p

If you survived the drought I would try anything. According to the farmer's almanac middle February/early March is the best. Good luck this year. p

nclauri

We were renting the past couple of years and had a small garden. Our problem was we tried to crowd too much into a small space. The soil was very fertile and I had a hard time walking between the row. I did put vine plants such a cucumbers on a trellis system last year and it worked pretty good. We just purchased a home of our own and have been told the deer are terrible in the area. So I may not plant a garden next year. Good luck with yours!

katykwilt

Don't forget your county extension office -- the horticulturist there can help with soil testing, determining the content of the local soil and what grows best in it or how to enrich it. They helped me with my blueberry bushes -- our soil was too sandy.

Lots of good ideas here!!!

petlover

Best advice I can give is compost---Lots of compost.

lab fairy

I have found that not all states have the same levels of "extension agency assistance" so I agree with you on your assessment that much of what you find is targeting ranchers.

There are soil testing kits that are available for people to test their own soil samples (check seed catalogs or online sources if you can't find one locally). These are pretty simple (they use color matching for most tests) and get the basic information. You definitely need to test the pH of your soil. Compost is always a good idea for Texas (or anywhere else) because nutrients are used up as gardens grow. We mulch the heck out of our gardens (hay straw used to be cheap but not this year). The great thing about mulch is you work it into the soil after the growing season and it breaks down (slow composting).

Cold crops are great. Don't forget herbs (mine grow year round usually). You might have good luck with square foot gardening or "hills" rather than rows. The plants shade each other's roots and along with the mulch reduce the need for extra watering. Good luck.

sewlisa

Find a local farmer and ask him (or her ) to take a tractor and place a scoop of cow manure in an out of the way location to compost for a while. Then take the compost and rototill it into your garden. Excellent fertilizer and a good way to enrich your virgin soil. We have a prolific garden every year because DH does this with manure from our farm.

wanda lou

Can't wait to start planting. I will be watching this thread.

kateyb

We are close to the desert here. I plant the tomatoes where they get afternoon shade. They seem to do better. I really like the Cherokee Purple Heirloom tomatoes. Yummy!!!
Mulch lots. Put a soaker hose under the mulch.

KathyPhillips

We now live in Galveston, TX, but moved from Bell Co., Temple, TX, not too far from you. Both areas did not have enough water this year for a garden, and had way too much sunshine! I love sunshine, but it can really be rough on gardens if there is no shade.

Kathy

TanyaL

For those of you who said last summer that you lost your gardens due to the heat; that everything burned up, what are you planning on doing differently this year so that you don't lose it all to the heat in the middle of the summer?