I had this big idea, I was going to buy ladybugs and let them go in my garden area this year because I always seem to battle aphids. I learned that the odds of them staying in our gardens are pretty slim, and they are likely to become a nuisance in our homes as well.

Instead, it makes more sense to plant the types of plants that will attract the types of beneficial insects we'll need. Turns out, herbs are exactly what we need to balance out our North Texas gardens. I haven't had any luck with herbs planted in the ground. They've ended up crowded out without enough sun to do well. This year, I've put hanging basket brackets along my fence and intend to grow dill, cilantro, rosemary, and thyme in them. Basil traditionally does well around my tomato plants and helps to deter various woolyboogers.

Evidently growing herbs attracts lacewings, ladybugs, hoverflies, and parasitic wasps, all capable of eating mass quantities of aphids and cutworms. These wasps won't sting, and lay their eggs inside moth, butterfly, beetle, and fly larvae. They look like little white capsules on the back of a caterpillar. Just let the dying caterpillar alone and your plants will survive. Of course, if it's a thriving, eating, big green caterpillar, pull it off and destroy immediately, and check for more!

 Furthermore, if you plant your cabbage between your tomatoes, where they can still get quite a bit of sun, cabbage worms are supposed to be deterred. 

Good luck with your organic vegetable gardening. The best advice I ever received was simply, "The idea behind organic gardening is that it is easier, not harder. If it has become difficult, you must be doing something wrong. It's all about balance."

What are you doing to deter pests this year? What have been your biggest nuisances?

How Far Have You Gotten On Your Soil Prep?
It's my third week getting our organic vegetable garden ready for the spring, starting first with getting the soil right on my 4 new plots. As I told you last time, we cut down the pretty crepes so that we'd have more room for those plots. Here are some questions to think about for your North Central Texas soil prep:

  1. Did you see more than 5 grubs per square feet when you turned your dirt?
A couple of grubs are probably not an indication of a problem. Just take them out with your hands and stomp 'em. More than five per square foot needs treatment with nematodes, and that's a fairly simple solution.

2. Have you had your soil tested?
If you don't know what nutrients your soil is lacking, you may run into some obstacles. For instance, your tomatoes may seem to be growing well, but if they are too leggy, you could have more nitrogen than they need. Too much peat moss and the acid could keep them from producing the large fruit you intended. Tomatoes need calcium and potassium, but adding one thing, changes another. Check out http://thehelpfulgardener.com and get involved in a forum that addresses that problem. You can find me under Susanluvs2garden. I'm learning about potatoes right now, and have discovered that they need the acid, so I added extra peat to their plot. You want your ph to be whatever is optimal for what you're growing. If you're adding wood ash to your compost pile, you are dealing with a more alkaline ph.

3.     Did you purchase additional soil so that you are working with 12-18" of good dirt?
We bought 2sq yds from http://livingearth.net to fill in the additional 6" or so needed for the new plots after turning our original soil. We will need more next weekend because we have 2 unfinished plots, one of the original group of three, and an additional west side area we want to try squash in.
 
4.  Did you add a nice 2-3 inch compost layer to your beds?
That will really make your soil nice, but you need to let it rest before you add your seedlings for about 1-2 weeks. It won't matter if you're planting seeds, but you should start tomatoes, squash, beans, and peppers, indoors first, and let them harden off gradually.

If you're truly ready, and just waiting for the season to contribute the right amount of sunlight and warm earth, then your soil will be dark, rich, and smell good. No visible trace of unfinished compost or rocks should be in your bed. If your compost didn't finish cooking, the energy will go into further breaking down your dirt, instead of fortifying your plants. That's fine if you're going to wait a couple of weeks yet.
 
Don't forget that raised beds warm up faster. Right now we can begin potatoes, onions, broccoli, and cauliflower, cabbage, and lettuce. Not sure about carrots, but I'm going to try all of these starting next week. I've saved our 2 & 3 liter plastic soda bottles and will be cutting them in ½ for small greenhouse-type protection from the weather, but also to keep the varmints off of them while they start. When they get bigger, we'll use framework and bird netting. Will tell you more about that in my next posts.
 
Is your soil ready? What amendments will you need? Scroll down and tell us about it!

 

 

After the wind, rain, freezing temps, and critters ravaged what was left of last season's vegetable garden, I took some time to make plans and take some action concerning my existing plots. Now, with clear vision, I am (if possible) even more excited than I was last blog.

I really love the potential the earth has each season. I love the way it smells, and the way it looks when you get the area just right before planting…and I really love the planting.
 
Randy and I decided to take advantage of the area across from the existing plot because it gets longer sunlight and doubles our current area. We knew eventually the crepe myrtles would have to go, but it was a very hard decision. I had 5, and I would say at times, they loved me more than my kids. The bright pink colors really stirred me in the mornings, great with coffee. I'll miss them like a good friend.

I digress.
 
Please know, my fellow North Central Texas newbie gardeners, it's a lot of work, but if you wrap your head around it early enough, it will be well worth the effort. I learned from my friend at http://organicgardensite.com that one of the characteristics of an organic garden done right, was that it was less work to operate, not more.

That being said, preparation makes all the difference. When something starts to happen that freaks you out, knee-jerk reactions can cost you your vegetables. The first thing to do is know what you're dealing with in regards to your dirt.

So, even though you won't be starting your seedlings for another month, you need to know what your soil will need to help your plants along. That differs between your plants. That's why I like to work with several raised beds instead of one large plot.

1.You can work around everything well, and
2.You can prepare for the unique needs of each type of plant.
 
Make sure you either buy a soil test kit online from www.gardensalive.com, or take a sample to Callaway's Nursery, unless of course, you've been at it long enough to know the symptoms of a nutrient deficiency. Problem is, once your plants are deficient, you're working backwards to fix the problem when you could have been proactive and avoided it altogether.
 
Doing it right promotes healthy plants. If they're stressed out, they'll be prone to disease and pests. It's only the natural course of things to decompose that way. Keeping your plants healthy goes a long way to keeping the bugs at bay! That will require the topics I plan to share with you as this site grows, topics like:

How often should you till the soil?

How do you know when the dirt is broken down enough?

What pests should you be looking for in the dirt?

How do you safely and wisely compost in suburbia?

How early can you start to plant?

How do you decide what to plant where?

How do you get rid of garden pests?

How do you keep the squirrels and birds out?

And much, much more.
 
You'll need to be sure every plot will get from 6-8 hours of direct sunlight. I garden on the east side of my home, so that's tricky. I have to make sure the hedges are frequently manicured, and those crepe myrtles needed constant attention. My garden really needs the early morning hours.

Texas sun is so brutal in the late summer that my garden produces better if I get the hours before 3pm. I'm going to try a squash garden on the west side this year, as they seem to need even more than I've been able to give them. Even so, without those crepe myrtles, achieving the right amount of sunlight will really improve the yield on the east.

We measured the area and installed some decorative lattice between properties where the myrtles use to provide privacy. That really made a huge difference. The lattice is lower and doesn't need so much maintenance. Now there is quite a bit of room to plant.

 I'll be talking more dirt soon! There's so much more, and only so many hours in the day.

Are you an avid gardener? How long did it take you to learn how to manage the dirt? Scroll down and tell me about it.

 

I'm SO excited about this next growing season! This will be my fourth attempt, and I did pretty good last year, so I know I've got this now. A couple of things I've learned:  

 Get that soil ready 2-4 weeks before you plan to sow, or transplant.
That's big time good advice, folks. I'm vegetable gardening in the North Central Texas area, and the last freeze is typically the first week in April. I hate to wait that long and start indoors as early as mid-February.

I learned that while peat moss is great for breaking up our tough soil, it has a pretty high acidity, and overuse can result in difficult plants. I've also learned that the easier you can make it on your plants to survive with minimal involvement, the better they resist pests and disease. The more doctoring after the fact seems to stress them out, and pests and disease just love to naturally devour your plants if they think they're under stress.

So, here's what I recommend you start working on for this season:

* If you didn't clean up last fall, you should get started in the next month. Letting it go after the end of the prior season isn't a bad idea, actually, because the resulting ground cover keeps nutrients in.

* Around the end of January it's time to start breaking up the dirt and cultivating. My garden is only about 100 sq. ft. now, but I've got big plans to expand to the other side of the walkway. The new area will have to be done early because it hasn't been used for vegetables before. Knowing is half the battle! Once I've got my dirt broken down a little, I can start working on amendments.

* A new plot such as I've just described can take as many as 2-3 sessions with your cultivator. Don't get discouraged, just make sure you time it so the last cultivation, or turn, is done 3-4 weeks before you put your seedlings in. Depending on the necessary amendments, you may need to let the soil rest before you plant.  It's just that Texas dirt.
 
The yield is worth it, so go through the process of learning your dirt. We grow some sweet tomatoes, don't we?
 
We'll talk amendments and plotting in future blogs. Scroll down and tell me what you do to get ready for the vegetable gardening season. I'm SO excited!