Garden Update in Pictures

New Lantanas (white trailing, yellow mounding) and Black and Blue Salvia. Since I took this picture I have added two more Black and Blue Salvias to balance it out.

Here's a picture of the rest of the plants I still need to put in. They include, more Lantanas, Pink Skullcap and Russian Sage. This morning I put in one Lantana and Two Skullcaps. I hope to finish the rest throughout the week, one or two a day after work.

Black and Blue Salvia.

Butter Beans and Green Beans

Okra. Yes, they really are as tall as the house

"Crimson Giant" Radish

Romas, round two

Winter Garden Beds

First Winter Harvest

Today I picked the first of my "winter" veggies, radishes! No, I didn't leave them in the ground too long, these are called "Crimson Giants" and are meant to be the size of a small apple. I'm going to make a salad tonight and decide how I like this variety. I also picked some serranos, cherry tomatoes and okra. The okra is still hanging in there, but the cool weather severely stunts the production.

Tomato Pests

I've been so busy with my new veggies and flowers that I've been neglecting the tomatoes. This weekend I gave them a little attention and found that both leaf-footed bugs and tomato horn worms. Argh!

I found both the adults and nymphs of the leaf-footed bugs. I killed about 20, but at least that many escaped. I'm worried it's only a matter of time before I have to rip out the plants. There are some really nice looking cherries that should be ripening soon, so I'm hoping to fight them off long enough to get a few.

I found two tomato horned worms. I looked them up in the Texas Bug Book and found that the adults only lay a few eggs, since a single larvae can do so much damage. Last year there were four of five on the plants, so I'm hoping there aren't too many more. Also last year I only found these guys in the fall. Has anyone found them in their spring/summer crop?

These guys can be hard to spot, but I've discovered another way to detect them. Their droppings seem to be pretty distinct, especially with the relatively large size.

Green droppings, after he's been eating leaves

Orange droppings, after he's been eating my precious tomatoes

I did find a few friends in the garden today, which was nice after fighting off the others all morning. Here is an Anole I found in the Basil. I didn't get a picture, but I did find some Soldier Bugs too.

Fall Veggie Garden Started

The fall garden is in full swing. Last weekend I bagged the last of the dirt for my new beds. I also installed a drip system for the bed I had planted the week before. Here's what I have going so far.

mid August - put together bean tent and planted butter beans, green beans

mid August - Planted cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprouts, broccoli ( in pots to monitor sun)

Aug 29th - Planted carrots, radishes, lettuce

Sept 2nd - Planted spinach, swiss chard

A few pics ...

Carrots, Radishes, Lettuce and new drip system

Butter Bean plant climbing new "tent". I grew this plant from a seed from my spring butter bean plant. Pretty cool :)

Fall Seedlings

Limequat - Mission Accomplished (almost)

I mentioned as one of my spring goals that I wanted to find a limequat tree. I didn't have much luck and just crossed it off the list. Last week at The Natural Gardener I didn't find a limequat tree, but I did find a lemonquat. I think that's close enough. Turns out they were having a 40% off sale on all trees, so I picked up three citrus trees. All are Texas hardy, so I can plant them right in the ground. This is a requirement, since I already have the fun of moving my Meyer Lemon and Mexican Lime in and out.

Lemonquat

Pineapple Orange (dwarf)

Otwari Satsuma (dwarf)

Meyer Lemon, just starting to ripen

Mexican Lime.

These taste more like an orange than a lime. I'm not sure if that is normal,

but they are extremely tasty.

I got a very useful tip from one of the workers at The Natural Gardener. She showed me a shoot that was coming up from the base one of the trees. It looked very green and healthy, but the leaves were a bit different, three parts to it, rather than the one big leaf of the tree. She said these would suck up all of the tree's energy and should be plucked off. I recognized them from my lemon tree. This year the lime has been doing much better than the lemon and I wasn't sure why. Turns out it was these shoots. I plucked them off this week (a few were so big I had to cut them) and the lemon tree is thriving.

Annuals that can take the HEAT

I've decided that any annuals in the garden have to be able to survive on water no more than once a week. Here's the one's that can take the heat.

Zinnias

Cosmos

Cosmos

Moonflower

Tithonia -

The seed packet said these do really well with little water. I'm not buying it. I won't be repeating these guys.

Recipes 8/16

My garden is at an in between phase right now, so I'm not producing much. I started going to the farmer's market again, until mine picks up. Here's a few recipes I made from farmer's market goodies.

Pineapple Zucchini Bread

(This one if from my mom. It is sooo good! I haven't ever put in the cherries, but I have tried

it with and without nuts. I've also never done muffins, just bread.)

3 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 cup oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups zucchini -- grated

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup pineapple -- crushed

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

1/2 cup maraschino cherries (optional)

Beat eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla. Add zucchini, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pineapples, nuts, and cherries. Pour into two greased 5 x 9 inch loaf pans or 24 muffin cups.

Bake at 325 degrees for about 1 hour for loaves, or 20 minutes for muffins. (24 Servings)

Makes: 2 loaves or 24 muffins

Black-Eyed Peas over Pasta (serves 4)

5 slices bacon, chopped and cooked until crisp ( set aside)

1 yellow onion

1 bell pepper

1 jalapeno/serrano (optional)

1 italian sausage ( I use hot)

around 2 cups diced tomatoes

8 oz egg noodles

5-10 diced mushrooms

1-2 cups fresh black-eyed peas ( to your liking)

cook onion, peppers, sausage until sausage cooked through and veggies soft

add mushrooms/peas and cook for another minute or 2

add tomatoes and enough water to covPublish Poster peas

bring to a boil and cook until peas are soft (30 mins to an hour)

serve over egg noodles

put sprinkled bacon and basil on top

(Forgot to mention ... add salt and pepper as your cooking to taste)