Good morning, I have been gardening in Far west Texas for 15 years now. My how time flies when having fun. I had not been growing long when It became a revelation to me “this is like no other place I have gardened”. I set out to describe the garden calendar and to grow appropriate veggies at that time. I broke it down into 3 distinct seasons. They are Monsoon /fall, winter/early spring and lastly the Angry months May/June.
Monsoon/fall roughly from July 1 (or when the rains start) until the first freeze (somewhere around November 1)
This is the best season to grow in Far West Texas. You can grow ALL the vegetables at this time. Because of the angry months (talk about them in a moment) a lot of longtime residents forgo planting until this time and there is a reason for it.
Winter/early spring is the time that I finish a lot of fall started veggies such as the brassica’s. These are our coolest months. This allows root crops along with brassica's to acquire their best flavors. This is the time of year I prepare for the Angry Months. I try to have my whole garden planted and mulched before the angry months. There can be some very hard freezes during this time but from February on there is a lot of daytime heating that agriculture fabric can capture and release the heat through the chilly nights. Fabric IS an amazing tool!!!!
The Angry Months is exactly that. In some years I include April in this season. Some years you would think April will blow West Texas into the Atlantic Ocean. Or at least the winds feel that strong. Most years though it is only May and June. I will say there have been some years where May and June have been down right “neighborly”. This is the exception! You can expect single digit humidity (real hard on young transplants or seed beds) accompanied with triple digit heat (even harder than just low humidity). Then in some years we get “hard water”. I mean this literally. There has been MANY a garden destroyed by hail. I believe this is the main reason that long term residents do not plant until the rains come.
It should be noted, unless it is one of the more “neighborly” angry months, I forgo with any planting and focus on making sure the garden remains hydrated.
Since planting to this schedule (many years now) I have enjoyed great success gardening in far west Texas ESPECIALLY with the use of fabric.
The garden is humming along. Beans are 4 inches tall, all the summer squash are up and growing along with the butternut's, peas are blooming crazy like. Picked a handful, they have stir fry written all over them. Since the rodent that nailed half my jalepeno's, I am in a bit of a catch up mode. Eggplants are looking sweet, onions are about ready for mulch. as mild as things are the garlic may finish early. As actively growing as it is I need to be sure to lightly cover it to protect it from freeze damage. Learned that lesson the hard way a few years back. I have sown a small bed of parsnips to over summer and harvest next December. I fear these guys could be monsters. Parsnips just do not like warm to hot soils to germinate. Just like what we had last fall. This will be interesting, Might be "family sized " parsnips.
It is with great hope that this transition goes smoothly. Time will tell!!!
Harvest was a bit slowed this week. Normally Wednesday is my main harvest day but Tuesday evening I did a spectacular A over tea kettle and Wednesday morn my left hand felt like it really was not part of my body. A real nice sprain. Nursing all day with soaks, creams, Ice packs and a healthy amount of "oh Whoa is meeee", my left hand has rejoined my body albeit a little soar and tender but I feel I can harvest today. It will be slow but doable.
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