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July in the Garden Plot
Not much is dealing with the heat here in Texas. We’re on a triple digit heat streak right now. I realize it is now August but I took these photos a week ago at the end of July and am just now getting around to posting them. Walking around the plot you can tell who is and isn’t doing well in the garden…or I should way, what is and isn’t doing well in addition to who…because most of it depends on water! After our disastrous round of spring crops, when we realized a bit too many coffee grounds had made the soil too acidic, some of that has leeched out…
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Heirloom Seeds and Bookish Thoughts
+Chris has been ordering a lot of seeds lately, mostly for later on. Today he planted these two crops at his mom’s house in lieu of the tomatillo plants that had bit the Texas dust. +We’re moving at the end of the week for the NW Houston area where we will be setting up house again. We’re taking two large potting containers with us—maybe we’ll plant some of these seeds there. +I’m dreaming of a real garden—some day. This time around we’re renting, again, with hopes of finding something of our own once Chris gets a job. Hopefully in time for spring crops! +Been reading lately. A lot of non-fiction,…
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Summer Interview Series Wrap Up
Did you miss an interview from the Summer Interview Series? Take a peak through and see who you might have missed. I had fun interviewing a few folks I knew in my ‘real’ life and others I only know via the internet. There was a vast array of subjects to cover, someone might have interested you! +Chel @ Ginger Blue +Elizabeth @ Miss Wisabus +Kathy @ Analog Soul Photography +Mandy Stewart @ Messy Canvas +Prem @ Florida Native Orchids +Susy @ Chiot’s Run +Randy @ Recipes Randy Cooks +Renee @ Wolfie and the Sneak Enjoy! Maybe I’ll do another round next summer!
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How-To Eat a Mangosteen
We’d stopped by Central Market, a grocery store that is a bit like Whole Foods but with some Trader Joe’s and other indie food type stores mixed in, last week to pick up some things for my mom’s birthday. They have a good coffee selection so that was our main goal but while perusing the fruit and vegetable section we spotted mangosteens. Our first encounter with mangosteens was while living in Florida when Chris began reading about them to grow. They are a super tropical plant that really cannot be grown anywhere in the continental U.S. and even Hawaii has problem growing them. You can read more in detail here…
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How to Thru-Hike the Florida Trail
*Edit 12/2015: This is one of my most popular posts and it was written in 2011. The trail has had some reroutes during this time. Please check the most recent guidebook released from Florida Hikes and be sure to contact the Florida Trail Association in regards to reroutes and current closures. Thanks and have a great hike!* *Edit 03/2020: I recommend this post from LB Hikes who finished the FT in 2020 as an update to my write-up here.* While there is a plethora of information out there about hiking the Appalachian Trail I realized there isn’t that much on the Florida Trail. Sure there’s the guidebook and other forums…
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Watson Rare Native Plant Preserve | Part 3
In case you missed it: Part 1 & Part 2. Wrapping up our tour of the Watson Preserve a few months later… We begin the final part of the tour through the pitcher plant bog that was actually quite dry. A bud of the Calopogon tuberosus orchid. Love the orchids intermingled with the pitcher plants in this one. Pitcher plants certainly have their own personality. Love the unassuming yellow colicroot, Aletris lutea. And the beautiful pitcher plant flowers… I also love finding the green lynx spiders tucked under and between leaves. They can be finicky to photograph that’s for sure! I really should stop and take photos of myself more…
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2011 Summer Interview Series | Prem @ Florida Native Orchids
After Chris discovered Little Slough and our subsequent count and documentation of 607 ghost orchids within about an acre in the swamps of south Florida (doubling the then known population in Florida), Prem got in touch with me about his interest in ghost orchids and how he hadn’t been able to see one. He was already an avidly interested in the native orchids of Florida and had documented many others throughout Florida. Now there is a small contingent of photographers and adventurers who seek the ghost orchid out, either documenting their own pockets of ghost orchids or seeking other lost orchids and rare plants in the wilds of Florida. Prem…
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Baby Pumas | My Most Popular YouTube Video
In March 2008 I’d only known Marc & Eliana less than a year. In the Fall she’d been to Bolivia to visit Inti Wara Yassi and take veterinary medical supplies to them. She started putting a bug in my ear at the New Year and finally I was able to convince Chris we needed to go somewhere since we hadn’t done anything since our honeymoon in 2002. The most expensive thing would be airplane tickets. Anyway, we went to Bolivia and you can read all of those posts here (warning, it is on my old blogging style so it takes the pages awhile to load): Day 1, Day 2, Day…
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Bloom Scans
I said on Wednesday this could be a new addiction…and it is! My mother in law wanted to give it a try so we bought some flowers and had some fun with the scanner last night. Here’s our results. More experimentation in the future! I think this one is my favorite. I would like to try more bulbs and fruits in the future. This is Polish white garlic; Chris just bought some to plant for the fall. I’m dreaming up awesome plant collages now…
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Local Adventures | Trinity Trail & the Gigantic Sycamore Tree
We found out about this gigantic sycamore tree via Chris’ mom’s landscaper. We tried to find a back way into this park but to no avail, so we went the long way from the Highland Park trailhead at Lake Lavon. It is 4.5 miles one way to the tree, but well worth it. This is a multi-use trail so in addition to foot traffic, horses are allowed on the trail. Where: Trinity Trail at Lake Lavon, Highland Park Trailhead Trip Distance: ~9 miles round trip. Coordinates: Entrance is located at 33° 6.191’N 96° 32.583’W Additional Information: Trinity Trail Riders, Trail Map, Scroll to C2: Highland Park, TWPD site Bring water…