Crazy Beans!

On March 27, 2013, I planted two rows of “French Filet” beans and two rows of pinto beans separated by a row of tomatoes. I had never planted pintos before, and the package stated that they were “Indeterminate large bush type pinto.” The green bean seed packet prominently states “Bush, A Favorite of Chefs.”

We had the luxury this year of a cool, rainy spring—not a normal phenomenon in the Texas hill country. All of the beans quickly sprouted and produced beautiful, full plants. The problem is that they have not stopped growing. The four-foot by eight-foot raised bed in which these beans are planted has no fence or trellis for them to run so we placed several tall tomato cages in the bed. They covered the cages is just a week.  Next, we tied string from a neighboring lima bean bed that has a trellis and let the beans grow from one bed to another. The problem is that their prolific growth is blocking the lima beans’ sunlight. Next, we clipped the ends of the runners in hopes that they would stop their vining behavior. They are still growing. In fact, many of the runners are more than twenty-five feet long.

I contacted both seed companies and their respective customer service representatives were gracious and polite and immediately offered to replace the seeds. Neither offered an explanation of why these seeds produced vining plants.

We don’t use chemical fertilizers--our soil is amended with compost. In addition, we spread a mulch of used chicken litter under the plants. We have sprayed the plants with liquid seaweed and both of the bean varieties are producing. The green beans’ production has slowed somewhat with our hot, dry climate, but it has been rainy lately

and there are plenty of blossoms on both the pintos and the green beans. The pintos are producing clusters of large pods.

If any of you have experienced a similar problem with your beans, please let us know. We are completely befuddled.

Up and running . . .

After a devastating computer crash last month, we are finally back up and running. Our little farm is a bevy of activity this time of year and we'll be posting frequently. We hope that you will stay with us!

Wasting away in Agaritaville

If  you happen upon a Mahonia trifoliolata out in the south Texas landscape, you would be wise to give it a wide berth. With its clustered three-prong leaves it resembles a holly, but that’s where the similarity ends—its gray-green leaves are stiff and as sharp as razor blades. In spite of its armor, this plant is a treasure. The Mahonia trifoliolata, common name agarita or wild currant,  is a carefree indigenous shrub common not only in central Texas but in the desert areas of Arizona and Nevada. It’s a tough plant and extremely drought-tolerant. It can easily survive in full sun, but actually prefers light shade. It can take temperatures down to the teens and grows to a height of six feet and can become as wide as it is tall.

The agarita’s yellow flowers in late winter are followed by delicious tart red berries in April and May. Because its leaves are painfully sharp, harvesting the berries is tricky. The easiest method of collecting the fruit is to spread a sheet or tarp on the ground around the plant and striking it with a large stick. The berries will fall on the sheet. They can be eaten as is or made into jams, jellies, pies and cobblers, or dried and used as a refreshing tea. Agarita berries can also be used as an ingredient in margaritas and fermented into a delicious wine.

Snails and slugs got you down? Try some home remedies.

Snails from my garden

Snails may have a reputation for being slow, but that is little consolation for anyone who has experienced a disastrous over-night decimation of an entire hosta or vegetable bed by garden snails and slugs. This morning I found the typical kind of snail damage on some of my cucumber leaves—ragged holes and chew marks along the edges. Snails are nocturnal and unless you want to sit out in your garden all night with a flashlight, they are seldom seen and difficult to catch. There are some inexpensive, organic remedies, however, for repelling snails.

Ragged leaves are typical of snail and slug damage

Copper: Snails and slugs are slimy and if they come into contact with copper a chemical reaction occurs and they receive an electrical shock. You can buy copper flashing at a hardware store and surround your garden bed with it or place pennies on the sticky side of a strip of tape and use these strips around your garden beds. 

Sharp materials: Crushed egg shells and diatomaceous earth (DE) have sharp edges and will physically injure the soft bodies of snails and slugs. Use food grade DE from a reputable nursery. The DE used in pool maintenance is a much different substance will not act as a deterrent to snails. Coffee grounds also work fairly well in controlling these pests.

Beer: One of the best methods of controlling snails is with stale beer. Sink a small container (I use small clay pot saucers) into the soil and pour some stale beer in it. Snails and slugs are attracted to beer and will fall into the container and die happy.

Sink a small container of stale beer into the soil to drown snails and slugs

There are also commercial preparations (such as Sluggo) available for killing snails and slugs. Most are expensive and contain chemicals that I prefer to avoid in my garden.

Do you have a remedy for controlling snails and slugs? I would love to hear about it.

Everything's Coming up Roses

It is an absolutely gorgeous spring day here in the hill country. Our rose bushes have burst into full bloom over the past few days. According to folklore, the rose hails from ancient Persia and has even been discovered in Egyptian tombs. In the fifth century BC in China, oils were extracted from roses for use by royalty. And, of course, there are the immortal words of Shakespeare, "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." To me, the most interesting folklore about the rose comes from the Cherokee. During their long, grueling march down the Trail of Tears, roses sprang up on their path as they walked and gave them comfort.

Listen to the music of the garden

You hear them before you see them, but when you walk through the Shaggy Acres garden gate there is no mistaking the source of the sound--hundreds of indefatigable bees are cloaking the purple blossoms of the sage. A low drone in the background signals clusters of humming birds feasting on the blooming honeysuckle.

This winter was a difficult one for bees and colony collapse is a serious agricultural problem. Dr. Eric Mussen, an apiculturist who is considered to be a guru of the bee world, says that 2012 could prove to be one of the worst years for bee nutrition and honey production in this nation's history.

Texas Bee Watchers is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting bee health by encouraging people
to plant bee gardens. Shaggy Acres is proud to have the eighteenth recognized Bee Watcher garden in Texas. The Texas Bee Watcher website contains an enormous amount of useful information about bees and the plants that bees are most attracted to as well as stunning videos and photos.

To promote bee health, gardeners should avoid the use of chemical pesticides and herbicides on their plants. Bees polinate about one-third of our food supply and gardeners can promote bee health by growing flowering plants all year long.

Mother nature smiles on the garden

A cold front breezed through yesterday and lavished us with three more inches of rain. Today was cold (40's) and wet--just the kind of weather that makes a snow pea stand up and salute. But they have been in the ground since October and are turning brown. I guess they're just old and tired.

Daily harvest

We have had an abundant harvest--much more than we could eat--so our freezer is loaded with them. We planted them with our perennial fennel, somewhat of a no-no from what I have learned about companion planting. Neither the fennel or the snowpeas has complained!




Our asparagus began to appear about a month ago and we've been consuming copius quanties of steamed snow peas and asparagus with just a hint of butter, lemon juice, and a sprinkle of sea salt. Life is good.