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12:44 PM Fri, Jul 18, 2008 | Permalink
Cindy Brummer
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Renewed hopes
Some of my friends have asked me lately how my garden is doing. All I can do is crinkle my nose and say -- ick.
I have to admit that I have neglected the garden lately. My schedule as a full-time working mom has conspired with the heat to keep me out of the garden most of the time over the past couple of months, and as a result, it has suffered.
The tomatoes have given just about everything they could; the squash, zucchini and melons were a disappointment. I know I need to get in there and shade the pumpkins from the sun... but it's been so hard to find the time.
I did not install an easy garden.
But one thing I love about gardeners is that hope springs eternal. While I have been too busy to work in the Spring garden I planted, and I have new hope that Fall will be different.
I'm ready to order seeds. As usual, my eyes bigger than my plot, but as I peruse the categories, I imagine nooks and crannies where the veggies can grow. I envison little a little oasis of veggie heaven here and there. There are so many things I want to grow. I just can't narrow it down!
Ah well, might as well order what I can. Even if I don't use all the seeds this time -- there's always the spring!
2:18 PM Thu, Jul 10, 2008 | Permalink
Cindy Brummer
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Community, urban agriculture rocks!
I love the idea of community gardening, and lately, I've been reading more and more stories about people seeking out local farmers, local gardens, and learning to garden on their own.
A BBC story about a community garden in Detroit caught my interest today.
How cool is it to start a garden on "wasteland" and give food to the needy people nearby?
It's not an isolated effort.
There are community gardening programs across the country, including right here in Austin. One of the most notable organizations is the Sustainable Food Center -- one of several groups in Austin that works in the community to promote sustainable and organic food production.
I first became aware of this organization as trips to the downtown and Triangle Farmers' Market became a twice weekly occurrence for my family. (The SFC runs both the downtown and Triangle farmer's markets.) I made a commitment ages ago to provide the freshest organic ingredients for my son that I can afford, and fortunately, I can continue to do this through the farmers' markets.
Considering how poorly my garden has been doing, I haven't been able to cut back on buying fresh fruits and veggies. Hopefully, my fall garden will do much better.
12:50 PM Thu, Jul 10, 2008 | Permalink
Cindy Brummer
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Farmer tan, anyone?
I just found this article about how to avoid skin cancer -- apparently, gardeners are most at risk (duh!), but I have to admit, that I have been lax about lathering up in sunblock.
3:23 PM Wed, Jul 09, 2008 | Permalink
Cindy Brummer
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Yay! It rained!
Last year at this time, we were under water. This year, I've found myself praying for rain. The couple of times that it has rained this week, I've been grateful.
I can never seem to remember when my watering days are, so -- as a consequence -- my landscape hasn't been watered much.
Not that I want to water every day... most of the advice I've heard is to water deeply, but infrequently. One arborist recommended I water the entire yard very deeply once a month during the three or four hottest, driest months of the year. But that was for trees.
For lawns, I've heard it's important to water deeply once a week so that the grass can be healthy, otherwise it will suffer in the fall and spring.
Ooops... so much for keeping my lawn healthy.
Not that I have much interest in a beautiful lawn -- for me, it's always been about the trees. But that's just me.
3:58 PM Fri, Jun 20, 2008 | Permalink
Cindy Brummer
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My landscape is crunchy... so now what?
The following news release came into the newsroom a few days ago, and I wanted to share it. It's pretty good info about what do do now that we're faced with seemingly endless days of high temperatures and little rain.
Seems like a good topic now that summer is officially on our doorstep...
Welcome summer!
Gardening in the Hill Country
By Elizabeth Drozda-Freeman, LCRA Conservation Landscape Specialist
Summer arrived early this year in Central Texas. With several weeks of record-breaking heat already behind us and the specter of a long, hot summer on the horizon, many of us are tempted to turn up the volume on our sprinkler systems.
At the same time, both the City of Austin and the Lower Colorado River Authority now have mandatory watering schedules that allow watering no more than two days a week. The question on many minds is: "Will I be able to keep my yard alive watering just two days a week?"
The answer is YES.
Applying a half inch of water to your landscape twice a week is enough to keep turf and landscape plants healthy. However, there are four things you can do to reduce the stress on your landscape even more during the heat of summer.
1) Be sure that your shrub, flower and vegetable beds are mulched. A two- to three-inch layer of mulch helps retain soil moisture and keeps soil cooler.
2) Water slowly. Many of us have tight clay soils. If your sprinklers apply water too quickly, or your yard is sloped, the water you apply may not be sinking into your soil. Slow the flow by using drip and soaker hoses wherever possible. If you have spray-type sprinkler heads, set your controller for multiple start times of shorter duration to allow water to penetrate the soil rather than run off.
3) Water during the required hours (between 7 p.m. and 10 a.m.). During this dark, less windy time period, evaporation is lowest. If you water during the heat of the day, up to 40 percent of the water you apply can be lost to evaporation.
4) Work on your soil. Soil is the sponge in the landscape capturing and holding the water that you apply. If your soil is very shallow or of poor quality, your landscape will dry out quickly. Consider topdressing lawns with a quarter inch of compost in spring and/or fall, and incorporating compost into flower and shrub beds.
Finally, if you do see your plants drooping a bit as the mercury passes 100 degrees during the afternoon, don't panic. Temporary drooping is a natural response of many plants to extreme heat. Dig a little at the base of the plant to see if the soil is moist. If you are following the twice-per-week watering schedule, chances are the plants have enough moisture and will perk up when the sun goes down. If you dig and find the soil is dry, consider the four tips above for a healthier, more drought-tolerant landscape.
3:46 PM Mon, Jun 09, 2008 | Permalink
Cindy Brummer
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Where have the butterflies gone?
Have you noticed fewer butterflies in your garden this year?
I know I have. Last year, the flowers were covered in butterflies during the day. This year, I'm lucky to see two at a time, and I've only seen a few caterpillars eating the dill.
Well, there is an answer, but it doesn't look like it's as terrible as what's been afflicting the honeybees. Read the Dallas Morning News story.
4:58 PM Fri, Jun 06, 2008 | Permalink
Cindy Brummer
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Watermelon wonders
 I've got a watermelon vine growing in my garden this summer. It's my first attempt since I tried planting a seedling in Nashville that merely shriveled up and died.
I was pleasantly surprised to find not one, but three little watermelons growing on the vie the other day. And the really cool thing is that they seem to grow larger every day.
I check on them every time I come home. I noticed them when they were about marble sized. I think they're closer to kiwi size now.
I picked up the vine as a seedling at my favorite nursery a coupld of months ago -- and it seems easy enough to grow. It loves its location -- tons of sunlight. I try to make sure it has enough water to develop good fruit. And I made sure it has enough space, since melons love to spread out, and it's mulched, so the melons aren't sitting directly on the soil.
I'm not sure how long it will take for the watermelons to mature, but they sure do look yummy.
I can't wait!
5:23 PM Wed, May 28, 2008 | Permalink
Cindy Brummer
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That is some powerful garlic
I made some hummus last night with a few cloves of garlic from one of the many heads harvested from this year's home crop.
Whoa! Potent stuff!
I didn't realize how strong garlic can be... really! The smell burns my eyes and nose, and even the smallest cloves give as much or more flavor than large cloves from a head I bought at the supermarket.
It's just another example of how homegrown vegetables can taste so different from the ones we buy at the supermarket.
We harvested the garlic several weeks ago. I would say we pulled up about 25-30 heads. We saved the four largest, which we plan to plant in the fall, then washed and dried the rest and stored them in a dry, dark cupboard.
We initially thought they would last for a while. But the garlic tastes so good, we're using it all the time. And now... well, I don't think they'll last more than a couple more months.
C'est la vie.
3:59 PM Fri, May 23, 2008 | Permalink
Cindy Brummer
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Gardening with kids
 The more I garden with my son, the more my love for gardening itself grows.
Seriously.
Last weekend, Luke and I prepared an area -- where we just harvested garlic -- and planted four hills of acorn squash and pumpkin.
We pulled back the old mulch, shaped the hills, and Luke helped me push the seeds into the ground. He was an awesome helper.
Gardening with kids is so cool, because they light up when they reap the benefits of their work. Luke was so excited to see two of the pumpkin seedlings have already emerged last night as we were taking stock. And he makes a beeline for the peas, and snacks on them happily.
It just takes some patience to garden with kids, especially ones so young. But you know what, it's so worth it. People in public always marvel at how Luke eats his vegetables without complaining. He doesn't love every vegetable, but he is starting to understand where they come from, and his curiosity is all I ask for.
3:57 PM Mon, May 12, 2008 | Permalink
Cindy Brummer
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Covered in dirt = Good day gardening
It's that time of year again... the time of year when I can spend just about all day outside in the yard, pulling up this... planting that... shaping the earth with my own two hands.
And this year... I have more help.
Yesterday (Sunday), I lathered Luke and myself up in sunblock and we headed outside to take advantage of the unusually cool day. We explored, we pulled up some weeds... then we settled down with shovels, wheelbarrow and bags for a project I've wanted to tackle since moving into my house more than 3 years ago -- digging up the grass in the little strip of land between the public sidewalk and the street.
My square-blade shovel is supposed to do wonders for taking the lawn out... but I've never had luck with it. My husband thinks I don't have enough body weight to use it efficiently... I figured I was just a weakling. After about 30 minutes of struggling with it, a neighbor took pity on me and loaned me a landscaping pickax. The weight of the ax made the difference in pulling up the grass, and Luke and I worked for hours.
He has a little spade that's just his size, and he would put dirt on the shovel and run and dump it in the wheelbarrow.
Sometimes he would put the shovel head on the sidewalk and run up and down, listening to the sound of the scraping metal and yelling as loud as he could.
We stopped to eat watermelon and 'ooh and ahh' at the bugs unearthed in our work. We saw a grub, and watched it crawl its way back into the earth. We saw a really cool spider, and it popped its legs out and began running all over the sidewalk -- causing my son to scream with glee. We watched butterflies chase each other and beetles crawl through the dirt.
By the end of the day, both of us were covered in dirt and sweat. Luke's bath water turned brown the moment he stepped into it... and I was very grateful for my shower later that night. I was sore and achy from the weight of the ax, but I couldn't help but think that it had been a very fun day with my son... and maybe -- just maybe -- he learned something. I know I did... he made me notice all the stuff I normally don't notice when I'm outside and showed me how important it is to stop and enjoy.
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