Janecka in the Garden: Mulberry, Maple and Ethiopian Mustard

A few weeks ago, retired Fayette County Judge Ed Janecka invited me to visit his garden in Dubina. I finally got around to making the visit on Monday.

I had never been to Janecka’s place before, but I knew he lived somewhere off the backroad between Weimar and Dubina. I know that road well from my younger days. Growing up in Schulenburg, I took it a few times when I needed to get the heck out of Weimar without anyone seeing me. Little did I know back then that my escape route ran in front of the County Judge’s house.

It was a much lovelier drive on Monday than I recall from back then.

As I arrived, I met the judge in his driveway. The first things he showed me were all the trees he planted on the property over the years.

“When we first moved out here, there wasn’t a tree anywhere around here,” he said.

Janecka said he began planting various species of oak trees on the property almost 40 years ago – burr oaks, red oaks, willow leaf oaks. He showed me a majestic mulberry tree he planted several decades ago.

“In my younger days, I used to pick buckets of mulberries,” he said. “I can’t even tell you how many gallons of wine I made. Nowadays, I rather go to the store and buy a bottle of merlot.”

He even has a sugar maple tree growing next to his chicken coop. But it didn’t look real healthy. It only had one branch with a couple of leaves.

“I didn’t think sugar maples grow in Texas,” I said.

“Aren’t you looking at this tree? They don’t,” he said.

Finally we strolled to his garden. It sits behind an old farmhouse that Janecka converted into an office for his wife Margie’s tax business. Janecka said he grew up in that house and had it moved to the property some years ago.

“I’ve mostly converted to raised beds,” Janecka said

He still grows a few crops in the ground, including a nice row of broccoli. But most of his veggies grow in narrow beds that are slightly raised, maybe six inches. I’m really jealous of his irrigation set up. Each bed is set up with independent irrigation lines. I still have to hand-water my garden.

The highlight for me was a cole crop Janecka is growing called “Ethiopian mustard.” The scientific name is Brassica carinata. You might find the seeds advertised as “Ethiopian kale,” but it is actually a variety of mustard. It has a lovely warm taste raw, not as pungent as some varieties of mustard. It could easily be incorporated into a mixed salad. Janecka said it’s his favorite mustard to cook.

Janecka bought his seeds from Territorial Seed Company. You can order from them online at territorialseed.com. He gave me a few plants he grew in his greenhouse but didn’t have space for in the garden. I planted them in my garden that evening, along with a few other things he gave me – some spinach, Swiss chard leeks and some variety of Italian kale.

His cabbage patch also included a variety of Asian green called “mizuna.” You will sometimes find this frizzy-leafed spicy green in salad mixes. It’s such a pretty plant. I’m going to have to grow some in the spring. (To be continued next week)

(To be continued next week)