Or, maybe I should say, especially here in West Texas! After such cold, brown winters (compared to lower Alabama), the green of spring is a welcome sight bringing with it hope and a new beginning.

Once the vineyard begins to bud and grow, it seems [...]]]> I love the springtime – even here in West Texas.

Or, maybe I should say, especially here in West Texas! After such cold, brown winters (compared to lower Alabama), the green of spring is a welcome sight bringing with it hope and a new beginning.

Once the vineyard begins to bud and grow, it seems as though everywhere I look, there is green.

The new grapevines (Petit Verdot and Moscato Giallo) which were planted a couple of weeks ago are in varying stages of budding.

In the field, even with the drought last year and only 4 inches of rain so far this year, we have wildflowers. My favorite are the daisies, yellow black eyed Susans.

In the garden the beans are coming up.

So are the peas.

And, don’t forget the asparagus we planted last week – the little crowns are peaking up through the soil waiting to be covered further. They actually look like miniature asparagus!

Everywhere I look, evidence of new growth and life are around.

What an amazing Creator we have!

We received the asparagus crowns the same day as the Petit Verdot and Moscato Giallo vines. So, after the new grape vines were planted, complete with underground [...]]]> Our asparagus beds now have asparagus crowns in them! Yes, three 40 ft asparagus rows are now growing. If you remember, we had dug and prepared the beds with manure.

We received the asparagus crowns the same day as the Petit Verdot and Moscato Giallo vines. So, after the new grape vines were planted, complete with underground drip irrigation, John also laid the drip tape in the asparagus beds.

When I opened the box, I wondered what I has bought – they looked like a ball of roots or maybe spaghetti gone bad!

Upon closer inspection, however, there were indeed individual crowns among the mass. I sure was relieved!

We dug 18″ deep holes. I use “we” loosely here. I did not dig a single hole but John, our 12 and 14 year old sons did! Then we made a small mound in the center of the hole – I, along with our 16 and 19 year old did this step. Once the crown was placed on the mound, we spread out the roots as evenly as possible. They looked like miniature octopuses!

Two inches of dirt was then used to cover the crowns (and roots), they were watered well and left to grow. Except for watering and watching for sprouts which are to be covered with a couple more inches of dirt – we wait. One or two years is a long time but I can already taste the asparagus. It is amazing how many yummy sounding asparagus recipes are available – I can’t wait!

Besides being enjoyable, having your own garden is not only economical but also provides your family with a healthy source of fresh vegetables. Our garden spot, pictured above, looks desolate now and the pink flamingos look lonely – but wait until June!

While I am not planting yet, we are preparing. Our garden is [...]]]>  

Besides being enjoyable, having your own garden is not only economical but also provides your family with a healthy source of fresh vegetables. Our garden spot, pictured above, looks desolate now and the pink flamingos look lonely – but wait until June!

While I am not planting yet, we are preparing. Our garden is on part of what once was an 65 acre cotton circle. As a result, our soil must be supplemented. We do this with home grown manure. We have access to a pecan shelling company in the little town near us. Most people have their pecans shelled and leave the shells with the owner. So, we pick them up and spread them in the chicken yard. The chickens love to peck through and find the morsels of pecans left in the shells. (This is a great way to supplement the chickens’ feed!) Between the decayed shells and the chicken manure, we have great compost!

The boys worked on spreading the compost over the garden and are preparing to till it in. You can see the color difference. The garden dirt is reddish while the manure is a rich dark color.

Here in our area of west Texas, we have a problem with nematodes. In fact, in the vineyard, when selecting the root-stock for our vines, one requirement is that it be nematode resistant! In the garden, they really take a toll on our squashes! Our next addition to the soil will be something to kill nematodes!

While we will not actually plant the garden until April or May, the time spent preparing and planning now will hopefully make for a more bountiful garden.

We have harvested enough zucchini and yellow squash for vegetable enchiladas – Mmmm! The beans [...]]]> While many people have been harvesting from their gardens for a while now, ours is just beginning. Yes, I have missed fresh squash, tomatoes, beans and …  But, with all the vineyard work, I am thankful to have a “late” garden!

We have harvested enough zucchini and yellow squash for vegetable enchiladas – Mmmm! The beans and peas are just about ready to pick. We have bell peppers that I used in scrambled eggs yesterday. The tomatoes, well, they are growing and in addition to a couple of tiny tomatoes, have quite a lot of blooms. We put up a trellis fence for the tomatoes and as they grow we will tape them (with the vineyard tapers) to the fence. There is just nothing like fresh garden produce!

I fertilized yesterday and thankfully we got a rain shower last night! John used seven dust on the corn which is just beginning to tassel. Have you ever shucked wormy corn? If so, you will appreciate the value of seven dust.

Since I desire every area of our lives to feel and look homey, I even decorated the garden. Look closely and you can see my pink flamingos – I think every garden should have at least two! I must confess, I had been coveting them at a local store. Since finances were tight, I did not think it prudent to spend money on them. Besides, how would I explain their appearance? I did not think anyone here would buy the lie that they flew in – they are pretty smart and everyone knows that pink flamingos don’t normally fly through the west Texas area!

Do you know where pink flamingos live? Well, I did not so I had to look them up on Wikipedia. The four American flamingo species live in the Caribbean, South America and the Galapagos islands (off the west coast of South America). Other species live in Asia, India, S. Europe. But, my pair is an American variety made of plastic. A sister-in-law saved me from my coveting- she visited and as her gift, she brought a pair. Thank you, Joan!

As you can see, the pots are empty – Why? Because all of my tomato seedlings died – it was so sad. They all died within a week! I posted previously about “Gardening From Seeds” and wanted to let you know that despite how well the seedlings were looking, it was short lived. When [...]]]>

As you can see, the pots are empty – Why? Because all of my tomato seedlings died – it was so sad. They all died within a week! I posted previously about “Gardening From Seeds” and wanted to let you know that despite how well the seedlings were looking, it was short lived. When posting “The Garden is Planted”, the tomato plants used were bought from a nursery. Unfortunately, those also, all died. We are now on our third set of plants and they seem to being doing fine.

After investigating online and with our grape consultant (who did post grad work with tomatoes), it seems I made a common mistake in not using sterile potting soil. It would have been so easy to cover my trays with plastic and set them in the sun. That would be all it took to sterilize the soil before planting the seeds! Since I did not, the moisture in the soil from watering the seeds allowed a virus which was already in the soil to thrive. It is also called “damping-off”.  But, I did not know – live and learn – right?

So, why did the second set of plants die? Perhaps, they had the virus too! The eggplants which I also bought from the same nursery died very quickly. Many times, plants bought from a nursery which are small or have a purple tint to their leaves and stem are infected. These are the most common signs and this may occur at a local feed store or a reputable nursery.

It was a hard lesson. Not only did I lose the money spent on the seeds, but also the anticipation of the fabulous varieties of tomatoes we planted. I will try again next year to start plants from seeds. Hopefully, we will have our greenhouse together and the plants will have more protection from the wind, as well as, airborne diseases. And, I will definitely sterilize my soil before planting!

The garden spot  is  in the middle of the rye which has been planted as a cover crop – to hold the soil from [...]]]> The garden is officially planted and it was definitely a family affair! It took us several hours on Sunday afternoon to complete but I am so excited to have it finished.

The garden spot  is  in the middle of the rye which has been planted as a cover crop – to hold the soil from blowing and to prevent the soil from washing. A while back, John laid irrigation drip tape (underground) where we wanted the rows to be. Last week a friend shredded the rye for us so, all that was left was to prepare the rows. First, using a tractor, John broke the rows which are 200 ft long.

We then smoothed the rows with rakes and made furrows. For the beans, peas and corn, we planted double rows – one on either side of the drip tape.

The tomatoes, squashes  (summer yellow, zucchini, butternut and pumpkins) peppers (bell and jalapeños),  cucumbers, watermelons and cantaloupes were planted in single rows. I will be adding some more tomato plants as well as some zinnias (they make such pretty cut flowers for the table and are so easy to grow!).

We have had a lot of rain this year so far and the ground is still quite moist. To help the seeds get started, we placed a soaker hose in the row to add more water. Now, we pray, wait and watch!

Below is a picture of the finished garden. You might wonder why we have all the buckets and milk cartons out in the garden. They are used to protect young plants from the west Texas wind! The buckets are protecting the peppers and eggplants. They will be left on for the duration of the summer. The milk cartons (blue) are protecting the tomato plants. Once we put up the trellising and the plants reach it and are taped to it for support, we will remove the cartons.