Unbelievable fat white flurries descended from the sky making everything frosty white and giving us a sense of being up North experiencing a real winter wonderland! Snow blanketed the gardens at the ranch and caused even the Cardinals to see cover amongst the branches and thorns of some of our antique rose bushes. The Geese (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘gardens’
The Big Freeze of 2010 at Brenham, Texas B&B Ranch
Friday, February 12th, 2010
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- Frozen Pond
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- Frozen Pond with Slush
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- The Big Thaw
The ponds froze up this year during the big freeze of January 2010! We haven’t seen this in years. The gardens took the brute force of the below freezing temperatures that lasted for several days, looking worse for wear (even though we covered and clamped down and lit up with lights to help keep them warm!). Those that have not survived the big chill will be replaced with a new and different specimen. This is our opportunity to venture out with something new and experiment. The freeze is a definite bonus for us with bugs in that it depletes the numbers and knocks them back to a more manageable level for us. When the ranch goes years without a major freeze, it allows the bugs to multiply and winter over creating more work for us with each succeeding year!….especially for those of us who are mostly organic gardeners! Looking forward to Spring, the wildflowers at the B&B and excited to see what comes back in our gardens!
Gardening, Local Food, Cooking Classes at Murski Homestead
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
Our cooking classes feature local produce, meats and wine when available and we seek to encourage cooks to use local foods from their farmers markets and co-ops. Promote sustainability and living fresh from the farm by purchasing from local growers. You will enhance your health as well as your palate! To that end there is an event coming up for anyone who is interested in gardening, growing your own food, experiencing a local growers world or just learning something new. It is the Market Growers Symposium March 2010! To learn more about it check out the link! Come stay with Murski Homestead B&B that same weekend and double your pleasure! Book now for March fills up quickly!
"Foodie" Weekends at Brenham Texas B&B Ranch
Friday, January 22nd, 2010
We are all about good food at the Murski Homestead B&B Ranch! Whether with a group of good friends or making new friends, nothing says TEXAS better than a great meal and relaxation around the table and in the kitchen……Our 2010 schedule for our fantastic “Foodie” Weekends is now posted. Guests determine the depth of their involvement, with options ranging from a visit to an area farmer’s market, garden/herb harvest to cooking with me. Regardless of how much you get involved, these weekends are all about kicking back with some great food & drinks! Click Here for our scheduled dates and booking your stay for a fun and delicious foodie vacation!
"Taking Tea" at the Ranch, a Texas Bed and Breakfast Experience!
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
Tea is the international symbol for friendship. Tea is all about connections, as are our cooking classes at the ranch. So, my friends, let’s connect, have a nice cup of tea and whip up some great food & fun. Harvest herbs from our gardens to make your own cup of tea! Enjoy one of our favorite “Chai Tea” recipes below and also some interesting Tea Trivia…. (more…)
Easy and Fabulous! Carrot recipe from Cooking Classes at the Ranch
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009
Carrots are great this time of year for holidays dinners, parties and snacking. This recipe from another cooking class at the ranch is easy and delicious! The Balsamic vinegar when reduced creates an intense rich earthy flavor that can’t be beat. A Balsamic reduction is also wonderful on fresh fruits, lending (more…)
New Gardens Complete!
Friday, November 6th, 2009
Our new garden additions with the water features are finally finished! The process was so very interesting. I was intrigued watching the different techniques for hardscaping and installing water features.
The first feature is a tumbling waterfall surrounded by rock and perennial plants including a Pineapple Guava Standard. It arrived too tall so after it settles in I will trim it down to size and retrain it next year into a shorter tree form. We were able to convert our antique water trough (originally used to water the livestock by our ancestors who established our homestead) into a unique tumbling waterfall. I have learned two new tricks already after brown algae began to grow in the trough: add a bag of barley grass and some goldfish! Both are organic, natural ways of taking care of the algae and adding interest to the trough. We started with 12 fish and are down to 2…..one of the perils of being a fish in the country with all the wild “critters”. The remaining 2 are wily creatures who thus far have survived.
The second water feature includes Japanese Rain Chains. They are made of copper and will develop a lovely patina as they age. The water flowing from cup to cup makes the most delicious ”babbling brook” sound…..so very soothing and relaxing. Makes me want to lie down with a good book right there! The rain chains are in on the backdrop of our wedding gazebo with backlit stained glass on either side and gardens expanding from both the left and right. We expanded the gardens to include more perennials and some edibles (Pindo Palm, Cardammon, an Olive Tree, Daylillies, Roses to name a few of the edibles).
Gardening has always been one of my passions but learning to hardscape with water is a whole new arena and one I am enjoying! Come enjoy the new gardens with the birds, wildlife and other guests!
Herbs & Vegies for the Fall
Thursday, October 29th, 2009
Oh what an incredible and glorious fall it has been so far! Not only have the rains replenished our tanks, cattle and land but also perked all the gardens up and the fall blooms are abundant. The ‘Country Girl’ mums, the Mexican cosmos with their radiant orange flowers, the smellicious almond verbenas, the multi-colored zinnias and the ‘Ponderosa’ lemon weighing heavily with its abundant and heavy fruits are but a few enjoying the bounty of the rains. Butterflies still abound in the garden – especially on the various mistflowers, butterfly weeds, the zinnias, and the chaya. Caterpillars are busy munching away on the fennel and other plants in a hurry to metamorphose before the first frosts.
Speaking of Fall, now is the time to plant herbs and flowers. Culinary herbs such as dill (herb of 2010), fennel, parsley, caraway, coriander/cilantro, celery, chervil, and lovage. There are also many ornamentals such as bishop’s weed, Queen Anne’s lace, and laceflower. Vegetables such as carrots, beets, turnips, and parsnips obviously belong here too. I also sprinkle in seeds of tri color swiss chard for their beautiful and edible foliage, sugar snap peas and baby lettuces for a quick harvest.There are also medicinal plants such as angelica – of which the Chinese variety (Angelica polymorpha var. sinensis) does best here (zone 9) - in part shade. It is biennial and can reach 8 to 10 feet when blooming! Angelica, by the way, is a historically important plant that was used to treat a variety of ailments and gives its characteristic flavor to the liqueur Benedictine. One member of this family which you should truly avoid growing is poison hemlock. It can be mistaken for parsley and is quite lethal – just ask Socrates if you don’t believe me. As a important and fun experience, most of these plants are great larval host plants for many butterfly species!Get on your gloves, get out your spade and get digging! The reward is far greater than the work involved….
Pomegranites
Monday, October 26th, 2009
First pomegranite of the season from my friends trees was harvested recently at her farm near Burton, Texas. Mary Jane, a great friend in my culinary unit, is also a wonderful artist and weaver. She and her husband built their home by hand and it is a intense mixture of color, whimsy, art and function. Her gardens are eclectic in form and by their very nature an extension of her artistic bent. While at her home recently for a meal, I snapped this photo of her in her kitchen with her pomegranite in hand! (TIP: While in Brenham, be sure to sign up for one of her weaving classes at Fibers!)
Not only great decorative tools, pomegranites are also edible and full of vitamins—–seed are used in salads, as garnishes, eaten out of hand fresh and juiced for their antioxidant properties being used in drinks from cocktails to punch!
National Herb Day
Saturday, October 24th, 2009
October 10th was National Herb Day and the Pioneer Unit of the Herb Society of America put on herb day demonstrations & lectures at the Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham, Texas. Talks on herbs, tastings of herbed products and demonstrations on using herbs were given. This free event, held every year in October, is a great way to learn hands on and experience the beauty of herbs in the setting of an incredible nursery. The members who put on this day are noted gardeners, horticulturalists and herbies, passionate about herbs and willing to share their wealth of knowledge to anyone willing to listen and learn. Be sure to put it on your calendar for next year as it is a day not be missed!
