July 1st update- dry gardening and old barn shed

The dry gardening is doing so-so.  So far I've gotten about two dozen grape tomatoes, a dozen mid-sized green tomatoes, and several jalapeños.   Enough to make two big jars of roasted green salsa.   Lots a romaine lettuce in May and June.. Lots of salads but let it go to seed cause I was tired of washing it all the time.  My neighbor has 3x as many tomato plants and waters his beds frequently,  he says he isn't getting anything.   However, the squirrels are and they are sticking it to him by leaving half of everything they eat on the fence railing, in his kid's clubhouse, and even in my tree right above my hammock.  We had a lot of rain in May and beginning of June, so that really helped establish my plants. Since I planted everything in April, I think, I have only watered twice.  Last week we finally made it up to the high 90's and 100's with no rain so things were beginning to dry out.   

Everything looks scraggly but the fruit is still growing.   I have saved a lot of water usage this year.   

Ironically though,  this summer has already cost me a lot of money too.  Our AC went out, after about 25-30 years, it finally called it quits.  

My first summer project is a garden shed.    Total cost less than $250.  I reused old fence pickets, the old rust nails from the pockets, left over paint and lumber from previous projects.  I did have to buy a few 2x6s and 2x4s, along with the corrugated sheets for the roof.  So not only did I clean out my garage of materials, I was able to create less waste for the landfill.  

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 6

The size is 8x4x8ft.  In hindsight, would have made it shorter, but I guess I can put some shelves in it and hang my garden tools up high, leaving space below for things.  

All in all, I had a blast working in the heat, sweating it up, getting some exercise, creating something, and getting dirty.  The only bad thing was one paper wasp sting on my thumb knuckle.  

Go Garden and Get Dirty!

New season... New experiments

 So this year I am trying the dry farming method.  This procedure you spread out your plants 3 feet apart and water less. The goal is for each plant to take up any available water to use. Best way to describe this method is to think of plants that live in the desert. You bury your plants deep and water less frequently. So far the tomato plants have not grown very much. They're only about a foot tall. Last year at this time my plants were about 3 feet tall and already starting to produce fruit. Not sure if this method is going to work, but patience  is a gardener's worst enemy. 

A cool thing is that some bell pepper and jalapeño plants that I used in the buckets last year are starting to produce again.

I used one bed as my random salad bed.  I just took the seeds and randomly threw them in.  Growing is broccoli, lettuce, and carrots.  

Another experiment I am trying are some worm composting buckets.   Not sure how well they are working yet either.  

Took some cuttings from the grape vines and pear tree in January and they are taking root.  

I also started some seeds back in late March and some are coming up.  Looks like butternut squash from grocery store produce, watermelon, bell pepper, honeydew, and green beans.  

I have big aspirations to turn my whole front yard into an edible garden patch but just haven't had time to get it started.  I did however put in some 4x4 posts and planted 4 grape vines between them.   I want to create a living fence as part of the edible garden design.

Until next time...

Go Garden and Get Dirty!

To Do or Not to Do... that is the question

So this year I have been pondering whether to do a fall garden or not.  I am thinking of giving the beds a rest and just prep them with more compost to revitalize the nutrients back into the soil.  This would be like a crop rotation for a large farm.  After a very dry summer, we had about 3 months without a drop of rain, our fall has been the opposite.  The past two weekends was nothing but rain.  Yesterday, Austin got 14" of rain in some areas.   My backyard is a swamp..... would make a great rice field!

A few weeks back, I watched an episode of Texas Central Gardener where I was introduced to the concept of dry gardening/ farming.  Being that our summer's can be pretty hot and dry, this peeked an interest in me, so I did a little more research on it.  The idea is that to produce more yield, you plant less crops and space them out.  So whatever the recommended space would be, you would double it.  The extra spacing between plants gives the plant less competition for water.  Once you plant it, you do a slow drip watering to get the roots to grow deep instead of wide toward the ground water.  There are other techniques to help with water loss like a light soil tilling a day after the rain so the top layer of soil doesn't dry out and crack.  This keeps the top layer like a blanket which keeps the water from evaporating.  Another thing you can do is to do a dust mulching, which after a rain, you lightly cover the ground with a thin layer of organic mulch.  Remember to keep the mulch a few inches away from the actual plant to avoid any burning.

Its been about 3 months now since the completion of the backyard grape pergola.  We have enjoyed it a lot, retreating to it after a long day of teaching, with a beverage and light snack.  I spruced it up with some rope lighting and a few fans to help keep the mosquitoes at bay and for a cool breeze.  I also found an old metal chandelier at a thrift store and took out all the wiring.  Its just hanging above the 8ft picnic table, but it gives it a touch of ambiance.  I threw on some screen fabric to provide a little shade over half of it and its all good.



 New plants to locate for future planting:

• garlic chives- perennial, fast growing, great for adding to cooking, spreading plant
 

Get dirty and keep on gardening!