Back to Basics: Backyard Gardening

It's time for doing some planting in Texas! I'm always so excited when it gets warm enough to at least plant some lettuce, greens and onions.  I did a blog on my new Hugelkultur garden a couple of years ago but figured I might go back to basics and talk about gardening from zero.  Some people are new to gardening and might be intimidated by it so here's a little help for them.

I saw a post about an east Texas planting schedule and it made me think about planning my 2016 garden. If you've never gardened, you might not know that the US is organized into USDA Zone Maps. In order for you to be successful you need to determine your zone and know which seeds to plant and when and which plants will or will not grow in your zone - here's a link to that. I like to buy heirloom seeds and I found a nice link to an educational guide on planting timetables.

Now that you have info on determining your Zone and planting timetables, you need seeds.  I used to think a seed was a seed and they were all the same and off I'd go to Walmart and buy seeds until I learned the difference between GMO, hybrid and heirloom seeds.  It's a lengthy and involved explanation and not one I feel qualified to explain so here's an excellent link to a discussion on the subject of the fundamental difference and why it's VERY important to know the difference!!! http://www.foodrenegade.com/hybrid-seeds-vs-gmos/

I don't mind using hybrid seeds if I don't care if I save the seeds from year to year. In fact, I always buy hybrid corn seeds because I have never found an heirloom corn that is as nice as the hybridized ones are. But I prefer heirloom seeds (except corn) because once you buy them you never have to buy them again.  They are healthy and hardy strains that you can save them from year to year for centuries - just like your ancestors did.  As for GMO's, in my opinion they are just evil and unnatural and I NEVER buy them.

I've only bought from a small number of heirloom seed companies but there are hundreds, if not thousands, of them out there. Be selective though because there are many companies jumping on the prepper/survivalist bandwagon and they are often overpriced and have inferior quality seeds. I've also randomly ordered seeds from Amazon if I wanted something specific that I couldn't locate anywhere else and had good luck with that. I got a flashy catalog from Johnny's Seeds a couple of weeks ago but they don't have many heirloom seeds so I didn't bother looking at the catalog (sorry Johnny).

My list in no particular order::
Victory Seeds Company - very good selection, great results, large amount of seeds per order too
Bakers Rare Seeds Company - excellent selection, has rare seeds, very good results
Heirloom Seed Company - great selection, less than good results

Now you need to determine where and how you are going to build your garden.  Are you going to till it directly into your soil or build raised beds? How big do you want it to be? How much time do you have to dedicate to your garden? How will you water it? What about animals in your area? Do you need a fence to keep them out? What are your favorite vegetables? How will you preserve the surplus?

(Bruce Lambsbaugh)

There are more than a few things to think about but, thank goodness, it's not rocket science.  If you're 100% brand new to gardening, you might build a few small raised beds to start with or if you have some flower bed space you can dedicate to vegetables, plant there.  Just start somewhere and the rest will fall into place on its own. As for me.... I do raised bed gardening because it's just easier than tilling and weeding a big area and much easier to water.  My beds are made of 2x6 untreated lumber and are about 2 years old.  They were great that first year but last year the gophers found it and I lost most all of my plants.  This year I dug up the beds and put 1/2" hardware cloth down and refilled the beds.  Hopefully that will keep the buggers out. I have my entire garden fenced in so deer and rabbits don't eat it all and that has been the best decision ever!  Also the wood has begun to rot this year so I plan to use treated lumber (yes, yes I know but there are varying opinions on the chemical issue) with the inside covered with heavy plastic sheeting. I implemented the Hugelkultur method to reduce the amount of watering I had to do but found it's just too stinkin' hot here in the summer for that to be completely effective. Since starting the raised bed garden, I have used heirloom seeds (except corn) with excellent results. I save many seeds each year but find that I never have to plant tomatoes or arugula because they readily reseed themselves. Heirloom seeds WANT to live so badly they just reseed themselves lol.  I look for heirloom seeds everywhere I go. Last July I went to France and since their government does not allow GMO's (unlike the United States) and the farmers don"t use hybridized seeds (I asked), I saved the seeds from a couple of varieties of tomatoes and plan on planting them this year!!

How much to plant?  I live alone but my grown children and their families live nearby so I plant enough to feed us all if that should become necessary and the picture at the very top is my actual garden. I have 5 raised beds and I stagger my plants. By that I mean I plant tallest in the middle (like corn or okra) and then shorter plants next to that (like peppers, peas or tomatoes) then the very smallest (like lettuce or greens) on the outer edges.  I fringe every bed with onions, as well.  Herbs are grown in separate beds against the front fence and melons are grown along the back fence.  Since the photo was taken in 2014, I have added 2 fig trees and a loquat tree in the garden too.  They'll give some much needed afternoon shade for the veggies.

Now you have the tools you need to start.  Get your seeds ordered, decide on your spot and whether it's going to be soil or raised bed and get started.  There's nothing like eating fresh green peas in early May or biting into a red tomato still warm from the sun and knowing you did that yourself.  Go out there and make a life you can nourish yourself with.