes….colorful carrots.
I have strawberries in all phases of development. In fact several appear to be showing signs of turning red. I shouldn’t be too surprised; two years ago I picked a beautifully red, heart shaped strawberry on Valentine’s Day – how appropriate! I may be able to share a few with my wife on or around Valentine’s Day. Fingers crossed for just enough rain but not too much – too much rain tends to mute the strawberry flavor – dry conditions seem to concentrate the sweetness.
Strawberry in the tower beginning to ripen!
I fired up the leaf vacuum and added close top another cubic yard of leaf litter to my compost bin. I have seen a few locations in the neighborhood where I can go out and round up another few loads to top off the bins. I will be adding some as mulch in the next few weeks to help keep the dad-burn weeds at bay!
Tonight I brought some of the colorful and yummy carrots into tonight’s menu. I cooked up a couple of Speckled Trout filets that the boys had caught a short while ago. I sautéed the carrots in a little butter and let them steam, no added sugar, they were sweet just as picked. The fish was simply prepared, fresh home squeezed lemon juice, a little olive oil, salt & pepper, a pat of butter then sealed up in foil and placed over medium heat on the grill. The rice was an experiment in a pouch – a lime flavored microwavable pouch – it was very limey and will probably not grace our table again. The fish was awesome, of course, and the carrots were like candy. Kathy had one of my home-brewed Pumpkin Ales and I tried a Breckenridge Brewery “After Rackin’ Autumn Ale” – after we swapped…..the Autumn Ale – not too hoppy for her but the roasted malts imparted a bit of coffee and chocolate notes…..the coffee notes are not her thing.
My plate – Speckled Trout filet, my carrots and the limey rice.
Lettuce and Swiss Chard will be featured for tomorrow’s meal…….fresh from the garden.
A view down my newest bed…redone a year ago.Lettuce, Chard, cabbage, peas, carrots, brussel sprouts, turnips, garlic and a few beets.
TTFN
Bishop
December 26, 2012
Bishop
Composting, Tomato Growing, Winter Chill
compost, fresh, peppers, tomatoes
I finally called it quits with my tomatoes yesterday, December 25th. You’d think I lived in Australia with how the tomato plants have done this year. I actually have some volunteer seedlings that are about 4-5 inches tall that have not succumbed to the little dab of cooler Houston temperatures.
My Juliett variety was loaded with green tomatoes, a few beginning to show signs of changing color as well as some that had ripened naturally. I brought them all in to the house and will attempt to ripen the green ones. I used to work at a produce warehouse in my student days. The trucks would come in and deliver boxes of tomatoes called breakers – the tint of pink color was just beginning to break. We would stack the boxes 5 or 6 high with room for air to circulate around them and them shut the room up tight and introduce ethylene gas to speed the ripening! A few days later the tomatoes are red but I wouldn’t call them ripe! That is why the store-bought tomatoes are so firm…..they haven’t been allowed to really ripen!
The tomatoes rescued and brought in on Christmas Day. Hope to ripen the green ones
I decided to try to ripen the green ones here at home. I don’t have an ethylene gas ripening room so it is off to plan B! Two good natural sources of ethylene gas are ripe bananas and apples. No bananas on hand but I had some apples. An internet search shows using a container, a banana and a few green tomatoes to ripen. I used brown paper sacks, apples and the green tomatoes…..I will publish an update on the process in a week or so.
The plants are all pulled up and disposed of….I try to keep the tomato plants out of the compost heap but may try running them through my shredder and just live with any of the volunteer plants….My best cherry tomato plant this past year was one of those volunteers that did very well.
Let’s see, today is the 26th of December and I hope to have my 2013 tomato transplants in the ground before March 1st!
My daughter wanted my famous fried potatoes this morning so I included Poblano peppers that I stepped out and picked while the potatoes were cooking…..Yum!
TTFN
Bishop
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