M&G's Backyard Garden

Spring, 2009, has been a very weird season. Two late frosts, lots of wind, and very wet. Nonetheless, things are growing. Have harvested two plantings of radishes, spinach, mustard greens, and are currently eating string beans, onions, elephant garlic, strawberries, potatoes, and lettuce. Corn is growing and okra is planted. Tomatoes and peppers are starting to flourish.

This week, we will plant melons – watermelons and cantaloupes. We have six rain barrels set up and catching water off the roof. Trying to figure out a pump system to get water uphill to our garden from the house.

Our new asparagus bed is doing great! We built it using cinder blocks and dyno soil. The feathery fronds sway gracefully in the wind and are several feet tall. Really beautiful. Our new J&P roses are flowering and bringing us lovely fragrances and beautiful blooms.

On a side note, we are xeriscaping our lawn little by little. Yuccas and blue rug juniper for the hill. No more mowing or watering that area. Plans are in the works for an island in the front yard cut out of the St. Augustine, mulched, with native plants. Also, a rock garden on the south side of the house so we won’t have to mow that either. We have almost a half an acre and there is a lot of potential.

Will update as more veggies come in. Would love to hear what is going on with you!

Photo is of our “Circle of Fire” from last year – jalapenos, habaneros, scotch bonnet, cayenne. Wonderful!

ZGarden's Garden

We planted 8 tomato plants after March 15. There was a freeze after we planted the tomatoes, so we covered them with plastic buckets to protect them. Fortunately, all but one plant survived. At the March Master Gardener monthly meeting, the speaker was George Kragel who spoke about growing tomatoes. He recommended taking off all the branches of a new tomato plant but the top 2 and planting the plant to the level of the second branch. He said that planting technique encourages the plant to grow extensive roots. I don't know whether to credit the planting technique recommended by George or all the rain Mother Nature has provided this spring, but I have the best tomatoes I've ever had. My first tomato is ripening on the vine this week (week of 5/18), and I have many more to follow. It's pretty exciting.

I am growing squash so I can have squash blossoms for soup, quesadillas and other Mexican dishes. It's fairly common to see squash blossoms in Mexican markets, but you never see them in the stores or markets in our area. I have to pick them pretty quickly because they become squash in only a couple of days. Of course the squash are nice to have too.

I'm a cook so I enjoy growing herbs to use in the kitchen. One of my favorites is epazote which is used in Mexican cooking. (Is there a theme here?) Once you have epazote in the garden, you have it forever. It grows like a weed. It's a warm weather annual that comes back from seed, and it comes up everywhere. If you decide to grow it, you'll want to take off the flower heads to try to avoid having epazote everywhere--beds, sidewalk cracks, flower pots. My favorite recipe for beans uses epazote. It enhances the flavor of the beans and they're delicious. I understand from Mexican cooks that it also decreases the gassy quality that beans can have, and I would agree with that.

Here goes: Heat a small amount of oil in a Dutch oven. Chop one onion and add to the pot. Cook onion until it starts to brown. Add a package of dried pinto or black beans and cover with water. Allow to come to boil and reduce heat to simmer. Continue to add water as beans cook until they are soft. This usually takes a couple of hours. Season to taste with salt and add a sprig or 2 of epazote. Continue to add water and cook until beans are the desired consistency. I like to cook them until they're really creamy. Delicious! Be sure to check your beans occasionally while they're cooking. I burned 2 pots of beans in the same week when I got distracted and forgot to check on them. That kind of destroyed my reputation as a good cook. Remove epazote sprig before serving.

Meet the Bloggers

Welcome to the Veg Head Blog. We are off to a great start. Keep checking back with us as our bloggers add their information and introduce themselves.

ZGarden's Personal Info
I have been a Denton County Master Gardener since 2006. My husband and I live in Flower Mound. Although we've had a small vegetable garden in a raised bed the past few years, this year we decided to kick things up a notch. My husband expanded the raised bed built with concrete blocks to double the size. This year we're growing tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, eggplant, jalapenos, cantalope, onions and lots of herbs.


M&G's Backyard Garden Personal Info
I started gardening in the City of Denton in 1984 and have been gardening for most of my life. Vegetables are my specialty and I have found out that you can grow virtually anything in Denton County. Soil preparation is important, of course, and it really gets hot in the summer. However, variety selection and proper gardening techniques can lead to successful year-round gardening. With the new knowledge I gained this year in the Denton County Master Gardener program, I look forward to even more success in growing wonderful things here in Denton


Pigs Fly Ranch Garden
Pigs Fly is a 4.5-acre "ranch" in south Denton County not far from the U.S. Corps of Engineer equestrian trails. We have a veggie garden, a blackberry-plus-lantana garden, a native plant garden, a butterfly garden and several compost piles. We also have 9 pygmy goats, two horses, two dogs, three cats and two bee hives.