I’ll admit, the garden is looking a little, hot, but I suppose it should after the driest August on record, and more days over 100 than not.

But like mama says, it’s not the cover of a book that counts, its how many juicy tomatoes and hot peppers it gives you.  And this struggling little garden is still cranking out the juicy hotness. 

Jalapenos are spitting in August’s face.  Same with the basil, tomatoes, watermelon, and cut flowers, all of which serve both a culinary and display role inside the restaurant and bar. 

Fall seeds have been purchased and planting begins next week, as we’ve spent much of August cleaning up and prepping new beds.  It’s raining at this very moment, my money is on the garden to perk up by sunrise…

July has been harvest time.  Watermelons, cherry tomatoes, Creole tomatoes, yellow squash, jalapenos, zinnias for the tables, purlane, mint, basil, marjoram, hauzontle, chard, and the random surprise here and there. 

We’ve had problems in some beds, most like due to poor soils and insufficient amending during bed prep, so we’re trying to correct those issues for the next planting season with lots of manure compost. 

Planning for the fall season has begun, as we’ve already cleared out one expired watermelon bed, and will do the same to the doomed cucumber bed next week.  Seeds will be ordered this week, and sent to our friends at Gabriel Valley Farms in Georgetown to start for us, so we’re ready to plant in the next month or so.  Be on the lookout next month for freebie starter plants, we’re planning on giving away the leftover plants we don’t have room for!

Summer is maintenance time in the garden.  The only new plants in June were Red Aztec Spinach and a lone Summer Cilantro that finally came from seed we started a couple of months ago in a greenhouse off-site.  So instead of planting, we’re pulling and harvesting, with a little help from Goldberg and friends.

As the heat sets, we’re also giving the irrigation system a little extra attention, making sure those little leaks are patched and that everything is functioning properly.  The hackberry got a little trim, as did the interior perennial beds that are filled with pollinator plants.  And the weeds, including the not-weed Horseherb, which is taking over the pathways.  We’ve left this native wildflower growing on the edges of the path to help insulate our raised beds, but weeded out the ones blocking the path. 

The heat is making the colors of Mexico happy, as the Zinnias and edible Purslane explode from seed planted in May.  The Zinnias will provide cut flowers for the restaurant all summer as most everything else withers later in the season.

We’ve harvested several gallons of Sun Gold tomatoes, some old garlic, and several buckets of yellow squash, both of which are being used by the kitchen regularly.  Watermelons are just about ready, and should start showing up in bar drinks by early July. 

Farmer Mike gave us a great tip this week on how to know when it’s time to harvest watermelons, so you aren’t just wasting them until you finally get it right:

Mike says, to know when an indivual watermelon is ready for harvest, look at the first two tendrils (little flexible things that grow from the woody parts of the vine and wrap around trellises or wires or sticks or anything to do pullups on) on the vine, above the stem.  If they’re brown and dried out, it’s time to eat.  If they’re still green, leave it be.  The tendrils in the photo are brown and not quite dried out, so this melon is almost ready to eat, but we’ll give it another week or so.

We’ve seen leaf footed bugs on veggies lately, especially tomatoes.   These pests feed on ornamental and wild plants.   They also fly, but are slow to move so they’re easy to grab and kill, if you don’t mind a little stink on the fingers.   The Bug Book says healthy biodiversity will prevent leaf foots from becoming a problem.  I’ll show you healthy biodiversity.  We might try a little orange oil to see if it helps, and will continue to enjoy the rewarding crunch and squish audibles of manual control.

We’re just about done with planting for the summer season at the Fonda garden.   Which is a good thing, cuz there’s a six-foot thorny weed in the back corner, assembling an army to take over operations.  I think the big one threw a rock at me last week.

Early this month, Fonda inspiration and author Diana Kennedy visited the garden and gave us some pointers for what we should and shouldn’t be growing.  Most of the stuff we planted this month was her recommendation.  A run down of what will soon be appearing on Fonda plates and tables:

• Squash – Ronde De Nice, Straightneck, Zucchini;
• Tomato – Sun Gold, Creole;
• Pepper – Early Jalapeno, TAM Jalapeno, Poblano;
• Dill – Hercules;
• Sweet Marjoram;
• Thyme;
• Mint;
• Cinnamon Basil;
• Cucumber;
• Watermelon – Sugar Baby, Crimson Sweet;
• Purslane;
• Zinnia;
• Hoja Santa;
• Epazote;
• Chard;
• Random edibles running wild throughout the Fonda landscape

Buffalo grass is weedy.  The time spent mowing, fertilizing, watering, and bugging in other turf grasses is compounded and concentrated into just one simple task for Buffalo:  weeding.  This is especially true for highly disturbed sites, and which sites aren’t?

But after a tip from Jon Ahrens, we tried out the ‘Density’ variety from a grower in Poteet (south of SA, esay) on a recent project in NW Austin.  Already, the ‘Density’ is much thicker than other Buffalo grasses, so we’re hoping the fur chokes out nut sedge and other stuff that we woke up when amending the soil in preparation for planting.  If it works out, we’ll have another solid alternative to non-native turfgrasses in our little green tool box.   Go us!

Jose Sr., Lance Armstrong's Stunt Double, Roberto, Some Little Kid, and Rich (photo by Mike Martinez)

Last Friday, part of the BG crew celebrated National Bike to Work Day by strapping an electric weedeater, propane blower, weed bags, and hand tools to our backs and riding to perform our weekly landscaping duties at Austin City Hall.  With some bikes borrowed from the best bike team in town, we enjoyed free breakfast tacos and pastries at the City Hall tent set up that morning exclusively for bicycle commuters, and wrapped up the day as Grupo Fantasma took the stage during the weekly Live From the Plaza event.  As the interviewing reporter from KLBJ so cleverly observed while fishing for the perfect sound-byte, our “green thumbs were a little greener” that day.

Like the ones that have come before it, this season will change everything forever.  The dust will eventually settle under the humidity of summer, and we’ll be a little older, a little wiser, and a little closer to the place we really want to be.  Some premature reflection half way through:

Mix of Buffalograss, Curly Mesquite, and Blue Grama

We’ve been testing a new mix of native grasses, as an alternative to the options that just don’t seem to cut it.  Bermuda is invasive, St. Augustine can’t take the sun, Buffalo is too weedy, and Zoysia doesn’t live up to it’s hype.  Turffalo is expensive, and native beds take way more effort than most people want to give.  Can the Wildflower Center’s new solution be the answer?  We’re testing it out.

Jose and Roberto Breaking Rock

Rocks, on the other hand, don’t need much maintenance.  So we use them to take out lawn areas plagued with problems, and convert the space into a shady hangout, equipped with a fire pit and bordered with raised veggie beds.

Lawn Sedge

Thanks to Pat McNeal, we’ve used alot of sedges this season.   He grows dozens of native sedges as a tough, low-maintenance, low-water alternative to turf grasses that can take a variety of conditions from wet to dry to sun to shady.  It’s the real future of lawns in Austin, no doubt, and they look cool too.

Andreas and Juan, on an Unsupervised Day

I’ve had several occasions to almost cry this season, when I’m reminded by how much ass the BG crew has busted this and every year. 

New Patio from Old Concrete

Our favorite project of the season, we basically threw the original design out the window and figured it out as we went.  Including what to do with all this concrete we busted up from an old patio, which we converted into a much more baby-friendly space.