My first of 3 citizen gardener classes was this morning. I enjoyed it! We built (and planted) a raised bed garden which will serve as the kids' garden at In.gredients -- the USA's first package-free grocery store, coming soon! We also built a compost pile out of wood palettes (why didn't I think of that?!)
I already have a compost pile and a couple 4'x4' raised beds, but I still managed to learn a lot today! I learned about what kind of soil is best here in Austin (sandy! no mel's mix!), how to best utilize the space in square feet, how tying string around upholstery tacks is WAAAY easier than the retarded looking grid I made for my first bed (and how to better assemble the bed, for that matter: my first bed is pretty retarded looking, so the second was purchased premade!) I am looking forward to trellis building next week!
On top of that, I learned a lot about plants and their relation to the sun here in Austin. I learned how to plan according to the sun angle (just googled this site), how the sun moves in this area and changes with the seasons, and how plants are affected by its position. I was happy to start to understand this stuff and I really need to study it more! I also learned a little more about companion planting and placing plants so that some can shade others. This is something I have been studying a lot lately as I plan my Spring beds, a process that seems to be taking WAY too long, but the perfectionist in me is showing!
One other thing I learned about plants is that, in Austin, our Spring season is short, so we should be using veggie varieties that have "70 days or less" to maturity. I hadn't paid much attention to this! I also learned how to best transplant and plant seeds. I can read as much as I want, but nothing beats seeing it in real time. :)
We got a nice sized packet of information upon leaving that I have been looking through as I have had time throughout the day/night. There's a list of vegetable varieties for Travis County that I wish I'd looked at before I started buying seed! ;) It will come in handy if I end up needing to buy transplants. I can tell this part, in particular, is going to go a long ways toward helping me finally get that Spring plan done:
Plants that are OK in Partial Shade
beets
brussels sprouts
cabbage
carrot
collards
kale
lettuce
mustard
parsley
radish
spinach
turnips
Plants that are OK in Alkaline soil (most of Austin)
beets
broccoli
cabbage
cauliflower
leeks
lettuce
okra
onions
spinach
swiss chard
watercress
new zealand spinach
1 comments:
I found that varieties list this past fall and couldn't believe it had taken me so long to come across such a thing.
Then I chuckled. I haven't grown very many of those varieties at all!
I did grow Kentucky Wonder Beans this last spring/summer and did not enjoy their flavor. I have seeds if you want some.
I did Black Beauty Zucchini twice. The first time I had fine growth, but no fruit.
This past year I had HUGE growth, and small fruit with blossom end rot. I'm trying other varieties this year.
I would do-over (or am already doing them for a subsequent time):
Bloomsdale Spinach
Hungarian Wax Pepper (This guy was happy in a pot!)
California Wonder Bell (I am not doing this this year. I did it the past two years.)
Trying for the first time this year are two of the carrots on there: Chantenay Red Core and Nantes. Fingers crossed on those...
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