Plant: Tomatoes

We’re thrilled to invite our partner Texas Gardener Magazine editor Jay White to the blog today. This month, our monthly perk for members is a tomato plant - and Jay is here with tips for planting tomatoes in Texas! In Texas, tomatoes are best planted in late March. Take it away, Jay.

If you want learn how to grow tomatoes, talk to someone whose livelihood depends on it.  Nathan Hanath runs a lovely, successful, organic “truck farm” operation called Magnolia Hills Farms in Brenham, Texas. Each year Nathan’s grows around 300 tomato plants that produce almost two tons of tomatoes for his loyal customers. He is able to provide sweet, juicy, flavorful tomatoes from June through December because of a strict management routine that focuses on soil health and organic principles. He is my go-to guy for all of my tomato questions. Below are some of the things he has shared with me through the years.

Grow in Good Soil – Nathan has a 20,000 sq-ft bed that has been producing vegetables 12 months a year for the past 32 years. That is incredible. He has been able to keep his bed healthy by constantly replenishing it with compost. According to Nathan, constantly adding compost to your soil is the single most important thing you can do to foster plant health. Plants grown in compost receive a steady, controlled diet of the macro, micro and trace nutrients they need to thrive. In addition, soil that is full of organic material experiences fewer problems with soil borne disease.

Grow Big, Healthy Transplants – Nathan grows over 300 tomato plants each year. He grows between 10 and 12 nematode-resistant determinate or semi-determinate varieties. He starts his seeds in a commercial mix in January and then again in June. He starts his seeds in little foam cups and then bumps them up to bigger containers after about 21 days. He keeps his starts in shallow trays and waters them from the bottom with a solution of “Fish and Poop”. Some of his favorite varieties include Amelia, BHN1021, Celebrity, Celebration, Carnival, Santa Belle, Top Gun, Phoenix, Tasty Lee and Tycoon. While these are his favorites, he encourages you to try his methods on whatever varieties you can find.

Plant Late – Resist the urge to plant early.  Tomatoes grow best in warm soils. Grow big healthy transplants and do not put them in the ground until the third or fourth week of March. Try to time it so your transplants have flowers when you put them out. Plant them deep to encourage a large root ball

Fertilize – Almost all Texas gardens are nitrogen deficient. Growing plants use lots of nitrogen and rain, heat and tilling let it leach from the soil.  In order to provide his plants the nitrogen they need to thrive Nathan works “Sweet Green” into his tomato beds before planting. Sweet Green (11-0-4) is an organic fertilizer that contains dried cane molasses and beet molasses. Because of its high nitrogen content Sweet Green is marketed as a lawn fertilizer. However, the high nitrogen levels of the fertilizer make it an excellent supplement for the organic vegetable garden.

Mulch – Keep your beds as weed free as possible. Weeds rob your plants of nutrients, and they attract pests.  Nathan uses landscape fabric to suppress weeds. While the fabric is great to help warm the soil in March and early April, you will need to cover it with a thick layer of mulch once the temperatures start to climb.

Calcium – Blossom end rot is caused by a calcium deficiency. Prevent it by spraying your tomato plants weekly with Nutri-Cal. Nutri-Cal is a calcium supplement that contains nitrogen. The supplemental calcium will prevent blossom end rot, and the nitrogen will give your plants a little boost to keep them healthy and productive up until July.

If you are going to be passing through Brenham on 290, stop in at Magnolia Hill Farm. Nathan loves visitors, and he has outstanding produce available every month of the year. He also stocks a huge selection of his mother’s famous preserves and pickles. (You have to buy the sauerkraut)!  In addition to produce, Nathan collects and breeds day lilies. He has over 900 varieties for sale from March through June. The farm is truly a sight around Mother’s Day when all of those day lilies are in bloom!

Thanks so much, Jay!

Plant: Asparagus

Is there anything better than fresh local asparagus in springtime? Roasted, grilled, steamed, maybe served with hollandaise for brunch?

Growing asparagus in your yard is a gift that keeps giving. In North Texas, it will survive year-round, multiply, and come back every spring. With proper care, an asparagus crown can last 15 to 25 years. There are a few key things to keep in mind before growing asparagus at home:

1. Give asparagus room. It will spread, and it doesn’t really like to share space with other plants. Count on that when determining where you are going to plant yours.

2. Asparagus loves full sun. However, it does need to be watered. It is one of those plants that you will want to keep an eye on to be sure it is not getting dried out. Ideally, you may even want to have some drip irrigation in your asparagus patch.

3. Asparagus is a little picky when it comes to soil quality. It is more responsive to soil higher in Ph and rich in organic matter. Show your asparagus growing soil some love before and during the growing process.

Getting started with asparagus, you can order seeds, but it is easier to start with growing crowns. Crowns can be purchased locally at specialty nurseries like North Haven Gardens.

This handy guide from Texas A&M will also give you more important details.

Plant: Plan Your Garden

What can you plant in January? Not a whole lot. That’s why it is the best month of the year to plan for your upcoming growing year. Here are five things you can do to prepare your garden during this dormant month:

1. Decide what you want to grow. This is your starting point. What will inspire you and bring you joy? Is it something to eat or something of beauty? Do you want something easy and low-maintenance, or are you ready for a challenge? Do you know what grows well in your local environment? Texas Gardener Magazine is a great resource if you’re in Texas. Each issue delves into what grows well in the Lone Star State, and they publish a great planning calendar each year.

2. Prepare your space. The environment for your plants is critically important in their long-term success. Is your space in full sun or shade? Do you have water access, and, if not, how will you irrigate? Do you have the right amount of space for what you what you want to grow?

3. Amend your soil. We underestimate how important soil quality is to growing good plants. If you’re not sure how good your soil is, you can get a low-cost soil test at most nurseries, or you can mail in a sample to the soil lab at Texas A&M. Soil test measure Ph and nutrients and help you determine how you need to amend your soil. If you have compacted urban soil that hasn’t been used in some time, you should amend it by adding equal parts of compost, expanded shale, and mulch. Mix these three items into your existing soil – they will increase nutrient content, attract microbes, allow for aeration, and help retain water.

4. Sharpen your tools. Sharpening doesn’t take much time, but it is important to do routine maintenance (at least yearly) of your outdoor tools. A simple sharpener, a rough cloth, and some oil (read up on what oil will work best for you) is all you need. Keeping your tools maintained increases their lifespan and also makes your plants like prone to disease and damage.

5. Educate yourself! Now is a great time to attend a local course about a horticulture subject you’ve been wanting to learn. We love reading seed catalogs from the growers listed below – you can learn a lot from these wonderful companies about plant varieties. Yes, you can watch some Netflix and geek out simultaneously on plants.

Growers to Check Out

• Native American Seed Company

• Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

• Womack Nursery

• Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

• Willhite Seed Inc.

Plant: Fruit Trees

November is a great time of year to plant fruit trees in your urban space. Even though it is getting colder outside, Fall is an optimal season for planting because the plant is dormant; its roots are allowed to develop (generally without competition) before the tree begins leafing out in the spring. 

Apples, apricots, blackberries, blueberries, citrus, fig, grape, jujube, peach, pear, pecan, persimmon, plum, pomegranate, strawberries…all of these fruits can be grown well here if properly cared for!

Here are five things to keep in mind when thinking about growing fruit at home:

1.    Sunlight is the key to fruit production. Fruit trees need at least six hours of direct sunlight per day.

2.    Soil quality is important – pick a site with good drainage, and be sure you have a healthy native soil to nourish that tree.

3.    If space is limited, be sure you consider the mature size of the tree. You can purchase ‘dwarf’ varieties of fruit trees. Even better, keep the fruit tree pruned to a dwarf size.

4.    Choose a dependable and tested variety of plant for our North Texas region. Don’t just buy whatever a big-box nursery tries to sell you. 

5.    Some fruit tree varieties need to be pollinated, so if you are looking to just plant 1-2 trees, be sure you choose a ‘self-pollinating’ variety.

We love these individual fact sheets from Texas A&M on various fruit tree types.