Making Room

It is almost time for me to plant potatoes, but I had to get rid of all my carrots and beets to make room. This morning I was watching two of the kids, so I couldn't spend the day working outside, so I decided to pull all my beets and carrots so that I could work inside. We didn't have a whole lot out there, but there was enough for me to can 6 pints of beets and 3 pints of carrots, in addition to a few pounds of beet greens in the freezer.

Now that the row is clear I will be putting adding some organic matter to the soil, adding to my drip irrigation system, and planting my potatoes within the next two weeks. This was my first time growing during the winter here in Texas, next year I will have to plan better so that I won't have to tear out my Winter crops in order to make room for the early Spring planting.

Starting Seedlings

Five days ago I planted seeds in a starting tray as you can see on the right. I planted a variety of tomato seeds, a couple peppers, and artichokes. Of course all of the seeds say they will take two weeks to germinate, but many of my tomatoes only took three days! This was a bit of a problem because I hadn't figured out yet how I was going to provide enough light for them. On day three there were just a few barely poking up out of the soil, and when I came home from work on day four they were already all long and spindly due to a lack of light.

Today I am trying to get more light to them, but I only have a single compact fluorescent grow light. We do get some sun through our windows, but we don't really have any windows that get sun all day.

Yesterday I was looking at grow lights online, and was surprised that the entire low-cost industry appears to cater to home marijuana growers. All of the websites brag about "discreet packaging," have disclaimers that "our products are only intended for legal uses," and all eBay auctions are private so that others cannot see who is bidding. When I did a Google search for reviews of one of the lights, every single "reviewer" was from one cannabis growing forum or another.

It seems weird to contemplate buying lights from a company that so willingly supplies drug growers, but when they are half the price of any of the "normal" gardening stores, I may just go for it.

Yes, I could just buy transplants and not have to spend money on starting supplies or lights, but this is half the fun. By growing my own transplants I can grow any variety of plant I want, instead of what the nursery decides I should grow, and with transplants now costing $2-$3 each, it shouldn't take long to pay back the investment.

What makes the cut?

The winter gardening break is just about over as I get ready for planting this spring. The other night we planted seeds for transplants, and I started trying to plan the layout of my garden since I will be planting potatoes in a few weeks. When trying to decide what made the cut, and was important enough to dedicate space to, I decided the inevitable...my garden was too small.

So...today I brought out my newly repaired tiller and added about 250 square feet to my garden. About half of this is a long stretch along the back fence, that is very likely to be planted with grean beans, and the other is a square that will likely become home to canteloupe, watermelon, and whatever other vining plants I feel the urge to put there.

Overall my gardening philosophy is that I plant what I can store. We had moderate success with green beans in the fall, canning 27 pints from a small patch. This spring I am hoping to have enough tomatoes, peppers, and beans that we will be able to put some up. We will be planting potatoes as well, but they are an experiment, and we don't know how well they will keep in our warm home.

Once I figure out how to keep the basic growing here in Texas, then I will likely add some more variety for the garden for fun, but for now I am happy if I can just get these to grow!

Round Rock Dirt

Well, I decided that maybe not everybody following my other blog cared when I pick a few carrots or add a row to my garden, so I decided to dedicate a blog to my gardening endeavors. I am probably what you would consider the average Round Rock resident--I live on a small lot in a dense neighborhood. This can make gardening a challenge since I have lousy "builder special" dirt (read "road fill and clay"), a wide swath of limestone not far underneath, and very little experience dealing with the Texas heat.

As spring approaches I am drawing up plans for this year's garden. I have seed potatoes ready to plant last month, tomato and pepper seeds planted inside, and more to do than I have time.

I would consider my approach to gardening "mostly organic," and "somewhat successful." In general this means that if my plants can't really fend for themselves, I just won't plant them. I don't have the time to go picking off bugs, nor do I have a desire to swath my food in chemicals, so I am in an ongoing quest to find out what can "grow itself" here in central Texas. I do not care if my seeds are organic, and at the present time I plant a mix of hybrid and open-pollinated varieties.

Right now my winter garden of peas, beets, and carrots is in full swing, hopefully to wind down before I need to plant in the spring. I will be posting updates here as I go. This is as much for me to keep track of my progress if it is for anyone else, so don't be surprised if you see excruciating detail here about how many pound of beans I picked, how many fruitless tomato plants I have, or how much cheaper it is just to buy vegetables at the grocery store.

Thanks for reading Round Rock Dirt.