winter gardening a review

WINTER GARDENING A REVIEW
several people have asked me about planting a fall or
winter garden
so i decided to do a review on what to do

i try to use the kiss method
keep it simply simple
i use to say keep it simple stupid
but that seemed too negative
so its simply simple

this of course is for central texas but if you live in new york
or california it is of course different this time of year
but the principles are the same

first good soil got to have good soil
if you are starting go buy good organic soil
do not skimp on this
in this area the best is the natural gardeners hill country garden soil
there are others but the hill country soil is what the other ones
are measured against
it already has in it what one needs
all you have to do its plant your garden

you clear off your garden of any left overs from the summer
add 3-4 inches of good compost
that you make yourself is best
around here the lady bug brand of farm style compost or
manure compost is the other best

to this i add a light sprinkling of lady bug brand 8-2-4 or medina
growin green organic fertilizer
this adds nitrogen to be gradually realized for several weeks

then i add cotton seed meal lightly sprinkled over the bed
just enough to give a yellow tint to the compost
this provides a more instant release of nitrogen for the plants

then i gently stir up the fertilizers with the compost

then i plant right into the compost
i dont really work the compost into the soil

when i  plant a transplant like broccoli or spinach i add a
small amount of earth worm castings to the soil

i water them in with a seaweed solution using eg maxicrop
seaweed which gives the new plants a boost from its
minerals which stimulate new root growth

new seeds planted according to the directions on the package
are watered with seaweed also
and are watered once or twice a day until they sprout
based of course on how much rain we have and the soil moisture
if the seeds dry out they wont sprout

why do i go to all this trouble to do all this to the soil
just
make a trip to the natural gardener and look at their fall garden
pretty dang amazing

plus
i spent a hour with their gardener asking him a ton of questions
then when i applied them to this years garden the result were
as my wife she says
amazing

during the winter i mulch my plantings well to protect them
i use pine straw i buy in bales
it lets water through quite easily but also protects the plants
by keeping the soil warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer
but you can use leaves newspaper etc

then
i use row cover a thin white material i buy at the nursery
it comes in a thin version commonly used in cooler temps
and to keep insects out
and then a thicker version that provides more protection
from the cold

when its going to be freezing i keep them covered
when it warms up like it does here in central texas i
just roll it up out of the way

so thats how you do it
fall winter gardening
the absolutely best time to garden in central texas

today i will plant more spinach plants and replant some
broccoli and kale the wind and insects destroyed

ive replanted a block of lettuce and beets that we will
eat in our salads
and will replant another block later on

so in my garden now i have sweet peas parsley cilantro
asian greens swiss chard broccoli kale beets carrots
lettuce spinach multiplying green onions chives arugula
garlic

nows your chance
go for it

the organicgreen doctor

didnt know this

DIDNT KNOW THIS

on facebook i kept getting hit with these numbers
why would i just do 2 things about myself
why 7
why 5

so
i decided  i would break the rules and just write as many
as i pleased
so here they are in random order


i like snakes
i use to catch rattlesnakes in college and keep them overnight inside
my apartment
my roommate historian brother couldnt sleep a wink at night
i had a pet snake and a pet collard lizard
i also like spiders especially zipper spiders and wolf spiders
know i wont hold a tarantula spider
but i do squash scorpions and brown recluse spiders

i have a fear of running off the road into water like a river lake
pond etc and not being able to get out
two of my vehicles have manual window cranks like old school cars

i hate racism and intolerance

i respect all religions


i am well acquainted with an outhouse and all its intricacies

i cant keep up with ink pens even now that im retired
so i buy the cheapest ones i can find

i vote independent
i am liberal on social issues but am a moderate conservative at heart
not the modern conservative

i have been for a national healthcare system since i was in high school
writing my senior paper on the topic
i am a big supporter of obamacare
its not the answer but its a start
heck over half of us are on a government plan anyway
in a year 6 of our 8 siblings will be or have been on a government plan
if you dont have insurance or cant get it nows your chance

i dont own a gun now and it doesnt bother me that others do
but feel we do need some gun control though
dont feel i need one to protect my home
my dogs do that for me

i think marijuana should be legalized
we should be getting the tax revenue off all that pot thats
being sold and marketed
its not going away and the black market is making a killing on it
those kids dont need to be in jail for using and selling it

i was the starting quarterback when i played football
i was the starting forward in basketball
i was the best pitcher in baseball when i played and
had 6 different pitches i threw including a knuckle ball
all taught to me by my historian brother
but i couldnt see the scoreboard or the catcher signal so
i called my own pitches
i was and am severely nearsighted

i flunked college my first try with a grade point average of 0.00
parents dont give on on your kids

in my family of 8 kids we have 2 associate degrees 7 bachelor degrees
5 master degrees 1 phd and 1 md
all paid for by working loans or grants

i love coffee
ok im addicted to it
but only drink 4 cups a day
thats 2 of my cups
i like it strong

i cant sleep at night
i only get 5 hours a night
the aricept (donnepezil) for possibly having early
alzhiemers i take knocks off 2 hours a night
i get those two back by taking a nap in the afternoon
so dont call me between 100-300pm

my younger brother and i signed up for the military
he in the navy and i in the air force
we were both turned down more than once
if we had been accepted into the military
my parents would have had 5 sons in the military
during the viet nam war era

my high school years were spent in significant poverty
so i understand what its like
ive lived in my life on both sides of the poverty line
i understand both

i smoked cigarettes heavily for 6 years and a pipe for 6 years
i still get the urge for a cigarette or cigar
and would enjoy smoking one
but know i cant

i recycle everything i can
im known as a dumpster diver at the habitat builds
dragging out cardboard wood plastic to reuse or recycle

my favorite vehicle is my 1999 f100 thats all dirty and beat up
but still runs good and usually has compost mulch or
gardening soil all organic of course in the bed of the truck
its been know to have things growing back there

i love volunteering
for
habitat for humanity
meals on wheels
alzheimers association
helping others garden

i love to do organic gardening and to influence
others to do the same
yes lets save our planet
since only we can do it

im an advocate for the alzheimers assoication
ask me about alzheimers and ill tell you more than you want to
know
i give talks on alzheimers disease using my story with possibly
having the disease as a vehicle to talk about it

i met my wife she in college where she was a student in
my chemistry lab-she got an a ;)
we also worked together at a local hospital
this is how i worked my way through college as an
emergency room technician

i wanted to be a family doctor since i was in middle school
and never wavered in that goal despite taking a lot of wrong
turns along the way
although i did have my doubts when i was working on that
chicken processing line and kept hearing those banjos
i started working in hospital when i was a sophomore in high school

between high school and medical school i worked as
an orderly in a hospital
a bag inspector in a paper bag factory
on a road bridge crew
an emergency room technician
doing phone political surveys
working in a chicken processing plant-my worse job ever
felt like i was surrounded by deliverance people
worked in a tool factory making sears craftmans wrenches
worked as a lab assistant in medical labs
worked as a lab assistant in a university lab
then
worked for 30 years as a family doctor which i
enjoyed every well most every day of it

i have high blood pressure and high cholesterol and control
them with yes diet and exercise and medication generic of course

i unlike many people know what i will probably die from
im ready i think
im extracting all i can from the lucid time i have left
doing what i like to do
volunteering
gardening organic of course
alzheimer advocating
traveling
generally enjoying life

so those are thing you may not know about me
with no limitations
but now you do

the organicgreen doctor

means a lot

MEANS A LOT
sometimes things we do just means a lot
to us personally
or
to someone we love

this is the #joe nash team that walked this weekend at
the little rock walk to end alzheimers
these 26 people walked all for the same reason
to help raise awareness of this terrible disease and
to raise funds for the alzheimers association as they use
the monies to educate do research and provide services
for families and patients and medical providers
money well spent i think


who are these people
first most of these people drove 140 miles the night before
or that morning to be there for the walk
most were friends or relatives of joe nash
they knew what it meant to his wife and two daughters to have
all those people there in support of this cause

there was his wife who was a caregiver for several years
and who might be a model caregiver for others who have
to struggle with this role
this team and this walk was probably the most important to her
and of course her two daughters

his two daughters and his three grand kids
the youngest daughter was the team captain that helped
organize all this
those grand kids do you wonder what they were thinking
and what they really feel and what questions they must have

one thing this walk did which i liked was they had all the kids
that were there to come down front and the alzheimers association
talked about how they were affected and how all this effort was
really for them
the cure and treatment will be there for them
thank goodness

my wife she and i drove close to 500 miles to get there
we would have been there if it had been 1000 miles
it meant a lot to me to be there
because i know how important all this is for families
and for me personally

another friend came from north carolina to walk with us
her grandmother died early in life with alzheimers disease
these things stick in your memory
these walks mean a lot to us

there was my classmate friend who i  actually had not seen in
30+ years and who made us that alzheimers quilt for our silent
auction

this walk helps some with closure and helps with the pain
with this disease
the deep pain that it inflicts on those families affected

yes my friend gregs wife was there
she herself a caregiver for several years as he went down hill
with huntington disease
she understood the caregiver role and the pain involved with
this disease which is another terrible disease without a cure

this walk site and this walk may have been the best of the
four walks we have done this year

it was at the beautiful riverfront park using the beautiful

riverfest amphitheater as its staging area
the walk was along the river and past the clinton library

there was the memory flowers which we picked and wrote
our family names on them-joe nell charles
and walked with them in our hands
letting the breeze off the river spin the wheels
im sure yes i know that joe was there for sure

yes these walks mean a lot
as im sure the walks for other diseases do for those affected
in some way
but
that day it was the purple day
the day for us to remember our family and friends affected
by this terrible disease
and
feel good about being there
knowing each of us made a difference

the organicgreen doctor