As my wife opened the front door, she and my daughters began to shout with glee. They beckoned my son and me to come quick. They had discovered that the plum tree had set flowers, and these were glowing in the morning light. The tree had already began to display these flowers, but they had not noticed till this scene unfolded before their eyes. Most of my winter vegetables have been going into bloom to prepare us for a new generation with seeds. I notice vegetable gardeners who rip the plants out of the ground when this happens; however, I like to have the seeds spread to see what will arrive in my garden again.

    With care, you can plant seeds earlier. I usually wait for signs that my winter garden is coming to an end, and then begin to plant seeds in the open spaces which I have already prepared. Both girls love going to buy seeds. Katya, three years old, picks out what she wants to eat, but recently, she has focused on the flowers that she would like to have. Sakura, one, whose name means cherry blossom, has her own choices, but I have not been able to discern any pattern other than a mad rush to grab as much as she can before I halt her progress. My teenage son has his favorites, but being a teenager, he is too cool to get excited about picking out a seed packet.

Soil preparation

I begin by cleaning out spent plants, remnants of mulch or debris, and then turning the soil. A hoe or small camping shovel are the weapons of choice. My goal is to remove all weeds, roots (pine tree roots are common invaders into my vegetable beds), and to provide air spaces, where new roots can grow and water can gather. After the initial tilling, I add my compost, lava sand, and maybe an organic fertilizer. The compost is fairly rich with organics, so I frequently leave off with the fertilizers till later. I go back and till again, to mix everything together.
    In beds where plants are growing, I am more careful with this process. Once I have harvested a row of vegetables, I go through the preparation steps for that section. With that method, my gardens always are in production.

Planting seeds

A good rule of thumb with seeds is that you plant them to the depth of their width. This means fine seeds need a very light covering while larger seeds go deeper. I have used tow methods when planting: the broadcast method; and carefully setting up rows and spacing.
    By letting the seeds fall where they may by casting them may not be the most efficient means to achieve the greatest production amount. The broadcast method is great for children though. This method also creates a more natural look to the plantings. I do try to guide my daughters to cast the seeds in a general area. After the seeds have landed, we comb our fingers through the soil to bury the seeds. Both girls run to the hose, because they know that watering is next (both enjoy dousing themselves with water). When the shoots pop up, the girls and I thin the plants down. The baby plants go into a salad or a stir fry. We leave the strongest looking shoots, but this does not always work with children in the garden.
    Setting up rows is a better way to ensure proper spacing. I eyeball distances, but you can create a planting board with notches for typical spacing measurements, with one side being the straight edge . I take whatever is available to make a straight line. I make a trench with my hand to the needed depth, and follow packet instructions to find my spacings.
    I use the broadcast method more often, since my daughters always want to help. I do not mind the lack of efficiency, because the family time is worth it. With all of these flowers, I have teachable moments. We watch the bees or other insects come by the flowers. Later, we will see the seed pods form. We will harvest seeds for next year’s crop, but we will watch as the seed pods open up to release their gift. Katya becomes so fascinated with these baby plants, and she wants to help them spread through our garden and neighborhood.

My day begins at three in the morning, and last week I was getting home around 5:30 in the afternoon. My family was waiting for me to serve a meal, so I needed a quick dinner idea. I hit upon making a one pot dish to minimize clean-up: a pasta cooked in soup.

    I remember years ago a friend saying his pasta sauce was the best. He mentioned that his secret was to buy one of these pre-made sauces in a jar that he would add herbs and spices too. Since I had some canned soups for my hurricane kit, I began to prepare the soup. I added the box of pasta directly into the soup. I headed out to the garden where I harvested parsely, oregano, and rosemary with some onions and celery. The herbs went into the dish just before serving. Adding herbs in last seems to keep their flavor better. Since the soup contained salt, I did not add anymore. I did throw in some pepper, paprika, and garlic flakes. I had my meal in thirty minutes.
    I do not buy too many canned goods, but I always try to have a good supply on hand for the hurricane season. This does mean that I have to use before they go bad. After our last hurricane in Houston, I found my vegetable garden in ruins. I was still able to harvest some vegetables and herbs, but I do not rely on the garden after such a storm. The nice thing about cooking pasta in this way is that the pasta absorbs the flavors of the soup, which becomes the sauce. Adding the fresh ingredients helps with the flavor, and I imagine that the nutirtional value improves.
    I think that I need to keep more soup on hand for those days where I have no time to prepare a meal. I think thirty minutes is pretty good for a quick dinner.

Alright, that statement was meant to shock the organic crowd. I stopped by Southwest Fertilizer the other day, when I saw that they had a shipment of lava sand. I bought some to use in my own garden. You may have heard that soils are rich in nutrients in volcanic areas, like in Italy around Vesuvius, and you can obtain that by incorporating lava sand into your garden beds.
    The synthetic fertilizer industry is based upon ideas of Justus von Liebig, who focused on potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorus. Organic gardeners will use the organic chemical forms of these same chemicals. Julius Hensel had a more broad approach, realizing that he suggested the concept of mineral nutrition. He ground mountain rocks to add to vegetable beds, and found that the plants were healthier. This was adding inorganic matter ( the dreaded chemicals). I feel that if you concentrate too much on the labels organic and inorganic, you may miss an important factor in the health of your plants. Hensel showed that inorganics can be quite useful. Lava sand is a result of his work.
    This sand is made from pulverized lava/basalt rock. Decomposed granite has more silica than basalt, and basalt has higher amounts of calcium and magnesium, which makes basalt favored. The best application method is to dig the sand into the soil of a fallow garden bed (churning the soil). Since some beds do have plants, I spread the sand over the soil, and then either by hand or by hoe, mix the sand into the surface. Watering afterwards to ensure that no sand is on the leaves, and to help the sand mix in further. Lava sand then becomes the ultimate slow release fertilizer. The sand is not a complete fertilizer, so you do still need your other organic fertilizers.
    When considering your fertilizers, add lava sand to the mix. I do not know the availability of this product. I have to check if the home improvement centers carry lava sand. I am fairly certain that I have seen the sand at nurseries. I go to Southwest Fertilizer, because they have such a great selection of seeds, tools, and other products for the garden. They do sell plants, but that is a more limited aspect of their business. They are at the corner of Bissonet and Fountain View (or does the street change its name to Renwick at that point).

I had time to really work in the garden yesterday. Using my hoe, I loosened the soil, weeded, and cleaned the beds. I plunged my hands into this rich mixture to harvest ginger. I began to pull the dead leaves away from my lemongrass. I was happy to find that new life was to be seen in shoots popping up. Lemongrass will grow well in Houston, but my plants have come under attack from the dog and family in the past. I wanted this on to survive. I began to work on other projects around the home, so I headed to the home improvement center for some supplies.
    With more frosts possible, I was not planning to do more planting, but I did find some asparagus (Mary Washington) upon entering the store. I had lost my plants, so I tought I would give this another try. Our climate is not the best for asparagus, and the plant takes time and a lot of care to establish, so many gardeners do not consider it appropriate for Houston. You cannot harvest asparagus the first year, and our summer weather can be hard on the plant. Having completed my shopping, I went out to the garden center to see what I could find. My daughters wanted more flowers, and there were some nice ones to choose. I passed by a rack with winter vegetables, when I noticed tomato plants. Because I was in a good mood by finding the lemongrass shoots, I purchased a few tomato plants. Maybe if I cover them, I can plant them outside, but I decided to have them grace my kitchen window for a few weeks. I did harvest some of my bamboo for tomato cages. Wire cages are great, but the bamboo is free, and much prettier to look at. I am already dreaming of spring.
    Back to the present, I harvested arugala. This peppery plant does not always sit well with the children. I love to use arugala in salads, and I snack on it in the garden. I thought that I could make a sauce, or use it in a roulade. I did not have the cabbage or meat for a roulade, so I went for a meat loaf. I do not make meat loafs on any kind of a regular basis. I was thinking of meat balls or a frikadelle (German hamburger). I mixed my ground beef with green onions, garlic, arugala, parsley, and mint (all from the garden). I added some day old bread, egg, and a few spices (cumin and paprika mainly). I threw this blob into a hot skillet, then placed this in an oven. I parboiled some potatoes to roast in the oven too. Throw in some lettuce from the garden, and I had a good meal.

I am glad that my carrots are happy with this weather, because many other plants are not. I do like that the nardinia has those bright red berries to add a splash of color in the bushes. The violas and the violets, along with the cyclamen, have brightened my days as well. My two little girls are happy with these flowers. Both still have the habit of strewing flower petals all over the floors of the home.

The pitfalls of growing carrots.

    This week, I decided to harvest some carrots, which have become a nice size. These are ones that I had planted earlier in the fall. One issue that I am facing though is that some carrots have already been harvested. I do not know which animal has been going after my carrot crop, but this vegetable appears to be a favorite. My dog loves carrots, and he frequently pulls them out to munch on. I have been keeping the gate locked to the vegetable where the carrots are located, so he could not get back there. I am not sure that it was all him, but the carrot harvesting stopped after that action was taken. I think that next year I will place a chicken wire cage over the carrots to prevent accidental harvesting. The fronds will grow through the cage, covering it up.
    Another thing to remember with carrots is soil preparation. With our heavy clay content in Houston, carrots have a hard time growing full. In the past, I had tried a trick that I had learned from some farmers. They created a bed of leaves covered by soil. This is not bad for root vegetables, because the vegetables can expand to their full size without a struggle with the soil. I have had mixed results with this method. The leaves hold the water, which causes root  rot. In Peru, farmers use a layer of leaves under the plants to create a water storage area for their plants. I always mix the leaves with soil or compost or peat, but I can have too much water staying by the plants. This year I mixed compost, peat, and soil. This has proven to be the best mix for the carrots. I did dig a deep trench, placing some leaves in the bottom, then filling the trench with my soil mix. I did add a standard organic soil mix from the store to the soil. I placed the carrot seeds about three inches apart. I do not know the suggested distance, but three inches has worked for me.

How do you prepare carrots?

    I am always surprised that people do not eat the leaves from the carrots. I use them like parsley. They go into salads, pastas, pestos, potato dishes, or where ever else parsley may have been used. (The parsley is doing well in the garden too, but I like changing up what I use). As for the root, I thought to prepare them in two ways. My galanga and ginger are dormant in a bed across from the carrots. I dug up some ginger for a stir fry with the carrots. I also harvested a small bunch of green onions. I used the carrot root and leaves for the stir fry, which had a little left over chicken in it. My favorite method for preparing carrots is to slowly cook them in a pan. I prefer doing this with a nut oil (walnut oil has a great flavor), but the baby cannot have anything related to buts just yet. I heat the oil on a low flame with some cloves, fennel seeds, and all spice. Once the aroma of the spices fills the air, I add sliced carrots, tossing everything in the pan. I leave this on a low flame to cook slowly. I remove the cloves and all spice before serving. This went great with a chicken dish that I made.

   Do you brine your chicken?

I have been brining my chicken before cooking them lately, and this has added a lot of flavor to the meals. One day, I brined them over night, which I found to be too salty for my taste. On the day with the carrots, I placed chicken thighs in the brine four hours before cooking. The brine was made with enough salt to make the water taste like sea water. I added a little sugar to see what might happen. After removing the thighs from the brine, I patted them dry with a paper towel. I dusted them with flour that had been mixed with paprika, turmeric, and garlic powder. I pan fried them lightly to add color, then I completed the cooking process in a 350 degree F oven (about a half hour). I served this with rice that had coconut flakes added. The family loved the meal.


What I will do next year is grow more carrots. I lost half my crop to the unknown
assailant (the dog is looking pretty guilty, but you never know). My older daughter has a thing for pickles. She snacks on them all the time. I thought that I could make refrigerator pickles with carrots and maybe some other root vegetables during this season as a quick snack.

This has not been the time for heading out into the garden in Houston. I admit that I have not done much, but I did take the time for weeding. My daughters, Katya and Sakura, have been quite happy playing outside, so I have been encouraged to be beside my garden beds. Sakura, the baby, is absolutley furious if she cannot go outside to play.
    One task that I have put off lately has been weeding. Really, who wants to weed? I do have a couple of these weed trees sprouting up in my garden beds, and with the ground being so moist, I have been able to pull them out quite easily. In fact, during the summer, I do my weeding right after I do my wartering. My garden hoe make a fairly decent job of  hacking out most weeds. These baby trees that hide under my bushes can be stubborn though, so I go in with both hands to yank them out. So far, my task has been easy in this weather, and the days have not been too cold.
    I have been harvesting some vegetables. The mustard greens went down well in the pasta dish that I made last night. I appear to be the only arrugula lover in my family. My wife and the children politely ate a few bites, but I saw that those leaves were being pushed to the side. I have to say that the arugula seems to be happy in this weather.
    I stopped by the Farmer’s Market at Rice University this last Saturday. Fewer vendors are showing up in this cold, yet you can still find wonderful items. I felt like that I should support them by going. A nice young lady was there selling seeds to promote the Rice Environmental Club. I have to check them out more. I bought a packet. They should have been planted last fall, but these seeds can still be broadcast in a bed with good results. Katya is fascinated with the portabella mushrooms. She insists that we buy some each week. I marinated the mushrooms for an hour in a soy sauce/miso/rice vingar/sugar/garlic mixture. I added them to a stir fry with  green beans, carrots, yams, and onions. I threw the marinade into the pan at the end for a sauce. I served this with rice that had a little butter and a lot of paprika folded into it at the end. This meal went down well. One preparation step with the mushrooms is cleaning out the gills under the cap. They muddy the flavor. I find that the children enjoy the mushrooms more when these have been removed. I use the gills for a soup for myself. Why waste something so flavorful? How do you prepare mushrooms?

I have a little stand of bamboo in my yard. I harvest the bamboo stalks for garden projects, such as tomato cages, art projects, and bamboo fencing. A garden fence can add a focal point as well as privacy, and since bamboo is such a fast grower, the plant can provide an abundance of material. Currently, my daughter and I are working on rebuilding an old birdhouse, so we are using our bamboo for that project.

    I did buy a rolled bamboo fence as a privacy fence. I have an area under a tree where I sit to read. I also have my barbecue and a play area for the girls there. I wanted a slightly higher fence to create more privacy between my neighbor’s and my yards, but I also wanted something that would create a wonderful looking wall behind my reading nook. A rolled bamboo fence is a quick cheap solution for this area. I tack the roll to the existing fence. This style of fencing does not entirely block the view. You can double up the fence material for a better screen.
    You can make your own custom bamboo fence. I had bamboo on my mind when walking through the Japanese Garden. I did not know what I might do with all of my bamboo. The garden offered some examples of different types of fences that I realized that these are not hard to build. I took these photgraphs to demonstrate how you can construct your own fence. One idea that I take away from this garden is that you should vary the style of fences in your garden.

Basic Bamboo Fence

This style of fence is the easiest to make. I use this for any vine plants, like peas or beans in my vegetable garden. You create a cross pattern, and tie the bamboo stalks at the intersections. First tie the stalks with wire. To enhance the look, you find a colored rope to go over this wire. I buy a white nylon rope, and then paint it to match my color scheme. White rope can be found at hardware stores, while the colored ropes would be at a hobby shop.

For a more Custom Bamaboo Fence

In this fence, bamboo stalks are packed tightly between bamboo bars that hold them in place. I like this look, because if you grow bamboo at home, you will know that the stalks are not always straight, and you do not have uniform thickness. To accomplish this custom look, you build your frame first. You will have two posts with bars running along the back of the fence and on the front of the fence.  Place stalks into the gap between the bars. To pack them in, you should tie a bundle of stalks together.

Another Simple Bamboo Fence

You can use normal wood for the frame (posts and cross bars). Take the bamboo stalks that you wish to use, and place them in the position where you want them on the frame. Drill a hole through the stalk where the bamboo crosses the frame, then nail the stalk to the frame. If you nail through the bamboo without drilling, you will split the stalk- not a good look.

For the Fence

I think wood is better in appearance; however, I have seen people use painted pvc tubes. These tubes work well with bamboo, since they reference the tube like shape of the plant. I place some pebbles at the base of the hole for drainage. I then fill the holes with decomposed grantie, which I tamp down. I use my four foot level to check that the posts are level. To match the height of the posts, I use a string with my level.

Did this inspire you? How would you elaborate on these fences?

Winter is a great time for garlic in Houston gardens

My daughter is connecting the idea that vegetables are plants, and my experiment from a few weeks back has proven to her that you can buy something at the grocery store to grow. One item that is doing well in my garden is the garlic. I planted the garlic heads just as they were to show her that all of them will grow shoots similar to the green onions that she knows. Being busy with work, and with uncooperative weather, has not allowed me to spend as much time in the garden as I would like, but I am glad that the plants are growing without me.

    I am also wanted to go into the details of my little educational foray at a party last week. My brother has a small vegetable garden where he broadcasts his seeds to grow. A party goer did not believe that a few plants were just vegetables stuck in the ground though. My brother pointed out that he also takes seeds from plants he encounters. I was amazed to see his Thai basil still going strong (he found the seeds by a restaurant). My basil dies off after the first hard freeze, but he is fortunate. I think that more peole should try planting what the buy or find to see that it is alive.
    With my garlic, I pulled the heads out of the ground to show my girls. I could smell the garlic as it rose from the dirt.What a wonderful smell that is. I showed them the thin, fibrous roots. I let them taste the leaves (I was not popular after that move)- that is one of the pleasures of growing garlic; being able to use the leaves in my cooking. I divided the heads and planted them in rows, so we will see how it goes. I have not done anything special to have them grow. Garlic needs the cold to produce bulbs next year. I watered once when we had no rain; however, we have had good rain levels, so I did not need to water more. The only fertilizer that I placed on was my regular application of some organic fertilizer mix. This usually happens every two weeks, but I only have done this once a month during the colder months.
    I do not grow cabbage, because of a lack of space. I do like using garlic with cabbage, so I thought that I would bring up that vegetable. A simple dish that I like to make is called “roadside cabbage”. This is served on roadside stops in China (so I am told- would love to find out if it is true). I begin by browning some thinly sliced pork and onions. I add a tablespoon of miso to this, then the garlic. Once the meat has cooked (about five minutes), I add shredded cabbage (a lot of cabbage- the meat is a flavoring). Once the cabbage has wilted, the meal is done. I do sprinkle on some lite soy sauce. I serve this over rice. I have varied this recipe with other meats. Bacon goes down well in this dish. I do use quite a bit of garlic, so the flavor will come through.
    I should buy a few heads of garlic to roast. I think garlic is one of those aromatics that can add such depth to a meal.

Kohlrabi does well in the Houston garden during our winter. After the freezes this past weekend, I found my kohlrabi standing tall, enjoying the cold. (My wife says that this is my season, because I love the cold so much). I did not plant too many of  these plants this year. In fact, I have not planted them for some time.
    I harvested half of my kohlrabi plants this week. I like having this vegetable on my winter table. I have experienced a problem lately with the children though. I can remember some mothers who came up to me at Whole Foods, amazed that my son was eating vegetables instead of junk food. How did I do it? Simple, I did not buy junk food. Now my life has changed. My son is a teenager, and my little daughters spend time with their cousins; their peers have been influencing them. On the positive side, they still eat a larger variety of foods than many others. They all enjoy going to the various farmer’s markets (in the freezing cold morning, I went to the market at Rice University on Saturday. The vendors were glad to see me, but all of them asked where are the girls, instead of greeting me- they are loved).
    I love root vegetables, so I have been serving them since they are in season. Turnips did not go down well. When the kids saw the kohlrabi, they had a flashback, and they refused to touch them. Once my son tasted one, he was pleasantly surprised, and they have asked for more. I am going to see if I can find them- well, I know that Canino’s has them on hand.  It appears that kohlrabi will be on the table again soon.
    Preparation: you can eat the leaves of kohlrabi. They are tough, so you do need  to cook them for some time to soften them up- think of using them like cabbage, with maybe a little bit longer cooking time. As for the base, you will have to peel it. As a note, kohlrabi is not a root vegetable. This bulge occurs in the stem above the ground. Because of this bulge, kohlrabi is frequently referred to as the space ship plant. I find that the skin can be hard to peel, similar to broccoli stems. Peelers can work, but I take my chef’s knife to cut off the skin. The softer center can be prepared like any root vegetable. Since I was roasting a chicken, I sliced the kohlrabi into quarter inch wedges. Lightly slated and oiled them on a baking sheet. Once they had browned (about a half hour at 350F), I took them out. I sprinkled some flavored vinegar on them for serving. I have boiled them, and used them in stir fry dishes. What surprises my kids is the fact that kohlrabi can have a sweet flavor, particularly when roasted.
   Herbs which go with kohlrabi: I have had luck with basil (if my basil lasts into this season); caraway; chives; rosemary; marjoram; oregano; parsley; and thyme. I think that dill or fennel go well too. 

Rice became my main starch once I married. Growing up in a German household, I was used to potatoes. I was comfortable with a potato. I knew a variety of ways to prepare them. The easiest ways was just to add some chopped parsley and butter, or maybe some paprika. Rice was a blank slate to me. You had a fully flavored sauce that would seep into its edges, and then you could use the rice to mop up the remainder of the sauce. My perception of rice can from reading a book. Anne Rice mentioned adding garlic and butter to cooked rice, and I was liberated. I began to experiment.

    I found myself adding my spices and herbs to rice dishes. My favorite spice to add to a rice dish turned out to be tumeric. Tumeric gives that rich yellow color, but it provides a wonderful flavor to rice. I decide that I was free to explore, and the rice dishes could stand on their own. I think that I surprised some with my wanderings. We do have the tendency to only eat rice in its plain form. I would suggest that you see that a the blank slate to add a flavor. I do remember having milk rice as a dessert as a child, which did have cinnamon and nutmeg, so I guess that I should have recalled that when older.
    At the Farmer’s Market, I found a bounty of citrus fruit in season. My son has taken to the Meyer lemons. He is acting like I never have given him one previously. After purchasing many oranges, I began receiving quite a few oranges from other sources (gardening friends who knew that my orange tree is not mature enough for many fruits yet). Oranges are popular with the kids, but I felt that I needed to incorporate them into my dinners. Goose a la orange? A stir fry? There were possibilities. I had a pot of plain rice that I was going to combine with some herbs from the garden, when I hit upon using the oranges. I squeezed two of them. After tasting the juice, I added some sugar to sweeten it. I picked mint. I added these ingredients to the rice. It was a great combination. I think that I will make a marinade for a pork loin next.

    There are a few markets selling local produce, even with this cold. Leafy green vegetables abound (I am making quite a few salads), and there are others, but the citrus fruits are stealing the show right now. I go to the market on the Rice University parking lot next to Christ the King Lutheran church on Saturday mornings. If they have some, look for the goat’s milk cheese (not the season for it, but you may find some).