Peas and Chickweed

What I'm Planting - Peas

I planted snow peas on 1/21/15.  It's really kind of late for my usual pea planting, but I realized that I had a good spot for them in my garden where they wouldn't be in the way of my spring garden plans.  They're starting to pop up.

After I planted that whole spot with an entire package of snow peas, I cleaned out my seed stash and found this little treasure.

I'm pretty sure it's a law of some sort that I have to plant these too.  They're purple, after all.  Guess I need to find another spot.

What I'm Eating - Chickeed

We're approaching the end of chickweed season, which makes me a little sad.  Chickweed is, by far, my favorite of all the "alternative" greens I've tried.  It's also pretty easy to come by without even bothering to plant it.  I can count on the stuff popping up all over the yard.  Unfortunately, I can't count on my dog not peeing on it, so I was super happy when it popped up in my lettuce bed this year.

If you have never tried eating chickweed, I would highly encourage you to give it a shot.  I find it to be easy to identify, delicious, and readily available.  It has a very mild, fresh, green flavor - fabulous in salads!  The tiny white flowers look pretty in a salad, as well.

I once served it when we had company over.  One of my friends inquired as to what it was so I explained that it was a very common and delicious edible weed.  She very politely took a bite and commented "Huh.  It really sort of tastes like eating your lawn, doesn't it?"  So maybe it's not for everyone, but I sure like it.

Strawberries and Calamondins

What I'm Planting - Strawberries

There's a farm near my home that has pick your own strawberries around this time of year, and the berries are amazing.  They grow them as annuals, planting in the fall every year for a spring crop.  Even though they are a perennial, strawberry plants usually can't make it through the Houston summers.

I have a great area for strawberry plants.  The berry bed directly behind my garage stays shaded a good portion of the year and so my strawberry plants always make it through the heat of summer - most unusual here in Houston.  They don't bear heavily (and they bear at a different time of year than those from Froberg's Farm), but they do produce delicious berries every year for me, and they are perennial.  I've tried buying more expensive potted plants from nicer nurseries, and I've tried varieties that are supposed to be particularly good in the south, but the ones that always do the best from me are the cheap starts you can get at the big box stores for $4 for 10 plants.  After my garden clean up, I realized I had extra space in my berry bed, so I bought another pack to stick in around the blackberry brambles.

Sequoia Strawberries from Lowes

Berry Bed

The biggest problem I have with my strawberries is that other critters get to them before me.  The birds love them, and somehow I don't mind sharing so much with them.  The pill bugs drive me crazy though.  I'll think that I somehow made it to a berry before the birds only to find that's it's been eaten hollow from the underside.  I think I'm going to try putting down some diatomaceous earth around them this year and see if it helps.

They don't look like much after being planted.

What I'm Eating - Calamondins

I love these fantastic little fruits.  Their flavor is bright and vibrant, but very sour.  They make a great addition to drinks and salsa, and they work well in most recipes that call for lemon or lime.  I love them in beer.

Today I decided to try making an "orangeade" out of them.  I've made a limeade before that used the whole lime, peel and all.  Calamondins have a super thin skin with next to no pith, so I thought that might work well for them also.  They are seedy, though, so I sliced them in half to remove the seeds.

Then I blended them up with 1/3 cup of granulated sugar, 1/4 cup honey, and 6 cups water.

The end result was a little bitter.  I tried filtering out the pulp, which helped a little since it contained most of the bits of skin.  It has a bit of a kick, which really wasn't what I was going for, but it's not bad.  I added a few slices of fresh ginger to infuse the juice - I think the bite of the ginger will work well with the bitter kick of the juice.  We'll see.  My kids won't like it.  Next time I'll definitely peel the calamondins first.

Broccoli and Garden Clean-Up

What I'm Eating - Broccoli

Even though it's mostly been a fairly cool winter, my broccoli is starting to flower.  I've cooked and eaten the heads as much as 25% flowered, but really they're way better when the heads are tight, so I've been starting to pick.  Also, my six-year-old has his own little garden with broccoli and he's dying for me to cook it!  And who can say no to a six year old boy begging for broccoli?

You can see the pretty yellow flowers on the heads that have already opened up.  Also, you can see how the little buds are loosening up and the heads aren't as tight.  I feel like I didn't get very large heads of broccoli this year.  This will probably be the right amount for a meal for my family of five, but these are the main heads of five plants.  I'm using to being able to make a meal out of just 2 or 3 heads.  Oh well.

Other Stuff - Garden Clean-up

We've been treated to some fantastic spring weather here in Houston (yes, it's still January), so I've been taking advantage of the awesome conditions and cleaning up my garden area.  My side yard behind the garage, especially, had been taken over by weeds and piles of leaves from the neighbor's oak tree.  I cleaned up the leaves (saved some for later mulching, used some for mulch in the side yard bed, and threw a lot away), pulled weeds, and mulched my paths.  The side yard doesn't have much growing there right now.  I've tried so many things in that space - blackberries, grapes, asparagus, tomatoes, watermelons.  It's just really not an idea growing location, and it doesn't help that it becomes Mosquito Central in the summer so I never want to go back there.  This year, my plan is to plant some papayas there.

Main Garden Area

Side Yard

You may or may not be able to see my little lime tree at the end of my side yard.  A neighbor told me that Key Limes do well really well in our area.  I promptly went out and bought one and planted it.  About a month later I was talking to a nurseryman who told me "No way.  They'll freeze to the ground".  So at that point, I dug the thing up and tossed it in this corner and planted something else in the good spot.  Really, there was a hole in the ground and I just stuck the bare root ball in the hole and did nothing else - I didn't cover the roots or water it or anything.  Well, it has sat in that hole uncovered for two years now and it's been through two winters of freezes and it's still going and has even produced a lime, so I finally decided that maybe it has earned its place.

Uncovered roots of the Key Lime

I cleared away the weeds growing around its roots and put down some fertilizer (I use MicroLife, which is organic, non-burning, and super slow release), covered it up with some good garden soil, watered it well, and trimmed away a few dead branches.  We'll see how it does now.

Better.

Seed Clean Out and Meyer Lemons

What I'm Eating - Meyer Lemons

This is first year that my little Meyer Lemon tree - er, bush - has produced enough lemons that I have to figure out what to do with them.

My tree set about 15 fruit this year - not really enough to do some big preserving production, but more than I use in my everyday cooking and whatnot.  I've used some of them, but I have seven left, and they're starting to turn pretty orange, so I figured it was about time to pick them and do something with them.  Mostly, I use the juice for cooking and mixed drinks.  Also the zest makes a nice addition to herbal teas.

All the zest has been removed for drying.  It dries very quickly when set out at room temperature on paper plates.

The lemons from my tree tend to be VERY seedy.

Zest is laid out to dry, juice is squeezed for freezing.  I'm a big fan of freezing instead of canning.  I can't even tell you how many canning experiments have failed in my kitchen.  I never like the end results - always too acidic for my taste.  Anyhow, I freeze just about all extra produce from my garden - there are very few things that don't freeze well if you know how to do it.  I even freeze my excess tomatoes.

Other Stuff - Seed Clean Out

I've been cleaning out my seed stash.  I have an airtight rubbermaid container in my refrigerator where I keep all of my seeds.  In the past five years of gardening, I haven't ever had seeds so old that they didn't germinate, so I just keep saving and saving from year to year.  It was getting to the point that I couldn't even rifle through the packages because the box was way too full, so it was time for a clean out.

There are many seeds I've saved from swaps that I know I won't get around to using.  There are some vegetable categories that I've given up on for one reason or another (carrots, watermelons, garden beans...).  And there are some things that I forget that I have every year and buy again.  Parsley, anyone?

Plus, after the clean out, I've picked out some fun varieties I know I HAVE to try this year.  SO excited about that Roselle...

The seeds that I've cleaned out will be donated to our local community garden.

Tomatoes and Lettuce

In the past when I have kept a gardening journal, it has been quite helpful in timing my planting from year to year, remembering varieties I've enjoyed, and learning from my mistakes.  This will be my attempt at keeping a more permanent record.  Plus, I can add photos to my notes!

What I'm Planting - Tomatoes

Starting new tomatoes always gets me excited about the new season of gardening.  Here are the babies this year:

I have a variety of new and old favorites this year.  

Tried and True                                                                  New to Me

Early Girl                                                                            Marianna's Peace

Sweet 100 (for my neighbor and gardening buddy)           Ananas Noire

Snow White Cherry                                                            Black Zebra

White Tomesol                                                                   Purple Calabash

White Zebra                                                                        Pink Vernissage

Rutgers                                                                                Malachite Box

Rebel Yell

Pilcer Vesy

Lemon Boy

Berkeley TieDye

Black Krim

Green Zebra

Of these varieties, White Tomesol, Rebel Yell, and Pilcer Vesy are my can't-go-without tomatoes.  They all are delicious and produce well, with Rebel Yell being my all-time favorite.  It's a newer variety of open-pollinated potato leaf tomato that is large, red, and very productive.  Usually one of the fruits approaches 2 pounds, which is fun.

Berkeley TieDye was one I grew last year but it only had one tomato on the whole plant.  It wasn't a good tomato year, though, so I thought I'd give it another try.

I'm excited to see how the new varieties do.

The first week, I set them outside as soon as they sprouted so I wouldn't have to bother with hardening off.  That whole week was cold, rainy, and overcast.  I finally ended up putting them under grow lights for a few days to perk them up.  When I set them back out in the sun they seemed to do just fine without any real adjustment necessary.  Now that they have their true leaves, I've started giving them a tiny amount of Foliage-Pro in their water which they seem to like.  I'm hoping in another week they'll be ready to pot up.

What I'm Eating - Lettuce

There's a little chickweed and mizuna thrown in there for good measure too.  My husband says that the lettuce is his favorite vegetable that I grow.  He likes his salads with nothing but some fresh squeezed meyer lemon juice.

I usually plant my lettuce in mid-October and I get to start picking around Christmas.  This year I planted

Gentillina,
Grandpa Admire's
Lollo Rossa
Crisp Mint
Des Morges Braun
Forellenschluss
Burpee Bib

They are all varieties that do well in my garden.

Here's my lettuce bed:

You can see the mizuna and arugula around the bottom edge.  A little goes a long way with those two.