Cool Weather Kale

I've had some kale growing in the garden since late fall and finally went out to harvest some of it today.  This kale has been extremely hardy - going from temperatures in the 20s up to the 80s and still looking great.  I've unfortunately forgotten the particular variety, but I know I will definitely plan to grow kale every year now since it is so easy to maintain, and such a super food that I love having in my diet.

This harvest went into making a few green juices that I whipped up along with some celery, cucumber, romaine lettuce, green apple, and lemon.  Mmmm, delish!

Courtyard Tree Project

About a year ago, we had some tree trimmers come to the house to tidy up our trees.  While they did a nice job on the trees, they delivered some devastating news - our courtyard tree, which provides glorious shade during the hot Texas summers, was rotting and would need to come down within a year.  It was heart-breaking news, especially since the courtyard was one of the main selling points of the house for us.

This past fall brought some strong winds through central Texas, which resulted in the tree breaking off from the base.  It was leaning against the house, so we knew it was time to take down so it wouldn't cause damage to the roof.

The first step was to buy a chain saw and saw down the tree, limb by limb.  That was, of course, my husband's job.

Next was to remove as much of the stump and roots as possible, since we plan to plant another tree in its place.  My husband rented a stump grinder from Home Depot and got to work.

That process created a nice mess in the courtyard.  The plan is to remove as much of the wood chips and soil as possible, just to make sure any disease or poor soil isn't used for our next tree.  We will probably wait until next winter or spring to plant a new tree in its place.  I'm looking forward to sitting out under the shade of our new courtyard tree in a couple of years.  In the meantime - do you have any suggestions on the best type of tree we should plant?

Spring Seedlings

On February 17th, I planted several flower, herb and veggies seeds indoors on my grow shelves.  To get a start on the spring planting.

I planted the following:

Flowers

• Zinnias - Purple Prince, Giant Violet Queen, Lilliput Mixed Colors
• Marigolds - Burpee's Best Mix
• Morning Glories - Tall Mix
• Oriental Poppy - Brilliant Red
• Alyssum - Royal Carpet

Herbs

• Sweet Basil
• Common Chives
• Cilantro
• Echinacea - Purple Coneflower

Veggies

• Kale - Lacinato
• Eggplant - Black Beauty
• Cucumber - Marketmore 76
• Watermelon - Sweet Scarlet Hybrid
• Cantaloupe - Hale's Best Jumbo
• Summer Squash - Pic-N-Pic Hybrid

The morning glories, zinnias, marigolds, watermelon, squash, cucumbers and kale are all really taking off and I'll need to move them outside soon.  However, with the recent swing in temperatures and possibility of yet another freeze, I'm going to try to postpone it for as long as possible.

Ice Ice Baby

We've been having bi-polar weather here in Central Texas the last few weeks.  Last Saturday was in the 80s.  Last night was in the low 20s and today was freezing rain.  I'm pretty sure that I've lost some of the plants that I planted last weekend with this crazy weather, which is a real bummer.  Just to be sure there are no more freezes, I plan to wait a couple weeks before I plant anymore spring plants in the garden.

Everything is not bigger in Texas.  These baby icicles are proof.

Cardinal and red-bellied woodpecker at the feeder

The ice sparkling in the sunlight

Poor, poor veggie plants

Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplants, OH MY!

Last weekend was perfect weather - 82 degrees and sunny.  It was great gardening weather and inspired me to make a trip to the Natural Gardener and Home Depot to get a kick start on my veggie beds.  Tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants were out at the stores, so I couldn't resist grabbing a variety to plant in one of my 10x4 foot vegetable beds.  I picked up and planted the following:

Tomatoes

• 1 Better Boy
• 1 Celebrity
• 1 Tycoon
• 1 Valley Girl
• 1 Cherry Super Sweet 100
• 1 Red Cherry

Peppers

• 4 Hot Cayenne
• 1 Pablano
• 1 Mammoth Jalapeno
• 1 Yummy Snacking Petite Bell 
• 1 Serrano
• 2 Red Bells
• 1 Giant Marconi Sweet Bell
• 1 Carmen Sweet

Eggplants

• 2 Black Beauties

Unfortunately, I was probably a bit too impatient.  I really should have waited a few more weeks to plant these summer plants.  We had a couple nights that dipped into the 30s last week and it is suppose to freeze again tonight, which does not bode well for these heat-loving plants.  I covered them with some freeze cloths last week and they seemed alright, so hopefully they will get through tonight's freeze alright.  Even if they survive the freeze, the cold weather will probably end up stunting their growth, since they prefer to not get below 50.  I may have to do some replanting later this spring.

Gifted Bearded Irisis

A generous neighbor recently separated some bearded iris rhizomes that were descendants from her grandmother's plants, and gifted them to me.  She gave me about 30 plants, which I was excited to plant in my backyard bulb bed.

To plant around some of my other bulb plants, I had to split the 30 plants into two sections, one on each side of the bulb bed.

I'm excited for these new treasures to bloom, but it might take some time, since some of the cuttings were pretty small and will need time to grow.  My neighbor sent this picture to me, so I know the beauty that I have in store.

January Bird Watch

Today we had a heat wave come through, so we got outside to do a bit of yardwork.  Turns out that the wildlife was really enjoying the weather too.  I saw numerous birds in the yard that I don't often see around.

 Eastern Bluebird

House Finch

And the ones that I was most excited about - the Cedar Waxwings.  I've always seen these beauties in the bird books, but never saw one for myself until today.  I think their markings are so exquisite.  There weren't just a few of them either - there was an entire group of them, also known as an "ear-full" or "museum."

 A museum of waxwings...sprinkled with a few white-winged doves.

So pretty.

A waxing, bluebird, and red-bellied woodpecker all in one pic!  I really felt like our yard was a menagerie for wildlife today!