Gardener's Watch

Tamales

2013-06-07T11:29:00.002-05:00

We made tamales some time ago and were trying to remember exactly how long you're supposed to steam them for before taking them out. When we did it last we had some expert help, not Rachel Ray or Guy but an actual Hispanic friend who had been making tamales for her entire life, or at least as soon as she was able to roll them.
Among the myriad recipes they all seemed to be saying to steam the tar out of them (upwards of 2 and a half hours) until they set in the pot. Way back in the day this is exactly what my wife had done and the result was very flavorful water and tasteless tamales. This is not the way to do it. The millions of innocent trusting web browsing individuals out there will find hundreds of sites saying it is and I can only hope that they will find this post and sigh with relief as they realize it isn't that hard.

To make Tamales:

You can use whatever filling you want as long as it isn't soupy. If you can wring liquid out of it by squeezing the filling in your hand, not a death grip but handshake hard, then it's too wet. If it's too wet add some more meat. the meat needs to stick together somewhat though so don't make it too dry either.

You will need to soak corn husks until pliable. Use about 6" wide husks with the ribs of the husk up and down. Tear off extra if needed. If it's too narrow then all you can do is toss it or tear it into strips if you want to tie the tamales for cooking (not absolutely necessary but doesn't hurt, we lost two last time because we skipped this step). Remove the husks from the water before you start. You don't want them wet, just pliable.

To make about 4 dozen tamales you need 3 lbs. of prepared masa. We used 2 whole chickens and made a verde sauce for the filing. We had enough left over for a sandwich.

To the masa add 1 cup or lard or shortening and 1 1/2 cups of broth. Mix until it's all incorporated. You can use your hands if you want to and unless you got a masa spreader you'll probably be using your hands to spread it anyway.

After you have your masa and filling ready, take the husks (dry but pliable) and spread the masa on from one edge to about 1 1/2 - 2 inches from the other side about 1/8 inch thick. Leave room on top and bottom for folding.
Add filling which will cover about a third of the masa in the middle length wise.
Roll up the meat in the husk from the side with the masa on it toward the other edge of the masa so that the remainin husk wraps around the tamale. Fold in the top and bottom and set on a tray folds down.
At this point you can tie the tamales so they don't open with corn husk strips.
Do this over and over until you're out of masa.
Carefully place the tamales in a tamale cooker and fill the voids with ceramic bowls or cups depending on the gaps. Don't pack too tightly but make sure the tamales are standing up. It may be best to put them in the pot when the pot is on it's side and funnel water to the bottom of the pot afterwards.

Here's the important part! On high get the water boiling. After the water starts to boil, steam the tamales for about 30 minutes. Don't over cook. Remove from the heat and let sit for a couple minutes so the steam can leave the pot before putting your hand in there. Remove the tamales from the pot and let them sit on a tray for about 20 - 30 minutes to set up. They will set up after being removed so don't worry about the texture immediately after removing them.

If all goes well you will have some pretty dull water and flavorful tamales.

Radish Crop

2013-06-02T20:55:00.000-05:00

The radishes are bolting and making pods. I don't really care for radishes particularly but they're easy to grow and the wife and others like them so they're in the garden.
The wife hadn't heard of anyone ever eating the pods even though they look like short green beans. I looked it up and sure enough you can eat them raw, cooked, pickled, or probably any which way you want. They are much like the root and I don't care much for them either. I'll stick to the green beans. Although maybe if I mix the green beans with the radish beans... I migh thave something there. I'll have to try it.
We apparently have more than one kind of radish though. Not only are the pods different sizes but the flowers too aren't all the same color. They are at least all shades of purple though.

Tomatoes a Plenty

2013-05-06T17:41:00.000-05:00

Some of us have dared to plant a garden again this year even if their past attempts have gone awry. If you are among them then you are probably pretty happy with the way the weather has cooperated so far. Your tomatoe plants will probably look full and with quite a bit of fruit on them.
If you haven'd done so already it's not too late. You can still plant squash and beans. Carrot is also one of those things you can plant nearly year round and expect some harvest or another. So don't worry and get out your gardening gloves and trowel and go plant something.

If nothing else there should be a wide assortment of already started plants that will give you a head start in getting your garden looking great.

Butterflies Calling In Spring

2013-04-16T11:01:00.002-05:00

Butterflies are one of those things everyone expects to see when spring comes around. There's nothing like a warm spring day with a gentile breeze and a field of butterflies fluttering around. I tried when I was very little to catch some in a little net. I only caught a few but being so little I didn't realize how fragile they were. I don't remember what I did exactly but I'm sure I should have been more careful.
We've been seeing a lot of butterflies recently, especially black swallowtails since we've purposefully put out plants they like to eat. Among these are dill, fennel, rue, and parsley. I'm sure there are others but these are the most commonly known ones.
We've also seen other butterflies though, our dianthus and onion flowers seem to attract large yellow and white butterflies and a small grey one, respectively. Who knows what other types may flutter by as more flowers open like our cone flower and the milkweed out back.

Spring Sprouts

2013-03-31T12:36:00.000-05:00

We planted the back beds almost two weeks ago and already have quite a bit coming up. Fortunately it rained while we were out of town and kept everything moist.
The chicken wire has effectively kept the cats out of the dirt. They really don't like leaving things on top of the ground so when they realized they couldn't bury their oh so unwanted gifts they stopped leaving them. The bean sprout is one of the more obvious ones since you can see the bean split on the plant.

The larger green sprouts are the beets and the smaller ones are the radishes. The spiky sandy shoots are from the potatoes but won't make anything edible for a while whereas the beets and radishes could be eaten rather soon.
There are also some beets on the side of the house that are further along and could be used in a salad or possibly pulled and cooked.

Southern Flowers: Calla Lily

2013-03-27T23:45:00.001-05:00

Calla lilies are a standard florist shops around the country but are easily grown in the south. We went to my grandparent's house in southwest Louisiana and on the north side of the house were some lovely callas growing in a group. My wife had to take pictures which came out lovely.
I've seen callas but these were twice the size I've seen from any florist. This is of course one of the better times to find them fresh which is why you will often see them in spring arrangements.

Snow Peas in the Spring

2013-03-21T11:35:00.000-05:00

The snow peas are still growing and have picked up a little but still no flowers. It may be too late for them to really make any significant beans. The water coming out of the hose is still ice cold though and may fool the plants into thinking winter is still here and help them produce a little but the warmer temperatures will more likely keep it from doing much. Summer will be here before you know it and the best I can hope for then is to keep them alive until cooler weather can help them along again.

Raised Beds in the Garden

2013-03-19T11:30:00.001-05:00

We've been working for a few days now geting the raised beds ready for planting. We've removed most of the grass from the tiled area and entirely replaced the wood on the back bed. The weather and bugs had reduced the wood to pulp and a few splinters. the middle bed needs a little repair but will last the season and can be replaced next year or maybe in the fall.

After replacing the wood on the last bed we also put chicken wire over the top to make it less desireable for the local cat population since newly tilled soil, especially soil that is still that sandy is often seen as a large litter box. After we put down the wire we began planting sandy loving seeds and starters, mainly in the onion family.
We planted a whole corner with garlic from a few bulbs we had lying around that were neededing to be replaced anyway. We also planted onion seeds in about half of it.
Potatoes are also good in a sandy soil although they need more room. We planted a few in the back of the back bed and will see how they do.

Planting for Spring

2013-03-06T09:30:00.003-06:00

Spring has sprung even if the plant store is a little more wary. We've already got plants in the ground and seeds from last year are already popping up and saying hi.

Among the returnnig plants are the dill, which has come up in a carpet in the area it was in last year and is already attracting the black swallow tail butterflies, and the cilantro or chinese parsley, which again doesn't want to grow in the planting beds but likes to stretch out and grow in the rocks. I think this is partly due to the birds eating most of the seed they can see on the dirt and when they're in the rocks it's harder for the birds to get to them and swallow them up.

From the plants that come back from the root we have the purple cone flower, hollyhock, a wide variety of iris, daylily, ferns, a basil plant that just didn't want to die, lemongrass, fennel, and onion.

The survivors who stayed green and happy all winter were oregano, thyme, lavender, green onion, rosemary, the monster beet, and of course the live oak.

We've planted seeds, starting from north to south, for corn, bush beans, beets, carrots, onion, and radishes.

Plants we've put in as plants are tomato, thyme, and rue (near our rose bush out front). So far everything seems to be acclimating well. the tomatoes, which usually droop a little at first, never even tipped a leaf. We actually planted two thyme plants, a lemon thyme next to the one that's finally acclimating well and a yellow leaf thyme out near the fennel.

Rain Barrels

2013-02-09T20:54:00.001-06:00

There's been a lot of talk about rain barrels and what is and what isn't a good idea for them.
Most of what I read these days seems to be about how to make them atractive in your yard. If you are so worried about how it looks that you never get around to actually getting any then you've already missed the point.
Personally I think if you have the chance to get rain barrels then you can worry about where to put them and how to decorate them later. Right now the rainy season is starting and it's the perfect time to figure out placement of the barrels and of the collection point. If you have rain gutters then using an existing down spout is perfect. If there isn't a convenient one then you might have to divert the gutters elsewhere. At my house there is a definite collection point that I can't move since it captures over half of the water that hits my roof and currently doesn't have a gutter. It's nearly in the middle of my back yard but that's just where it has to be since moving it down near the fence would block the entry to the yard off from the side of the house.
I have obtained three 55 gallon plastic drums that can be connected, and were last year before cleaning the yard for the winter, by hoses. It will be nice this summer when we need a constant source of water to keep things alive and don't want to run up the water bill or waste city water. The garden will need much more than that really, last year about 500 gallons a month were used (about 16 gallons a day for all of the planting beds) and didn't keep up with the heat as well as I would have liked, but at least it helps.
If you need barrels you can get them at many stores these days or if you are cheap then you can contact car washes and usually get the old wax and soap barrels for free. This method is not very reliable though and often takes a long time. This is probably what I will do though for another 5-8 barrels rather than paying several hundred dollars for them.
On top of that I really need a consistant regimine of ice watering. This not only keeps water coming but cools the ground so there is less evaporation. The coller ground also helps keep things lilke lettuce from bolting too soon.

Bed Preping Time

2013-02-01T09:01:00.001-06:00

It's February and the wife has already picked out what she wants to plant for the spring. First off though we need to prep the beds and get them ready for growing which sounds like a couple weekends of work.

The three beds in the back really need more sun and so I'm planning on finally getting rid of the youngish pecan tree in the back that's monopolizing all of the sun. That also means summerizing the mirrors so we don't have too much sun bouncing back into the house or garden. The pecan tree used to shade them so I didn't have to mess with them before.

On the table of things she wants to grow are:
Borage - We grew these years ago and they come up pretty well.
Carrots - Another easy grower. Maybe we'll get normal sized carrots this time.
Leeks - Last time we tried leeks we just planted the bottoms of the ones from the store, didn't do so well. We'll see if seed leeks are any better.
Onions - I don't know if we're doing starters or seeds but either way should work well.
Celery - Another one we tried to root from the market recently. It's still green but no roots have formed yet. We're going to try this one from seed too.
Beet - We've done really well with beets and i don't expect this coming year to be any different.
Cucumber - As long as we keep these watered well all through the summer they'll be fine.

Past that she wants some flowers. If our lemon grass doesn't make it through the season we're probably getting one of those too.

Harvesting Saffron

2013-01-01T22:31:00.001-06:00

Harvesting saffron is time consuming and can be a test of patience. I've looked as several sources but there doesn't seem to be an agreement on when saffron is supposed to flower. Some say it flowers in the fall, some say in the spring and others say it flowers both times. I can say for certain that mine does flower in the fall since that's when it flowered for me but I have yet to see it at all in the spring since I planted it this year and last spring it wasn't in my yard.

Unfortunately I only had one flower show up. Again sources are divided as to how long it takes new plantings to flower but I hope more flowers will follow this early bloom.
After harvesting, large batches are heated on a very low temperature, sometimes dried in the sun or over a candle. I can only guess that this preserves the flavor and color while preventing it from deteriorating from the moisture. Since I only got three threads I didn't bother yet worrying what to do with them.

All of the bulbs seem to have divided and I might have do dig some of them up and replant so they aren't so crowded and can keep dividing. This will probably be a summer project when they go dormant.

Overgrown Agave

2012-12-29T22:25:00.002-06:00

Our agave has gotten fairly large since we've put it in the ground and it's baby is about twice the size of it's momma when we put it in the ground. There are lots of agave plants around the city. Some yards have several plants or even an entire row of them lining a yard.
Although not the famed tequila agave, all agave plants accumulate a sweet syrup in their cores and can be harvested for this "nectar" which has been popularized over the years. Once our plant grows big enough we will probably uproot it and harvest this sweetness and see about using it in a recipe of some sort. Since it has already put out runners we will still have more to use.

One of the problems I've had is when cleaning out from under it. The teeth on these things are hard, sharp and plentiful. When they're covered with dead leaves they are also really hard to see and aren't in a nice neat pattern.
The pointy tops of the leaves can be broken off and used as disposable needles for sewing and if broken off right will even have a little bit of fibers attached for the thread. The fibers in general can be cooked down and broken up and made into rope or coarse cloth.

Second Cold Snap of the Season

2012-12-19T16:38:00.001-06:00

Tonight will be the second cold snap of the season. If I can get the tomato plants to adapt and weather this through I may just have some tomato plants make it through till spring.

The plan is mulching with some grass debris and leaves I have and hopefully keep the stems in good condition until it warms up.

The wife has been asking about doing something similar to the lemon grass. Currently it's the biggest clump we've gotten so far and we really don't want to loose it like we did our basil crop. At least the basil will reseed itself and we should have plenty in the spring popping up.

Speaking of popping up, the saffron has popped up and is still growing nicely. We've had one flower although I seem to have misplaced the stamens we picked. They're already dividing from the bulbs we purchased as seen from the clusters of shoots in places where we only planted single bulbs.

As far as planting, it's about time for root vegetables and snow peas. Hardy greens will do good as well. I'll probably be planting carrot, cabbage and snow peas in the next couple days.

Monster Beet Growth

2012-12-16T12:31:00.002-06:00

After looking for a little while many people are touting the nutritional benefits of the beet, which is a great reason to eat them, and a bit about the ability to eat the whole thing. I was eating greens right off the plant just yesterday showing our neighbor's kid that I wasn't joking that you could eat right off the plant. Since we don't use pesticides and I had just watered anyway they were even already washed. Living in the metroplex, I still want to wash off the pollution that can settle from cars and industrial places around.

What I didn't find was the mangled monster that I have growing in my garden. At first it just seemed to be a strangely large beet plant with a huge stalk. The leaves on the stalk died back somewhat but the stalk never did. After it got cooler new growth started on the stalk and more recently it started to grow entirely new beets off the side of the stalk. We're thinking of cutting some of them off to go in a salad but we'll see when the time comes how it looks. In the mean time we're just letting it grow and hopefully soon we'll get some seed from it.

Fall Tomatoes

2012-11-26T15:07:00.000-06:00

Even after being run over with a trailer and sat on by neighborhood cats, my tomato plants are still trying to produce tomatoes for me. The first couple had some bugs but there are several that are doing really well.
The weather seems to want to cooperate with me too. No freezing temperatures in the near forecast and plenty of sun. All I have to do is keep them watered and happy and we'll have some good pasta sauce in our future. Likewise the basil plants are continuing to grow and look healthy. We'll probably harvest them soon and make more pesto and save some for making sauce.
The beet plant is still getting bigger but no flower stalks yet, a few more weeks of waiting and we'll see what happens.

Approaching winter

2012-10-22T18:55:00.000-05:00

I haven't had a lot of time to go out and garden but winter is fast approaching and it doesn't look like it's going to wait on me to get my garden ready. The on and off drizzles have started which makes it hard to plan when a good time to go out would be but it also keeps me from having to worry as much about watering. Anything hardy probably won't have to be watered by me until spring.

Crops I'm hoping will still produce something this year:
tomatoes - they're still flowering but I don't think they're pollinating. I haven't seen any little tomatoes forming.
saffron - I planted the bulbs but they might not do anything until next year.
beets - They're growing but I don't know if they will be big enough to eat. the really large one may be too big and I'm hoping it will flower and make tons of seed.
wild yam - Still not sure what to do with it but there's a small patch in the front yard.

Eco Fest - Raptors

2012-09-22T17:39:00.000-05:00

We stopped by Eco Fest today (in Arlington, Texas), mostly because we heard they were giving away free plants. While we were there, I was able to photograph some of the birds brought out by the Blackland Prairie Raptor Center. All of thier birds are either injured or for some reason unable to care for themselves in the wild, so hearing their stories is a little sad, but it is still amazing to see such majestic creatures up close.

Perigrin Falcon -- This is the type of bird made fameous in My Side of the Mountain.

Red Tailed Hawk -- This guy is a teenager, with lots of energy. He broke one wing, probably while learning to fly. Somebody patched him up, but he couldn't fly properly, so he crashed and broke the other one. In captivity, he'll probably live to be in his twenties.

Screech Owl -- Isn't this just the most adorable thing you ever saw? That's probably why somebody fed him, and now he can't hunt on his own.

Red Shouldered Hawk -- This guy never learned to hunt either. He can fly, but tends to go in circles.

Texas Spiders

2012-09-19T22:18:00.003-05:00

We were out at Cedar Hill State Park scouting locations to do a little stargazing. While we were there, we met a few of the park's arachnid inhabitants. I know the two large spiders were both Texas tarantulas (they were surprisingly willing to have thier picture taken). Not sure about the other two. Anybody have a guess?

Citrus and Chocolate

2012-09-17T17:09:00.002-05:00

Citurs season is around the corner.
My mom used to tell me stories about getting oranges as gifts and how it was so special since they lived up north and of cours they didn't grow aound that area. Winter is citrus season though and a whole variety of fruits will be available for a decent price. As the strawberry preserves are being eaten on fresh scones out of the oven it will be time to preserve the citrus in marmalades and candied slices to be enjoyed throught the summer.

This brings to mind my kaffir lime tree.
So it's still kind of small but it's getting bigger and there are plenty of leaves to use in curies, which are also great in the coming cold weather. I have to admit my favorite is masuman but any curry is good, especially with potatoes. I don't know what it is but potatoes go great in any curry you can imagine.

What goes better with citrus than chocolate!
Fortunately the chocolate conference is comin up again this year in Addison on the 29th. Perfect timing since my chocolate stash is coming to it's end from last year. I bouth seven bars and saved some of the bigger samples you get with your admision ticket. They will have lots of chocolates to sample and buy. I'm hoping to have a good variety this year an not so much bacon.... Bacon's ok but not really what I want my chocolate poured over, it's much better with scones and jam.

Cantaloupe Season is Over

2012-09-11T08:48:00.001-05:00

No need for a photo today. I was hoping the cantaloupe plant was only going through a short slump but it seems the cantaloupe season has ended for our area. The last fruit has been picked and is sitting in the fridge waiting to be eaten. The vine is turning yellow and the lieaves are shriveling. The night air is reaching the mid 60's signaling the end of summer is comming. Time for the fall harvest to start producing!

My next project is to sprout some black currant seeds and have something in the ground in the next few weeks. Hopefully they will have time to produce for next fall.

Dallas Inner City Landscaping, Cactus

2012-09-09T20:42:00.000-05:00

It seems Dallas is trying to get some greenery to stay around during the hot weather we've had yet again this year. Wandering around the streets last weekend we came across dozens of planters with these guys nestled in them.

Some of them had rocks tossed on top, not that that would have bothered them much but it just didn't look very nice so I pulled them off, others had weeds. I didn't try to fix the weeds since I didn't want to get poked in the process.

These guys aren't the vicious kind you read about that dig their barbs in and don't let go though. It's more like pointy zip tie ends. The barbs even have that look to them as if they might make that same zip sound if you ran something along them.

They really are a pretty plant and I hope they keep it up. They should be able to survive the down town conditions pretty well and they can always use more greenery. Also the watering requirements for them is pretty low. The slow growth in these guys will also make it easier for the upkeep.

Blue About the Blue Moon?

2012-09-01T00:19:00.001-05:00

There has been a bit of hype recently about the supposed blue moon today. This is actually not a blue moon however since the actual blue moon can only occur around four specific days of the year give or take a day or so.

The possible dates are February 19, May 20, August 22 and November 21. These are approximate give or take a day but no other months can have a blue moon since they signify the third of four full moons in a season and the seasons start at the times of the winter and summer solstice and the spring and fall equinox.

The purpose of the blue moon is to have the names of the seasonal moons consistant, having three named moons per season. I would consider the full moon today as the Corn Moon. It's a little early for the harvest moon here since it's so warm in August. The next moon would be the Harvest Moon, the time when the harvest should probably come in. The names of the moons differ depending on who is naming them, where they live and what is important to their cluture.

The Jewish calender kept this by having an extra month every few years at the end of the year. Thus on years with a blue moon during the sacred Jewish calendar, which starts with the new moon before the full moon after the spring equinox, the month of Veadar is added to keep the months straight. Each month being from new moon to new moon.

As mentioned in a previous post the idea of a blue moon being the second moon in a month doesn't work because of the famed double blue moon, a second moon in January followed by a second full moon in March. This throws the naming all out the window since there would be no full moon in February and two blue moons would mean a named moon would be missing.

The next real blue moon is on August 21, 2013. The other three full moons that season are on June 23, July 22 and September 19. This means that next year's harvest moon will be October 19 which is almost a month later than this year.

(The above picture is not a full moon but was taken a couple days early on a clear night.)

Saffron

2012-08-30T00:36:00.001-05:00

We went to the plant nursery yesterday to get some onion chives. We have green onions and garlic chives already and decided to get the onion chives to round out the set. At check out I noticed the little box of saffron bulbs and decided I would finally grow some of them. They are hardy from zones 6-10 making my zone 8 just perfect, although summers will still probably need extra watering.

We've used saffron in many recipes including bread and couscous. For the bread recipe we steeped the saffron threads in the water before adding it to the recipe giving it a nice yellow coloring.

Although it will be a while before we can use anything from the bulbs, the wonderful purple flowers will be a nice addition to the front landscape.

Cantaloupe Seed Saving

2012-08-25T00:11:00.004-05:00

Saving seeds from cantaloupes is a messy business. After scooping out the innards you have to clean off all of the slimy stuff. The way I get it done is by using a lot of paper towels. Paper towels are good at absorbing moisture and pulling off all of the stringy stuff that sticks to it when you first get it out.

After that you have to let them dry in the open air. Paper towels are good for this too. After they're dry then rub them to get any residue left over off of them.

I like to use a little glass bowl after this step so the seeds have good air circulation. The tips will look dry while the main part of the seed will keep some color. If this starts to turn then you can pretty much toss it. The above picture is a good example of seeds that are still in good shape.

They are also second generation seeds which should pretty well imitate the fruit it came from. It goes without saying then that if you don't like the fruit you grew then you probably don't want the seeds. Of course it could have crossed with something else in your area but chances are it didn't.