| Another month has come and gone and its again another much anticipated "Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day". A day that is hosted by May Dreams Gardens each 15th of the month. Everyone posts what is blooming in their yard at that time. June is another exciting month of blooming. Here is what is blooming in my yard:
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Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - June 2011
Gardening in North Texas
Having come from farm country in Illinois to the wilds of Texas was quite an adjustment to my thinking of how to garden. Thinking of vegetable gardens as a huge spring planting event followed by a slow growing season that extends through a big portion of the summer. It was and still is where my mind automatically wants to go in planning. Its been hard to get used to for me so I thought I would pass on some tips to non-native Texans wanting to garden here. I can only give an account for North Texas, so if you live in other parts of the state you will have to contact your local county Extension office for planting dates.
Vegetable Gardening:
- There are two short gardening seasons. One is spring, the other in fall
- Cole crop vegetables like broccoli tend to bolt faster if planted in the spring garden because our soil heats up so fast.
- Spring planting starts as early as late-January to early-February which includes onions then potatoes, broccoli, lettuces, peas. Warm season plants like tomatoes and peppers are best planted at the end of March.
- Varieties of vegetables chosen need to be suited for shorter growing seasons.
- Tomatoes can be a challenge to grow here. Temperature changes seem to be the culprit to tomato production. If our temperature here doesn't stay mid-range long enough we miss bloom set time. If it gets too hot too fast the plants nearly shut down as far as growth. Tomatoes don't like it too hot. With the late spring freezes we've had over the past few years, special care needs to be taken to protect plants that are prone to freezing.
- Fall planting starts as early as June and that's only to direct sow tomato seeds. Most of the warm season vegetables aren't planted until late July into August. The rest follows all the way to October for cool season vegetables.
- Watering gardens is required. The rain nearly shuts off in June and doesn't really pick back up until September. Drip irrigation and soaker hoses are some of the best methods because there is less evaporation and it wastes the least amount of water. Overhead watering will do, but it makes plants more prone to diseases.
- People here report that fall vegetable gardening is preferred because of insect issues being reduced.
- Guide for growing vegetables here Aggie Horticulture Home Vegetable Gardening and a nice printable vegetable guide.
Having a bit of foreknowledge of what to expect helps to better prepare for each season. Each region has its unique challenges and it doesn't hurt to get familiar with some seasoned gardeners or your local master gardening program for more information.
What are your gardening challenges for your area?
Local Harvesting Seasons
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| Apples On The Tree by Jeanette ONeil |
Looking out at my apple and pear trees this morning reminded me of trips to the orchards as a kid. Back then and still is, its normal to be attuned to what is in season. Talk spreads around the community about what orchards are ready and if someone has pecans or flats of strawberries for sale. Seasons of strawberries, peaches, blueberries, cherries, apples and all are well known. Plans are made around the different harvest times and about how the food is going to be preserved. Jams, jellies or freezing the fruit for pies and cobblers are all taken into consideration. Oftentimes much of it is shared with neighbors and family around there. Nothing goes to waste.
I've had the privilege of picking fruits and nuts in orchards and from neighbor's yards. Sometimes all it would take is a promise of cherry pie to an elderly neighbor for a chance to pick cherries from their tree. It was a good trade off for all of us. Beating the birds to the ripe cherries was always a challenge and made us work as faster and not take a day for granted. We worked quickly and picked every cherry we could possibly reach in that huge cherry tree. We were supplied for an entire year if the harvest was good.
Trips to the apple orchard were always interesting. With the different varieties of apples we needed to be taught which ones were ripe and which ones weren't. Green apples weren't always an indicator of it not being ripe, but you sure didn't want to pick one that wasn't ready. I remember learning how to watch were I stepped also because honeybees loved the overly ripe apples that had fallen from the trees. It made for quite a bit of excitement the day one of the bees got stuck in my hair. My poor uncle tried to get it out and the stinging commenced before it was over. The poor honeybee didn't survive the chaos.
Another fun trip was to a place called, "Blueberry Hill". We loved going there. Blueberries are some of the easiest fruit to pick there is. Mature bushes are within arms length for picking with zero thorns. With my whole family picking it wasn't long and we had plenty for the year. Taking them home and flash freezing them was our favorite.
Good memories and a love for eating whole fruits started because of all of this. Harvest time is something I still eagerly anticipate even though I've had to adjust to the change of moving to Texas and its different seasons. For here blueberry and blackberry season is upon us. My plans to go to a local blueberry farm are in the mix so hopefully I can have enough for the year. The freshness of the fruit and cost comparison to grocery stores make picking your own a winner all around.
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| This is a chart for ALL of Texas!! |
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We've Come A Long Way
One thing about blogging about our happenings here is that you get to look back and see how far you've come. It seems like from a day to day basis that we are always in an uphill battle trying to undertake a huge project or fix something that's come up. I've been looking through some older pictures and here is what I found.
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| Fall 2008 |
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| Spring 2011 |
Of course we are still working to finish out many of the areas, like in front of the shed, under the willow tree and also build an arbor for the wisteria to grow over. Its all time, money and materials. It does encourage me to see photos like this. The willow tree has really grown and our field of a backyard is feeling more cozy and useful. We are hoping to replace more of the lawn with raised beds as time goes.
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Smart Gardening
| I love efficiency. With limited time and resources, smart planning helps to maximize what you can do and reduce waste. I study urban garden design because it forces people to be more creative with smaller spaces. When you can make a space efficient and pleasing to the eye then in my opinion you've succeeded. These urban practices can be applied anywhere, whether you live in the city or in the country. Patti Moreno from Garden Girl TV is one of my favorite designers of efficient gardening. She does a great job of presenting ideas that we all can apply somewhere in our own backyards or apartments. Today I'm sharing "Raised Beds In The City". You can adapt her design ideas to meet your needs. I like the chicken houses she's built to fit perfectly on top of the beds. I've seen this done for rabbits also. Its practical design that I think can be carried out into the later years of life when strength and mobility start to become challenging. |
Gulf Fritillaries Are Back!
| I have been eagerly anticipating the arrival of the Gulf Fritillary Agraulis vanillae incarnata aka as the Passion Butterfly this year. Although it is called a Fritillary, its not closely related to true fritillaries. The range of this butterfly extends from Argentina to the coast of San Francisco. Passion vine is their host plant to lay eggs on and then the caterpillars eat the leaves of the plant. Its a good thing that passion vine is vigorous because some years the Gulf Fritillary caterpillar has eaten in to the ground. |
This Got My Attention!
 I was walking over to my car in the driveway the other day and spotted these mounded holes in the ground between my house and driveway. My heart nearly leaped out of my chest thinking about what they possibly could be. Everything from some sort of aggressive yellow jackets, giant termites to whatever else was big enough to call that hole a home. I stood there there for what seemed to be an eternity waiting to see what went in and out of any of the holes and if they were aggressive. I wondered also how I was going to get away if they didn't fancy me hovering over whatever these things were. All I know is I was a bit scared. After a bit a of waiting a larger bee flew into one of the holes. It looked like a cross between a bumble bee and a honeybee. It had fine stripes on its abdomen and was mostly built like one but much larger. It never even cared that I stood within a couple of feet of the entrance to its "home". I just needed to find out what these were and if they were harmful. After some research I found it is called a Miner or Digger Bee. Its a common name given to many varieties of solitary bees that burrow into the ground. Its a beneficial insect and should not harm us. Whew! The one pictured in the link above is the one that I found that looked the closest to the ones here. I couldn't get a good picture of the buggers, so I'm at a loss for that. It would nice to have a high speed camera for times such as this. Upon further reading I found out they really like "lean" areas of your yard where its fairly dry. They usually will only stick around for 6 weeks or so while they raise their young and then leave. I'm happy they are here to help because I can use all of the help I can get |
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