Berry’s Picks

Good Year to Garden

Like everything else vegetable and food prices in general are going up, and with the farmers input cost this year, there will not likely be any drop in prices for at least 1 year. That makes all the time required to plant, harvest, and maintain a garden even more beneficial for those that already enjoy gardening. Despite some environmental extremes, experienced gardeners in Comanche County have bountiful harvest.

It seems like we are never out of frost threat until Easter has passed. Our average last frost date is March 15 to April 1, but as everyone knows this can vary, we have had late frost at least 2 of the last 3 years. However, soil temperatures are now over 60 degrees, and barring a frost we should be safe to plant most vegetable crops. Just be ready to cover your tomatoes in case we get a night below freezing. Peppers prefer hot weather, it is best to wait until night time temperatures are 60 to 70 degrees, and all threat of frost is over, so you might want to wait a week or so to plant those. Beans should be planted 1 to 4 weeks after last average frost date, and peas 2 to 8 weeks after last average frost date. Squash planting should be 1 to 4 weeks after last average frost date.

It takes too much time to put in a garden and have a poor harvest because you were unable to irrigate. Please be sure your garden is located close enough to a water source, so that you can irrigate. There is no doubt irrigation will be required this year. Drip irrigation is the most efficient means of irrigating. Whichever irrigation methods you use, try to avoid light daily watering because this will cause the plants to develop shallow root systems of 1 to 2 “. Utilize less frequent irrigation that soaks the ground up to 6” deep. In general, all gardens need at least 1” of water per week either from rainfall or irrigation. Examine the soil rather than the plant to determine the need for irrigation; if the soil is dry down to 2”, then you will need to water, if not, you can plan to irrigate in two days.

We have an excellent publication, Texas Home Vegetable Gardening Guide, available at the office or online at https:// comanche.agrilife.org/ it includes planting dates, and lots of other good information, so be sure to stop by and get one. If you had rather travel, or fish than garden, do not fret we have plenty of local fruit and vegetable producers that grow and sell excellent local produce. Comanche County is the produce basket of Central Texas.