Gulf Coast Gardening 101

You have to do raised beds.  I can't tell you how many people I have met who have tried to start gardens by using the existing dirt.  They dig it up and turn it and try to amend it with humus, peat, cat litter, you name it.  While I'm sure someone somewhere has managed to grow something in this gumbo clay, I don't know why anyone would want to go to so much trouble!  Raised beds are so much easier.  Figure out how much space you need for your garden and scrounge up enough cinder blocks to create your bed.  I have nine 4ftx8ft beds. plus one 10 ft. round bed for my melon patch.   Do not use treated lumber for this.  Treated lumber leaches arsenic and you would have to line it with plastic (I know this because I made this mistake).  Make sure the grass where your bed will be is mowed.  Completely cover with 8 sheets of newspaper (not the glossy colored kind).  Fill your cinder block bed with about 6 inches of great dirt - I originally bought a truck load that was delivered to my house for about $150 and was plenty to make all of my beds and then some.  Use a potting soil and compost mix or a good humus.  I would stay away from mushroom compost.  It loses its minerals very quickly.  Plant seeds or plants.  Don't overcrowd your plants - this is the biggest mistake most new gardeners make.  Give them plenty of space and support.  If it's a vine like cucumber or gourds, make sure to supply it with something to climb on.  The key to great tomatoes is support.  Provide them with a good tall solid cage and they will reward you with fantastic yield.  I suggest neem oil to deal with most pests - it's organic.  As for watering use a drip system or place your hose on the ground near each plant and let it run.  It's best to water early in the morning or in the evening when the air is cooler.  If you spray water your plants at 2 o'clock in the afternoon you will effectively boil them.  I have 8x4 ft. beds and I let the hose run for 20 minutes in each bed every other day.   Once your plants are in the ground and watered, please mulch them.  This keeps down the weeds and helps hold the moisture in, and, in my case, keeps the neighborhood cats from thinking my garden beds are litter boxes.  I use old hay for mulch.  It works great and is super cheap - one bale will cover a lot of garden and costs less than $10 at any feed & supply.  Keep in mind that our better season for planting and growing is October through the winter.  That is when we can grow tomatoes, lettuces, greens, beets, radishes, pumpkins, onions, broccoli, cauliflower and more.  Save yourself a lot of headaches by learning what we can grow when.  We are on a different schedule from the rest of the country.  We should be harvesting our summer tomatoes about the time Michigan is planting theirs.  Most of our summer veggies - okra, squash, tomatoes, etc. should be in the ground the first week of March.  For reading, I would like to suggest the Houston area organic gardening bible: Year Round Vegetables, Fruit and Flowers for Metro Houston by Bob Randall, Ph.D.  It is packed with great information, but honestly I read everything ever written about Gulf Coast gardening and didn't start to get good at it until I volunteered in a community garden with a Master Gardener.  The learning curve on organic gardening is steep, but if you are like me every season brings just enough success to keep you coming back for more.  Remember that there is help out there.  Urban Harvest is a great resource for information and things going on including plant and tree sales.  Visit them at www.urbanharvest.org   Donna Faye at Sweet Organic Solutions on I35 in Pearland is very friendly and very helpful.  So is Buchanan's on 11th in the Heights.  I prefer to buy my plants from these and other local sources because they sell varieties that do well in our climate.  The big box stores will sell you what they sell at every other shop in the country, and I don't care who you are table grapes and raspberries are not going to grow for you if you live south of I10.  Good luck and good growing!

Sweet Potato and a friend harvesting eggplant.