Ben Smithson

Garden Update – May 4, 2012

ben smithson — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:13:50 +0000

Everything is growing good. There are several small cucumbers starting to grow, along with a whole bunch of little baby burpless hybrid cucs too. The hops plants have some sort of snail who has been visiting and munching on the leaves. Dang, if I can only catch that snail…

I’m still waiting for one of the three pepper plants to produce something. I’m definitely a “hack” at the pepper-growing effort, but they seem to be on the right track. All three of the plants have blooms that are about to produce (me thinks).

A mostly-straight-on shot, May 4, 2012

A wonky side shot. I should have straightened the camera (phone). Whatever.

Cascade and Chinook hops. Evil snail be gone!

Dallas Dog Days by Neil Swanson

ben smithson — Wed, 02 May 2012 19:56:33 +0000

I’m excited to announce a new project. I helped Neil out with a video for his upcoming instrumental album that he’s in the middle of. This is my second project with him and I’m consistently blow away at how talented he is. And he’s super easy to work with! Congrats to Neil and his accomplishments.

Cucumber and Cherokee Purple Heirlooms

ben smithson — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:22:10 +0000

While pruning, weeding, and general yard work over the weekend, I snapped a couple of pics of garden progress. The cherokee purple heirlooms from NHG are growing great. I think it’s almost time to put up some bird netting before these get “birded.” The largest tomato has a punched hole it it – presumably from a bird – and I’m weary that the next round of birding will start soon. I lost a bunch of tomatoes to the stupid sky rats last year… so I’m ready with the bird netting!

The cucumbers are growing good too. One of the smaller, janky plants (behind the plants in these shots) is gangly and might not make it too long, but it is producing 2 baby cucumbers already. I am surprised at how spiky they are when they first start growing. I assume that this is a defense mechanism so that they aren’t eaten before they are ready.

This planter is a little bit tight, but I think we'll get plenty of cucumbers soon.

A close-up shot of one of many cucumber flowers

Cherokee purple heirloom tomato plant is kicking ass

Succulents – April 2012

ben smithson — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:58:06 +0000

I think it was about a month ago when I picked up some new succulent plants from Northhaven Gardens (which is my favorite nursery in Dallas, btw) to fill in the gaps around the plants that lost their fight from last summer’s drought. This time around, I wanted to see what sorts of succulents would balance out the sturdier and thicker desert rose succulent and chicks-n-hens. NHG had a ton of different types of sedum for sale. And it has filled the space in nicely.

Peticolas Brewing Tour

ben smithson — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:53:57 +0000

Early last week my friend Colin nudged me on FaceBook (thank you Colin!) to reserve my spot for this past Saturday’s private tour at Peticolas Brewing in Dallas. You can check our their FaceBook page for updates on the next available tour. I’m not sure how often he’ll do this sort of thing, but I highly recommend it! We ended up with a group of 5 people hanging out at Peticolas and it was a great time. Michael Peticolas (the owner of said brewing company) led a couple of quick talks of what brewing is all about. He walked us from malt to kegging; he stated that his brewing operation was deliberately planned and intentionally designed in a way to move product through a loop. In this “loop” approach (which most streamlined factory operations use) he is able to move the product as easily (and cleanly) as possible through its stages.

My recommendation for you is to grab some spots on the next tour, enjoy some killer brew, and then go camp out at the Meddlesome Moth afterwards for a late lunch.

Branded Kegs @ Peticolas Brewing

Michael Peticolas talking about the initial grinding process

Michael shows the process where he gets the malt to the tun

Tanks and hoses. So fresh and so clean, clean.

Great brew at a great brewery

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Hops In the Ground

ben smithson — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 15:10:07 +0000

Some time during the middle of the winter, I found out about hops rhizomes available from Homebrew Headquarters. (They have the most bitchin’ web site ever.) I placed my order, gave them money, and waited. And waited. And waited. It’s not their fault though. Washington state (or wherever these babies came from) had some serious snow and other weather that postponed the delivery of the hops rhizomes. The shipment finally arrived last Saturday. I dropped my house work and pizza party prepping and headed up to Homebrew Headquarters to pick up the rhizomes. I read a book on growing hops so I sort of knew what to expect. And they were just that.

The rhizomes have been in the ground for 1 week, and I already see one of them sprouting up out of the ground. I have 2 raised bed boxes (2 feet by 2 feet) along the side yard. 2 cascade rhizomes in the box on the left, and 2 chinook rhizomes in the box on the right. I read that it takes a couple of years to get a usable yield of hops cones. We are in for a hot summer in Texas this year. I’m curious to see how this first year will go.

The bag of rhizomes from Homebrew Headquarters

Hops Rhizomes, unwrapped and ready for planting

A closeup of two of the rhizomes.

Trying to Get Ahead

ben smithson — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 18:51:10 +0000

It’s bulk trash week on our block, and I’m not sure if the city skipped us last time, or if every single household on our street took it upon themselves to keep “spring cleaning” in the common man’s vernacular. There are trash bags all over the place; it’s a feast for loose pets and strays. Yes, I am pissed about it.

While walking off my Monday run, I picked up a bunch of loose trash that had blown in to the street. Among the paper boxes, fast food wrappers, and soap bottles, was one cool find. I found this awesome retro “Come to Jesus” pamphlet geared toward the African American community – I assume? If I had to guess, it came from 3 houses down from us. We don’t know for sure who lived there, but we do know that the caretakers of the house (mystery people!) had a garage sale this past weekend. It’s as if the owner died and their kids came to have a massive garage / estate sale. This property has 10 regular garbage bags sitting on the curb. It’s ugly. BUT I found this awesome pamphlet. Notice the fonts, the hair styles, the layout. I want to get ahead – house poor is a lame place to be! (Actually, I’m super happy and things are awesome with my life right now. But whatever.)

Garden is Good

ben smithson — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 15:16:44 +0000

I didn’t plant any more things over the weekend, but I’m happy to report that I have some volunteer tomato and basil plants that have just sprouted along side this year’s new tomato crop. Compared to last year, we should have lots and lots more edibles. We still have our old rosemary plants (not pictured), and an empty planter yet to be planted. We’re holding out for something interesting or weird. And I’m still waiting on the shipment of hops rhizomes from Homebrew Headquarters. I am curious to see how the first year of growing will be for the hops plants. I hear that it can take a few years in order to get the hops to produce a useful yield. We will see!

MINT BATTLE – episode 1

ben smithson — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:28:33 +0000

In this gripping account of the journey of four incredible competitors, one mint plant will rise to fulfill its ultimate destiny. Choose your favorite mint and root for it throughout this 2012 growing season.

The Dallas SMOKE!

ben smithson — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 13:30:33 +0000

Tonight. Get Ready. The Dallas SMOKE!