Category Archives: chard

After the Freeze(s)

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I do not ordinarily do anything out of the ordinary to keep my plants from succumbing to freezes – I prefer to “experiment” and observe which ones make it through light and hard freezes and which do not.

Prior to the first hard freeze, in early December, I had harvested most of my red mustard, green mustard, and broccoli raab.  Good thing – they did not survive the hard freeze. Here’s a look at my mustard after the freeze.

Only the chard managed to come back (but then, chard is VERY resilient). Also weathering the freeze was the sorrel, as well as my radiccio.  Of course, the kale made it through (although I’d mulched it just in case), and carrots.

 

 

Garden Uses Simple Method of Rainwater Capture; Chard Loves the Snow!

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DK rain capture

 

One of the challenges of small community gardens can be the cost of bringing water to the property.  If the garden is on a vacant lot, then there is no large building from which to gather rainwater. What to do?

But there is a solution, and one garden in Dallas, the Divinekinship Community Garden, is serving as the model.

They have constructed a roof on poles – I call it a rainwater capture shelter.  More specifically, it is a roofed, open sided structure approximately 8-9 ft. square, supported with 8’ landscape timbers at the corners (buried about 18” into the ground for stability), with a plastic/fiberglass corrugated roof.  The roof is approximately 6 ½ feet high at one end of the structure, and approximately 6 feet high at the other end, so there is a slight slope down to a gutter, which feeds via a flex-spout into an IBC tote.  The IBC tote is connected to a second IBC tote for overflow.

An estimate of the rainfall harvesting capacity is:      9’ x 9’ = 81 sq. ft. of roof.  x .6 gallons/sq ft/inch of rain = 486 gallons captured in 1” rainfall.

The total cost, exclusive of IBC totes, is approximately $100-$110, if materials are new.

Here are some pictures of the setup.  If materials can be scrounged someplace, the cost goes down.

DK rain gutterDK rain roof

The drought conditions in the Dallas/Fort Worth area continue.  And some communities may be facing more severe water restrictions this summer. A check with the National Weather Service revealed that we received 21.32 inches of rain in 2014. In 2013, the annual rainfall was 29.4 inches; in 2012, it was 31.26 inches.  Even if there is another water source for the garden, capturing rainfall has the potential to cut the water bill substantially.

And there’s another way to reduce water usage:  Mulch. Heavy use of mulch as well as working lots of organic matter into the beds will help reduce the water needs of the growing beds.

 Chard after snow

 

 

My chard came through the recent freezes and snow with flying colors.  Almost as if it energized the plant.  Love chard.

Snow Gardening

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Is this the last blast of winter?  Maybe….it seems like it’s all coming at once.  But I do remember that in 2010 we had a freeze in April.

Caution is the watch word for early spring gardening in North Texas.  Be flexible, and be ready  to haul out the covers for plants that were just placed in the ground. snow garden

Looking at my garden tubs, I’m thankful I didn’t have enough time to plant collards, radishes and more lettuce just yet.

The garlic is also weathering the snow well. They’re in the square tub.  I’ll check to see how the bulbs are forming when the snow melts.

But look at the chard in the picture below (well, it’s hard to tell because it’s under all that snow!)…it’ll come back strong when it warms up a bit.  Chard is durable and I’ve found it’s a perennial – hardy perennial.  The downside, is that as it gets older and harvesting takes the outer leaves, the inner ones become smaller and smaller.  But they are tender and tasty!  Note that the green onions (those wisps at the front) are doing well, too.snow chard

 

The chickens are well suited for the cold – they have feathers and down, and I’ve tarped the north and most of the west side of the run so that no snow gets into their habitat.  I just keep them busy with scratch and some cracked corn (extra carbohydrate to help them keep warm).

snow chickens

Next week will warm a bit.  I’ll write more about what I’m planting next week – and if you’re in the Dallas Design District, stop by for my Straw Bale Gardening class at Trinity Haymarket (March 7, 10 am – free).

Until then, stay warm.

SNOW!

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As I write this Sunday evening, snow is drifting down…and sticking on my lawn and on my garden plants.  I have no fear that the chard will survive – it’s truly the wonder green.  I had a chard plant I kept going for two and a half years! I finally took it out, because I wanted to plant something else there.  Chard will freeze, wilt and spring back with watering.

But the mustard?  How will it fare?  I have both green and red mustard.  I’m sure the kale will make it.  Might just water it again tomorrow – deep watering – to give it some warmth.  And the lettuce under the window A-frame is missing out on the snow. 

That can be good and bad.  Snow can insulate a plant from deeper freezes.  But the ad hoc greenhouse may be just enough to keep the plants alive.  This is an experiment!

I tell anyone learning to garden – don’t be afraid to experiment!  That’s what it’s all about!  Try something new. Try a new plant. Try it in a new place or plant it in a new way.  You’ll have some failures. But you’ll also have some surprising successes – like my chard plant.

I’ll write more tomorrow – and may even take a picture or two to show how my garden did/did not survive the early snow.