Before the latest round of rains.. February 2005 

Sunday afternnoon

It rained all day yesterday, which is not all bad since I have onion seeds in the ground. Unfortunately other than some minimal weeding the rain prevents me from working the soil. I cannot even work on the expansion area as the ground is completely saturated.

The new area should hold 6 hills for squash, as well as some plantings in between. I will have to do some research to see what is complimentary to squash.

I am using the cilantro as quickly as I can, but it is getting leggy and taking over.. I may have to start drying some of it this week to preserve it. Not as good as fresh but it can help get me through the warmer months.

Rain last night, though not the heavy t-storms which were predicted. Rain was strong enough to knock over the cilantro plants, but not harm them. The cilantro is getting out of hand, I am going to have to start offering it to neighbors. Parsely is finally coming along nicely. That I will not have to give away since I can and will use enough of it in my modified Tabouleh using spelt in place of bulgar wheat.

Peas are blooming more each day, so I expect that I will start to see pods relatively soon.

I started digging up the sod for the squash area of the garden, though to be honest I made little progress. I am sorely tempted to cover the area with newspaper then add topsoil and compost in which to plant the squash, letting time and darkness take care of the sod.. This assumes that I can find the time and borrow a vehicle ot get the soil and compost..

Lemon verbena is starting to leaf out, and the oregano is coming back. No sign yet of the horseradish, which I have been growing only to keep the plants going since this is the family heirloom plant. I need to look into propagation of it so that I can start harvesting it, though from what I have read so far horseradish does not fare well in the heat of the south.

With the onion seeds planted the rains are welcome.

Not much to report today, though I was able to get the onion seeds in the ground under a bit of compost. In the process of planting these seeds and cleaning up the patch of the garden which has been overrun by oregano for the last few years, I discovered some young onion plants, despite the fact that I have never planted onion in this area before.. I pulled one to be certain, but plan on leaving the others, not being one to look a gift onion in the mouth..

Began to scope out where to increase the garden beds so that I can have a place for the squash. My current thinking is to expand the side of the largest of my humble beds by about three or four feet so that I can create about four hills of squash.

The compost pile is all but gone now. I did not get the usual huge load of leaves from a friend last fall, so I will have to go buy some compost to fully ready the gardens for the spring growing season.

The last chore today will be to add organic fertilizer to the beds.

Taking a small bit of time from the job I am on today to weed the primary garden area, as well as the seconday garden area which has lain fallow for a year because of my traveling abroad. Since I am endeavoring to create a more productive as well as more diverse garden this year, I have to steal whatever moments I can to prepare the beds especially since the planting season for summer crops is rapidly approaching here in central Texas.

Noticed the first flowers on the peas which are in desperate need of further levels of string to climb. I have been experimenting with a series of twine strung between t-posts, but the conclusion I have drawn is that they require too much work on my part. The peas never seen to find the next level of twine until I manually wrap them around it. Time to listen to those who have been growing peas for longer than I, and return to tried and true methods.

The cilantro is thriving, while parsely is slow in reaching maturity. Perhaps this means that I can string them along until the cukes and tomatoes start producing so that I can make tabouleh from my own veggies..

No sign of the spinach sprouting, but I hold out some hope still. That said, I need to get some more seeds in the ground so as to increase my yeild as well as the season for it. If I can get the seeds I would like to try malabar spinach (not a true spinach) which is supposed to love the heat and love to climb.

I am also starting to look for a timer to connnect the soaker hoses to so that I can leave the garden unattended for some time, even with the Texas heat.

Young spinach 

Starting point

I have intended for years to follow the advice from so many other gardeners, and virtually all of the gardening books I have read as to keeping a garden journal. This blog will be my garden journal.


To begin allow me a brief introduction to my own gardening ideas, attitudes, and practices. I do not use pesticides or herbicides, or chemical fertilizers. I employ the "organic" practices which I learned at my parents' side so many years ago. I maintain a small kitchen garden in which I am experimenting with different crops, different varieties, and different practices in preparation for a larger garden I intend to have in the future.

While we never have to stop gardening here in central Texas, I have today begun in earnest the process of the spring garden. I ordered a number of plants from Rareseeds.com I am ordering a number of new varieties to try this year including:

Cucumber - Marketmore 80
Squash - Winter - Vegetable Spaghetti
Squash - Winter - Table Gold Acorn
Squash - Summer - White Scallop
Squash - Summer - Early Prolific Straightneck

Currently in the garden I have snow peas, oregano, garlic, cilantro, flat leaf parsely, lemon verbena, family heirloom horseradish, and spinach.