Category Archives: Gardening

March 16, 2020 – Greening Up Status

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It’s was warm most of last week and has rained all this week. Lots of new green growth in the garden. Most of the fruit trees are flowering.

  • 6 raised beds
  • 1: peas
  • 2: onion, radish, carrot, turnip
  • 3: tomato
  • view inside the season extender at a tomato plant
  • 4: broccoli that has bolted
  • 5: lettuce, mustard, pea
  • 6: tomato
  • redbud tree
  • redbud tree
  • blackberries
  • buds on a blackberry bush
  • Methley Plum tree
  • plum tree flowers
  • Burbank Peach tree
  • peach tree flowers
  • Morris Plum Tree
  • Tisdale Apricot tree
  • apricot flowers
  • Dixieland Peach Tree
  • peach flowers
  • 4-in-1 Asian Pear tree
  • Santa Rosa Plum
  • Sweet Treat Pluerry
  • 4-in-1 Apple Tree
  • 2-in-1 Apple Tree

February 28, 2020 – Tomato Plants Transplanted

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We are 2 weeks from the average last frost date, but the weather forecast looks like we will be safe so I planted 6 tomatoes.  I didn’t have enough of the season starters (aka walls of water) to cover all of the plants, and one did break in the high winds that we had on Saturday.

2 Apple Trees and 2 Pawpaw Trees – February 15, 2020

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See the GalliStead interactive map for locations. The big apple tree is a 4-in-1 from Bob Wells and has Dorsett Golden, Gorden, Fuji, and Anna varieties. The other apple tree is a Stark Double Delicious and has Stark® Golden Delicious and Starkrimson® Red Delicious. The tree is so small it is hard to tell where it is grafted though. The two Pawpaw trees also came from Stark Bros and are Potomac and Susquehanna.

  • 4 in 1 apple tree
  • Susquehanna Pawpaw tree
  • Potomac Pawpaw
  • Stark Double Delicious Apple Tree
  • I think this is the graft on the Stark apple tree. The branches are so tiny!
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Backyard Vegetable Gardening

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I had some good information on a website that broke back in 2012. The content below is a partial recovery of that old website from the waybackmachine at archive.org.

The goal of this website is to share my knowledge of growing food in my backyard garden.  I believe the skill of growing your own food is important and in danger as we move to a more convenience-based lifestyle and centralized food distribution model.  I also believe in sharing knowledge, so I’m making an effort to document and publish my gardening activity so that others can learn from my mistakes and successes.  I try to experiment with different techniques, use what works, and understand why things fail or succeed.  One of the great things about gardening is that there is no single ‘right way’ to do something and you can pick and choose the techniques that work for you.

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February 12, 2020, Rooted 18 Fig Cuttings

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I ordered a ‘starter pack’ of fig cuttings from Chris in the North Texas Vegetable Gardeners facebook group.  She sent me some bonus cuttings and I was scrounging around for things to plant them in.  To get them to grow roots, I wrapped the tops in parafilm, made a fresh cut 1/4″ from the lowest bud, cut a strip of bark away from the area near the bottom bud, added some rooting hormone, and stuck it in a tree pot filled with moist high-end potting soil.   

Varieties:  4 Celeste, 1 Chicago Hardy, 2 Black Mission, 1 Lemon, 1 Sal’s El, 2 Kadota, 1 Panache, 2 Petite Negra, 2 Nero 600m, and 2 Violette de Bordeaux

  • 18 cuttings from fig trees
  • Pro-Mix BX+ Potting Mix
  • 18 figs set up in new pots
  • 18 figs set up in new pots
  • fig tree cuttings
  • fig tree cuttings

February 8, 2020 – Planted Carrot, turnip, lettuce, and more peas

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  • Purple Top White Globe Turnip
  • Red Cored Chantenay Carrot
  • Sparkler Radish
  • raised bed with radish, carrot, and turnip
  • Aiden cut off some fresh broccoli for a snack
  • Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce
  • India Florida Broad Leaf Mustard
  • Melting Sugar Snow Peas
  • Raised Bed with lettuce, mustard, and peas
  • 6 raised beds

Interactive Map

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Hover over the icons on this map to see more information about the garden and permaculture elements.