The Red Warty Thing

Posted on October 30, 2013 by Jay White

I love garden surprises. This fall, my surprise came in the form of a massive squash called The Red Warty Thing (formerly called Victor). Back in July I pulled down my cucumber vines. This left me with a 33’ trellised row in need of planting. So, I ordered 5 varieties of heirloom winter squash from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (rareseeds.com). In all honesty, I didn’t plan on eating any of them. I wanted to use them in the fall decorations around our house.

I have never enjoyed watching anything grow more than I did this Red Warty Thing

When I ordered The Red Warty Thing, I thought I would be growing a lovely orange, bumpy, softball sized decoration to mix in a bowl with my gourds, acorns and leaves. I was very surprised when my “decoration” turned into a 16 pound pumpkin!

Watching this squash turn into a pumpkin has truly been the highlight of my fall garden

I have grown very few things that I enjoyed as much as this squash. In fact, watching it grow became a part of our evening routine. It produced huge vines with huge, beautiful leaves. After that came the huge yellow flowers. Once the bees did their thing, we enjoyed watching the light yellow football shaped fruit that was about the size of golf ball turn into the huge Red Warty Thing. For the first month, it kept its yellow color. Once it got about as big as it is now, the skin started to change. Then it developed slight ribs like a pumpkin. Then the bumps started forming and the color started changing ever so slightly every day.

This baby Red Warty Thing has gone from golf ball to softball size in less than a week

As much fun as it was to watch the squash grow, I will probably not grow it (or any other squash) for a couple of years. The reason I have finally decided to give up on squash for a while was a little green bug called the cucumber beetle.

This little green bug has finally convinced me to put away my squash seeds for a couple of years

Now I am a pretty experienced gardener. However, I have never experienced insects that were this invasive and this destructive. While I am accustomed to squash bugs and squash vine borers, I have never encountered anything like the cucumber beetle before. As soon as the foliage reached the top of the trellis, these guys showed up. And not just a few either. They came en mass. Over the next few weeks they systematically stripped all of the foliage and flowers from my 15 plants. The only way I could keep ahead of them was to let the squash vine on the ground. For some reason the bugs only ate the foliage on the trellis.

The cucmber beetles ate everything – leaves and flowers included!

Since I grow organically, I didn’t have any means to fight them. I never noticed a larval stage. One day I noticed holes in the leaves and the next day the trellis was covered in a swarm of green bugs. These beetles finally showed me that as an organic grower I am truly defenseless against a determined invader.

Since this is going to be the last winter squash I grow for a while I decided to do a little research and see what I could do with a 16 lb squash. Turns out, I can do a whole lot. According to the internet, the Red Warty Thing has a flavor and texture that allows you to use it in all of your pumpkin recipes. So I can puree it and use it to make pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie and pumpkin soup. It can also be cubed and roasted just like an acorn or butternut squash. Since I really like all of these things, I am looking forward to helping my wife convert our “decorative” squash into a plethora of pumpkin dishes for all of our Thanksgiving guests.

Fabulous Fall Decorations

Posted on October 18, 2013 by Jay White

On Monday, my wife went to Bayou Bend to attend the memorial service for Michael Brown. Michael was the curator there for many years and she was very fond of him. Michael was a great researcher and curator. In fact, he literally wrote the book on Duncan Phyfe furniture. He was the epitome of a gentleman and scholar. He left this world too soon and his passing leaves a big hole in the world of American Decorative Arts.

Michael’s memorial service was held at Bayou Bend.

After I got off work I rode around while waiting for the service to let out. I love riding around in River Oaks. According to Forbes magazine, River Oaks is home to several of the richest people in America. Because of this, I got to enjoy some of the most impressive homes and landscapes in the entire United States.

This is the proper way to decorate the enterance to a home

In my wanderings I happened upon what I think is my favorite fall landscape ever. If I had the money, this is how I would decorate the outside of my house every fall. As you look at these beds notice that, besides the shrubs, nothing is permanent. Each season, the owner replaces every thing between the boxwoods with seasonal plants.

Not only do I admire these decorations I admire the owners for creating these botanically beatuiful scenes for the public

I don’t know the landscape company that installs these decorations or the man that pays to have it done. However, I admire them both. Much like Michael Brown, they are enhancing peoples lives by sharing beautiful things with them.

I am not particularly fond of crotons. However, I have to admit that they were the perfect filler between the mums, marigolds, squash and pumpkins.

It’s Tree Planting Time by Janet Laminack

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Jay White

There is an old saying that goes “The very best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago”. If you didn’t do it twenty years ago you can make amends by planting one now. Fall is the perfect time for planting trees in Texas. Fall planting allows a tree to establish itself in the cooler temperatures of winter and spring.

October is the best time of the year to plant trees in Texas. This weekend, I planted two large Empire Live Oaks from Tree Town USA in the front yard of nationally known decorator Holly Mathis (http://www.hollymathisinteriors.com/).

When choosing trees, people often want a quick growing tree. Quick growing sometimes means quick dying, so it’s best to be patient and pick a quality tree. Some good choices for our area include oaks like burr, chinkapin, red oak and live oak. Lacebark elm and cedar elm do well and pecans also make nice shade trees. But pecans are not a good choice for planting over driveways or for the squirrel-adverse. You can also consider smaller trees or large shrubs such as redbud, crape myrtle, desert willow, and wax myrtle. True, these trees won’t be gigantic shade trees, but they can make a positive impact and might be more appropriate and attractive by staying in scale with your home and smaller urban lot.

When I plant a tree I use my shovel to get the hole width and depth correct. Width should be 1.5 times as big as the pot and the depth should be 2 or 3 inches shorter than the soil depth in the pot

When deciding where to plant a tree, it’s essential to consider its mature size. Consider how big this tree will be in 10, 20, or 30 years. Make sure you don’t plant a tree too close to power lines, buildings or other trees. You also need to check that the tree isn’t too close to anything underground as well. Before you dig, call 811 to have the underground utilities in your lawn marked for free. Planting trees or shrubs might seem like minor digging, but not knowing where underground lines are could put you in danger or disrupt service in your neighborhood (or both depending on just how serious the sports fans are in your area!) For more information, visit www.call811.com.

The handle of my shovel was almost exactly 1.5 times as wide as the pot of my 45 gallon Empire Live Oak. Note the black line on the handle. This is how I determine the depth of the hole.

Trees can increase the value of a home’s resale. Properly placed trees can also help with heating and cooling expenses of the home. A deciduous tree (one that loses its leaves in the winter) placed on the south or west side of a home provides shade and cooling in the summer and allows for warming up in the winter.

A big tree requires a big hole and some help. I had two grown men help me with my 45 gallon Empire Live Oak.

I’d recommend doing some research on your own in order to pick your tree. Online sources such as the Texas Forest Service Tree Selector (http://texastreeplanting.tamu.edu/) and the Earth-Kind Plant Selector (http://earthkind.tamu.edu) can provide you with much more information on the particular traits of trees that work well in North Texas.

When back filling the hole, it is a good idea to fill 1/3 of the whole the with soil and then saturate. Use the handle of your shovel to tamp in the soil. Then add 1/3 more soil and repeat. This will remove any root killing air pockets.

When back filling the hole, it is a good idea to fill 1/3 of the hole with soil and then saturate. Use the handle of your shovel to tamp in the soil. Then add 1/3 more soil and repeat. This will remove any root killing air pockets.

As far as planting trees a very common mistake is planting a tree too deep. Keep the same soil line on the trunk when it’s in the ground as it was in the container. If this kind of exactness makes you nervous, place the tree slightly higher. Some settling may occur and it is very important to make sure the tree is not too deep. Once the tree is planted, don’t forget about it. For the first three years it will need more care while it gets established such as supplemental water and reducing the competition of weeds and grass. For more details on proper tree planting and more tree choices for our area, check out www.dcmga.com, email us at master.gardener@dentoncounty.com or call 940.349.2892.

This post has been shared on the Homestead Barn Hop. These’s hops are a great way to gather tons of great info from bloogers around the country. Be sure to visit!

Harlequin Bug – A Real Sucker By Patty Leander

Posted on October 1, 2013 by Jay White

Brassica plants love our fall weather. So do harlequin bugs. And unfortunately harlequin bugs love brassicas. These colorful bugs are attracted to the large, succulent leaves of various members of the brassica family, including broccoli, cauliflower, kale, collards and mustard. A cousin to stink bugs, the adults are easy to spot because of their orange and black exoskeleton, and if you find one there are usually many more in the vicinity.

Adult Harlequin Bug in curly kale. All photos in the post by Bruce Leander

One of the best methods for controlling this pest is to perform a regular “search and destroy” operation to keep them in check; otherwise they will continue to proliferate in your garden. Monitor your plants for clusters of the distinctive, black and white barrel-shaped eggs which are usually laid in clusters of 10-12 on the plant stems or the underside of leaves. Each female egg has the potential to hatch and grow and lay another dozen eggs in only four to nine weeks, so if you can eliminate just one egg mass you will be way ahead in this game we call vegetable gardening.

This dime shows the relative size – the intricate eggs are tiny and easy to overlook

Harlequin Bugs have distinctive egg cases, usually 10-12 barrel shaped eggs laid side by side

Organic products, such as spinosad or insecticidal soap, only offer fair control and are most effective in the nymphal stages. Adults become more resistant and harder to control so find those eggs and destroy them! If any eggs should escape your eagle eye, hand pick the resulting pests and drop them into a bucket of soapy water. Row cover can be used to protect plants, just make sure there are no adults or eggs present before covering plants. Another control option is to plant a sacrificial trap crop of mustard or turnips to attract the bugs away from your desirable plants, then pick off the adults or spray the trap crop with insecticide rather than spraying all of the brassicas you plan to eat. Keep an eye out for this pest in both fall and early spring as they can easily decimate a plant if not kept under control.

The colorful adults are plentiful and easy to find; handpick and dispose of them in a bucket of soapy water