October 22nd, 2010 by Marc Opperman

These blackfoot daisies (Melampodium leucanthum), growing next to my driveway, are the best I’ve seen them in my yard. Typically very drought tolerant, they also have a very long blooming season, March to November. The rains in August set them off, and they’ve been glorious since.

I did some work on the bed they’re in to remove some very overgrown agave and grasses that had died. I replaced those with little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) and evening primrose I transplanted from other parts of the yard.

I learned something the hard way about agave (mine was Agave americana americana). Besides the nasty spikes and recurved thorns the plant uses to defend itself, it has a third defense mechanism that’s not apparent to the eye. In fact, it’s microscopic. The juice of the plant contains calcium oxalate raphides – microscopic needles – that cause acute contact dermatitis. In my case, the pulpy “leaves” of agave I was chopping slapped up against the insides of my knees. Within a minute or so my skin was on fire and itching simultaneously. I knew I’d come in contact with something, but not specifically what. I dropped everything and ran to the shower. It was too late, however. Benedryl cream and topical fluocininide (strong steroidal cream) didn’t do a whole lot, but the burning eventually subsided. The following day I had a rash that looked and felt a little like poison ivy. A week later it has not faded a bit. In fact, I read one source that said the rash can last a year.

I love learning new things about plants, but not in such a tactile, first-hand way. My friend Grog and I once joked we should start a TV show called The Tactile Botanist, with a Brit-accented buffoon of a host bumbling his way through a range of plant identifications based on their thorns, spines, brambles, tripping vines and rash-producing juices, and the severity of his injuries. Needless to say, the agave is now my main vote for the pilot episode.

I continued my work the next day in jeans and a long sleeve shirt. Lesson learned.

agave americana, blackfoot daisy, calcium oxalate, little bluestem, Melampodium leucanthum, raphides, Schizachyrium scoparium

October 21st, 2010 by Marc Opperman

I am finally starting to see some tiny little carrot sprouts for the two varieties of carrots I planted. Seemed to take them around 12 days to germinate and sprout. I was impatient and thought I had a carrot fail, but no, they just take their time. They aren’t quite at the thinning stage – that might be a few more weeks.

My goal with the carrots is to have enough to make baby food for Lukas. He has been enjoying mushed green beans from the garden, as well as store-bought organic carrots and apples I steamed and pureed. Though, by the time the garden carrots are ready, I suspect he might be eating more than mush.

Also, acting on a tip from Carla over at Austin Urban Gardens, I ordered a bunch of 60 onion plants from Dixondale Farms, a short day sampler of Texas 1015Y (yellow), Contessa, and Hybrid Southern Belle Red onions. My green beans are just beginning to peter out, so by the first week of November, when I get the onions, I should be able to plant them there, as well as the two new beds next to it.

The two new beds still need compost, maybe some soil and a fair amount of mixing. A long-planned extension to the micro-sprinklers is in order, too.

austin urban gardens, carrots, dixondale farms, growing food, onions, vegetables

October 10th, 2010 by Marc Opperman

We stopped by the Home Despot today, and I was hoping to find garlic, carrots and spinach to plant. However, the only appropriate Fall vegetables they had were carrots. So I picked up two varieties – a short and a medium.

I planted them in the back, where the tomatoes were. I planted a row of each. I held back some seeds and will plant another couple rows in fifteen days to stagger when I get carrots. Which, if all goes as planned, should be in 70 days – the week of Christmas.

carrots, food, garden, seeds, vegetables