2011 garden planning

One of the great things about living in Central Texas is that food will grow pretty much all year long, if you are careful to cover the plants for the five or six freezing nights that winter brings. This year my approach is to plan for four distinct growing seasons because some vegetables can't take the heat and others thrive in it, but can't take cool weather. This simplistic approach is a direct result of my frustration with both broad generalization and false precision in forecasting. Let me explain.

We live in US Hardiness Zone 8. Hardiness zones are based on the expected last frost date as predicted by some sort of historical averages. Seed companies compare the frost dates for each zone with the cold-handling properties of their plants and give us gardeners a general idea of when to plant. Usually the range is two to six months, which is really not that helpful. In contrast, Texas Gardener Magazine, having an independent streak about it, has its own zone map which is more specific and gives more precise planting dates for each type of vegetable. According to the magazine's schedule, spinach should be planted starting Jan. 4, but the date for radishes is Jan. 18. I find it difficult to believe that there is any noticeable difference in the weather between those two weeks. Hence my frustration with false precision.

So, I choose to cast off the chains of the prognosticators and make up my own rules. After all, I'm doing this for fun as much as anything, and getting stressed out over missing deadlines is what I do at work. If anyone feels the need to grill me on my methods I'll work up some kind of spreadsheet that will appear to support my gut decisions; people who wear ties do that all the time.

Using the Austin Organic Gardeners' planting calendar as a guide I've worked up plans for an early crop of stuff that grows between January and April, a mid-year crop from May to July, a late crop from August to October, and a winter crop for stuff that likes cold.

I have not yet worked out what I want to do for the middle and late crops, but here is my plan for the early crop: