A Garden Visit with Eli Kubicek

Each year I buy several of my ornamental plants from a small, independent grower named Eli Kubicek. Eli has been organically growing and propagating vegetables and ornamentals in his Brenham gardens for 8 years. Over the past few years Eli has developed quite a following of local people who literally line up to buy his high quality starts and transplants. While it is not unusual for gardeners to line up to purchase high quality transplants from an organic grower, it is incredibly unusual for the producer of those transplants to be just 10 years old!

Eli Kubicek is a plant propagating 10 year old entreprunuer from Brenham, Tx

I met Eli three years ago when he was a second grader in my wife’s class at St. Paul’s Christian Day School. For some occasion or another Eli presented her with a lovely pot of aloe vera that he proudly told her he had propagated himself. Thanks to that gift I now have pots and pots of aloe vera all around my house. We were so impressed with this plant propagating second grader that we have made it a point to buy from him each and every year.

Eli’s skills are not limited to plant propagation. here he proudly displays a birdhouse he designed and built.

Eli lives on six acres outside of Brenham with Dad Stan, Mom Becky and Duece, their flop eared, yellow guard dog. The Kubicek’s live in a rambling farmhouse that started life as a two room home in the late 19^th century. Stan and Becky have spent years restoring the old house and cultivating some very attractive ornamental and vegetable beds around it. When Eli came along, his parents included him in everything they were doing. Around the time Eli turned two they noticed that he had a real affinity for plants. Since that time they have encouraged his interest. Both of his parents are what I would consider craftsmen. Stan (who earns his living as a college math professor) is a fine furniture and cabinet maker . Becky (who is a nutritionist by trade) has created some of the most beautiful cottage beds and garden rows I have ever seen. Working alongside his parents, Eli has developed an eye for detail, an appreciation of hard work, the value of “re-use” and the confidence needed to tackle whatever issues he encounters while building a garden, a bird house or a remote control Lego car.

Eli recently installed his latest ornamental bed. He laid the the brick border himself and is filling the bed with several plants that he has divided or propagated

When it comes to plants, Eli now has free reign as far as his parents are concerned. Each year he selects the plants from the garden he wants to propagate. He and his dad then get a load of mulch from the local landfill. To create his potting mix, and the compost for his gardens, Eli sifts the mulch with a slotted tray from the nursery that was used to hold 8 cell transplant packs. The sifted compost fills his pots and feeds his gardens and the mulch is used to suppress weeds in those same plots.

Eli designed this lovely bed at the entrance to his house. He also grew all of the plants.

Each year, Eli’s inventory and sales grow. As he has gotten older he has learned to propagate more and varieties. This year, I went to buy my annual “Eli Plants” at the Brenham Christian Academy Bazaar. His booth was lovely and it was stocked with figs, Turk’s Cap, rosemary, several salvias and lots of succulents. He also had some of the most beautiful Hardy Amaryllis for sale that I have ever seen. Since my wife is an amaryllis lover we came home with all he had for sale.

A clump of Hardy Amaryllis in that Eli divides and sells at his annual plant sale

A clump of Hardy Amaryllis that Eli divides and sells at his annual plant sale

Eli’s enthusiasm for growing and propagation has been an inspiration for me. While I love to garden it is always refreshing to find someone who shares your loves and passions. Eli is an outstanding young man with so much promise and potential. I am truly glad our paths have crossed and I can’t wait to see where all of his gifts and talents take him.

Name: Eli Kubicek

Location: Brenham, Tx

Years gardening in this location: 8 years (80% of my life!)

Favorite thing to grow: Snapdragons and perennials in general

Eli has several varieties of salvia that he propagates each year. This year he added pineapple sage to his list of offerings

Best growing tip: Don’t “over tend” your garden. In my garden I don’t do much except weed, fertilize twice a year and water when necessary

Best pest control tip: We don’t have a big problem with pests. However we have had grasshopper problems in the past. For those I pick and smush or let our guinea take care of them. For slugs I pick and smush with a stick. I have a good guard dog name “Duece” who takes care of armadillos and other big pests.

Best weed control tip: Yank ‘em out before they spread

Biggest challenge: Covering and uncovering all of the plants I am propagating before and after a frost or freeze. I also have a problem keeping the guinea (grasshopper control) away from the melons,strawberries and persimmons

Favorite soil amendment: Fresh compost which I make myself! I don’t use that bagged stuff.

Preserving the harvest: Some vegetables don’t make it to the house. They are just too tempting and I eat them immediately. For example, carrots (I just brush off most of the soil and munch away), green beans and bell peppers .

Favorite advice: Don’t let weeds get out of control!

Eli with mom Becky and dad Stan in front of a bottle tree that they made by wiring together old Christmas Tree trunks

I share these posts on Our SimpleHomestead Blog Hop. Be sure to stop by. The “hop” has tons of great information from gardeners and homesteaders all over the world!

Week 27 Tips for the Zone 9 Garden

This week has been declared “American Flowers Week”. The week is designed to promote and celebrate American flower growers, marketers and florists. Did you know that 80 to 90% of the cut flowers sold in the US come from overseas? Many find this fact shocking when I share it with them. If you would prefer to buy flowers that are fresher, grown in a more ecologically responsible manner and produced right here in the USA then be sure to check out the Slow Flowers website. Slow Flowers is a cooperative effort between American growers and florists that allow you to find local growers and the florists that use their flowers to fill your flower buying needs.

In honor of “American Flowers Week” this week’s tips focus on growing, harvesting and arranging your own beautiful “local” flowers.

Flowers grown at the proper spacing are healthier and produce more blooms that plants that are grown too close together.

Growing Tips

Plant at the recommended spacing on the package– Over planting is the biggest mistake most home gardeners make. Plants that are grown too close together do not get as large or produce as many flowers and they are much more susceptible to pests.
Weed and feed regularly – Most flowers are annuals. Because of this they need to get as much nutrition as possible during their one growing season. Feed monthly and weed regularly. The weeds will rob your soil of the moisture and nutrients that your flowers need.
Control most pests with a strong blast of water to the underside of their leaves – Most flowers are plagued by a variety of pests. Most are tiny little rascals (like mites and aphids) that hide under the leaves of plants. Because of this they are very difficult to control with your typical spray applications of pesticides. I use a tool called the Mitey Fine Mister. This wand attaches to my water hose and is designed to spray water with enough pressure to kill the pests without harming the plant.

Cut flowers early in the morning and keep them cool to extend their vase life

Harvest Tips

Cut flowers when buds are just beginning to open – If you cut most flowers when their buds are just beginning to open they will open in the vase. This will allow you to enjoy them much longer
Cut flowers in the morning- Flowers cut in the morning have the highest moisture content (this is called turgidity in the horticultural world) and look their best.
Strip leaves and immediately drop blooms into a plastic container that is full of clean, cool water
Get flowers inside as soon as possible-Your flowers begin to die as soon as they are cut. Heat speeds up their ultimate demise. Get them inside and into the air conditioning as soon as possible

Nothing says summer in the country like sunflowers in a homemade arrangement!

Arrangement Tips

Use more flowers! – My youngest daughter is an incredibly talented floral designer. I asked her why my arrangements do not look half as good as hers. She said it is because I do not use enough flowers. According to Whitney, when making floral arrangements, more is almost always better
Use more than flowers in your floral arrangements – While it is pretty easy to make a very pretty and presentable arrangement by grouping together lots of beautiful flowers, the really outstanding arrangements use other things to add interest. Lovely branches with interesting leaves are great fillers as are twisting garlic scapes, iris leaves, lemon grass and onion flowers. Fresh vegetables, wasp nests, bird nests, dried sunflower heads and dried poppy heads all add a bit of whimsy and surprise to your arrangements
Throw away the floral foam – As useful as it is, floral foam is not biodegradable. There are tons of “green” alternatives that you can choose to support your flowers. Sally and I have a small collection of antique floral frogs. You can also make a wire ball out of chicken wire that fits in the top of your vase. My daughter loves to use fresh fruit. She cuts a hole into a melon or squash and then wires wooden stakes to her stems. She then inserts the stakes and stems into the firm flesh and rinds of the fruit.

I share these posts on Our SimpleHomestead Blog Hop. Be sure to stop by. The “hop” has tons of great information from gardeners and homesteaders all over the world!

Tip of the Week – Week 21 in the Zone 9 Garden

It finally finished raining long enough for Sally and I to harvest the rest of the potatoes. While we were out there we also pulled our first cucumbers and picked a small mess of green beans. We just finished an amazing dinner of cucumbers and onions, green beans and an okra/tomato/sausage/smoked poblano concoction. Everything but the sausage came straight from the garden or the freezer. And that my friends is why I garden!

On another note, I recently read an article that said internet readers want their information quick and easy. With that in mind I am going to structure my weekly tips in a different format for a while. If you like it, or even if you don’t, leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

Vegetables

Pick Green Beans
Harvest and cure onions
Control aphids, thrips and scale insects with a strong blast of water. If this is not working spray entire plant with neem oil or a water/dish soap mixture
Harvest Potatoes-It has rained so much lately that it has washed much of the soil away from my potato plants. I literally have potatoes on top of the ground. This will cause two problems. First, the harvest is going to be a muddy mess. No way around this. I will have to dig them and then go directly to the hose for a good wash. I do not normally recommend washing your potatoes. When potatoes come out of the ground their skins are soft and can be damaged by washing. Damaged skins let in fungus that will cause the potatoes to rot during storage. That is why we cure them before we store them. To cure potatoes we need to let them dry in the hot sun for a few hours. All of this rain is causing an unusual lack of sunshine. Because of this I will have to figure out a way to move the potatoes into the garage for curing. This is a big problem for me because my garage is already covered with the onions that I had to cure inside because of the rain.

Ornamentals

Pull weeds while the ground is soft. Throw them in the compost pile if they have not set seed
Dead head zinnias and marigolds
Plant zinnias (Benary’s Giant are my favorites) and marigolds from seed
Plant Sunflowers-There are about a million different varieties of sunflowers and I grow several of them (my favorite is a double called “Teddy Bear” that grows on three to four foot tall stalks and produces gorgeous flowers). For the next couple of months I will plant more seeds every other week. This “two week planting schedule” will ensure that Sally and I have an ample supply of fresh cuts for our home right up to the first frost.
Plant Gomphrena (Bachelor’s Buttons) – I have two places in my yard where I grow gomphrena (Bachelor’s Buttons). Gomphrena is a great plant for our area because it can really take the heat and it will keep flowers until the first frost. Even though it is an annual it is a great self-seeder and will come back on its own year after year. That is, it will come back year after year as long as you don’t have free ranging chickens that scratch up all of the seedlings in your beds. That is what has happened at my house. Thanks to my chickens I currently have no gomphrena. So this weekend I will be replanting. Many of our reseeders (like gomphrena, zinnia, poppies and marigolds) can be planted by running a rake over and area and then putting the seeds out in a broadcast manner. Once the seeds are down, run the rake across the soil to lightly cover the seeds. Finally, gently water the area. Keep the soil moist until the little plants develop their first set of real leaves.

Lawns

Do not fertilize until things dry out. Nitrogen, moisture and cool temps encourage brown spot

I share my posts on the HomeAcre Hop. Be sure to stop by the hop. It has tons of great information from gardeners and homesteaders all over the world!

2015 Bluebonnet Report

This weekend the kids all came for Easter. Sally and I absolutely love it when the kids come for a whole bunch of reasons. However, one of my favorites is my son in law Ramez Antoun’s camera. Ramez is a dang fine amateur photographer. Each time he comes he leaves me with a ton of outstanding photographs. This weekend the bluebonnets of Washington County were at their peak. He took tons of great shots of the bluebonnets and all of the other wildflowers in our yard. I was so impressed with them that I thought I would share.

Our little house sits on a long, narrow two acre lot. We have a ranch in front of us and one behind us. One of the ranches has a 56 acre lake on it. This shot is from our yard looking toward the lake. I love the way this picture captures the swaths of bluebonnets that lead down to the lake.

All of our kids are dog lovers. Kate and Ramez are the owners of the Yorkie in the picture above (my apologies for the ugly sweater they forced her to wear) . Our daughter Jessie and her husband own the three labs below. The two black labs are retired guide dogs. While Jessie was in college she and Cameron worked with a group of people that socialized and trained dogs for the seeing impaired. They got these dogs when they were six weeks old and kept them for the first year of their lives. They then turned them over for further training. Finally, the wound up with a seeing impaired person who loved and depended on them for several years. When it was time for them to retire, the foundation offered them back Jessie and her husband. How could they refuse?

Here is a great shot of our little guest house/bed and breakfast. I love the mural that my wife had done last year. If you are planning a trip to Washington County, Sally and I would love to be your hosts. Click on the link below to tour “The Nest” and/or book your stay.

Finally, bluebonnets aren’t the only wildflowers that are blooming now in Washington County. I leave you with this great shot of an Indian Paintbrush.

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Tip of the Week – Week 6 in the Zone 9 Garden

I know that Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, but I think his prediction is wrong. As I drive the back roads of Washington County, I see signs of an early spring everywhere. Now I don’t want to jinx anything, but we are quickly approaching the date when a freeze is highly unlikely. Because of this, there are many, many tasks to be done in the February zone 9 garden. Below are the things I will be doing this weekend

Most years I grow La Soda reds and Kennebek whites. This year I was only able to find La Soda seed potatoes.

Vegetables

There are lots of veggies that can be planted this week. For a complete list check out Patty Leander’s planting calendar on the sidebar of the blog. Since I have planted about all of the seeds I can I am moving on to planting potatoes. A couple of weeks ago I bought ten pounds of red La Soda. I cut them into pieces and have allowed them to “scab” in the kitchen. Plant them 4” deep in loose soil that is in full sun.

Larkspur is so pretty and so reliable. Plant this self-seeding annual once and you may be able to enjoy it for a lifetime.

Ornamentals

It is not too late to plant snap dragons (but is getting close). Place these transplants about a foot apart in full sun. Give them an extra boost with blood meal. Blood meal is a great source of organic nitrogen. The recommended rate is one cup per five feet of row.

If you have not cut back your ornamental grasses, cannas, gingers, asters, salvias and woody perennials, do it now. It is also a great time to start mulching. I love mulch and use it extensively. It suppresses weeds, conserves moisture and insulates roots. Plus, if you use natural mulches, they turn into compost that will feed your plants.

I have tons of poppies, larkspur, marigolds and bachelor buttons (gomphrena) that come back every year. Be careful not to cover these self-seeding annuals with mulch or pull the tender starts while you are weeding.

Concentrated acetic acid makes a great organic weed killer

Lawns

My wife mowed for the first time this past weekend. While the stuff that passes for grass at my house is not growing, lots of weeds are. A weekly mowing will prevent lots of these weeds from going to seed and spreading their problems into future years. For weeds that can’t be reached with a mower use acetic acid as a good natural herbicide. Don’t think you can get by with household vinegar. Real weed killing power is found in the concentrated form at your local garden supply center.

If you are into organic weed control, start putting out corn gluten meal (CGM) now. A weekly application during February is a very effective pre-emergent for all broadleaf weeds. Besides cost, there is absolutely no down side to CGM. Apply CGM at a rate of 20 lbs per thousand square feet of lawn. If you have more lawn than money you can also use CGM as a natural fertilizer. Apply 10 pounds per 1000 square feet to give yor lawn a great boost of natural nitrogen.

****Be sure to check out my friend Bart’s blog (Our Garden View) for more great tips for the Central and South Central garden!

This post has been shared on the HomeAcre Hop. Be sure to stop by the hop. It has tons of great information from gardeners and homesteaders all over the world!