Improving West Texas Soil

The first step is to clear the soil of weeds. If it is covered with Bermuda grass, you have some work to do. Since Bermuda will not grow in the shade, you may kill the grass by covering it with black plastic for several months in the summer.

In West Texas, your soil, like mine, will be alkaline. It will probably be some variation on clay. Actually, it may resemble some substance in the process of becoming rock. While alkaline soils present some problems, they are fairly easy to overcome with time and patience.

The next step is to level the soil as much as possible. If it is already fairly level, that’s great. If you live on a hillside or slope, you might want to consider terracing. Many very nice gardens have been planted on hillsides. Level soil is just easier to work and water.

Now it’s time to lay out your beds. You’ve heard of raised beds? This is what we’re going to achieve. The beds should be no wider than four feet but can be as long as you like. Four feet is about all you can reach across to work your beds without stepping in them. It is a very good idea to edge your beds with bricks, blocks, boards, metal edging or something else. You need these edges to enable you to keep the beds well-defined and the paths clean. They will also help to hold the mulch in place (more about mulch later). Plan for paths to give you access to both sides and the ends. These paths need to be wide enough to drive your lawnmower down them. Some people use wood chips or some other substance on their paths. This has not worked well for me because you still get some weeds and grass coming up through it. I don’t mind weeding the beds, but it seems a waste of time to weed the paths. It might work better if one put down some kind of weed block first. I have found that it is much simpler just to mow the paths.

Once you have laid out your beds, you may loosen the soil in them with a digging fork. This will be one of the few times you need to do this because we will be strongly suggesting a method where you don’t disturb the soil more than absolutely necessary. The very act of loosening the soil and applying compost will raise your beds a couple of inches above the level of your paths. The addition of mulch will also add to the height of your beds. You want this height for drainage and aeration purposes. You should never set foot again in these beds unless absolutely necessary. Your goal is to never pack the soil. If you have soil like mine, it will do that by itself.

Now is the time to begin a process which will continue for your life or the life of your garden whichever ends first. You will begin to add nutrients to your soil in the way of compost, mulch and minerals. We will discuss this fully in the chapter on working the soil. But now is the time to add the first layer of compost followed by the mulch you stockpiled before you began. Do not be concerned about mixing this with the soil. This will happen naturally as microbes and worms do their work. As the soil life increases your compost and mulch will disappear and need regular replacement.  So save everything, prunings, leaves, grass clippings, compost ingredients and, if necessary, grind them up and use them either for composts or mulch.

Improving West Texas Soil

Thanks to "Treats for Chickens", http://treats4chickens.blogspot.com/2009/06/chicken-poop-photos.html

Keeping chickens is something every gardener should do.  In our case, we happen to love fresh eggs with deep orange yolks…yum!  But I have also confirmed the superior nature of their manure (which should always be composted before using in your garden).

It was an unintended experiment.

Knowing I would run out of my homemade compost, I purchase a couple of bags of cotton-burr compost (we grow a lot of cotton in these parts) which I used when I set out the kale seedlings (dig a hole, fill it with compost, set the seedling in the middle of it).  A couple of days earlier, I had set out kale, collard and broccoli seedlings in my homemade mixture (the usual components plus chicken manure).  The difference is striking.  The fortunate seedlings set out in my mixture are twice the size of those set out in the store-bought compost.

I would show you photos but the beds need weeding.  Maybe later.

In the Charamon Garden we must deal with several very successful interlopers: In addition to the ever-present Bermuda grass, there is Khaki Burr Weed and Nutgrass (aka Nutsedge).  Khaki Burr Weed is successful because it grows thickly and quickly, produces thousands of seeds (terrible little stickers) and has a long taproot.  Nutgrass is successful because of the way it reproduces.  An inch or so below the base of the plant a “nut” or tuber develops.  That tuber immediately sends out side rhizomes to form another plant several inches away.  It develops a nut and continues the process (see photos).  The rhizomes become so thin that when you pull the plant out, it easily breaks leaving its “children” to develop independently.  And so the circle of life continues.  If you leave it alone you will soon have a “lawn” of nutgrass in your garden.  You have to admire this particular enemy…a worthy adversary.

Nutgrass, Khaki Burr Weed and Bindweed are well established in the Charamon Garden.  The best we can hope for is control.  It would be great if we could pull them and compost them but that would simply scatter their seeds and rhizomes.  The only option left is to trash them or turn them into biochar.  With a total fire ban in our extremely drought-stricken area, the latter option is out of the question for the foreseeable future.

Space is what you need. Space…the final frontier. You must boldly go forth and find a spot where the sunlight reaches the ground for at least six hours a day in the summer. A few vegetables, such as some peppers, grow well in dappled shade. But, for the most part, if you don’t have a sunlit spot you’re out of luck. The next option is to find a space somewhere else, perhaps a vacant lot or a space along the alley, behind the fence, etc. You must also have easy access to water, but later on we’re going to discuss ways to use very little of that precious and pricey resource. Now that you have found a place to garden, there are several preparatory steps.

• You will need some hand-tools: shovel, digging fork, rake, wheelbarrow or garden cart, trowel and hand fork. It is important to have a place where these can be covered or stored away from the elements when not in use.
• Make provision to get water to the vicinity of your garden (hoses or pipes). You will eventually need to think about drip irrigation – the most efficient way to water in our semi-arid climate.
• Begin stockpiling mulch. You will never have enough! Save newspapers, cardboard, leaves, clippings, trimmings, and put them in a place where you have enough room to work with them. In my town and many other cities in the region, you can fetch loads of mulch from the local recycling center.
• You will need to plan space next to your stockpile for some tools such as a grinder/shredder and, hopefully a cement-mixer in which you will seldom mix cement (these are not absolutely necessary but make life easier).
• Begin a compost pile or bin if you have not done so already. All vegetable scraps from the kitchen, plus tea leaves, coffee grounds, egg shells, etc. make excellent compost. You can also begin a worm bin.
• Buy enough compost to cover your garden beds two inches deep and have it on hand. If you have a pickup or trailer, buy bulk compost. It is substantially cheaper than the bagged variety.

It is never too late to begin a garden.  This time of year when the weather is cooler is ideal.  Start small and add more space as your needs dictate.  The result: fresh, safe, delicious and nutritious vegetables!

Scene: The State Penitentiary.  A newly-convicted criminal is being incarcerated with a drug dealer as a cell mate.

The cell door clanks shut.

The new inmate looks at his fellow-prisoner wondering what kind of a person he is.

“Welcome to the big house,” his fellow-prisoner smirks.

“Thanks, can’t say I’m glad to be here.”

“Rest assured you will be less glad every day.  How long you in for?”

“They gave me three years.”

“Wow!  What’d you do?”

The new prisoner bows his head and mumbles, “I sold my neighbor some raw milk.”

“Raw milk?  Are you crazy?  You could’ve killed somebody!”

“Listen my friend, there’s a growing amount of evidence from research done at universities around the world that suggest the nutrients in raw milk help people with asthma, colitis, allergies and diabetes.   A growing body of evidence from university research conducted around the world suggests these nutrients help counter conditions as diverse as asthma, allergies, colitis, and diabetes. A study of nearly 15,000 children ages 5 to 13 in five European countries published last year by the University of Basel in Switzerland showed that those who consumed raw milk had lower rates of both asthma and hay fever, and that the earlier in life the children started drinking the raw milk, the more effective the protection was.”[i]

“That may be true but what you did must have been dangerous…after all, the government says so.”

“But the police came fully armed and hauled me away in handcuffs!”

“Well, you had it coming you scumbag!”

And so, another dangerous raw milk criminal meets his just punishment for being so stupid as to sell such a dangerous substance.
Read more about raw milk here.

Here in West Texas, we have some weeds that can be real enemies of the estate. In the Charamon Garden they are, in order of nuisance, Bermuda grass (great for lawns, terrible for gardens), Nut sedge, Bindweed, and a recent introduction, Khaki Burr Weed, a terrible little sticker. Some of these weeds have taken advantage of our absence and subsequent neglect in beds that were allowed to “lie fallow”…some of them for two years.

Now, controlled “fallowness” is OK. That’s where you exercise some control over what grows in the beds. But, if you just ignore them…well, that’s risking future hard labor. Controlled fallow means that you grow nice cover crops like Hairy Vetch, Austrian Winter Peas (in Autumn or Winter), Black-eyed Peas (in Summer) or some other beneficial grass or legume.  The legumes, as you are probably aware, add nitrogen to the soil.  Legumes and grasses (not Bermuda!) add valuable humus to the soil when you cut them for mulch or till them in.

Unfortunately, we occasionally are forced (time constraints, labor shortages and other things I could whine about) into uncontrolled fallow. Later, we pay the inevitable price. As we struggle to regain control, we come across clumps of well-entrenched Bermuda Grass, Bindweed, Silverleaf Nightshade, Nutsedge and other nasties.

We have long since quit using chemical herbicides such as glysophate which, depending on who you read, either breaks down upon contact with the soil or lingers for years in the ecosystem. We don’t want to chance the latter (also, we’re “organic,” don’t you know).  West Texans have enough difficulty in our region without borrowing trouble.

The lesson is this: keep your beds weeded year ‘round and avoid, if possible, uncontrolled fallowness. It makes for a healthier, cleaner, more attractive garden and less work in the long run.

I wanted a unique header for this refurbished blog and, since I am a woodcarver, I decided a hand-carved sign might be nice.  So, I set to work cutting the blank, sanding, routing, applying polyurethane, masking, applying the pattern, carving, staining the incised letters and, finally, outlining the letters to make them stand out.

As I carved, I remembered why I hate carving regular pine (as opposed to sugarpinewhich carves quite nicely).  It is an unpredictable wood, often brittle, and will sometimes “shred” under the sharpest of tools.  The knots are almost impossible to carve without them crumbling like a cookie.  But, I eventually finished the process, photographed it for my garden site, and I hope you like the result.

Another shot on the easel in the shop

On the 15th, I started seeds for transplants of two kinds of Kale, Broccoli, and Collards.  I was unable to find seed locally for Cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts.  Our local feedstore said they might be getting some plants in.  That would be helpful.

Butternut Squash, Yellow Crookneck Squash, Okra, Peppers and Eggplant are all looking good.  Tomatoes have “bit the dust.”

Turned the compost and it looks to be ready in a few weeks.  Began a new pile consisting mostly of cardboard, junk mail, newspapers and grass clippings.

Autumn and great gardening are just around the corner!  Gardening…I really dig it!