Improve your soil during summer
During summer in Central Texas, once the evening temps reach over 75 degrees, many of the fruit-bearing plants that we grow will stop producing fertile flowers and cease to produce fruit. While our hardworking farmers and farm workers continue to harvest and plant crops so that we can have food to eat, backyard gardeners can adopt the pace of nature and take a summer break.
Soil health is the key to a healthy garden, and August is a great month to build up your soil. It’s a great time to plant a heat-loving cover crop like black eyed peas or buckwheat. These plants will help add essential nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus to the soil and require little water or care once they have sprouted. To plant black eyed peas, cow peas, or purple hull peas, push each seed about 1” below the surface of the soil, 4” apart. You can also spread buckwheat along the surface of the soil where you want the cover crop to grow, gently rake the seeds in, and grow both crops simultaneously. In 70-80 days, the peas can be harvested, shelled and cooked. Alternatively, peas are a very easy seed to save. Leave the pods on the plant in the garden until they are dry, then harvest and shell them, and save them in a labeled envelope to be planted next year. The buckwheat should be cut down soon after it flowers and before it goes to seed. You can cut any remaining plants down in the fall and use the clippings as a green manure for your soil which will now be ready for fall crops.
Allowing the soil to rest is another good option during this time of year. Farmers have long since understood that fallow fields are necessary to maintain fertile soil. A fallow field is one that is cultivated but left unsown for a period to restore the soil’s fertility. With plenty of land to farm, good farmers rotate their crops to allow some fields to lay fallow for a season. At this point in the summer, it may suit you to remove the spent plants you have been growing since spring that are no longer producing. Compost all of the debris and give the garden a good clean-up to keep pests and disease away. Now you can lay straw or brown leaves over any bare soil. When you are ready to plant in the fall, remove the mulch or till it under, and your soil will be ready for fall crops.
When we adopt this practice of rest in the garden, it offers other benefits and allows us to conserve resources. For example, to keep a small backyard garden growing through the summer, it requires at least five gallons of water a week. Because the crops are not producing very much fruit due to the high temperatures, we would be using alot of water to produce very little harvestable crops. Speaking of high temperatures, not only does it cause plants to go dormant, it also stresses human and animal health. Gardening should be enjoyable and provide health benefits and while sweating is great for a detox now and then, the effect of the heat and sun day after day can cause more harm than good. In mid-July, I put my edible garden to bed except for one raised bed that grows heat-loving plants like okra, peppers and eggplant. I will revive the garden again in mid-September.
Rest grows better crops, literally and figuratively. During this rest time in the garden, you can take advantage of resting yourself too. We tend to think that only a productive garden is a successful garden, which unfortunately is also a metaphor for our personal and professional lives. For me, this rest period is a practice in patience. Normally a busy-body, I tend to fill every hour of my day with activities. But when I commit to a time of rest and relaxation, I can spend idle time with my kids, floating in water, reading, and taking time to plan my fall garden. And, because of this, I can look forward to and appreciate the time when the scorching Texas temperatures finally break, and it’s time again to enjoy working in the garden.
In August, we need all the refreshing, no-cook recipes we can get. Agua Fresca is a drink that originated in Mexico and is popular throughout Central America. It is a delicious way to stay hydrated. This Watermelon Agua Fresca recipe is perfect for highlighting the flavors of sweet, local melons which are found all over the farmers markets and farm stands in Central Texas this month. You can use any type of melon and reduce or increase the sugar to your liking.
Watermelon Agua Fresca
4 heaping cups of cubed watermelon
½ cup water
¼ cup granulated sugar
Squeeze of lime juice (optional)
In a blender, combine watermelon and water and blend until smooth. Add sugar and stir. Taste and add more sugar if desired. Strain the solids by pouring it through a mesh strainer if you prefer, and serve over ice with a squeeze of lime.