Live Bamboo Fence

All you need is several acres for it to grow in well and there you go..... What? That doesn't sound good?
If you're like me then it sounds really good except that you probably don't have the acreage. Don't let that daunt you though, there are varieties of clumping bamboo that are much more manageable as a screen and don't end up on the other side of the yard, or worse in the middle of the yard.
If that still sounds a little too much, there are many shrubs that would do just as well for a little privacy. If your area is good for it you might consider grapevines The main problem with a live fence is the time it takes for it to grow. Even if you have the acreage, bamboo would take a few years to make a decent fence unless you planted the entire thing. Likewise bushes and shrubs are usually sold in much smaller sizes than you would need to make a good fence. In the mean time you can plant vines, which would work well on a chain link fence, or tall growing flowering plants like sunflowers to fill in where the shrubs haven't yet.
If you have a living wall I would love to see pictures of them!

Fort Worth Autumn Plant Swap 2009 Starters

I have planted some seeds for starter plants for the plant swap.


Included are the candy lilies that I got seeds for recently, basil that I have had for some time now which is actually sprouting, jujube but only four of them since I haven't gotten back to the tree to get more seeds, grape from my mom's grapevines of which I still have most of the seeds from, and let's not forget the key lime trees which it seems that all but one is still alive.

The only definite plants so far are the basil and key lime trees since they are the only ones that have actually sprouted so far. I hope the grapes will sprout soon since the seeds are smaller and usually denotes a shorter germination.

For those of you who don't know a little basil goes a long way. From the two plants we had last year we made some pesto. We froze most of it into cubes and put it in the deepfreeze. One cube makes an entire meal for pasta and thaws quickly which makes me think, pesto chicken linguini for dinner tomorrow?

Just in case you are interested in attending we will probably also have the much talked about lemon thyme cookies again this swap.


Hopefully coming soon will be my want list. I still have to discuss it with the misses. Included will most definitely be bushes of some sort for the front.

2009 Plant Swap Items

There are a few things I will definitely be bringing to the plant swap this fall.

1. Key lime plants started from seed. I don't know if these will actually produce true from seed but I know for a fact that they are citrus and have distinct lime characteristics.

2. Cookies! Once again my wife and I will be making the lemon thyme cookies for trade.

3. Candy Lilly sprouts. Just this week I received a few dozen seeds from a coworker. I plan to plant them in peat pots and hope they sprout within a month. For anyone wanting to trade, be advised that these will not necessicarily make it but I'm going to try.

4. Other plants may include the following: oxalis, strawberry, grape (muskadine / champagne / mix of the two), jujube seeds (possibly sprouted).

Champagne and Truffles

So it's been a while since my last post but I can't think of a better 100th post than one of my 13th anniversary.

We were supposed to have champagne and truffles at midnight but got caught up watching a movie and crocheting a hat... The odd things that come up.

Anyway, I've been married to my lovely wife, who's blogs are linked to the right there for a wonderful thirteen years and counting. I got a wonderful gift bag, Hoops and Yoyo! If you don't know who they are then you should be ashamed of yourself for not knowing and visit the online halmark store of cards and send one. I also got some glass lampworking stuff, desperately needed.

For those of you who can't afford champagne, I can't either I got the generic stuff, then you might try making it yourself. I had a trip down to Mom's house where she grows Champagne grapes as well as Muskadine and a corssbreed of the two or something possibly in the area.

I have several seeds, not cuttings like a smart person would do, maybe next visit, and I plan to plant them. And for what you have all been missing for a while now, I have picutres. I'm on the right in one of them but you can't see my face, not intentional. Wouldn't you rather see my adorable nephew, Nicholas?

That day we picked 13 gallons of grapes and afterwards I couldn't tell we had even been out there. Maybe I should have stayed longer to get some for taking home.

Thriving Tendrils

The rain has been abundant in the last few days, not a torrent of water or a flood that would just wash away even the dirt above the hard clay that is so common if not maddeningly pervasive in this area.
This is why my plants have been spared the torture of my poor watering habits recently. I haven't had much time for watering, weeding, planting, or harvesting. My plants seem to have understood the last one and seem to have decided to help out in that area by producing almost nothing to be harvested.
The rain has brought about a spurt of growth among the vines in the yard, most noticeably with the squash and cucumbers. These are the same cucumbers that were given to me by one our friends along with some basil that was left on the front porch for some weeks. Now it sits up by the corner of the house on the garage side with many other potted plants to be moved to a sunnier place as soon as there is a sunnier place to move them to. I doubt this will ever happen since it is the sunniest place in the yard unless a tree gets hit by lightning or a car and falls over.
Speaking of the sunniest place in the yard, I hope to move the citrus around again to a sunnier place than they are currently at which gets between eight and ten minutes of sun a day (the potting area).

Citrus growth

If it was a race then the lemon tree would be taking a nap, the kaffir lime tree would be strolling along looking at butterflies and the key lime trees would be space men with rocket packs.
It probably has to do a lot with the placement of the plants. The more they grew the more sun they have. The poor lemon tree is sitting under the pecan tree which gives it maybe 2 hours of sun a day.
Even though I still need to split up the key lime trees (all being in one pot and all) they still shoot up being in full sun all day and having plenty of water (from the hose).
I think I'll swap them up and see if they change growth. Probably sounds like a no brainer, but who knows. It might also be that the smaller plants are growing faster which is also true.

Grapevine by the shed

When I first started gardening my grandfather had rows of grapevines that he had just started. He didn't quite know what would happen even though he had been gardening for most of his life, I believe he was in his sixties at the time. My mom was the baby of the family and I am her yougest son (no I won't call myself a baby...) Anyway he set them up on the west side of the house and they grew but produced no grapes the entire time he kept them. I don't think he ever figured out why but I do know that he never told me.

Now, I love grapes almost as much as I love banannas. Not really because I love everything I can think of that has banannas in it, but that's another post. So, when I grew up, or at least older I figured that I would grow some grapes. This hasn't happened yet but I do know a lot of places where they grow wild in the area, something else I won't tell you. I wanted to have some close though and one of our great friends gave us a vine for our backyard. It will most probably grow grapes since it's parent plants produce grapes in her yard.

I have since put it by the shed on a corner and water and baby it more than some of the other plants we have so someday soon I expect to have grapes of my own.