Happy First Day of Summer! Happy Anniversary, G & E!
With the heat index topping 100+ here, my VG is largely undercover for the rest of the summer...maybe I mentioned this before? The trellised cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash, poblanos, and zinnias are poking their heads out, but everything else (beans, tomatoes and less light tolerant herbs) is taking a break under our shadecloth during the worst of the sun's blast. From what I've read online, this may be my best option in my largely shade-free plot. I said in the beginning this veg bed was an experiment. Wasn't kiddin'.
Oh, and I killed a tomato plant. Yup. Pretty sure that I did anyway. But they were too snug for air and water circulation...too inviting for the snake. (As far as I know, he's still alive. I called these people to remove it, but no luck...then again, I haven't seen the snake either. Have seen a Texas Spiny Lizard.) I moved one plant to a spot in which we'd recently cleared out some yellow squash. Doubt it'll survive (my mother gasped when I told her I moved it), but just really feel it had to be done. Again, this year is an experiment is in seeing what works...have been a bit more of a landscape gal until this past Spring...won't plant so densely in the veg bed next time.
Live, learn...note your errors...and move on.
Did I mention that a friend has put in a new raised bed? They've cleverly set up to keep their large dogs out of it. Have asked to photograph the bed...will share if/when I can. Another friend, who has enjoyed an abundance of grapes with minimal effort (they came with the house and are flourishing), jokes that we can keep the veggies, she digs her grapes. Note that wine-making is increasingly popular in these parts...hmmm, if one thinks of Texas like its own world onto itself (which we Texans are prone to do, usually with negative outcomes...), I wonder if there's some opportunity for gubernatorial leadership to shape a Texas foodshed that capitalizes on our regional strengths in a united fashion? We've got a buy local initiative (Go Texan), but frankly it pales in comparison to something like the Don't Mess With Texas anti-litter campaign (and note that I couldn't find the fool Go Texan link on Google using "buy local texas"...see a problem, folks? Had to find a product I'd purchase to get the name right...it's that forgettable...though Grow Texan! has a nice ring to it.) ...Like Pattie at FoodShed Planet pointed out recently, sustainable, locavore growin'/eatin' is a bit like the concentric rings of a onion (marvelous metaphor, no?)...could Texas be its own onion? Could I plant grapes in my backyard and swap 'em for oranges from The Rio Grande Valley? These are, I think, the kinds of new questions to ask ourselves...letting the feasible, sustainable answers reveal themselves.
On another tangent, we trekked to Blanco this past weekend for the annual lavender festival (see my other NEW blog-Texas Hill Country Scribe-for pics and more!). Tater Tot and I also ventured to our fave plant nursery mid-week, where we picked up some San Antonio-friendly lavender, a frou-frou ornamental purslane (didn't know purslane could be frou-frou, eh?), and some long-stemmed Antigua marigolds. Yes, that last item reveals that I'm still enchanted by that book...John Phillip Santos mentions them growing in his family's gardens...I now have magical-realist visions of marigolds aplenty to carry while wearing my new sterling silver calaveras (skull) earrings for Dia de los Muertos.
Still other activities this week included making rosemary wreaths tied with twine (which look quite sweet hanging a doorknob) and looking for fairies in the flower bed one morning with a neighbor's child. She and Tater drew snakes on the sidewalk. Yes, sidewalk chalk is all the rage right now in our kiddie set...popularity of these things ebbs and flows, you know. An errant piece of yellow chalk landed on the lawn earlier in the week...another neighbor's kid drew a giant picture of a "baby wael" next to the street.
Ah, suburbia in the Summer.
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