At Dogwood Hollow Homestead, we grow food not for a hobby, but because we live as self-sufficient as possible.
So we grow food to eat! So it is to our advantage to get as many crops into the soil as possible at the earliest possible time. As our last few winters have been getting shorter and shorter and spring coming earlier and earlier, as it seems, we decided to start seeds in February. Some seed we knew would grow. Others we planted to see what happens. For those of you who understand and know what is going on with the changing of Earth’s climates, it is highly recommended to plant seed at earlier, now, as an experiment to see what you might be able to grow earlier.
We started planting some seed the second week of February and almost all we planted has came up and still growing successfully. Only a few did not, but we planted a few old seeds which could be the reason. We have been growing our own organic food for almost seven years and we plant only heirloom seed. So here are 10 crops we have growing at the homestead and you can grow right now in Texas County, or to be even more local, in Houston: Red romaine lettuce, cilantro, turnips/turnip Greens, mustard greens, collards, green onions (planted last year), potatoes, garlic (planted in the fall), German chamomile (planted last year), thyme (planted last year), peppermint, spearmint, chocolate mint, cherry belle radish, Daikon radish and echinacea (planted last year).
Now, although those are things we planted either last season (for perennial) or recently (successful experiment), there are a few more crops that you are already supposed to be able to plant now, or at least within a few weeks of today’s date. According to the historical and farmers almanac records for Texas County, here is a list of some crops that you should be able to plant now successfully (some should be covered with plastic when the night temperatures occasionally drop pretty cold, but for the most part these crops are cool weather, anyhow): Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, all greens, lettuces, snow peas, sweet peas, potatoes, onion bulbs, carrots, peppers, asparagus, beets, chard, kale, Brussels sprouts and strawberries.
If you are new to gardening and do not know where to turn, hopefully this information can get you started. After looking around the area, I have already noticed Walmart and other stores have their seeds and gardening stuff available. So apparently they know the value of the season change as well! So I recently bought 200 sets of yellow onions and planted those in loose garden soil, in one of my raised bed boxes. I also purchased some strawberries and will be putting those in the ground in a few days. They will have black plastic placed around them with a slit cut in the top.
Good luck and keep growing!
Texas County resident Merlyn Seeley (a.k.a. Spirit Walker) is a natural living expert, herbalist, Cherokee medicine man and author of numerous books. His work is available at most online book-selling sites and his blog address is https://freelancermerlyn.wordpress.com/. Email dogwoodhollow17@gmail.com.
Texas County resident Merlyn Seeley (a.k.a. Spirit Walker) is a natural living expert, herbalist, Cherokee medicine man and author of numerous books. His blog address is https://freelancermerlyn.wordpress.com/. Email dogwoodhollow17@gmail.com.
