Here’s a 2009 New Year’s resolution for you: grow a vegetable
garden!  If you already are a gardener, then try some new vegetables
this year.  It’s great for your diet, helpful to your budget, and good
exercise to boot.  It’s a win-win-win activity.
 
Now is the time to set out onions and asparagus crowns.  It is also
time to plant English peas, and spinach, as well as beets, broccoli,
brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, Swiss chard, collards, lettuce,
radishes, and turnip greens. 

If you have questions about when to plant which vegetables, the Fannin County Extension office has planting charts available as well as information about which cultivars are best for our area.  The Extension office is located at 210 S. Main in Bonham, and the phone number is 903-583-7453.

Now is also the time to plant potatoes.  Choose varieties that are
“early-season”, such as ‘Red Lasota’, ‘Kennebec’, and ‘Pontiac’.  The goal is to give them time to grow and set tubers before the weather gets too warm.  If a freeze is forecast, you can cover the plants, but even if the tops are damaged by a cold spell, they will usually re-sprout.

Cut the seed potatoes into sections with one eye each and allow the
pieces to sit in a well ventilated area for a few days.  Then plant them
in the bottom of a trench that is about 8 inches deep.   Cover them with about an inch of soil.  As the potatoes grow, gradually fill the trench with a loose mix of soil and compost or just use straight compost.   This provides a place for the tubers to form.

You can feed the growing vegetables with fish emulsion and seaweed, or a soluble fertilizer.  Be sure to follow label directions.  The goal
here is to get them growing fast and keep the growing to build strong
productive plants as soon as possible.  We have a relatively short
spring growing season followed closely by the scorching heat when many of our spring garden plants tend to shut down.

If you haven’t prepared a garden space for a summer garden, now is
the time to do so.  Work some compost into the soil now so it can begin to increase the micro-organism activity that is essential for healthy, fertile soil.  Compost is beneficial for all soil types.  In clay soils, it loosens the tightly packed soil particles and thereby improves the water drainage when it rains (yes, it will rain again someday).  In
sandy soils, it improves the water holding ability of the soil. 

While we’re on the subject of rainfall, there will be a Rainwater
Harvesting Workshop presented by the Fannin County Master Gardeners on March 7 from 9am to 2pm at the South Annex building at 210 S. Main, Bonham.  The program will be presented by Dr. Dottie Woodson, Extension Program Specialist-Water Resources with Texas AgriLife Extension Service.  All participants will build their own rainbarrel to take home with them.  Lunch will be catered.  The price for this workshop is $35.

Rainwater is very good for all plants and there is no need to let it
just run down the street.  Come and learn how to collect and utilize
this tremendous resource!   

January 2009 Master Gardener news article

For information on Texas AgriLife Programs Please contact the Fannin County Extension Office or Roger Skipper County Extension Agent for Agriculture/Natural resources at 903-583-7453 or rdskipper@ag.tamu.edu.