vegetable gardening 101; It's About Thyme

It's About Thyme

tel: 512-280-1192 Jan 14, 2011

Which plant should go where? This is the month for mulling

over plans for the upcoming year. Great help in this matter comes

from Austin's Grow Green team, led by Denise Delaney. They

offer design templates for all sorts of gardens, such as classic, child-

friendly, deer resistant or shade. They also tell you where to go locally

      to see the garden in the template. (For contemorary, visit City Hall for
       example.) More info at grow green templates - or ask at the nursery for
       some of these pamphlets.

Denise is also featured guest on this week's Central Texas Gardener

on KLRU, along with coverage of a garden make-over in east Austin

when 'This Old House' came to town. (Some fine examples of Boston

accents on this segment also!) www.klru.org/ctg/

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Enjoy the natural art of tree bark from around the world, in these

stunning photos by Cedric Pollet: tree bark art (The Daily Telegraph)

Vegetable Gardening 101

by Chris Winslow

For those of you who included ‘create vegetable patch’ in your list

of new year’s resolutions, then I am afraid it’s already time to get

to work.

Yes, this is the month to prepare those garden plots for the spring.

In just a few weeks, you’ll be able to plant your asparagus, potatoes,

radishes and all kinds of lettuce and leafy greens. Just a month later,

warm season crops such as tomatoes, peppers, green beans, okra,

black-eyed peas, cucumbers, and all kinds of squash can be planted in.

Pick a garden site that gets plenty of sunlight and is well-drained,

and dig over the soil, adding generous amounts of organic compost.

If you’re not composting all your leaves, kitchen scraps and grass

clipping at home, then don’t despair. There is a myriad of choices

available at your local garden centers.

Some are made from cow and turkey manure, and others from

vegetative sources such as alfalfa and cotton gin trash. Often you’ll

find composts that blend these animal and vegetable components

together. You should mix generous amounts of compost into the top

6 to 12 inches of the garden soil. This will help with moisture

retention, aeration, and drainage. It gives life to otherwise poor soils

by adding beneficial microbes to the soil. Besides compost, it’s

important to add organic, slow release fertilizer.

This provides the primary ‘macro-nutrient’ building blocks for plant

growth: (N) nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), and potassium (K).

Look for fertilizers that also contain micro-nutrients such as magnesium,

calcium, sulfur and iron. Cottonseed meal and alfalfa meal are highly

effective sources of organic plant food. Both also stimulate the growth

of existing beneficial bacterias.

Other sources include bat guano, earthworm castings, blood meal

and bone meal. If you’re looking for a blended fertilizer with all the

nutrients needed for strong plant growth, Lady Bug’s organic 8-2-4

and Espoma’s Garden Tone are my top favorites.

Time’s getting short and spring garden season is just around the

corner. It’ll be here before you know it! I’ll have my seed potatoes

and asparagus crowns in less than 20 days.

Happy Gardening Everyone!
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