Steve Howard with the “Growing Your Grub” podcast interviewed me about community gardening and the Citizen Gardener program. His podcast has been a great resource for vegetable gardening information. He had to adapt his growing techniques when he moved the the hot arid Texas climate, and often shares great tips and tricks on his show.
We discussed a little bit about how the “North Texas Vegetable Gardeners” was started, and then got to talk about the DFW Citizen Gardener program.
I have an infestation of sticky gooey tiny bugs that I think are aphids. Due to my laziness and aversion to working in the oppressive heat of north Texas summers, I’ve let things get out of hand in my backyard vegetable garden. I was cleaning up today and was happy to see an army of ladybugs eating their way though the bad guys. Now I’m wondering if I should hold off on spraying just to see how effective these armor-plated aphid eaters are. (I just recently learned that the larva stage of the ladybug are the ones that eat all the bad bugs, not the pretty round flying beetles we usually think of)
I did a little experiment. I noticed a bunch of squash bugs on my zucchini plant earlier this week. I decided to NOT do anything about it, just to see if a natural predator would come along and clean up the mess for me. Turns out these critters are lethal! In a few short days my healthy cucubrit was dead. Lesson learned! Next time I’ll know to act quickly to save the plant.
Here is what remains of the zucchini plant:
I’m very happy to announce the very first Citizen Gardener class to be held in the North Texas / DFW area will be in Fort Worth on August 13, 2011. The idea to start this class came from our spring Permaculture Design Class. Dick Pierce (the instructor) had mentioned the program and I thought it sounded great and decided to implement in the DFW area. The class provides people who are interested in growing their own food a clear path to success with a minimal time and money investment.
The location for the class is at the Fortress Youth Development Center in east Fort Worth. The class will help them along with their goal of starting a community garden and implementing vegetable gardening into their curriculum for young adults. Right now, they have an empty spot that it not used, but we will construct two raised beds during the class, and eventually, they will fill the area with garden plots!
As a very special treat for the first class, Dick Pierce, noted Permaculture instructor, designer, and consultant will be the lead teacher. He makes classes lots of fun and manages to pack in lots and lots of learning in a short time. An interesting approach to teaching is utilized in the Citizen Gardener classes: First thing is DOING it, everyone helps build the beds, getting all the soil moved around and positioned correctly, planting, mulching, etc. Of course there is some discussion during this time, but it is 100% hands-on! After all of that, we have more formal classroom style learning. People wind up absorbing much more of the knowledge when this format is used.
For more information about this class, visit the main webpage for the DFW Citizen Gardener. Also note that you can sign up for future classes or suggest locations from that page. For discussion about the CG program, visit the Citizen Gardener board on the NTVG forum.
Visit the meetup.com group to RSVP: http://www.meetup.com/DallasVegGardeners/events/24842071/
Tuesday, July 19, 2011, 7:00 PM
After a long hiatus, we are ready to do some planning for our Fall gardens. Although the temperatures are anything but “Fall-like” right now, we will actually be able to start planting a limited selection of Fall veggies later this month into early August. The majority will not be planted until September-October, but it doesn’t hurt to start preparing now.
Urgent notice: If you are tomato fans (and who isn’t), now until mid July is the time to put in your transplants.
Topics for discussion will include:
1. Discussing what’s working or not in your gardens right now
2. Pest and disease control
3. Fall bed preparation
4. Planting schedules and crop selection
We will also be exchanging seeds, so bring your stash to share with others, and get some in return.
Oh, the rewards of having a Texas-sized growing season! (with an oppressive heat and dry spell in the middle, of course)
