Posts Tagged ‘Fort Worth Gardening’

I love the botanic garden, at any time of year when the weather is fair enough to be outside, and if it’s too cold or too hot you can always go to the conservatory. When we finished eating our sandwiches, my husband and sons were going to try to play catch with a baseball, and I went to go turtle watching. I wrote the following in my journal:

Turtles on a small island in the Fort Worth Botanic Garden

“I am sitting out in the botanic garden, enjoying the spring weather with a lot of other Fort Worthians. The focus we have is the turles of the pond at the bottom of the rose garden. Red Eared Sliders. they hiberate underwater in the winter but now, in spring, they rise to the surface to bask and fraternize. Everyone, turtles and garden visitors, seems is a good mood. Voices exclaim with delight at seeing a turtle dive into the water or at counting the 16 turtles sitting on a small island in the center of the pond, with three turtles swimming around, looking for an opening so they can climb up to sun themselves.

Now husband and sons come up. They’ve been busted, they say, by park security for throwing a baseball, which is not allowed. They watch the turtles for a while too, then we all go up to the fountain at the bottom of the rose garden terrace. I give the kids — and us adults — two pennies each to throw in for two wishes. I sigh. The year ahead looks promising, at this juncture, but that could be just a trick of the light, which today seems white and gold like the light of Italy, which sits well on the Italianate rose terrace, as we throw in the pennies and hope.” Thank you City of Fort Worth, for maintaining this beautiful garden, which I love.

Mini-greenhouse setups make it a little easier to start tomatos inside

The goal date for planting tomatoes is in a couple of weeks now, and it’s getting pretty warm these days and so you might think you can just start your tomatoes outside. I personally recommend against this. Tomatoes are usually started inside, for a number of reasons, and only one of those is that you can get them started earlier.  The other reasons are:

1. Emerging tomato plants are very fragile and are often eaten by snails or other vermin, or fall victim to withering.

2. Gemination of tomato plants takes a warm temperature,  close to that inside the house (65 degrees) whereas if you try to start them outside you’re at the mercy of the elements. And if it freezes they’re dead.

3.  Having them inside gives you better scrutiny of the plants to watch for overwatering, drying out, or anything else that threatens your plants.

To start tomatoes indoors, first get the seeds and the planters. You can use anything to plant them in from Park Biodomes (my favorite) or Gurney Mini-Greenhouses to cut down-milk cartons or a baking tray full of dirt The only really important detail is to use soil free of germs and microbes. Usually this is accomplished by buying planting kits like the aforenoted, but occassionally the “old timers” will just dig up some garden dirt and sterilize it in the oven.  It takes 180 degrees for 30 minutes to kill the germs.

Once you’ve got your planters ready, plant the seeds in the medium according to directions on the package and keep warm and covered with celophane or mini-greenhouse cover 5-10 days until germination. Once the seeds are germinated, they will need light. The ideal would be to keep them under a skylight or perhaps a south-facing window.

It may be challenging to get them enough light. If they don’t get it, they become “leggy” or too-tall which can make them vulnerable to disease and unthrifty. Planting them extra deep once they get outside, so the dirt covers part of the tall stem, can correct this, but if the legginess gets too out of control the exposed stems may break or become diseased. Try to get the plants enough light. A lot of well-organized garderers use a grow light, if you don’t have one you can approximate the effect by carrying the plants outside to a protected spot, covered, on a warm day. Just bring them in at night to prevent freezing.

When the plants are big enough, about 4-6 weeks, you can begin hardening them off but putting them outside uncovered each day for a few hours, longer and longer each time.  This process takes about a week. When it’s time to plant in the ground, use inverted cut-off milk cartons to cover each plant in its place in the garden, or another similar protection sceme, to protect the young plants from bugs and the elements. With these “mini greenhouses” the tomatoes will get aclimated well and in a week or two you’ll be able to see that it’s time to remove them; the plants are outside and exstablished. 

Resources:

Video: How to Grow Tomatoes inlcudes instructions on sterilizing soil and how to get seeds to germinate

How do I start Tomatoes Inside?

Rabbits aren't just cute, they also produce fertilizer!

Yesterday my mother and I drove out towards the ranchette of a friend of hers, a guy who has 400 rabbits. The purpose of this journey was to gather rabbit manure and prepare for a super-abundant garden this spring. 

My mother was the one who came up with this idea, and though I was quite interested in preparing the garden, my real interest in the jaunt was getting a chance to talk to her, and tell her of my many problems with children who don’t do their schoolwork.  Somehow, we never got to that topic. I suppose I’m just as glad.

We stopped at a 7-Eleven to get gas in Benbrook, and I got a package of Hostess cakes. Thus fortified we set off for the countryside.

I admit I do remember from childhood a monster tomato plant grow where the rabbit cage had stood, but I hadn’t thought rabbit manure was such a big deal. Little did I know. A study of the situation in my favorite “library,” the World Wide Web, revealed a chart that shows that rabbit manure has three times as much nitrogen as steer manure, and almost three times as much phosphoric acid. At $3 a bag, it wasn’t cheap, but my mother was paying, so I didn’t complain. (Three dollars a bag is the bag-your-own price, if you want it pre-bagged, it’s $6.)

We also had the opportunity to admire the 400 bunnies. They are raised by Mom’s friend’s wife and are available for sale. Many varieties were evident, in particular, I think, rex and mini-rex. As a bonus we were allowed to hold a baby rabbit. 

The Texas smallholding under the Texas sky.

Loading up the back of Mom’s SUV, we had 6 bags of manure, and I looked out on the smallholding. Rural Texas is like much of rural America, with metal buildings, and metal fences, and fat healthy animals. There’s still something lonely about it, and I’m almost always reminded, when I drive out of town, of the solitary path of the pioneers. 

Us townies, on the other hand, make a jaunt to the outskirts, coffee in a paper cup, pick up some agricultural products, and get back to the cozy confines of our city homes. We may feel a little wistful, we may wish for some stronger connection with the land, but we know that our survival is our highest priority and we’re covering that by living as we do.

Survival on the farm is a little more dicey and may involve such gigs as selling show rabbits and their manure. If your garden needs a boost or you need a bunny, you might try inquiring at staff@ridgleawest.com about getting one or the other or both.

Next week, I’ll be building my garden boxes and laying in the rabbit manure, and over the summer, we’ll see if it proves up to its reputation. Meanwhile, I can still feel the soft fur of that gray mini-rex, and I wish I could own some livestock of my own.

Reflecting pool at the bottom of the rose garden cascade.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What: The oldest public garden in Texas, Fort Worth Botanic Garden is 109 acres of beautifully cultivated plants and trees, with abundant fountains, creeks and ponds. Picnickers are welcome. 

When: Eight a.m. until dusk.

Where:  On west side of University Blvd. just north of the I-30. Take University offramp, and go north one block, or drive up from TCU by traveling north on University. Alternatively, drive south from “Six Points” (intersection of Camp Bowie, University, Bailey and 7^th Streets) in the Museum District.

Getting there by bike:  Take the Trinity Trails to just northeast of the University Boulevard Bridge, then cut through Trinity Park to the main entrance on University. You’ll have to wait for a few cars to pass to get across the street, but the crossing is not impossible. It is requested that cyclists walk bikes on garden pathways. 

Getting there by bus: Take Route 7 from downtown Fort Worth Transit Center (ITC) or up from Bluebonnet Circle and TCU. This bus runs every half hour on weekdays and Saturdays and also serves the museum district.  The “T” Route 7

History: The garden was constructed during the Depression, by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The original layout and extensive terraces, stairways and stonework was based on designs from the Villa Lante near Viterbo, north of Rome, Italy. Of particular note is the cascading fountain that forms the centerpiece of the original garden, which travels down a gentle hill covered with rose bushes. 

In the years since the 1930′s, the garden has been a site of many improvements and much development. Of these special attractions, the Japanese Garden and the Conservatory are the most well-known. 

Japanese Garden:  A mystical feeling seems to emanate from the sculpted bushes and carefully chosen rocks and boulders of the Japanese garden.  Winding paths take the visitor down a hill into a quiet valley where ponds are home to Japanese Koi. These fish are the stars of this garden, spotted and mottled in all colors of yellow, gold, black and grey. Children are enchanted to feed them, so bring quarters to put in the fish food dispensers. Also visit the large Zen meditation garden. Small children must be well watched;  deep water and many bridges are here. Additional entry fees, $3 adults, discount for children and seniors.

Conservatory:  Visit a jungle in the 10,000-square-foot conservatory. Open year round, the conservatory offers the feel of the tropics – warm air, moist ground, the sound of water – to the dessert-weary Texan. Nominal charge for entry.  

General Garden Restrictions: No team sports, please. Fee for formal photographers.

Web: Fort Worth Botanic Garden