My Live Oak Tree

It's just had a rather severe pruning this month. The tree surgeon told me that winter is the time to do this.

Geoffrey ("G" as he is known) remarked that my live oak tree looked more healthy than most of the oak trees he's seen at this time of year. Why?

He asked me if I used commercial fertilizer, and I said "Never."

So there you have it. All that agonizing over nothing. 'Tis better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. Well, I never loved at all. The lawn grass in my front yard just never would thrive, even when my mighty oak was a little sapling.

G said that the homeowners who put all their energies into maintaining a lush lawn with the use of commercial fertilizer usually pay for it with the health of their trees. He commented that the leaves on my tree are big and healthy. "There is two years of energy in that oak tree", he said.

So I just need to feel vindicated, and realize that grass is just never going to grow under my tree. But I've got the best shade tree in my neighborhood.

Just another benefit of going organic.

Heirloom Beets

Around the first week of December 2010, I harvested my Detroit Red beets, which I had grown from seed beginning 9/28/10. They were supposed to take 45-60 days, but the roots seemed a little slow to develop, as is so typical for heirloom types. I was advised to wait to harvest close to Christmas, but I knew that wouldn't work for me, so I pulled them up on December 7.

If you look at the below picture of my square foot garden, I had planted 8 squares of beets. And with my harvest, how many servings did I actually get? About 4 to 5. My biggest beets were somewhat larger than a golf ball.

But they tasted very good indeed. They were worth the wait. I'd certainly grow them again, but I believe it would be worth experimenting with hybrid varieties.

I hear you saying, "I'm just too impatient to wait two or three months for beets!!"

I understand, and if you don't like the idea, why not grow the beets simply for their greens? You'll have green tops worth harvesting for a few months, and very quickly, too. If you go this route, this is basically all you'll get from the plants, but it will be the gift that "keeps on giving."

How do you cook beet greens?

Well, you can cook them like spinach, add them to mixtures of other greens like kale or turnip greens, or cook them this way: Add a little olive oil, vinegar, and a small bit of sugar to a saucepan, let it get hot, and add your greens and let them wilt in the saucepan. You can add bits of bacon as well. They are great this way. Or just use bacon grease in place of the olive oil.

Behold, 8 squares of Detroit beets:

Broccoli Harvest - Finally!

Middle of April, I finally got some broccoli crowns. I think I figured out what I was doing wrong!

The Packman variety broccoli transplants were purchased locally and put into the ground around March 7. I ate my first broccoli around April 10.

Fall of 2009, I had grown transplants from seed that I started indoors. They grew huge and beautiful, but that's all. But I fertilized them too much with an organic fertilizer. I found out that by going overboard with feeding them, I gave them too much nitrogen that all went into leaf production.

But, it was worth making some mistakes to reach a milestone. And the broccoli was pretty good. Not great, but decent. I learned that broccoli should be harvested when the heads get about 3 or 4" in diameter, or when the buds on the head get the size of a matchstick's head. I also had some side shoots develop.

This spring the cabbage moths showed up late. I saw my first white moth fluttering around the broccoli around April 29. By that time, my broccoli was all but finished. Sorry! Try your best next time!

Do You Have Time for the Health Benefits of Vegetables?

Vitamin D and How We Get More of It

I'm sure deficient in Vitamin D. My levels are way below what is normal. As I get out more in the sun and putter around in my garden, I need to make optimal use of those free rays.

I wrote an article on how to get more of the sunshine vitamin here:

Vitamin D: How to Get More of the Sunshine Vitamin

Agave Nectar

This sweetener, from the blue agave plant in Mexico, is probably my favorite sweetener. It is 25% sweeter than sugar, but does not cause blood sugar spikes.

It comes from the same plant as tequila. I never liked alcoholic beverages, except for tequila, so perhaps this spiky plant has more to recommend it than its appearance would indicate.

When the pinons ("pineapples" they call them) are cut off, they then extract a pulp which is heated and which releases the syrup.

I put agave nectar in my tea every morning. It can also be used in baking.

My article about blue agave is at:

Buy Agave Nectar in Bulk and Save

Rooibos Tea

Red bush tea, or rooibos, has become my favorite non-caffeinated tea. I think it tastes best cold, sweetened with agave nectar. But it's refreshing consumed hot as well.

I do wish that, around here, we had the red espresso. The idea of a completely caffeine-free espresso fascinates me.

My hub about red bush tea is at

Rooibos Tea: Holiday Time, Any Time

Rooibos tea has many antioxidants and there are some impressive scientific studies out there, even though most are animal studies.

I can't wait to see how it continues to be marketed in the U.S.

First Attempts at Growing Broccoli

The Queen of Vegetables

Michael Pollan, in his book In Defense of Food, comments that about half of all the broccoli that goes to the market in the United States is the Marathon variety. Agribusiness finds it necessary to go with the highest yielding, most disease-resistant varieties, which most assuredly means a hybrid crop. How sad that most Americans do not know broccoli as anything other than the big, bright, uniform calabrese types they see for sale in the produce section at the supermarket.

I'm pretty sure that I've never eaten fresh broccoli from a garden. Not from a friend's garden, not from a farmer's market. I hope I have some pleasant surprises in store.

In my square foot garden, I have transplanted a Green Comet variety of broccoli and a sprouting variety -- one plant per square. With the weird weather we've been having in Texas, my first attempt just might prove fruitful. Today it's about 55 degrees F, with high humidity as a cold front has pushed its way from the north, and it's been cool, misty and humid for a number of days in late September/early October. Time will tell, but this seems to be perfect for broccoli's needs. I've had a difficult time doing the hardening off, since we have seen very little of the sun in the past couple of weeks. Finally I decided to go experimental, and just put some of the plants in the ground and see how it goes.

I also have a plant of the Di Cicco (Italian heirloom) variety waiting to put in the ground. In fact, I sprouted three different varieties under lights indoors starting in August. Crossing my fingers....

My article about nutrition is found here:

On the Path to Better Nutrition

Image of a broccoli plant from
Howard F. Schwartz, Colorado State University