Rain. Rain. Rain.

Not the best time for rain, in my opinion. Should be great for the bluebonnets, but not so great for those of us trying to prepare our soil for planting season. It's not ideal to work the soil when it is wet as it damages the consistency (can we say mud clods?).

The rain is also bringing a fleet of snails to my gardens. I broke down and bout $30 worth of Sluggo yesterday, which apparently i could have gotten for about 10$ cheaper here. Sluggo is about the only pest product i use in my garden, and it's organic and doesn't damage the native wildlife or good bugs. Just evil snails! Apparently it ruins their appetite and then kills them. Death to snails!
My cauliflower is just putting on a head that is peeking out - and of course it is covered with the snails and their poo, and now sluggo. Hopefully i can convince the snails to leave it alone.

The rain brings some happy things as well: growing lawn, germinating back yard (which has been quite forlorn and chicken scratched for a while now), and germinating baby mustards and kales. I hope they do well this season - the kale is a last ditch effort to succeed at all with my favorite veg (it doesn't love summer, but it might do SOMEthing) and the mustard is destined for sautees, pickles, and eventually to seed to make mustard. I'd really like to be making all of my own condiments by the end of the summer, even if i have to barter for some tomatoes if i skip planting those summer beauties this year.

The lemon tree is happy to be outside and getting rain water, heavily laden with half a dozen or so lemons i should harvest soon. Last year i harvested all in one batch and juiced them, storing the juice in the freezer. This year i've been taking them more one at a time, using the juice fresh in things like mayo and cheese. It's about time to harvest them all, though as they seem to be ripe and it's time to set new flowers.

 

 Inside the house i'm frustratingly waiting for my cream cheese to turn into cheese and whey - the milk refuses to coagulate, though the cream at the top smells and tastes kind of like a really stinky blue cheese - not my favorite thing. Will keep waiting though and hope that it does its thing in time to make bagels with the lox that i made.

Speaking of the lox: it's a bit hard to tell when raw salmon has been sufficiently marinated to be no longer 'raw' but edible. It looks mostly the same. The directions called for marinating for 2-6 days or so. Last night it had been in the fridge under its weight for about 4 days. Unfortunately, some of the liquid (whey, juices, and salt/sugar mixture) had escaped from the layers of saran wrap, foil, and baggy. I'm not sure if this adversely affected the results and would have preferred to know that the salmon was fully encased in what it was supposed to be marinating in. So i sprinkled a bit more whey and salt/sugar and recovered. I'll try it again tonight and hope that it was not a poor decision to introduce new whey. Cross fingers.

Ah, and now the sun is coming out, a friend is coming by to make crackers with me, and the dog is ready for a walk a little later. Must take advantage of these rainless hours!

Let it Snow!

We'll see about that. But after further deliberation I've decided to try and cover all the veggie babies - or at least all that i have the sheets to cover with.

Welcome to Tent City:

There is a lamp in this one to keep the peppers warm, but hopefully not burst aflame.

Cold Nights are Coming!

I use the term "cold" loosely - but the peppers and other tender plants certainly think low thirties/ high twenties is not their cup of tea.

So today i spent a bit of time pruning, piddling, and setting up bizarre structures over which i drape freeze cloth/ sheets/ random chunks of plastic sheeting.... depending on how cold it really gets.

I am NOT by any means doing a super great job of it - i am approaching my winter garden with a "we'll see what survives and what doesn't" mentality. It would be great if the eggplants came back next spring or stuck around all winter, but i won't mind if they freeze to death. Same goes for the bell peppers. The hot peppers, on the other hand, are destined for perennialness and have been covered... poorly. Ha, so we'll see how it all goes. I figure: may the best plant survive to thrive another season, all weaklings may recede.

Pretty garden with all sorts of volunteer marigolds, ridiculously growing back after being hacked to the ground eggplants, and pretty baby lettuces.

Lettuces, marigolds and kales, oh my!

Elephant garlic is getting BIG. Mulched with pecan shells from hours of pecan shelling.

Pulled the basil, planted more kale things, garlic is growing bigger and bigger.

An Evening in the Gardens

I felt the need to take some pause and reflect on the emerging and regressing beauties in the gardens.
Spinaches and greens are germinating and growing stronger, the bell peppers are slowly ripening to vibrant colors just in time for an end of season harvest, the garlic are peaking out their slender green heads, and the multiplying onions are, well, multiplying. These, along with some awkward volunteers, are filling the gardens with beauty and daily change. It's a great season here in Austin.