Prickly Pear Cactus

So, today I finished purchasing the last of my recently acquired Opuntia cacti.  I will post pics when I have them all planted.  But I have managed to obtain mostly spineless varieties and even got to harvest a couple of pads from my next door neighbor's unwanted plant behind her fence.  Pretty cool, right? 

If you don't know the prickly pear cactus is an amazing plant!  You can harvest the pads and make edible Nopales (kinda like a cross between okra and a green bean) that you can eat in eggs, with meat, or as a side dish!  There are lots of medical advantages being researched too.  Like, for instance the ability to help level your blood sugar.  These pads have been sliced open and applied to wounds and burns (sunburns especially) and even to breasts to ease discomfort due to breast feeding.  The mucilaginous quality of this plant can be a little disconcerting, but it has great applications!

The Prickly Pear has long been known as a fruity treat in the Southwest as well as along the Mediterranean where it has naturalized.  Prickly Pear originated in the South and Central Americas and has migrated over seas to Europe, Asia, and Africa!  The fruit is high in antioxidants and you can find Prickly Pear jelly, juice, syrup, and wine online and in some ethnic super markets.  The fruits come in colors ranging from yellow to green, red, orange, magenta and deep purple.  For centuries this plant has played a major role in Indian cooking and cuisine.  The fruits were used fresh and dried and the seeds were often parched and ground up for use as a flour.

This family of cactus is marvelous!  Not only is it good as fodder (assuming your livestock can handle the glochids and avoid spines; some ranchers burn them off to assist their livestock in consumption), but they are great sources of water in dry times.  One study noted that sheep could live for somewhere from 5 - 8 months without water when a significant source of Opuntia was present! 

Now, don't get me wrong, in some areas, this guy has definitely become invasive, but the benefits of this plant to the agricultural world is really amazing if more folks were educated about it's advantages and uses!  In the older days, here in the southwest, ranchers and homesteaders would often use these spiny plants as living fences.  They're pretty formidable against man and beast (some of the varieties can have spines in excess of 3 inches!!!)  What a great way to keep out coyotes and other predators as well as providing a readily available source of fodder and human food in hard times.

Well, that's all for now.  I'll post pics of my planted pads once I receive them all and get them all potted up!

Happy Planting!
-The Heiress

A Happy Helper in the Garden

Hey there!

Today I found a really adorable little helper: A baby Praying Mantis!  These guys are excellent predators for many garden pests!  I've never seen one so tiny!  I spied him sitting on a leaf of one of my many mint plants.  He's adorable and very wary of my closeness, so I had to zoom in to get a shot of him.  Check it out:

 The discovery of this little guy has served to confirm a belief I hold in gardening: A healthy garden will resolve it's own problems if you provide good soil and proper planting mix.  Thrips have been taking over my mint bed for a month or so now.  I am tempted to use an organic soap to kill them off.  I have a few spider mites too in the Lime Mint.  I hesitate to do this because I have mason bees and other smaller bees visiting the mint flowers and I don't want to do anything to take away their food source or, worse, possibly harm them even with an organic soap or spray. 

In an extreme situation, I would possibly cut the mints down almost to the ground and spray the soil and small stems I left to save the bed (since mints are perennial and not an annual crop).  I was waiting until this fall to see if the problem will resolve itself on its own.  It may be resolving now.  I have spied lady bugs and the praying mantis and the new leaves sprouting on the mints aren't being sucked dry by the thrips, either.  The only reason I would use any kind of spray in the garden would be if the thrips were to spread to other beds in the garden and I was afraid they would pose a serious risk to the crop.  As it is, things are getting better each day and I hope I won't have to resort to sprays and still keep my mints!

On to other topics: I have a new garden video out too that I'll link later.  The bush beans are holding strong and the pink okra are blooming like crazy lately.  I'm very grateful for any real production in the garden this year with 21 days of 100+ degree weather.  All my crops have been under a LOT of stress and I'm glad for anything that is hanging in there. 

I've been hunting for new methods of fertilizing the garden organically.  Rabbit droppings are said to be great and don't need to cure.  You can put it straight on without fear of burning your plants!  Awesome, huh?  Sadly, I don't have access to rabbit droppings currently and it's hard to keep the compost up in this weather.  To be honest, I've been having to MAKE myself go water the garden because the heat warns me off so well.  If it wasn't for my husband watering in the morning when I am being hesitant, the garden would probably be dead.

That's all for now.  Here's the video link:

Garden Video #7
Praying Baby Mantis

Happy Gardening and God Bless!
-The Heiress

Pink Okra! (Plus no water and too much heat)

So, my green beans are all dead except for the Henderson's Black Valentines which are struggling to hang in there.  Why?  Because despite watering every day, my beans just couldn't handle 21 days of 100+ degree days and when the temps hit 112 degrees, they all just died.  I was extremely disappointed.  I was growing some really great heirloom varieties that I've lost now.

On to other happy stuff.  My dwarf pink okra has finally bloomed!  These seeds were obtained through Seed Savers Exchange Yearbook (members only).  I have pictures of the blossoms!  I'm going to take pictures of the actual pods too when they come around.  Check them out!

So, they look like hibiscus flowers to me.  But the source for these seeds swears that the pods are edible.  Here's hoping!

That's it for now.  Tonight, I will be making home-made shaving cream.  I'll post pics about that when I am done.

Happy Gardening!
-The Heiress

Going Plastic-Free...

Well, I'm on a huge no plastic kick.  A few weeks ago, my husband and I watched Bag It.  It absolutely astonished us!  We had no idea the real impact that plastic has had on our world.  I mean, you hear about plastic being bad for the environment, but it never really seemed personal or 'real' to our lives until we watched that documentary and saw the huge issue that plastics have become in our world and our health.

So, in response to this, my husband and I am trying to recycle what we have and go as plastic-free in our daily lives as possible.  A great resource for us has become Beth Terry's Plastic-free Life.  This woman's blog is like a Godsend for us.  She has helpful, feasible ideas and resources for living with minimal plastic usage.  also, I've found many recipes for plastic free personal hygiene products and household cleaning products.  Deodorant, shampoo, shaving cream (and safety razors which have recyclable steel blades), laundry detergent, dish soap, toothpaste (which ends up essentially being baking soda with peppermint extract or oil).  It has taken me a while, but I've finally compiled some recipes that I can actually use.  I will post these in detail as I try them. 

The only real exposure to plastic I can't avoid is plastic lids for glass jars and plastic lining on jar lids sometimes...and prescription drug bottles! xD

Anyway, I'm making reusable produce bags from old t-shirts and pondering a way to use hankies that is less gross than old school versions.  I've got some canvas shopping bags and even have some old take out plastic pieces that I can use at the butcher's to keep from having plastic wrap and styrofoam meat packaging.

In the garden, my plants are coming along nicely.  It's been SO dry here.  And the temps have been 103+ degrees for four days straight!  I can't wait to live somewhere with more rainfall some day.  I will be making a new video this weekend to share with you all!

Happy Growing!
(And please consider cutting down drastically on your plastic use)
~The Heiress

UPDATE:  Here's a link to my latest garden video!  (Google bought out YouTube, so my old account isn't accessible no matter how many times I try to convince YouTube that it is...)  Video 4

But I Just Got the Summer Seedlings Planted!!!

Hey there!

Now, we all know it's definitely past time to have those seedlings in the ground and going for the summer vegetable crop.  But it's also coming up on time to start your seedlings for the fall crop as well!  Broccoli, mustard, greens, even some onions that will grow through the winter need a good head start!

I've made some of my newspaper seed starting pots.  I love these pots because they are more secure than those ones where folks just cram the ends into a hollow can and smoosh the bottom down with the other end to make the bottom hold together.  They don't.  Hold together, that is.  My  boxes have an actual bottom of a few layers of newspaper and they're folded to keep their sides closed and secure.  Plus they're a bit roomier than those peat pots! 

Well, I'm going to get four types of broccoli going: Green Sprouting, Purple Sprouting, Purple Peacock, and Waltham.  The two sprouting types will grow well and pop up in the spring just when most everything else isn't available.  The Waltham will be ready in fall and last into early winter along with the Purple Peacock.  I'll start a few more Peacocks in the spring for some later broccoli.  The greens and tatsoi and whatnot will have to wait a while longer because they don't do so well in the heat for me.

Other than that, the beans are well on their way and the sunflowers are just topping 12 inches.  the tomatoes are well on their way at about 10 inches and the peppers are hanging in there.  This is gonna be one really hot summer (we're in the worst drought in 100 years here!) and I think I'm going to put my screen cages over the peppers to help them have some shade and produce better.  Their pollen doesn't work well if the temps get too high.  My dwarf okra is taking for EVER to grow.  It's not dead, but they're not taking off either.  Maybe some fertilizer, but I hesitate to add anything but organic and I haven't had a chance to get any from the store.

That's it for now y'all!  Happy Planting!
-The Heiress

What on earth are you!??

So, this weekend I went to visit a friend in Central Texas.  Along the side of the road I spied these really intriguing pink/red seed pods.  Originally I thought they were blossoms that hadn't yet opened, but upon closer inspection they are seed pods.  On the inside they have flat, brown seeds about the size of half my pinkie nail (maybe 1/4-1/2 inch).  I snatched up one of the pods to plant the seeds and grow these myself since I liked them so much.
But the bigger question is:  What the heck are these guys???  I'm going to post some pictures at the end of this blog for you to see.  The pods have similar cavities to okra pods with thin, shiny walls between them.  But instead of curling open along the seams like okra pods do, these guys dry out until one of the four sections they are made up of breaks along the seams and curls down, revealing the inside of the pod.  They've got spikes on the outside but you can't poke yourself on them unless you're trying really hard to.

This is why I garden.  I am completely entranced by new and interesting plants.  This guy is probably nothing more than a roadside weed at best, but to me, it's a very special plant.  It's interesting and new and I look at these pods and wonder "what does the flower this started as look like???"  and "do birds or animals eat these pods?"

Anyway, the garden's coming along and I'm very pleased.  I'm going to email the local university here and see if their hort. department can lend any insight.  Please let me know if you've got any information on this plant!!!  Also, on another hot topic, I've found a source for red potato onions!!!  Next time: Potato onions and their awesome history and uses and the sad reality that they aren't that common anymore.

Thanks again!
-The Heiress

UPDATE: Thanks to Dr. Cynthia McKenney at Texas Tech University, I now know these flowers are a native prairie flower named Antelope Horns.  These are a relative of Milkweed and the natives once used the sap to brand the noses of their cattle.  Cool what you learn, huh??

An Introduction

Hello there!

Well, I finally have begun a blog.  I have been wanting to have one for a while now, more for my own personal happiness than anything else.  This will be a place where I can catalog my adventures in gardening and share my discoveries in food.

I have been in love with growing things for a long time now.  I'm almost thirty years old and I have loved plants and gardening of any kind since I was about fifteen.  My first job was at a Garden Center in Northern Virginia.  It was amazing.  It has taken me and my husband a few years, but we have finally gotten a place with a decent yard that I have cut in half to have a nice garden.

I am a passionate heirloom gardener and seed saver.  This being said, I'm a full supporter of plant breeding in the old-fashioned sense of the word.  How else will we have the next generation of heirloom seeds?  I am fully against GMO seeds and shudder at the repercussions these practices have on our food supply and farming in general.  But coming up with new varieties that will hold true to themselves is an amazing and enriching experience.  To finally get that perfect combination of genes so that you have a variety tailor made for your requirements!?  That is just mind blowing to me!

As awesome as it is to create your own plant varieties, I find a much greater satisfaction in maintaining the genetic diversity and heritage that comes with heirloom gardening and seed saving.  There are probably as many reasons for saving heirloom seed as there are savers, but for me it is about three things:  Genetic diversity and stability, being able to save and re-plant my seed without having to buy new seeds each year, and the amazing history that comes with heirloom seeds.

Most of the plant seeds you can get at the garden centers or walmart or wherever you buy your seed from is all F1 hybrids.  These plants can be great and have amazing results...for a season.  The problem with those F1 or later versions are that they will not come back true to self.  In other words, when you save seed from your F1 tomato plant and replant those seeds the next year, what pops up will most likely be more similar to one of the parent strains used to create that original F1 or you could just end up with some completely random and unstable version this year.  It's an amazing money-making ploy.  You have to buy new seeds each year if you want to keep growing that beautiful hybrid you love so much.

I'm not saying hybrids are evil, they have their uses if you like them.  But I prefer to be able to use the seeds from my tomato plants to grow the same thing next year with no cost to myself.  And as I've already stated, breeding your own varieties is super fun.  But it rubs me the wrong way not to be able to plant the seeds from this year's pepper plant next year and know I will have the same plant sprout up.  The stability and dependability and the money savings appeal to me.

The problem with everyone buying the same exact seed (usually a hybrid) all over the country from the same supplier is that we are losing our genetic diversity.  Over 89% of the varieties of vegetables that were grown world wide only 100 years ago are gone!  Not only have we lost the stories and intriguing history that comes with each different variety of vegetable, but we've lost the diverse genes that each of those varieties had to offer.  Traits and genes that were carefully selected and cultivated over years of use and production.  These varieties were absolutely amazing in their adaptability to the region they were grown in.  It's mind boggling to realize the extent of such diversity and heartbreaking when you realize all those hundreds of years of selection and breeding and adaptation are GONE.  Because the major seed companies decided to market one or two varieties to the consumer.  And many of those can't even be saved and used next season!  What happens if the two major varieties of cucumber that everyone and their mother is growing experience a sudden catastrophe?  A vulnerability to one plague or another.  You end up with a whole lot of damaged genetic material and no diversity to help recover from the crop failure because everyone grows the same darn thing and the 200 other old strains that used to be available are gone forever.

Now, that is a super extreme example, but you get the picture.  But all that aside, perhaps the most important reason for growing and maintaining heirloom seeds is the history behind them.  I love to read the stories that come with heirloom seeds.  This variety of bean was grown specifically because So-and-so's grandmother used it to make the BEST succotash this side of the Mississippi!  Or such and such tribe grew this tobacco for use in these spiritual ceremonies.  I mean, it is just wonderful to learn why this heirloom was cherished and used for years by the people who saved it's seeds over and over.  This year I'm growing some tomatoes from seed that used to be widespread in Iraq and no longer is due to the wars and the push for hybrid seed use on the grounds of 'advancement'.  I don't think this variety of tomato should be lost just because right now that area is experiencing serious social and agricultural change.  It breaks my heard to think that something that was passed down and cultivated for centuries would just be lost in a matter of a few seasons of instability and restructuring.

Well, anyway, this blog went on for  way too long, but that's how introductions go.  Next time I'll post a link to the video I made of my garden's first couple of weeks.  Until then!