Jerry Black
Plant some grass seed!
The one thing that I am going to do this week is find all of those bare spots in my yard and try to get something growing there before it turns cold. We finally got the change of seasons – no more one-hundred-degree days this year!
If you can spread some loose dirt over those bare spots and lay down some grass seed you might have enough good weather to get some grass started!
Use a mist or rain setting on your hose and water just enough to get the dirt and seed to mix. Too much water and you’ll wash the seed away! You can add some straw to hold the moisture if you want.
Make sure you water those areas once or even twice a day but not too much – and in about seven to 10 days, you should have some sprouts showing. Don’t miss a day until it fills in – probably three to four weeks. By then, the days should be getting much cooler. Hopefully the cold will ease in and not harm the new grass.
Did you go to the Webb City Farmer’s Market this week? If you did, you could have taken a bunch of notes. It’s already October – where did the summer go? The tomatoes are almost all gone. There is no corn.
This is the first week I saw sweet potatoes, and there were lots of them. I saw lots of peppers of all types. Cucumbers too. Some watermelons were available but no cantaloupes. I saw some small pumpkins!
What was your favorite produce this year? What did you like well enough to try in your own garden for next year? Now is a great time to take notes and write them down. Over the winter, you can refer to the list while going over all of those seed catalogs that are going to be arriving in December!
This week’s recipe:
Since the seasons are changing, I thought I’d give you my favorite chili recipe. This should warm you up nicely! It makes a thick and very spicy bowl for two!
My Favorite Chili
I modified this to my liking from the 2005 and 2009 National Champion Red Chili Cookoff
Step 1
In a 6-quart or larger stock pot
(If you want some onion, add a roughly chopped onion to the ground beef at this stage)
Once the meat is browned, add:
Step 2
Add:
Step 3
Add:
(If you want beans, you can add a 16-oz can of red beans with its liquid to the pot here)
Stir, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes
Serve this with some finely chopped onions and shredded cheese!
A career move brought Jerry Black to Webb City in 2002. After being an engineer and in corporate sales, he and his wife, Mary, enjoy their big yard, with plenty of space for Jerry’s garden and a dovecot, where he raises racing and show pigeons. He volunteered to write a gardening column for the Sentinel as part of his training for certification as a Master Gardener.
You can. send him an email at awebbcitygardener@gmail.com.
