After another Texas hard freeze, none of my citrus trees in the ground survived last winter. This spring, I looked for a Eureka lemon tree to plant in a pot and was surprised that the nurseries near me did not have it. Home Depot and Lowes in Houston only stocked Improved Meyer lemon variety. Due to citrus greening disease, I could not buy it from an out of state nursery either.   About Eureka Lemon Tree I wanted a Eureka lemon tree for its classic sour taste. It produces multiple crops a year and its fruits hang on the tree for a long time. You can have lemons almost year-round from just one tree. Since it was hard to find, can you grow Eureka lemon trees from seeds? In general, lemon trees do not grow true to seeds. Besides, trees grown from seeds would take longer to fruit. Lemon trees are self-fertile. You only need to plant one tree to produce fruits.   How I Planted a Lemon Tree In the spring, I planted a six-inch grafted Eureka lemon tree, bought from a Texa...

Craving tender roasted duck with thin crispy skin, we drove to Bellaire Boulevard, on Friday afternoon right after work, to avoid the crowd and long wait. The authentic dish comes with tortilla-like pancakes, but my family and I prefer having it with bao buns. Hai Cang Harbor is a Chinese restaurant that does Peking duck well.  Peking duck with bao buns at Hai Cang Harbor restaurant We ordered a whole duck that came with ten fluffy steamed bao buns. Except the drumsticks, they have deboned, cut and separated the skin from the duck meat. I put it together like a taco… a layer of duck meat and skin, julienne scallions and a spoonful of sweet hoisin-based sauce. A bite into the stuffed bun gave a combination of different flavors and textures. It was sweet and savory, soft and crispy at the same time. I like that the meat was tender and juicy. The skin was crispy like potato chip. There are restaurants that serve this dish with a thick layer of fat underneath the duck skin. So, it is ...

I have always wanted to grow sweet cherry trees in my backyard orchard, but hesitated because they normally require at least 800 chill hours. In Houston, we have an average of 450 chill hours per year. The last time I was at my local Home Depot, they only stocked Barbados cherry shrubs, labeled as sweet cherry. Against local recommendation, I decided to plant three bare-root cherry trees this year.   Three Varieties That I Planted From a mail order nursery, I bought two low chill varieties, Compact Stella and Royal Rainier. The third was a relatively new variety, Vandalay. Many nurseries listed Compact Stella as a similar and smaller version of Stella. Actually, Compact Stella requires 500 to 800 chill hours while Stella requires only 400. If I could go back, Stella would be a better choice for my area.   So Far, So Good After two months in the ground, the cherry trees are doing better than I expected. They are thriving. The Vandalay grew the most, but it initially...

If the world’s apocalypse comes tomorrow, I plan to survive on avocado toasts. Avocados are deliciously nutritious and high in calories; however, it is one of the hardest fruit trees to grow in Houston, Texas. I have had a grafted Fantastic avocado tree died from root rot after less than a year in the ground. Avocado tap roots do not like our black clay soil. During hurricane season here, prolonged flooding can cause root rot and lead to death of avocado trees. Here Is My New Backyard Avocado Project This time around, I buried a few seeds from store bought Hass avocados in a three-inch raised bed, next to an oak tree. In the early spring, I first noticed the new seedlings at different heights. I did not baby or water these. The only thing I did was imitating a forest environment with dried leaves mulch. Hopefully, a couple seedlings will survive by next spring, so I can graft a Mexicola and a Poncho variety onto them.   Avocado seedlings around garden raised bed