Cat Creek Gardens

What's on the Vine

6-1-09
So I admit it....
Yes, I admit it, I haven't been keeping up with the webpage. I know, I know, but there's just so much to do and not enough time or energy! I have returned to college to finish my degrees on nutritional anthropology, so things will be sparse around here.

Many thanks to all our clients who bought veggies and eggs the last couple of years. We are no longer selling to the public, but we will continue to update the page with new pics and such. Thanks everyone!

4-22-09
Happy Earth Day from the Farm!
Happy Earth Day all! Here at CC, we try to have at least a little Earth Day every day. Some of our current projects are putting in a linked rain catch system, an aquaponics experiment, and additions to the gardens.

We're very excited about some new varieties we've planted this year! Last year's drought pretty much wiped out the tomato harvest, so we're hoping this year will be better. We've added an heirloom Beefsteak tomato that so far is showing a lot of promise. Cantalopes and melons are up, and several types of squash. The greens are just about done, and the peas are gone, but in their place the purple pod beans are blooming.

In other news, the Pride is adjusting to the lack of freedom. We are sad to have to keep them in and caged, but the alternative is pretty much death at the hands of city animal control. Yes, we know it's safer from many hazards, but it's hard to see them miserable, and not able to explain it to them. Still, we're building extensive outdoor runs and playscapes for them, so they'll have plenty to do.

Check soon for new pictures!

4-14-09
Gone to the Ancestors
Our oldest resident, Jack Daniels, has passed the Veil and is with the Ancestors now. Jack came to us as an adult stray, so we never really knew how old he was. Our vet put his age at the time of death at 18, a venerable Old Man.

In other news, the Farm is in full swing and there are things blooming and sprouting everywhere you look. Some veggies are available, email us for more info.

Due to threats from a new cat-hating neighbor, the feline inhabitants of the Farm have been relocated to inside digs. They now have two large outdoor habitats to play in, and while most of them would rather be out roaming, it is even less safe for them to do so. We plan on expanding their habitats over the summer, with pictures to follow.

2-11-09
Onions, greens and more!
Things are picking up here at the Gardens! We have several different kinds of lettuce, spinach, and peas all up and doing well despite a small ice storm and a bit of hail so far. Carrots have finally made their appearance, and the second round of onion planting will be this weekend. The cabbages are doing well, despite their late start.

The last year gave us a lot of information on what will grow for us, and what is not so good. We are looking forward to an excellent year for 2009, and have several goals in mind, such as expanding front gardens into a wildlife/cutting garden, a "driveway stand" and room for mushrooms.

1-28-09
What a Long Strange Trip it's been.....
Greetings CC fans! Things have been up and down for the last several months, which is why there hasn't been an update until now.

We had a death in the family in November of '08, my mother, Lucille Glover, passed away after a 2 year battle with various illnesses and lost the war to advanced stomach cancer. Things were pretty much put on hold until she passed. She's gone to the Ancestors, and life at the Farm continues on.

Around the place, things are popping. Cabbages, peas and lettuce are up and growing, altho a small ice storm last night has left everything coated in ice. We won't know until later today once everything thaws if the plants were affected, hopefully not.

The Girls are doing well, laying steadily even through the shorter days of winter. If you are interested in eggs, email us and we'll put you on the list.

Last year was our test year for sales at the Farm, and we are happy to announce that the $10 bag experiment was a total success, and we will be doing it again this year. For those of you just joining us, the $10 bag is a week/biweekly grab bag of whatever's growing at the time, plus a few other goodies like homemade soap, jam or pesto. This is as close you can get to eating local as possible, unless you lived here! Bags should be available in Feb/Mar, email us for more info, or to get on the mailing list.

10-23-08
Finally, Fall!
Yesterday afternoon saw the arrival of our first (almost) cold weather! I'm hoping that the cooler temps will knock down the hopper population, as I've replanted greens 4 times now, and none have survived except the mesclun and cabbage. I'll be ordering my winter garden seeds this weekend, and hopefully will be putting in the winter garden next week.

Greenhouse ideas have been running around in my head for a few years now, but with the tighter budget, it's looking like the front porch is going to be the best bet, and cheapest to put in. We'll get to work on our carpentry skills, always a fun time!

The Girls are doing well, and have been laying 2-4 eggs a day again, now that the weather's cooler and we've gotten them the right food, after being sold the wrong feed from the local feed store. Unfortunatly, the bounty of culled produce from a local natural food store has dried up, due to the store being bought by another corporation who doesn't allow their bad produce to be given away. (Or at least that was the story we were told, whether it's true or not, it means less goodies for the Girls.) We'll be getting them ready for winter this weekend too, and since we use the heat lamp to heat the coop in the winter, we might continue to get an egg or two. We'll see!

10-4-08
Hoppers abound!
After planting the fall garden, I was going out the the garden every morning to water, only to find that my baby lettuce and peas were disappearing. Turns out the grasshoppers are feasting on them! So we've been letting the Girls out a couple of hours a day to help control the hopper population, and it seems to be helping. Hopefully with the coming rains we can get in some more plantings that the hoppers won't eat as soon as the come up!

8-19-2008
Finally, some relief!
We've finally gotten a break in the heat and drought condition here in Austin! It's been raining on and off for a couple of days now, and is supposed to continue for a week or so. With any luck, I'll be able to get some fall plantings in that won't refuse to sprout, and the girls will pick back up egg production.

8-05-2008
The Summer of Frying
Greetings CC peeps! Things have been a bit depressing around the Homestead of late, with record temps and drought frying most of the garden to a not appetizing crisp! For the 4th time this year I have replanted, hopefully it will work this time.

Tropical storm Edouard is moving slowly closer to CenTex, and with any luck it will bring some much needed rain.

In other news, the prodigal son has returned home! Kwaanza met a young girl kitty down the street, and was enamoured with her(even tho he is fixed), until her owners got her spayed, and then his interest waned. He still did not come home however, having gotten lazy, or possibly forgotten where he actually lived, since he is getting up there in years. The people had to move unexpectidly tho, and came down to ask us to come get him. He spends a good portion of his time in the den with his sister Io, who's locked in while her lick granuloma heals. We've had to go back down to the house most every day to retrieve him, as we are afraid that the owner of the house who has returned from out of town and is not a cat fancier, will have him taken to the pound or outright harm or kill him. (We don't know if she would, knowing nothing about her.) We hope that she would not do such a thing, but it is best to err on the side of caution.

The girls have had a slowdown in the egg department, probably due to the crushing heat. We're hoping that they will pick back up when the weather cools down, as we do need the eggs, now that food prices have skyrocketed.

5-26-2008
Wasted Food
I found this website by following a link from MSN.com, and was very impressed with it, and I think you all will too!

http://www.wastedfood.com/

5-20-2008
Squash, anyone?
Wow, the weather is doing it's usual thing here in Central Texas, which is whatever it feels like! We've had record high temps, and the gardens are showing it. We have several different types of beds, all test beds at this point, and most with the same varieties of plants. The squash in the ground rows are doing alright, but showing a lot of heat stress in the afternoons, no matter how much water or mulch they get. The ones in the concrete block raised bed are not showing hardly any any signs of heat stress. So far, we're leaning towards block beds in the forseeable future!

The tomatoes have arrived! I picked the first of the white current tomatoes this morning, and they were excellent! It's been a looong time since we've had tomatoes, been looking forward to this all season!

$10 bags are still available, but in limited supply, so get them early!

5-11-08
Happy Mother's Day!
Happy Mother's Day to all our CC readers!

5-7-08
No Hail, Please!
Howdy CC readers! We're smack in the middle of late spring/early summer here in CenTex, and that means Tornado Season. We're lucky here in the middle town, we seldom get much really severe weather, but when we do, it's usually a good one. Everything is doing so well, we're praying that we don't get hail this year.

We harvested our first White Bush Scallop squash, very tasty and tender. We should have some available in the next week or two, and the yellows are catching up quickly. The greens are finished for this season, and the remainder is being fed to the chickens or left to go to seed for the seed gathering experiment, as are the turnips and the few radishes around the place. The grapes are doubling in size every day, and so are the watermelons. With all the rain we've been getting, everything is green and happy!

4-28-08
And the rain rain rain came down down down...
After a nice two solid days of rain, all our catchers are full again, and once again I'm wishing for about 10 more! They are on the list, which gats longer all the time.

Pea season is about done, it was short this year, but the peas tasted great. We're about mid-way through turnip season, so get your order in now if you want turnips in your bag. The girls are now producing enough eggs that most weekly bags have a half dozen.

The tomatoes are blooming, and we're looking forward to another bumper crop this year. Melons are going wild, and so are the green and purple beans. The cooler weather has slowed down the eggplants, but I think they will bounce back in the next couple of weeks.

There's still room on the bag list, send us your name and email address if you are interested. We're almost out of slots for May, so get in early!

4-2-08
The Return of the Bag!
Wow, this has been a busy past few weeks! While spring is definitely my favorite time of year, it's also the busiest. Even more new growing space has been cleared, and more seeds planted. For all of you who've been waiting patiently on the list, it's time for the return of the $10 Bag!

The $10 Bag is a grab bag, you get a selection of the available fresh organically grown veggies and herbs, all picked that day, and some other goodies too! We do ask that you bring your own recycle-able bag/box, so as not to contribute to the plastic bag issue. If you are vegan, please specify that when ordering, as sometimes the bags will contain eggs or other animal based products.

Ordering info will be updated on the order page soon, but if you can't wait that long, email us and we'll place you on the Bag List, and when a bag is ready, we'll email you to come pick it up.

3-24-2008
Happy Holiday!
Happy Oestara/Easter to all our CC readers! All the hens are laying now, and the garden's doing great. We've been able to eat something we've produced every day, and we are buying as much local as we can. It's hard, but gets easier every couple of months as more people demand fresh locally grown foods. It's one thing to buy an mp3 player from Japan, totally another to rely on long-distance shipping for your daily food.

New beds and plants are going in every day now. This past weekend saw the creation of a new raised bed, and squash, eggplant and tomato seedlings set out. Time to tackle the front yard, and see what we can do.

Check out the chicken and garden sections for new pictures! We've added fruit this year, a Mars seedless grape and a dwarf cherry tree.

3-17-08
And Even More Eggs!
We've been watching B'Etor nesting for the last couple of days, and finally she produced a nice sized greenish colored egg for us. When we went out a bit later to collect Winifred's daily deposit, there was yet another darker green egg! Lursa decided to keep up with her sister. Last is Leela, who still hasn't produced any eggs, but hopefully she will soon!

3-02-2008
And even more!
So far, Winnifred has laid three eggs. The second was Friday morning, and the third yesterday morning, we'll see if she has one today. No one else has started so far, I'm hoping Lursa and B'Etor will start before Oestara/Easter, so we'll have pre-colored eggs. (They are Americunas)

We've added two more rain catchers, but so far no rain really is in sight. We're out of rainwater, and will have to rely on city water until our next really good rain.

2-27-08
It's here!
Our first egg arrived today! We went out to feed the girls, and much to our surprise, there lay a perfect little egg! It's small, but that's to be expected. Pic on the chicken page.

2-25-08
And even more!
Greetings CC readers! We've been busy at the Farm for the last couple of weeks, adding more raised beds, planting seeds, and raising chickens. We're waiting (mostly patiently!) for eggs to start appearing, hopefully it'll be soon, as the main grocery store we shop at has stopped carrying free range/organic eggs. The peas are blooming, the greens and salad fixings are almost ready for sale. These will be in limited supply for a bit, so get yours early!

New pictures! We're posting new pics today, check out the chicken and garden sections!

2-15-08
More life changes
Well, I did it, I quit my job as a substitute teacher to work the Farm full time. Like any massive life change, there's stress and anxiety, but I do believe wholeheartedly that I've made the right decision. Many thanks to the wonderful cashier at the Whole Foods headquarters downtown! You have no idea how much I needed that positive response you gave when I told you that I quit my job today to run the Farm full time.

The guestbook is back online, now that we've figured out how to keep the spammers off it. So please sign the guestbook, ad let us know where you heard about us!

2-10-08
Questions and Life Changes
It's early spring here in Central Tx, and the Farm is already bursting out in every shade of green! Last night for a birthday dinner, we had a beautiful salad of many types of greens and a home-made honey mustard vinegarette. We've been eating daily from the gardens for awhile now, altho it's usually greens and herbs at this point. We're also checking the girls' nestboxes daily for signs of the first eggs. They're old enough, now we're just waiting for the days to get long enough to trigger egglaying.

1-22-08
Not yet, but soon!
Winter, as much as we ever get here in Central Texas, is in full swing at the moment. It's been cold and nasty, the chickens are unhappily peeking out from under their cover at the wet mess that is our current weather.

Despite the cold, the garden is already beginning to sprout. Peas are busily growing whenever there is enough sun, turnips are coming up, as are some of the buttercrunch lettuces. The new beds are getting set up, and the chickens are working on clearing the space that will be our vining crops later this year. Seedlings are spriuting in the covered areas of the yard, and hopefully next year we'll be able to afford a greenhouse. So far, 2008 has been a good year!

12-21-07
Holiday Time!
Happy holidays! Holiday time also means seed time, and we've started the next year's seed collecting. After the holidays we'll be starting seeds to transplant for next year's crops. The greens are still growing, and are quickly being consumed by us and the chickens.

Happy and safe holidays!

12-10-07
Winter, or what there is of it.
We're experiencing another blast of winter here in CenTex this week. I was out harvesting salad greens in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt Sunday afternoon, when a sudden breath of cold air hit me like someone had opened a freezer door. Another soon followed, and soon the wind had picked up and the teperature was dropping steadily.

Altho Xmas is around the corner, it's time to start ordering seeds for next year's gardens. We've added two more raised beds, and plan to put more herbs/produce in the front yard this coming season, as soon as we trim back the neighbor's overgrown tree.

Welcome Lamar MS teachers, we hope you are enjoying the webpage, please feel free to show it to your students, so they can see that farming and food production is not limited to the 'country'!

11-25-07
Turkey Day
Well, another Turkey Day weekend has come and gone! We had traditional fair this year, with enough leftovers to feed us through the entire weekend. br />
Our first really good cold front came through Wednesday, dropping temps and bringing a cold rain. The chickens were beginning to look like chickencicles, so we put the brooder lamp out in their pen, and kept them covered. They're not happy with the reduced visits, but at least they are warm and dry.

The gardens are still hanging on, at least the lettuce and greens are. Once the rain stops I'll be setting up some pots to bring in the house to start next years' seedinglings.

It's interesting that there's lots of us ppl like us who are trying to reduce comsumerism and return to a modern version of a healthier sustainable life. The Devraes in Southern California seem to be the only ones getting any recognition for it, but then, they've been doing it for decades. Still we're not doing it for that, but to have a better standard of living for ourselves and our children. Since we've decided when our housemate moved that we weren't getting another, I had to return to work to pay bills we racked up before we really started seriously trying to live a simpler lifestyle. I have already found myself falling back into the bad habits that got us here in the first place, work more, so we can spend more. And the homestead suffered for it. So I'll be working less and cutting back on expenses instead.

10-24-07
Cooler weather!
It's finally cooled off and we got some rain, just intime for the chicks to head outside to their new digs. So we're still bringing them in at night, since the temps are in the low 40's, and the girls don't quite seem to get the whole sleeping in the next box thing. We'll try to find out why this weekend.

Since the girls are big enough, and the housemate's moving, I'm picking up a sub job here and there to help with the bills. Our goal is to be debt free as soon as possible, so as to use our $$ for things we want, not interest payments. Heading out to my first one of the year today, wish me luck!

10-17-07
And even more chickens!
The chicks are growing in leaps and bounds. IT seems like every time I look away they've grow even more. They are not happy being in the tub, but they still have a week or so before they can go out into the coop, as we want to make sure they are fledged enough to withstand the cooler night time temps.

Work on the tractor has been suspended due to impending rain. We've got the frame done, and the nest boxes, but the outside of the box area is paneling, and since we're due rain, we want to wait till it dries out so the paneling doesn't ruin in the wet before we can get it painted. Pics to follow soon!

10-14-07
The Tractor
No, not a John Deere! A chicken tractor, a moveable coop that keeps the girls in fresh grass and bugs year round. When I first started checking out the whole chicken idea, the tractors (or arks, as they call them in Great Britain) looked to be a much better solution for the city chicken than the old stand-by coop area that's been picked clean down to the dirt. Not only does it seem to be healthier, but it should stave off the boredom that chickens tend to get when they have nothing to do all day and they start picking at each other. The tractor's frame is done, today we hope to finish the rest of it, pics will be up on the chicken page. So far it's not heavy, we'll see when the wire and 2x4s are in place.

The girls are growing bigger every time I look at them! They are fledging out, and beginning to show their adult coloration. When we took them outside, I noticed that Lursa has blue streaks over her eyes that look like eye shadow. I hope they stay like that, it'll be easy to tell her from B'Etor then.

10-11-07
Chickens First Outing
We took the chicks out yesterday for their first outing. After we put them in a small chicken wire pen, they all huddled together and just looked at all the open space, then Winnefred took a tenative scratch at the ground, and they were off! Once she got the dirt exposed, she lowered herself into it for her first-ever dust bath. It probably would have gone better if the other three hadn't raced over to scratch and dig for bugs. They had a great time out, and we will be taking them out daily for a bit until they've aclimatized to the outdoors and can be moved into their tractor.

10-09-07
Out with the old!
After a year and a half, our housemate is moving to CA for health reasons. We're sad to see her go, and hope she does well in her new life.

10-07-07
Chickens!
The chicks are doing well, and quickly turning into chicken teenagers. They have tail and wing feathers and are making short flights around the tub. It's gonna be a squeeze once they are ready to go out. We're designing the tractor today and will probably be building it over the next week or so.
The fall plantings are really taking off with the warm days and cool nights. The salad mixes are really growing well, the snow peas are sprouting as well. Check the order page for more info.

10-03-2007
The Fall Garden
Things are going well, if slowly in the garden. We�re up to 4 raised beds, one made from our housemate�s discarded metal bookshelves. Three of the beds are planted in lettuce and greens, one eggplant, one basil plant and one chocolate bell pepper we got at a nursery here on their closeout table. The Italian peppers are still producing a few here and there, and the eggplants have blooms, hopefully they�ll have some fruits before it gets too cold for them. The local weather people are predicting a warm dry winter. We�ll see, this has been an unusual year for weather, wouldn�t be surprised if it continues.

Fall cleanup has commenced as well, we pulled all the tomato plants, and are getting the areas ready for chickens. I�ve put off getting them due to a very sick cat that I�ve had to nurse a lot, but she�s doing better (although not out of the woods by any stretch) and I feel like I can take the time now to deal with chicks. It�s a bit daunting, never having raised any, but hopefully good common sense will prevail!

Our lime tree has produced a handful of tiny limes it�s fist year. We�re going to harvest them today. Buying citrus trees from the sale table at the local Lowe�s is always a crap shoot, they never have them marked correctly. Usually the tag just says �citrus�. We�ve been lucky to get a lemon and a lime, would like an orange maybe next year. I�d love to have some peach tress, we had them growing up, and there�s nothing like fresh peaches! None of our lemons survived this year, we moved the tree inside due to a hailstorm, and all the tiny lemons fell off, probably because of temperature change. In the several years I�ve had the tree I�ve only gotten about 5 lemons.

The 100 Mile Diet This whole 100 Mile Diet thing has me intrigued. 150 years ago, mostly everything we ate came from 100 miles or less. Certainly 250 years ago it did. While certain things, like spices, chocolate, coffee and tea has been trade items shipped around the world for thousands of years, most of people�s staples were either what they grew or foraged locally. I posted the 100 Mile Diet on the Snapple Sun Room (a running focus group that I belong to) a couple of weeks ago, and the responses were rather interesting. One woman (it�s all women, btw) stated �Cute idea but not possible.� I�ve asked her to clarify, but she hasn�t responded yet. I was rather offended by her terse comment. Not possible for her? Or does she live somewhere like on a platform in the ocean that she can�t get locally grown foods? (Even in the movie Waterworld they had things growing in pots!) Or is it that she�s so butt ignorant that she doesn�t know where her food actually comes from, or is it that she refuses? No idea. Several of the women are already trying it, or at least limiting the non-local items. Simply eating seasonally is helpful. I remember when I was a child my grandmother eagerly waiting for the first new peas and cauliflower to hit the store so she could make her �spring dish�, a whole steamed head of cauliflower with a cream sauce full of tiny spring peas poured over the top. This was a standard Easter Sunday dish for my family. I still make it every year, although next spring I hope to be making it with locally grown cauliflower and my own peas. I�m reading labels these days more, and yes, finding things that are produced closer to home is a hassle, but will be worth it in the long run. The average food travels 1500 miles to your store. We�re lucky in Texas that we have so much agriculture that we can actually eat well locally, but everyone has the ability to change their diet and lifestyle to some degree.

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