square it, garlic

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we are walking in the bell county/temple 
walk to end alzheimers on saturday november 3 2012

you can walk free but a donation to and or joining
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SQUARE IT
i am frequently asked about gardening
people are always saying to me

wish i had a square foot garden

i recently was sitting talking with some people about
gardening
one has recently moved here from out of state

if you live here you know you cant garden like you do
in other parts of the country

theres no soil
its hot in the summer
theres not much water

so you have to make adjustments to your gardening techniques

i promised to repost or redo my blog on  4 ft square foot gardening

i want to kiss keep it simply simple

find a spot that gets at least 6 hours of sun and a spot
the deer cant get to

scrape off the grass

cover the area with 10 layers of newspapers that extend past the
4 ft width

build a 4 ft square frame from cedar or old left over recycled wood
but not treated wood

mark off 1 ft squares on the frame


get the best garden soil you can find
in this area its the hill country soil from the natural gardener
it comes in bags or you can buy it in bulk like i do


they also make a lady bug brand of mel bartholemews square foot
garden mix that has stuff in it that helps to retain moisture

place the frame over the garden area and dump the solid inside
the frame

start out with plants not seeds if you are new at this since
your success rate is better

plant them
keep them watered every day for a week or two then
as needed
stick your finger in the soil up to the second knuckle
if its dry you need to water it

water by drippers hose soaker or hose end low sprinkler

keep it mulched when the weather is cold

yes its that simple
the garden fails because you over water it or under water it
do the finger test

the fall is the best time to plant and garden in this area
for the 1 foot square you can plant cilantro parsley broccoli
cabbage brussell sprouts asian greens asian cabbage swiss chard
mulitplying onions strawberries
you can plant two per square of spinach lettuce some asian greens
you can plant 4 per square of garlic (see link below)
you can plant a row of carrots turnips beets to 1 square

the natural gardener also has demonstration gardens of this
technique of gardening

these plants will all grow all winter long here

yes its that simple

GARLIC

i plant garlic every year
this year i planted over 100 plants since we use a lot of it
last year i left them in the ground too long and watered them
too much at the end and was left with rotted garlic

should have read this article first
its the best one ive seen about how to grow garlic

you can put garlic in pots in the flower beds
anywhere theres a spot to plant it
and have garlic next late spring
and it looks good in the landscape

the dirt doctor has a good organic gardening book he
wrote with
i think the information in this link is also in the book

read this links article and plant some garlic

your pasta and soups will appreciate it

the organicgreen doctor

fall gardens

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FALL GARDEN
this weekend i watched this segment on the keyhole 
garden that was on pbs klru central texas gardener
with dr deb tolman
watch it and youll want to go put yours in 

yep it was impressive
you can watch it by going online to their website

ive used her principles at my house and also at 
the school where my wife she works

as mentioned before we took all her soil from her two
square foot gardens and solarized it this summer
to get rid of the bermuda grass
we then made a 5 ft square foot garden with a 
central composter 
the bottom of the bed is lined with several layers
of newspapers
we added good organic soil from the natural gardener
in austin 
it has several manures compost green sand and all the 
good bugs you need
its ready to plant when you place it in your beds

we then added another layer of concrete blocks 
her soil depth is now about 2 feet
we may add another layer this spring

she and her students planted kale spinach arugula asian greens
oregano swiss chard multiplying onions cilantro garlic chives 
when it gets cooler she will add lettuce more spinach carrots
beets garlic strawberries and broccoli 
this winter she will add potatoes and green onions 

she and her students and fellow teachers will eat out of 
this keyholeless square foot garden all fall and winter 
and spring

sometimes hands on education is important for kids
some have never planted anything 
many of these kids are at risk

good job guys
more pictures later as it matures

in my garden here i have a circular keyhole garden
that i have 4 tomatoes planted in it
i am going to let them sprawl over the garden like
nature intended them to and see what happens

just under that 6 inch layer of fresh hill country garden soil
is a mixture of shredded newspaper shredded cardboard 
paper leaves chicken manure compost from my chicken
composter and anything else i can find that will safely 
decompose in my garden

it should all heat up and decompose into this rich garden soil

later in january this will be the site where i will plant all of my 
potatoes

in my regular garden with its 4 ft x 12 ft beds i have planted
partially my winter garden 
i will plant the same things my wife she planted in her garden 
and will nurture it over the winter until the spring
it will then be converted to my hot summer garden 

we rarely buy much for our salads during the fall and winter
as we harvest what we need from this winter garden

this is a picture from the natural gardeners square foot garden 
their plants were planted earlier this month
you can see how nicely it has filled in the spaces

this is what my wife she and my garden will look like in 
the next 3-4 weeks

remember
fall and winter is the best time to garden in central texas

the organicgreen doctor