by Chris Winslow

Happy new year, everyone!

 

With our  two year drought over, and New Year’s Day and the new
decade upon us. I sense a special optimism in the air… especially when
my thoughts turn to gardening.

Promises and resolutions for me – with encouragement from members
of my family – normally include eating better and exercising more. But as
a gardener, for some reason, my thoughts like to drift away into the far
more interesting realms of resolutions for the garden in 2010.

Here are six of my ideas.

1. Plant more trees: I'd like to plant one every month. Trees add value
to a home and can help with the utility bills. By planting evergreens on the
north side of your home, they can act as a windbreak from the cold, north
winter winds. Shade trees planted close to the house provide cooling shade
in the spring, summer, and fall.

Deciduous trees provide shade in the summer and allow warming sunlight
in the winter after they shed their leaves. Trees also absorb carbon
dioxide, and  this can help slow down global warming.

 

2. Plant or expand the vegetable garden. By growing your own vegetables,
you become more self-sufficient – fewer trips to HEB or Randell's, and you 
save gas too. Till the soil, eat the produce, and enjoy the rich rewards to

your health and spirit. 

3. Start composting. Save and compost grass clippings, leaves, and kitchen
scraps, and create a rich 'black gold' compost and mulch for your garden
and flower beds. It's all  free and just takes a little bit of effort to convert into
something useful. Compost will help you save money and limits the amount
of waste that goes to the landfill.

4 Start and expand your use of organic practices. For the sake of Mother

Earth, we must make own composts, and use organic fertilizers, insecticides,
fungicides, and herbicides. There has never been as many organic alternatives
on the market as there are now.

 

5. Start gardening projects with your neighbor or perhaps the community.
Target a piece of ground that’s going to waste and produce some vegetables
for the Food Bank. Reap the mental rewards of volunteering!

6. Besides vegetables, establish other forms of food you can grow. Central
Texas is good for asparagus, grapes, berries, artichokes, peaches,
pears, apples, plums, olives, apricots, nectarines, and pomegranates. These are
all  perennials and will produce year after year without replanting.

 

Well, that’s a start for 2010. I guess today I’ll get started on my first
tree planting after eating my good luck food. Cornbread for gold, collards
for dollar bills, and black-eyed peas for pennies.

Happy Gardening everyone!