Suburban Gardening

One thing many people do not know about me is that of all things I have a Culinary Degree.....I am a trained Chef.  Somehow I ended up in Hotel Finance, go figure.

Well, I have to say I am completely addicted to Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice Lattes.  I simply can not wait until this time of year to be able to get them.  This is one of the only syrups that they carry that they will not sell to the public.  I work for a hotel with a coffee shop that is an authorized Starbuck's vendor, and they will not even sell it to us. 

Well, I created my own.  And I made it SUGAR FREE.  And based on my calculations, it is only 1 (yes, one) calorie per teaspoon.  This is a great improvement over their verison. 

Check out the recipe, I posted it on eHow.com. 

CLICK HERE FOR MY RECIPE

I know, I will catch a little heat from it, I used canned pumpkin.  I have to admit, I could not even get my pumpkins to sprout this year.  But I am sure everyone will be able to make it work for them!!

Let meknow what you think, leave me a comment here, on eHow, or both!!

Thanks!

SG

I posted a discussion thread on the Modern Victory Garden's forum asking the best spacing for garden hoops. While I know I live in Texas and have about a zero percentage chance of snow in the winter (don't be jealous), but we do get some freezing rain and some nights that it will drip just at the freezing level. I am thinking a little protection would not hurt.

I am also thinking that these will also help me at of the times of the year. Such as in the late spring when the birds are attacking all of my tomato plants, a little bird netting would not hurt. Also in the summer in the blazing heat (we have 60 days over 100 degrees in the past 3 months) a little light shade cloth will go a long way.

I am starting this a little early, as I know that while the weather is a little warmer, the PVC will bend a little easier. When PVC is cold, it doesn't really bend, and really tends to shatter! Pieces of PVC flying at your eyes is never a good thing.

HERE IS THE PLAN:

○ Drive 2 foot rebar into the ground just on the inner edge of the raised beds

○ Every Four Feet, based on the advice received above.

○ Carefully bend the 8 foot pieces of the into place.

I put in one to see if this will work "as planned" and seems to be good. Here is a quick picture of it.

I will post the finished product next weekend, when I pick up the rest of the supplies and get them into place.

Until Next Time!!

SG

So I do have some things happening inthe garden and around the house.

The bad part is, my computer took an unexpected crash.  So I am struggling to get it back up and running and recovering/recreating some of my items on it.

Please bear with me a few days.  I promise, I will be right back.

As I mentioned on an earlier post, my first job was at a Chinese Restaurant.  Well, really, my FIRST job was a summer camp counselor, but my first REAL job was in a Chinese Restaurant.

As this was a small family run establishment, I often ate real Cinese food.  Let me be clear, this was not the stuff on the Americanized Chinese menus, but the real stuff.  One of the most common items was actaully KimChi, while I know that techincally Korean, we often ate it.

I was playing on the blogs, and as always, one blog lead me to another, and to another, and then I stubbled upon The Subsistence Pattern.  An there it was....a kimchi recipe.  While I read it, it didn't sound exactly like to one I ate growing up, but it seemed like a good recipe, so I decided to try it.  The stuff you get in the jars at the grocery store just were not right....

Here is the link directly to his recipe...Kimchi Recipe on The Subsistence Pattern.

 I work for a hotel, so I asked the storeroom clerk, if they had any gallon size glass jar that I could have...they were happy to give me one.  If you read the comments on the recipe, you will see a little debate forming over plastic containers verses glass.  Once I made it up, I transferred it into two smaller quart size mason jars to store in the fridge, while I eat it up!

It turned out great....the good part about making it yourself, you control it....a little more spice, a little less salt, more ginger.....

NEXT TIME:  I will make it with Brocoli stems.  That is the other way we often made it at the restaurant.  While the American-Chinese cooking has a lot of brocoli, it rarely used the stems.  We would slice these up about a quarter inch thick and make it into kimchi.  

Oh the childhood memories......

Until next time

SG

I read a number of blogs, and the ones that seem to draw me in the most are the postings in reference to chickens. I have no clue why, but I have now decided that if (when) we move to a larger plot outside the city, I am going to want chickens. Both for eggs as well as for meat.

I often love to read the posts that Heather does on her blog, Idaho Small Goat Garden. She has only recently gotten into the world of chickens, and I love to read the discoveries and adventures that she and her family encounter.....

Then out of the blue, I received an email from the mother of an old roommate, who wrote us about her recent shipment of chicks she received. I thought I would share.

-----Original Message-----

From: Brenda

Subject: New Additions

Here are the 29 new little chicks. All of the names follow. Don't forget to

share with XXXX.

Love from your "Heartless Mother"

From left to right and some you may not see.

* KFC

* Barbecue

* Noodle

* Dumpling

* Catchatori

* Quiche

* Pot Pie

* Curry

* Fried

* Soup

* Kung Pao

* Ala King

* Spicy Shredded

* Sweet & Sour

* Baked

* Dressing

* Stuffing

* Egg Drop Soup

* Salad

* Egg Foo Yong

* Terriyaki

* Smoked

* Crispy

* Gravy

* Stew

* Smothered

* Shake & Bake

* Casserole

* Breaded

I hope you got a laugh out of it as I did......well until next time

SG

So I am a little behind on my posting, but wanted to share anyways.  Better later than never.

The garden is very much on the bare side.  After ripping out the final tomatoes, the only things left are my herb garden and some peppers (oh and one watermelon vine).  The heat finally took out everything else.

I was able to harvest a little more than 12 oz. (cleaned and picked off the stems) of Basil.  As my last batch was dried (thanks Granny for the microwave idea) and I am still using it, I decided to take advice of The Modern Victory Garden and make some pesto for freezing.

I put the basil in my food processor along with a little olive oil and some Italian cheese. In the end I ended up with a large amount of pesto, that I zip-locked and froze. When needed, I will pull it out, cut off the amount I need, and put it back in the freezer.

From the harvest picture about, you will see a few habinero peppers and some ripe (red ripe) jalepenos.  I decided to combine that with some cider vinger, diced onions (left from my harvest months ago) through the blender and cooked it on the stove until a little thich with some salt.  I added a little more cider vinger (as it boiled out).  Then I bottled it for some SPICY hot sauce.  It turned out great.  I have been putting it on my grilled chicken.  I am told it will keep in the refrigerator for about six months. 

I expect it to be gone in a few weeks.....only one bottle of it....perfect for the 5 harinero and 8 or so jalapenos.

The only other thing that seems to be producing well in the herb garden is some ginger root I planted in April or so.  I need to do a little more research, but I just bought some from the grocery store and popped it in the ground.  I love fresh ginger, so I hope it turns out well.  My first job was in a Chinese Resturant, and I am hoping to adapt a recipe for the Ginger Dumpling sauce that I am able to can and put up for use anytime.  I will eat this sauce on EVERYTHING (plus it make a great marinade).

Thanks for reading.  As always I appreciate any comments left!

SG

We have added a pond.  As I noted earlier, it was mostly recycled.

In fact we joke, the whole thing cost us $2.45!

Our neighbor was getting rid of the plastic pond, two different tiers of it.  So we took it and planned on installing.  But then she brought over the pump and a little hosing for it a few days later than she found in the garage. 

Then we got some of those stacking wall bricks that another neighbor was trying to get rid of from her back yard.  That made us think that we wanted a raised bed pond.

we dug a hole for the deepest part of the pond, placed the bottom in it.  Build the retaining wall bricks around it, and then hauled the FREE MULCH that we can get from the local city recycling center.  We used that as the filler instead of dirt.  Added the second tier and got it leveled off.

Even the plants are recycled from another water gardener who shared, and other plants around the yard that can easily convert to "bog" plantings.

The $2.45 was for a hose connecter we needed to attach the pump to the waterfall......

Here are a few pictures of it after the water cleared up a little and the plants established itself...

We added a few banana trees (I LOVE BANANAS!) with a little bed we built with more free mulch and some local native rocks (thanks for someone who responded to my Craigslist ad, allowing me to take some rocks from his farm's fields).

I LOVE IT......we plan on expanding it a little to include a second bed, more tropical plantings, and maybe even another tier of the pond (next year's project)

Until Next Time!!

It has been a very odd year.  While I am just now coming upon my one year mark of moving to San Antonio, it is hard to figure out this weather.

We have had only about 1/2 inch of rain in two months, and we have been over 100 degrees for about the same amount of time.  We are in water restrictions because of a drought....and no end in sight!

It is so bad, I planted potatoes, and in two days they EXPLODED in the ground, just like if you had microwaved it a little too long.  It was the craziest thing I had ever seen!

Well, just about everything died in the garden.....here is where I pulled out all the old tomato plants, as well as a few lingering green bean plants.

Here was the pile for the dump....remember, I really have a small garden

The only things remaining in the garden at the moment are

• a watermelon vine, that refused to be trellis trained,
• Two Okra plants, still producing two to three pods a week (see the blossom below),
• one jalapeno pepper plant that I forgot I ever had in there, buried in between some tomato plants
• one tomato plant (unknown variety) that SEEMS to be hanging on.

Here is a picture of the okra blossom, I love the simple yellow flower with burgundy coloring in the center.

Here is all that is left of the garden.....

I even posted on the discussion board at the Modern Victory Garden asking for advice of planting in this hot weather.....the censesus was it was a "break" before the fall plantings.

As I was pulling the tomato plants and general garden clean up, I did go ahead and harvest the few green tomatoes (mostly pear shaped) along with the okra and a few peppers for the forgotten plant.....

Shoot!  a week earlier, and one more Okra, I could have entered them into the Down on the Allotment's picture contest!!   (Congrats to Modern Victory Garden for her carrots).

So I have cleaned up the garden, spread a little compost that I have ready, and spread some hay as mulch, and hope for a break in the weather.

Then Saturday I listen to the local garden talk show on the radio, and they are saying that this comng weekend is when we plant the fall tomatoes, peppers, squash and pumkins to be ready by Thanksgiving time.  So I am looking forward to going to the nursery and finding out exactly which varieties I should start from seed now, to get it going.  I am stoked (excited) !!!!!!

Well that is my update so far...

Stay tuned, I hope I can get something going in the garden soon!!!

I am still here, but the lack of posts is really because it is CRAZY hot here in South Texas.

My garden is looking very bare.  We have had over 100 degree days for about a month now.  Today was the first day we have had any trace of rain in about a month and a half.....

I will do a large post this weekend, so please stay tuned!!

So it was time, the potato plants were all dead.  I was worried as I never got any blooms on the plants as everyone else's blog were talking about.

I was pleasantly surprised from the Great Potato Experiment.

If you remember from one of my first blog entries, I just popped two red potatoes in the ground with no clue on how they will come out.  Only after the fact did I learn that you needed to build up the soil around the potatoes for any type of harvest, so I added a cardboard box.  I am all about recycling.  In the end the box just degraded away (hopefully improving the soil in the process).

Well I am pleased to say we got 3.5 pounds of nice red potatoes to enjoy.  A few small seed potatoes for next year's planting.

Here are the pictures taken while I was harvesting them (sorry some of them are a little dark, it was starting to get a little late, and I don't have the best digital camera).

I will be starting my next potato planting next weekend.  This time it will be in a 24" high pot that is about 18" round.  I am hoping they will do a little better in there.