SFG Newbie south of Houston

Hi, I'm so glad I found this forum. There's a ton of great information on here!!! I'm about 45 min south of Houston. Not only am I brand new to SFG but I'm also brand new to gardening in Zone 9. I'm originally from Michigan. I plan to plant my first SGF around september. That gives me plenty of time to get all the information I can to hopefully avoid some of the newbie mistakes. I've got my boxes built. I'm just waiting to get the fence up so my 3 dogs can't get to my garden and dig. What really attracted me to SFG is space. i have a pretty good size yard but most of it is shaded by large trees. Only a small area gets good sunlight. So I think SFG will work well to maximize the small area. I can't wait to get planting. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Welcome Newbie from South of Houston!

You (and your dogs) are lucky that you have a large yard. Maybe you can utilize your sunny section for plants needing a lot of sun and your shaded section for plants that require less sun. You can probably plant more than you think.

http://organicgardening.about.com/od/vegetablesherbs/a/shadeveggies.htm

I'm a newbie also, so I'm trying to be patient. After seeing so many beautiful gardens people post, it's easy to think something is wrong when my fruits and veggies don't just show up the next day. I have some veggies starting to grow. I have one 6" cucumber, 2 baby tomatoes, 2 limes and a bell pepper growing. I have some stuff growing from seeds that are just sprouting. I have some things flowering, which means they'll be veggies growing from the flowers soon (tomatillos, chili peppers, zukes, strawberries). I can't wait til my garden gets a bit more mature. I have baby watermelons and cantaloupe plants as well as some herbs. Sounds like a lot but really it isn't. I have about 20 open squares left in 6 X 4 and 5 X 3 raised gardens.

Hey grownsunshine,

Sounds like you have some good stuff growing!!

I do have some things growing but its not technically SFG. We bought our house about 9 months ago and the people before us had a raised 4x8 ft bed already in place. I decided to just throw some stuff in there to see how it does cuz I wasn't sure about the quality of the soil. I mixed a little compost in there and planted 2 tomato plants, 4 cucs, pole beans, zucchini and 4 bell pepper plants. I planted cantaloupe and watermelon in containers, and several herbs in hanging pots. I also inherited a key lime bush. my green beans and bell peppers are doing great, the tomatoes are doing ok but my cucs and zucchini are having a tough time. The cucs vines are growing like mad and flowering like crazy but as soon as the little cucs get about an inch long most of them shrivel up and die. The zucchini rot as soon as they get about 3" long. But I have heard from several people in this area that their zucchini and cucs are doing the same thing so who knows. I'm excited cuz my lime bush has about 10 limes on it and they smell so great!!!

I know what you mean tho... Patience is tough!! And I do have lots of plans for what and where I'm going to put different vegetable and fruit plants. I have to be careful tho cuz I need to keep plenty of open space for the dogs to run and my boyfriend and me to enjoy.

Hi Erin, welcome. I'm in La Porte so not far from you. The cukes and zucchini have male and female flowers...fruit rot like you are describing is most likely from lack of pollination. If you start hand pollinating them then you should get the fruit to grow. The tomatoes may not set fruit as hot as it is here right now. But if you put a thick layer of mulch on them and keep them watered consistently you might be able to keep them cool enough to produce if not then they should start setting fruit when the weather cools off so just keep taking care of them and don't give up. Sounds like you are off to a good start and have thought out your setup to be ready for fall planting. Good luck and happy gardening.

I'm new this year to gardening and SFG.  Two things I have learned first hand.  Good compost, not bagged, is very important in the Mel's Mix.  Bagged to start if you have to, but it won't sustain the growth as long and as well as home made compost with all the goodies in it.  Second, mulch in Zone 9.  The soil and roots stay cool and moist no matter how hot it gets.

Just keep searching for all kinds of topics.  If you have a question, just ask (and send photos!).  There are good folks out there with lots of experience.

Hey TxGramma,

Thanks for the tip about pollination. I think I'm gonna try that this weekend. Although I see a few bees visiting my little trial garden almost daily... so i thought they were getting pollinated but maybe not.

Sanderson, thanks for the mulch advise. I'm definitely gonna work on that. As for compost, I do have a composter and am using it. I also have a huge pile of leaves that I am turning into leaf mold. We bought our house last fall and it has 6 trees on the property. Last fall we were amazed at how many leaves were on the ground. I just piled them up behind the garage and they are decomposing there plus as I need to I add them to my composter. I hope by fall I will have enough compost to make the MM but I may need to buy some bagged. I also have a friend back in michigan that has a little worm farm... I'm working on getting her to ship me some worm castings. I know a local guy that has a chicken farm and he said he is going to maybe start selling the chicken poo. I know the chicken poo has to be seasoned before I can mix it into the garden so that may not work for the fall.

I used "playground bark," light colored, pine or fir I think. I really like it. The schools are using it more and more. No redwood in it. I am allergic to redwood and a splinter get all nasty and painful.