Foolproof fall gardening

I don't even know why I bother gardening in the Spring!  I've done pretty much nothing to the garden since I threw all the seeds down (except a little thinning).  With the perfect rain we've been having, I think I've only watered once.  Everything is growing like crazy ...  I can taste the broccoli and peas now!

Nov 2009 - Bloom Day

A few blooms from a misty and cool November morning.  Bulbine, russian sage, mutabolis rose, and turk's cap.

Compost pile upgrade

Before & After

This weekend we finally crossed a long-standing to-do item off the list - re-building our compost pile using scrap materials we've had lying about for a while.  We moved from one big 4-sided wire mesh pile which was very hard to turn, to a 3-compartment pile made of old sheet metal and pallets.  The idea is to move the piles to the right progressively - makes it easier to turn the compost and use it! For now we're leaving the fronts open to make it easier to turn, but we may need to put a front on at least the first pile which will have the more recent food scraps to keep our dog and other animals out of it. One word of caution - composting (esp. turning compost piles!) is not for those who have issues with giant roaches and other bugs - EEK!

Fall garden = planted

Whew! It's not so fall-like out there, but I have to admit, I enjoyed every minute.  We got about 10 bags of compost and worked it into the soil, then planted a bunch of stuff from seed:  snap peas, squash, greens of all kinds (lettuce, spinach, etc.) lots of broccoli, some onions, some different herbs, etc. etc.

We still have a lot of chard, eggplant, basil, and pepper plants from the spring that somehow made it through the inferno.  I'd be interested to hear whether folks have ever kept these things going through the fall and what their luck is with it.  Does the Chard get bitter once the plants are "old" ? The eggplant has flowers on it, I wonder if we'll actually get any fruit??  Also, two artichoke plants have popped up - also survived all the way from last early spring! I'm excited to see whether they actually thrive and make artichokes this fall ... always fun to have an experiment going.

True to the name of this blog, I tend to vacillate between being "scientific" about planting and just grabbing a bunch of stuff and throwing it in the ground and seeing what works by trial and error.  This fall garden will be more of the latter.

Back in the Saddle!

Hellooooooooooooooooo out there!

I've been AWOL for a few months ... and if you live in Central Texas, I probably don't need to tell you why I haven't much felt like gardening or reporting on the sad state of affairs in my yard. There were a few moments there where I thought I might throw in the towel altogether. But as the temperatures have come down to "mild" high 80s ... presto - my gardening bug returned. Thank goodness, because it was getting pretty bleak!

So, attack of the garden project is back! In the spring I hastily put in a new bed in the backyard. It didn't fare too well over the summer, and it was seriously depressing to look at, so I got motivated today to re-do the bed.

I weeded, spread a nice layer of compost, and put in some new plants to add to the few surviving ones, and changed the design a bit:

Surviving: Belinda's dream rose, agave, 4-nerve daisy, and bulbine.
(R.I.P. black foot daisy, copper canyon daisy, and a few other things)

New: Yucca, lantana, more bulbine (divided from others I had), russian sage, sedum, and dianthus

Also new: I decided to go for the crushed granite/rock look in this bed, hoping it will help prevent runoff from the roof when it rains (yes, I know, we'll put up gutters eventually)

And last but not least, I finally put in a drip irrigation system for the backyard! I love the one I put in front last year (my plants on drippers actually survived the summer O.K.) and I'm excited to be able to expand this one into the fall vegetable garden and container plants on the back patio soon. It amazes me how easy it is to do ... if you haven't tried putting one together yet, I highly recommend it.

Well, that's it. More posts coming soon. Ahhhhh, it feels good to be back.

The day I put in the bed back in April ...

Hallelujah!

An inch and a half of rain in the garden yesterday - I'll take it!

Fits and Starts vs. The Summer: Round 1

Yes, I'm going to bitch about the heat now. It's what I do this time of year, OK? James says it's best not to talk about it, it just makes it worse, but perhaps you will indulge me.

This time of year is when my joy of gardening gets tested big time. In the Fall and Spring (i.e. the rest of the year), it's hard to keep me OUT of the garden. But at this point in the summer (and yes, deep breaths, we are in fact at "this point" already, I've finally admitted to myself), the only thing that drives me out there is a desperate attempt to avoid seeing all my previous hard work shrivel up and die.

Things I call my back yard right now: the surface of the sun, blazing inferno, the scalding torture place (you get the picture). I've decided my limits on timing for gardening are now before 10 am or after 8 pm, and that may be pushing it. Spending time out there during the rest of the day is just cheating death by heatstroke, in my opinion.

Vegetable garden report:
I'm happy to report that I'm still getting a consistent, good haul of tomatoes (not all the varieties are still producing, but a few are doing great, esp. Arkansas Traveler), green beans, and peppers. On the other hand, the eggplant still hasn't produced a single fruit, and the squash, zukes, and cucumbers have slowed way down.

On my to-do list:
I've been out of town the last few weekends so I'm way behind on basic maintenance and summer heat prep/abatement. This weekend I plan to put a good, thick layer of compost and mulch around everything, fertilize, thoroughly inspect for pests and other problems, and prune out everything that looks depressing (dead/dying leaves, herbs past their prime, etc.) I think that will make me feel better - I'm not giving in to you yet, blasting sun!!! I've still got some fight in me!!
I'm thinking of planting some Okra plants to fill in some spots. I'm embarrassed to admit I've never planted Okra before and everyone tells me its the least depressing thing to have in your garden in the middle of July in Austin.
And if I'm feeling really motivated, I might finally put in the drip irrigation for the veggies. As the shovel ready garden recently described, it's really not that hard to do, and helps a lot with THE ENDLESS SUMMER GARDEN CHORE = WATERING (and it's much more efficient, too).

So it's the opening round of Fits and Starts vs. The Summer. Who will win? More updates soon.