garden news-from texas to southern califonia

GARDEN NEWS-FROM TEXAS TO SOUTHERN CALIFONIA

this is a picture of our charlie brown christmas tree that we have used for several years
i think my wife she got it at a thrift store not long after we moved here
our grandkids decorate it each year for us
how it looks can be variable based on how much they decorate

this year i told my wife she 
this is all i want for christmas
you dont even have to wrap it
what is that you say
well
that is about 500 onion plants that i order each year from dixondale farms linked here from texas
the plants are half texas super sweet and half texas early white

when we first moved here i went to order onions from a well known local seed company from southern california that i used even when i lived in texas
there were the onions i liked to plant plus it appeared they got them from dixondale
so i just direct ordered them from dixondale and have done so for the last 5 years
i have not been disappointed
i also get my leeks from them

here i plant the onions right after thanksgiving
in texas i planted them in january

this year after 8 months of having all my personal garden plot covered with plastic sheeting and a thick layer of mulch and growing my veggies on raised beds on top of this
i started removing all the plastic sheeting
the plastic sheeting was placed to kill off the invasive bermuda mint and cane berries 
so far they have mostly been eradicated

each of my 8 garden beds are a 3ft x 7ft frame
i did this below to all 8 of them

i removed all the soil down to about 1 ft 
then added a box made of galvanized gopher wire that fits in the hole which is heavily stapled to the wooden frame
then i do layers of soil etc  back into the bed
i told my wife she it looks like im digging a grave or something
yea for gophers i said

first i put in a layer of the original soil then a layer of mulch then a layer of unfinished compost
i repeat that layering until i have a bed that is raised about 10 inches above the ground level
do the math
thats about 2 ft of good soil depth

my top layer is good original rich soil and a 4 inches of good organic compost and a dusting of a good organic fertilizer 
this is then all forked in and raked smooth
i then add a soaking of medina garlic plus juice which is mainly fish emulsion and molasses and seaweed and apple cider vinegar
the drippers are added back on then a layer of pine straw is added on top
i like to do my beds a few weeks before i plant them so they can sort of cure if you will

then when i got my christmas present onions i planted them in my new raised beds
the onions are planted 4-6 inches apart and an inch deep
i do a hook up sign and use my forefinger and little finger to make the holes
thats about 6 inches
i say hook up each time i plant an onion

i was able to plant around 80 onions in this raised bed 
we will pull some for green onions as we need them and let the rest grow into big onions
the size will be determined by how our weather is in the spring
we usually put up most of these onions by chopping them up and placing in a freezer bag 
if we have a good season we can have onions unitl this time next year
fingers crossed
i always say im glad i dont do this for a living

then after planting onions in my garden i ventured into the main garden where we planted around 400 onions in our garden beds
this bed is about 35 ft long and 3 ft wide
it was prepped 2 months ago with a good 4 inch layer of organic compost then a dosing of a good organic fertilizer

this was all broadforked in and raked smooth
then it was covered with a layer of straw until we were ready to plant
at planting we raked back the straw and planted the onions one hook up sign apart
we planted around 300 onions in this bed and another 100 in another bed

again we will harvest green onions first by harvesting every other onion
later when the onion bubs finishing bulbing we will harvest let them dry and donate them
all to those in need and the underserved

thats another great christmas  present this year that will keep on giving for months

i want to thank those of you that donated to our seedmoney.org fundraiser linked here
we raised $4000 when you count the grant money that got added to our total that will be placed in our general fund to help raise these organic veggies so that we can continue to grow almost 5000 pounds to donate to those in need

just know your donation is appreciated by all we serve

a christmas gift that keeps on giving

the organicgreen doctor