Spring is coming!

February 19, 2014—What a wonderful afternoon we (2 staff and 1 volunteer) spent in the Victory Garden! We pulled weeds, and in the process discovered some volunteer plants from last year’s garden—a few mustard greens and lots of dill and cilantro. The bonus was that we had a great time talking and catching up; that’s what happens when you garden with friends.

On one of the first warm sunny days of the year, we attacked the weeds in the Victory Garden.

We found at least two clumps of plants that we can’t identify—we’ll have to wait until they bloom. If they’re weeds, they’re awfully pretty ones, so they can stay for a while, at least. We also left a few dandelions, as they make good salad greens. There are so many plants eaten in other cultures that Americans don’t or won’t eat!

February 21, 2014—It rained last night and you can almost hear and see the nut grass growing—after all that weeding, too. There was just enough time this afternoon to get out in the glorious sun and dig out a few deep roots; also, it was a calm day, so we sprayed Avenger on the walk where the nut grass is struggling to come back between the bricks. Fingers crossed that it will work—nut grass is the most stubborn stuff in the world—or is that Bermuda grass?

The haul for the day: some rosemary, a bit of dill, some fennel leaves, and lettuce.

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.

Our Victory Garden is resting peacefully for the winter, but there’s still work to do—adding layers of mulch and cardboard in some places. When it comes to gardening the green way, we’re no experts here at the McFaddin-Ward House. But we’re doing our research, and learning as we go. We hope you’ll learn with us, as we figure out what works, what doesn't work so well, and everything in between! We've also got a great group of volunteers who are ready to help out—we just need to schedule our garden days.

The garden's lemongrass, which did not survive the winter.

Most of the plants died, or died down to their roots; the snapdragons amazingly survived the heat of summer and the first round of freezes but finally succumbed to the 20-degree (Fahrenheit) nights in early January. Surprisingly, the lemon grass is all brown! We thought it would overwinter better, but again the severe cold must have been too much for it.

The sage, rosemary and thyme survived, however; bring us a little parsley, and we’ll sing you a verse of “Scarborough Fair!” Plus last fall we planted lettuce, beets, cabbage, and kohl rabi, and they’re all green and growing. They’re obviously a lot tougher than they look! We may try to plant some other crops—carrots or greens or spinach—Peter Rabbit would love us!

 

The garden's rosemary is doing quite well, despite the colder temperatures in December.

The garden is, for now, weed-free.

Hooray! The Bermuda grass and nut grass are at last all brown and dead-looking. Last summer they were the scourge of the garden. We sprayed them with Avenger, an organic herbicide made with orange oil, and it (along with the cold) seemed to work. We don’t trust them to go that easily, though, and plan to put black barrier under the bricks in the walk to keep them down.

Just before Christmas we planted tulips and daffodils for early spring color. Can’t wait for them to come up! 

Stick around, and learn with us as we go!

Taking Care of Weeds, the Organic Way

Weeding is part of every garden's task list, but for an organic gardener, it's much more challenging than it is for more conventional agriculturalists. Instead of reaching for a bottle of chemical herbicide, a little more elbow grease, and sometimes some creativity must be used. The museum's garden has been maintained chemical-free and we reap the benefits with good harvests, great biodiversity, and little-to-know impact from pests, but weeds are an obstacle that we fight daily.

Our two main intruders are Bermuda grass and nut grass. Most Southeast Texas have these in their yards and they are the bane of any gardener's existence. Bermuda grass is an invasive plant that arrived from, well, Bermuda, but it is popular because of its fast, low-growing foliage and durability. It's aggressive and some gardeners even resort to calling it, "devil grass."

The rhizomatous nut grass, which got its name from its underground tubers, is considered one of the worst weeds. Pulling this weed by hand is almost done in vain, as any tuber, rhizome, or root left in the ground can sprout a new crop of healthy grass, which can quickly sprout several other new plants in no time.

Much to our dismay, both grasses thrive in dry, hot climates, and conventional weeding is almost futile. Most resources recommend resorting to toxic chemicals, like RoundUp, but these applications can leach to other areas of the garden, even if used nearby or on paths. There are organic options, like Avenger, but they must be applied several times to these persistent plants.

We are currently trying a technique called soil solarization on our garden paths. This is done by laying thick, clear plastic over wet weeds for several weeks. The warm sun essentially cooks the soil, making it uninhabitable, so it must be done in stages if used on areas where seeds will be sown. We are testing the process on our paths first to see how well it will work.

We hope our patience pays off and will keep note of the progress. Keep your fingers crossed!

Soil solarization is used as an organic technique for ridding gardens of weeds. Thick plastic is applied over wet weeds to "cook" the soil, killing the weeds and any seeds or tubers up to 12" underground. 

Final Summer Harvests, Now on to Fall Planning

With summer drawing to a close, and hints of autumn in the air, we are gearing up for another growing season--Fall! With our new seeds purchased and ready, we are working to prepare the beds for planting in the coming weeks.

Summer was great for us at the garden and we had some good harvests in the new beds. We expanded our gardening space by removing the four raised beds that had been in place since 2009, and took over the entire space turning it into one big raised bed with paths and installed an arbor and sitting area. In the few months the garden has been in place, a whole ecosystem has developed as a result of our organic methods and companion planting. The garden is alive with several types of bees, countless butterflies, assassin bugs, ladybugs, and an array of birds. It's a heavenly sight especially with the bright-colored zinnias, cosmos, marigolds, and snapdragons to accent the space. 

Bumble bees buzz the passion vine to harvest sweet pollen from each flower. The vine is a Texas native and attracts gulf fritillary butterflies as well as several types of bees.

As we prepare the beds for fall, we are working to clear away the expired vegetation and mapping out our plan for the new season. With our warm Southeast Texas climate, we are able to garden year-round by transitioning our crops to those which are cold-hardy. On the menu so far, we have dill, sugar snap peas, pumpkins, lettuces, kohlrabi, sweet peas, and more. We look forward to the cooler temps, making it more pleasant to be outside, and the new crops that are sure to be on our plates before long!

A sampling of the victory garden's summer harvests include okra, tomatoes, and crowder peas. Brightly-colored flowers attract beneficial insects--and museum visitors, alike.