Take your garden to another level

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal Mar 4, 2009


I miss Iowa sweet corn.

Though I've lived in the hill country since 1980, I make no secret that I am an Iowa boy, born and fed on a farm in the breadbasket of the world. Back in the Midwest, the topsoil is measured in feet, not inches. The soil is so rich one observer claimed you could just eat the dirt without bothering to turn it into vegetables.

So when I arrived in Texas, I set out to grow a garden. I quickly discovered that the dirt in Texas was a little more unforgiving than Iowa loam. But I eventually uncovered an approach that worked - raised beds.

By piling up dirt into 4-foot square beds, supplementing the soil like crazy, watering and mulching, my kids were soon turning up their noses at mounds of broccoli, brussels sprouts, and zuchinni.

Dr. Tom Harris is a true expert at what is now called "square foot gardening." He teaches a series of gardening courses in Kerrville and Boerne, has written "how-to" books, and keeps lists of plants that are best suited for the local climate and conditions. He regularly helps immigrants from other states navigate the conditions of the Southwest so they can produce bumper crops in their own backyards.

The retired educator and Master Gardener will be in Kerrville on Wed, March 11 to lead a class in building some of these raised beds in the backyard of the Auld Center, home of Club Ed.

Dr. Harris digs this approach to gardening. "No weeds, no work, less water," he ticked off the reasons. "Raised beds are super handy, and very friendly with nature - you can recycle all your yard wastes by making mulch or compost."

That overcomes the biggest challenge for hill country gardeners - growing plants in rocks. "Mostly what we have around here is caliche," he said. "You can't hardly grow anything in that stuff. It is easier to start with a raised bed and make your own soil."

Building raised beds does not have to be elaborate or expensive.

Gardeners have used rocks, bricks, and timbers to raise the beds to at least 6 inches. Dr. Harris uses 8-inch cinder blocks. He fills them using a 50% mix of light garden mix, and recommends drip irrigation for efficient watering.

The best thing about raised bed gardening is that the concept applies anywhere in the world, and it works for growing vegetables, flowers, herbs, and trees - "whatever you want to grow."

So if you yearn to learn the secrets of building a square foot garden of your own, make tracks over to Club Ed. He figures the class can build three or four raised beds - it will just take you a couple of hours.

And you must promise to bring me a sample from your first crop of sweet corn.

XXX

The Square Foot Gardening Workshop meets on Wed, March 11. For information or to sign up, click www.clubed.net, or call 830-895-4386.

Club Ed is the Community Education program of the Kerrville Independent School District. Each year, we offer more than 400 classes throughout the Texas Hill Country, along with online courses, business and individual training, and after-school and summer camps. Comment online at clubedcomments.blogspot.com.