Too Little, Too Late, Too Much, Too Soon

Gardening in Central Texas forces you to be a whiner.

There is no such thing as “normal” here (except that nothing is normal.)  As a gardener you are always caught off guard and have to constantly improvise against the shenanigans of the weather.  Last week I gave a presentation to a gardening group about growing veggies, and every time they asked a question “should I do this, or should I do that?” my answer was “Yes.”

It's January 22 and my roses are blooming!

Garden calendars?  What a laugh. Wait until February to prune my roses?  They are blooming NOW.  Spray dormant oil on fruit trees in January?  My apples STILL haven’t lost their leaves.  And my kumquat is still setting fruit!  And what if this mild weather means that we are going to have a huge cold front in February?  Am I going to lose my citrus crop AGAIN?

I’ve always been one to go by the book, follow the recipe, read the owners manual, do as your told. While these are admirable attributes and made my Mom happy, they make me miserable out there in the yard.  I have had to learn to adapt.

Yes, it is winter.  And yes, I need to spray, prune, propagate, weed, plant and plan, even though the weather outside is behaving like spring.  So instead of just going by the book, I ask what it is that we are trying to accomplish out there, and then go ahead with what is best.

So what should you be doing in the garden?  Dormant oil sprays are best done with the tree is, well, dormant.  Why do we spray them?  To smother insects and their eggs hiding in the bark of our fruit trees.  These critters are going to hatch and plague us when the weather warms up for good.  The key is to spray before the tree puts out new leaves.  My apples haven’t dropped their leaves.  I sprayed anyway.  It is okay if the current leaves are smothered and fall off, because my goal is to avoid spraying new buds.  Task in January:  spray dormant oil.  Check.

Um, aren't apples supposed to lose leaves in fall?

February is pruning month, but my roses are blooming!  The buds on my fruit trees are starting to swell!  AARGH.  Should I wait?  Why do we prune in winter any way?  Pruning naturally stimulates growth in plants.  We like to prune when things are dormant (in winter), because the plant will wait to put out new growth when the temperatures warm up.  If the silly thing is already actively growing, the dormancy thing no longer applies.  The plants I have targeted for pruning need it for shaping and to stimulate flower and fruit production.  Task in January:  prune the roses.  Check.  Wait for bud break on the fruit trees.  Check.

Whew.  I feel better all ready.   Now, back to whining.  When is it going to rain?  When is it going to freeze?  When is it going to stop being so hot?  Whine, whine, whine.

Rake in the Free Mulch

Around this time of year a wonderful boon occurs.  I am awash in free mulch.  It’s beautiful, it breaks down into great compost, it contributes to good neighbor relations, and it gets me out of the house and into the sunshine for some great cool-weather exercise.  All I have to do is go out and rake it in.

My street is lined with Arizona Ash trees; the go-to tree of nearly every subdivision developed in the 1980’s.  And while they aren’t exactly the best choice for Central Texas, they make perfect mulch because the leaves are small, thin and break down easily.  They are also relatively tannin-free, unlike many oaks, and can be used in the landscape immediately without having to spend time rotting in a compost pile.

I stockpile leaves in several ways.  If they are already bagged, I just haul them to the backyard and line them up against the fence.  I use these throughout the year as needed to add bulk to the compost or as a quick cover-up for weed suppression.  Be sure to ask permission before you haul off someone’s leaves.  In Austin it is illegal to take other people’s “garbage” that has been set out on the street.  Asking permission has proved to be a great way to meet the neighbors.  Another bonus is that once they learn what I am doing, I have inspired others to utilize their leaf mulch in their own garden.

Leaves stockpiled next to berms.

The other way I store leaves is to “mulch in place”.  I have water run-off retention ditches that I dug around the perimeter of my yard.  I just fill these with leaves and let them soak up rainwater.  They will be broken down enough by spring for me to simply rake up onto my berms for summer mulching against the heat.

I also add leaves directly into the compost bin.  I bring home coffee grounds from work a few times a week and this nitrogen source makes quick work of anything I am composting.  I turn the piles about once a week to make sure they are properly aerated and add water if needed to keep the moisture level up.

Dig down below the root zone

The last way I store the leaves is by trenching in my vegetable gardens raised beds.  I have several beds that we made from discarded fence boards (another thing I scrounge from the neighbors.) Most vegetable plants have roots only in the top six inches of soil, so I excavate the soil and make sure to dig down past the root zone.

Then I layer about four inches of leaves in the bottom, then mix and cover back up with soil. 

Mix the soil and leaves

Cover with more soil.  It will settle quite a bit.

 Since the leaves are lower than the root zone, they can decompose slowly without harm to the bedding plants.  Plant decomposition is accomplished by soil microbes who consume nitrogen to reproduce, so sometimes adding “raw” material actually robs your plants.  Burying the leaves deep enough solves the problem plus  I have found that this method encourages earth worms to take up residence and deposit their castings.

So yes, if you drive down my street you will see my husband and I cheerfully raking leaves and hauling them to the back yard.  And ignore that woman laughing and jumping in the leaf piles.  She’s just mulching.

Fall Vegetable Gardening - What Drought?

I'll admit that I have trouble with authority.  When ever I am told that something can't be done, especially by experts, I straighten up and say "Yeah?  Watch me."

Today's nose thumbing is courtesy of the current drought situation we have here in Central Texas.  It has only rained in my yard 5" since the 1st of January.  Not only are we having a drought, but I seem to be in some sort of rain shadow.  My friends north and south of me have all reported soakers.  I've gotten nothing but a few promising thunder claps.  I check my GPS occasionally just to make sure I haven't accidently moved to Namibia.

My vegetable garden has been struggling all summer.  Water restrictions and almost 90 days of 100 degree heat has really taken a toll.  Plants have weakened and then been overrun by scale and spider mites.  One by one eggplant, okra, tomatoes, squash, peppers and several ornamental plants have been pulled up and added to the compost bin.

But I have hope.  The day and nighttime temperatures have started to drop.  While I didn't get any, showers are in the weekend forecast and they are saying we might see rain next week.  I grab my seeds and head outside.

I have four raised beds along my backyard fence that gets afternoon dappled shade from the neighbors trees.  I decided that this area has the best chance for some seed germination during this run of cool weather.

I seeded them with a pea cover crop in July after I had harvested the spring vegetables that grew there.  Unfortunately with water restrictions I cut back on the irrigation to these beds so the peas never really thrived.  I went ahead and shut off their water supply last month and just let them die and defoliate.

To get these beds prepped, the first thing I did was give them a good soaking yesterday.  They were bone dry and not hospitable to seedlings.  The weeds weren't even growing there.  I ran the hose and then turned the soil over several times to make sure I was giving it a thorough wetting.

Today was planting day.  The first thing I did was check the the soil moisture.  I grabbed a handful and squeezed it. It felt moist and slowly fell apart in my hand.  I then raked it out and removed the remaining debris from the peas.

Next I incorporated some cottonseed meal into the top of the bed with my cultivating hoe.  I like using organic fertilizers and have had good luck with cottonseed meal.  I also had some earthworm castings and a partial bag of volcanic minerals.  I mixed this with the cottonseed meal in a bucket.  I have found that if I add this to the seed bed at planting, the meal breaks down just in time for my new seedlings to start taking up nutrients in earnest. Using this method I rarely have to add anything other than compost during the growing season.

Once the soil is prepared I broadcast the seed across the entire bed.  I like to fill the space with plants versus planting in rows.  I have found that the leaves of the vegetables provide shade and help retain moisture.  I top with the appropriate amount of soil for the seed, and water it in.  Today I planted garlic, kohlrabi and carrots.  Next weekend I will plant greens if it looks like the cooler weather is going to stay.

I set my soaker hose and put fencing over the bed to keep out the neighbors cat.  He is very cute and I appreciate his mouse patrol of my compost bin, but he will have to find somewhere else to contribute.

Later I will use these pieces of fence for climbing vegetables like peas, beans, and cucumbers.  Sometimes I also use them as tomato cages.  I have bamboo stakes and long pieces of pipe that I weave in for support.

I will have to hand water these beds every day until the seeds germinate.  Once the seedlings put out true leaves I can back off a bit depending on the temperature.  The trees should start losing their leaves about the same time that the plants are fully established - thus providing full sun for the remainder of the season. I will put up my hoops and drape plastic to protect against the first few freezes in November.

I have green beans and swiss chard already growing and some cucumbers I managed to keep alive under my peach tree.  This should all provide us with some good meals until the hard freeze in February.  I am planning to plant crimson clover on the rest of the beds as a winter cover crop and just hope for the best.  The weather outlook next year is not promising, but with some planning and wise use of site and resources, I hope to keep us out of the produce aisle at HEB!

Garden’s Need Cover-ups Too

Here in Central Texas we are being blasted with day after day of relentless, 100-degree sunshine. Boo-hoo my family in 100-year record rain-soaked Pacific Northwest say, but the heat and intense light can take a toll on the garden.

It’s not just the plants and sweaty humans that suffer; the soil creatures can get overheated and go dormant as well. Mesophiles, the main microbes found in composting soil, can do fine in temperatures 20 to 45°C (68 to 113°F), but earthworms don’t like anything over 65°F. High soil temperatures are also accompanied by moisture loss.  Slower microbes, absent earthworms, and lack of moisture are a trifecta of problems this time of year, just when you are getting ready for the fall vegetable-planting season.

Mulching the top of the soil is the best practice to adopt during any time of extremes.  You can choose brown mulch (like compost) or green mulch (like a cover crop.) I use both. In my vegetable beds my preference is using a legume cover crop.  The legumes fix nitrogen from the air and convert it to a useable form in the soil. They help me keep my soil fertility constant so I don’t have to add much supplemental fertilizer, and are great for reconditioning the soil after a heavy-feeding vegetable or fruit crop.

In the summer I like planting Southern Cowpeas. There are many varieties to choose from.  My favorite is the cream pea because it seems to have slightly larger leaves and does a good job of completely covering the area it is planted in. My spring vegetables start slowing in May, and most shut down when the temperature hits 100. When that happens, I harvest what remains and then throw the rest of the plant into the compost bin.  I direct sow the peas right on top of the bed.

I cover the seeds with a mix of worm castings and compost. It is watered in well, and usually sprouts fairly quickly. I irrigate regularly until the plants are established and then water as infrequently as I can get away with in the heat. Some of my beds that get some shade only have to be irrigated once a week or so.

I’ll keep the peas growing until I am ready to put in my fall vegetable crops. I cut the top of the plant off at soil level and toss it into the compost bin, then plant my veggies directly where the peas used to be. I use finished compost to cover the seeds or mulch the new plants, and we are right back into food production. You can also just turn the peas back into the soil, but I am usually in a hurry and just use compost instead.  On my fruit berms where I don’t do any cultivation, I leave the peas as a “hay” cover and sow Crimson Clover over the top for my winter cover crop.

So while you are out there slathering on sunscreen under your big ole hat, think about your garden soil too.  It can use a little cover and will reward you with happy plants that you can show off with your tan this fall.

Don't Cry About Not Having Enough Onions!

My husband and I love onions. To me, they are one of those perfect vegetables. They go with just about anything, are awesome raw or cooked, and can go from savory to sweet in a heartbeat. They are a foundation for nearly everything I cook. This makes them a staple in my vegetable garden no matter what time of year it is.

If you live in Central Texas, now is a great time to get your onions in the ground. Right now you can purchase onion sets at nearly any garden center. Onions sets look like tiny green onions. They are usually bundled together and sold as a “set”, and are not potted. I just bought two sets and there were 60 in one and 85 in the other.

That may sound like a lot of onions, but for us one bunch just won’t do. I planted all 145 of them in a 6’ x 4’ raised bed, about 3” apart. That is much closer than the 6” usually recommended; but because we “weed” them into our salads, it works for us to have that many in a small space. By the time the bulbs start to mature we have separated them out properly.

Onions are easy to grow and don’t take a lot of water. They are also quite pest resistant. The only trouble I’ve ever had was having a wet summer that caused them to rot in the ground. Planting them in well-drained, loose soil usually prevents this problem. They are also easy to transplant. Gently separate the bundle and use your finger to poke a 2” hole in the soil. Place the plant roots down and cover. As the plant grows you may need to hill soil to keep a thin covering over the bulb.

Onions can be harvested for greens or for bunching onions all through the growing season. If you want to raise them to maturity, wait for the tops to brown, dry, and flop over to give you that great tear-jerking onion flavor. If you live in a dry area like I do, you can keep them in the ground and harvest as needed. I stop irrigating them and just use the planting bed as a storehouse. Be sure to plant varieties that can keep for a few months if you want to adopt this method. I just planted Southern Belle Red Onions and Grano 1015Y Yellow Onions. Here is a list of recommended vegetable varieties for Travis County if you are interested in other varieties that will do well here.

Onions from your own yard are amazing and one of the easiest things to grow for gardeners of any experience level. If you plant them as densely as I do, you can try a couple of different varieties in a relatively small space. Onion sets are great to share too if you’re not wild about having over 100 onions in your backyard. Although personally, I think you’ll be crying later that you didn’t plant enough!

Ready, Set, GROW!

I could not WAIT for the winter solstice to pass. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, the solstice was the promise that the dark, gray days would end.

Here in Central Texas, we maybe have one dark day every three months. The unrelenting cheerfulness of the sunny days has been surprisingly hard to get used to. What? ANOTHER beautiful day?!?! As a gardener, it is both a boon and a bane. I mean, when is a girl supposed to get some rest? I have had to learn to give myself permission to loaf on the couch even though it is perfect gardening weather outside. I am, after all, employed full-time elsewhere at a very demanding job. My garden is my haven, my respite, but it can be tyrannical if I let it.

But despite all of that, the solstice still chimes a bell in my psyche. Spring is on its way! Time to plant!

I have raised beds with hoops that I drape plastic over, so I can start my peas and cole crops outside. But the real work is done in the house. In order to get any sort of harvest before the summer heat drives everything into dormancy, I need to get my tomatoes and okra growing NOW!

Yes, I drool over those seed set-ups you see in catalogs and on the web. The one I really want has four tiers of grow lights, a built in misting system, and domes to keep in the humidity. At over $1,000, it’s a virtual greenhouse on wheels. Maybe some day I will lose my mind and buy it. But right now, the system I have works just fine. It consists of two TV trays, 4-inch pots and plastic flats that I saved from nursery purchases, purchased growing medium, and some plastic wrap. I considered upgrading to saved containers (with domes that fit!) that roasted chickens come in, but we haven’t bought one of those in quite a while, and I was in the mood to plant NOW and didn’t want to go to the store.

I am starting several varieties of tomatoes. Three are favorites that did well last year – Plum Dandy, Taxi, and Sun Gold. I am adding to the mix Mortgage Lifter, Brandywine (which never did well in Oregon, but people rave about it here in Texas) and Cherokee Purple. I’m also starting Tomatillos, Celery, and Okra.

I have an area by the compost bin that I use for a potting station, but today it was 32 degrees outside so I opted to work in the house. The first thing I did was prepare my seed labels. Each label has the name of the plant and the seeding date written on it in pencil. Use pencil because it won’t wash off, and you can reuse the label later. You remove the lead writing by rubbing soil on it. It’s a trick I learned from Master Gardeners. Next, it’s important that you pre-moisten the soil before you put in into pots. The peat-based potting medium that you buy is completely dry, and you can’t water it enough to get everything moist for your seeds. I used one of my big bowls and mixed soil and water right in the sink.

You want it to be just moist enough to hold together. I then filled the pots about 2/3 full. I planted five seeds in each pot, and then lightly sprinkled soil on top. I used the spray nozzle on the sink to then water everything one more time. I covered the whole tray with plastic wrap to help keep from drying out, and then put on the TV trays next to the window.

With any luck, the seeds will germinate in about 10-14 days. I will have to rotate the tray daily to keep the plants from leaning too much to one side. I will transplant them into their own pots once they have a set of true leaves. Kind of a hokey way of doing things – but hey, it works. I always figure that if I have a crop failure (or the cat or the husband knocks over the whole works), I can always buy transplants later. Not as much fun and I never get the varieties I want, but it’s as good as Plan B as I have. And it didn’t cost me a thousand bucks.

YET.

Happy planting!

Thankful for the harvest: $476 produce year to date.

I’ve made it through another summer in Central Texas and have learned even more about how to grow vegetables here in Austin.

The weather is very unforgiving. There’s no dilly-dallying when it comes to putting seeds or transplants in the ground. When I wasn’t right on schedule my plants died in the heat or failed to germinate. Even though I tried to compensate, I ended up emptying my big rain tank trying to keep the seed beds moist enough to sprout fall vegetables. It was all in vain. Next time I’ll know. Start the fall vegetables in the house, then transplant outside last week of SEPTEMBER, not July. I have to keep reminding myself that I am no longer on Oregon planting cycles.

The bugs are just as ruthless. My kale, mustard, and green beans all succumbed from the onslaught of pestilence. Beetles, spider mites, locusts, corn earworms, stink bugs, scale – they all stuffed themselves at my expense. Next time I will be more diligent in my crop rotation and put the row covers on as soon as I plant.

And yet, despite all of that, we have eaten well. Even now as I stare down Mother Nature waiting for the first frost, we are eating tomatoes, chard, and butter beans. My fall crops of kale, collards, European salad greens, kohlrabi, and even my kumquats, will be ready to eat in a week or two. I’ve got my cold frames up and ready to drape with plastic as soon as the weather gets ready to turn. My citrus trees are hung with Christmas lights and I’ve rigged cold frames for them too.

So I am very thankful. I keep track of my harvest and year to date the garden has yielded $476 in produce. I weigh what I pick and then use the same prices I find at HEB to determine the value. It’s actually produced more than that, because I still haven’t come across a good way to measure the herbs and lemon grass I use. Then of course there is the produce that is consumed on the spot that doesn’t get a chance to get weighed. Green beans, tomatoes, and the blackberries are all under reported. Nice problem to have.

I am hoping to break the $500 dollar mark by the end of the year. Had my citrus trees not been nipped by the frost I would have surpassed it easily. But no matter, there’s always next time!