Houston – We’re officially in springtime, and even if the Houston weather seems to be all over the place, now is the time to prepare your edible garden.
Urban Harvest has been enriching Houston through gardening, farmer’s markets, and classes for 30 years now. They’re giving us their five-step guide to starting an edible Spring garden.
Director of Permaculture, Carol Burton stopped by Houston Life with all of the top tips.
Here’s what she recommends you do:
1. Prepare your garden
Prep and amend your soil with compost and full-spectrum organic plant food.
2. Select what you want to grow
a. Include a familiar favorite and also try something new.
b. Start by transplants: tomatoes, peppers and eggplants find the largest transplants possible to purchase at your local nursery.
c. Start by seed: corn, green beans, squash, melons, and cucumbers. For example, corn needs to become established to pollinate before temperatures exceed 95°. Start corn now and in 4 x 4 rows for maximum pollination. Plant corn, squash, and beans together for companion planting.
d. Summer flowers and herbs: basil, zinnias, and sunflowers. You can plant by seed or plant by transplant if you would like a head start in summer blooms and production.
3. Planting
March is the best time to plant trees in the Houston area.
a. Site selection tips: It’s important to select a well-draining area that allows 6-8 hours of sunlight and room to grow to full maturity size.
b. Fruit tree selection: Select a fruit tree on rootstock for our Houston clay soil and climate.
4. Preparing and digging
Dig the hole two times wider than the pot in a convex shape. Don’t add compost or plant food. The goal is for the tree to acclimate to the native soil and encourage spreading root growth. Too much compost in the hole can cause roots to not spread and also to act as a bowl and trap water, causing the tree to drown from poor drainage. Plant. Then, top with Compost and Mulch
5. Compost and mulch
Add one 40lb bag of compost as a top dressing, then add and spread mulch in a donut ring, not touching the trunk, and spread out to the tip of the leaf canopy using local native mulch, which is composted wood chips from Houston sources.
Urban Harvest is celebrating 30 years of impact on hunger, health, community development & ecological land management. Every year, the non-profit serves over 55,000 people, over 100 small food businesses, and more than 18.5 acres of green space. This year, they’re launching the Terry Hershey Giving Society Endowment, which will provide long-term support in helping the organization continue to achieve its mission of enriching the Houston community through food. The endowment is named after Terry Hershey, one of the founding members of Urban Harvest and a well-known conservationist from Houston.
Connect with Urban Harvest at one of their educational classes in person or online.