Today's Harvest

True signs that summer's almost over, persimmons and pears. My children love the squishy when ripe persimmon and crunchy and drippy sweet pears. The pear trees are simply overburdened with pears. If you haven't planted pears yet, do it yesterday. They are very easy to grow, take up very little space and mine have had no disease problems (unless you count termites). They are not exactly beautiful, except in the fall when the branches are practically dragging the ground with green golden sugar bombs. Then there are a few late figs and some white scallop squash.

Red and Green in The Garden

A hurricane lily has finally bloomed. It's such a beautiful flower and only lasts a couple of days.

A red dragonfly. In some places red dragonflies are considered lucky. I must be a lucky girl, because there are many of them in my yard.
A green anole with groovy blue eye shadow. This up-to-date lizard is leading the bright eyeshadow trend. There is an abundance of green anoles in my garden, and I've noticed this year there are quite a few babies running around. It's always a blast to watch the antics of these color changing lizards. The other day I enjoyed the best fight I've seen in a while. Two old males took turns grabbing each other's heads in their mouths while they wrestled and fought. For what reason? Territory? Females? Not sure.

Here's a close-up of my crybaby tree's blossoms. I first discovered this on Milan street off of St. Charles while riding my bike. It's really a stunning tropical tree. The cutting I took didn't take. Luckily I found some small trees in a local nursery.

This is Pride of Barbados. Given to me by my neighbor Sandy. It's frilly orchid looking flowers are so beautiful. They look like little fairy skirts.

Wahhh!!!

Here is my beautiful Moon and Stars watermelon. It must weigh six or more pounds. It had all the indications of being ripe: yellow underside, dry tendrils, bloom on rind, hollow sound when thumped.....I just couldn't wait.

Wahhhh....It wasn't quite ripe. Hopefully I'll restrain myself for the next ones.

Geoff Lawton

This is an interesting video on Permaculture. Geoff Lawton is a permaculture consultant and designer. He has taken over and continued the permaculture work after Bill Mollison retired. His website is Permaculture Research Institute of Australia .

I find Permaculture so intriguing.


The definition of Permaculture by Permaculture Solutions.

What is Permaculture?

Permaculture is a method for designing sustainable, human-supporting landscapes that mimic the operation of natural ecosystems. By linking the different parts of each system in ecologically sensible ways, permaculture achieves high yields for low energy inputs while actually building fertility over successive seasons. For some, permaculture means a backyard garden that for relatively little work supplies an abundance of organically produced food all year round. For others, permaculture means a drought and flood-proof rural property ensuring food, water and energy security into the coming decades.

Around the House and Garden

A view of the potager from the levee.
Round number two. Our long growing season in New Orleans allows for a second crop before the colder temps kick in. So today I planted six tomato plants, Henderson's Bush Lima beans (an heirloom), and purple hull peas (an old Southern staple). I have been trying to buy seeds that are heirlooms from the deep south. My burgundy okra. Little buds are beginning to form. So we'll have okra soon.
The eggplants I planted this spring are still doing just fine. They usually continue to bear until the first cold weather. I love to slice and fry them, spoon red sauce on top, and sprinkle with fresh grated Parmesan cheese. That alone makes a wonderful meal. My sister gave me a recipe I am going to try. Slice the eggplant, sprinkle with Montreal grill seasoning and grill. Sounds yum to me.
Here is the Southern White Crookneck Cushaw Pumpkin. This one just keeps getting bigger and bigger. This is the only variety of pumpkin I planted that made it through the summer. It also was the only one from the south...so....maybe that's a hint to me.
This is a French Charentais melon. An old heirloom. It seems to be doing just fine here.
Here is a peek at the front garden. See the two tiny red dots. That is "naked ladies" or "hurricane lilies" about to bloom. They are called "naked ladies" because their foliage disappears in the summer to reappear after they bloom, and "hurricane lilies" because they bloom during hurricane season.

Early Silver Line Oriental Melon

Here it is! The first melon this year. In fact, I believe it's the first melon I have ever harvested! It's an Early Silver Line Oriental Melon. You harvest the melon when it turns yellow. After cutting it, I believe I should have left this melon a little longer.
It has seeds in the center like a cantaloupe. The heart of the melon was sweet, and the outer edges tasted somewhat like a cucumber. That is why I believe I should have left it a little longer. The picture on the packet showed the melon with thinner white lines and more yellow. There are many more on vine still so....

The Rooster and The Hen

A Depression Era Poem

The Rooster and The Hen

Said the Little Red Rooster, "Believe me things are tough!"

Seems the worms are getting scarcer and I cannot find enough,

What's become of all those fat ones? It's a mystery to me.

There were thousands through that rainy spell,

But now, where can they be?"

But the Old Black Hen who heard him didn't grumble or complain,

She had lived through lots of dry spells;

She had lived through floods of rain.

She picked a new and undug spot, The ground was hard and firm,

"I must go to the worms," she said. "The worms won't come to me."

The Rooster vainly spent his day,

Through habit, by the ways

Where fat round worms had passed in squads back in the rainy days.

When nightfall found him supperless, he growled in accents rough,

"I'm hungry as a fowl can be, conditions sure are tough."

But the Old Black Hen hopped to her perch

And dropped her eyes to sleep

And murmured in a drowsy tone, "Young man, hear this and weep.

I'm full of worms and happy

For I've eaten like a pig.

The worms were there as always

But, boy I had to dig!"

Dishwasher Powder Recipe

Finally! I found a dishwasher powder recipe. I'll let you know how it works. I'll try to calculate it's actual cost as well and post my findings later. Dishwasher powder is the only cleaning item that I still currently buy and do not make. Most every cleaning supplies you will ever need can be made from very simple cheap ingredients: Vinegar, sodium carbonate, sodium bi-carbonate, essential oils, jojoba oil, soap, and borax.

Dishwasher Powder

1 cup Borax
1 cup bi-carbonate soda (baking soda)
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup citric acid
30 drops citrus essential oil

Mix thoroughly and store in an airtight plastic container. Use 1 tablespoon at a time.

Drainage Issues and Compost Corral

This is a closeup of the make shift trellis I made to keep the melons out of the water.

It's just part of living here. Unbelievable rain amounts. It doesn't just drizzle, it dumps buckets and buckets of rain for days and days. Unless the pumps (those are the huge pumps they use to keep our area from becoming a lake) are running, the rain quickly fills the ditches covers the road and creeps up the hill our home is built on.

The water drains off fairly quickly once it stops raining or they turn the pumps on. Yet parts of my yard and garden keep very deep puddles until there is enough let up in the rain for the sun to either evaporate it or the water table to go down. The hot sun evaporating the water from underneath the veggies is murder on the vegetables. They get steamed right in the garden. At times the ground is completely saturated and the only place for it to drain is through the drainage ditch and into the swamp.

So...I believe it is time for some drainage issues to be addressed. I am thinking of putting in drainage pipes in my potager (they are the red lines.). This is a drawing of what it will look like eventually. The paths will either be mulched or covered with gravel. We are implementing each stage as time and money allows. I'm glad we had these rains recently to reveal the drainage flaws in our garden before we have to tear anything apart to fix the problem.
The following is a video of the compost bin we are going to build. His "compost corral" will be a much better fit for our land size. It's such a simple idea yet brilliant!

A Little Overboard

I went a little overboard with the skirts, but I had a blast doing it. Here are four little skirts for four little cousins. There's going to be a lot of "Oh my gosh, those are sooo cuuute!!!" going on. The fact that they're pink is enough to bring on the "sooo cuuuute" comments. Of course, I get to play the, "I love you more than all your other Aunts, because I seeeew for you, and they don't". I'll say this with raised eyebrows while casting side glances at my sisters' jealous looks. Hee Hee Hee. Being an Aunt is such fun.

Sewing is a lot of fun. As I said before, it was surprisingly easy to sew these simple skirts. They could be frilled up quite a bit by making the ruffle a contrasting color, adding ribbon or rickrack, or even a tulle under ruffle peeking out would be really cute. The whole pattern was only two pieces cut out twice (a square and a long rectangle), straight seams, and the ruffle.
Now I would like to pass along the award I received recently from Egghead. I would like to send it along to Sugar Creek Farm. I really appreciate her sharing their real farm life (while I'm still in pretend stage). They do a lot of things I admire: raise crops, kids, cattle, poultry, sell at the farmer's market and numerous other things. All the while keeping a really positive attitude while dealing with the challenges of farming and figuring out how to get all the ends to meet up eventually. Thanks Sugar Creek Farm for your fun inspirational web site.