country n news-fall garden

COUNTRY N NEWS-FALL GARDEN

one of the biggest problems right now in doing the fall garden
is documented by the photo below

now this picture was taken two weeks ago
the crack has deepened and widen since then
there is no rain in sight for the next 2 weeks around here
all the rain that has occurred in this area
has avoided the country n

since june we have had no real measurable rain
heck i think in the drought
we got more rain in the summer
i can see it in my garden

i have changed over to a  new way to water my
beds
remember im not hooked up to a well or
a local water system
just rainwater i collected
last count two days ago
i had 4000 gallons left for irrigation

i actually have the drip line from one of my
ac units that drips onto my roof
supplying 5-10 gallons a day of water
that goes right into my irrigation water supply
almost enough to keep the garden growing
until we get more rain

here are my fall tomatoes
the fall is the best time to grow tomatoes
less insects not so hot weather
early frosts are the biggest threat
we have gotten our best tomatoes here in the fall
problem is they have to be planted in mid july
then
babied by watering protecting form the hot sun
mulching heavily to slow ground evaporation

after digging up my potatoes this late spring
i planted a cover crop of black eyed peas
then
in july i planted my fall tomatoes into the middle
of the peas
the peas fixes nitrogen into the soil
and
they provided a shade for the small tomato plants
in fact i never did have to use a shade cloth to
block the sun
the peas did all that
plus
i got enough peas for my new years black eyed pea
meal for a year of good luck

now that the tomatoes are bigger
i cut down the peas leaving the roots in the ground
to decompose depositing the minerals etc in the roots
into the soil
i also left the peas plants laying on top of the beds
then
i covered that with a thick layer of your donated
oak leaves
then
i put in my tomato cages

i water the tomatoes once a week
by adding 5 gallons of water to the 5 gallon buckets
placed between each tomato
each bucket has two shovelfuls of compost in them
the bottom of the buckets have seveal holes to allow
the compost water to leak into the soil

the tomatoes look good despite no rain
i have a drip system to the bed but am not using it right now
as it uses more water

i am expecting a good tomato crop this fall

this is my bed for my garlic
right now its being rested
it has a 4 inch layer of compost under those leaves
with spread organic fertilizer green sand humates molasses
and cottonseed meal
all covered up with a thick layer of leaves

this year i have garlic saved from last years crop i will plant
its organic
its adapting to my country n garden environment
i use the biggest and best ones from last years crop

i have opted to wait to plant my fall greens like cabbage
broccoli asian greens lettuce spinach beets arugula
swiss chard kale since we are still too hot here
once the weather cools again it will be time to plant them

remember here in central texas
the fall and winter is the best time to grow a garden

williamson county walk to end alzheimers

september 26 in georgetown
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