First Frost - Progress Report

Well...no damage done...but it sure got cold last night!  The thermometer in my garden registered 30 degrees overnight.  That's cold, but not unusual for us here in the hills.  So when the local weather guys (gals) predict a light freeze, with temperatures hovering around the mid thirties, I always take that to mean a freeze is possible (and likely) for us.  I'm so thankful I covered everything last night.  I think I'll cover my tender babies again tonight.  Another "light freeze" is predicted.

I was up and out to the garden very early this morning...the sun hadn't even come up yet.  And what I saw was absolutely beautiful.  There was a light frost on the grass and the hillside.  But my cosmos were standing tall! 

Even the firepit on the back patio had frost.  And the 2 inches of water in the pit was frozen solid!

First Frost

I knew it was coming...it was only a matter of time.  The local meteorologists have issued the first light freeze warning for the Hill Country tonight.  I'm a bit concerned but not in panic mode.  The forecast is only for a light freeze.  A few years ago I invested in some very good frost blankets*.  Tonight, I used them all.  I tucked in all my vegetables and will hope for the best.  I think they'll be fine.  Progress report tomorrow.

*I use DeWitt N-Sulate medium weight , 1.5 oz permeable frost protection fabric.  Each blanket is 10'x12', the perfect size to cover my 9' x 5' beds.  You can buy these many places online.  Just Google it and you'll get tons of sources.  Fortunately, one of my local nurseries carries these so I save shipping costs.  They are durable and last for many seasons. 

First Beets!

My husband and I love beets!  It's funny, though, because I certainly did not grow up eating them.  When I was a kid, I thought beets came out of a can..yuck!  But a number of years ago when I had my very first garden, I planted a few red beets.  By this time, my taste buds and knowledge of food had evolved and beets were no longer to be pushed aside.  I had acquired a taste for them.  So I thought...ok...let's try growing some.

When I roasted and tasted those very first beets I harvested from my garden, I thought I was eating foods of the Gods!  They tasted just like the earth and I have loved beets ever since.  Thankfully I  married a man who likes them as much as I do :-)  That's why I was so excited when I surveyed the garden this morning and found that a few beets were ready to be picked...at least enough for hubby and me for dinner.  Today is a good day.

Roses at Sunrise

I took this photo this morning just as the sun was coming up...

and this one a short time later after the sun had risen

My favorite rose is the yellow rose.  If I were ever to get a tattoo (which is not likely), but if, it would be the yellow rose of Texas (but honey, I really won't...honest ;-)

Cosmos and Wildflowers

A few weeks ago, my good friend, Cheryl, dug up some "Cosmos" from her garden and gave them to me to plant in my wild hill country landscape, part of which created Mo's Garden.  Mo was one of my best dogs that I had to put to sleep in late August 09...broke my heart.  I miss him terribly.  In Mo's honor, I planted a wildflower garden, direct sowing a handful of wildflower seeds and a few of Cheryl's Cosmos.  The wildflowers have not yet germinated, but the Cosmos are growing beautifully.  The rest of that hillside is pretty bare (or at least I thought so).

Cheryl gave me more Cosmos translants, so today I added some color to the hillside.

I think I've mentioned that I live on a hill of rock.  That was made very clear to me today.  As I was digging holes to transplant the Cosmos, I actually broke my small garden pitchfork.  Can you believe this?

The hillside was also covered in stickerburrs.  It was awful.  This is what my shoes looked like when I finished transplanting.  I had to pick off every single one of these burrs before I could step foot in my garden.  Not a fun task. 

To be honest, I'm not sure what "Cosmos" are...I mean what type of wildflower are they.  Well, I unearthed my Wildflowers of Texas handbook to find out.  It looks to me (not being a horticulturist) that they could be either a kind of Thelesperma (Theleserma filifolium), a member of the Aster family,  or a Coreopsis (Coreopsis basalis), also a member of the Aster family.  I've come to the conclusion that whatever type of wildflower they are, I think they are beautiful and I'm very happy to have them as part of my wild landscape.

It was very interesting what else I discovered today.  Although it is late fall/early winter and at first glance there doesn't appear to be anything blooming, when I got down on the ground and really looked, I was amazed at what I found:

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This is a Powderpuff (Mimosa strigillosa)

I actually found some basil growing out there...it really is basil!

The rest of these wildflowers I could not find in my book so therefore, I can't tell you what they are...sorry!  But if anyone knows and cares to enlighten me, please do so.  I'm all ears!

These are everywhere...they look almost like some type of orchid

I guess you never know what you're going to see until you really look.  

Garden Compound Clean Up

Like everything else we value, gardens require maintenance.  The beds are pretty easy to take care of.  Weed, mulch, water, amend the soil...it becomes pretty routine after a while.  What I did today (or at least started today) was maintenance on the grounds where my beds sit.  That area was a big patch of weeds and prairie grass before I had the beds built.  After clearing the area and building the beds, I had to do something to keep the weeds, but particularly the sticker burrs, at bay.  These things are nasty.  And without constant attention to eradicate them, they'll take over a patch of grass in a hurry.

What I did in the beginning (about 2 years ago) to control and stamp out the weeds, was spray the area with brush killer, put down a layer of newspaper, and then cover the whole area in a thick layer of mulch.  Well that was two years ago and the sticker burrs and weeds have began creeping through the mulch.  It was time to do it again.

The process is pretty easy, but it is a lot of work.  I first sprayed the section I was working on with Round Up.  Next I put down a layer of newspaper.  Newspaper is great because it's an additional barrier to the weeds and it is a good way to recycle newspaper.  It eventually breaks down into the soil and just disintegrates. 

It really helps to do this on a day when the wind is not blowing :)  Which, thankfully, today it was not.  Working in small sections at a time, I then add a wheelbarrow of cedar bark mulch (did I mention I have mounds of this stuff?) and rake it over the newspaper.

And that is basically it.  I bet I hauled 9 wheelbarrels of cedar bark mulch today.  I knew I would not finish it all today, but I got a pretty good start.  Hopefully, I'll finish this weekend.  Looks much better, doesn't it?

Preparing Garden Beds

I love dirt.  Ok...not all dirt, but rich, organic, healthy gardening soil, which is why I love preparing a garden bed for planting.  Here in Texas, very few soils exist that are ideal for vegetable gardening.  Amending the soil with organic matter is essential each and every time you prepare a bed for vegetable planting.  I equate well prepared soil with a good soup...if the stock in your soup is good then you're likely to produce a great soup.  If your stock is lousy, then chances are your soup is going to be lousy too. 

To begin with, create a bed with a minimum of 12 inches of good soil.  This 12 inches should be a mix of 50% organic matter and 50% good gardening mix.  It's a little pricey to get started, but a properly prepared bed with good soil will save you tons of labor and provides instant success.  And in subsequent years, it's simply a matter of amending the existing soil.  You don't have to start from square one.  Most local landscape companies will deliver soil to your back yard.

My beds are already well established and I do have good soil.  So when I prepare a bed for new planting, I simply add organic matter. 

The first thing I do is clean out all the weeds.  Since I've mulched it pretty well when I put the bed to "sleep", there aren't many weeds to remove. 

I then rake the mulch to one side of the bed and remove all the big pieces of cedar bark.  I use cedar bark mulch in all my beds.  As I've said, I have *mounds* of this stuff.

Next I pull out my trusty Mantis Tiller/Cultivator.  This thing is great.  It's small, lightweight, easy to use and reliable.  I can't imagine gardening without it. 

Adding organic matter is next.  I use Ladybug Soil Revilalzer Compost mix.  I love this stuff.  It's a mixture of hummus compost, composted cow, turkey and horse manure, granite sand (a small amount to mineralize and improve drainage), and humates for long term, slow release of humic acid, which stimulates microbial activity.  This mixture is organic and contains no bioSolids (sewer sludge).  It's made in Austin.

My beds are 9' x 5' and I add 4 bags each and every time I prepare a garden bed.  The general rule is to spread 2" over the soil and till to a depth of 6-8".  For heavy clay soils, 4-6" of organic matter can be added.

I rake the mixture evenly over the bed and till it in until the soil is loose and well aerated.

I made an exciting discovery as I was working the compost into the soil...the bed was full of earthworms!...big and squirly!  I was so happy to see that.  Earthworms are a sign that your soil is healthy and full of organic matter.

After the compost was well worked into the soil, I raked it one more time and that's it...I was done.

Isn't this beautiful dirt?  Like I said, I love dirt :)

Greenhouse First Inhabitants

This past summer wonderful hubby bought me an early Christmas present--a 9' x 12' greenhouse!

Beautiful, eh?

I'm so happy to finally have one.  It will be wonderful to house my patio plants and citrus trees over the winter, in addition to starting my spring seedlings.  We live in the hills and it does freeze here.  But the greenhouse looks lonely so empty, doesn't it?  Well...not anymore :)

I love orchids...I have four of them. 

A Cattleya

A Dendrobium

A Phalaenopsis

and I think a Cymbidium (if anyone knows for sure what this is, please enlighten me!)

Although they do very well in my house, all producing new growth, none of them has rebloomed.  So I did some research on orchids and I think they all need more light, a more humid environment and cooler evening temperatures.  So yesterday, I moved them into the greenhouse!  Hopefully, this will improve their chances at reblooming.  I'll continue to fertilize and water them and I guess we'll see what happens!  If anyone has an advice/wisdom on orchid growing they'd like to share, I'm all ears!