beating the heat

BEATING THE HEAT
this is the time in the summer garden when its almost
too hot to garden


some things do well right now
like okra the hotter the better

other things in my garden like basal peppers like banana
bell poblano jalapeno and egg plant are doing well
my left over tomatoes from the spring are ending their
tomato producing careers
so


i have placed a solar cloth over them to keep the hot
summer sun off of them
the tomatoes probably will shut down soon but
the other things will continue on until the fall then
take off when those fall temperatures start to drop

in fact in the fall they are more productive and the fruits
are so  much bigger than in the spring

if of course i can keep those pesky grasshoppers off of them
im trying nollo bait which has a fungus in it that infects the
hopppers when they eat it
they die
other grasshoppers will cannibalize the dead ones
the cycle continues

i also have sowed black eyed peas on the beds that have
been harvested like the onions and potatoes and garlic

the peas are a cover crop that fixes nitrogen in the soil
plus if im lucky i will produce enough peas to have a
mess or too for eating with my wife shes cornbread

yes she cooks it in an iron skillet and flips it over
half way through the cooking

speaking of onions
my mom in law is here visiting and one of the jobs
we save for her is to put up the onions
so we had close to 200 onions to put up
how do we do it
we place an onion in an old pair of pantyhose
in the leg
swing it around
tie it off
then add another onion etc etc etc


thats how we get our onion chimes

i know its hotter than hell here but its also time here in
central texas to plant the fall tomatoes
so
i went of course to one of the top nurseries in the us
the natural gardener in austin texas to get my tomatoes
they are hard to find anywhere else this time of year

i planted them in a bed where the peas were growing
i cut off the peas at the ground leaving the roots in the soil
to continue to breakdown and provide nutrition to the soil
i then added 4 inches of dairy cow manure i bought since my
country n compost isnt ready yet
then i added a scattering of an organic fertilizer over the compost
i used ladybug 8-2-4
then i added a light dusting of cottonseed meal
then i gently worked this into the top 2 inches of the soil
sometimes i just plant right in the compost
in the hole for planting i sprinkled the earthworm castings
thats worm poo
then i watered the tomato plant in well with liquid seaweed
then i put a small collar around the base of the base of the
tomato plant with a sliver of wet newspaper to protect it
from being cut down by the cutworm

then i  covered the soil with a thick layer of mulch
which was leaves that had been partially composted
and made that layer about 4 inches thick
to hold moisture in and to protect the soil from the sun and heat

then i set up pvc pipes and covered that with some row cover
to block off that mid day and afternoon sun

then all i need to do is keep them watered until the fall
i use drip irrigation with my rainwater i collect

here is one of my milkweeds i planted this year
i have 5 of these planted
to help those monarch butterflies as they migrate through this area
i am looking forward to the monarch display this fall

so there is stuff to do in your garden right now to get
ready for the fall garden
try getting your beds ready with the compost and fertilizer and
mulch so all you have to do this fall is plant the stuff
remember around here the fall is the best time
to garden in this area

the organicgreen doctor

garden update

GARDEN UPDATE
as the longest day is past
and the dog days of summer will start today as
we start a run of 100+ degree temperature days
its reassessment and clean up time here at the country n

we have 10 acres with 9 acres of it being pasture land that
i have decided to let go back to nature a few years ago
i planted some native grasses and have selectively let cedars
hackberries and other trees grow back in them
i have also have planted some native trees such as oaks
and cedars to supplement as visual breaks and shade trees

since we had done this we have noticed a return of more animals
and birds and butterflies to the property
we also supply 3 watering troughs of water and two smaller
waterers for the animals to access

this year we had a showy display of different wildflowers
especially bluebonnets fire wheels and bee balms

the one acre in the middle of the property is where our
house sits and is fenced with a 7 ft fence to keep out
the deer

each spring i let the wildflowers grow until they go to seed
then i go in and mow them down and leave them on the ground
to provide seeds for birds and for next years crop of wildflowers

sometimes though like this year it can look like a jungle around
our house
real snake habitat
know my wife she worries about that a lot in the spring

now its mowing time
it takes me 2-3 days to mow weedeat and pick up
excessive clippings

this year i was given a new blade for my weedeater
dang wish i had used this before

its dry here 
its especially noticeable when i mowed and can actually see
the ground

the 1/2 inch of rain yesterday just barely moistened the dust layer

now to the garden
its decision time as my water for irrigation is getting low
i will have to decide which things to continue to water and which
to just pull up and call it over with until the fall

remember the fall is the best time to garden here in central texas

this year i planted a 4 x 12 ft bed i call my summer garden
it has things that will grow in the heat and things that will last
until winter time
okra  malabar spinach  pursalane  christmas lima beans
sweet 100 tomato  juliet tomato  bell pepper
sweet banana pepper  jalapeno pepper  two different basils
swiss chard  and arugula

i now will only water this bed and let the rest of the garden go
then this fall will plant another 4 x 12 bed with my fall garden

here is some of my tomato produce for the year
the canned jars are tomatoes
the varieties of tomatoes are celebrities  cherokee purple  lemon boy
sweet 100  juliet  roma  porter  an unlabelled heirloom
and brandywine

the pumpkin is a sugar or minature pumpkin that we will cook and
can like winter squash
its part of the 3 sisters we planted-corn  beans  pumpkins

overall a good spring garden that
is coming to a end
its time to shut it down and compost whats left

the organicgreen doctor