Sharing Nature's Garden Archives | Page 25 of 124

Delicious garden kale — it’s what’s for dinner

While I was out in the garden this morning figuring out what to do about the impending freeze and miserable weather, I decided to bring in some things from the veggie garden for dinner tonight.

I covered a few things – the lettuce and the chard that I just planted.

I brought in some parsley and sage and lettuce and the whole head of red Russian kale. (Kind of liked thinking of the punitive theme for the Russian in my garden.)

Isn’t it just gorgeous? I admit, I plant this one year after year because of its colors. I looks beautiful in the garden. The red colors disappear when you cook it, though.

I sauteed a little bit of onion with a smidge of bacon drippings and then just steamed the still-wet leaves after cleaning. They cooked for about an hour on low heat with the lid closed. I seasoned them with truffle sea salt, pepper, a little poultry seasoning and a drizzle of aged balsamic vinegar upon serving. Delish!

Oh – and notice my pretty new ceramic olive oil bottle and spoon rest – birthday gifts from my Mom and Dad. It was all color coordinated on the stove tonight!

What are you eating out of your veggie garden right now? Any kale on the menu?

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:39:27-05:00March 2nd, 2014|Blog, kale, lettuce, parsley, Red Russian kale, sage, Sharing Nature's Garden, vegetable garden, vegetables, veggies, winter vegetables|0 Comments

Shopping for veggies for the spring garden…

A quick trip to The Natural Gardener today yielded a treasure trove of goodies for the spring garden.

I went in search of three little things: potatoes, sulfur and seed starter mix.

But I came home with so much more, including:

a few magazines,
a decorative hanging bell with a cord of glistening glass beads,
a fairy garden turtle on a leaf for my daughter, who recently asked if she could have a turtle,
seeds,
strawberries,
beets,
lettuce,
cauliflower,
spinach,
chard,
daikon radishes,
all blue and red pontiac potatoes,
sulfur,
and my friend Amy Stewart’s book, Wicked Plants.

I got it all into the car and then realized I had forgotten the seed starter mix. It’s funny how a trip to the nursery can turn your world upside down and make you forget things. I ran back in and grabbed a bag.

Now it’s time to get busy planting!

By Diana C. Kirby|2019-07-15T19:14:41-05:00February 9th, 2014|beets, Blog, books, chard, lettuce, magazines, nursery, Sharing Nature's Garden, spinach, spring vegetables, vegetable garden, vegetables|0 Comments

Landscaping project solves drainage problem…

We’ve lived for 10-1/2 years with a terrible drainage problem on our front sidewalk. When we get a good rain, a lake forms in front of the front door, making it impossible to come into the house without wearing galoshes or looking for a ferry. (Well, that might be an exaggeration.) If you look carefully, the edge of the stained concrete porch stops and you can see a tiny sliver of the sidewalk on this side of the puddle before you step up to the porch.

This is only a moderately-sized lake. When we get gully washers it’s much bigger.

I try not to think about the builder and the contractor who thought it was ok to build a sloping sidewalk that comes down the hill, and then goes back up with the next piece of concrete, making a V in which water will always puddle. They did the same thing in front of our garage doors as well, making a 3-car trench over which we also have to leap when it rains.

But I digress.

So, in addition to addressing our sprinkler/rain drainage and erosion problems in the beds that line the sloping sidewalk, we are fixing the entire sidewalk.

My crew dug the sides of the sidewalk out, separated the two pieces at the angeled joint and placed a BIG ‘ol pipe under it. They then deepened my dry creek trench (the first attempt to fix the problem, but it was inadequate).

I could not believe how meticulous they were with the cement pieces as I was sure they would crack in the process – the sidewalk is 14 years old after all. They cut it to fit together so it is perfectly level and far above the trench that will carry away the water. Before, the two pieces of cement met at an angle roughly down where the pipe has been laid.

It’s hard to see, but it’s all nice and level now!

And they made great progress today on the Oklahoma flag stone cap for the limestone edging. In this photo the mortar is still wet and they haven’t finished cleaning and brushing the excess off. But you can see where it’s going.

It was cold and windy and damp and they worked really hard today. And it all looks great. I’m proud of my crew and their skills, but I really was in awe today. Craftsmanship.

Oh, and did you see all that beautiful red clay they dug out around the sidewalk in the first pictures? I’m happy to say that it is officially basura (Spanish for trash) and is going away, to be replaced by 3-way garden soil and covered with fresh native Texas hardwood mulch when the edging is all done.

It should all be finished this week. I can’t wait to see it. And I really can’t wait for the warm sunshine of spring so I can start planting in it.

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:11-06:00February 3rd, 2014|Blog, concrete, drainage, dry creek, erosion, flood, flooding, hardscape, projects, rain, river rock bed, rock, Sharing Nature's Garden, stone edging, stone work|0 Comments

Landscape bed getting stone edging facelift…

No more pondering — it’s time to get started on the next landscaping project here. In an effort to address some erosion and drainage problems and spruce up the front walkway – the beds on either side of the walkway will be getting stone edging.

As it is now, the sprinklers cause water runoff — the path here has a slight decline, but as you walk around the corner, it slopes down dramatically and turns the sidewalk into a pond in front of the porch every time it rains. And that leads to soil and mulch erosion, because the bed level is slightly higher than the walkway. And the lack of mulch along the edge also creates a weed wonderland for me.

Our house is limestone, so a 4″ limestone border will be laid, topped by a thin cap of Oklahoma flagstone in darker browns and tans.

This is what it will look like.

But no project is ever that simple. (We knew that, didn’t we?)

First, the sprinkler heads that line the bed will have to be moved inward by more than 4 inches. Then they will have to be raised to accommodate the additional yards of soil and mulch that will then have to go into the bed.

Then we’re going to raise up two sections of existing concrete to level the sidewalk and place drainage pipe under it from one side of the dry creek to the other to help with drainage.

I can’t wait for the freezing weather to be over so I can visit all my favorite nurseries and put pretty plants into the garden. But, this is winter and I can’t do that yet. So, hard scape it is.

I hope when it’s all finished, the pretty, newly-lined beds will be ready to welcome spring and a bevy of new plants.

I can’t wait…

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:39:27-05:00January 31st, 2014|Blog, edging, hard scape, hardscape, landscape project, projects, rock, Sharing Nature's Garden, stone edging, stone work|0 Comments

It’s a snow day!

Sleeting rain and freezing temps left us with a layer of ice with the thinnest film of snow on the landscape this morning. It was 26 when I got up this morning.

Snow day!

Even though I’ve lived in plenty of cold, snowy places around the world, even the lightest dusting makes me smile. So I had to capture a few images before it all melts away around noon.

The agave above is NOT variegated – that is a strip of snow lying in the center!

Happy snow day. What’s the weather like where you’re at?

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:12-06:00January 24th, 2014|Blog, freeze, Sharing Nature's Garden, snow, snow day|0 Comments

Making room for spring…

It’s that time of year — the afternoon high temperature was up to 80 here yesterday. Thursday it’s supposed to be a high of 39. But at least we aren’t expecting a foot of snow like our friends up north.

But those warm, sunny afternoons make me restless. Especially when the extreme cedar pollen levels make it impossible to be outside. So, on my weekend list? Clean out some of the garden paraphernalia in the garage — including the old seed packets. I know that some were at least two years old, maybe older.

Why not, you might think, keep them and try them out? Maybe they’re still good and will germinate. And then again, maybe not. I’m just not willing to take that chance and have to start again or plant twice as many seeds to ensure some seedlings actually come up.

There they are – down in the garbage can – a plethora of vegetable and flower seeds. But don’t worry — they are going to be replaced, and soon. Saturday night I spent a nice, cozy evening trolling through veggie seeds and placed my order to get started in the greenhouse.

And that’s what spring is all about, isn’t it? A fresh start in the garden?

What will you be starting fresh with in your garden?

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:12-06:00January 21st, 2014|Blog, seeds, Sharing Nature's Garden, spring|0 Comments

Sharing Nature’s Garden

Delicious garden kale — it’s what’s for dinner

Shopping for veggies for the spring garden…

Landscaping project solves drainage problem…

Landscape bed getting stone edging facelift…

It’s a snow day!

Making room for spring…

Escape in the garden