Yesterday evening, I took a picture of my strawberries that were going to be ready to pick today. So today, I came home right after work and went straight to the strawberries. Only to find that they had been eaten. Eaten by squirrels I assume (based off of the nice bite marks). Those stupid animals ate only the red ones.
Coming soon: pictures from the Austin Garden Bloggers' Get Together.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Rain
We've gotten about 2" at the house, probably a little less, over the last week or so. The plants are loving it. Almost as much as the lawn.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Garden Work
I jogged/walked the Texas Round Up 5k this morning, and on the way home, I decided it was a good day to do some yard work so I stopped off at Lowe's to pick up a couple bags of mulch.
I've mulched the vegetable garden beds and pots, and I still have 2 bags in order to do the flower beds. I also planted 4 more potted plants from Draco Gardens (I know, I've been horrendously lazy recently). Of course it took me a while to dig holes and everything because the previous owners used that weed barrier stuff in the beds where I planted the Artemesia and Rock Roses. Now, of course, I am a hot mess because all I've been doing all day long is sweating profusely.
The volunteer plant by the gate has proven to be a yellow lantana plant (a color which we do not have). Too bad it's in a place that requires me to move it to a different location, otherwise the gate will eventually smash the poor thing to death. I tried to take photos of it yesterday, but it was very windy, so we'll see if any of them turned out good enough to post.
I've mulched the vegetable garden beds and pots, and I still have 2 bags in order to do the flower beds. I also planted 4 more potted plants from Draco Gardens (I know, I've been horrendously lazy recently). Of course it took me a while to dig holes and everything because the previous owners used that weed barrier stuff in the beds where I planted the Artemesia and Rock Roses. Now, of course, I am a hot mess because all I've been doing all day long is sweating profusely.
The volunteer plant by the gate has proven to be a yellow lantana plant (a color which we do not have). Too bad it's in a place that requires me to move it to a different location, otherwise the gate will eventually smash the poor thing to death. I tried to take photos of it yesterday, but it was very windy, so we'll see if any of them turned out good enough to post.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Seeds
When Ross (coworker) and I went to the MG Spring Vegetable Gardening seminar, they gave us a seed pack of the Silver Rib Swiss Chard and a coupon for ordering seeds from Renee's Garden. The coupon was a "buy 4 get 1 free" deal. But of course, with one pretty small garden, what was I going to do with 5 packs of seeds other than plant them over the next 10 years?
That's when the idea struck that I could just go in on ordering the seeds with my garden fanatic coworkers and then subsidize the cost somewhat. I got enough people involved that it ended up making the cost $0.50 per variety wanted, and all I had to do was separate all the seeds into equal amounts and copy the planting instructions for everyone. I also went a bit crazy and ordered 10 seed packs instead of the required 5. But so far I think all involved are happy with the outcome--5 varieties of seeds for $2.50: The only possible problem is that for some seed varieties it means that people only got maybe 5 seeds or so (like the watermelons), while with other seeds everyone got 50 (like the scallions).
So, over the next couple of planting seasons (fall and spring most likely), I'll be starting the following seeds:
Beets
Broccoli
Chard (from the MGs)
Eggplant
Watermelon
Bell Peppers
Habanero Peppers
Scallions
Winter Squash
Garlic Chives
Lavender
Add this to the goal of saving my own seeds from the tomatoes (and possibly peppers...if they ever grow), and I'm going to be very busy this year.
That's when the idea struck that I could just go in on ordering the seeds with my garden fanatic coworkers and then subsidize the cost somewhat. I got enough people involved that it ended up making the cost $0.50 per variety wanted, and all I had to do was separate all the seeds into equal amounts and copy the planting instructions for everyone. I also went a bit crazy and ordered 10 seed packs instead of the required 5. But so far I think all involved are happy with the outcome--5 varieties of seeds for $2.50: The only possible problem is that for some seed varieties it means that people only got maybe 5 seeds or so (like the watermelons), while with other seeds everyone got 50 (like the scallions).
So, over the next couple of planting seasons (fall and spring most likely), I'll be starting the following seeds:
Beets
Broccoli
Chard (from the MGs)
Eggplant
Watermelon
Bell Peppers
Habanero Peppers
Scallions
Winter Squash
Garlic Chives
Lavender
Add this to the goal of saving my own seeds from the tomatoes (and possibly peppers...if they ever grow), and I'm going to be very busy this year.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
More Animal Visitors
Yesterday, when I woke up, I went to see how much it had rained. And I noticed these footprints by the back door:
I can't really decide if they're the tracks of a raccoon or of a young opossum though. Whatever. They just better not steal all my tomatoes when they ripen.
I can't really decide if they're the tracks of a raccoon or of a young opossum though. Whatever. They just better not steal all my tomatoes when they ripen.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Another Bloom Day,
Another day in which I didn't take pictures.
It's like I'm anti-bloom day or something. No, that's not true. It's just that I always feel like there's nothing blooming, so I don't take any photos. So today, though I didn't take any photos, I made a conscious effort to note everything that was blooming: The pansies, the purple lantana, the rose plant, the parsley, the tomatoes, and the strawberry are actively blooming. The bat-faced cuphea, passion vine, white lantana, and the volunteer plant by the gate and the volunteer plant by the lantana are about to bloom.
I'll for sure take photos of the volunteer plants since I have no idea what they are.
It's like I'm anti-bloom day or something. No, that's not true. It's just that I always feel like there's nothing blooming, so I don't take any photos. So today, though I didn't take any photos, I made a conscious effort to note everything that was blooming: The pansies, the purple lantana, the rose plant, the parsley, the tomatoes, and the strawberry are actively blooming. The bat-faced cuphea, passion vine, white lantana, and the volunteer plant by the gate and the volunteer plant by the lantana are about to bloom.
I'll for sure take photos of the volunteer plants since I have no idea what they are.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Lady Bird Wildflower Center Sale
My friend, Bond, and I went to the LBWC plant sale today. The cost to get in is $7 (the fee to get into the grounds) and then the plants are obviously some additional money.
Bond didn't find any plants, but I did find the one I wanted; a Coral Honeysuckle plant. At a price of $8, I only got one. I have a bad track record with plants and I want to make sure I can keep it alive before I go dropping all sorts of money.
We also went on a guided tour about plant taxonomy, and learned some interesting things--like sunflowers are actually lots of little flowers all organized to look like one single flower, and that there's this plant called Frostweed that is fairly nondescript until the first frost of the year where the sap leaks out and then freezes in all sorts of weird patterns.
And, of course, as always when I go to the wildflower center, I left my camera at home.
Bond didn't find any plants, but I did find the one I wanted; a Coral Honeysuckle plant. At a price of $8, I only got one. I have a bad track record with plants and I want to make sure I can keep it alive before I go dropping all sorts of money.
We also went on a guided tour about plant taxonomy, and learned some interesting things--like sunflowers are actually lots of little flowers all organized to look like one single flower, and that there's this plant called Frostweed that is fairly nondescript until the first frost of the year where the sap leaks out and then freezes in all sorts of weird patterns.
And, of course, as always when I go to the wildflower center, I left my camera at home.
Monday, April 6, 2009
More Weather
Stupid, freaking weather!
It is liable to freeze tonight. And it's still all windy. Though I guess the wind should die down around 10pm tonight and stay at less than 3mph for the rest of the night. This weather reminds me of Easter 2005. That was the year my inlaws came for a visit and were all excited because they could wear summer clothes. Then it was all cold and windy and we drove the 3 blocks to the church we visited that year (I would have toughed it out and walked--they served hot coffee!). Though I guess to be fair, that same year, the time when my parents came down to visit in October it was the same situation.
Stupid wind.
Sigh...that which does not kill my plants only makes them stronger.
It is liable to freeze tonight. And it's still all windy. Though I guess the wind should die down around 10pm tonight and stay at less than 3mph for the rest of the night. This weather reminds me of Easter 2005. That was the year my inlaws came for a visit and were all excited because they could wear summer clothes. Then it was all cold and windy and we drove the 3 blocks to the church we visited that year (I would have toughed it out and walked--they served hot coffee!). Though I guess to be fair, that same year, the time when my parents came down to visit in October it was the same situation.
Stupid wind.
Sigh...that which does not kill my plants only makes them stronger.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Weather
This crappy wind on the weekends REALLY needs to stop. I've got garden work to do, but I refuse to garden in the wind and get dust blown in my eyes.
Also, I need to get this garden stuff done because I'm starting to forget about certain plants in pots--I have no problem with the ones on the back porch because I see them everytime I look out the door. But I'm starting to forget about the ones I had bought at the Zilker Garden Fest. I went out to check on them on Thursday night and thought they were a little dry, but didn't want to water them right before nightfall so I promised myself I'd do it Friday morning. I forgot. By the time I got home and remembered to check on them, it was just about nightfall and the poor bat-faced cuphea was all crispy. I doused all the plants in water as waiting until morning probably would have done them in. See? This is why I need to have a nice day to plant stuff.
And yes, yesterday WAS a nice day, and I should have done more gardening, but I thought the whole weekend was supposed to be nice, so I figured I'd do chores on Saturday, gardening on Sunday. Boourns stupid wind!
Also, I need to get this garden stuff done because I'm starting to forget about certain plants in pots--I have no problem with the ones on the back porch because I see them everytime I look out the door. But I'm starting to forget about the ones I had bought at the Zilker Garden Fest. I went out to check on them on Thursday night and thought they were a little dry, but didn't want to water them right before nightfall so I promised myself I'd do it Friday morning. I forgot. By the time I got home and remembered to check on them, it was just about nightfall and the poor bat-faced cuphea was all crispy. I doused all the plants in water as waiting until morning probably would have done them in. See? This is why I need to have a nice day to plant stuff.
And yes, yesterday WAS a nice day, and I should have done more gardening, but I thought the whole weekend was supposed to be nice, so I figured I'd do chores on Saturday, gardening on Sunday. Boourns stupid wind!
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