Planted Blackberries

My earliest childhood memory that I can confirm actually did occur and when it happened is when I was 2 years old (1974).  Our family flew to Washington State and went to Vashon Island to vist my Great Grandmother "Grandma Hoel"  She was my paternal Grandmother's mother. As the story goes in our family...I was outside (not sure why I was left outside by myself... I need to ask about that) and rang her doorbell. My mouth was covered in blackberry stains and I said "IIIIII've been in the berries again".  Here is what I actually remember from the trip.  I remember Dad playing cards with some kids on the airplane.  I remember sitting at the skating rink with "Uncle Jack" while others iceskated. I remember my Dad picking some blackberries with me and then telling me "that is enough".  My Papa died a few years ago but he also told me that sometime after that trip, they were talking about driving to see Grandma Hoel. I told him that he couldn't drive to see Grandma Hoel because she lived up in the clouds.  I guess I didn't quite understand the whole airplane experience.

Last year I started a row of blackberries but didn't have my irrigation in yet and  I also let them compete heavily with the weeds. A few of them lived anyway. Every year we pick blackberries at http://www.duckcreekblackberries.com/ .   It is in Sanger, Texas and is a great place to take the kids, have fun and get a lot of blackberries. Our favorite thing to do with them is make blackberry jam.

I now have the irrigation in and planned to put in enough to have a total of 20 plants.  I bought a few too many and so did Dr. Henderson (also starting a patch) which he brought over to me.  I now have 40 blackberry plants. Charles Kesseler from Duck Creek showed Dr. Henderson and I how he grows them and I'm hoping that in a couple of years we will have a lot of blackberries. At the recommendation of Charles we purchased our plants from:

      Cox Berry Farm
      1081 Hwy 818
      Clarksville, AR 92830

I planted Ouchita (O), Nachez (N) and Apache (A). I left in five plants from last year and the varieties are unknown (U). They are 2 feet apart and will have wire running on either side of them off of t-post that are 1 foot apart. Here is the layout:

Row 1: West to East       N N N N N N U (water faucet) U N U N A A A U A U A A A A
Row 2: West to East       O O O O O O O          w          O O O O O N N N A A A N

I planted 39 and then found one N on the ground that I hadn't planted yet. Thus the N on the end of row 2 .

Here is my beautiful helper Jessie Grace getting ready to plant.

Feeding Bees

Checked feeder in hive number two. Bees aren't taking the syrup down. Too cold I guess and they probably are still using their reserves.

Grandpa's Garden

   I have some great memories of time that I've spent with my maternal grandfather, but gentle, tender, or nurturing are not words that I would use to describe him. In fact one of my favorite memories is when I would spend the night and he would ease back in his recliner with his coveralls on and his toothpick in his mouth and we would watch All in the Family until I fell asleep. I think he took lessons in "Gruff" from ole Archie Bunker himself. On the other hand, there may be a genetic component of which I am a recipient. Nothing beat a "grandpa breakfast".  I loved the dark toast, fresh eggs, cantaloupe, tomatoes and homemade jams or jellies.  What I didn't love was working in his garden. He and my Grandmother bought a few acres and moved to Weatherford when I was probably 6 or 7 years old.  They worked endlessly filling the property up with rows and rows of beautiful garden and fruit trees.  My mother felt compelled to teach us that working in the garden was a good thing and took the opportunity from time to time to enlist us as slave labor in Grandpa's garden (as if our own family garden at home wasn't enough).  Grandpa was not sympathetic to my lack of interest or cooperation. In retrospect, I imagine that the hours that we spent laboring under the sweltering sun were probably half hour stretches, and that we were as unproductive as my moaning children are when they are assigned to a row in our garden. This memory motivates me to keep my children actively participating in our efforts.  Every time I work in my garden or can something from the garden, I think about my grandparents and how grateful I am for their example and hard work.  The last 3 or 4 years, Grandpa has been the greatest source of assistance with my garden. There are days during the active growing season that I call him on the phone three or four times a day to ask questions. Some days he seems glad to hear from me and some days I think I can hear Edith in the background saying  "OOOhhhhh Arrrrchiee".

Raised Bed Garden

If you don't have a lot of room, have poor soil conditions or just want a good place to start, here is a good article on raised bed gardens:
 http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/publications/guides/E-560_raised_bed_garden.pdf

Feeding Bees

Hive #2 is a little light.  I put a bucket feeder with a brood box around it. I think the bees have PMS.

Notes from Last Years Garden

As I mentioned in my first post I wish that I had better records from last year. However, I did scratch down a few notes that I am glad I have.  Here they are as I scratched them out at the end of the season:

Beets:  Didn't come up soon enough. Too cold and wet I think. Need to plant in beds 3-4 rows instead of single rows. Try seeds that are spaced on tape.   (I hate thinning small plants like beets and carrots, not sure why I didn't  think of it before but I just read that using scissors and cutting them at the ground is better than pulling up the ones you don't want to grow)

Onion: Need to plant in beds 3-4 rows, stopped watering too soon and they quit growing too early

Pepper: need more bell peppers, about 6 plants, Jalepenos did well. try a hot variety, Grow a few more, about 8

Corn: kill out Johnson grass better first, corn did great

Green Beans: plant 3 rows next year

Tomatoes: need to mulch, 444's didn't do well, 4th of July's were amazing (they produce about a month before any other variety and keep on coming, they are full size tomatoes but smaller than most), Early girl did well

Pickling Cucumbers: pretty vines, bees liked them, sporadic fruit, not enough to use for pickling and canning

Watermelon: planted way too late, it's not fun eating your first watermelon in September

Okra: lots of bugs but they did okay, should have kept watering

Potatoes: plant 1 row instead of 2 next year, plant all red instead of white

Yellow squash: 3 mounds, very good, try six mounds to have plenty to can

butternut squash: did great

Willie wants to grow carrots next year
General Comments:  Need better composted, keep tilled, make rows just tiller size, irrigation  (since last year I have purchased a good tiller and have run good irrigation to my garden. I plan to use a lot of drip irrigation this year)

Getting Ready for Spring

Sunday during church as I was listening intently to the talk, I was also scratching down the list of things I want to plant in the garden this year.  We try to just grow things that we enjoy eating and so you will not find brussel sprouts or eggplant in the garden at Hoot Owl Hollow.  Monday,  I printed out a 2011 calendar off of a word processor and marked the "Average Last Freeze" day on the calendar (March 16th in our area) and marked each week before it as "1 week before, 2 weeks before etc..." and then marked the weeks after as "1 week after, 2 weeks after etc...". Then using the publication that I linked I found the things I wanted to grow and planned when I want to plant them. 

Here's my plan for spring:  I'm open and appreciate feedback.

Jan 29th: Onions, Spinach
February 12th: Beets, Carrots, Potatoes
March 26th: Green Beans, Squash (yellow and butternut)
April 2nd: Tomatoes, Corn, Watermelon
April 23rd: Okra
May 7th: pepper transplants

I like to buy my tomatoes and transplants in Denton from Dennis Farm store. He seems to have the best plants and most options. I ordered my seeds yesteday from Willhite Seed Company out of Peaster Texas.

Texas Gardening

Here is a link to the absolute best written resource on Texas Vegetable Gardening. Everyone that wants to garden here should print this and use it often.   http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/vegetable/files/2010/10/E-502_home_vegetable_guide.pdf

There are also other good article and more specific papers here: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/lawn_garden/

And yes it is an Aggie publication. Gig'em

Blog Schmog

   It's wonderful that little Bentley can read the label on the cereal box from his high chair, used the potty at 6 months of age and regularly wins awards at his Music with Mommy Classical Conductors Group for Toddlers. I'm not much of a blog reader.  I despise mommy blogs and yet I applaud the maternal hubris of those who pen them.  By the way, that photo isn't that cute and I bet he gets beat up if you keep sewing him clothes that look like that.  Never mind me though. Despite the fact that your blog causes me reverse peristalsis of the GI tract,  there is some cooing aunty out there that lives to read your next installment about Bentley's BMs.
   And with that said, I am sitting to blog about my garden.  Yep, carrots, tomatoes, compost, irrigation and insect control. My buddy James is likely to be entertained by it. He's weird that way. But most people I know couldn't care less about the soil drainage at Hoot Owl Hollow or when I planted my butternut squash. Come to think of it, James probably doesn't care either.  That's the beauty of a blog. It can be as personal as a journal or as public as Time Magazine. No one is compelled to read it (or shouldn't be) but it gives the ability to share with people that actually might give a darn.
  I was tilling the garden just before Christmas and thinking about all the people that tell me that they would like to start a garden and need help getting started.   Now is the time to start getting the soil ready for spring and I should let them know.  I don't consider myself the best source of advice but I do have a few growing seasons of experience now and enjoy trying to assist people in getting started.  I was also lamenting the fact that I didn't have as many records on last year's garden as I would like to.  So...as I was walking behind my big yellow rear tine tiller and basking in the joy of seeing the dirt roll over, I decided a blog would allow me to share what I do know, get advice from others and keep good records to use later. Besides, there is something satisfying about putting thoughts in writing....just ask Bentley's momma.