Hello Summer

It sure feels like summer has been here for awhile in N. Texas. It's a bit surprising to me for some reason that today is only the first day. The temperatures and dryness levels are the normal we usually see in July and August. But for today we get a reprieve. We're only suppose to get to a high on 91 degrees today and that will feel amazingly nice, especially with the 1/2 inch of rain we got early this morning. Hopefully the plants are refreshed and we will continue to see more rain through tomorrow night. Here's to hoping! High fire risk alerts are all around us right now. The wind has been really strong and hot over the past week, causing everything to dry out at an alarming rate. I've been manning the water hose trying to keep everything alive around here. I'm not going to complain though because we are actually in better condition here than most of Texas. Ranchers are selling off cattle left and right because there isn't any grass growing for them to feed on. Lakes are way down in most of the state where many residents depend on for drinking water. So any rain that comes is way more than welcome here! http://sslarcims.tamu.edu/website/kbdi/viewer.htm According to the Keetch-Byram Drought scale, we are in the green area which is hanging on by a thread to stay out of the drought conditions. One more step on the scale and we'll be there. Hopefully with a bit more rain we can keep ahead of it for a little while longer. We moved onto this property the last year of the big drought in 2006. We were desperate and on water restrictions. The ground was like concrete and the cracks in the soil were big enough to break a dog's leg if it slid off into them. Moving into our home was interesting that summer. We had quite a challenge in installing our privacy fence in the back yard. We rented an auger to drill the fence posts and it wouldn't go down more than 3-4 inches into the soil. Even trying to soak the ground didn't help. We ended up hiring someone who dug holes for foundations. He had a tractor with a strong auger attachment. The ground was like concrete and dry as a bone 18 inches into the ground. Since then we've had years with plenty of rain and we added a lot of foundation planting and trees. We're hoping that we can maintain everything through this drought. The soaker hoses will be our key to keeping everything alive and use the least amount of water we can. We haven't installed drip lines yet, but that will be in the mix soon as another project we need to do.

Keyhole Gardening

With world hunger and a need for local food production, teaching gardening skills to starving people is a must. I try to envision trying to garden with what I have around me only in the process. In the U.S. we have the luxury of garden centers, nurseries and basic clean running water. Keyhole gardening offers plain smart design. Using a composting basket in the center allows for a constant feeding of nutrients and water to the garden. Grey water can be recycled from household daily use and poured straight into the center creating zero waste of drinking water. With the nutrient dense soil more food can be planted in a smaller space and not waste water and resources. The design seems simple enough that a garden  could easily be constructed by most households and communities. I would like to build one of these myself. This video is one being built in Uganda. This design can be adapted to whatever area you live in. Rocks and boulders may be used instead of brick. Freecycled material may also be an option for those of us in the U.S. for material. It would be great not only to be able to use this to grow our own food, but learn the skills so that we may be able to help others no matter where they live.

Backyard Makeover

In case you haven't learned this about me, I am not a fan of mowing a lot of grass. Some yes, but if its a problem area I say its time for it to leave. This is the entrance into my backyard. Its narrow and is basically a pass through to the bigger part of our backyard. With some sweat and a strong back I now have an entrance into my backyard that I am pleased to walk through. No more dragging the weed eater and push mower through here.

BEFORE:

This is from an angle looking from upper deck straight at the entrance

AFTER:

Looking from lower deck toward grill area

Looking back towards entrance

Its been fun creating a garden pathway. I've been dividing perennials and filling in around the path. I can't wait to see it as it matures. I love cottage gardening.

Great Tree To Attract Butterflies & Bees

We try to include plants and trees around our home that are both super easy to grow and also add some level of use for beneficial insects. One of our favorites we added three years ago was a Vitex tree. Vitex Vitex agnus-castus also known by Chaste Tree, Lilac Chaste Tree and Monk's Pepper -Its hardy from Zone 6a-9b and can grow up to 20 ft tall. It likes full sun to partial shade and is grown for its nice foliage. If the tree is dead-headed it will encourage more blooms later in the season Its drought tolerant and suitable for xeriscaping. BUT, what sold us on it was the fact we saw how nicely it grew in the grassy median of the interstate  not too far from us. If the tree could survive there, we knew it was the tree for us. Vitex tree going into its 3rd summer here American Painted Lady Butterfly (Vanessa virginiensis) Better view of the amazing color of this "Painted Lady" I took these pictures on a very windy day so it was hard to capture the honeybees that were buzzing around the tree.

How to Make a Self-Watering Container

I am always on the lookout for practical and frugal gardening ideas. I stumbled upon a few ideas that have gotten my garden creative juices flowing and I hope they will you too. I have three that I think are wonderful ideas to try. Here goes...

The video and directions for this self-watering container are well written and recorded. This made my imagination run wild over the possibilities of how I could apply it in other containers I already have here.

One thing I can tell you about gardening in Texas. One season you are fighting flood-like conditions and the next, drought. Summers here are hot and dry making it necessary to water your plants in containers once or twice per day. Now you can see why I jumped all over this idea when I found it!

I do have one reservation though and I need to do some research on it. The vinyl tile with what seems to be a glued surface on the back. I am concerned about chemicals leaching into the water, especially when our temps hit 100+ here. It may be perfectly safe, but I always err on the side of caution. I'm sure I can easily find a substitute for this when I think about it in depth. I just need to put on my thinking cap. Any ideas?

How to Make a Self Watering Container

Here is another do-it-yourself self-watering container. This one is based off of the design of an Earthbox(TM). I LOVE using totes for so many things, that this just seemed to be a natural pick for me also. The link I am including will direct you to a .pdf file website. (thus the download of it when you click on it) The pictures and instructions are well written, so you should be able to follow them easily.

I do have a concern about this one also if you live in a hot climate. Although most of us have PVC for water pipes, there has been concern that PVC may have the potential to leak harmful chemicals into the water. So, do the research yourself and do what you are comfortable with when building this. Of course PLASTIC itself has raised a lot of concern in recent years about how it affects our health. So, that said, I still think that all of these plans are worth trying even if you modify them to your standards of safety.

Here's the link to make your own: Self-Watering Tote

I really like the professional look of the next self-watering container. It is huge also! I believe the container is a 30+ gallon tote. This is a great size to grow tall vining plants such as tomatoes. The size of the base will help in keeping the plant from toppling over in windy conditions. The video and instructions are very well made also.

Welcome to Tomato Festival's EarthTainer(TM)

Hopefully this will give both of us some garden projects to do while the weather is cold and yucky. I am looking forward to getting started!