Vegetables Gardening - Growing Organic Vegetables

Welcome to the family. North Texas huh? Up in the Panhandle are? Okay for cool
weather crops in a hot clime Shade is key. So what ya wanna do is reflect a lot
of the sun and heat away from those sensitive. One way to do that is to get a
sheet of Lattice, preferably wood because it can breathe and absorb moisture.
Make a white wash of some poster paint and lightly coat the wooden lattice sheet
and place the white washed side facing up and this will provide shade and
reflect the sun. Now for the soil if you have access to leaf mold and grass
clippings use these as a side dressing and it will help retain moisture in the
ground and between the shade of the lattice and the increase of moisture in the
ground you can reduce the soil temperature by 5 to 9 degrees and that can be
enough to reduce "bolting" of lettuces and other leafy crops. Another thing you
can do if you have a side of your house that gets morning sun but then is in the
shade from noon on through the day. You can plant your cool weather garden on
that side of the house. At one end place a wooden straight back chair and place
a big box fan and set it on low and let it blow through the after noon and into
the early evening and that will provide a little extra cooling. Now sometimes
you North Texans get those rogue cold snaps. So I would construct some A- frames
that you can set over your veggies and then you can just drape a old sheet over
them. If you have any old vegetable oil and some way to spray it, just pop it in
the microwave for about 30 seconds and then into the sprayer and spray the sheet
and this will repel the worst of the cold. As for the sun lovers of the veggie
world water is key. use a soaker hose right near the center of the plants or the
rows. Cover it with mulch so the moisture goes down ward and not into the
air.That is how molds and fungus starts. Tomatoes cukes squash are all pretty
heavy feeders so don't forget to feed them at least once a week with a balance
fertilizer. That is one where all the numbers are the same. like 5-5-5. Whitney
farms and Dr.Earth all produce a nice neat 5lb. box of this stuff if you are a
city gardener and they have 100wt. bags if you are a genuine great big gardener.
Now don't get peeved by the way I share things. I just assume the person I am
sharing with knows nothing. Why because there are lurkers on this site that
don't know anything and learn from my and others postings. Actually I have been
a professional Urban Organic Garden for nigh onto 42 years+/- long before it was
cool to be organic. Back in the day when we created our own recipes for
fertilizing or dealing with bugs or critters. So any way this will keep you
either busy or thinking for awhile.
Blessings
Jeff

________________________________
From: gardensub <mbuna@att.net>
To: Organic_Gardening@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tue, October 5, 2010 7:37:19 AM
Subject: [Organic_Gardening] Growing in Texas

I'm new and live in north Texas,Things are a little different here because
cilantro is a winter herbs. Looking for advise on my winter crops like lettuse
and greens. Also heat tolerant plants such as tomatos and cucumbers that will
produce in the July and August heat. Thanks.

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