Forever gardening!

Category: Yard work! | Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2013 8:37 pm

I like living here in Texas because it means that I can garden all year around. True, some months are a bit difficult but we work around the difficulties and garden any way. I had a fall garden that was doing well until the grasshoppers came and ate it. As soon as we had a freeze and the grasshoppers left I planted another fall garden. It was really a winter garden but I called it a fall garden because I planted cool weather crops like swiss chard and kale and spinach and carrots. Things that don't mind a little cold and frost. We didn't get much rain and I had to water it. People look at you a little funny when they drive past and see you out with a hose in January and February. But, we got some stuff to eat from it. In January I planted sugar snap peas and they've done well. I only planted two four foot rows. I should have planted more though. I put some in the freezer and we have them with meals, mixed in with the meat or in soup. I'm still getting a handful every two or three days.They are looking a little sad and I keep thinking I should pull them out and put something else in there but as long as they are supplying enough peas to put in with the soup or the salad I'll leave them grow and water them when I water everything else. I got the potatoes planted in February and they seem to be doing well. I've only did potatoes a couple of times so I'm not sure when they need more dirt shoved around them. They look happy so mostly I just water them. I dug the back garden and weeds grew while I was deciding when to plant it so I dug it again. I planted some zucchini and yellow squash. They got a light frost once because I didn't check the weather and some didn't survive but that's okay. We didn't need 16 zucchini plants any way. I have about 8 now and 7 or 8 yellow squash. I have 5 Black Beauty eggplant, 3 Japanese eggplant (two blossoms already), 4 green pepper plants, 13 cucumber plants (some got frosted), more sugar snap peas along the fence, lettuce, carrots, swiss chard and beans. This is the back garden. I wonder how there can be room for grass and weeds but they keep trying to intrude and I keep insisting they go away. In the front yard gardens, I have the potatoes, 26 tomato plants and 9 cantaloupe. I bought some plants in little four paks and some had more than one plant in a section. I separated some of them if they weren't too intertwined but if they were I just planted two together. There are really 36 tomato plants. If they do well we will have some for salad and some for making stewed tomatoes or sauce for winter.
Sunday, we went to Home Depot for something and they had marigolds on sale. I bought two flats of them and yesterday I interplanted them with the tomatoes. They are spring and fall bloomers but maybe I can keep the plant from dying through the summer and they will help the tomatoes with nematodes, etc. I dug up two round flower beds in the front yard and put four o'clocks in one and the other has some lettuce still growing so I haven't put anything in it yet. There are some wild spider plants growing here and there in the yard and I'm thinking of digging them and putting them all in that bed, corral them, sort of. I like spider plants and had them in pots when we lived in Arizona. There is a little Indian Paint Brush that has come up in the middle of the yard and I want to move it out of the direct path, too. I have petunias in two beds and put some flower seeds in with them to fill in empty spaces. I still have some nastursiums to plant and dr has a grape vine that he wants to plant. We do not have a big yard and it's getting pretty filled up so it's going into the front yard and we'll start a small arbor with it and get another one for company. I finally got the weeds pulled out of the bed at the end of the house and some freesia and some iris are still blooming. The daffodils bloomed back in late January, early February but there are still some plants that are taking their time dying out so I can cut them off. I hoed in between what was left and mixed up seeds from a lot of annuals and scattered them in there and watered them good. I like flowers, too. Today, I went out and cut scrubby brush and devil's whip. Those things really grow fast. I don't work fast enough any more to keep up with them. During the winter I bought a couple bird feeders at a yard sale so dr built a frame in the front yard under the trees and I hung them up. There are cardinals, blue jays, doves and sparrows and other assorted visitors. I enjoy a rest break sometimes just sitting there watching them juggle with each other for a turn at the feeder. Some will just eat off of the ground. I have to be very watchful for the neighborhood cats. I planted some Giant Sunflower seeds along the front deck and out by the corner of the house. I'm hoping for some seed heads to hang from the seed frame in the winter. I still have a package of seeds so maybe will plant some in the backyard garden along the fence. Meanwhile, I'll spend part of each day pulling the weeds and trying to keep them from taking over completely. I'll have to water some this summer. It keeps saying thunderstorms but they never seem to show up. I think they are busy flooding Iowa and Illinois and places to the north of us. The sun is shining now and it's in the upper 70's but it says evening and night showers and am showers tomorrow. Last week, we got .43 inches. Every little bit helps because plants like rain better than water from the hose. The rose bushes are about done blooming so I need to deadhead them and pull off the black spotted leaves and spray them again. You see, there is always something outside to be done at most anytime of the year. More so these spring days. Sewing has taken the back seat for now. I'll get back to it though. I've been doing more shopping bags lately. They go pretty quickly and a lot of people are asking for them. I hope everyone here enjoys being outside gardening and wish everyone could garden all year around.

dooley

Last edited: Tue Apr 23, 2013 8:37 pm

This blog entry has been viewed 418 times

Comments (1) | Leave a Comment

You're reading one of many blogs on GardenStew.com.
Register for free and start your own blog today.

Comments

Sjoerd wrote on Tue Apr 23, 2013 11:55 pm:

Boy, oh boy Dooley...things there are as busy as can be, I see. In some ways you are quite lucky to live in that climate. The thought of regular gardening all year round sure does sound appealing. I'm just hoping that you get more water out of the sky...and real soon!