for starters

FOR STARTERS
for years like beekeeping ive have said
i want to start my own tomato seeds
but i just never did it
maybe
because i like to go to the garden center
the natural gardener and forage through all the
tomato plants they have
some ive never heard of
some i planted anyway

within a few days of each other
i got these two magazines in the mail
mother earth news had an article about
experts tips on growing early tomatoes
then
the texas gardener had a lengthy article on
growing tomato transplants

the mother earth news article suggested these
three tomatoes to plant
they do well in norther climates
one the glacier does well in northern climates
especially in canada
the other two are whipperwill and sophies choice

they all are determinate tomatoes
that means they only grow so many tomatoes then thats it
they tend to be like a bush
and
do well in pots
and
they mature quickly in less than 60 days

the problem in texas is that when the weather gets good enough
to plant the tomatoes in the ground
you only have a small window to do it and get them growing
sometimes the heat comes early
and
shuts down the tomato production
so that year you rarely get any tomatoes

so the idea behind this idea of using northern climate tomatoes
is first if you plant them in the ground it wont work
the heat will knock them down
but
if you got them growing early
transplant them into larger pots
then as they grew put them in 3 gallon pots
keep them in a greenhouse under a grow light
but move them outside when the weather was warmer than
60 degrees
remember these are canada northern us tomatoes

then move them back inside at night
that
if it all works well
you will have tomatoes the first of april when most
people are just putting their tomatoes in the ground

so
i ordered the three tomato seeds
got a seed starter tray
filled it with lady bug brand germinator seed starting soil
planted those guys carefully
put them under my florescent light
and
now i am waiting

when they get their first true leaves
thats the second set of leaves after whats showing in the picture
i will transplant them into 4 inch pots like you buy
transplants in the nursery
once they have grown roots well
then
i will transplant them into a 3 gallon pot
filled with lady bug brand vortex potting soil
since it has everything a tomato should want

on nice days say like the 4 or 5 day run we are having
this weekend
i will put them outside in the sunlight
then
move them inside under a grow light for at least 12 hrs of light
each day

hopefully just hopefully in april
i will have pictures of red tomatoes to show you

bon appetitt

the organicgreen doctor

the garden

THE GARDEN
this weekend i met a new gardener
who will be planting her first new garden
at her new home

she has two raised beds probably about 8-10 ft x 4 ft

i of course offered a lot of advise on what to do

i told her today i would post a blog on my garden
including pictures
hoping this information will be useful to her
and
maybe to you

the life blood of a garden is its soil
all my soil was originally started by laying down cardboard
and or newspapers on the ground
building my frames for the beds with limestone blocks
dont use treated wood
then going to the natural gardener in austin buying their
hill country soil which has everything in it you need to
get vegetables to grow

what i noticed though was the veggies did well but in the
heat of the summer they didnt do as well as i wanted
later i figured out it was my soil depth

so
i dug out each bed added at the bottom tree branches limbs
trunks cardboard newspapers leaves compost soil in layers
so that i now have a good 2-3 feet of soil
it makes a difference in this dry hot climate we live in here
since all that stuff in the soil helps hold moisture

each time before i plant
i add 3 inches of compost now i make my own
i add a sprinkling of a good organic fertilizer
i use ladybug brand 8-2-4 according to directions on the bag
i then sprinkle a light dusting of cottonseed meal as per the bag
then when i plant a plant i add a small amount of earthworm castings
thats worm poo

then i plant it
im lazy so i dont even mix it all up i let nature do it

after things get growing i start adding mulch
i use pine straw when i can get it
when not available i use leaves

then i just water them making sure the soil doesnt get all dried out
usually thats once a week based on the weather and rain
i do the finger test
sticking my index finger down to the second joint
if its not wet it needs watering

plants commonly dont do well
either from not watering enough or watering too much

i dont use any pesticide or nonorganic products in the garden

if you see worms and ladybugs in your garden then thats a good sign

in my garden now

here are my garlic almost ready to pick and let dry out for two weeks
then i hang them in braided chains
these i plant in november

here are my potatoes red lasodas
i will dig some in a few weeks to get some new potatoes
but will dig up the whole plant when the plant starts dying back
these i plant in late january or early february

here are my onions which are mostly 1015 ones
these are eaten as green onions when needed
they are harvested in may or june
when the stalks start falling over
these are hung woven together until we need them
these were planted in late january

here are my tomatoes this row has 6 plants and another row has 4
this is the right amount for us to take care of
i planted them in late to early march
being careful to keep them covered when things got cold
these tomatoes do well in my garden
juliette sweet 100s early girl celebrity several heirlooms
such as cherokee purple arkansas traveler mortgage lifter brandywine etc
some will make it through the summer and produce well this fall

we will also replant tomatoes in july for the fall

we have a summer garden bed that consists of
basil peppers bell banana mild jalapeno poblano
egg plant clemson spineless okra red german okra
these will produce until it freezes this fall

we have a bean garden made up of
asian long beans that are best eaten in salads
bush beans that are eaten in salads and grilled
we dont do any shelling beans thats too much work

this is a tatume squash a heirloom that is like a zuchinni
but is more round and runs in a vine like a cantaloupe or pumpkin
it isnt affected by the squash borer which wipes out zuchinni
and yellow squash after awhile

this is a armenian cucumber
its long and narrow and seems to grow well here
the white stuff is diatamaceous earth to stop the pill bugs
we dont pickle or put any of these up
we just eat them raw
the cucumbers not the pill bugs

its planted in my keyhole garden thats in an old water trough
it will grow up pvc pipes ive added that go over the trough

you need 8-2-4 ladybug fertilizer or an equivalent organic fertilizer
cottonseed meal sold in small bags
worm castings

i use liquid seaweed to water in my new seedings to get them started
i use johns liquid fertilizer once or twice a month to water my plantings
when i think of it
it has fish emulsion seaweed and molasses in it

a good compost
the best is the one you make yourself
ladybug brand farm style compost is an excellent one

other companies and nurseries have their own brands and are good

for insect control
i use a hand vac to suck them off my plants and then i dump them
in a bucket of water
diatamaceous earth to dust around the plants at times to slow down
the pill bugs and the slugs
bacillius thuringienesis or better known as bt to control caterpillars
spinosid for insect control
seaweed for insect control
a good book is the texas bug book by malcom beck and howard garrett
ladybugs

on the radio klbg590am on saturdays and sundays from 8-1100 am
and
ktsa550am on saturdays from 530am to i think 900 am
have excellent organic garden shows

i hope this information will help you have a successful garden
ive learned the most from my failures

the organicgreen doctor

whats left

WHATS LEFT

take thousands and thousands of these guys and put them
in a bag
you know a lot of you do this every year and put them on the
curb to be disposed of in usually land fields

we use to like to rake them up and jump in them and scatter them
i guess because we didnt have snow
we made leaf angels

thanks to the campises guynes butlers and nagles last year
hope i didnt leaf anyone out
and
thanks to my wife she and even me on occasion jumping
out of our car or truck and taking some of those bags off
your curb
hope you didnt mind
we accumulated close to a hundred bags of their and your leaves

so what did we do with your leaves and whats left of them

whats left allowed me to take this











an onion set i only plant the 1015 onions do so in january
300+ of them
then
in june i pull up the completed onion

this one is sitting right now on my kitchen cabinet
plucked from our garden in june
waiting to be used tonight on our pizza

heres what happened to your leaf

we placed the leaves in a layer about 1-2 ft deep in our
chicken run which runs around three sides of our garden
for a total of 90 ft
it is about 3 ft wide
think of a c laying on its back

then the chickens from march to now december walk through
these leaves
pick out any weed seeds any insects
then scratches and scratches and scratches them
if you have ever seen chickens scratch then you know what i mean
if you havent then its your loss

so that now in december they are shredded down to fine particles
which when combined with months of chicken deposits
and moisture and composting
make the best compost ever
it smells you know how good dirt and compost smells
so good you could almost eat it
almost

here is a picture of one leg of my chicken run or my compost pile
this week

this layer of compost is 3-4 inches deep
is 3 ft wide
is 90 ft long
running this information in the cubic foot calculator from the
natural gardener
i calculate that i have about 3 cu yards of the best compost
that you can ever use on your garden
that that you make yourself

i dug some of this up and after clearing off my 4 ft x 12 ft bed
where last year we had tomatoes planted
this year will be my onion bed
the bed is a combo of the anthill or hugelkulter method 
and
the keyhole garden method

i then place a 3-4 inch layer of my or your leaf compost on
the bed and spread it out evenly
i scattered an organic fertilizer in this case i used ladybug 8-2-4
you can use medina growin green or any good organic fertilizer
commercial fertilizers can build up salts in the garden
contaminate our water system
and can harm the dirts bacteria fungi and worms etc
then
i lightly scatter cottonseed meal over the bed

then
i cover it with a mulch i use in this case pine straw as it easily
lets in water but provides protection and warmth from the cold
sometimes i use your leaves for the mulch

now i wait
and let all this marinate now for two months
let it get good and rich and get that right flavor
then
i rake off the pine straw
poke a hole in the ground with my gloveless index finger
i like the dirt on my finger and under my nails
it seems to connect me better with my garden
i lightly sprinkle in some earth worm castings
then
i drop in the green onion plant and this all starts over again
and
we make these onion chimes again

you should try this
saving your leaves
make your own mulch
plant your own garden
see whats left
of your leaf

thanks again to the above mentioned families for their
kind donations to the country n organic garden

the organicgreen gardener

another one done, radio interview

ANOTHER ONE DONE

this year to raise funds for our walk to end alzheimers team
i decided to donate a 4 ft square organic garden that would
be installed by the organicgreen docotor thats me
and
we would auction it off to the highest bidder

the winner of the garden hg was excited as she swooped in
at the last minute and put down the highest bid for the garden
so
last week we arranged a time to put the garden in and plant
all the veggies for the fall

we started with a cedar frame of 2 in x 12 in cedar boards
then marked off 1 ft squares with metal wire

we first prepped the site by digging a level surface to place
the frame
hgs husband has over time used this location to mulch and
compost some leaves
so the topsoil there was quite rich

we then added a layer of cardboard and then several layers
of newspapers
they have a lot of worms in their yard so the worms will be
attracted to the cardboard and will eventually eat it and
make a good amount of deposits of earthworm doo
which is the best fertilizer to put in a garden
they also will crawl through and through the soil to keep
it well aerated

we then added the frame
then added a 1/2 yard of the natural gardeners lady bug
hill country soil with its minerals sand several composts

and then topped that with bags of the ladybug brand
square foot garden mix which uses coconut shavings to
help hold moisture for this small garden

we then added a 3 inch layer of lady bug barnyard compost
then we added a  sprinkling of lady bug 8-2-4 fertilizer and
topped this off with a light sprinkling of cotton seed meal
the fertilizer releases nitrogen slowly over the next few weeks
and the meal releases the nitrogen quicker for the plants

i scooped up a handful of this stuff and i swear it smells
so good that i could eat it like it was chocolate

then hgs younger daughter miss o came out and helped me
prep the garden as above and helped me plant all the veggies
for the garden watering it well with a seaweed solution
she added a lima bean she had grown at school
we are hoping for a nice warm winter on that one

we also left a few spaces so they could plant something else
later on

we planted these as i know that they will be successful in
the square foot garden in the fall
swiss chard kale cilantro broccoli asian greens lettuce spinach
multiplying onions snap peas-my favorites
i couldnt talk hgs hubbie into letting me plant beets
they will replant more spinach in a few weeks and more lettuce
and will plant a square of strawberries

these things should grow and produce all winter

bon appetite hg etal
thanks for the pictures and the donation


RADIO INTERVIEW

here is a national public radio kut austin link to an interview that i did along
with two others for the alzheimers association
there is an audio version and farther down the page a video

this will be running several times a day this month on kut 90.5 fm

the organicgreen doctor

now is your chance

NOW IS YOUR CHANCE
two of the goals of this blog is to raise awareness of
alzheimers and to encourage people to do organic gardening
so
now is your chance to do both next week
at
our silent auction at the reunion grille in cedar park 5:30-700pm
on september 4 2013

there is a 50 mile limit on this garden
thats 50 miles from the renion grille

i personally am excited
to be able to fulfill these two goals by building and installing
a four foot square raised garden for someone who
wins the bid for this garden

heres the ingredients
love for organic gardening
the need to encourage others to do it

i went to a local lumber yard and ordered 2 in x 12 in x 8 ft
cedar boards
i know by doing these several times that the foot width works much better
to hold moisture in and to provide more soil for the plants

in central texas they do better

here i the finished frame once the sawing and nailing was done

and added wire that separates it into 1 ft squares to make it easier to plant

then here is a side view which shows the depth of the frame

i will help prep the site by helping  you site the garden and prepare the
ground under the garden frame

it will look something like this without the composter
the ground will be scraped and dug out some
newspaper twigs cardboard will  be added at the bottom
to help cover up any weeds and to help hold moisture in the bottom of
the garden
worms will usually show up in large numbers eventually to eat the paper

i usually do a 1-2 foot border around the frame and cover it with mulch or
crushed rock

then we will add 1/2 cubic yard of the lady bug brand of hill country
garden soil
then on top of this we will add this stuff

this is lady bug brand square foot garden mix
it is about a 1/2 cu ft amount in these 4 large bags
it contains material organic of course to help the soil hold moisture

then
on top of this we add this stuff

this folks is what makes the garden work this top 2-3 inches of this lady bug
farm style compost
its the icing on the cake

then when we plant the garden well use cottonseed meal and worm castings to
give the plants a boost

then we give you a gift card to the natural gardener in austin to buy your plants

NOW IS YOUR CHANCE TO DO IT
you will be surprised this fall what you can grow in here and all winter long
remember the fall garden is the best time to garden here in central texas
lettuces of several kinds
spinach
broccoli
winter peas
carrots
beets
swiss chard
kale
asian greens
bokchoy
cilantro
arugula
oregano
cabbage
turnips
parsley
chives
garlic
onions
etc

i want you to be successful with this garden

if you want this garden but cant be there that night we/you can arrange for
someone to bid for you that night
just contact me

remember to donate or join our team that night or
you can do it online at this site for the walk to end alzheimers on
september 28th 2013

the organicgreen doctor

square foot garden

SQUARE FOOT GARDEN

i have made several of these 4 foot square gardens for friends
for the habitat houses and for my wife shes school

this year i decided to build a 4 foot square garden and donate
it to a silent auction to raise monies for our team organicgreendoctor
in the williamson county walk to end alzheimers
the silent auction will be at the reunion grille in cedar park
a nice venue for this
it will be the first week of september the exact date is being finalized

my friend has just finished the alzheimers quilt she made for the auction
she is a plastic surgeon who does quilting and does a blog for a hobby
when i receive it next week ill take pictures and will post more details
on it

heres the recipe for the 4 foot square garden that the
organicgreendoctor himself will personally build
help site the garden at the winners place
help chose the fall veggies to be planted
prep the site
and assist in planting the veggies in the fall garden

ingredients
love for organic gardening and the wish to inspire others to
do this type of gardening

32 feet of 2in x 6in x 8ft cedar boards
8 feet of 2in x 4in x 8ft cedar board

1/2 cubic yard of hill country soil from the natural gardener

4  2 cubic feet bags of lady bug brand square foot gardening blend
wire to separate garden into 1 foot squares
nails

instructions on what to plant in the garden in the fall and in
the spring
instructions on caring for the garden

on the site assessment i will look at sun exposure
you must have 6 hours or sun or you can not have veggies
growing in the garden

i will look for compass alignment looking for the best sun
exposure

i will look for light exposure for the summer and the winter
looking at trees shrubs etc that may affect the gardens
placement

then
i we since i want the new owner to get involved and get their
hands dirty and put in some sweat equity
will scrape out a square that is 8 ft x 8 ft
then a 4 ft square hole will be dug down to 12 inches
removing the soil to be used somewhere else or if its
good soil replace it in the hole
the bottom will be filled with newspapers and maybe
cardboard as this kills weeds and hold moisture in the soil
also worms love to eat newspapers

then the square foot garden frame will be placed on the new soil
a 1 foot wide layer of cardboard will be placed around the
new frame to help keep weeds and grass from growing
into the new garden

















it would look something like this without the central composter
and the frame would be 6 inches higher than this one

then the hill country soil and the square foot garden soil will be
placed in the frame

you now have a 4 foot square garden with a soil depth of 2 feet
that will work much better in this hot dry climate

this picture is on the square foot garden we planted at my wife shes
school which has concrete blocks instead of cedar but it gives
you a better idea of the height of this new square foot garden
that we will build

you also have 16 one foot squares to plant fall veggies
which i we will plant together

suggested fall plantings are
spinach
lettuce
beets
carrots
swiss chard
cilantro
kale and more kale
broccoli
snap peas
cabbage
asian greens
radish
cauliflower
brussel sprouts
chinese cabbage
onion
garlic
turnips
arugula
etc

so if youve always wanted a square foot garden at your place
come make a bid on this one at our silent auction
the garden will be built with love and hopes for years of
enjoyment of growing your own veggies

also the monies will be going to a good cause

the organicgreen doctor

garden stuff, bunny ears

GARDEN STUFF
you know you can garden wherever you live
and raise vegetables if you have 6 hours of sunlight
me i got way too much sunlight on my garden
in fact here pretty soon ill be putting up shade cloth
over some of my stuff to block some of the late
afternoon sun

this photo is from a friend who lives in chicago
she along with a young neighborhood friend planted
this garden at their condo

its real easy to do
they took 5 gallon buckets in this case as you can see
they are visually attractive to the eye
you would want to cut holes in the bottom for drainage
in central texas you would want to put some screening
material like window screen in the bottom to keep
fire ants out
you then add a good potting soil
in this area the best is lady bug vortex potting soil
which has everything in it already
i would also add a small layer of good compost on the top
if the potting soil you use doesnt have it

then add a layer of mulch to hold in moisture
then twice a month use a good liquid organic fertilizer
not that miracle grow stuff fertilizer at the recommended
concentration
i use johns formula since it has seaweed molasses humates and
fish emulsion in it

then regularly i would check one of two finger methods of
watering
first stick the index finger down to the first knuckle
if its wet dont water
if tis dry water it
its that simple
sometimes in the hot summer it may need watering every day
remember over watering will kill the plants just as fast as
not watering it

then the second method is using the middle finger
if none of this works just raise that finger and say heck with it

usually like i said not watering it enough or watering it too much
or not having 6 hours of sun is the reason this doesnt work

after the bucket is all ready
just plant the plant
water it in
and take good care of it and enjoy the crops

they should have a good crop from their 3 different
tomatoes and eggplant and peppers
good luck

last week i wrote about the tatume squash that
was used to replace the yellow squash and the
zucchini squash that gets wiped out by that old
squash borer
here is the first two that i harvested
you pick them at baseball size
they are just as good as the yellow or zucchini
i expect any day now to see those two plants
collapsed and dead from the boerer
but im ready this year since ive got plenty of these
tatume squash that are growing

BUNNY EARS
i was known for my duct tape and my donald duck talking for
the kids when i was in practice
in fact im researching a duct tape coffin to use when i die
black of course or maybe donald duck yellow and blue

also those of you who know me very well know that ive ruined
many a photo op with my bunny ears
in fact my sweet daughterinlaw forbid me to do any bunny ears
for their wedding pictures
well thats not true she did allow me one picture where i did
bunny ears
except for some reason it didnt come through when all the pictures
were produced

my niece thanks at
sent me this  picture and wondered if i had drawn it

the organicgreen doctor

tattoo fire ants yard care

TATTOO FIRE ANTS YARD CARE
tattoo
no i dont have a tattoo or plan to have one
this is in response to my recent blog
people wanted to me to show a picture of my tattoo
others asked me not to get a tattoo

only in my aricept dreams would i get a tattoo or
if i was in a drunken state or drug induced state
would i get one
neither of those activities i would do

maybe my wife she when i get more advanced in
my alzheimers could get me a tattoo
if she did or if i did it would look like this

maybe a wash off one would be better and less painful

fire ants
im always being asked how to get rid of fireants
this is what i do and it works well for me
its organic non toxic and cheap
i prefer not to use the baits or poisons thats sold at the
grocery stores or big box stores

i use instant grits
yes grits like you eat for breakfast especially in the south
although we never ate grits when we were growing up

i sprinkle uncooked grits on the mound and surrounding it
the theory is they feed them to the queen and she swells up
and dies
the fire ants seem to disappear from the area
sometimes i have to treat it 2 or 3 times
but
im able to keep them out of my garden
which they love to invade

then another treatment i heard of this week from someone
at habitat
he was talking to a lady at a lake park
she said you know how to control fire ants
no how


get some old red man chewing tobacco and sprinkle around
the mound
the worker ants take it down to the queen
she chews it
then when she has had enough she climbs to the top
onto the surface and spits
then you can step on her
works every time she said

yard care
i have weeds in my yard and my yard doesnt look good
i hear this all the time

those weeds were seeded in the fall
that was the time to treat them
bad news is there are spring seeds in your yard now
the only way to remove the weeds is to manually dig them
or just fertilize and mow your yard and let the grass out
compete the weeds

remember weed and feed and that bad stuff like that is not
good for the environment and doesnt really work here

the answer

apply corn gluten on your yard in october
this will stop the germination of the fall seeds
and you wont see the spring weeds growing
unless they are perennials which do not grow from seeds each year

apply it again now in february to inhibit the spring seeds
then manually dig what weeds grow

remember if you plan to plant any grass seeds dont use
corn gluten as the seed wont germinate

in the fall and spring-october and march/april-apply a 1/2 inch
of compost to your yard and water it in
then after youve mowed your yard twice in the spring
apply a organic fertilizer like
the ladybug 8-2-4 fertilizer

 or
medinas growing green fertilizer

dont use the commercial non organic fertilizer as they are a
source of pollution for our water systems

this is good as you can do for a yard

here is a link to the natuarl gardeners organic yard guide

or do like i did and landscape away all of your grass and
you dont have to deal with any of this

the organicgreen doctor

square it, garlic

Walk to End Alzheimers
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
my organicgreendoctor team is appreciated

join us there

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