Thursday, September 10, 2009

Step by Step Fall Vegetable Garden Preparation and Planting

I have received a request to do a newspaper interview. I figured I better get my information together before the reporter calls me. I don't want to appear to be a fool, at least not to the readership of the newspaper. Y'all know I'm silly, but the rest of the world doesn't need to know, do they?

Here are the steps to creating a fall vegetable garden in north Texas.

1). If you have not gotten a soil test, have one done. Kits can be picked up at your County Extension agent’s office.
2). Amend the soil with organic matter = compost. Work in 2 to 4 inches.
3). Fertilize according to the recommendations from your soil test. Phosphorus is frequently over used. I use blood meal, bone meal and alfalfa.
4). Select plants. My short list is: Cabbage, broccoli, lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, garlic, onions, dill and collards. I also squeeze in one last planting of squash, beans and corn (three sisters) on Labor Day weekend and say a prayer they get to live long enough to make me some food.
5). Water transplants and seeds with liquid fertilizer. I use a fish product or rabbit manure tea.
6). Mulch heavily. I have been using the neighbor’s grass clippings with great results. Shredded leaves make nice mulch as well. I use bark mulch as a last result, because they tend to rob nitrogen while breaking down.
7). Water deeply and infrequently, but do keep the plants evenly moist.
8). Crucifer vegetables are heavy feeders. I foliar feed once a week with a liquid fertilizer.

6 comments:

  1. Go Debbi go! Such sensible advice, and a little free publicity too! Just think how you can cow the Monkeys when you show them the printed article. Suddenly, their mom's famous!

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  2. I agree with Ben. Let us know how the boys react.

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  3. Hmmmm, I didn't quite understand, could you come SHOW me how it's done?????

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  4. Barbee and OFB, never thought about the monkey factor:)

    Nola, Nice try;)

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  5. Your readers may want to visit www.AmpleHarvest.org - a site that helps diminish hunger by enabling backyard gardeners to share their crops with neighborhood food pantries.

    The site is free both for the food pantries and the gardeners using it.

    Over 890 food pantries nationwide are already on it and more are signing up daily. If your community has a food pantry, make sure they register on AmpleHarvest.org.

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  6. I'm in southern California, I am sneaking in some late beans too, but I didn't know we could plant corn this late. Thanks for the hot tip!

    And 'break a leg' on your interview (that's how you say 'good luck' in LA)!

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