My love for margaritas and key lime pie inspired me to grow limes. The key lime or Mexican lime (also known as the bartender’s lime) is easy to grow here in Austin and is especially easy to grow in containers. Like most citrus, it is very sensitive to frost so will need protection in the winter. You can move the pot to a protected area or you can cover the tree with a heavy blanket (though a blanket might not work during a particularly hard freeze.) One of the cool things about this tree is that it is often grown on its own roots (meaning it was not grafted onto a different rootstock) so if the tree freezes back, it will re-sprout from the base and produce key limes again.

To get started, we purchased 5-gallon lime trees and potted them  up into 15- or 20-gallon plastic containers.  Always be sure to give your tree roots enough room in the pot – it’s a good idea to re-pot your tree into larger containers every few years, if possible. We use rose magic soil from the Natural Gardener as  a potting mix for the limes. Of course, there are many other fabulous potting mixes that will work for container citrus. Once the tree is potted up into an appropriate container, you should mulch the container to help with moisture retention. Also, container trees need more nutrients since so much is leached out during watering. We sprinkle about 1/2 cup of Dr. Earth’s Fruit Tree Fertilizer on top of the soil in the pot every few weeks. There are several liquid fertilizers that would help your tree thrive as well such as fish/seaweed solutions or compost tea.

Key Lime Tree: Potted Up and Watered In

Mulched, Potted Key Lime

Lime Blossom

Chopped, fresh tomatoes make a fabulous topping for your favorite breads. Mixed with a bit of olive oil, salt, fresh basil and garlic, the tomatoes become a delicious summer salsa that is perfect with corn chips.

Chioggia Beets

Purple Queen, Cherokee Wax, and Blue Lake 274 Snap Beans

Sungold, Isis Cherry, and Yellow Pear Tomatoes

]]> http://edibleyards.com/2010/05/19/harvests-from-our-garden/feed/ 0 farmeramy Beets GBeanHarvest SGoldIsisYPear http://edibleyards.com/2010/05/09/mulch-your-gardens/ http://edibleyards.com/2010/05/09/mulch-your-gardens/#comments Sun, 09 May 2010 14:25:43 +0000 farmeramy http://edibleyards.com/?p=509 ]]> This cool, gentle weather has been such a treat for our Austin gardens but remember that the brutal heat and dryer summer is almost here! If you haven’t already mulched your gardens, now is  a good time to cover your soil. Mulch is essential for retaining moisture, regulating soil temperatures, suppressing weeds and maintaining fertility in your soils. I recommend that you use anything that will break down easily in one or two seasons. If you have a lot of weeds, you might consider adding a layer or two  of newspaper first. Then add a 2-4 inch layer of leaves, grass clippings, pine needles or anything else that is finely shredded. Check out Kati Ohlmeyer’s well-mulched garden. She used pine needles for the beds and a finely shredded bark mulch for the paths:

A couple of months ago, I helped Kati rescue a garden that had been worked by the previous owners of her house. Though overgrown and weedy, the garden site was still producing a few vegetables and the soil was full of earthworms! She and her family are new to Austin and she called me in to help her dig her first beds. After I helped her dig her beds and provided her with a planting plan, I left her gardens looking like this:

I also left her a few tomato starts. Notice how the middle fence is used as a trellis. The previous owners had planted some sugar snap peas before they left – the fence is a perfect trellis for peas, cucumbers, melons and other vining crops.

Kati has been carefully tending her garden since planting in March and now, she is producing some gorgeous crops:

Kati’s Yellow Pear Tomatoes

Kati’s Baby Zukes

Kati’s First Pepper

Prickly Pear Cactus – Edible young pads (see picture), edible flowers, edible fruits

Agarita -Edible fruit

Dandelion – Edible leaves and flowers (we didn’t see this on our walk but we talked about it a lot – remember that a true Dandelion’s leaves and stems only sprout out of the base of the plant, at soil level. The serrated “teeth” edges of the leaves also point back towards the center, indicating a true dandelion.

]]> http://edibleyards.com/2010/05/03/more-wild-edibles/feed/ 0 farmeramy PricklyPearPad UnripeAgarita Dandelion http://edibleyards.com/2010/04/26/a-few-more-wild-edibles/ http://edibleyards.com/2010/04/26/a-few-more-wild-edibles/#comments Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:34:55 +0000 farmeramy http://edibleyards.com/?p=486 ]]> The weather was perfect for the wild edible walk yesterday. Thanks to everyone who participated! We saw several edibles on our walk along Blunn Creek in Travis Heights. You can incorporate most of the plants we saw into your own edible yards. Here’s a few shots of the plants we tasted:

Commelina spp. (Dayflower) – Edible leaves, stems, flowers

Morus spp. (Mulberries) – Edible fruit turns a deep purplish-black when ripe

Lactuca serriola (prickly lettuce) – Edible leaves, esp. early growth

Plantago major (plantain – we also saw Plantago lanceolata) – Edible leaves

Lepidium virginicum (Peppergrass) – Edible leaves and seed heads

We saw a lot more on our walk and I hope to post more photos soon. If you do decide to head out on a foraging walk, be sure to take a wild edible guidebook so you know what you are harvesting! When in doubt, don’t eat  it! Here are a few more foraging tips:

-       Be sure it’s legal and/or you have permission to harvest from the site.

-       Harvest responsibly; take only what you need.

-       When gathering flowers and fruit, leave enough for reproduction the following year.

-       If collecting perennials, cut the top and leave the roots.

-       When harvesting roots or tubers, you do kill the plant so harvest sparingly.

-       Wear long pants, carry harvesting bags or baskets, and bring along all the tools you’ll need (edible wild plant guide, pruners, scissors, gloves, shovel/trowel, etc.)

-       Be sure you know what you are harvesting and what parts of the plant are edible!

Spring is a fabulous time to find wild edible greens, berries and flowers in and around Austin. The white flowers on this Spanish dagger yucca are edible and can be eaten raw in salads or on sandwiches. These unique and abundant flowers crunch like iceberg lettuce, taste slightly nutty, and are high in Vitamin C.  The petals are the tastiest part of the flower – you’ll want to pluck out the bitter green center. Also, test the flowers first before harvesting since tastes vary from plant to plant. You can also fry, steam, pickle or saute the flowers in some butter. Yum!

I will be leading a walk on wild edible plants this weekend in Austin. It’s almost full but you can also check in with Lynn over at Useful Wild Plants of Texas – they might be offering one of their weedfeeds soon!

I recently installed this small vegetable garden at a home in the Mueller neighborhood. It is the first phase in a traditional, patchwork-style kitchen garden that will eventually include two more beds and some blackberries along the fence. (In case you were wondering, the family finished the outline of their beds with river rock they collected on their land near the Llano River.)For those of you who have never been to Mueller, the yards are tiny!  Ah, but the community there is LARGE. I also did a workshop and garden installation there last fall and I quickly learned that folks who live in Mueller are serious organizers! They organize many events such as potlucks, festivals, workshops, walks and even farmers’ markets.  While I was installing the garden, a neighbor across the street asked me if I would be willing to speak about vegetable gardening at the Mueller Plant Fest. So, I will be giving a short talk about vegetable gardening in small spaces at the Mueller Plant Fest this Saturday, April 10th at 11:30. If you’re interested in attending, come on out! The garden I installed will be on a walking tour. Here’s the list of other activities and information:

An artichoke border at the Edible Estates garden

Every few days, I pass this Edible Estates garden on my way to the thunderdome. I think it is a beautiful garden and a wonderful example of what someone can do in a small yard here in Austin. One thing that really stands out to me is the use of artichokes on the front edge of the landscape, lining the sidewalk and cascading over the cedar log border. Not only is the artichoke edible, but it is also beautiful. It’s grey-green foliage is a fabulous contrast to most other green-colored plants that grow in our garden and it’s fern-like leaves spread out like fans and act as  a living mulch for the plant.

Artichokes are actually thistles and can be grown as perennials here in Austin. With a bit of protection from freezes, they will continue to produce edible buds for many years. They will also sprout off-shoots that you can re-plant in other places.  If artichokes do die back, they will re-grow from the roots.

It is a good time to plant artichokes in your garden and if you have some extra space in your landscape beds, try some green globes!

Last week, Don and Ursula invited me to their house in Cedar Park for a consultation. Don, Ursula and their two daughters recently moved to our area from Seattle and were interested in building a raised vegetable garden bed. During the consultation, we discussed many things including the best location for their garden, materials to use for outlining their beds, good soils and compost, how to build it and when to plant. They were inspired by Eastside Cafe’s Garden and liked the idea of using cinder blocks to build a raised bed.

I knew they were anxious to get going, but I didn’t realize how quickly they would spring into action! A few days after my visit, I received these pictures of their garden. Don and Ursula designed and built this garden themselves and I am proud to have been a part of their planning! Way to go, Don and Ursula!

Marking off the beds

Placing cinder blocks on newspaper used as weed barrier

Garden beds filled with soil