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It's Not Too Late to Start a Veggie Garden
By Mark Bowen
 It
seems like everyone I run into lately is trying to make every
excuse possible to stay outside since the weather has been so
nice so far this month. Veggie gardeners have been out in full
force gearing up their gardens, and there is still tons of time
to get yours going if you have not jumped in yet.
Here is a list of a few veggies that can be planted the latter
half of this month by seed:
Asparagus beans, bush snap beans, lima beans, cantaloupe, corn,
cucumbers, peanut & malabar spinach.
And then in May, the following veggies' ideal planting times
arrive:
Eggplant (transplants), jicama, okra, southern peas, sweet
potato spinach (plants), Tahitian squash, sweet potato (sets),
and Italian squash (cucuzi).
For a complete list of vegetables to plant and specific
recommended varieties, swing by the Urban Harvest office (visit
www.urbanharvest.org
for directions) or one of our five farmers
markets and get the book, Year Round Vegetables, Fruits and
Flowers for Metro Houston by Bob Randall, Ph.D. This field
manual style book has all the information you will need to get
your garden started or to take it to the next level if you are
ready to branch out.
This is also a great time to get rolling with the following
gardening activities:
-- Mulch veggie beds with screened recycled native mulch or
alfalfa hay once your veggies have grown up enough to not be
smothered by the mulch. Native mulch does a great job of helping
build up the quality of your soil as it decomposes, and alfalfa
hay can really help slow weeds down and it supplies a slow but
steady stream of nutrients to your plants as it decomposes.
-- Get your drip irrigation system in place or repaired before
mid-May arrives. If you prefer to water manually, consider
getting a hose bib added in the immediate area of your garden or
to the end of each bed.
-- If you have not built your beds yet, I recommend constructing
4-5 feet wide beds with 3-4 feet wide paths in between them that
are raised 8 inches high with compost enriched bedding soil.
Common bed lengths range from 12-20 feet.
-- Consider using two layers/courses of concrete
Windsor
Wall border retainers to hold your soil in place.
Each border unit is 4" tall. Or if the budget is tight, use
8-inch cubed solid concrete blocks (available through Camp Logan
Cement in Houston). The advantage of concrete borders is that
they are not treated with toxic preservatives, they are
permanent and gardeners can sit on them as they work.
-- Think about going vertical and adding trellising down the
middle of some of your beds. You can maximize production and
minimize pest and disease problems by growing some crops like
cantaloupes and cucumbers on a trellis. You can often grow
additional crops on the bed edges.
-- April is the perfect month to plant native nectar-producing
plants around the perimeter of your veggie garden area to
attract beneficial insects that will help pollinate and keep
garden pests in check.
-- Fertilize most new veggie plants with a balanced slow-release
pelletized organic fertilizer such as Microlife, Earth's
Essentials or Soil Food. On a general basis, scratch in 2-5
pounds of fertilizer per 100 square feet of bed prior to
planting. Some veggies will benefit from more specialized
fertilization regimens.
-- As they say, compost happens. April is a great month too for
it to start happening. Set up two 3-foot cube compost bins. A
common compost bin construction material these days is
plastic-coated wire. Visit the local manufacturer C.E. Shepherd
at
www.ceshepherd.com to get a couple of these
inexpensive yet attractive bins for your garden.
It's best to have at least two bins going so you can have one
that is finishing up and one that is getting started. Otherwise,
many people end up with one bin that is always in process. The
simple approach involves adding 80 percent brown waste (brown
means carbon rich materials such as dry leaves, sawdust from
untreated wood, old grass clippings) and 20 percent green waste
(green means nitrogen rich materials such as manure, coffee
grinds, veggie waste). Cut or grind all materials before adding
so that nothing going in is bigger than 2-3 inches. Avoid meat
products and woody branches. Turn the pile periodically to aid
decomposition and to improve oxygen content (also if the pile
gets too soggy) and water if it gets bone dry to keep the
microbes happily digesting everything.
That's enough for now. I hope you have lots of fun out there in
the garden!
Mark Bowen is the Executive Director of Urban Harvest. For more
information about classes, community gardens, farmers markets
and gardening events, visit
www.urbanharvest.org.
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