Fall Planting & Homemade Ollas

I finally got around to planting my fall garden last weekend.  Part of the reason it took so long was because of all the rain (over 10" at my house over the last 2 weeks).  The other reason was that I had decided to make some homemade Ollas.  I'm not sure if they'll work, or how well, but I figured that it was like $10 for two of them so it's not a big deal if it doesn't work.

I made mine thusly:

Step 1: purchase an unglazed terracotta pot with a saucer that fits the top.  Also get yourself some permanent craft glue.  The directions I followed actually recommended using permanent craft glue and then sealing around the seams with caulk.  I opted to skip the caulking part and only used the E6000; so again, I don't know if it will work or for how long, but yay! EXPERIMENT!

Step 2: Follow craft glue directions to glue the saucer to the pot.  In the case of E6000, you're to put a thin layer on each piece, let them sit for 2-5 minutes and then press together.

Step 3: After pressing the pieces together, I added a bead around the outside  and then let them sit for a few days.

Then came this last weekend - I pulled out the spring veggies (it was tough - especially since both the tomato and habanero were alive; but neither had any flowers and it's really too late in the season to have expected them to produce anything before the freezes), and buried the ollas in the garden - one in each bed, and then planted the fall veggies around.

I left the herbs in place and I had already planted the Inchellium garlic so I really only needed to transplant the starts I had purchased at Red Barn a few weeks ago.  This year I'm growing the aforementioned Inchelium Garlic, Garlic Chives, Oregano, "Bouquet" Dill, "Bronze" Fennel, "Snow Crown" Cauliflower, "Pacman" Broccoli, "Black Magic" Kale, "Dragon Tongue" Mustard, "Graffiti" Cauliflower, "Romanesco" Broccoli, and "Southern Comet" Broccoli.

Infusions

I got the idea for infusions from my friend and fellow blogger, Vicki at Playin' Outside when she presented about her vinegar infusions at a garden tour a few years ago.  Vicki said that she uses 'seasoned rice vinegar' which has some sugar in it to cut the acidity of vinegar, but if you're going to use straight vinegar, you should use rice or white wine vinegar (avoid the regular white distilled or cider vinegars because they're just too astringent).  She also said that she doesn't have recipes (which is always the first thing people ask for); her recommendation was to walk around your garden and pluck some herbs, hold them together and sniff - if they smell good together, you're good to go, if they don't, figure out which one is the offending one and toss it out.  Of course, you generally can go off of known good combos - Italian herbs (oregano, basil, parsley, thyme, sage), Mexican herbs (oregano, peppers, garlic), French herbs (rosemary, thyme, bay leaf) - generally if you use the herbs together in a recipe, they're probably going to go well together for an infusion, so go find your favorite recipe and add the same ratio of herbs to vinegar and have a go at an infusion.

But why stop at vinegar?  Why stop at herbs?

But first, let's talk about the set up for infusions.  What you'll need:

• large glass jar with lid (preferably plastic, but you can use a mason jar, you'll just have to protect the metal with a sheet of plastic wrap if you're using vinegar)
• a plastic lid from a yogurt container cut to slightly smaller than the inside diameter of the jar, with some slits cut in it.
• vinegar, oil, vodka, bourbon, or tequila - enough to cover your herbs and then some.
• your herbs, fruit, vegetables, garlic, peppers, etc.  (when using fruit/vegetables, use the ripe ones - it should smell like what you want - if using citrus fruit, you only need the peel, pith removed.)

And now for the photos:

Put your infusers in the jar (in this case, a peeled head of garlic and 4 Thai peppers)

prepare your "hold everything below the surface" yogurt lid

Select your poison (in this case vinegar)

A top view of the infusers (garlic and dried thai peppers)

place the yogurt lid on top of the infusers

Add the liquid.  Let sit for a few weeks before using.  I tend to just let the items sit in the jar until I finally decide that I want to start a new infusion.

I tend to use vinegar infusions as a finisher for sautéed summer squash, roasted Brussels sprouts, and making homemade salad dressing (which consists of herbed vinegar and olive oil).  The one above also gets used on breakfast potatoes when they need a little extra kick.

When using other liquids, choose good quality ones - in the case of liquors, choose ones that you would actually drink - so don't cheap out on the vodka and get the one that burns like paint thinner just to save a few bucks.

I've just recently expanded into trying basil in olive oil:

Lemon peel in Deep Eddy vodka (taken a few days after I started):

And peaches in Deep Eddy vodka (taken a few days after I started):

In the case of vodka infusions, I've had coworkers who have done fennel, corn (surprisingly good), cucumber, raspberry, strawberry, and blackberry.  In all cases, it works best if, after a few days, you taste test the infusion to see if it's got the flavor you were aiming for.  In any case, you probably don't want to leave the items in the vodka indefinitely.  Besides, how are you supposed to eat those delicious vodka-soaked fruit on ice cream if you leave them IN the vodka?

NxNA Garden Tour 2015: Fulk Garden, Ortega Garden, and Gus Garcia Community Garden

At the beginning of May, the NxNA Garden Tour took place and of the 24 gardens, I managed to visit 19 of them.  It was a busy day.

You can read my other NxNA Garden Tour entries (both this year and last year here).

The Fulk garden was a themed container garden - the themes included Mojito and Spaghetti sauce (shown below) there was also a Salsa container as well.  This is a super cute idea and I've told my sister (who just started her own container herb gardens) that she might want to try this next year.  She lives in Colorado, so a lot of her herbs will need to be replanted as opposed to down here where most are perennial.

The main draw of this garden, though, was the artwork of Janet Fulk and Charlotte Barbini.

Mojito Herb Garden Plant list

Spaghetti Sauce herb garden

Janet Fulk Artwork - I really loved the watercolor (I think) of a flapper.  I should have bought one of the prints she had of it, but I had already purchased the bike photo and I figured Shawn wouldn't be happy with another art purchase.

The Ortega Garden is in its infancy, and the main draw here was the photography of John Raymond and the garden artwork of Linda Messier.

Randy must be doing something right since he has a visiting anole.

Garden art.

On my 8th stop of the garden tour, I ended up walking around the YMCA (because apparently I am blind as to where the garden was), but it's okay because they recently finished landscaping the area and it was a very lovely short walk along the Walnut Creek Hike and Bike Trail.

The coolest thing about the Gus Garcia garden was that it included garden tables so the elderly folks didn't have to bend over to garden.  The tables were very sturdy, and they also had actual garden plots for those who wanted to get down on hands and knees to garden.  Unlike the community gardens in some other parts of town, this one had plots that were open and not currently being used.  They also have a huge rain barrel cistern which collects the rain from the YMCA roof - it is gravity fed underground and fills the cistern (like a giant manometer tube - or the newly constructed Waller Creek Tunnel if Waterloo park was the YMCA gutters and the cistern was the outlet)

Entrance sign

The awesome raised tables

The exit from the Senior garden

Raised beds - the tree line behind the fence is where Walnut Creek is located.  I've heard the Hike and Bike trail is awesome, but I wouldn't know because the day I was supposed to bike it, we had a rain storm.

What I planted/harvested in 2014

Lettuce "Red Rosie" transplanted November 9.  Red Rosie has an upright habit. The leaves are red more than half way down and then fade to green, creating a unique 'half and half' look. Resistant to downy mildew races 1-16, 19, 21, and 23. Begin harvest November 30.  Experience:  Not bad - i think I like the other red lettuces better, but this one is pretty beefy so I will gladly take it.  Because of the half/half look, it actually makes it look like the plant is sick all the time - like it should either be all red, or all green, but as long as you're prepared for it, it's not surprising.

Kale "Scarlet" transplanted November 9. Remarkably attractive dark green kale with red veined, frilly, tightly curled leaves. We have found Scarlet to be a vigorous performer with good cold tolerance. Begin harvesting leaves when young, and allow plant to grow well into the early winter. 24-36" tall by 24" wide, 60 days from transplant.  Experience:  It seems to be growing pretty well - it's got the most shade out of all the plants - once the freezes kill off the petunia, I can get this one more sun and hopefully it will take off after that.

Cabbage "Early Flat Dutch" transplanted November 2. 85 days. [Pre-1875, possibly pre-1855 variety] Does well in southern and coastal areas because of its heat resistance. Excellent variety for sauerkraut and the best variety for storage. Heads are large and flat, weighing 6 to 10 lbs., averaging 11 in. diameter with medium core and few outside leaves. Experience:  Another plant I'm not having good luck with...

Lettuce "Parris Island" transplanted November 2. 70 days. A tasty romaine-type. Uniform heads are pale cream-green inside, and the outside is dark green. Developed around 1949; named after Parris Island, off the East coast. Begin harvest November 30.  Experience:  I don't know why I got a romaine-type lettuce - I've been plucking leaves off the bottom to put in salads, but I should really just let it grow into the head that it wants to.

Lettuce "Dark Lolla Rosa" transplanted November 2. One of the most deeply curled loose-leaf lettuces. Beautiful magenta leaves with light green bases, mild flavor, cut and come again, sow spring or fall. Plant eaten by opossums November 8. Experience:  There isn't really any - the opossums ate it before I could even try it. 

Brussels Sprouts "" transplanted November 2. The Brussels sprout is a cultivar in the Gemmifera group of cabbages, grown for its edible buds. The leafy green vegetables are typically 2.5–4 cm in diameter and look like miniature cabbages.  Experience:  I've never had good luck with Brussels sprouts.

Cauliflower "Veronica Romanesco" transplanted November 2. 85 days. Veronica is the finest variety we have seen, with very symmetrical, absolutely lovely lime-green heads topped by tightly beaded, pointed domes. Excellent raw or cooked, it boasts a milder, sweeter flavor than white Cauliflower, to say nothing of its appetizing visual appeal! Experience:  The only plant that's doing worse of the cauliflowers is the Graffiti. I've never had good luck with Cauliflower.

Mustard Greens "Osaka Purple" transplanted November 2. The large rounded purple leaves of this Japanese mustard are beautiful, pungent and sharp. Try placing a filet of steamed fish on top of a bed of these leaves as a substitute for wasabi. It is best planted as a cool weather crop, and can also be used as a companion plant to repel aphids. Begin harvest November 30.  Experience:  The plant is larger than the Red Giant - but then, I also got this one as a transplant.  I don't like mustard greens in my salads, so I've learned that.  I think this one is a bit more bitter than the Red Giant, but that could have just been the leaf that day.

Cauliflower "Graffiti" transplanted November 2. 80 days from setting out transplants. Easily the darkest and "truest" of the purple cauliflowers. This widely adapted, vigorous variety sets large heads of deep purple that keep their color even after cooking (reaching a shade of mauve). These heavy, well-packed heads intensify their shade of violet with exposure to sun, and need less wrapper protection than most others. They make a splendid fall crop, but are also suitable for spring. Highly resistant to downy mildew, they can withstand rainy and humid climates far easier than older varieties. And they just look spectacular!  Experience:  The worst looking of all my cauliflower plants.  I think it's just more finicky than the other cauliflowers...of course, I also tend to have really bad luck with cauliflower plants.

Brussels Sprouts "Nautic" transplanted November 2. Nautic's sprouts are medium-sized and have excellent taste. Plant is bigger than Diablo and has a higher yield potential, especially in areas with a cool fall. Excellent cold tolerance. For late fall harvest. Experience:  I do not have good luck with Brussels Sprouts...

Broccoli "Marathon" transplanted November 2. This late variety is highly tolerant to cold. Grown successfully in the Northeast for late summer and fall crops, and over the winter in Florida and California.Experience:  The plant is doing pretty well.

Lettuce "Merlot" transplanted November 2. 55 days. (Also known as “Galactic.”) Reputed to be absolutely the darkest red lettuce in existence, which should make it tops for anthocyanin (anti-oxidant) content as well! Leaf lettuce with wavy to frilly leaf margins and very crisp, waxy leaves! Excellent bolt resistance, and good cold tolerance for a late fall to winter crop. Recommended as a cutting type for baby greens production or cut-and-come-again harvesting. We feel, along with our friend William Woys Weaver, that this variety is destined to become a classic, and it certainly deserves it! Begin harvest November 30. Experience:  Yummy!  good in mixed greens salad.

Lettuce "Flashy Trout" transplanted November 2. 55 days. This beautiful variety steals all the attention in the salad garden. In Europe, this Austrian heirloom is called Forellenschluss romaine and is one of the most prized of all varieties. A dark green leaved romaine splashed with wine-red speckles. Imagine dipping a paintbrush in red paint and giving it a hard shake onto your romaine lettuce. You've got the picture. Your taste buds will like it too, for its rich buttery flavor.Begin harvest November 30. Experience:  Yum yum, I recommend this one.

Cauliflower "Snow Crown" transplanted November 2. 50-60 days. Snow Crown is always mild and sweet. Its hybrid vigor and rapid growth make it one of the easiest to grow of all early cauliflower varieties. It forms fully domed curds in heads 7-8 inches across, weighing 1-2 pounds. This variety maintains its prime eating quality for up to 10 days in the garden. May manifest a delicate pink blush when maturing in the hotter parts of summer. Experience:  Looks the best out of my cauliflowers.  haven't noticed any actual cauliflower though...

Garlic "White" planted October 12 (west bed). Large, plump soft-neck bulbs have papery skins and plenty of creamy white cloves bursting with excellent spicy-hot flavor. Easy to grow, very productive, adaptable to any climate. Experience:  I feel like the garlic just isn't growing this year...but then, my garlic looks the same as Roberta's so it's probably right on schedule and I just think it should be further along because I actually planted on time.

Store-bought garlic just can't compare! Large, plump softneck bulbs have papery skins and plenty of creamy-white cloves bursting with excellent, spicy-hot flavor. Easy to grow, very productive, adaptable to any climate. Cultivate and store as you would onions. - See more at: http://www.gurneys.com/product/california_white_garlic#sthash.00H6vCVB.dpuf

Store-bought garlic just can't compare! Large, plump softneck bulbs have papery skins and plenty of creamy-white cloves bursting with excellent, spicy-hot flavor. Easy to grow, very productive, adaptable to any climate. Cultivate and store as you would onions. - See more at: http://www.gurneys.com/product/california_white_garlic#sthash.00H6vCVB.dpuf

Garlic "Inchelium" planted October 12 (east bed). Mid-season. Inchelium Red is a national taste-test winner in the softneck division. This mild flavored garlic is great baked and blended with mashed potatoes. This large, top-quality softneck was discovered on the Colville Indian Reservation in northern Washington. Stores very well for 6-9 months. Experience:  I feel like the garlic just isn't growing this year...But then, my garlic looks about the same as Roberta's so it's probably right on schedule and I just think it should be further along because I actually planted on time.

Cauliflower "Chef's Blend" sown August 30.  Sprouted September 6.  Transplanted October 30. 75-120 days. This colorful mix of three varieties gives you a long harvest period from 75 to 120 days. ‘Snowball Y’, an heirloom variety from 1947, has tight white heads on dwarf plants. ‘Green Macerata’ is a delicious green Italian heirloom. ‘Purple of Sicily’ is also an Italian heirloom with bright purple heads and mild flavor. Healthful minerals give it the purple color, which turns green when cooked. We recommend a late summer planting with fall harvest for best results. Experience:  This is really the first year that I've managed to get these to grow.  i only have 2 (maybe 3 plants) that are still going, but they are thriving - and you can't tell which ones I started from seed compared to the ones I purchased, so yay!

Swiss Chard "Silver Rib" sown August 30.  Sprouted September 6. Transplanted October 30. Selected by discerning Italian cooks for its clean mellow flavor, these handsome vigorous plants have wide, silvery mid-ribs and crinkly, broad, deep green leaves. Experience:  Okay, though the plants seems very stunted compared to what most people end up with for chard.

Mustard Greens "Red Giant" sown August 30. Sprouted September 6. Transplanted October 30. 40 days (mature) or 20 days (baby greens). Red Giant is a brilliant maroon with deep green midribs, so showy you may just have to plant two crops. These leaves are slightly textured for a better bite and good holding power. The flavor is zesty and full, with a good bite that you just can't find in store-bought mustard greens. And because you pick this mustard leaf by leaf for eating (instead of uprooting the entire plant, as you do for head lettuce), you can enjoy the fine display of color for many weeks! Frost just improves the flavor and color. Begin harvest November 30. Experience: Pretty good growing wise - I haven't done a taste test between Osaka Purple and Red Giant yet.  I do know that I do not like mustard greens in my salads though.  We usually use mustard greens on sandwiches.

Kale "Dino" sown August 30.  Unique blue-green savoyed leaf. This variety has surprisingly tender texture, great for raw kale salads and the darkest blue-green leaf color of any kale. Flavor sweetens after frost. Our strain has been improved by breeder Frank Morton of Wild Garden Seeds. Improved vigor, yield and hardiness. None sprouted.  Experience:  Can't really say since none of the seeds sprouted.  To be fair, it was very old seed.

Sweet Potato Slips "[Grocery Store Variety]" planted April 27.  All slips died. Experience:  They all dried up - I just didn't water them enough.

Tomato "Early Girl" transplanted April 26. Red. Good slicer, dependable large harvest tomato. First of the season! Excellent performer. Indeterminate. 52 days.  Begin harvest June 7. Removed plant August 10. 3 tomatoes harvested. Experience:  Very stunted plant - not sure if it's because I planted late, or if it's the soil, or not enough sun or what.  The flavor of the tomatoes was very much like a store-bought tomato.  Why bother?  3/10 flavor.

Eggplant "Pingtung Long" transplanted April 26. Slender violet-purple eggplant 12" long. Excellent mild flavor and tender white flesh. Thrives and produce continuous harvests in summer heat and humidity. 65 days.  Removed plant August 10. 1 eggplant harvested total. Experience: Eh.  could be because I planted too late, could be that I need to get the soil tested where I planted it because the Early Girl was in the same area and it also did not produce.

Dill "" transplanted April 26.  Plant removed in June or so. Planted for swallowtail caterpillars. Experience:  I like dill plants (usually I try to make Dill Dough Dinner Rolls), but I didn't get enough to harvest this year - seems to be the preferred plant for swallowtails.

Fennel "" transplanted April 26. Planted for swallowtail caterpillars. Experience:  Pretty low maintenance - has already made it through quite a few freezes (including hard freezes) and keeps on trucking.  I don't use fennel in cooking because I don't like the taste, so it's decorative only.

Tomato "Blue Berries" transplanted March 21.  Very dark purple color. At maturity they turn deep red where the fruit was shaded and almost black where it's been in full sun. Elongated clusters that look beautiful. Indeterminate. 75 days. Begin harvest June 7.  Removed plant August 10 (to replant cutting from this plant for fall tomatoes).  Transplanted new plant on August 30.  Removed plant December 23. 305 tomatoes harvested total (none from the fall plant). Experience:  Holy tomatoes, Batman.  I'm pretty sure this is my favorite cherry tomato of all time.  The tomatoes are sweet when ripe, very good in a caprese salad. 8/10 flavor.  Plant is one of the 6' tall ones.

Tomato "Cherokee Purple" transplanted March 21.  Dusky rose, purple fruit, large 10-12 oz, heavy producer. Very popular tomato from Tennessee. Sweet rich flavor. Indeterminate. 80 days. Begin harvest on June 9. Removed plant October 12. 17 tomatoes harvested total. Very vigorous plan - huge tomatoes.  Medium level producer for an heirloom.  Will split with too much water close to harvest time. Very good flavor - 9/10.

Eggplant "Machiaw" transplanted March 21.  Pale lavender skin, 9-12" long. Mild tasting white flesh. 65 days. Removed plant October 26. 4 eggplants harvested total. Not bad, but not very prolific for me - very skinny, long eggplants - usually used in Pasta alla Norma.

Pepper "Red Savina" transplanted (3) March 21. Red Savina peppers were reported to a score up to 577,000 on the Scoville scale, but this oft-quoted figure was never verified;a comparison experiment carried out by a group of researchers including Regents Professor Paul W. Bosland at the Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University in 2005 revealed an average heat level of about 450,000 Scoville Heat Units for Red Savina habaneros. Repotted (1) October 27. 0 peppers harvested total. Experience:  Nothing to really report.

Pepper "Chocolate Habanero" transplanted March 21.  So beautiful. The chocolate-brown, lantern shaped fruit are about 2 inches long, and so ornamental! But don't let the color fool you; these are not candy, but rather flaming-hot fruit that carry a massive 300,000 Scoville units of heat! Hot pepper enthusiasts love the heat and flavor that these chocolate fruit are packed with, but be careful and use in moderation.  Repotted October 27. 2 peppers harvested total. The plant doubled in size this year (still a small plant).  Not as hot as I expected.  Shawn used the peppers in chili.

Pepper "Pot Douglah" transplanted March 21. A rare and amazingly hot pepper from the Caribbean, Trinidad Douglah (or 7 Pot Chocolate) is one of a group of the hottest peppers in the world. Scoville ratings have varied, but it consistently rates from 1 million to 1.5 million on the scale and the pepper is likely even hotter than the Ghost Pepper/Bhut Jolokia. Trinidad Douglah bears large pods that ripen to a dark, chocolate brown and are heavily wrinkled, characteristic of most of the super-hots. Flavor is intensely hot and unique from the red and yellow 7 Pot varieties.  Repotted October 27. 0 peppers harvested total. Experience:  Nothing to report.  The plant didn't grow much this year.

Eggplant "Fairytale" transplanted March 20. Early harvests of elongated lavender fruit with white stripes. Best picked when about 4X1 3/4 inches while the skin is still shiny. Plants are ideal for containers. 50 days. Plant frozen in November. 12 eggplants harvested total. Experience: Best of the eggplants I've grown.  Eggplants are little though, so I ended up using them mostly for things like Baba Ganouj.

Tomato "Japanese Black Trifele" transplanted March 20. Potato leaf foliage. Black, pear-shaped tomato that looks like a little eggplant on the vine. It's a commercially grown tomato in Russia. Complex, rich sweet flavor. Determinate. 80 days. (note: it does not look like an eggplant).  Begin harvest May 27. Removed plant December 23. 36 tomatoes harvested total (4 with cracking). Experience: Okay.  Fairly bland tomato.  Flavor 5/10.  Did well in grow box and only had cracking issues when we had rain storms.

Tomato "Chico III" transplanted March 20. Very early, oblong tomato developed in California. Wonderful disease resistance. Many consider this to be superior to Roma, as it is much earlier and a touch sweeter. Determinate. 70 days. Begin harvest May 22.  Removed plant December 23.  75 tomatoes harvested total (38 did not have blossom end rot). Experience: Not bad, not great.  not assertively tomato flavored, but not bland.  7/10 flavor.  Do not plant in a grow box - the plant is prone to blossom end rot.

Tomato "Dwarf Arctic Rose" transplanted March 20. A 2012 release by the Dwarf Tomato Project. Topping out at about 3 feet, this is the shortest of the project releases to date. Determinate. 70 days. Begin harvest on June 8 (only one tomato left after this date). 5 tomatoes harvested total. Experience: Small plant (patio), decent sized fruits; med-large yield for plant size.  Okay flavor - 6/10.

Pepper "Aji Crystal" transplanted March 20. Originally from Curico, Chile. Very heavy set of 3½" long fruits on large 3' plants. Waxy fruits ripen light green to yellow to reddish-orange. Excellent spicy citrus flavor is best when immature, great for salsa. 90 days from transplant. HOT.  Removed plant October 26.  21 peppers harvested total. Experience:  I keep feeling like I just wait and wait for the peppers to turn red.  Though they can be eaten when light green, they taste "green" and they were our least preferred of all of the peppers we grew.

Pepper "Trinidad Scorpion" transplanted March 20. 90-120 days. Outrageously hot, these peppers mature to a red color. It is a tall plant that should produce many 2-3 inch peppers. Repotted plant October 27.  0 peppers harvested total. Experience:  Meh.  The plant grew more this year, so that's good.

Pepper "Orange Fogo" transplanted March 20. Removed October 26, one potted up on October 27. Beautiful chiles for authentic Thai cooking. Vigorous Full Moon ripens bright orange with delicious medium hot/sweet pungency, perfect minced in sauces and salads. Red Vesuvius' fiery little fruits point up like flames, with that nutty, incendiary pungency just right for stirfries. Use fresh or air dry for tantalizing Asian style dishes. (85 days) 16 peppers harvested total. Experience:  The first year I've actually managed to get some orange fogos.  Too bad the first one I pulled, I ate straight from the plant because I thought it was a hold over from last year's mild orange pepper.  It was not.  It was 'burn your face off' hot.  I think these are slightly hotter than the Red Demon peppers.  The peppers are about the size of 3 of the Red Demons (middle finger sized vs. pinky sized), so maybe it's not that they're hotter, but that I have to use 3 of the Red Demons to get the same effect in cooking.  These don't dry as easily as the Red Demons.

Pepper "Red Demon" transplanted (2) March 20.  Chilli Pepper 'Demon Red' produces upward facing, very hot chilli peppers throughout summer. This very dwarf variety was specially bred for growing on a windowsill or in patio containers, where it makes an attractive plant for edible or ornamental use. This compact RHS AGM variety produces prolific yields, grown indoors or outside. Height and spread: 35cm (14”). Removed October 26.  105 peppers harvested total. Experience:  Holy Hot Peppers, Batman.  I love this plant.  The peppers are spicy, though not prohibitively so (keeping in mind that we use hot peppers all the time).  These peppers dry easily.

Pepper "Aurora" transplanted March 20.  Stunning 1½" long fruits borne on foot-high ornamental plants, perfect for container growing. Fruits ripen from lavender to deep purple to orange and finally to red. 60–75 days from transplant. MEDIUM HOT.  Plant died. 0 peppers harvested total.  Experience:  Meh - did slightly better last year, I just don't have much luck with the non-Thai peppers...

Artichoke "Imperial Star" transplanted on January 15.  A green artichoke specifically bred for annual production, Imperial Star will produce well-developed artichokes the first year from seed. Plants become 1 1/2-3' tall and have an open growth habit. Each typically produces 1-2 primary buds, which average 3-4" in diameter, and 5-7 smaller secondary buds. Perennial in Zone 7 and warmer; otherwise treat as an annual. Dormant or dead by June 12. Experience: Meh.  I do want to grow an artichoke, but the location I chose just wasn't good.

Carrots "Sunshine Mix" sown on January 15. Sprouted February 17.  exclusive a mix of 2 colorful varieties sow in late summer or spring to yield bountiful, healthful crops of sweet, crunchy, deep orange & sunny yellow carrots. (88 days) Harvested May 21.  3 carrots harvested total. Experience:  I've never had much luck with carrots, though the flavor of these, especially the yellow ones, is very good.


Lettuce "Schweitzer's Mescher" sown on January 14.  Sprouted February 1.  50 days. [Dates back to the 1700s. Introduced 1986 by SESE. This strain was brought to the U.S. from Austria in the early 1900s and has been maintained as a Schweitzer family heirloom.] Best grown in cool weather, forms small tight crisp heads of green leaves ringed with red. Excellent flavor and appearance. Started harvest March 18, ended harvest May 21. Experience: a good tasting lettuce.  The plants seemed a big hardier than the Salad Bowl variety.

Lettuce "Salad Bowl" sown on January 14. Sprouted February 1. Crisp and tender with a sweet flavor. Large, deeply lobed, green leaves. Slow to bolt, non-heading. All-America Selections winner. Ready 45 days after sowing. Started Harvest March 18, ended harvest May 21. Experience: a good tasting lettuce.  The plants weren't very big, though.

Spinach "Bloomdale Long Standing" sown on January 14.  Sprouted February 1.  Popeye's favorite heirloom variety! Bloomsdale Long Standing is an old standard. It's a large, spreading spinach has dark green, savoyed curled leaves. The yield is good, and it is slow to bolt. For first crop, sow in spring. Plant again in late summer. In mild winter areas, fall plantings yield in early spring. Started harvest March 18, ended harvest May 21.  Experience:  not very prolific - but then I've never had much luck with spinach.

The Queen is Dead, Long Live the Queen

So I successfully kept 13 monarch caterpillars which turned into monarch butterflies. 

Monarch butterfly just after emergence.  The abdomen pulses and fills the wings with fluid.

I decided to try gulf fritillaries - one of which I accidentally smushed between the screen and edge of the tupperware container one day when I was changing the food for the remaining caterpillars (which included an additional 5 monarch caterpillars and another gulf fritillary).  The remaining fritillary went into chrysalis, which was fine and dandy, but the silk holder thingy isn't as copious as the monarch ones and so as I was trying to move it to the "hatching cage," it wouldn't stick to the pin and I had to tie it up with thread.  So we'll have to see if it works.

Then I started having problems with the monarch caterpillars; they did okay until it was time to pupate. The first one didn't form a proper chrysalis - it was fully chrysalized, but it was like it was only half formed.  The bottom half looked normal, but the top half, while chrysalized, looked just like a caterpillar encased in a green case.

The second caterpillar only half chrysalized.  The third decided to attach to the side of the tupperware instead of from the screen on top, so I've left it in place and moved the entire tupperware to the hatching cage (it may or may not make it to hatching - I've read that when they have a flat side in their chrysalis that it means the butterfly will likely be deformed).  The fourth, thankfully, formed a normal chrysalis on the screen (which I have since moved to the hatching cage with a straight pin).  The fifth, I put in a mini-hatching container made out of one of the large yogurt containers.  The hatching container is good for hatching, but the poor thing won't be able to fly in it, so I obviously have to pay attention and let the butterfly out shortly after it hatches.

I noticed that my fennel plant had a bunch of eastern black swallowtail caterpillars on it, so I decided to try them as well - now with those I'll have to add some sticks to the containers so they can attach properly since they end up at a 45 degree angle from whatever they attach to.

Swallowtails are cool because when the caterpillars are in the first 2 instars, they look like this:

By the 4th instar, they look like this (though admittedly the one in the foreground is more black than I'm used to seeing):

And of course, lest I think that I just suck at this, and the cats in the wild do better, here is a photo of a poor fritillary butterfly that didn't make it fully out of its chrysalis.

Attracting Butterflies to the Garden

How to attract butterflies to the garden:
1.  Plant Gregg's Mistflower.  The mistflower I have in the back (i.e. full sun) is blooming right now.  The mistflower in the front (i.e. dappled sun) isn't blooming, nor will it until the fall.

2.  Plant Butterflyweed.  Oh my God.  This plant is ALWAYS COVERED in aphids.  But! Aphids eventually bring lady bugs and lacewings.  And, of course, it is the host plant for the monarchs, and they need as much help as they can get.

3. Plant Dill, Parsley, or Fennel (though I've found that Dill works the best).  When it blooms, it brings the bees, and until it does, it will host all those swallowtail caterpillars.  And eventually, you'll find a few of these on other plants (the swallowtails sure like to travel to a different location to pupate).

April Bloom Day and Foliage Followup

Combining (and this is really sad because I was just contemplating on if 'combo-izing' was a word) Bloom Day, which is hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens, and Foliage Follow Up, which is hosted by Pam at Digging, and posting them together a little late.  Oh well.  Better late than never.

Ghost Plant Blooms

One of my cacti from East Side Succulent

Artemisia with the dead avocado tree in the background

Hell strip which includes Artemisia, Santolina, and Iris

Dr. Huey Rose getting ready to bloom with blooming photinia in the background

May Night Salvia with a dead agave in the background.  Sigh. 

Baby Blue Eyes

Smith's Unknown Iris

Two types of portluaca

Gulf Coast Penstemmon

Red Corn Poppy

Summer Thyme

Englemann's Daisy

Amethyst Iris

Cemetery Iris

Primrose with Amethyst Iris

Lucinda Huston's Iris

Pink Poppy, which my husband has deemed his favorite, which means I ought to let it reseed freely.

Other plants blooming:
Coreopsis
Dahlberg Daisy
Tomatoes
Peppers
Red Columbine
Yellow Columbine
Passionvine
Chocolate Daisy
Blackfoot Daisy