Edible Yards

This cool, gentle weather has been such a treat for our Austin gardens but remember that the brutal heat and dryer summer is almost here! If you haven’t already mulched your gardens, now is  a good time to cover your soil. Mulch is essential for retaining moisture, regulating soil temperatures, suppressing weeds and maintaining fertility in your soils. I recommend that you use anything that will break down easily in one or two seasons. If you have a lot of weeds, you might consider adding a layer or two  of newspaper first. Then add a 2-4 inch layer of leaves, grass clippings, pine needles or anything else that is finely shredded. Check out Kati Ohlmeyer’s well-mulched garden. She used pine needles for the beds and a finely shredded bark mulch for the paths:

A couple of months ago, I helped Kati rescue a garden that had been worked by the previous owners of her house. Though overgrown and weedy, the garden site was still producing a few vegetables and the soil was full of earthworms! She and her family are new to Austin and she called me in to help her dig her first beds. After I helped her dig her beds and provided her with a planting plan, I left her gardens looking like this:

I also left her a few tomato starts. Notice how the middle fence is used as a trellis. The previous owners had planted some sugar snap peas before they left – the fence is a perfect trellis for peas, cucumbers, melons and other vining crops.

Kati has been carefully tending her garden since planting in March and now, she is producing some gorgeous crops:

Kati’s Yellow Pear Tomatoes

Kati’s Baby Zukes

Kati’s First Pepper