Photo courtesy of Darrel Mayers
It’s About Thyme
by CHRIS WINSLOW
The new year has arrived with some much needed rainfall. The slow soaking rains of December have been a true lifesaver for all of our trees and native landscapes. Somehow all of the gardeners’ and farmers’ pleas and prayers and dances for rain have worked.
The winter vegetable gardens at my home and nursery have sprung to life with the rainfall and the spring-like warm weather of last week. The cool-season greens (collards, mustard, and kale), cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, lettuce, bok choi, Napa cabbage, radish, chard and carrots are all flourishing.
This time of the gardening year offers a wealth of possibilities for vegetables and herbs.
From A to Z, it’s time to plant artichokes, Asian greens, asparagus, beets, bok choi, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, chard, collards, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, mustard, Napa (Chinese) cabbage, onions, English peas, radish, spinach and turnips. (For more details, visit Texas A&M’s comprehensive ‘Vegetable Garden Planting Guide’ on their Agrilife Extension website.)
On the herb list, we can plant curled and flat-leaf parsley, rosemary, sage, oregano, marjoram, onion and garlic chives, and our salsa favorite – cilantro.
For Hays County gardeners who want to grow their own produce, getting started is easy. If you don’t care much for the idea of plowing the ground or renting a tiller, then I always suggest the more modern option of the ‘raised bed.’
A good starter size is a 4’by 4’ square that’s at least 6” in height. Two 2” x 6” x 8’ boards cut in half and nailed or screwed together is all you need to start. Place your garden frame in a sunny, well-drained location and cover the native soil with 20 or more sheets of newspaper or a layer of cardboard to suppress weeds. Then fill this framework with about 8 cubic feet of good garden soil.
For the soil, a mix of compost, loam or peat moss, and vermiculite will work wonders. For nutrition, add a little bone and blood meal, and some cottonseed meal. This will give your vegetable seedlings a great start.
It’s easy, fun, and richly rewarding! Please come by and see our demo gardens. We are here to help in any way we can.
Happy gardening everyone!
If you have a question for Chris, send it via email to [email protected].
