Thingamabobs and Whatchamacallits

I really enjoy coffee but I was probably in my late teens before I tassted it.  It was tea all the way back in the day!  And then when it became more “fashionable”, it was usually an after-dinner drink.   When I was growing up, “Coffee Cake” was a cake flavored with coffee – usually Camps’ Coffee Essence.  It took me forever to figure out that coffee cake here is any cake eaten while drinking coffee!  There are so many uses for coffee besides drinking it though, and I wanted to write down what I can remember about coffee cultivation.     Pictures are from a visit to Doka Coffee Plantation in Alajuela, Costa Rica in February 2011. The best coffee, according to our guide, is  Caffea arabica .  Arabica plants are grown in high altitudes and contain less caffeine than the lowlands varieties such as  C. canephora  aka Robusta, which has about 4.5% caffeine.  Both varieties can grow naturally to about 27 – 30ft but are pruned to...

When I was growing up, February 14 wasn't celebrated as St. Valentine's Day, but The Birds' Wedding Day!  Given the huge commercial opportunity this day has become in modern times, I was prompted to do a little research!  And I must say, that on this cold but beautifully sunny day, the birds are indeed out in their flocks, singing joyfully and loudly!!!   February 14th (in Eastern Orthodoxy July 6th) is, of course, the day we honor Saint Valentine, (3rd century), martyr.  Two Valentines are listed in the Roman Martyrology on 14 February; one a Roman priest martyred on the Flaminian Way, supposedly under Claudius, the other a bishop of Terni who was martyred at Rome, but whose relics were translated to Terni.  The Acts of both are unreliable and the Bollandists assert that these two Valentines were in fact one and the same.  Neither of them seems to have any clear connection with lovers or courting couples.   He is also a patron saint of ...

Last year I decided to make some more raised beds, closer to the house for convenience.  This time I chose concrete blocks because I had some on hand.  The idea is to one day add another tier on top of these so I don't have to bend as much, and to provide greater depth for plant roots.  I have already added another bed, and have potatoes sprouting.   Bed construction Options abound!  Concrete blocks (as above), Landscape timbers, Pre-formed metal bins; basically anything that will hold soil!  Don't make beds so wide that the center can't easily be reached from all sides.  One good thing about concrete blocks, no matter how many tiers are used, is that the "holes" around the edges can be filled with trailing herbs and plants, which softens the appearance of the structure.   Bed location Check availability of a water source, and hours of sun per day.  Also for proximity of trees and roots, and hidden underground utilities!  ...

Goodness - I started this post two months ago to the day - where did that time go???  If I were a person who made New Year's Resolutions regular blogging would surely be at the top of the list!    18 years ago I took the Texas Master Gardener Training Class, and have made so many friends and gained so much knowledge and experience of gardening in Texas - as they said in one of the Tourist Booklets, "A whole 'nother country"!!  Even after gardening in Europe, North Africa, and Canada, I found Texas to be a totally different challenge.   In 2008 I took the TMG Propagation Specialist training, and fell in love with "roots and shoots", and all kinds of lesser known propagation techniques, with many a tale to tell about failures, successes and surprises along the way!   I was recently asked to conduct a TMGA Training Class for my home county of Grimes - I have been "retired" for a couple of years, but was honored to be asked, and to accept.  Since...