All posts by MikeL

Composting, Cover Crops, Fall, Manure, October

My good friend, Fall…

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Even in the south, my good friend Fall visits and gives me those wonderful cool mornings I can enjoy on the patio, sipping a cup of hot coffee, while watching the sun rise. Today was just one of those mornings, although I was running late for work, so I didn’t get to go outside. There is always tomorrow!

Anyhow, it was a brisk 61 degrees here in Round Rock, with the slightest of fog, so what a nice morning! I will live vicariously through my wife on this one, since I know she’s going to sit outside with her cup.

Also, this is the perfect time of year for fall crops down here. My kale, chards, lettuce, cabbage, and mache are well underway, giving me hope for a decent batch of salad greens before next year. Also, if you haven’t done so, this is just about the last week for planting garlic family plants for a spring harvest. Get those bulbs in the ground now! I have three stages of garlic already growing so I can spread out my needs throughout next spring.

For those of you who forego the fall crop route, now is the time to get your fresh manure worked into your beds so it will compost over the winter and be ready to provide your spring garden with plenty of nutrients. Here is a nice table of nutrients across various manures:

Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium Calcium Magnesium Organic
matter		 Moisture
content
(N) (P2O5) (K2O) (Ca) (Mg)
FRESH
MANURE		 % % % % % % %
Cattle 0.5 0.3 0.5 0.3 0.1 16.7 81.3
Sheep 0.9 0.5 0.8 0.2 0.3 30.7 64.8
Poultry 0.9 0.5 0.8 0.4 02 30.7 64.8
Horse 0.5 0.3 0.6 0.3 0.12 7.0 68.8
Swine 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.2 0.03 15.5 77.6
TREATED
DRIED MANURE		 % % % % % % %
Cattle 2.0 1.5 2.2 2.9 0.7 69.9 7.9
Sheep 1.9 1.4 2.9 3.3 0.8 53.9 11.4
Poultry 4.5 2.7 1.4 2.9 0.6 58.6 9.2

Personally, I use horse manure for my fall fertilizing and then throw in a cover crop of rye grass to hold in the nutrients. I have a good friend who has horses and doesn’t mind me coming out to clean up stalls every so often. Regardless of what manure you use, I would highly suggest using a cover crop over the winter and turning it in when it flowers, before it goes to seed.

I’m looking forward to the next few months.

Weather

Once Again, Our Friend Rain Visits South Texas!

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After a long dry period, rainfall has once again returned to Round Rock, Texas! Starting around 4:00 pm yesterday afternoon, the rain has kept on throughout the night and is still going at this time. I don’t have a rain gauge (bad me!), but I have a fire pit on the porch and several five-gallon buckets which serve the purpose quite handily.

My guess, just looking at what was in the fire pit, is that we received about 2-3 inches of rain so far. I’m expecting more and will GLADLY take whatever the clouds can deliver. On a high note as well, I ventured out this morning and was happy to see that my bush beans and lettuce from my fall planting has sprouted! Also, the winter squash and cabbage I planted in the growing bins have burst through as well.

Fall, Indoor Seeding, Outdoor Seeding, September

Fall Planting Season is Here!

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Well, it’s that time of year for us southern gardeners to plant our fall crops. Because of the extended warmth here, you can almost duplicate your spring plantings for this season.

If you started tomato plants last month, now is the time to transplant them. Although some people will claim that you can prune back your tomato plants from spring and get a second harvest, I’ve tried this here, and they grow quite nicely, but never set. So, my advice is to just start anew. I’m not planning on planting any fall tomatoes, as I want to get a good load of horse poo in those beds for spring.

Nom Nom Lettuce

My concentration this fall will be beans, greens, winter squash and members of the onion family, primarily bunching onions.

For beans, I will be planting bush beans in three separate beds, separating them by two weeks in between plantings. Rows will be 6″ apart with plants being 4″ apart in the rows. I have the first bed planted and managed about four rows in my four-foot-square beds. With each bed, I’ll water it in the morning, around noon and in the evening, just before dusk until the first sprouts emerge, then I’ll cut the watering down to morning and mid-day until they are well-established.

For greens, I’ve planted Swiss chard, collards, and multiple types of leaf lettuce, in addition to starting head lettuce and cabbage in my growing bins in the garage. I’ll transplant the head plants after they establish themselves. Down here, greens are somewhat sensitive to the heat, so I’m keeping the beds moist, but not saturated, until the cooler weather sets in. I’m not to worried about critters getting in my beds as I have two heavy-producing pecan trees which are keeping them busy. PLUS, I heard an owl in the front yard yesterday morning, so I might be putting up an owl house to see if I can keep them around.

For onions, I’ve already planted bunching green onions and I just received my box of seed garlic, which will supplement the box of elephant garlic my mom sent me last month. I’m planting garlic heavy this year and will leave some of the beds alone once the tops die off, letting those get established. I may leave them all alone for a year, but we’ll see. I’m also going to try and plant some sweet onions for the fall and see what happens.

The squash I’ve started in the growing bins and will transplant after I’ve hardened them off. Hopefully the vine borers will not be trashing my plants this go round. I’m talking to the local organic garden center and hoping their advice will pay out.

Building Garden Accessories, Landscaping

Fun Backyard Project

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So, first, I have to admit, I’m one of those home improvement show junkies. If I see something in the cable guide that sounds like a really neat home improvement description, I’ll watch it. My favorite shows are Yard Crashers and Bath Crashers. If just find it fascinating what they can do with some of these projects.

Needless to say, this project was on Yard Crashers.

We replaced our privacy fence about a year ago, when we had our slate walkways put in. The fence we had before was falling apart and, for the most part, rotting. It had to be done. Ol’ Yeller is our yard improvement company of choice most of the time, so we called up Seth and they got the job done nicely.

Unfortunately for me, privacy fences have always seemed bland and boring. After seeing one of the Yard Crashers episodes, I decided to build some small plant shadow boxes to hang on the fence.

Here’s our boring fence before:

Fence Project Before

The project consist of constructing boxes of whatever size you want, (we chose 1.5′ sized boxes), mitering the corners, putting them together and then painting them the color of your choice. We wanted a nice contrast so chose lettuce green for the paint. Standard high-quality 2X4 studs were used for the boxes. Nothing fancy needed.

Putting the boxes together was pretty easy, with the help of our friend Dan, who lent his feet to hold everything still while I nailed the corners together. I should probably invest in some clamps so I don’t have to wait on projects until he happens to be in town. It took a few coats of paint and a few days of drying until they were ready to hang.

Fence Project After

A trip to Lowe’s for some mini-planters, a couple decking screws to hold them up and we were good to go. This is a really fun and easy project to spruce up any boring privacy fence!

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Rainfall in Round Rock

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Well, after many weeks of hot weather, we finally received a REALLY good rain storm. Not just one, but two!

As I was driving home Monday evening, I was taken by a familiar, but long-time unseen, sight – a black horizon with a green color cast. In Kansas, this would have signified possible tornado weather, so I figured I was driving into a storm. It was centered right ahead of me, over Round Rock. I was pretty excited as the area definitely needed a good rain and this looked to be one heck of a storm brewin.

Heading north on Mopac, approaching the 45 split, I noticed the typical Texas driver response to rain…. a dead stop in traffic. So, I weaved in and out of traffic, making my way toward my exit and the heavy rain hit. I don’t think I’ve encountered a rain here in Texas that I couldn’t see through. Driving as I normally would in Kansas in this type of rain, I guided my way by the road lane lines, which I could only see about one car-length ahead of me. I could, however, see the red brake lights all around me, so it was pretty safe driving in this way.

After hitting my exit and headin up an easy route home, I came upon my first flooded area – a small creek just past an elementary school. Taking a secondary route, I encountered another flooded, yet passable creek – but a power line was stretched across the road. I ended up going back to 45 and taking the northern route.

We received about 3 inches that night – judging by the water level in my wheel barrow and about another inch last night. Despite the weather sites claiming about 2.5 inches, I think we received about 4 – 5.

A really good and needed rain – Thank you Lord!

Basil, Basil, Health Benefits, Herbs

The Benefits of Basil

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First, I have to put a disclaimer in here. I am not a doctor or a health specialist and the following post is for informational purposes only. When deciding on whether to incorporate a natural herb into your diet for purposes other than flavor enhancement, you should conduct proper research and consult your doctor. You are responsible for your own health and should take that responsibility seriously.

Of all the herbs I grow in my garden, I’d have to say that the one I use most frequently is Basil. I’m not sure I’ve found a food that could not be enhanced by adding a bit of fresh basil. Whether I’m adding it to an omelette, various sauces, a chicken rub, or just topping my freshly sliced tomatoes, this herb always seems to give my food that little something extra.

 

I’m sure most of us know how basil can positively influence the flavor of food, but did you realize the health benefits of this great-smelling little plant? From various sources I’ve read, the majority of the benefits of basil come from the oils contained in its leaves.

Here is a chart showing the daily % of various nutrients found in a serving of basil. (2 tsp)

Nutrients in Basil

As you can see, such a small amount of this herb can be quite beneficial and supplement your daily allowances in a natural fashion, while at the same time, enhancing something you eat. (I find that to be the best part – making my food taste better!)

The oils in basil leaves also contain several other properties, such as anti-bacterial (against some particular intestinal bacteria found in , anti-inflammatory, for symptomatic relief for rheumatoid arthritis, and some essential nutrients for cardiovascular health.

Now, just for fun:  The word basil comes from the Greek word basilikohn, which means “royal.”

 

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The Weather has Reached the Turning Point

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So, the rule of thumb down in southern Texas is that once the heat hits 95 degrees, tomatoes will stop fruiting. It’s been in the 93 – 102 degree range here for about two weeks now and I still have a few new sets of tomatoes popping out. Needless to say, I’m pretty thrilled that my plants bucked the rule.

I’m still sticking with my watering regiment of one good, deep watering once per week, while giving some of my herbs more water two times per week. I’m taking my queues from the plants themselves, seeing how lively they are in the mornings.

I can say that using molasses as a soil feeder is working out quite well. I’ve seen a significant change in my control group. More blooms, greener leaves, and all-around more life to the plants. I’m an advocate now and will start using molasses on the rest of my garden as well.

Just a side note – I’m expanding on my companion planting section and finally fleshing out some of the finer details. Check it out!

 

Miscellaneous

Wonderful Rain

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Many of us down here in Texas were a bit fearful that it would be another very dry year. But, the clouds gathered and gave us some wetness that we haven’t seen in quite some time.

Although I don’t have any rain guages posted anywhere in the back yard, I have a nice fire pit which serves as a decent rough measurer of water whenever we are fortunate enough to have some. This round, I’m estimating we received about 5 plus inches of rain over two days. That’s quite a bit for this area and I feel pretty blessed about the whole situation.

Of course.. there are always some casualties with the onset of a heavy rain. My potatoes are all laying flat on the ground from the water weight. Hopefully, they will spring back up next week, when the sun is predicted to come back out. More rain on the horizon for Saturday and Sunday.

I really wish I had purchased those two additional rain barrels. Hind sight is 20/20.

Cheers to all!

 

Building Garden Accessories, Garden Construction, Landscaping

Pathways are complete

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Last night (Friday), my neighbor was getting ready to pull out of his driveway and told me he was getting a large pickup on Saturday to pick up some granite for his side walkway. He asked if I wanted to grab some for my garden as well – of course I said yes. (Saved me about $70 bucks in delivery fees.)

My wife and I had gotten out early and finished up the barrier cloth and some moving around of some items before it was time to pick up the crushed granite. You can see below what the pathways looked like before the rock – this was with partial barrier down.

Pathways Before

So, we went down to Whittlesey Landscape Supplies (http://www.989rock.com/) – my favorite place for bulk supplies – and picked up half a yard for him. After we came back and unloaded it, we went back and picked up two yards for me and unloaded it in our driveway. We spent about three hours moving it to the back and spreading it evenly around. (There are still a couple of piles in certain areas as we have some things to move out of the way.)

Pretty satisfied with the results – see below.

Pathways After
Building Garden Accessories, Garden Construction, Landscaping

Irrigation is Complete!

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This weekend’s agenda was to complete the irrigation and test for leaks. Friday evening, I spent drilling the hose pathways through the boxes and managed to complete them all while I still had some light left. Saturday morning, we started pretty early, putting together the remainder of the connector segments so that we could assemble everything pretty quickly.

Once those segments were installed, the home stretch was merely measuring and running the drip lines, which went very fast. Here is a picture of the northern three beds of our garden with the irrigation in place.

North section of irrigation

After finishing the drip lines, we attached the hose line adapter, hooked up the pressure regulator and then flushed the lines. Then, we capped the ends and turned that sucker on. We only found two leaks, one due to a badly seated section and the other due to a split “L” connector. Luckily, I had some duct tape handy – have I ever told you that duct tape can fix anything? Anyhow, the split “L” will be replaced next weekend and the duct tape will hold the leak for the time being.

Was a productive weekend!