24 Jul '06 3:45 pm hey, everybody.
my name is travis and i live in austin, texas. i just signed up on this forum. i look forward to some good ol' fashioned back and forth here, as i'm pretty new at gardening... but REALLY into it.
like a LOT of people, as a kid i helped my mom in the garden. i've also spent some time on farms. most of what i did, however, was moving hoses and picking stuff. so finally, at 27, i just decided to go for it... and i planted an organic vegetable and herb garden in my back yard. i'll put some pictures up soon (i need a new battery charger).
i have a raised garden using assorted cinder blocks and logs as a border. i planted herbs in the holes of the blocks for a cool border effect and so the CRAWLERS (like my mints) won't get crazy. on the inside, i planted lumina pumpkins, three kinds of heirloom tomatoes (yellow pear, striped german... and... i forget), jalepeno peppers and rainbow inca sweet corn. i'm really excited for my kids to produce this fall. that is... if the central texas heat doesn't butcher everything. i was a little worried about my pumpkin plants for a while. they get droopy in the heat of the day but spring back in the late afternoon.
anyway, i just did a bunch of reading on the net and asked some friends a few questions and then just... did it. i took some suggestions and took some chances. it's going well so far. i find myself looking out the window at it all the time. my garden... sigh... man, i'm lame.
anyway, that's my story. i'll put some pictures up when i can.
25 Jul '06 1:20 am Nice to meet you. Have no fear of the drooping pumpkin leaves. This is how they deal with the hot sun. I have the orange gourd as well and this is a common occurrence in the heat of the day. I give my gardens a good watering at night just before dusk. I like this because the water can soak in through the night and give the plants a good drink. My mom says that to water them first thing in the morning is best, but I am never up early enough and to water them in the heat of the sun can burn them. You probably already know this having been around gardens before.
Anyway, I can't wait to see some pix of your plot. We have raised gardens as well.
Christopher
travisnichols
helper
Austin, TX
yep
25 Jul '06 7:17 am yes, i've always heard that talking to plants helps, so every afternoon i go out and lecture my pumpkins. i'm like, "pumkins, you need to get it together. look at those tomato plants. do you see them drooping? NO. you're EMBARRASSING yourselves. and me."
so yeah. i'll probably get some pictures this late afternoon. you all will notice... umm... undeveloped patches. i just dug and fertilized and mixed and stuff where i was immediately planting and i'll be filling some in and putting some little paths and stuff.
and my corn rows (haha - corn rows) aren't in yet, so that'll look pretty, you know, not corny. pictures soon!
