As Right As Rain

08/28/2022

PROTECT YOURSELF FROM VAMPIRES—GROW GARLIC!
People most likely start their gardening adventures with growing tomatoes, as I did. There is truth to the saying that the only thing money can’t buy is true love and homegrown tomatoes. We are still enjoying the fruits off our vines planted in the spring. In future posts, I will go into quite a bit of detail about making sure you have plenty of homegrown tomatoes. However, at this point in the season, you can’t start any tomatoes, so I want to talk about another veggie that you can easily grow starting this fall. Garlic has a long growing season, so I will be planting the cloves in late October and harvesting next summer. I am posting this now in case any of my Yankee friends want to give it a try because your window of getting them planted will close much sooner than late October. I will add a link to the site where I bought my German Extra Hardy hardneck variety last year, as the site has great information. I wouldn’t recommend trying to plant garlic bought at the grocers for two reasons: the variety might not be appropriate for your zone/climate, and the bulbs could have been treated with an anti-sprouting chemical.
Besides feeling smug, growing your own garlic allows you to choose between many varieties with differing degrees of heat and pungency. Garlic is divided into hardneck and softneck varieties, with each having their pros and cons. Hardneck varieties, so called because of the “hard neck” in the center of the bulb, are more cold tolerant and flavorful. They peel easier and the cloves are larger. Softneck varieties should be planted if you live in the Austin area and further south or southern New Mexico at lower elevations (i.e. Las Crucas or Deming). Softnecks store better than hardnecks and their stems lend to creating braids of garlic.
Garlic can be planted in the ground or in containers. Like most vegetables, they like well drained amended soil. That does not exist on most of my property…think parking lot hard with lots of leaked hydrocarbons. I do have some raised beds that I’m lovingly coaxing toward real soil fertility, but in the meantime, I’m using a lot of grow bags and store-bought potting soil. Garlic is a bulb, so it likes phosphorus. Any bulb fertilizer will probably work. One note for those of us living in the desert Southwest, there is usually sufficient phosphorus in the soil, and my soil test confirmed that. The garlic I grew in the ground last year received no additional fertilizer.
I will go into more detail (including photos) about planting depth, etc, when I plant the garlic in the fall. I wanted to get this information out there so you can order bulbs before they’re all gone. You’ll need only one or two bulbs. The pandemic forced a lot of people to try their hand at gardening, so supply chain issues still exist, even for gardening!
https://www.johnnyseeds.com/vegetables/garlic/

08/26/2022

Hello, long time no post. We are now in Silver City, NM and loving it! This is still considered a high desert environment, very similar to Trinidad, CO. I now have 5 years of gardening in this type of climate under my belt. It has been a learning curve, although having 40+ years experience has made the curve a little easier to navigate. My belief that more people need to learn to grow their own food again has not waned, but if anything, I feel it is more important than ever. My upcoming posts will focus on my recent experiences, as I am interested in connecting with local people to help them get their hands into the dirt. Some information will be generic, some will be specific to our soils and climate.

As a start, this is an okra bloom. Okras love warm weather and a decent amount of moisture, both being abundant during our monsoon season. I'm not an okra expert and did not get enough organic matter in the planting bed, so my first set of seeds were a bust. When a spot opened up in one of the amended beds, I planted a second batch of seeds with better results. The secret to a successful harvest is to have enough plants producing pods at any one time...or, as in my case, harvesting the pods as they are ready and then freezing the pod until I have enough to fry.

If the blossom looks familiar, that is because okra, hibiscus, and rose of sharon are all in the Mallow family. Useless trivia note: marshmallows were originally made from the root of certain Mallow plants.

Enjoy this summer day!

12/16/2018

Wonderful article...long read but worth it.

We've known for some time that lack of access to natural ecosystems is an impoverishment for humankind, and we are finally beginning to produce hard data to prove it. Editor's note: This article is republished with permission from Love + Regeneration, a new publication from regenerative design pract...

12/01/2018

https://civileats.com/2018/11/30/hold-the-soy-save-the-pollinators/?fbclid=IwAR12MBVlU-WWoB_O5lxOaWIfiGrrNq057g4SDYEi8jGaJzdTeVp4MPSFVKA

Ethnobotanist Gary Nabhan argues that instead of compensating soybean farmers for losses, we should pay them to plant native perennials to protect bees and butterflies.

11/26/2018

https://www.kcet.org/shows/earth-focus/that-perfect-toxic-lawn-american-suburbs-and-24-d?fbclid=IwAR0_NSWYqNHpb84sQlQhnmaJYXbvap4om0vAAN444BPG8uEAxlS_k266WsY

Originally developed as a chemical weapon, this weedkiller can be found in garages across America.

05/16/2016

Before and after photos of a rain garden in Central Austin designed to capture the first 2" of rainfall off the front half of the house. In addition, the plants provide habitat for butterflies and birds. The emergency overflow (the low part of the wall) diverts excess runoff toward the walkway and street.

05/10/2016

Bees just love horsemint, and it is blooming prolifically thanks to all the rains. BTW, all photos that I post are from our property or from landscapes that I have installed (unless duly noted).

04/25/2016

I previously posted about the antidepressant effect of certain microbes in the soil. As a way to keep my hands in the soil as I age (yeah, I know...but it beats the alternative), I'm investigating the propagation of hard-to-find or at-risk plants. I recently joined an organization called United Plant Savers, whose goal is to preserve native plants with traditional and medicinal uses. With that in mind, I would like to introduce a new addition to our garden, Woodland Pink Root (Spigelia marilandica). Pink root is a shade-loving perennial that likes moist, slightly acidic soil (sorry, Austin friends, this one is not for you). As you may have guessed from the flowers, hummingbirds love it. As far as medicinal value, it is a good de-wormer but only to be used by skilled herbalists. I think I'll stick to the aesthetic aspect of the plant!

04/18/2016

I can attest to this. If I go more that a few days without getting my hands in the dirt, I get really cranky!

Soil microbes have been found to have similar effects on the brain as Prozac without side effects and chemical dependency. Learn how to harness the natural antidepressant in soil and make yourself happier and healthier in this article.

04/05/2016

Honeybee on a borage flower. The borage is an annual that I grew from seed last year. It has returned to help bring pollinators and other beneficial insects into the garden.

03/29/2016

Chocolate daisy (Berlandiera lyrata). Yes, the foliage and flowers do smell like chocolate. It is a nectar source, low water use, and deer resistant to boot.