Spring Vegetable Gardening in Austin
Posted by The WHOLE Place on Apr 2, 2011 in Green Gardening | 0 commentsSpring is in full swing, and now is the time for vegetable gardening here in Austin. We’ve got some basic information to get you started!
A garden starts from the ground up, and that means soil. In central Texas the soil is hit or miss. We’ve often got lots of thick clay or dry, rocky soil. Give your vegetables a better chance at success by introducing compost to the soil. First and foremost, stop throwing away your uncooked fruit and vegetable “waste”! These kitchen scraps are useful elements for your compost. Making your own compost is easy with the aid of a compost bin, and being in Texas we’re lucky to be surrounded by horse farms everywhere. Did you know that horse manure makes GREAT compost? Most horse farms are more than happy to let someone come and take the nutrient rich manure away, and getting amazing fertilizer for your vegetable garden is often just a phone call away.
"Fresh Vegetables" by ConstructionDealMkting
Once you’ve got your soil rich with nutrients for those future salads and your garden free of weeds and competing plants, it’s time to start planting those veggies. The best time to start planting in Austin is Mid-March when the weather is still cool and the chance of a late frost is minimal. This time of year the plants that do best in Central Texas are asparagus, tomatoes, lima beans, cabbage, cucumbers, eggplant, carrots, peppers, pumpkin, peas, and spinach. Once the harsh heat of the summer has passed brussels sprouts, cauliflower, Swiss chard, garlic, onion, winter squash, mustard greens, kohlrabi and potatoes do better in the early fall for a 2nd growing season.
Not only is it important when you plant your vegetables, but how you plant them. Did you know that if you plant a hot pepper too close to a tomato, you could end up with a hot tomato? Always read directions and give plants a proper space… unless you’re trying to experiment with a new “Beetcoli” or “Parsnumpkin”. If that’s the case, then rock on gardener.
Here are some links where you can learn even more about vegetable gardening in Austin:
