Gardening | From My Backyard

Foliar Feeding with Vermicomposting Leachate

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 4 Comments

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
.

Beer Trumps All

May 28, 2013

Bishop Gardening Leave a comment

Beer and Growing are compatible!

Bishop's Beer Blog

I spent last week in California, more precisely, Coalinga, Paso Robles, Bakersfield and San Ardo.

In Coalinga we stayed at Harris Ranch Inn. Great beef, great ranch style rooms and good beer to. Tuesday night we shifted locations to Paso Robles, 27 minutes south of San Ardo oilfield. We were in the midst of some of the finest red wine growing and nearly 300 wineries, from little tiny to very, very big! Just a note, we should have had a 27 minute drive but due to cattle guard issues with a local rancher and some drilling activity we had to drive another 8 or 10 minutes north, hook back across the Salinas River and meander through some lush produce fields adding 15 minutes to the drive. We witnessed seemingly endless vistas of vineyards, cattle grazing on the rolling hills, cabbage harvests and lettuce planting….This stretch of Highway 101, El Camino Real…

View original post 618 more words

The Other Garden “Ato” – the Potato

May 11, 2013

Bishop berrries, Composting, Gardening, Healthy Lifestyle, Potato Growing, Rubbermaid, Vegetables, Vermicoposting chard, compost, gardening, potatoes, swiss chard, tomatoes, worms 5 Comments

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

Jams and Curds

May 1, 2013

Bishop berrries, Canning, Gardening, Healthy Lifestyle, jam and jelly, Making Jam, Strawberry kale, smoothie 3 Comments

My pantry shelves a pretty well loaded with jams, jellies but, unfortunately the lemon curd has vanished. The last jar of the Meyer Lemon curd went to my daughter in California and shared with my grandkids. My granddaughter sent me a text message this morning after the gift package arrived – “Please send more liquid gold….AKA lemon curd… It is amazing and I want to eat the whole jar but am required to share”. I shared with her a comment from one of my readers, Claire, a blogger from the UK. Claire’s favorite way to use and enjoy lemon curd is by the spoonful directly from the jar! I second that advice! See what Claire has to say and share. http://promenadeplantings.com/

On my shelf I do have some jars of rose petal jelly, beautiful in color but short on “rose” flavor. I made two batches of Pomegranate jelly, one from store bought juice and the other by extracting the juice myself….both were good but the home extracted juice gave the jelly a little more of a robust flavor. One jar remains of my Serrano Pepper jelly and one small jar of the Port Wine jelly with Rosemary. The Mother Lode is this year’s strawberry harvest. It is so good!

The last batch I chose to make in a chunky style. Chunky meaning I did not fully, completely, energetically mash and destroy the body of the berries. I like the results! My son does not appear to like it as well as the abused berry crushing approach! Why do I like it? It is more like enjoying the fruit as well as the jam. I always make the low sugar recipe version, i.e., 4 cups of sugar vs. the 6 or 7 called for in the full sugar recipes. I think the low sugar recipe allows more of the base fruit flavor to come through in the process. I can’t wait until the blackberries kick in.

Gently mashing the berries for the “chunky” jam.

The results. I the bowl is the foam scraped off before canning. My wife adds it to her oatmeal & egg white breakfast frittata.

The results. In the bowl is the foam scraped off before canning. My wife adds it to her oatmeal & egg white breakfast frittata.

My biggest berry of the season – a double butterfly strawberry.

Strawberries are still showing up in the garden, none of them make it into the house! I love to putter in the garden and snack on the fresh stuff. The sugar snaps, small asparagus, a carrot that escaped the clean-up of the beds. I had a couple of the miniscule Alpine berries this morning, two Pineberries and a few sugar snap pea pods. I also chopped up a cup of kale and added it to the blender with 6 oz. of orange juice, 1 cup of frozen pineapple, 1/2 cup of plain Greek Yogurt, a tbsp. of ground flax and a dash of nutmeg. Very tasty for such a healthy smoothie. PS, I used 50% less calorie orange juice….still had a great taste.

TTFN

Bishop

Tomato, Tomato Regardless of How You Say it – They Both Taste Yummy

April 30, 2013

Bishop berrries, Gardening, Healthy Lifestyle, Potato Growing, Strawberry, Tomato Growing, Vermicoposting Alpine Strawberry, asparagus, blackberries, Pineberry, potatoes, strawberries, tomatoes, vegetables, worms 3 Comments

I should be rewarded with my first ripe tomatoes in less than two weeks and they will not be the commercial hothouse or worse varieties. There is just something special about YOUR tomatoes, picked at the peak of ripeness, sliced and savored! Granted, my first ones will be of the cherry variety so probably not sliced but nonetheless, savored.

Cherry type, Sweet Million – just love those clusters

Years ago I worked at a produce warehouse loading and unloading trucks at night while trying obtain a degree during the daylight hours. It was a bit of a challenge. I did learn quite a bit about produce! Some lessons were painful, i.e., thoroughly was your hands after handling Seranno or Jalapeno peppers! Apples had to be my favorite – the apple room was kept quite cold, a real blessing in the hot weather and because I was the tall guy, I stayed in the room to stack the boxes. The hand trucks carried boxes stacked 5 high, I had the job of adding 3 more boxes after the lads dropped them off. Crisp cool air and the wonderful scent of apples.

Here were other rooms at the warehouse that were not as pleasant. Tomatoes were shipped to us as “breakers”, meaning the shoulder of the tomatoes were just beginning to show color. The rest of the tomato was green and extremely firm! The tomato boxes are designed for air circulation for a reason. We stacked boxes in the tomato room “loosely” – each stack stood independently a few inches apart from the others. Once the room was full we shut and sealed the door, turned up the warmth, humidity and added ethylene gas. From Wikpedia –

“ Commercial ripening rooms use “catalytic generators” to make ethylene gas from a liquid supply of ethanol. Typically, a gassing level of 500 to 2,000 ppm is used, for 24 to 48 hours. Care must be taken to control carbon dioxide levels in ripening rooms when gassing, as high temperature ripening (68F) has been seen to produce CO₂ levels of 10% in 24 hours.” http://ne-postharvest.com/ripening.htm#controlledatmosphereripening

It was a similar process in the banana room and once the fruit had been gassed and gasses evacuated, well mostly evacuated, then we moved them out and loaded the local delivery trucks. I would guess that we walked over 15 miles during an 8 hour shift, excepting the Friday night shift, which was typically 14 hours and more. The Saturday local runs were huge!

I have a diverse mix of tomatoes this year, two types of Cherry, Celebrity, Mortgage Lifter (standard and a grafted variety, Brandywine Red and Pink –both grafted varieties, Patio varieties – determinate, most of what I grow are the indeterminate types, Cherokee, Juliet and a volunteer of some sort. The volunteer is starting to set fruit and it appears to be a smaller cluster variety. I had great luck with a volunteer plant last year….it was prolific!!!!

Celebrity Variety – 4-5 inch size and does well when it is hot.

The newest tomato on the patio plant.

One of the Patio varieties.

Other garden notes, the barrel and in ground potatoes are kicking butt! I have not had such vigorous and tall growth in my limited potato growing experience. The pole beans are reaching skyward on the arches made from the Crepe Myrtle cuttings, Snap Peas are in their last week of production, asparagus is coming up, I have Chard and more Chard…. I will use some Chard in a smoothie today and may even try some of the kale in a smoothie.

Some of my Swiss Chard

The Yukon Gold Potatoes as of the middle of April. They are much bigger now!

The blackberry vines have a heavy set going on and I hope I get to harvest before the birds find them. I also have my Pineberry – a white strawberry with red seeds and my Alpine strawberries producing. Hopefully I can propagate the Pineberries to make a bigger planting for next year and the Alpine berries…..so tasty but so tiny…fun, tasty but mostly ornamental! I had to stop typing and step outside to sample the Pineberries and the Alpine berries. Very yummy. It is tough to gauge the ripeness of the Pineberries. The color change is minimal, my best gauge is the firmness and it appears that when ripe they pull off of the stem easily. I have lots of Pineberry runners showing up so hopefully I have a bigger patch next year.

A ripe Pineberry. At this stage it is almost overripe. The best stage is just a blush of pink and the seeds are red. The flavor is similar to a pineapple with a hint of strawberry.

One of the many blackberry clusters.

My commercial vermicomposting bins are working very well. I have added the third box on the top, two more to go before I harvest the bottom box. The design of the bins has a liquid collecting pan and spigot. I pulled about a quart of worm poop water off the bottom yesterday. I mixed a pint with two gallons of water and fed some of my potted plants and the strawberry towers. Everything seems to be happy in the garden right now! The summer, or at least a real summer heat has not appeared yet. May is tomorrow and the heat wave can start at any time!

TTFN

Bishop

Carrots out the Wazoo – Now What?

April 11, 2013

Bishop Berry Preserves, Gardening, jam and jelly, Potato Growing, Strawberry, Vermicoposting blackberries, carrots, cucumbers, potatoes, strawberries, strawberry jam, worms 4 Comments

On the heels of last nights awesome rainstorm across the Houston area, close to 2 inches overnight, I decided it was time to pull up the carrots. Some have just exploded with growth. See photo below.

Exploded/split carrot….they taste OK but my wife refuses to let me cook them.

I am in the process of prepping for cucumbers and squash plantings in the next week. The sugar snap and snow peas are still producing but the heat that disables them is just around the corner. My early planting of Yukon Gold potatoes is off to an amazing start. I am using a barrel, a big tub and of course – some planted in the back bed.

Yukon Gold Plants needing to be hilled up a little deeper!

The Brussels Sprouts are still forming, I hope well enough to harvest before the heat sets in! Good looking plants, not sure what to expect as this is my first attempt at growing them. I found a good recipe and cooking advice over on – http://promenadeplantings.com/2013/04/11/brussels-sprout-cheddar-and-apple-salad/

The freezer is full of strawberries waiting to made into wonderful jam. As they fade in the garden I am loving the evidence of a potentially great blackberry harvest! I enjoy them fresh but he low sugar jam I make helps extend the enjoyment into the fall or if lucky….till 2014 arrives.

I added more strawberry scraps to the top level of my worm bins. I am now on level five and the migration up towards the top bin is underway. They seem to be a little chubbier than usual…..could it be the abundance of strawberries in their diet? – Quite possibly – they have been binge eating strawberries for many weeks now! I still recycle….lots of scraps going into my compost bins.

I need some variety in recipes for Swiss Chard – at the moment it is an abundant ornamental in the garden. I can only eat so much fresh in with salads or wilted like spinach….Help!

Carrots and more Carrots

A look down the garden path toward the back beds. The poles in the foreground arch up over the entrance and soon will be covered in 3 varieties of pole beans.

TTFN

Bishop

Strawberries, Strawberries, Blackberries, Dewberries and More Strawberries

April 2, 2013

Bishop Gardening, Healthy Lifestyle, jam and jelly, Pest Control, Vermicoposting Alpine Strawberry, asparagus, blackberries, Dewberry, Pineberry, strawberries, worms 4 Comments

This has been a banner year in my strawberry patch and it appears to be heading in the right direction for all of my berries. I have made three batches of strawberry jam, have 2/3 of a bag of the frozen ugly berries (I freeze the ugly berries and try to share the pretty ones with my family), snack on them while puttering in the garden and still have some to give away. The very warm and humid Houston growing environment is a real challenge. The moist air and damp ground will rot a berry quickly. One of my regular tasks and one that my wife is good at helping with is to flip the berry up onto the plant leaves keeping them off the ground!

My composting worms are being spoiled with the wonderful spoils. All of the bad berries, berry parts trimmed off the ugly berries and those that went beyond ripe go to the worm bin. If you didn’t already know, worms eat their body weight in scraps every day. What a life, eating your body weight in super sweet, soft and juicy strawberries every single day. This has been going on for a month now and will probably extend for another month. I hope they don’t revolt when their diet changes!

The strawberry plants are so thick that they hide the ripening berries unless you are vigilant at combing through the leaves to find them before the bugs and rot set in! I really love how the plants fill in over time and make a beautiful and edible border to the yard. I did not keep good records on which variety is planted where….over time they run together on their own. I have Chandler which is well suited for the south, Seascape, Sweet Charlie and Sequoia….. Added Alpine Strawberries and the Pine berry, the white colored strawberry….

I have “ June Bearing” and” Everbearing”….I don’t think I have any Day-Neutral varieties…..yes I do Seascape! The link below is one of the better strawberry info websites I have found for US growers.

http://strawberryplants.org/2010/05/strawberry-varieties/

Which berries will develop next? Two years ago I saved some wild Dewberries I found in the woods nearby. I planted them in a big pot hoping for the best. Last year the birds robbed the few berries that tried to ripen. This year, for whatever reason, the vines are loaded with blossoms! Finger crossed and I rubbed my lucky rabbit’s foot in hopes of enough dewberries for more than just a garden snack.

Next I should be able to enjoy my Blackberries. I have thornless and thorny blackberries……I said thorny! They are beginning to bud out and a few brave blossoms are popping open. Last year was a disappointing blackberry season, both for me and for the local growers. I will double down on the good luck charms hoping for the Dewberry harvest to mirror the blackberry harvest.

I am hoping for a berry, berry good spring and early summer in the berry patch. FYI, April 2^nd and I munched on my first asparagus spear of the season. They are so sweet picking straight from the garden…..do not pass go, just straight into my mouth! Yum!

Gardening gift from my wife…..I am always in the learning mode!

Immature Strawberry

I smell jam cooking!!!

Blackberry blossom…..

Alpine Strawberry

Garden Helper – shifting between the brown to green phase.

Dewberry Blossom

He was so hard to spot….I first spotted him jumping from branch to branch.

TTFN

Bishop

Making Lemons – Headlong into the Process

March 23, 2013

Bishop Gardening 6 Comments

One of several bees diving headlong into the job of pollination!

I have been travelling too much but by unpaid farm laborers don’t seem to mind. When I walked into the backyard this morning I was greeted by the intoxicating scent of the lemon blossoms covering my Meyer Lemon tree. I had an immediate flashback to several late night rides on my motorcycle down Sunset Boulevard to the beach when the citrus trees were in blossom….such great memories!

The little dwarf tree is overwhelmed with blossoms and will be in serious need of thinning if even 10% of the fruit set. I put my macro lens on the Nikon D200 and stalked this guy. I wound up getting a number of him that I liked but this one illustrates the results of his deep rooting, headlong into the blossom. The number of active honeybees this spring has just been overwhelming. In the 8 springs living here in Kingwood I have never had the level of activity that I have seen this year!

I wish I could track these guys and find the hive…..my curiosity is just killing me.

Just a few minutes ago I walked out and spotted another garden helper….this one was lurking in the branches of the lemon tree…..Pretty cool! He would leap to a different branch and seemed to just disappear! Amazing. Then I would see a little movement and then try to zero in again.

He was so hard to spot….I first spotted him jumping from branch to branch.

TTFN

Bishop

Bees and my Strawberries

March 6, 2013

Bishop berrries, Gardening, Mason bees, pollination, Strawberry broccoli, gardening, hand pollinating, honeybees, strawberries 3 Comments

It really started with my broccoli plants that took off and went to blossom. Theyhave beautiful yellow blossoms that are attracting honeybees and a small variety of bumblebee. I found this a real positive change from previous springs. In fact, the number of honeybees spotted in my garden area has been dismal and seemed to be getting worse. I actually employed some Mason Bees the past two years. There seems to be a steady crew working from mid-morning until late afternoon. My guess is that these are a wild variety that hang out in the woods nearby.

I put my macro lens of my Nikon D-200 and attempted to capture the guys at work. The yellow broccoli blossoms must be a bee magnet. I will try to remember that fact next year to draw bees in. I seem to be getting a little better handling this lens.

Bee and broccoli blossom

Carrying quite a load while working this blossom

Off to another one. Trying to improve my moving critter skills. My goal is get a crisp shot of the bee flying!

Strawberries grown outside seem to pollinate themselves pretty well but the fruit size may improve with help from the bees. If you are anal enough, you can take on the task yourself armed with a magnifying glass and an artist’s brush. I have used an electric toothbrush with my tomatoes with outstanding results. If I get frisky enough to crawl around the berry patch soon I will let you know!

Although small, strawberry blossoms have a delicate beauty about them. I caught some of the broccoli work crew sliding on over to the strawberry bed and working their magic. I may hire on tomorrow with my magnifying glass and brush….Love those strawberries! I will make jam in a couple of days and will hopefully put up a couple of dozen jars!

Do your magic little guy!

Very nice strawberry blossom

Now for the payoff –

Just starting to show!

Yes – developing nicely

The final payoff

Yum!!!!!

TTFN

Bishop

LSU Rural Life Museum

March 6, 2013

Bishop berrries, Gardening, Travel Baton Rouge, LSU Rural Life Museum, museum, plantations Leave a comment

A few weeks ago I sneaked in a quick trip to Baton Rouge. I have wanted to stop by this museum and exhibit for several years. When we visit our son at LSU in the Baton Rouge area we usually stay at he Fairfield Inn off of Essen Lane just across the street from the entrance to the Rural Life Museum and grounds.

I only allocated 2.5 hours and would like to have had that much more! I had put my camera bag together prior to making the trip but left it on the kitchen table …… not much use to me that way. The photos were taken with my iPhone….I need to upgrade; I am using the iPhone 3 – several generations “old”.

The museum area has a good number of period buildings and quite a bit of plantation life history in artifacts as well. I had pictured cotton as being the dominant crop but it was grown along with lots of sugarcane. The outbuildings included a facility for boiling the sugarcane juice, several homesteader cabins, plantation kitchen, blacksmith shop, slave quarters, corn cribs and more.

The museum is filled with the details and images of the slave labor used in both the cotton growing and the sugarcane growing. The work must have been hard and the hours long. There is a section of the museum that delivers a “no punches pulled” look at the slave trade.

The Rural Life Museum has several examples of homesteader dwellings and they are simple yet well-built structures. I like the Dog Run style – two separate rooms with a breezeway between them covered by a common roof. Photo below.

I stopped and took a good look at the strawberries being tested by the LSU folks on the property grounds….FYI, several big botanical gardens are also located on the sprawling property. I need to find a source for the beautiful berries I saw growing….I kick myself for not snatching one as no one was around…..couldn’t do it so I left wondering about the taste! It is University of Florida development for winter strawberries that has all of the commercial properties and still retains a very good sweetness.

http://www.visitbatonrouge.com/lsururallifemuseum/

http://appl027.lsu.edu/rlm/rurallifeweb.nsf/index