Texas Hill Country Garden

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Before

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After

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Not sure if this is going to live, but just finished pruning it up. Looks like something out of a Dr. Seuss book…

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We have gotten so much rain this year. Veggies are thriving. Here is a walk through the May garden.

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Veggies are doing great with all of this rain.

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Pakistani Mulberry – 3 inch long fruit and so sweet!

Texas Native Mulberry – I grew this from a cutting I took in the Fall. It made it through the winter in a one gallon pot and fruited the first year!

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It’s that time of year. Time to start spring veggie seeds. This year I’m going to start all of my plants from seed. Started seeds at the end of January: Laura Bush Petunia, Rue, Borage, Thai Basil, Jalapeno, Purple Prince Zinnia, Cherokee Purple tomato, Sweet Pepper, Thai Pepper, Parsley, Sweet 100 tomato, Sun Gold tomato and of course Celebrity tomato.

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Barbados Cherry fruit are high in Vitamin C. Tastes like little apples too.

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This is not the best picture. Just posting this as a reminder to keep green pepper plants through the hot summer. Do not pull them all out. They will start fruiting again in the fall. Think chicken soup, pepper steak, carne guisada, pot roast…all better with home grown green peppers.

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Wanting some fresh air, we decided to put in a patio. This is hard work. Really hard work. Rocks are heavy. Took many months. Finished in November. Dream come true! Thank you Jesus!

…after some much needed rain

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Walking stick. Can you see it on the Honey Jar Jujube tree? A Millipede. I did not realize it was a good bug until after I killed it. 🙁 And a hawk, hanging out near our bird feeder.

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Started lettuce seeds in October. Crawford lettuce is actually a Romain lettuce, so the title of this should be Crawford Lettuce and traditional Romain Lettuce? Why does the spelling of lettuce look wrong to me right now?

The cool part about growing these two lettuce varieties is that they are both heirloom. After the lettuce bolts, it produces a flower and then a seed. I cut off the stalks and store in a brown paper bag. Viola! Plant the next year!

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Lettuce status just over a month later later in mid November. It is time to thin.

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I’m so happy. My stink plant flowered 3 times this year. It’s called a stink plant because it is pollinated by flies…so instead of smelling sweet like most flowers, it attracts flies by smelling like rotten flesh. So give this plant plenty of room and do not let it flower inside. lol. In the last picture, you can see a fly doing its thing. I love this interesting plant! Cuttings of this plant were given to me many years ago by a dear friend/gardener…Amy!

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If you really want to know if it’s organic, you have to grow it yourself…broccoli and gai lan. Time for fall veggie gardening.

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Ok, so a friend asked me to update this post with the timeline for regular broccoli, so here is an update

8/1/2020 – planted broccoli seeds. I planted Green Magic which is supposed to be well adapted to our area. Planted them according to the directions on the package using Happy Frog potting soil. I placed the plants on a rolling cart on the south side of the house. See below for dates I moved plants from starter pots into veggie garden. So far, harvested broccoli on 12/1 and 12/24. Once you remove the main heads, side shoots will form and you can keep harvesting those well into the winter. You can also eat the stalk. It is tasty and has just as much nutritional value as the broccoli heads. I have not eaten the leaves. It is not uncommon to have some worms nibble on your leaves. That is the price you pay for growing organic.

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