Transitioning Your Vegetable Garden

 

Texas is fortunate to have four growing seasons that enables us to have organic gardens year round. Because of temperate climate and the ability of plants to survive from season to season it is important that we look at the plants growing and evaluate if they are candidates to transition to the next season. Currently in my garden I have eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, kale, basil, Swiss chard and lemon grass which was planted in the Spring. All of these vegetables and herbs with the proper care can provide produce in your fall garden and if protected from frost during the winter season can even transition to the following year.

Only indeterminate tomatoes will produce from planting season to season. In order for the plant to produce in the fall you can take cuttings from heathy plants if you are going to plant in another location of you can prune back your current plants removing the suckers and leave them in their current location and do a combination of both. In order from your plants not to burn up during the summer heat make sure that they are generously watered each day and also cover with shade cloths to block the amount if sunlight they receive. Of course if you are just doing cuttings plant them in containers, make sure they are watered and put them in a shady area until ready to transplant which should be the beginning of September.

Peppers can also start in your garden in the Spring and you can still get produce until it gets cold in late December. Cuttings can be obtained to start anew or prune the plants back and leave them where they are in the garden.

Herbs can also transition from season to season either by making sure that they do you remove the flowers and do not let go to seed or you can also take cuttings and after rooted plant either in pots or direct in the ground.

Once you have evaluated your garden and come up with your plan you can decide what plants you want to add. In August consider bush beans, pole beans which put nitrogen back into the soil, cucumbers, multiplying onions, summer squash, sweet potato, arugula, basil, Italian squash, dill, endive, garlic chives, Malabar spinach and taro.

Until next month Happy Gardening!!

Edible Gardening in your Front Yard

 

Have you ever thought about the amount of time and resources it takes to sustain your grass and landscape in your front yard? The cost of cutting your grass, watering and fertilizing can add up quickly and is not very functional use of space. Also it is really not something I look forward to doing in my spare time. This can all change if you consider reducing the amount of grass in your front yard and integrating herb’s, vegetables fruit trees and edible flowers into your landscape.

 

One of the things I hear from people interested in implementing Edible Landscaping is that their HOA will object. But before we take on the HOA there are some subtle things you can do that are underneath the radar.

Evaluate the spaces you currently have and replace with edibles that add color, texture and diversity to your landscape that have the same light, soil and watering needs. Herbs, eatable flowers, berries, root plants, fruit trees and many vegetables can be added to your landscape and actually bring beauty to your yard

Sustainable Gardening in 15 Minutes

 

 

Today we are going to create a container garden that is low cost and does not cost any money. We need the following materials:

Vegetable box which you can get at any grocery store

Landscape cloth

Brown material

Green material

Compost

Fertilizer

Plants and seeds

Assembly as follows:

Line the Vegetable box with landscape cloth. Next line with brown layer , then green then repeat  Add compost and fertilizer. Now ready to plant for plants and seeds. Once completed water Happy gardening!

 

 

Berries, Fruits and Vegetables

Do you know what the difference between a berry, a fruit and a vegetable is? If you follow what the grocery stores tells you, you have been misled.
So let’s begin by defining berry. A berry is a fleshy fruit produced by a single ovary. This means that watermelon, bananas, avocado, pumpkins, and kumquats to name a few.
Blackberries, raspberries strawberry, pineapple, fig, apples and pears are accessory where some of the flesh is derived not from the ovary but from some adjacent tissue exterior to the carpel. A carpel is the structure which includes both the ovary and its associated ovule(s) in a flower.
So let’s now go to berries vs vegetables. Botanically speaking, a vegetables are all other plant parts, such as roots, leaves and stems. By those standards, seedy outgrowths such as beans squash and, yes, tomatoes are all berries while roots such as beets, potatoes and turnips, leaves such as spinach, kale and lettuce, and stems such as celery and broccoli are all vegetables.
We all need to eat our berries, fruits and vegetables every day to get the vitamins and nutrients we need on a daily basis. So eat up and enjoy no matter what you call them they are all great for you! Happy growing and good eatting😀

Empower Yourself

Take the steps to take control of you health by exercising, eating organic food and practicing a  sustainable lifestyle. It is time to focus on getting back to basics. We provide the tools and will help you on the pathway to a balanced lifestyle.