Rain or Shine, Come to our Square Foot Gardening Class, Tuesday, February 23 at 11am
at The Raincatcher’s Garden of Midway Hills
Taught by Stephen Hudkins, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Dallas County Master Gardener Coordinator.
We will meet in the Vegetable Patch. If raining, go to Fellowship Hall.
Address: 11001 Midway Road, Dallas, Texas, 75229
Public Welcome, Master Gardeners can receive education credit.
Brussesl sprouts are an acquired taste. Hardly anyone under 12, puts them on their plate. But taste buds change and recipes for Brussels sprouts salads, soups, and au gratin direct us to digest this nutritious crop.
Brussels sprouts at The Raincatcher’s Garden
In Texas we plant Brussels sprouts in the fall. Brussels sprouts like cold weather. It’s a long season crop with 90 days to maturity from transplants and 100-110 days from seed.
Would you like to grow better Brussels sprouts? Dorothy has a gardening tip:
video by Starla
Ann
Education Opportunities at The Raincatcher’s Garden of Midway Hills
Square Foot Gardening by Stephen Hudkins, Tuesday, February 23rd at 11am in the Vegetable Patch.
Rain Garden Installation by Dr. Jaber and Dr. Woodson, Tuesday, March 1st at 9am, Fellowship Hall.
All welcome, Master Gardeners can receive education credit. Leave a comment if you need more information.
Sow radish seeds early February through mid- April. We enjoyed them all through fall and winter and now get a second chance. Radishes are perhaps one of the most satisfying crops because they germinate quickly and profusely from seed but don’t forget to thin them! At approximately two weeks old or one inch in height, snip off the leaves and add the tops right into your salad bowl. In fact, you can eat radish tops anytime. They are one of the “root to leaf” crops being touted by American chefs and gardeners.
Above: Stunted Radishes, No Room to Grow
A word from Jerry Parsons, Ph.D., horticulture specialist with the Texas Cooperative Extension in San Antonio: “Plants require a certain amount of space for optimum root expansion and foliage growth if maximum production is expected.” The key words to understand are “optimum” and “maximum” . Plants limited by space restrictions will produce, but not to the maximum. They will grow, but not in the optimum condition. This is true for those vegetables which need space to physically expand (the radish, turnip, onion bulb) as well as all vegetables which need the intensity of sunlight to energize the chlorophyll of cells to insure optimum functioning of plant processes and, consequently, maximum production.”
Radishes from our Garden, Properly Thinned
Onions-you have probably already planted them or are “fixin” to get them into the ground.
Above: Onion Sets Ready to be Planted
Remember to allow space for them to grow. Judge this by the expected size of the variety you are planting.
For example, green onions need less space than the larger bulbs of 1015Y onions. Spring is coming! Here’s what you can look forward to as an onion grower.
No worries about how to eat these crops. The Dallas County Master Gardener Cookbook, A Year On The Plate, will have plenty of recipes. (Publishing Date To Be Determined) But just like spring, it’s coming!
Onion Planting Advice : The Lowly Onion
Ann
Pictures and Video by Starla
Oh, oh, oh and don’t forget National Seed Swap Day at Preston Forest, Whole Foods Market today from 12-4.
Master Gardeners will be there with seed activities and seeds to give away.
Green and Red Mustard Greens at The Raincatcher’s Garden of Midway Hills
If you have been eating your way through the garden this winter, no doubt you are acquainted with the brassica family. Members of this family include arugula, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, rutabaga, turnips, radishes, collard greens and mustard greens. They are cool season vegetables, planted in the fall in Dallas, Texas and harvested all through our mild winter.
Right now I am smacking my lips thinking of the cauliflower picked and prepared at Linda’s yesterday. The recipe will be in our new Master Gardener cookbook, A Year on the Plate, which we hope, hope, hope to publish this year.
Along with harvesting and enjoying winter veggies, you should be planting onions now. Onion planting instructions and recipes are all through our blog. You can’t escape them.
Ann
Pictures by Starla
What’s coming up in 2016?
Seed Swap Day at Whole Foods at Preston Forest, January 30
More information about our cookbook, A Year on the Plate.
A how-to video about braiding onions so you will remember to get yours planted right away
Listen to Dorothy! I always do! Here’s our fall tomato report:
We have talked about green tomatoes almost as much as red, ripe tomatoes:
Ann
Video by Starla
Now here’s a Jeopardy question that might have stumped even the best contestant:
Answer: A subtropical vine that has beautiful white fringed, lacy flowers that have a sweet perfume, leaves that when crushed smell like “hot buttered popcorn,” and edible fruit that can grow up to three feet or more long and looks like a creature.
Question: What is Snake Gourd?
Snake Gourd Growing at Hope Garden
Snake Gourd (genus Trichosanthes, which is Greek for “hair flower”) is an edible gourd grown throughout India, Australia and Insular and Mainland Southeast Asia. Because it loves hot, humid climates, it is a good plant to grow in our hot, humid Dallas summers. Though most snake gourds can grow to enormous lengths, there is a shorter variety, called Snake Gourd India Short which grows only to about four to six inches.
All true edible snake gourds, Trichosanthes anguina or T. cucumerina, get soft when ripe and usually disintegrate on the vine, unlike many mature gourds that form a hard shell. They are eaten when very immature, while the fruit is tender and the seeds are still soft. The mature fruit turns bright orange when ripe and has seeds surrounded by a bright red pulp. The mature fruit often breaks open spilling the contents, which look like big clots of blood (hence the name “anguina”). The red pulp is sweet to the taste and considered a delicacy by Southeast Asian children.
Snake gourd seeds can be planted in full sun in late spring after the soil is warm. The seeds have a hard coat and need to be soaked overnight. Though the vines can sprawl on the ground, they do best when grown on a sturdy trellis. Trellised snake gourds, especially those with stones tied to the blossom end, tend to be straighter than the curved gourds that are left to grow on the ground. The fruit of the India Short variety is picked just before it turns from moist to dry feeling. The longer varieties are harvested when they are about 16-18 inches. With a taste reminiscent to cucumbers and texture similar to zuchinni squash, Snake Gourd can be fried, stuffed or boiled. It is also good in soups and stir-fry. Snake Gourd is often used in Indian dishes and there are many recipes using it on the internet.
Finding edible snake gourd seeds is somewhat difficult. I recently tried to order on Ebay seeds of Snake Gourd India Short from a grower in India. However the seeds were confiscated at US Customs. There are however several seed companies that sell the edible long variety, so check on the internet. However, just be sure that you are ordering edible Snake Gourds, either Trichosanthes anguina or T. cucumerina. There is another ornamental, hard shelled variety that is used in crafts that is readily found in seed racks even in our big box stores. Though they would be fun to grow, they are not edible.
Carolyn
Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum
Most people know of Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) as the main author of the Declaration of Independence and that he was the third president of the United States. However we gardeners know that he was also an avid gardener who collected and grew as many as 300 cultivars, representing 99 species of vegetables and herbs, during his 15 year retirement at Monticello. However, did you know that one of the experimental vegetables that he grew has a Texas connection?
Around 1812, Capt. Samuel Brown, who was stationed in San Antonio, sent Jefferson seeds of a bird pepper, Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum. According to the seed packet from Monticello, Capt. Brown said that the dried peppers were as “essential to my health as salt itself.” He went on to say “The Spaniards use it in fine Powder & seldom eat anything without it. The Americans…make a pickle of the green Pods with Salt & Vinegar which they use with Lettuce, Rice, Fish, etc.”
Jefferson planted what he called “Capsicum Techas” in pots at Monticello and hoped it would be a hardy variety of pepper at his home. He also sent the seeds to a Philadelphia nurseryman, Bernard McMahon, who sold it as an ornamental pepper in Pennsylvania. Food historian William Woys Weaver said that “Old Philadelphians used the potted peppers as a winter table ornament or as window sill plants. The peppers themselves were used to make pepper vinegar, pepper sauce, or pickles.”
Though Jefferson called the pepper “Capsicum Techas,” like many plants it has several common names. One of the common names for the pepper is McMahon’s Texas Bird Pepper, but it also goes under the names of Pequin, Tepin, Petin, Chiltepin, Bird’s Eye Pepper, and Turkey Pepper. The Aztecs called it “chilli” and many people know it by another common name, Chili pequin.
Texas Bird Pepper is the only pepper native to North America. In fact, it is considered to be the official wild pepper of Texas. It gets its name “bird pepper” from the fact that birds, who are not sensitive to the extremely hot taste of capsaicin, love to eat the fruits, which are high in Vitamins A and C. The birds then distribute the seeds through their droppings.
Chili Pequin or Texas Bird Pepper, Common Names
The plant itself is about 12 inches tall and has a compact shape with bright green pointed leaves. The tiny (about ¼”), sparkling round or bullet-shaped red fruits were described by Jefferson as “minutissimum.” But don’t let their miniscule size fool you. They are hot! Very hot! Often 7-8 times hotter on the Scoville Scale than jalapenos’ 30,000-60,000 units.
Though the peppers originated in Central America and are considered reliably perennial in plant hardiness zones 9 through 11, here in Dallas they will often freeze to the ground but come back from the roots once the temperature warms. Because of their ornamental look, they also make a good container plants and can be protected in a greenhouse during the winter. Unlike many peppers that require full sun, Texas Bird Peppers also do well in part shade, though they do get a little leggy. They have few diseases, are drought tolerant, and need little fertility.
They can be used in any recipe requiring hot peppers—but remember to add just one or two little peppers, as their heat can go a long way. One of the most popular uses for the peppers is to make pepper vinegar. The commercial hot sauce brand Cholula lists bird peppers as one of its ingredients. Recipes for pepper vinegar can be easily found on the internet.
So, if you are looking for a very pretty plant with an interesting history, remember the Texas Bird Pepper. Just don’t forget: they are hot!
Carolyn
Pictures Courtesy of http://www.wildflower.org
Chili Pequin is beckoning butterflies at The Raincatcher’s Garden. We have two!
Celebrity Tomatoes on the Vine
It’s been a good year for tomatoes in Dallas. Dorothy, one of our veggie garden experts, talks about her tomatoes as if they were her best friends. “The Celebrities, the Cherokees and Zebras have been fabulous. I couldn’t pick a favorite. The Zebras and Cherokees are heirloom, which usually just give me one good round, but with this weather, they have stayed covered. ”
So imagine my surprise when Dorothy told me to radically cut back my tomato plants now and prepare for fall! She leaves only the limbs bearing large tomatoes, all others are cut to a height of 3 feet. The smaller tomatoes literally go into the skillet to become fried green tomatoes.
She recommends foliar feeding with fish emulsion every two or three weeks to help the tomato plants rebound for fall.
Trash the dead or diseased tomato plants, they are not worth saving.
What else is Dorothy doing about fall? Seeds of Carrots, Beets, Kale, Contender and Gold Rush Green Beans, and Oats are being planted at The Raincatcher’s Garden. A few new tomato transplants will be added and hope abounds for the tomato plants who endured the harsh pruning.
When it gets a little cooler; lettuce, spinach and snow pea seeds along with broccoli and Brussel sprout transplants will be added.
Thank you, Dorothy, now what time is that dinner of friend green tomatoes?
Ann
Pictures by Starla
Homegrown Tomato Atop a Bed of Rosemary
Fall back on some of our good advice: Fall, What’s not to Love and Fall Crops for Dallas Veggie Gardens
If you are a southerner, you probably know that unripe, green tomatoes, when fried or made into chutney, can be a culinary delight. However, green potatoes? AVOID THEM!!
Neon Green Potato from Carolyn’s Garden, Not Photo Shopped! Beware, Even Green Tinged Potatoes Should not be Eaten.
Now is the time that many vegetable gardeners are harvesting the potatoes that they planted in late January-February. If, as recommended, you have been hilling up soil against the stem of the potato or kept adding soil and compost to a potato bin, the odds are good that you will not find any “green” potatoes. However, if the ever-growing bunches of potatoes have managed to heave themselves out of the ground and are exposed to sunlight or if the potatoes have been exposed to extremes of heat or cold — beware. Those greenish potatoes can be potentially deadly. In fact, even potatoes brought from the store, if not properly stored in a cool, dry, dark place, can develop a greenish tint if exposed to too much light.
The greenish hue that can be found on potatoes exposed to light is actually chlorophyll. Not a bad thing, you say, because we eat chlorophyll in many leafy greens. However in the potato, the presence of chlorophyll also indicates the presence of solanine, a glycoalkaloid poison found in species of nightshade. This bitter nerve toxin crystalline alkaloid is part of the plant’s defense against insects, disease, and predators. It is found primarily in the stems and leaves of potatoes but can also be found on any green spots on the skin of a potato and on buds.
Solanine interferes with the body’s ability to transmit impulses between cells. Ingested in large enough quantities, it can cause vomiting, diarrhea, headaches and even paralysis of the central nervous system. Though an average adult would have to eat a very large quantity of green tinged potatoes (which are often quite bitter, a good warning sign) to have neurological damage, children may be more susceptible to ill effects. In general, it is probably best to throw away any potatoes that have green eyes, sprouts, or greenish skins.
As B. Rosie Lerner, Extension Consumer Horticulturist at Purdue University says: “The next time you see a green potato, be thankful for that color change. It’s warning you of the presence of toxic solanine.”
Carolyn
Picture by Carolyn
More info about potatoes :
One Potato, Two Potato, Hopefully More
The dirt’s flying at the new Rainctcher’s Garden-into the new raised vegetable beds on the north field.
Straight rows of onions stand like little soldiers, the first vegetables planted at the new garden. We planted one bunch each of 1015y (yellow) and Southern Belle Red (red). Potatoes are next!
Our First Onions Planted at The Raincatcher’s Garden!
The top 12 inches of the beds have been filled with a generous gift of Vegetable Garden Mix from Living Earth Technology, made of compost, sandy loam, aged mulch, and other ingredients. We topped it off with some of our homemade compost.
Living Earth, Sarah, Tim, and Judy!
Last week the first of our trees, an urban forest demonstration was planted. Expect to see more about berm building and tree planting next week.
Ginkgo Tree Planted February 19, 2015
Pictures by Starla
Writing taken from Jim and Elizabeth emails
Onion Peelings here.
Ann
