2018 Town Garden

It's January and all of the seed catalogues have arrived and that means it's garden planning time!   My gardens aren't large so I don't put out a lot of seedlings which means I still have seeds left over from last year and several years before that.  With all of the work I hope to be doing on the homestead property this year, I'm planning a smaller, simpler garden for here in town. 

2016 was not much of a gardening year for me.  I had tomato plants in Bed #3, but working two jobs didn't leave me with enough time for gardening and I got very few tomatoes.  Bed #2 was still empty, and I had sweet potatoes in Bed #1.  Bed #4 in the back yard had a couple broccoli plants and a couple cabbage heads.  Not a good gardening year.

I was much more ambitious in 2017.
Bed #1 had carrots, onions, and cotton. 
Bed #2 had 12 tomato plants. I fed the neighborhood with those plants!
Bed #3 had cucumbers, bell peppers, jalapeño peppers, okra, dill, and the loofah vines that eventually took over the entire bed.  I had to prop the little trellises up several times, and the vines eventually pulled over the fencing.  But even with all of it's rampant misbehavior, I still marveled each morning I would go out and see all of the bees covering those beautiful yellow flowers. Amazing.  I also had several pots with milkweed plants and black-foot daisies, and lots of marigolds.
Bed #4 in the back yard had corn. 

For 2018, in accordance with the crop rotation plan I use, I'm moving the tomatoes to Bed #4 in the back yard.  I had tomatoes in that bed in 2015, my very first real gardening adventure - the indeterminate tomatoes that wouldn't stop growing.  That was three years ago so I feel comfortable bringing them back again.  I'll have bell peppers and jalapeño peppers there, too.  Oh, the tomatoes will be determinates, making it easier to 'cage' them.

Bed #3 will have beans and peas and herbs.  I also want to try rutabagas but I'll need to start them soon so they'll have time to grow before it gets too hot here.

Bed #2 will have 4-5 rows of corn on the back side so as not to block the sun, and onions, radishes, and carrots in front.

Bed #1 will have cucumbers, with the vines on each end growing over a trellis. 

At least, that's the plan.  As I mentioned earlier, I have lots of seeds left from previous years so I don't really need to purchase any this year.  I will need to test-germinate them, however, to see if they're still viable.  I'll start on that Monday.  If I need to order new seeds, I want to know as soon as possible.  As it is, I'll only start a few of each veggie since I don't have room for much anyway.  I'll start about 50 corn seeds and hope to get about 40 seedlings out of that.  I'll direct seed the rutabagas, carrots, and radishes the first week of March.    Again, that's the plan.

In the meantime, never surrender, never give up, and may all your dreams come true.

Still Waiting to Close

I am still waiting to close on my little homestead.  I haven't heard from the title company nor the real estate agent, and I'm trying really hard to be patient.  While I'm waiting though, I figured I could go ahead and do some soil testing.  I plan to drive up to see the property this weekend and get some soil samples.  I'll use part of the sample on a soil testing kit that I can get at my local garden center.  The remainder of the sample I'll send off to the county extension office for them to run tests.  I can then compare the results.

Texas soils range from acidic in southeast Texas to neutral or slightly acidic in East Texas and to alkaline in Central and West Texas.  Since Moody Girl Farm will be in Central Texas I know what pH I'm getting, but I don't know what condition the minerals are in.  The soil tests will help me with that.  The property has been vacant for several years and I haven't seen anything that looks like a garden bed.  As I mentioned last post, I expect the house to take up a lot of my time getting it move-in ready, but I also want to begin preparing one or two areas for possibly planting a fall or winter garden.  Due to the layout of the property - location of the house, trees, driveway, and future chicken pens - I'm obliged to have several small/medium garden beds rather than one large one, which is ok with me since I'll probably be using a crop rotation plan up there like I've done here in town.

I have a friend who is riding up with me - I told him I was going stir crazy here just waiting and waiting and waiting.  In the meantime, never surrender, never give up, and may all your dreams come true.