By Rene McCracken, NTCC Director of Agriculture
It certainly has been a busy few weeks getting classes going at the Northeast Texas Community College Farm.† The organic gardening and food production class has been busy at work doing what some of you home gardeners might be interested in.† We have raised vegetable beds that I discovered in a patch of weeds at the farm.† Unfortunately, when the students leave for the summer, so do the labor hands for us ? so we pretty much had to start from scratch.
The first chore to be taught was to clear off the old plant material, remove the Bermuda grass that had overtaken the beds and encourage the fire ants to find a new home for the winter.† Luckily, some of our students are Master Gardeners who were able to help mentor the less experienced folks and made easy work of this chore.† Since it was August and 100-degree days were not uncommon, a good short mowing of the grass between the beds helped to kill it before we put down a thick layer of mulch (wood chips) to block out the grass.† Another easy way to accomplish this would start with a visit to your local grocery store or our bookstore for some free cardboard boxes.† Simply break down the boxes and then lay them flat where you do not want the grass to grow.† Covering them with gravel or woodchips would improve the appearance, but it is the absence of sunlight to the grass that provides your best ?organic? weed control.
Once the beds were cleared and prepped, came the fun part.† Even the novice students enjoyed selecting seeds and planting them in our fall garden.† We were also able to cut back some of the summer plants like cherry tomato, basil, rosemary, and even some bell peppers and will get a second crop out of them before frost.† The new things growing are snow peas, carrots, swiss chard, lettuce mix, leeks, arugula, radishes, kohlrabi and beets.† The first biggest hurdle our fall garden will face will be if temperatures continue to stay high and rain is below normal.† We may have to provide shade cloth the keep soil temperature down, and water often.
After the plants begin to sprout, a good layer of mulch around them will be our best solution in a raised bed to help keep temperature steady and hold in the moisture.† Later as the temperatures cool down, row cover or cold frames will ensure we have fresh greens to add to the Thanksgiving and Christmas meals!† If you are interested in growing your own garden in your backyard but do not have the time to take a full semester class, be sure and mark your calendar for our 2nd Annual Living from the Ground Up field day for small farmers.
This is the much anticipated event where farmers and ranchers of all interest levels can take courses such as rain water harvesting and storage, grass fed beef and pastured pork and poultry, how to grow organically, building up your soils and other topics that will make gardening less of a chore and your farm more sustainable.† Additionally, demonstrations on building a rain barrel, making compost tea, building grape trellises and various cooking and preserving classes will offer a hands-on look that will inspire you to get started right away in building the backyard homestead that you have dreamed about.† Living from the Ground Up will be held on Saturday, November 10, 2012 beginning at 8 am with registration.† Attendance for this event is limited and classes will fill up quickly, participants will be taken on a first come first serve basis.† For more information or to register for the day and select the classes you would like to attend contact Rene? McCracken at 903-434-8267 or send emails to agriculture@ntcc.edu.
Also for those interested readers of my last column, my two goat guard dogs have decided not to try to go home to Henderson by digging to China, instead they are patiently waiting at the mailbox and try to jump into every car that drives by.† The goats are much happier with their ?old? shelter in place they think it is home.† The cat has abandoned hide-n-seek and has quit locking herself in closets and, instead, serves as chief mouse exterminator for the barn.† The only one still confused is Champ (the mustang/app cross trained by the rodeo clown).† He still will spend the better part of a day ?stuck? if a gate swings back on him and helped to create our first visit to the emergency room when he un-seated my daughter and she ?joined the bird gang? and then her face collided with the ground.† I am happy to say that the hospital emergency room provides excellent service and my daughter had some great material for her show and tell for a couple of weeks with the big black eye, other than that, just another day in paradise on the ?Ole Ms. McCracken Farm?.
