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A Letter to Home

October 11, 2012

Bishop Gardening, Hand watering, Philosophical, Relationships , , , 2 Comments

Dear Kathy,

It seems that I have been on the road far too many times this year. I haven’t slept well on this trip and the only factor that comes to mind has nothing to do with the bed quality, the room or the hotel…….it has to do with missing you and not having you here with me. I wish that we had opportunities for you to travel with me when I am off on my consulting trips. One more day and I will be home! I do miss you.

By the way how is the garden coming along? I know that some of the lettuces and carrots were beginning to look good. While you were out in the garden watering, did you remember to pull the weeds that seem to be constantly invading the garden? If you get a chance pull the slats out of the compost bin and turn the contents over for me. The pitch fork is located next to the bins. Try doing it early in the morning Hun because you will work up a bit of a sweat while lifting the heavy fork loads, but take your time …. I don’t want you worn out for my return on Friday. I trust that you have been feeding the worms all of the vegetable scraps and pulverized egg shells – please use the coffee grinder to pulverize the shells but also remember to wipe it out so it won’t contaminate my coffee.

Here is an example of what the pulverized eggshells and coffee grounds should look like.

I wasn’t able to run the weed-whacker around the edges of the garden before I left so if you would fire it up and knock the weeds down if you would Hun! he engine can be a little temperamental – push the fuel bulb 6-8 times, put the choke lever over on full choke for a couple of pulls, then mid choke for a couple and then open and it should start. Make sure you wear eye protection….you know how much I love the beautiful star eye look…you know what I mean. Before it gets too warm please rake up the weeds and dump them in the freshly turned compost bin.
I know how good you are at tidying things up so if you would, try organizing the tool cabinet hanging over in the corner. I also have quite a few stakes piled up over  there too ….could you just move them around a little to make it look a little better. Please wear gloves when you handle the stakes…they have some spurs and slivers – I would feel so bad if you hurt your beautiful and loving hands. Oh, on the rack in that same corner would you also roll up the kayak straps and place them in the garage.

Again Dear, thank you and I am so anxious to get back home and spend some time in your warm embrace.

Your loving husband,

Bishop

Smile all y’all – some of the above was really tongue in cheek! Fortunately we don’t have a dog, I could be sleeping with the dog for a few nights….

TTFN

Bishop

 

Gardening Perspective – Thrifty or Cheap?

October 3, 2012

Bishop Gardening, Philosophical, Recycling , , Leave a comment

Am I cheap or am I thrifty? I guess, if I were to answer my own question, I would say yes! I am a bit of both. For example, this morning I was out in the garden straightening a few things up. As I was removing some of the supports/stakes for the cucumber vines I started saving bits and pieces of twine to use next time I need to support my vines. Twine, jute garden twine is about $ 2.00 for a 200 foot roll, that’s about a penny per foot. In about 10 minutes I saved maybe 50 feet of twine, 50 cents worth. That works out to a $ 3.00 per hour rate of return….. That sounds cheap to me! I will probably continue to waste my time with this effort. The twine is a very slow decomposer in my compost piles.

My ball of twine salvaged!

A diffrent look at my salvage efforts.

$$$$$ Saved eh? Some twine and a few stakes/supports…about a 3 year life for the crepe myrtle limbs.

The supports/stakes I use in the garden are from my Crepe Myrtles. Ugh….Just read how to prune Crepe Myrtles and my technique has been labeled crepe murder! My technique does produce an abundance of tall straight limbs that I use to support vines and such in the garden. My technique produces knobby looking plants. This past year I looked at some of the professionally trimmed crepes and modified my technique but I inherited stumpy crepes when I moved in…. don’t take that statement as a political jab at the current administration…I would never do that. My Crepe Myrtle is definitely not better off than it was 4 years ago. But, I have saved money over buying commercial stakes/supports. A six foot bamboo stake will cost a buck and a half. I use 50 or so every year. I am saving at least $ 75.00 annually – I am discounting the labor cost because I have to cut the crepe myrtle every year regardless of the use of the limbs….I am also keeping waste out of the landfill – my verdict – thrifty and “green”!

An example of the mess I inherited! Murder is a strong word – lets just say brutalized!

The way they should be!!!

What aspire to accomplish…..may require removal of the brutalized example in my yard!

A link to a pruning lesson and the source of the photos…

http://thedailysouth.southernliving.com/2009/02/24/what-concerns-p/

A spring look at a portion of my garden using the crepe myrtle limbs –

Supports/Stakes in action this past spring.

Looking Around The Central California Coast

September 28, 2012

Bishop California, Gardening, Memories, Travel , , , , , , , , 5 Comments

I was out to California last week and spent a couple of days over at my mother’s place in the little quiet town of Los Osos/Baywood Park. It is just a short jaunt to Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo from her house. I finished the trip with a drive down the coast to my daughter’s home in Camarillo. That was nice, I spent time with all three grandchildren and was able to see the baby bump of my great-grandson tucked away in the womb – can’t hardly wait for February!

Mom had a list of about 12 items she needed some help with and I worked my way through the list. Some items involved technology issues, i.e., resetting the phone date & time, drafting instructions for printing photos from her computer, scanning and making copies – the stuff that an 83 year old wants to do but this tech stuff is still mystifying….as she says, “Kinda like magic!” I was able to get my hands dirty with repotting some of her succulents and moving the heavier pots around the place. I am so envious of the growing environment she is blessed with. Mom is doing very well and is back to running the Tai Chi class for about 14-16 women in her development 3 days per week. She is a pretty perky old gal and sharp as a tack. During her nap time  I got to wander out and take a few photos.

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Garden Discovery

September 2, 2012

Bishop Gardening, Healthy Lifestyle, Vegetables , , Leave a comment

Look what I found! I was looking in under the huge asparagus ferns with sweet potato vines tangled up underneath them. I had tossed, literally tossed two sad old sweet potatoes out into the asparagus bed this past spring. The vines went wild. This huge sweet potato was poking up through the leaves…. I am anxious to see how many more have developed….. Need to wait another month so look for an update in 30 days.

20120902-182937.jpg

Photo taken with my iPhone

I just updated the posting. I grew what looks to be the Beauregard  variety… As well as it did I may try the bush variety shown below for next year and save some room. The vines were/are a real jungle in my garden.

Suggested Varieties:

  • Beauregard – Pale reddish skin with dark orange flesh.  Popular commercial variety.  (100 days)
  • Bush Porto Rico – Cooper skin with orange flesh.  Compact vines with big yields.  Good for smaller gardens,  (110 days)
  • Centennial – Good disease resistance and relatively quick maturing.  (90-100 days)
  • Georgia Jet – Reddish skin with orange flesh.  Good choice for shorter season.  (90 days)
  • Patriot – Copper skin/Orange Flesh.  Great pest resistance.  Good choice for organic gardens.  (100 days)
  • Ruddy – Better pest resistance (insects, diseases and nematodes) than Beauregard.  See photo. (100 days)

Worm Castings Harvested & More Yard Chores

August 7, 2012

Bishop Composting, Gardening, Optimism, Philosophical, Rubbermaid , , 5 Comments

If you have read my past posts you know that I measure summer yard work by how many T-shirts I soak through! Yesterday was a 4 T-shirt day and the work is still not complete. It will be at least a two T-shirt day today….need to finish that last chore so Ben and I can take the kayaks down to Galveston and harvest a few Redfish, Speckled Trout or Flounder!!!

The worms had being toiling away in my Rubbermaid bin eating up the kitchen scraps and providing lots of good food for the garden. As I was harvesting I noticed something that the worms wouldn’t eat…..the skins off of my tomatoes. Six or eight weeks ago I made salsa, tomato sauce and gazpacho. I peeled the skin off of the tomatoes after dipping them in boiling water for 30 seconds or so and then dipping them in cold water. The skins just slide off. That old phrase, “waste not want not” is always part of my “green” credo so the skins, cores and bad spots cut out of the tomatoes went into the bin…..Everything was eaten save the skins. I learned something. I went with the fast harvest practice and a pretty good number passed through the 1/4 inch screen but they will do fine in the garden. Compost worms work near the surface and they should be happy living in the compost I recently spread. The process is outlined in the pictures below.

Soaking strips of newspaper to be added as bedding as I transfer those that toil in the dark into their new home.

The new home waiting for the transfer. Newspaper strips are wrung out so they are not too wet!

That great garden supplement – worm castings….screen box in the background

I pulled weeds, cut back the canes on the rest of the blackberries, cut some flowers for Kathy…..yes I do grow a few flowers. My son Joe had cut John’s lawn and brought back a couple of sacks of grass clippings for my compost pile that I dumped on top of the watermelon rinds and remnants of the fresh pineapple we cored the night before. I sweated some more….made up some organic fertilizer to help the veggies along and then we, Ben, Sierra and I jumped into the next project.

Station 5 on my sprinkler system has needed repair for a long time….I had some young blood to help with the digging so in we dove. First we had to find the valve boxes. I knew approximate locations so it was soon done. Then to decide which valve wa number 5…… Now that was done. We uncovered it and found that it was an inexpensive valve, the diaphragm was horribly mangled so off to Alspaugh’s Ace Hardware I went…. no luck on parts so off to the internet…. part located but with shipping I can replace the valve with a new one….with parts that are readily available.

I order to replace the valve we need to enlarge the hole in order to cut the pipe……no screwed fittings – all glued! Problem two. As the hole was enlarge the signal wires got in the way of the axe…..oh yes an axe – lots of roots and the shovel…… now we have to do some splicing…..got that done.

I installed the sprinkler system in our yard back in Bakersfield California. I worked in the oil patch and was a fan of having the valves arranged in a manifold, with union couplings so if one needed to be removed for replacement I didn’t have to cut pipe. The other benefit is that all if the wiring was run to one spot, location known and protected…. I ran it in a pvc sleeve. The drawback is more PVC to run but that is dirt cheap. My current yard – no map for the valve locations…they are scattered and the wires run willy-nilly!!!!

Ok – glue one side in and move the piping just a little and the pvc behind the valve breaks off – I am on shirt # 4 and I am not changing again. We probe a little and discover that where the next cuts will need to be made there is another PVC line snuggled up against it……Let’s drink a good pale ale Ben and plan to finish in the morning…..Good choice a thunderstorm rolls in, fills the hole with water knocks the power ou as my wife was doing ravioli on the electric stove…….No problem, I am an ex-camper. I brought out my single burner stove and finished the meal off outside…..Hope the power comes back on soon as I am beginning to soak another T-shirt  – need my AC!

This hole keeps getting bigger and more complicated! Ben, Sierra and me…the old sweaty guy.

Ben and his rescue dog, Sierra checking on the progess.

Today will be a better day!

TTFN

Bishop

 

 

 

Hands in the Garden – And Fishing

August 5, 2012

Bishop Composting, Family, Gardening, Philosophical, Relationships, Vermicoposting , , , , 3 Comments

My son Ben walked into the house with his fishing pole. “Going fishing?” I asked. “Yep!”, was his concise answer with no fluff! A man of fewest words!

Then the surprise, a multiple word sentence….”Wanna go with me”, he asks? There was no hesitation on my part so off to the garden we go to dig up some worms. The first shovel full was loaded with big fat wrigglers…..the soil is healthy because of the work these guys do behind the scenes as they churn the compost I add to  the beds…. they add their castings, aerate to soil and create drainage….sorry guys, I need some volunteers to give the up the life of toiling in the garden. I needed some volunteers to go out in a blaze of glory, sacrificing for that trophy catfish waiting in the pond!

On a side note – I probably have three, four or more types of earthworms helping me in the garden. I have added the big store-bought night crawlers left over from past fishing trip. They a larger and seem to thrive in my well composted beds. I have an abundance now of the red wriggler type that stay near the surface and do not burrow. These are also working away in my compost bins – that reminds me….I need to add harvesting the castings to list of chores for the week.

The worms sacrificed themselves but I was a little disappointed in the results – it was as if Ben and I were competing to see who would the smallest fish and the second category was for the fewest fish caught. Not our usual competitive measures of success. I caught the fewest(4) and Ben caught the smallest fish(small perch). All were returned in good health to be caught again. The pond near the house is a great place to take young ones – I love the smile on a child when they catch their first fish…and for that matter their second, third, fourth – and you get the idea….. always a smile.

It was nice to sit with Ben and even though he is a man of few words, with the right questions we can converse. I was pleased a few months ago when he built a small raised bed at his house in Baton Rouge. I smiled when he told me what he had planted – not the best choices for mid summer but he wass working thee soil, watering and seeing his efforts produce some green foliage. A success in my eyes. We did discuss what to plant when he returns to Baton Rouge August 19th….should be his last year of school at LSU!!!! He doesn’t eat much green stuff  so growing food that he would consume is a challenge. Maybe one of his roommates will be able to enjoy the harvest.

Both off my sons have built raised beds this summer, Joe for his girlfriend and Ben for himself – converts in the making. I have also done somethingelse  right! They fish and fish and find time to fish again. Earlier this summer Ben was home for a week or so for the summer session at LSU he and my youngest joe went off to the lake in our canoe for some bonding and fishing. It looks like success on both fronts. Click on an imaage to display the slideshow.

TTFN

Bishop

Busy, Busy, Busy – Catching up in the Garden and the Kitchen

July 9, 2012

Bishop American IPA, Berry Preserves, Canning, Cucumber gazpacho, Gardening, Healthy Lifestyle, Making Jam, Tomato Growing , , , 9 Comments

I went out and picked a little this morning before the sky opened up and poured buckets of rain. I wound up with a bunch of cucumbers, a few ox-heart tomatoes and peppers. I will go out tomorrow and gather many more tomatoes and peppers. Into the kitchen now for a recipe experiment – I had a bowl of cucumber gazpacho in Carlsbad New Mexico this past week. It was very nice and refreshing but just a bit too peppery hot for my tastes. I searched the web and found a few similar recipes that seem to match my tastes.

My Cucumber Gazpacho

  • 7-8 Cucumbers – several varieties, seeded and cut into chunks
  • 2 Ancho peppers – warm enough and a very nice dark green in color – seeded
  • 2 – Anaheim peppers seeded – one that had turned red and the other a reddish-brown – for color and flavor
  • A couple of garlic cloves – skinned and crushed
  • 1 tsp coarse black pepper
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • ½ cup ice water
  • ½ cup white tequila
  • Tabasco sauce – season to taste – added a lot more after taste testing on day two!
  • Lime oil
  • Chopped fresh mint leaves

Puree the cucumbers with the olive oil, water, lemon juice, tequila, garlic, salt, black pepper and Tabasco. Add the coarse chopped Ancho and Anaheim peppers and pulse to chop coarsely…leaves a little bits of pepper chunks for color and texture. Refrigerate overnight. Garnish with a bit chopped fresh mint and a few drops of lime oil.

Next up for the kitchen before my wife returns from California – brew my American IPA Ale with Cascade and Chinook hops, can my strawberry and blackberry preserves and possibly a few more quarts of spaghetti sauce…..the last batch was very good – now where did I put that recipe????

Enjoy the slide show from the garden and –

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TTFN

Bishop

Growing Tomatoes, Beans and Other Things

May 18, 2012

Bishop Gardening, Philosophical, Relationships, Tomato Groeing, Vegetables , , , , 5 Comments

I am learning all the time……my recent lessons include “patience” and “trust”. The little back yard farm is a classroom of life’s little lessons. So – off to school!

Patience is a virtue – we have all heard that old and well-worn cliché but……..it is so true. I love to see my garden grow and most importantly watch it  produce, produce( isn’t the English langauge funny this way – same spelling but oh so different meaning) with the quality and taste absent from the supermarket produce….there’s that word again. So. my lesson on patience – I planted an heirloom variety of tomato this year that gets great reviews from many home growers, Mortgage Lifter. My friends, Jane and John here in Kingwood mention it frequently. The plant grew beautifully, tall, strong and lots of blossoms. The blossoms would bloom, then wither, die and fall off. Oh I searched the web for an answer – not much luck as  the symptoms did not show up on my adjacent tomato plants, in fact with the exception of the Beefmaster variety, everything is loaded with young and growing tomatoes. 10 days ago I was ready to rip that plant out of the ground and start over….. slow down Bishop, show some patience, let things develop at their own pace and by golly the plant stepped forward and showed me one developing tomato last Sunday – Mother’s Day! I was leaving for a consulting job off in Midland Texas….gotta pay for my hobbies – and I decided to give it another week. Well on my return, guess what – the one was looking good and several more are developing nicely – see photo below. I just did a little web search and may add morning and late evening “shaking” to my tomato cages to aid in fruit set. The Beefmaster….it too has a few tomatoes on it when I checked it this morning so it also earned a reprieve…

Mortgage Lifter – Looking good! And companions too!

Beans – they are doing well. I like the looks of the purple pole beans as they mature. They emerge from  the beautiful purple blossoms green! then as they gain size and length the slowly morph into that deep purple color. Unfortunately they lose that wonderful color while being cooked….oh well! at least for a bit…I can enjoy the color.

Well on its way to purple….they are fun to watch as they mature.

I have been gathering green beans from both my accidental plantings of bush beans and from my conscious efforts to grow bush beans…I have added more of the pole beans but they are a few weeks away from producing. I took a hanging bucket that hosted an upside down tomato plant last year and planted bush beans on the top side. They are doing very very well. Makes me wonder if “container growing” for bush beans might be a good option. My biggest complaint  – and it is not a big one – is that they grow low to the ground and I am up there at about 6’3″ off the ground….a long ways from those tasty pods. I am still limber and healthy enough at 61 to pick those ground hugging varieties but this hanging basket will make it easier to harvest the produce and actually looks pretty good to boot. There are some purple bush varieties many actually pass as an ornamental as well as a source for a side dish. Gotta give it a try.

Nice green basket – the flowers will be white – kind of boring so maybe I will try some of the purple ones too….a bit more aesthetically pleasing???

Cucumbers…asparagus…..strawberries…..blackberries…..peppers….. all are kicking in now. I checked a very dark purple/black blackberry for ripeness this morning and it fell off into my hand…….I was listening closely and I heard a plaintive cry……please, please don’t let me go to waste……so I didn’t – oh it was so good….can’t wait…wait a second, wasn’t I talking about patience….I better wait!

So close to being ready…..back off and wait!

I have getting some very nice Anaheim and Ancho peppers over the last few weeks. I roasted some on the grill last week and used them in a salad. So tasty. My Serrano peppers are a month or more away from producing. I had been looking at the nurseries for the last month and finally found some at the big box store – Lowes. I like buying at the local nursery but a man has got to do what a man has got to do.

A nice 6 or 7 inch long Anaheim pepper….I will be patient and give it a few more days!

Oh….I mentioned trust at the beginning of the post – well – I have been gone for  5 days and 11 hours, approximately….. in the past I have worried about my little plot while gone but I have become more comfortable in the last couple of years with trusting my wife to give the attention I want/need/like –  for my back yard farm…. I sent a text message early in the week as a reminder but I learned that she was tending to my babies in the back with nearly the same care I would give….Some of her efforts, I am sure, are driven by the benefits of the harvestasty goodies and maybe, just maybe driven by the love we share….. Should I run a poll on what y’all think the driving factor is?   I don’t think so…the Valentines day poll was a bit painful –  ;0  –

TTFN

Bishop

Did you all see the announcement – The 16th century home of Winnie the Pooh is on the market. Near the   ” 500-acre wood” –  is up for sale…just $ 3 plus million – USD – I wonder if I could put a big ktchen garden in on the property?

Making Ready to Transfer the Worms

May 7, 2012

Bishop Composting, Gardening, Healthy Lifestyle, Organic, Potato Growing, Rubbermaid, Vegetables, Vermicoposting , , , , Leave a comment

The worm bin is getting to be well filled with that wonderful stuff euphemistically referred to as worm castings – worm poop – I use Rubbermaid containers…36 quart size to house them. They reside in the garage year round and the Houston heat does not seem to bother them. I actually made two bins when I ventured off into worm world. I have found that 4 months or so is an ideal time to let the little guys toil away in darkness before preparing their new abode and harvest more of the good stuff.

As part of my ongoing research into growing methods…..not really research, its just that I get bored easily and I am always want to try something new and different. The back-up bin was put to use growing potatoes. In addition to the 4 foot tall wire baskets housing potatoes I tossed a handful of extras into the bin filled with about 8 inches of soil. Over the next few months I kept adding shredded leaves and compost as the plants grew. Yesterday I decided it was time to make ready the bin for the worms and dumped the contents – potatoes, leaves, compost and all.
I was pleasantly surprised…with minimal efforts I have 8 or so pounds of naturally grown potatoes. My wife is wanting to cook the new potatoes today….I agree hun!

TTFN

Bishop

The Tomato Challenge – Close But No Cigar

May 5, 2012

Bishop Gardening, Vegetables , , , , 4 Comments

I have mentioned several times in my recent blogging that I “may” have a ripe tomato before May 1st. I am sorry to report that I was two days short of the goal. The first ripe tomato, a cherry tomato, was consumed by my wife on May 2nd. I am going to claim partial success though……in the garden I planted over at John’s house….the cherry tomatoes have been ripe for over a week now. Unfortunately, he didn’t get to consume that first ripe, red tomato of the season either. That honor goes to his golden retriever, Pismo. She LOVES tomatoes and it is a real challenge to keep her away from the goodies. The photos for this rambling were taken on April 30th. You will see that my efforts to grow tomatoes are going well but the target was missed by just a smidgeon!

My asparagus is really doing well this year. It is so tender and sweet that much of it munched on while tending to the other garden chores. I have pulled almost all of the carrots and have really enjoyed eating them fresh, steamed, sauteed in butter – with a dash of nutmeg and cinnamon – and tonight I will grill a few. The Royal Chantenay Carrot has been a stellar producer for the heavy Houston soils….becoming less dense every year as I add compost, the Cosmic Purple were pretty…..pretty small too. Lovely color but they were stunted – the descriptor in the catalog says -” The smooth purple skin contrasts beautifully with the bright orange coreless flesh. They have a very sweet flavor and are a hit with kids and adults alike. The tops grow to 15 “. Roots are tapered and best harvested around 7″.” Partially true – color and taste and the tops are tall and beautiful. They would make a a nice border planting. Size, hmmmmmm, not anywhere near 7″. The Danvers Half Long were also a great carrot to grow here in Houston.

Have not been traveling much lately so I have been tending the gardens on a regular basis. I have not written much lately as I have been busy finishing up a video for the High School soccer team….my wife nicknamed me the great American volunteer as I seem to find myself on the everyone’s list. I haven’t had a child on the local swim club team for more than two years but volunteered to do their year end video……maybe it is because I also enjoy working with the kids!

TTFN

Bishop

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