covers

COVERS
a few years ago i was reading in mother earth news
a story about a lady who was growing lettuce spinach
swiss chard and other greens in her garden in the cold
of colorado during the winter

i thought if she can do that we should be able to do that
in central texas
and
pretty much most of the united states

now our winters arent as fierce here as in colorado
well maybe a night or two here and there

since reading that article i have read and listened to
the saturday sunday garden show on klbj590 am
those of you out of the range of their signal can listen
to it online
i do sometimes when im traveling

they have talked about it a lot recently on this program
on how to keep your crops from freezing

here at the country n here is what i do to withstand the cold
eg
the 20 degrees we had on sunday night

here is my version of the keyhole garden
all snuggly under a layer of thick row cover
which keeps the temps about 8 degrees warmer under
there
its permeable so air and water can get through
i leave it in place as long as the temps will be near
freezing

thats maverick our watch dog
he wont let anything on our property even humans

underneath this row cover are
spinach sweet peas carrots beets cilantro lettuces swiss chard
and cabbage

then down in my garden i have these little fellas
my strawberries
here we grow strawberries in the fall through the winter
harvesting them in march and april
we treat them as annuals
save them over to the next year and they dont produce well

they are covered up with two layers of thin row covers
and a lot of pine straw mulch

then under this long row are my new asparagus i planted this winter
i have them covered with a thick layer of your leaves
thank you very much
then i made a hoop of concrete wire
and covered it with thick row cover
since because of the warm weather the asparagus roots i planted
thought it was spring and sent up sprouts

then finally
oh heres how i make this hoop cover
i take rbar of 2 ft and put it in the ground
i take a 10 ft of pvc in this case i use the 1/2 inch grey electrical pvc
bend it from one rbar over the bed to the other
doing these every 4 ft down the bed
then i cover this with the thick row cover
easily purchased at most nurseries
holding it in place with metal clamps i get at home depot
for 99 cents

yesterday morning when i peaked under there
there was a noticeable difference in the temperatures
inside vs outside the tent

so under there growing in this toasty environment are
90+ garlics
broccoli
cabbage
arugula two types one has already flowered and will be used by the bees
the other will be allowed to flower also
4 types of kale
bok choy
all this stuff except for the garlic we have been eating on for a few weeks

so
you can grow stuff in the winter here
even when its cold like now
just cover it up with row cover
open the tent up when the weather is warm
and
you will have veggies until its time to plant the tomatoes egg plants
peppers beans squash etc this spring

dont miss out on the best time to garden in central texas
the fall and winter

the organicgreen doctor

cover me up

COVER ME UP
usually around here we get a freeze about this time
sometimes though its been way into december
however
this year its coming early
probably if you are reading this blog in the us
then you are feeling the effects of that first
polar vortex they call it hitting all of us everywhere

it looks like it will be around here for 2 weeks
so
since we mainly heat our house with wood heat
i gathered all my wood in to my woodbox inside
and
loaded up my woodburning stove
we purchase a cord of wood each year
sometimes we need more and sometimes we have
some left over at the end of winter

so this morning i loaded up the wood stove after
running it at a low burn overnight
sturred the coals up real good
and this above is what i am looking at
as i write this blog

yesterday outside since i knew we would be getting
freezes i harvested all of my fall stuff that i could

most of these are pabloma peppers
for some reason they liked the weather this year
and went crazy growing
mixed it with this are
okra green tomatoes bell peppers jalepeno peppers
and banana peppers

fyi i will wash the bell the pablaoma and the jalepeno
peppers off well
put them in labeled ziplock bags
suck out all the air with a straw then seal them up

are you reading this my wife she
properly labeled and DATED

taking them out over the next year as i need
we just finished last years crop last month
i just take out the pepper i want
and
chop it up its so easy since its frozen

then out to the garden where we have a bed of
winter stuff
garlic arugulas kales asian greens broccoli brussel sprouts
the bed is 14 ft long and 4 feet wide

this stuff is cold hardy but a deep freeze can destroy them
so
i take floating row cover
i use the thick version in the winter
it allows light through
and
allows rain to go through
it povides about 8 degrees of frost protection
these plants will like this cozy environment and
seem to just grow faster

on a sunny cold day it feels warm in there
if it gets warm the row cover needs to be opened up

i start with the grey 10 ft electrical pvc
it seems to weather better
i cut off the ends at a sharp angle
then shove the ends down into the ground
some folks just use 18 inch rbar and slip the
pvc over it
i also run a pvc down the middle and tie it up
with zip ties
this seems to hold it all together better when the
heavy winds hit

i then slip the row cover i get at a local nursery
its 12 ft wide and longer than the bed

i them clamp the base of each pvc pipe with
these clamps i get at home depot for a dollar

so now i have a toasty environment for these plants to
grow

i also have this salad garden which has beets carrots
lettuces spinach peas swiss chard cabbage asian greens
cilantro in it

i made hoops like that above and covered it with row cover
fyi that spray bottle on the little windmill is bt spray i use on
my plants that have holes eaten in them
it kills the insects that do that

last weekend the cental texas gardener on klru the austin
pbs station had a section that lasts about 5 minutes
done by the guru organic gardener john dromgoole
on how they do this at the natural gardener
one of the top rated nurseries in the us

if you click here
then go to about the 21:55 minute
you will see an excellent video on how to do this
by the expert

bon appetit

the organicgreen doctor

fall garden time

FALL GARDEN TIME
if you live in central texas this is the best time of
the year to garden
from the fall through the winter to the early springtime


in mid october put out corn gluten as a weed preventer
it will act also as a mild fertilizer for your yard
it inhibits seeds from sprouting
so put some out if you want to stop those winter weeds
also repeat this in february to prevent the spring weeds

if you plan on seeding grass on an area dont put out the
corn gluten since the seeds wont sprout
the same for wildflower seeds

also mid october is the time to put our wildflower seeds
i get mine from the native american seed company at
www.seedsource.com

i look for bare ground rake the soil some
throw down the seeds rake them in and  walk on them
then nature does the rest

you can also get native grasses to seed in bare areas
in your yard but thats better to do in late april
i use thunderturf which has buffalo blue grama and
curly mesquite
its the grass that was meant to be in this area
you plant them just like the wildflowers

in my garden

the okra are still producing it seems like everyday i have
to pick them
my tomatoes some left from the spring the others i planted
and protected in july are just now producing tomatoes
if we have a late frost this year we should have good
tomato production

right before the first frost we pick all of them wrap them
in newspaper and we just put them in a five gallon bucket
taking them out when they get ripe
our most delicious juicy tomatoes have been grown this way

our peppers planted this spring have exploded both in the
growth of the plants and the numbers of blooms and new
peppers
the plants will get so large they will have to be tied up

our basil is exploding again
pesto here we come in a few weeks

our egg plants we planted this spring are kicking in again
with blooms so we should get another crop out of them

the squash we planted are now blooming

the cucumbers we planted were loved too much by the
grasshoppers so they are gone

so this fall we plan to plant
carrots beets lettuce spinach swiss chard arugula bokchoy
broccoli brussel sprouts cabbage garlic 100 of these
asian greens sweet peas
then in late january we plant onions and potatoes

here is how i do it

i rake the beds well
add 3 inches of good compost
the best is the one you make yourself otherwise get a good
organic compost like ladybug brand composts available at
all nurseries in this area
work this into the top of the soil if you want
i just plant my stuff in the compost




add a good organic fertilizer like ladybug brand 8-2-4 or
medinas growing green
i sprinkle it on top of the compost per the bags recommendation
a bag of this lasts me several seasons as does these other ingredients


i then sprinkle cottonseed meal lightly just enough to put
a yellowish tint to the soil

mix this all together if you want i dont though


if planting a transplant i sprinkle some worm casting in the hole
before i plant the veggie


when i plant the transplant i water it in with a good liquid fertilizer
i use johns recipe from ladybug since it has sea weed and
fish emulsion in it
this will give the plant a boost to get it starting

for lettuce and carrots and beet seeds i put them in a shaker
and spread them over the area i want then to grow
lightly dusting them with compost and or soil
watering them gently every day until i see them sprout
dont let them dry out or they will die

i start with a few lettuce transplants then rely on the seeded ones
to sprout for future crops
i plant the lettuce and beets and carrots every two weeks until
i run out of room in my garden that way ill have crops all winter

when the lettuce grows up i cut them off with a pair of scissors
like mowing the grass
the stub left will develop into a new crop of lettuce
you will have lettuce all winter long

you can also trim the beets leaves and eat them in salads

i also plant spinach plants every two weeks
i personally dont mess with the seeds since i have trouble getting
them to sprout

i also use pvc pipe bent over my beds so i can put row cover over
the plants if it gets too hot or if we get freezing  weather

follow this and you will be successful
main reason this doesnt work if the plants arent watered enough
or too much
or you let a hot spell burn them or if you let freezing weather
freeze them

your shadow has to be in the garden frequently for this to work

good luck on the garden
dont miss this best time to garden
very few bugs usually good rains

the organicgreen doctor