The Garden Post

By Kim Bius

Time, to Plant Your Own Veggies

August marks the beginning of the second planting season. It is actually the fall planting season, but it is a hard sell to tell Texans it is fall in August. Nevertheless, it is time to plant your fall garden. The price of veggies and herbs in the grocery stores has more than a few folks wanting to “try their hand” at gardening for the first time. It is quite easy and simple. Soil, seed, sunlight, and water are still the mainstays, despite every new gadget and product under the sun telling you otherwise. To begin, choose an area for your garden that receives 8 hours of direct sunlight a day. The area needs good drainage and easy access to water, so the crops can be watered 3x a week during the heat. A garden can be on a 6’ x 10’ apartment patio, a 15’ x 10’ area in the lawn, or you can nestle your veggies in your existing landscape beds, provided there is room for growth. Gardens require a quality sandy loam and a humus base, at 3”-4” of depth if planted in the ground. If you are doing container gardening, starting with a great potting medium is essential. My personal favorite is Gardeners Magic (by LP), because it is a “ready –made” garden in a bag, but there are several good soil mediums on the market. If using manure, ensure it is aged and do not use poultry manure in the fall. Mushroom compost is a great planting medium when allowed to set under a black tarp for several months, to kill the weed seeds by heat….otherwise, pulling endless amounts of nutgrass will become your new cardio exercise. Till to a depth of 12”, and form rows 3” tall in long lines (if planting in the ground), and do not forget to add additional humus or compost each season. Now that the bed is ready, choose the variety of seed you want to grow. This can be tricky when doing a small space or containers, because you will have more seed than you need, but the seed will save to next season and can be kept in airtight containers for several years. Learn how to read the back of a seed package, and do not be afraid to ask questions (this is how you learn). The seed package will tell you the # of days till production, which should be at least 10 days before the first expected freeze date. From experience, I can tell you the first freeze has been from late October to mid-November for the past 8 years. The following veggies should be planted from seed now for harvest in October: beans, beets, squash, cucumbers, okra, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, parsley, spinach and eggplant. Cool weather vegetables, planted from seed, that will easily withstand a frost: cauliflower, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, turnip greens, garlic, and cabbage. For those who wish to grow your own pumpkins, early July is your planting date for a Halloween harvest.

Starter vegetable plants will not be out until mid to late August for warm weather fall crops, and the cool weather fall crops should not be planted before late September or bolting will occur. Fertilizer is a big debate and everyone has their favorite. The Texas A&M website (www.agrilifeextension.tamu.edu.com) recommends applying 2 – 3 lbs of slow release 21-7-14, per 100 sq’ of garden area and then apply 1 tablespoon of ammonium sulfate (21-0-0) every 3 weeks around each plant and water thoroughly, provided you have an adequate phosphate level in your soil. If the level is below 8% a more balanced fertilizer with a phosphorous content of 10 or more is needed. Always use a soil test each season, to ensure you are not over fertilizing, under fertilizing or just shooting in the dark. Soil tests are inexpensive and can be purchased at garden centers. If you are having problems with a crop year after year, and inconsistent watering is not the culprit, your soil recipe is probably off. The last point (and possibly the most important) is that growing your own gives you full control of your food source. It may not always be the best harvest, but you did it and you can be proud of your accomplishment. Growing your own saves money in the long run and you have fresh, straight out the garden veggies while you teach yourself and your kids. This creates family time, exercise, teamwork, and memories that can never be replaced by a video game or time on social media. Enjoy the fun! Happy Gardening

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