Baby Greens

I'm going to try to be more present with my idea of an online journal about my yard and ideas. So, last blog entry I mentioned that we were planting without disturbing the soil in our raised beds. Below is the the image of the baby greens that are coming up amongst the okra stalks that were not removed but simply cut off. We poked one inch holes and dropped the seeds in and they've come up...without tilling. We did sprinkle a fine dust of our own compost and have kept the babies moist.

Here's a shot of the other bed...arugula, Swiss chard, cilantro and something else...I can't remember.

Here is the pathetic Fall Aster in the back yard...

And here is how it looked in '09.

The fabulous Philippine Violet and mini-Pomegranate, with the Persian Lily all confused and coming up like it's spring.

Ooops, I forgot how many School house lilies I planted...some may be under the pot...oh well.

Autumn mums that I planted after the garden show in '09...still plugging along, I love that Autumn burst of warmth!

The fresh green of new growth on the sago palm!

Purple Mexican Petunia...so fresh!

Loving spouse planted beans in pots...they came up first, I've planted them all over the yard...in the ground to try and reinvigorate the soil with nitrogen...nada...but he did plant a few weeks ago...

One more thing, I had the most luxurious bath with my luffa, jeebus...it smelled delicious and left my skin fresh and not dry. I will never, ever buy a damn loofah again! All the B.S. with the bleaching and perfume...remove the vegetable oil that make it wonderful! Plus it reminds me

of "Caddy Shack," only those of us who have all the words memorized will get this. Don't you

just love how many ways there are to spell sponge?

I hope you all are enjoying this most delicious planting season! I'm so happy to be in the yard and not in the classroom! Have a great day!

Happy Gardening!

Happy HalllllLLLLLOOOOOooooowwWWEEEeenn!

OOOOooohhhh! Isn't it perfect out there? Top of the season to you! It's been a glorious day and I simply must share! Evil, skeletal, rocking, unicorn is all dressed up to scare the ba-jeebus outta little-ones and I can't wait to see 'em out tonight in all their scary finest! Devoted spouse aka... Beer-man is dutifully working on his computer after our busy morning of hunting and planting.

The beautiful Autumn berries are out tempting the fall migration and the wind is blocking out the traffic noise just enough to make the bird-song sharp!

Yaupon Holly

Pigeon Berry


I love it when the peppers turn red on the vine! We put in the last of the fall plants: parsley, dill, sorrel, more Swiss chard, cilantro, winter kale and I had to replace the thyme.

Yikes! Wild outfit for a faaAAaancy Butterfly to wear for Halloween! She's one of many on the Shrimp plant.

Swallowtail

There's an abundant late influx of caterpillars this year! The butterfly garden is full of these beauties nibbling on the bronze fennel!

Our lovely old fashioned, native Fall Aster, feeding the pollinators and providing some cheeriness!

Ruby Grass

The grasses are in tip-shape around town, and in the back yard waiving in the breeze.

Patrick-O'Lantern? hehehe...

Burgundy beans

Spouse found out from reading the last post that I was snorfeling up the beans, so it's become increasingly hard to find my afternoon snack!

Chili pequin (petin)

This is the first year I decided to collect the chili pequin, the birds seem to be ignoring them this year...so spiced oil has been put on the to-do list.

Texas Pecan

We went out early this morning to do our "big people" trick-or-treating and gathered a few bags of pecans that had fallen onto the sidewalk and street!

Mexican Marigold

This is the craftsmanship you get when you let your daughters boyfriend carve the pumpkin...something I'd never do, but I must give a shout out to the Rangers who have put my neighbors in an exceptionally good mood, especially when the Longhorns seem to be "asleep at the wheel"...hehe...local flavor, if you know who lives in this hood.

I thought I'd unveil my new blog name on Halloween...as we're taking a turn for the slacker here at Conscious Ungardening...slacker-gardening is quite scary to the uptight gardener...Boo!

I hope you stick with me as I take a giant step back and consider what can do without me, in my garden.

Happy UNgardening!

Sunday Morning in the Garden

Truth be told, I've been spending a lot of time in the garden and just "being there" has been trumping writing about it. Homestead TV isn't the same without the chickens, but I'm putting my time in never the less...noticing the backyard birds and mentally moving things around. The three year downsizing plan is underway and the fantasies about moving and being someplace else are so intoxicating that my head is swimming...I wonder where we'll go? Spouse says, "someplace with a Research University...a policy program"...in my mind I just see trees.

View from the Bird blind Bar

Camera in hand, I headed out to see what's up in the yard on Saturday morning. We've had an abundance of fall harvest fruits and veggies and it was one year to the day from last years tour...so I was mentally calculating the losses and blossoms.

Philippine Violet

I lost two Philippine Violets, this is the last one. 3 trees are gone and I'm afraid we'll be loosing a 50 year old Vitex this year. Some would say "Not a loss" because they're invasive, but she is glorious and covered with bees and butterflies when she blooms; I hang my snake graph from her branches and she keeps my Bird blind Bar cool. When the American Elm is gone, I know my heart will break. The years of drought are taking their toll.

Clematis

I've long forgotten the actual name of this hidden beauty, I had to move some over grown Gregg's Mist flower to see her...she's not in the right place to thrive.

Yaupon Holly and Desert Willow Vine

This is the best of the photos I was able to get in the wind. The Yaupon is covered in berries and the DWVine is decorating her with silly pink trumpet shaped flowers. I think it was Diane of Sharing Natures Garden that recently asked about what is in the wrong place in your garden and I've been blowing that, through my mind as well.

Fall Aster

The Fall Asters just keep on coming...I'm so glad I brought them home from the Green Garden several years ago, the native white ones get so tall and fall over...but I love them for the bees.

Burgundy Beans

Yesterday I stood by the beans and ate the first of the seasons harvest! 3 tender purple pods!

(You have to celebrate the small victories...I was alone, chewing and smiling with closed eyes facing the sun...counting my blessings.)

Japanese Eggplant

I brought in the first of the fall eggplant harvest, 10 perfect slender fruits, the leaves are laced out but the bugs must find the skin bitter, as do I. We'll be making Baba ganoush for supper!

Fuyu Persimmon

The Fuyu's have all turned a lovely halloween orange! Still a few months until harvest, but we dug into the last of the pomegrante this morning...delicious!

And then, something gold caught my eye.

Hiding in the middle of a 3ft. Chili Pequin was this jade beauty!

Lazy me has yet to figure out how to use that micro-setting on the camera...but you can still make out the baby form within.

Sunday morning, I went out to check on her and there she was, gently expanding and contracting her new wings!

She hung out for quite some time before moving on, her chrysalis casing remains.

Monarchs, some of my favorite magical garden friends.

Happy Gardening!

Bloom Day December 15, 2008

Yea! It's Bloom Day December 2008. This is my first year participating in this National/International event brought to us by the lovely Carol at May Dreams Gardens,

and it's starting to sink in...the wonderful documentation tool this idea provides. Thank you!

The above photo was taken yesterday of a baby Japanese Maple I planted in my back yard. It comes up to my hip and I can't wait to see what she will look like next year!

I wanted to also document the wonderful color of this years foliage, the only gift I'm aware of, from the drought! This 8ft. Red Oak was a volunteer in my yard; I put a tomato cage around her when she was only about a foot tall!

Oxallis still blooming among the Autumn leaves.

The kumquat has been blooming all fall! I hope we get fruit this year!


The basket that hangs outside the Chicken Coop keeps making it, these are flowers from last year!

Purple Lantana thriving in the cold!

Another basket with succulents about ready to die! They come back every year though!

A few blooms left on the Trumpet Vine.

I ate the last of the sweet peas yesterday while working in the garden...I doubt these will make it beyond tonight...we'll see.

Mexican Sage blooming in both the front and back yard.

Polygunum thriving under the leaves.

The Gregg's Mistflower continues to flower sans butterflies.

Not a great photo...in fact I'm going to apologize now for the lousy photos in this post. My fingers and camera were hardly working due to the cold! I wanted to show the many blooms on this mini Pom! It was transplanted last winter and has come back with an explosion of flowers.

Pink Geraniums blooming inside!

Yellow Lantana blooming in the front yard. I may need to rake....naaaaaa.

Poor Bougenvilla crying in the wind!

This sweet Fall Aster is a native volunteer in my yard this year. The funny thing is that I've walked up and down my street looking for her relatives and can't find them!

Second apology for nasty photos! I came in to warm up between doing the front and back yards to catch the blooms indoors and my camera and glasses fogged up! This Cyclamen was won by my husband at the Austin Garden Club Christmas Party! No one left without a few plants in tow! It's a great little club that meets monthly and engages in all sorts of volunteer gardening throughout the city...they had spiked punch...oh yea, they know how to throw a party!

Free plants and liquor...I'm there!

This is one of 3 Christmas Cactus...this one blooms both white and red on the same plant.

We did our Christmas cooking last night, also blooming on the table...Pointsettia, I miss the Pointsettia trees in Santa Barbara. It was the first time I'd seen one and I thought it must have been something else at the time.

Here's the solid red Christmas Cactus on the front porch.

I had to get down under her, but this is Loropetalum...fringe flower in the front yard.

Third apology...I could not get a shot of this Firecracker Fern whipping around in the wind...my camera simply refused to focus! What I'm documenting though is the Nastertium up from seed.

Blooming like crazy in the back is my giant Creeping Rosemary with the Nastertium blooming!

The last of the Plumbago I bet!

Hymenoxys...Four Nerve Daisy hanging on! Good grief, is that paper in there?

Lavender blooming and staying warm next to the Art Car.

Sweet Salvia Greggi refusing to die!

Copper Canyon Daisy blooming late in my yard.

Upright Rosemary

Old Blush, my favorite southern belle will go to hip soon!

These are the removed blooms from a pink Christmas Cactus given to me by a neighbor on Saturday. They are planted and I can't wait to see if they bloom for me next year!

Happy GBBD everyone! Stay warm!