Robert Dailey's Blog
Posted by Robert Dailey
My home garden looks pretty good. I’ve got several tomato plants taller than I am, although I am a little concerned about them.
Two days ago, I found two small tomatoes on the ground below the plants. It looked like they had just fallen off.
I wasn’t exactly sure what had caused them to fall like that. However the mystery was solved when my wife pointed out a squirrel running along the top of the back fence. In his mouth, he was carrying a small green tomato (I say “he” although I have absolutely no idea of the sex of the tomato thief). The animal even stopped and looked back at us, as if to say, “don’t even try to catch me, slowpoke human.”
I have never, ever heard of squirrels eating tomatoes. It’s not as though there is a shortage of food. There’s abundance everywhere, and besides many people in our neighborhood put out extra food for the squirrels, deer, opossums, raccoons and other little creatures.
Now that I’ve done a little checking around, I see that I’m not the only person having problems with squirrels eating their tomatoes. It seems to be a rather common problem.
Oh, well. I realize that I’ve got enough tomatoes to take care of my family’s tomato cravings, provide some for neighbors and friends and feed a few squirrels as well.
I’ve got a couple of apples that are a little over the hill, so I’ll put them out too. Squirrels need a balanced diet too, right?
Posted by Robert Dailey
Two and a half year old grandson, Jean-Paul, helped out in the garden yesterday and today. Arriving Friday with his parents, he headed straight through the house to the backyard and grabbed my garden rake. He’s big for his age, but a full-sized garden rake proved to be a bit of a task.
As I held the end of the rake, taking most of the weight, he raked the pathways. I nearly got conked on the noggin a few times and he got carried away. Now, mulch sits in little piles (outside the beds), a few unfortunate plants received death blows and my Australian violets no longer billow over their rock wall. Around 9 p.m. I coaxed him in.
Next morning he was up bright and early, before I had my coffee. “Outside,” he said. I’m sure it was a request but it certainly sounded like a command. A half hour later, we were watering the new roses I had put in, as well as the rest of my garden. He held the hose and I directed where the water should go.
Once the roses were watered, we set out some hyacinth bean vines I had started in peat pots a week ago and moved some Irish bells to a more open spot.
Then we watered the crinums and cannas, the mint and monarda. The tomatoes received a sizeable share, as did the peppers and citrus.
Today, we were out in the yard watering again. Not that anything actually needed watering. But he thought they did. I had a small watering can and let him use it. “More water, Poppy” became my rallying cry as he poured water on plants, bare dirt, pathways, benches, outdoor furniture, himself, me and just about any surface.
The plants can stand a little too much water one time. I have a budding gardener on my hands and I don’t want to discourage him.
Posted by Robert Dailey
Some of my fondest memories are working with my dad in our little citrus orchard in rural Louisiana.
It wasn’t very big, maybe 20 trees. But it had variety.
We had lemon, grapefruit, kumquats, satsumas, Louisiana sweets, and a navel orange.
Many of the trees we had grafted ourselves, with the help of Mr. McCrory, retired principal of the nearest high school.
Mr. McCrory was, I guess, about the closest one could come to a master gardener back then. He was better at grafting citrus than the extension agent, who was a pretty good gardener himself.
Dad and I would drive out to a little nursery out on U.S. 90 between Crowley and Jennings and buy some trifoliate stock and buds for several different varieties.
We’d graft a lot of trifoliata to get a few trees (if we were lucky). But some of them took. And turned into healthy, productive trees.
In late summer and early fall, we kids would lie on the soft St. Augustine grass under the Satsuma trees, pull the fruit, peel it and eat it right there.
I have never really liked oranges. But the tangy sweetness of Satsumas is heaven to me still. And the tartness of home-grown lemons and limes squeezed into freshly brewed tea, with a few sprigs of fresh mint, is hard to beat. And I still like to pop whole kumquats into my mouth, especially if they’re tart enough to make my eyes water.
In fact, since I don’t have an orchard anymore, I think I’m going over to the market today and see if I can pick up some little Clementines.
Related Article
Citrus Trees
Posted by Robert Dailey
Here in the Houston area, we’ve basically got two seasons: Summer and Not Summer. Spring is actually a short time between what passes for winter here and real summer.
Actually, the temperature has not been too bad this year. Hurricane Ike devastated most of the coast, but brought with it very mild weather. So what could have been an extended summer for 2008 was, in fact, a relatively short one.
This past winter was relatively mild, and now, spring rains are arriving with increasing frequency.
But spring is definitely here. I went out to prune a fig tree in the community garden and it’s already budding out. Someone pointed out to me today that the weeds are already getting out of hand in the native plant garden that I also manage with the help of some really dedicated master gardeners.
I’ve scheduled a workday the first week of March for our master gardeners to descend upon the gardens, but I’m afraid their work is going to be cut out for them.
The spirea has taken off too, and some of it is beginning to look like trees. Several of them are taller than the buildings they are supposed to be “accenting.”
I’m afraid that we’re going to have a lot of pruned branches for the chipper-shredder.
But once we get the garden spruced up and mulched with pine straw, it’s gonna be a knockout this year. I can’t wait.
Posted by Robert Dailey
Got some Early Girl tomatoes in, along with some Better Boys. Set them in next to my leeks and lettuce.
I like Early Girl and other early-fruiting varieties because the short growing season along the Gulf coast.
Subtropical
Since it’s warm here – almost tropical (I live in USDA Cold Hardiness Zone 9) February is actually the best time to plant tomatoes.
One would think that tomato season would last from early spring until fall. But it gets really hot here in mid-summer, too hot even for tomatoes.
Therefore the earlier maturing varieties do best…producing massive amounts of tomatoes until the heat just decimates production.
Disease Resistant
Verticillium wilt, fusarium wilt and nematodes are banes of tomato crops here, so I get plants that are immune to them. I look for the VFN designations on the plant labels.
My leeks look great.
I’ve got some onions growing over at the community gardens that I oversee. I picked some green onions the other day and served them up in a weekend brunch omelet. They were just strong enough, providing a great juxtaposition to the blandness of the eggs. I grated a little pepperjack cheese over the top, some sliced cherry tomatoes and some diced up, left over fries. The omelet, served with garlic toast and some pepper jelly, was delicious.
Related article
Growing Tomatoes in A Desert Garden
Posted by Robert Dailey
When the local coordinator of our community garden here approached me about replacing her, I first thought she was joking. She’s a really nice lady, with a vicious and particularly bright sense of humor, intelligent, and capable.
Why would an old, plodding, slightly klutzy guy like me want to replace her, I’ll never know…except I would certainly make her look good.
But, I accepted the job, and she “retired.”
Now, I notice that the community gardeners treat me with a little more deference. I’m pretty sure it’s not because I’m such a tough guy. Because I’m not. And it’s not because of anything special I have done. Maybe it’s despite what I have done.
However, I really think they’re doing it out of fear. I believe their fear might stem from the idea that they might be injured because they happen to be standing near me when I have one of my more graceless and inept episodes.
Did I mention I was a klutz?
One my very first workday this fall, when I was introduced to the gardeners as the new garden policeman, I tripped and fell twice over my own feet.
They I tripped over a brick and landed face first in another gardeners plot of simply beautiful green beans. At least it was beautiful before I fell into it.
Trying to redeem myself, I picked up a machete and began hacking away at some rather large pieces of garden refuse bound for the compost heap when one of the gardeners pointed out that I might have better luck if I turned the machete around to use the sharp side. Hey , I was wondering why the thing was so dull. As Vonnegut said, “so it goes.”
Posted by Robert Dailey
The first official day of winter, December 21, I planted my winter garden. Living in warmer climes gives me the opportunity to do this, unlike my friends living in colder areas of North America who are looking at frozen or almost frozen ground.
It’s absolutely amazing how many vegetables one can grow in a small plot. My postage-stamp sized veggie gardening area was home in the fall to about 12 green bean plants which produced at least five crops, enough to feed myself and my wife and two daughters a number of meals with green beans. After the first fall cold snap, the sugar collects and makes them almost as sweet as grapes. While they are great steamed or in a casserole or in a hot vegetable soup, I particularly like them raw, with their delicious taste and crunchy characteristic.
But getting back to my winter garden.
I prepared my bed with natural lawn and garden soil, filled with great microorganisms. I planted peas, a Monet lettuce garden (the seeds came from Renee’s Seeds, a well-known organic provider), some baby carrots, beets and bib lettuce.
I covered the rows with some nice organic compost bought from a local manufacturer of compost (if one can use the term “manufacture” when referring to compost). While I make compost of my own, I didn’t have enough to cover my ornamental beds at home and my vegetable beds at the community gardens. Although the organic soil and compost are more expensive, the yield that results from them are worth it.