plantings

PLANTINGS
when we first moved to the country n i had visions
of grandeur to plant a large garden for us to eat from
and
for us to have extra to can freeze give away donate
then
reality set it
hail storms destroyed it sometimes
the drought made me make choices on what survived
and
what didnt survive
tomatoes always won of course
then
vacations we took in the summer happened during
crop time
if you dont pick things at the right time the outcome
is not good
potatoes will rotten sometimes if left in the ground too long
garlic will not do well either
onions wont either
a tomato crop can get wiped out while on vacation
a big fat tomato worm can wipe out a lot of a tomato plant
in a few days
if you arent there to pick them off the plant thats left
looks like a charlie brown christmas tree
insects all kind of insects that overwhelm the garden
sometimes if you arent watching things closely

so over time we learned our lesson
drought time insects weather pointed us to where
we are today

we have 400 square feet of garden space that has rich soil
in it
and
has at least 2-3 feet of soil depth
at the bottom are moisture holding cardboard newspapers twigs
tree branches several big logs and lots of leaves your leaves
thank you

each bed has a dripper system that has emitters every 6 inches
all of which is connected to my rainwater tanks that i use
for irrigation
total potential volume 6500 gallons
right now thanks to our droughty winter they are only
half full
which isnt good

i have put a lot of time and effort into this the last 2 years
and
think i have it all set up like i want it
i hope

we plant our gardens all year round
the summer there are fewer things than any other times
the fall and spring the most
the winter more than the summer

we plant only usually what we can eat directly from the
garden with the onions and garlic and potatoes being some things
we store and use for several months
it doesnt  take a lot of work to do that

the tomatoes we plant extra so we can freeze some for use
in soups sauces etc
sorry but those made from your own tomatoes are so much better

i dont till or even use any tools in my garden
just my hands
since the beds are raised and the soil is easily handled with
my two tools attached to my arms
there are no weeds in my soil
since i either made my soil or bought the ladybug hill country garden soil

then
over time ive developed a list of things we plant here at the
country n
so
here is the list of what i have planted now this spring

garlic 100 planted in november and will be pulled and stored in june
to be used all year
onions i use 1015 ones since they seem to do so well in our garden
planted then in  january and will pull them in june
and hang them in what i call onion chimes to be used for
several months
potatoes i used red lasotas
i dont cut them when i plant i just buy small ones and throw them
in a hole
we dig them in june and store them for future use

tomatoes
i plant them in early march or late february
you have to keep a close eye on them so the freezes wont get them
i use a deep hole planting method and 5 gallon buckets to cover them
and then row cover thick type on top when the cold comes
this way i can gain a month of growth before the heat starts

-we plant early girl since they the first to produce
-juliette and sweet 100s which are small and very productive
and will usually last until it freezes in the late fall
-celebrity it always does well
 -multiple different heirlooms since they taste so good
cherokee purple brandywine are the two we always plant
then i pick others some ive never heard of

this year have limited my tomatoes to just 10 plants
spaced them further apart hoping to increase production
boy that is sure hard to do just pick 10

squash we love zucchini and yellow squash but the squash vine
borer is such a problem here and there is really no way to stop it
some years it hits late and some years it hits early
so
ive changed to one called tatume
a heirloom that vines like pumpkin or melons
if picked small like a baseball size its like a round zucchini
if left on the vine it gets larger and is used like a winter squash



okra i plant clemson spineless and a german red okra i got from
malcolm becks garden via my rainwater brother via malcolms wife
they both seems to do well here



cucumbers i plant armenian cucumbers
its a long narrow one that is productive
it does well in my garden
we dont pickle or store cucumbers so these are easily
eaten raw without peeling etc

we plant sweet basal since we use it a lot in pesto cooking
salads
in the fall we just pull up the plants and my wife she puts them
in the freezer sometimes in pesto sometimes in ice cubes etc

we plant these peppers since its what we eat
bell pepper sweet banana pepper poblano pepper
and a mild jalapeno pepper
yes im a wuss when it comes to peppers



we plant egg plants usually the long narrow ones called ichiban
sometimes we plant a standard eggplant



we have malabar spinach that returns from seeds each spring
it runs on a vine up our fences in our garden
it gets a permanent place there
we eat it cook it just like the spinach we plant in the fall
so we have spinach 365 days a year

we have oregano rosemary sage bay thyme planted permanently
in beds
in fact we use them in place of shrubs



so this is what it has come down to
a smaller but more manageable garden that doesnt overwhelm you

the country n organic garden

the organicgreen doctor