THis is the REAL COLOR! THey are beautifully green!

Claudia, Iris: I HEAR YA!!! Actually, it is a comfort, a GREAT COMFORT to me to know that other gardeners that I respect had a crummy yield this year. You would THINK with all the rain!! That it would have been the B*E*S*T Y*E*A*R E*V*E*R! Ya know??

But I feel like I have been overlooky; the one thing that I have got in spades this year is FLOWERS. In fact, this year I had the first TRIUMPH ever at growing GREEN ZINNIAS. I have planted many of the new, green flowers many times (particularly the green gladiolas) and every time, because of our limestone alkaline soil or the hot temperatures or something, they always bloomed YELLOW. I have planted green zinnias for three years without ever seeing one.

See how the GREEN really offsets the OTHER colors?

But THIS year, I again planted the green zinnias, and at least three and maybe as many as five perfectly green zinnia plants have thrived!! (Plus lots of other colors, naturally!) It makes my fingers ITCH to cut them and use them in vases (because they are GREEN!) but mostly I restrain myself, because there aren’t that many.

The package the FUNCTIONAL green zinnias came in was the Renee’s Garden Green-and-Orange zinnia package, and the orange ones are magnificent also, a pale orange like orange sherbet.

And ALSO in my OVERLOOK-Y-NESS, I didn’t mention that I planted OKRA really late (because I suck, not for any horticultural reason) in like MID-JULY, and they are doing very well, and I MIGHT get a freezer full of okra out of them YET! (I also planted seven pepper plants and five fall tomatoes, but they are all stunted and miserable from the heat, even though I water. I mean, I will PROBABLY get some fall tomatoes, but it isn’t going to be spectacular and it might be a bust.) So far, I have only gotten three pods, but they are looking strong and healthy!

One of seven Okra plants

At least this Bouganvilla is doing OKAY!

At the end of the long, not-as-hot-as-usual-but-it-sure-has-been-hot-lately summer, everything in my garden looks like….shit. Yeah, even with the mulch. The garden, now in it’s tenth year, has never been less productive; this year I got like one bucket of tomatoes, TWO (TWO!!!!) cucumbers (off, I dunno, 12 vines?) a handful of jalapenos, and a LOT of basil. But that is it. There is NO QUESTION that the money I spent on watering would have been better spent BUYING vegetables from the Farmers Market.

What gives?

I am thinking the my soil is getting tired, despite the CONTINUAL composting. I am not sure what to do!! Should I take a season OFF and re-dig and amend my beds? Should I let the ground lie fallow for a year? I am pretty sure that PART of my problem is BUGS; the pests just ruin everything. If I don’t plant these delicious, edible garden crops for a year or a season, will the pests go AWAY? The spider mites have been out of control for YEARS now, closely followed by the stink bugs.

Well, it is depressing! Plus, I know that if I take a year off, the Bermuda Grass will take over everything again, and I will have to start over again FROM SCRATCH; It will be a weeding nightmare.

On the OTHER hand, the bugs die in the winter, so if I am going to take a season OFF, maybe it should be the buggy SPRING. Stupid Bugs!!!

OMIGOD BEHOLD THE DEPTH OF THE MULCH

It doesn’t GET more exciting than this!! Photos of MULCHED BEDS !!!

Happy Mulched Zinnias around the mailbox

THE GIGANTIC PILE OF MULCH

Let’s talk about MULCH. What is it? It is usually ground up wood, pine needles, or, in some climates, chopped up leaves. Mulch is placed around the bases of plants and shrubs (and even trees) to keep moisture from evaporating out of the soil, and to discourage weeds.

Now, I have read in gardening books that deal with DESIRABLE gardening climates, that one can just cram wet fallen autumn leaves around the bases of plants to discourage weeds, about an inch thick, and that does the job JUST FINE.

But here in Central Texas, where you can have summer temperatures hovering around a hundred and ten (like last summer) and sometimes no rain for two years (like Last Summer), my Central Texas Vegetable Gardening book advises: “apply mulch at least 8 inches thick and preferable a FOOT THICK, and use ground up trees because leaves will just dry up and blow away.”

ANOTHER ANGLE ON THE GIGANTIC MULCH PILE

Sadly, the amount of mulch advised is just so much, even though I am CONSTANTLY on the lookout for ground up trees, and I grind up all my OWN trees whenever possible, I have never had anywhere NEAR enough mulch. Laying it on a foot thick, a HUGE garbage can full of mulch (the super huge kind) will only do about a five by five foot bed. So for a garden like mine, I would need like 35 giant garbage cans full.

At Xmas, the City of AUstin gives away all the ground up Xmas trees (to keep them out of the landfill) and we got load after load after load of the ground up Xmas trees, and I STILL used it all up before I got half the garden mulched (and only about 3 inches deep).

SO!

Davey Tree Service was hired by the City to cut down all the tree limbs in the entire city that threatened power lines. We didn’t really have any, but they came and rooted out a ONE foot tall pecan that was growing where they thought it might eventually in 20 years touch the power line. And I was joking around with the Davey Tree guy and I said, ” I don’t suppose you are GIVING AWAY any of that MULCH for FREE?” (from grinding up the limbs, which they were doing) And I was TOTALLY JOKING, because normally the tree trimming companies give you the STINK EYE when you make jests of that nature.

And the Davey Tree guy said: “HOW MANY TRUCKFULS WOULD YOU LIKE?”

(and I said. “……………one……………..?”)

And then nothing happened for a week, and I figured he forgot. But then we came home last Friday and there was THE HUGEST PILE OF MULCH in front of our house, the photos don’t do it justice!

And today, the following Wednesday, Dave finished shoveling the TEN THOUSAND TONS of mulch into three piles, no FOUR PILES in the backyard. I have mulched about HALF the garden, too, and I have enough mulch to mulch EVERYTHING A FOOR DEEP!!!  EVERYTHING !!!!

WE ARE MULCH MILLIONAIRES!!!

ALL MOVED TO THE BACKYARD BY DAVE THORNBERRY, SUPERHERO.

Gigantic Pink Glass of Watermelon Juice Over Ice

Aguas Frescas are Mexican fruit juices, fresh juices, that are becoming popular in Texas with EVERYONE. Because they are G*R*E*A*T!!!

Popular flavors include cantaulope, watermelon, tamarind, lemon, lime, and “Orchata”, which is essentially rice milk with vanilla and cinnamon.

Watermelon has always been my favorite, and I began making it when I bought watermelon and couldn’t fit it all in my icebox. Because watermelons are HUGE and my icebox is usually PACKED. Plus, watermelon juice is just naturally cooling and also diuretic, it is probably the perfect thing to drink in Texas in the summer.

For years I made it with a juicer, outside (because juicers FLING watermelon seeds everywhere. Really. Try it, you’ll see….even when it shouldn’t be possible, they manage.) But I read the other day that you can make watermelon agua fresca with YOUR BLENDER and a strainer, and it just sounded like it might be a lot easier.

IT IS!

My INSTRUCTIONS for YOU:

Chop up your watermelon or half watermelon into cubes.

Pack cubes in blender tightly, with a little water and a little sugar (you need to add a little sugar as a preservative)

Blend.

Pour into a strainer set over a bowl to catch the very tiny amount of fiber that a watermelon has.

Serve over ice!

As you can see, an entire watermelon only has a few tablespoons of fiber!

My gladiolas didn't bloom this year because, well, I THOUGHT it had rained enough for them, but actually I needed to water them more. So instead of blooming they all just withered. But this week, after the thousand inches of rain we have gotten, a few of my gladiolas have sent up flower shoots! The rain made them top heavy and they were falling over, so I had to put them in this vase. IS IT NOT GORGEOUS???

Kay and Jim Richardson, talking to the guy who owns the Whip-In Market, which is a local convenience store that serves a huge selection of beer and Indian Food

As I mentioned before, all the courses at PORKFEST featured Richardson Farms Pastured Pork. Jim and Kay Richardson are absolutely the nicest and happiest folks, always cheerful when I see them at events like this one or at the Farmers Market. You get the feeling talking to them that they are just having the GREATEST TIME raising organic pork, chicken and beef, not to mention wheat, corn and millet on their farm. They got involved with the burgeoning interest in pastured, organic meats and grains just at the perfect time to do well and be VERY appreciated.

Their grass-fed beef is so superior, so flavorful and delicious, that I don’t even ENJOY eating beef that they didn’t raise. Seriously. It is THAT MUCH BETTER. It is like the difference between Texas and California peaches! (In my opinion, there isn’t even any POINT in putting a California peach in your mouth. It is DRECK conpared to a Texas peach. But no one outside of Texas KNOWS this, because Texas never exports any peaches….we eat them all here!)

On to the Cuisine!

Caramelized Pork Belly Rillons in Ginger-Apple Butter. THIS WAS SUCH A MEMORABLE COURSE! The Pork Belly Rillons were the best I have ever had, nice and crispy and not overly fatty, and the GINGER APPLE BUTTER WAS AMAZING !!!

Beer-Glazed Spareribs with cucumber and watermelon salad. These were so tender that the meat was indeed LITERALLY falling off the bone. The Watermelon was a perfect foil.

Remember me going ON AND ON AND ON about Texas peaches? The OUTSTANDING dessert was Texas peach ice cream with CHOCOLATE COVERED BACON. One of the best desserts I have ever had! The chocolate covered bacon was so good, I really wanted to send Jim Gaffigan a boxful.

The First Course: Prosciutto, Salami, Guanciale, and Testa, all made at Olivia. Served with grilled Hill Country Peaches and Plums and Green Onion Salad

Tonight I went to a VERY special event: PORKFEST, at Olivia. At a time when higher end eateries are scrambling to issue “groupons” and get folks in the door, Chef James Holmes practically sold OUT this event the first day is was announced. (Also, I should mention it was ONLY $50, which compares VERY favorably to the price of chef-orchestrated wine dinners.)

The concept: Six courses of all natural pastured pork from Richardson Farms, paired with beers from the 512 Brewery, a fledgling brewery here in town (I have to admit I L*OV*E L*O*V*E L*O*V*E the NAME!! It is of course the name of our AREA CODE here in Austin. It is KIND OF like naming your brewery “78704″, but less obvious! GREAT NAME!!!)

Chef James Holmes HAMMING IT UP with a whole roasted pig! I actually SAID THAT OUT LOUD at the event and everyone GROANED because they thought I was saying a PUN I made up! So embarrassing! I didn't realize it was a pun until they groaned

One day recently I figured out that 70% of the meat I eat is PORK (the magical animal! Pork Chops, Bacon, Sausage, Ham!) which is KIND OF SCARY, actually…but anyway, the menu was right down my alley, and the food was DIVINE.

I have to say, I was VERY impressed with the beers and ales as well. They were ALL awesome, seriously. the “WIT”  brew was made with cilantro and grapefruit peel (two of my favorite flavors, and although you couldn’t REALLY taste them in the beer, I just like the IDEA, you know!); the IPA had just an EXPLOSION of subtle flavors, and the Pecan Porter was seriously, better than most Guinness I have had, dark and smooth in a very luxurious way. I would be hard pressed to say which I adored the most; if I am in a bar that serves 512 brews anytime soon, I will probably ORDER THEM! In preference to OTHER beers!

COURSE TWO: An ENTIRE sausage, with a HUGE perfectly cooked scallop. That is a normal size sausage; the scallop really IS the size of a baseball

Upcoming courses: Caramelized Pork Belly with ginger-apple butter (Extremely memorable and awesome); Beer glazed spareribs with garden tomato, cucumber and watermelon salad; Slow Roasted Whole Pig with potato Gnocchi and summer vegetables; and-

HILL COUNTRY PEACH ICE CREAM WITH CHOCOLATE COVERED BACON!!