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!