Best Month to Plant A Veggie Garden in Tejas...

[M.D. Holloway]

I was thinking that this week end I would turn over some soil and drop in some early boys, cucs, zucs, G beans and who knows what else. I knew how to grow in CT but here in Tejas it is a bit different.

I can water liberally and the area will see sun most of the day. I will till in some top soil and fert. The soil here is pretty much clay.

So brain trust, when would be the best month to plant and what do you think would do the best?

[Buckterrier]

Hey Lube, I can't help with Texas but I grow a garden here in Ct. I'm really fortunate that I live in farm country. One trick I learned from the farmers here. Use 'rotten' manure. If you've heard of it great but if not... It sounds like an oxymoron but it's manure that has sat for a year or so. Pungent stuff but full of nutrients. If you can get your hands on any it's well worth it. I grow Hungarian wax, jalapeno, and cayenne peppers here. Pickle the wax & jalapenos, ground up the cayennes.
If you grow something that can be shipped and you like pickled peppers we'll trade! Good luck with it this summer.

[3.2 CAB]

Hey Mike, I have a friend down around San Antonio, that already has his stuff in the ground. The only thing he is worried about is the frost that sometimes happens at Easter. What part of MS. were you in the other day? Tony.

[Dueller]

Yeah...where were you. Had a single malt and some cubanos lined up for ya.



Tony...pm'd ya.

[Nathans_Dad]

Lube I would say you are coming into the right time for planting...I would guess sometime in March/April depending on what you want to plant. I know tomatoes would do well in the Texas heat...otherwise I'm not so sure.

[mattdavis11]

I'd start tomatoes out in pots. That way you can move them to warmer temps if need be, and transplant whenever. I don't think we've seen the last freeze. Murphy's law.

Never delt with planting in clay, but I don't think it would work well. The best fertilizer I have ever used was donkey doo tilled into the soil, had a bumper crop that year. Call Neil Sperry, I think his show is on tomorrow, KRLD 1080 in the am, he'll know for sure.

[M.D. Holloway]

I was in Jackson on Tuesday and Wednesday then headed to New Orleans. Came back Friday. I couldn't play - had to entertain and shmooz. Next Time I will post and we can set something up.

As for the crops, Momma is telling me to table the idea - she says that she spent 20 years looking at thousands of acres of crops and has no intention of having to look at them again! we shall see.

[tcar]

Wait until the pecan trees bloom. Texas law.

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by mattdavis11

I'd start tomatoes out in pots. That way you can move them to warmer temps if need be, and transplant whenever. I don't think we've seen the last freeze. Murphy's law.

Never dealt with planting in clay, but I don't think it would work well. The best fertilizer I have ever used was donkey doo tilled into the soil, had a bumper crop that year. Call Neil Sperry, I think his show is on tomorrow, KRLD 1080 in the am, he'll know for sure.

what he said, use relatively big pots if you can

You can do composting areas to break up that clay soil a bit. Lawn clippings and some type of manure, cover with black plastic and let it percolate, toss in coffee grounds, egg shells, orange peels, water melon rind, whatever your kitchen produces if you like. Stir it once a week with a pitchfork or something, water it down and cover with black tarp. Sand will help too for drainage, there are even products on the market specificlly for this.

My Father in Law always did raised beds for his garden to get around the crappy drainage in the soil, but he had a dump truck full of topsoil back there.