Preparing a Garden for Autumn in Texas

Herb Garden Today: Parsley, Sage, Oregano and Thyme

My spring garden is now at the very end of it's life.  Except for my herbs, which are growing strong and beautiful, the plants have died back and become unproductive.  I uprooted all my squash, cucumbers, and zucchini last month (July) due to the infestation of squash bugs and ants.  Those little pesky ants really wrecked havoc on my garden this year.  They destroyed my corn and ate away at the bases of my squash and even stood guard at my cucumbers, not letting me get to them without getting a few ant bites and stings (fire ants, yuck!)

My Summer Squash in May. I miss you! 

Then the heat hit and withered any remaining plants.  My tomatoes stopped producing and the fruit suddenly disappeared
when the squirrels discovered they could run across the field.    My eggplant got over-ripe and rotted on the vine (can you call that plant a vine?).  That was my fault for not paying attention to it and not having experience in growing egg plant.   My carrots were also left in the ground too long and even though they look great, they taste awful.  They were much better early in the season before they grew so big.  I miss my leafy greens, which all died in early June and I'm just glad I got some harvested before the heat and bugs took them. 




My squash plants in May

It may all sound sad, but I must remind myself that gardens grow by the season, and every season has an end. 



The tarp that is now over the tilled soil where my squash was.

I'm now clearing the ground, plowing it over, and preparing it for my fall garden.  After giving it a nice tilling, my husband helped me cover it up with a black tarp to heat the ground and hopefully kill off a few bugs and prevent a weed take-over.  I wish a black tarp would kill ants.....but no...I'll have to get at them with something else. 

Fall is a wonderful time in Texas to grow leafy veggies, spinach, kale, peppers, beans and a few other types of veggies, so I'm looking forward to being anew. 

The Back Bone Nursery here in Marble Falls Texas is where I buy my garden seeds and starters and this year they sent me a Fall list of things I can do now in August to prepare for an Autumn harvest.  Here are a few of their suggestions:

I hope these tips help you out a bit.  As you see.. I'm already using the black tarp mentioned above to control weeds.  I hope to uncover the ground here shortly and maybe I'll try planting pumpkin?  I hear it is hard to grow in Texas, but hey, I'm adventurous.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Good Luck on your own gardens and hang in there... the summer heat is almost over.