Houston Urban Gardeners

Laurel’s Garden – May ’12

Laurel Smith — Fri, 18 May 2012 02:31:55 +0000

Last month I confessed that my garden was sliding into a messy, weedy, overgrown, diseased patch of vegetables. I hired Cathy Leavitt to help me deal with this minor disaster. Together we (especially she) get a lot done. We harvested a LOT! of kale, cauliflower, some beets, cabbages, collards, and more. I lamented to Louis after the harvest that this was the hardest part for me–dealing with all this fresh produce before it wilted or went bad. I can hire great help like Cathy to get the old winter stuff out in preparation for new summer plants. But I don’t know where to turn with help dealing with the harvest quickly before it wilts or decays. Brilliant Louis suggested I ask Cathy if she’d like to wash and chop the mounds of greens for pay. She said yes! Problem solved! The next few days I blanched and froze much of the harvest. My freezer is filling with fresh organic vegetables. Awesome!
My existing strategy for dealing with seemingly large projects like converting my entire 50 foot long garden from winter to summer crops is to take it a little bit at a time, preferably starting at one end. I clear out all weeds and old crop plants, sprinkle with a fist-full of organic Microlife fertilizer per sq. foot, fill my raised bed with compost, level, water, and then I’m ready for the fun part of actually planting. I planted my last crop of lettuces and arugula in the shadier part of my veggie garden. I germinated and planted some Stewart’s speckled butter beans and okra. I planted cucumbers from transplants. I have tomato plants started months ago making green tomatoes. I obtained sweet potato slips and planted about 3 or 4 dozen.
What I’m harvesting are: All fennel, some Swiss chard, collards, and kale. I’m cutting the outside leaves of my last lettuce and arugula crop until fall. And I’m adding to my green salad some non tuberous sweet potato spinach leaves, and edible viola flowers and calendula petals. I trimmed back my several-years-old lavender and mint. I dried two trays each of the leaves \.
What I’m going to do and plant now: I plan on harvesting a crop of Stevia plant leaves and dehydrating them. I’ll crumble the leaves and use them to sweeten iced tea. And I plan on planting asparagus/long green beans, more okra, more Stewart’s speckled butter beans, more arugula, and several giant zinnias (non edible but fun).
My goal is to fill in every empty spot in the garden with productive plants. I’m not quite there yet, but I’m getting close. Life is good.

June 11, Lance Woods: Long Term Weather Forecasting

Laurel Smith — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:37:08 +0000

The next meeting of HUG will be Monday May 14 at 6:30 PM at the Houston Garden Center, 1500 Hermann Dr. in Hermann Park, Houston (713-284-1989). To access the parking lot go to Golf Course Drive (recently renamed Hermann Park Dr.) and enter the lot right across from Miller Outdoor Theater. Lance Woods with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Dickinson, will explain how to make long term (3 to 6 month) weather predictions. He’ll share helpful websites and formulas the professionals use. So come on down! Grab a cup of fresh coffee or tea and a snack. Find out how to forecast the next season so you can figure out what you could be planting and doing now in your home garden. Meet some like-minded people while you’re at it.

Recap: May 14 Bob Randall, Ph.D., answers our gardening questions

Laurel Smith — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 22:39:32 +0000

Q: When should I harvest my eggplants?
A: Before they turn dull or yellow.

Remark: It’s good to know what family a plant is in. Tomatoes, peppers, chilis, potatoes, eggplants are all in the Solanaceae or Nightshade family. They share similar characteristics like being sun-loving, having similar pests, etc.

Q: How can I control leaf footed stink bugs on my tomatoes?
A. Plant long beans in May. Let them grow up a trellis so the leaves are at eye level. Pick off the bugs and drop them into a bucket of soapy water. This will rid your garden of these bugs. (Read more in Bob’s book, Year Round Vegetables, Fruits and Flowers in Metro Houston.)

Q: What percentage of bugs are beneficial?
A: Most are plant neutral. Herbivore insects eat plants; carnivore insects eat other insects. A healthy environment has a balance.

Q: How much and what kind of fertilizer should I use?
A: If you use traditional inexpensive chemical fertilizer, it will wash out of the soil. Animal products like manure, fish emulsion, etc, are water soluble and also wash out of the soil. The best and longest lasting are organic fertilizers like Microlife or Earth Essentials. They are based on decomposition of the fertilizer. They remain active for about 3 months. Don’t forget good quality mulch, too.

Q: How do you grow squash and avoid the squash vine borer?
A: It’s best to use borer-resistant varieties like calabasa/tropical pumpkin/Cuban pumpkin), a relative of butternut and mouschata, and tatume.

Q; How can I control squirrels in my fruit trees?
A: Create barriers if you can, like covering the tree in high quality mosquito netting. Offer the squirrels water; it may be what they’re after. Or offer alternative food like peanut butter or dog food. If the fruit tree is not near any other tall structures, the squirrels cannot escape except on the ground. When a squirrel is in the tree, you can terrorize it by beating noisily on the tree. The squirrel will tell all his friends not to come to your tree. This is a proven method.

Q: When after a rain should I start watering again?
A: Before sunrise poke your finger 1” into the soil. If it is moist, there’s no need to water.

Q: How can I control fire ants?
A: The best you can hope for is to manage fire ants, not eradicate them. Use an ant bait like Come and Get It with spinosad. Keep bait in the refrigerator and apply on a dry day. You can also use orange oil. Recipes abound; some are in Bob’s book. Mix the orange oil with water and dish soap.

Q: What can we plant now?
A: Sweet potatoes (slips available at Wabash), sweet potato spinach, long beans/asparagus beans, edible ginger (use store bought), sesame seed, okra, peppers, chilis, southern peas, silver green peas, black eyed peas, crowder peas, red ripper beans, charity peas, pigeon peas, basil, jicama (plant in June from seed). It’s a little late/marginal for corn. It’s also a little late for squashes and melons; you can try them. Plant basil now. Harvest later and make pesto. Freeze the pesto, then thaw all winter for continuous pesto supply.

Bob’s website/blog: www.yearroundgardening.me

Recap: April 9, David Cater, Utility Research Garden

Laurel Smith — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 21:18:57 +0000

David Cater shared how he came to his life’s philosophy of wanting to be outside the system and revere the land and its inherent beauty. Riding his bike around Houston as a kid, he realized that most of the people he observed riding in cars looked lonely and unhappy. He wondered, “Is this all there is to life?” He was a troubled teen. Every summer his single Mom shipped him off to his grandfather’s farm in Waller where he thrived. He was influenced by Wendell Berry’s book.
Fast forward.. David moved to Austin and owned and managed a successful landscape design business, but he found it unfulfilling. At the suggestion of his friend/guru Darwin Nelson, he bought 6 acres of land in Jones Creek, Brazoria County. At first he planted ornamental and edible bamboo. Two years later in 2003 he started the garden/farm. David says he couldn’t do this without helpers from Central America living on the farm, especially Reynaldo who grew up on a farm in Honduras.
David does not use any sprays or chemicals. He says if the soil is healthy, nothing is needed. The plants will thrive. He uses organic practices, but is not certified organic–a multi-thousand-dollar project that takes more than three years and imposes many regulations.
David praised Dr. Bob Randall’s book “Year Round Vegetables, Fruits and flowers for Metro Houston”, saying that no other place in our country has a book like this that can help anyone get started in growing food.
David sells produce and fruits at the Urban Harvest Farmers Market at Eastside and Richmond. He has a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) “Basket Case” where people can pay 14 weeks at a time for weekly pickups of their basket of veggies and fruits in the Heights or Montrose areas. And he sells to a distributor who resells to high-end restaurants.
More factoids: 1. David says he uses Kitazawa Seeds (www.kitazawaseed.com) and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange as a seed source for Asian vegetables that do well in our area in hot weather, like winged beans. 2. He sprays his crops with compost tea and molasses, and uses seaweed in his compost pile. 3. About the yurt where all the farm hands live, it is from a kit from Pacific Yurts (www.yurts.com). It took two weeks to build the foundation and another 2 weeks to build the floor, then two days to put up the 750 sq. ft. yurt. 4. He recommends Elaine Ingraham’s book, The Soil Food Web.
David can be contacted at david@utilityresearchgarden.com. The farm’s website is www.utilityresearchgarden.com.

Class June 9: How to Construct Your Home Fruit & Veggie Garden

Laurel Smith — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 18:54:59 +0000

Gary Edmondson will be teaching an Urban Harvest class on How to Construct the Home Fruit & Veggie Garden June 9, 8 – 10:30 AM. The outdoor class at Westbury Community Garden (Dunlap at Fonmeadow) is for anyone who wants to build a vegetable or fruit garden. Each step of the process will be demonstrated or illustrated by looking at existing Westbury garden beds. Topics Gary will address include: choosing a site, choosing soil, your irrigation system, and building materials and tools. You will know what to do next with your home garden project when you complete this class. As part of the class all students are invited to visit a nearby home garden. If rain is predicted, bring a raincoat or umbrella; there will be a large sheltered area for teaching.
The cost of the class is #35 for non Urban Harvest members and $23 for members. Try this link: https://www.store.urbanharvest.org/Classes.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1 or call the Urban Harvest office, 713-880-5540 to preregister. Preregistration is required. If you experience problems finding the location, call (713) 851-6102 for directions and assistance.
Gary Edmondson is Director of Education at Urban Harvest. He has been assisting in the building of school and community gardens for the past 9 years. He has a large vegetable, fruit and habitat garden at his home.

Recap: Mar. 12, Nick Cooper, Food Not Bombs

Laurel Smith — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 20:03:54 +0000

Dena Yanowski, Nick Cooper and Ellie Sequeira spoke to us about Food Not Bombs (FNB). FNB is a vegetarian, nonhierarchical, anti-war, all volunteer collective. Dena explained how it works. Volunteers collect donated food from stores, bakeries and individuals. Some volunteers bring food they’ve cooked at their homes. The volunteers often eat the food, too, which is another reason why they say they share food. (They’re busy people.) FNB was a proud winner of the Houston Peace and Justice Center Awards in 2011.
Myths about FNB: They do NOT dumpster dive. They do not leave a mess behind; they clean up after themselves. They have never heard of a food-related illness from the foods they have served. Dena and Nick articulated several reasons why they are a needed service and different from nonprofit agencies like Star of Hope Mission. FNB serves all who ask; they don’t have strict requirements or a lot of paperwork or a waiting period. They do not hassle the clients to convert to a religious belief, join a program, or sign up for anything. FNB does not split up families; other groups will take a mother and child but not the father. Clients say the food is better and they can get seconds. They also say they like that they can just hang out with their friends. Debbie Antoone from our audience said that she was impressed with the dignity that FNB bestowed on the (mostly) homeless people that they serve. Nick said that when he asked people eating the food when they last ate, they consistently say, “The last time you served.” They invited us to come share with them Mon Wed and Fri at 8 PM and Sunday at 7 PM at 521 Lamar St., 77002 in the Houston Pubic Library Courtyard and witness one of Houston’s longstanding public actions against war, hierarchy, and hunger.
FNB is in limbo. The City of Houston is considering requiring licenses for every server use of a certified professional kitchen, not a home kitchen. Nick urged us to call our councilpersons to protest and support FNB and its operations.

What’s Going On In My Garden – August 2011

Laurel Smith — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 13:15:24 +0000

Not nearly enough is happening in my vegetable garden to satisfy my Inner Perfectionist. He’s shouting so loudly it’s drowning out my Inner Cheerleader. I’ve been out of town three of the last four weeks, which hasn’t helped. Surveying my small inner city farm I see tired and sun-blanched kale; epazote, bulbous fennel, and mint gone to rack and ruin, one pathetic overgrown tomato good only for tomato transplants per Jean Fefer, one lonely okra pod; one stunted eggplant with a single two-inch eggplant attached; stunted lemon balm, large patches of bare dirt, and brown-tipped Mexican coriander commiserating with nearby chicory.

Vegetables that mercifully look okay but are not producing are: zucchini, cucumber, Stewart’s speckled butter peas, radish, and cantaloupe. What seems to be happy and producing are sweet potatoes, nontuberous sweet potato vines, asparagus (long) beans, Lamb’s quarter (lookin’ good), rosemary, lavender, some basil, and giant zinnias. And the winner is: ZINNIAS! They are the most productive thing in my garden right now. Too bad they’re not edible. But I figure I’m saving money we would normally spend on flowers and the saved money can be applied to food purchases.

I made soup this morning as I lamented the lack of produce from my garden. I used one can of lentil tomato vegan soup to give the soup a flavorful base. I added chopped wrinkled red tomatoes from harvest of green tomatoes a month ago. They’re dry but they taste good. I selected a few modest onions from my bowl of tangled onion tops. I remembered to choose one medium sweet potato from last winter’s harvest. I debated adding some cubed eggplant from my garden, but the last one I tried was terribly bitter. I decided to salt, blot, and cook the eggplant separately and taste it before adding to the soup. I tasted the cooked eggplant and the verdict was: YUK! Nasty. I composted the cooked eggplant. I added about 3/4 cup home grown and frozen kale. I added a few spices (masala garam). Voila! I amazed myself at how much of this soup is from my garden despite the reality that not much is producing. My Inner Cheerleader is giving me a high five.