Saturday, December 22, 2018

When to Plant What

I remember hearing/reading how folks will look through gardening magazines and seed/plant catalogs in the winter. It’s the time to make garden plans. Well, winter officially started yesterday! It’s time to get busy planning and designing our upcoming garden. This year I’m getting organized and will actually mark my day planner when to plant what!

I’ve always been late to the party. That’s the way I have always rolled.

This coming year will be different!

This year ~ 2019 ~ will mark the first opportunity since we have owned “The Sprott Country Gardens” that I will not be leaving for long periods of time! Nope! (Not unless I'm dead!)

We are here.
Momma is nearby.

It’s a go!

Rather than going through magazines and catalogs, I did an internet search: “When to Plant Herbs and Vegetables” and found a lot of information!

I like the Better Homes & Garden (BH&G) resource, their planting schedule for a variety of veggies!

Soon I will pop in our County Extension office and pick up some literature more specific to this area. An interesting tidbit I just read on their site (emphasis mine):
Lampasas County lies in the Texas Hill Country at the geographical center of Texas.
Anyhoo...

I LOVE To-Do LISTS!!! And BH&G site already prepared “Zones 7-8 Garden Calendar and Monthly Garden Tips” for me!!! Yes!

But, something else I need when planning and designing the garden is what to plant with what...
Companion Planting Chart for Vegetables is listed nicely on the BH&G site as well!

Of course, the Almanac is a great go-to and it even gave me the”30% probability of frost free after April 1" information needed! I do plan to also plant by the moon dates. I wish these charts had a print icon. Oh. Well.

Oh. My. Lots of studying to do over the next few weeks!

I have started pulling out the dormant grass and weeds from the Keyhole Garden. I mowed it all and gave to the chickens! They loved it! (oh, I need to put 2nd coat of paint on the Chicken Coop as well)

My dream is for our entire west yard to be void of grass and full of vegetables, herbs, edible flowers, fruit trees, and yard art (food for the soul).

Winter is here.

Monday, December 10, 2018

Pretend

One is never too old to learn something new! I am most certain research will back up my claim: It is a great way to stay mentally active!

When I say “new” I refer to acquiring knowledge totally outside my comfort zone. It’s not to polish up my skills, or learn a new technique or way of doing something I already know something about, but a totally new (yet I’ve always wanted to know about) aspect.

I will never actually seek a Masters Degree. It is most impractical for a 65+ me with zero plans on ever working full time again (especially to pay off the over $75,000 ridiculous cost to achieve such a degree). But I have spent the past few days of down time (while husband recuperates from double bypass surgery) coming up with a pretend degree plan through Texas A&M University!




Thank goodness for the Internet and folks/businesses that provide content!

I am very interested in land management (our own personal land and surrounding local community) by transferring the precious commodity into a permaculture landscape.

I started in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences area, then found the “Master of Agriculture in Agricultural Development” (ALEC) degree planner that lists the required courses.

For the “additional” ALEC courses and the “Support Courses” I found TAMU’s online catalog and simply scrolled down the list of course descriptions.

Everything and anything that peeked my interest, I right clicked “open link in new tab” and will read further, later. I have bunches of links open and pray my system doesn’t crash on me!

Oh. My. Goodness. For the first required course “Principles of Adult Education” I found a bucket load of online resources and read and read and read...

Anyway, while trying to keep a low profile around here, that’s what I’ve been doing... learning something new!

What are you learning today?



                   

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