Madrid Botanical Garden

Right in the middle of the city there is a great garden.  It was a little early for everything to be at its best, but a good garden looks good year round.  Here are just a few of the interesting things I saw.

Ah, Spring in Texas (not a gardener's dream)

They say if you don't like the weather in Texas, wait a minute, it will change.  I have been back two days now and have gone from 70 degree weather, to a downpour, and now, snow.  This is what it looked like yesterday evening as the snow began to fall.  We now have about two inches outside and it is supposed to continue snowing throughout the day.

Paella

I brought saffron back from Spain and couldn't wait to make my own paella, so here it is.  It has chorizo, of course, along with bell pepper, onion, garlic, etc.  The second picture is what it looks like about half way through the cooking process.  The last picture is just after the liquid was added.  The color is great.  It comes from the saffron and paprika in the sausage.

Spring in Texas

Home from Spain and the Oaks are starting to come out, the Bartlet Pear is in full bloom, and. . . it's supposed to snow tonight and tomorrow.  Really?  Where do I live again?

Food of Madrid

 Just a good shot of what they get to buy every day.  I'm jealous.

Food of Madrid

Notice my wife's face in this one compared to the one in front of the ham.  Boy, I can't guess which one she likes more.  I'll take the ham, thanks.

Food of Madrid

Mercado San Miguel fresh meat stall, bird section (heads on for freshness please).

Food of Madrid

Mercado San Miguel fresh meat stall.

Food of Madrid

Mercado San Miguel ham stall.  Very good stuff.

Now that winter is basically over, we are back to two to three eggs a day.  Love it.  These are dinner.

Good timing on the garden.  We've had a light rain almost all morning.  The chickens don't seems to mind either.

Good Article

http://blog.gaiam.com/blog/put-mother-nature-to-work-feeding-your-family/

Fence is up, chickens out (with wings newly clipped).

Items planted so far this year:
--  Six early, red skinned potato varieties including Purple Viking, Red Northland, Red Pontiac and All Red
--  French Marigold (west border of garden for pest control and bee attraction; all the plants are open pollinated after all)
--  Blue Coco pole beans
--  Amish snap peas
--  Chantenay Red Core carrots
--  Striped Roman tomato
--  Bloomsdale spinach
--  Listada de Granda eggplant
--  Crosby Egyptian beets

New Garden Pics

After turning the garden spot twice and taking out approximately 1000 lbs of clay, this is the result. The soil is in much better condition than last year. There were dozens of grubs last year and only a few earth worms. This year it is the opposite. The chickens had a field day on all the worms and I only found 3 grubs. After the chickens had their fill, I planted six different kinds of potatoes, sugar snap peas, purple pole beans, tomatoes, beets and carrots. After the potatoes are harvested, I will plant the rest of the garden.