My Garden Adventures

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This is my space where I will share what I'm growing in my Texas backyard garden, how I'm growing and the up's and down's of my garden adventure. Whether it's beer remedy for nasty Caterpillars (yep it worked for real) or first flower on my Plum tree, Growing curry leaf from seed, I will brag here :-). I will share what all  I use for my organic gardening; from buying seeds, plants, to tips to control nasty pests, Natural insecticides  etc. I will keep updating this page. So pls keep checking.

My Planting Zone:
8 A (Frisco, Dalls)
Know your Planting zone before buying plants. You can find it online by your zipcode. Not every plant can survive in all weathers. Check the link below and enter your zip code to find your planting zone. This will help in choosing right plants for your garden.
https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/


My Vegetable Raised bed :
We have got it built along with drip irrigation. So no need to water it. Only in hot summers, I water it once in a while. We built trellis by ourself. If you have a wooden fence like us on the side, you can use Trellis net. It's cheaper solution.  I bought it last year and it worked great for my Cucumbers, Malabar spinach and Tindora vines. 

You can build your own raised bed using wood (cedar planks), cinder blocks.  Lot of online diy tutorials are there. Or you can buy a  Raised Vegetable Bed . 

 

Marigolds are planted in vegetable bed to repel pests.

Want a quick and easy way to grow veggies, I bought Grow bags and these are pretty easy and strong bags. Just fill soil and add plants. You are done. Using the same bags two years in a row and they are good. They come in several shapes and sizes.

Soil for Raised bed:

• I Filled it with Top soil, Garden soil and compost. Check  Homedepot , Lowes, Costco for soil. Every year before spring, I would till soil lightly, add new compost.Go for Organic soil for vegetables.i also get free coffee grounds from Starbucks every year and add it to soil. It adds nitrogen naturally.

Fertilizers, Natural Insecticides:

•  I use Organics All Purpose Fertilizer Spikes for Vegetable bed, fruit trees, flowers.
• I also use Jobe’s Organics granules in my garden.
• Epsom Salt is a great fertilizer for Roses, tomatoes, Peppers n more.  Use it according to directions on pack. You can sprinkle around plants or mix in water and feed.
• Neem Oil Organic is best natural treatment for many bugs. I spray it in regular intervals on my plants. Nasty spider mites, Aphids etc can be controlled. works for Scales on curry leaves too.I carry a bottle all the time. Use it in evenings as sunlight , neem oil can burn leaves.
• I used this Insecticidal soap when my Pomogranate plant is infested with Aphids. They were gone in no time. It works for many other insects too. And it's natural.
• I also save egg shells, used coffee, Tea grounds (with no sugar). I crush the shells (grind shells for better results) and add to vegetable bed. You can get used coffee grounds from Starbucks for free. 
• This year I started saving veggie , fruit peels. I would dig a hole in my veggie bed and around trees and place em there. It's natural fertilizer.
• Last year when my garden got infested with hundreds of slugs, snails, I used Sluggo and Tada it worked like magic.My plants were safe. It's organic and the contents break down into plant food. 

Tools:

Keep basic gardening tools handy so they make your life easier. Few pairs of gloves are must. Shovels of different sizes, Pruner, scissors are some basic tools. I also keep a plastic bucket handy which is useful for mixing fertilizers with water. Also few sprayer bottles for Neem oil spraying etc. 

Vegetable gardening

Seeds:

I planted Organic Moringa seeds this year in my garden. Germinated nicely. Waiting to see them grow.
Update: Nice germination from all seeds. Tree grew like 10 ft or more. Used leaves for lots of recipes. The leaves are usually $6.99 per pound in store. Looks like my investment paid back.

Organic Gongura Seeds : I sowed em couple weeks ago and I see em sprouting.

I got these Bitter Gourd seeds this year. Lets see how they grow. You can also buy a Karela from store and plant those seeds. But  for some reason, I did not get good harvest last year so though of trying these seeds.

Update: I got a decent harvest even in bad Texas season this year.These are sent to me instead Desi variety. Anyway I love these as they are little less bitter and easy to scrape skin.

Sorakaya (Bottle gourd) :

 Chikkudukaya (Avarakkai/Val papdi): Plant once, they will come back voluntarily every spring. I get loads of em every season. I share some, freeze rest. I clean em, remove fiber, chop to desired size, freeze in freezer safe Ziplock bags. They are good for many moths in freezer. When I cook , they are as good as freshly picked ones.

 Curry Leaves:

• Bought it from a nursery in Sandiego. They are also sold in Indian stores during season or in a tropical nursery near by. Heard Doan nursery in Irving sells them.  
• I move it inside during winter. I Prune it in spring, water when soil is dry and add organic fertilizer occasionally.  First time tried growing it from a seed (not the big plant, will update pic). It was successful. Growing slow as it's still little cold outside. Keeping fingers crossed.Will share pic soon with tips.
• Pinch the ends of stems once in a while so it branches out. 

Pruned branch and new growth in next pic:

Fresh, tenderBeans : These are bush been variety. they gave decent harvest. My son enjoyed eating them Raw. Bought Pole beans seeds, first time from Burpee.com. Lets see how they grow.

Pole Beans :
Got these seeds of the first time. Sowed using wet napkin method. 

Update : Didn't get a lot of Pole beans. One reason, only couple plants lived after a bunny sneaked in and ate most.But planning to try again this year. crossing fingers.

Gongura (Sour leaf): 

Enough harvest for my family from 3 plants through out the season. Save the dried pods Save the dried flowers when season is over. The seeds are inside the red flowers.

Mint :
This is the Mint that survived winter. This picture is taken in Feb. Such a hardy plant and invasive if you plant in ground. If you have lot of leaves, clean, grind and freeze in Ice tray. Remove cubes and store in ziplock. Use when needed. 

You can propagate it from store bought stems. Keep a stem in water till you see roots. Keep changing water every few days. Plant it when you see roots. Expose to sun light gradually or grow near a sunny window.Will share step by step pics soon.Mint flowers attracts Bees like crazy. I placed it near my vegetable vines. That way they pollinate nicely. 

Moringa (Drumstick) : 
Sprouted, ready to go in ground. Just place seeds in soil, wait for them to grow. Moringa has several health benefits. It's leaves, fruits are  used in cooking. One tip, do not water Moringa too much. It likes less water. 

One more thing, In winters where temperatures go below freezing, cover the bottom few inches in mulch and wrap it with Freeze Protection covers. In spring when temperatures start warming up, remove covering. It will come back.

You can also place seeds in a wet paper napkin, close, place in ziplock. Keep in a warm place and they should sprout in less than a week.This method sprouted faster than sowing in pots.

Arbi (Taro root/Chema dumpa) : Grow simply from sprouted Arbi (Chema dumpa) by placing in soil. The leaves and root both are used in cooking. 

This year, I got fresh Taro roots from store, placed them in the cover they came from store, made a knot and left aside. With in no time all developed roots. I placed them in soil. Taros love water so make sure to give em enough water.

Malabar Spinach :

Flowers 

Roses, Marigolds n more : I have Hybrid Tea roses, Floribunda, Climbing rose varieties. Bought em in stores and some on line.They are also used to make Bathukamma (Floral festival of Telangana, last pic).

Roses come back after winter but Marigolds are annuals. You need to re plant in spring every year. Roses in my area are susceptible to Rosette virus which kills whole plant.And there is no coming back from this and no insecticide works. 

Clematis:

From pack to pot. Got it from Costco.You can buy em from Nursery but you don't get variety. Planning to plant these in ground soon, probably next to my Oak tree so they can use it as support.

Update: One survived and blooming beautifully. I planted in ground near porch so it gets shade during afternoons. It comes back after winter.

Daisies :

I sprinkled seeds last year and got hundreds of these beauties. They grow with no effort, survives and comes back after winter. Bloom profusely through out spring. They re seed themselves and gives new plants. Attracts butterflies. I bought the seeds over Burpee.com

Zinnias : 

How did I forget to mention these beauties so far. I plant these every year. These are Annuals but grow fast from seeds, and bloom profusely and from summer till fall. The flowers are gigantic and really beautiful. They attract Bees like crazy. Plant near veggie bed so you will have lot of Bees to pollinate your veggies. I have to gather my old pics but found couple for now.I planted these in front of my home and boy they are so pretty.

These are the seeds I bought : Zinnia California Giants seeds

Lilies:

There are several kinds of lilies available in forms of Bulbs, plants in store. These are hardy Perennials and come back every year. Day lilies, Asiatic lilies are couple varieties I'm familiar with. The above one is a day lily. It starts blooming in May here in Dallas and blooms all summer. Pretty tough plants once established. Plant in groups to make em look pretty. 

Day lily Bubs: Perennial Lily bulbs