Fun, colorful creations for a bridal show in Ft. Worth last week including blue Eryngium, Artichokes, and orange Callas along with several others. Funky and unique! Continue reading

The first week of May, Robbie was kind enough to harvest the last of the 'Lacinato' or 'Black Tuscan' Kale, which is a new feature in our garden and one that we'll never again be without. Delicious, gorgeous, nutritious, etc.--and easy to grow. Here's Robbie's harvest face: via terraingarden.typepad.com Continue reading

We've been nose-to-the-grindstone on several design projects this summer and didn't plant a fall crop of tomatoes, but the standouts from the spring crop are in: We planted these heirloom varieties, all raised from seeds obtained from Seed Savers Exchange: 'Crnkovic Yugoslavian'; 'Federle'; 'Beams Yellow Pear'; 'Paul Robeson'; 'Dester'; 'Italian Heirloom'; 'Hillbilly Potato Leaf'; 'Red Fig'; and 'Money Maker'. First, the overall winner for the year: Crnkovic Yugoslavian! As described by SSE: "Brought into the U.S. by Yasha Crnkovic, a colleague of SSE member Carolyn Male. Heavy yields of pink beefsteak fruits which weigh up to a pound each. Fruits... Continue reading

The first week of May, Robbie was kind enough to harvest the last of the 'Lacinato' or 'Black Tuscan' Kale, which is a new feature in our garden and one that we'll never again be without. Delicious, gorgeous, nutritious, etc.--and easy to grow. Here's Robbie's harvest face: And my pickings,... Continue reading

Shortly before we moved out to the country, Robbie and I took an informal, mixed-level ceramics class with the Craft Guild of Dallas. We worked under instructor James Olney, who brought us from knowning next-to-nothing to be at least basically proficient in wheel throwing and firing. It was a great... Continue reading

Henry on the office sofa, keeping me company while I draft client landscape plans, Friday, May 3rd Sugar enjoying a hug from Robbie during meadow play time, Saturday, May 4th. Marvin up from a snooze on the sofa, Sunday, May 4th. Continue reading

It's been a chilly spring so far; we've twice dipped into the upper 30s and are due to hit 40 something mid-week, which is fairly unusual for late April. Robbie and I have both been extremely busy with our jobs, but we've carved out time to get some much-needed prep... Continue reading

A few quick highlights going on outside: first off, the 'Ozark Premier' Plums are nearly through flowering and are going into full leaf explosion: 'Orient' Pears are in full swing now: An And the 'Tilton' Apricot is just beginning: The Apples and Peaches are snoozing still. Tomatoes going in the... Continue reading

Bob the kitty finds empty spots in herb planters an excellent napping place: Continue reading

Besides the bolting Arugula that we've left just for the bees, we have loads of Swiss Chard at peak: As well as two lettuces at peak; 'Tall Crisp' which is true to its name and kinda Romaine-like: And 'Susan's Red Bibb' which is really beautiful and very tender and mild:... Continue reading

March 5th, and the first blossoms to open in the orchard are from 'Ozark Premier' Plums: The pear trees are right behind! Continue reading

Catching up to this post, and haven't yet gotten the professional pics in, but here are a few from the 'Sparklephene' wedding last year. Keep in mind, the couple is beyond creative, into body art, sugar skulls, and cool stuff in general, and they wanted something DIFFERENT: Fairy Tale Manor is a beautiful antique farmhouse venue and to fit the lovely fireplace entry, we created a one-of-a-kind floral skull. We started with old saloon doors and some scrap cedar for a frame, and enameled it gunmetal silver: From there, we built a sturdy foam panel and worked the skull out... Continue reading

There's just not much for the honeybees to enjoy right now in the way of flowers--the fruit trees haven't yet fully broken bud, and it's slim pickings out there. During our work weekend, I did notice that this bolted Arugula was a popular hotspot: Every year, I plant Arugula from... Continue reading

We're on the path out of chaos now that we're completely moved in to "The Farm" and no longer subsisting from boxes and half-used rolls of packing tape. Movers were the best investment we've made, and we highly recommend Texas State Movers (www.texstate.com). George and his crew made the actual... Continue reading

We're humbled by some very special items that have come to live in our "new" country house--and settled into the kitchen, our favorite room. These are heirloom treasures worth their weight in gold (more, really) bestowed upon us by the matriarchs of each side of my family, maternal and paternal.... Continue reading

We've been noses-to-the-grindstone since we moved in, and the progress is steady. Slow, but steady. The workshop is cleaned and re-organized, and we have a plan for new flooring using a fairly new product that bonds crushed stone together for a stable, but permeable pavement. We're thinking of using crushed... Continue reading

This is probably my favorite time of the year as a gardener...of course, spring and summer are fantastic, too, but late winter is hard to beat. By this time, plant geeks like me are salivating over plant and seed catalogs and rearing to get out in the garden and dig.... Continue reading

So far, I've failed at my attempt to keep up with the post-per-week commitment I thought I'd made...with pictures, though, I've done a bit better. Here are several photos of blooming meadow plants over the past month and a half, and a few of the visitors they've attracted. This is... Continue reading

Top Tomatoes 2012 Thankfully, today is supposed to be the last of the intensely hot days of summer. We ended up not planting a mid-summer crop of tomatoes, which I'm now thankful for not having to water, but we had a bumper crop in early summer. We grow all of... Continue reading

We each took Thursday and Friday off last week and got a lot accomplished in a short period of time. The weather was cool and gorgeous for the first weekend of March, and we got to take full advantage of the prep time. Priority #1 for me was getting into... Continue reading

Thankfully, today is supposed to be the last of the intensely hot days of summer. We ended up not planting a mid-summer crop of tomatoes, which I'm now thankful for not having to water, but we had a bumper crop in early summer. We grow all of our tomatoes from seed as part of the ClubCorp Charity Classic Plant Sale, and keep an informal trial approach to what performs best. These were the heroes this year: 1. 'Red Star' tomato, from Penny's Tomatoes These were fantastic! The vines were loaded from early May through July. The fruits were very flavorful... Continue reading

So far, I've failed at my attempt to keep up with the post-per-week commitment I thought I'd made...with pictures, though, I've done a bit better. Here are several photos of blooming meadow plants over the past month and a half, and a few of the visitors they've attracted. This is important to me, as it's interesting to keep up with how our small piece of land changes through the seasons, and we're nearly at the year mark (July). We had lots of Green Milkweed, Asclepias viridis, and it's one of my favorites. It's on to seed now, and making it's... Continue reading

Now THESE are tulips! This is the second-blooming of the three tulip hybrids in 'Threedom'--a blend from Colorblends bulbs. They've been blooming for over three weeks, and there's still a third to come. These are as large as my hand, and "peony style" --they have multiple petals. Gorgeous form, amazing color, and even a bright, fresh citrusy fragrance. What more could you ask for? Continue reading

Download CCPS Tomatoes 2012 Planting a vegetable garden this year? It's peak time for planting tomatoes, and in light of this, we're offering our organically-grown @ Brookhaven Tomato plants for pre-sale ahead of this year's ClubCorp Charity Classic Plant Sale, April 5th through 8th. Check out this Excel Doc for a full list of the 33 varieties we've grown and have available for $2.50 each in quart sizes. All proceeds benefit MDA Augie's Quest, The Family Health Center, and the Employee Partner Care Foundation. We have some fairly rare and hard-to-find varieties as well as some tried-and-true favorites. Check them... Continue reading