did it again

DID IT AGAIN
ive never been one who likes to talk a lot
but if you get me started on alzheimers disease organic gardening or
solar power or rainwater collection ill talk your ear off

i go into my lecture mode or my doctor mode
and will tell you much more than you really probably
wanted to know

heck
this week i sat in a dentists chair for close to 3 hours
during the drilling and whatever else he was doing
he made the mistake of asking

my live oak tree died after it was planted
i went into my arborist mode and explained what may have
happened
planted too deep
girdling roots
over watered
not watered enough
weed and feed

live oaks dont die like that

then he asked about gardening and what to plant
i went into my organic garden teaching mode
he almost didnt get my teeth all done in time
i suffered some since the anesthetic had worn off some
it was worth it though
another convert i think

my wife she and i have put in several gardens
those square foot gardens
for folks in the last two years
hoping to infect them with the gardening virus
some have managed to continue gardening with some success

they just need to know how to start and what to do and
what and when to plant

we have provided that knowledge for them

on a recent habitat house the new homeowner made the mistake
of mentioning how she wanted a garden
another worker said you need to talk to the organicgreen doctor
about a garden
that was a mistake

we now went into the organic garden mode and here is what we
did

we take the mel bartholomew square foot garden concept
merge it with the dr deb tolmans keyhole garden concept and
come up with the keyholeless square foot garden

its a 4 foot square garden with a central 1 foot composter

i build a frame this time from 6 inch cedar boards
we then select the appropriate site
dig down 12+ inches and remove all the soil
then take the 1 foot diameter cylinder composter and bury it
6 inches deeper in the middle of the square

on the bottom we line it with a double layer of cardboard
cover that with a thick layer of old newspapers
then dump in john dramgooles hill country soil from
the natural gardener nursery

(this soil is already made with everything you need in it)

they now have 16+ inches of the best soil made

the soil level around the composter is slightly higher than
the edge of the garden
this somehow helps to diffuse moisture and nutrition out to the
borders of the garden

the composter is filled with composter material
i added buckets from my compost pile that the chickens at
the country n keep turned over for me

all the homeowner has to do is add leaves left over veggies from
the kitchen occasional dirt and manures or compost
to continually feed the garden
all they add is water and occasional dumping of compost over
the garden twice a year
and love

1 foot squares are made with wire to aid in planting
so they have 15 squares to plant

in this garden we planted
since its winter time
oregano onions garlic multiplying onions carrots english peas-which
will grow up the composter-lettuce spinach potatoes swiss chard
kale cilantro and arugula

in late march they will replace some of these with beans
tomatoes malabar spinach bell peppers jalapeno peppers
egg plant etc

we planted 9 onions which sell since they are organic for
$1.50+ a lb. this garden should grow 9 1+ lbers
you do the math
the swiss chard should last up to 2 years
a bundle of these are $2.50

the multiplying onions are from some i got from my dad
25 years ago
they will last forever

the lettuce and spinach will be harvested by cutting them
off above the ground and they will grow several bunches
of lettuce and spinach
estimated at $5+ a package it will probably produce 3-4 of these

etc etc etc

when its cold we keep it covered with this row cover

we will follow their garden the first year to help them get started then
they are on their own

hopefully theyll get infected with the organic garden virus

good luck with your keyholeless square foot garden

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