In this video, see how I plan out my spring and summer garden here in Central, TX zone 9a along with the specific seed list I’m using this year. Plus the low down on growing beans, tomatoes, squash and cucumbers successfully in our summer heat!
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Williamson County Planting Calendar:
https://williamson.agrilife.org/files/2025/01/WilCo-Planting-Guide-Vegetables.pdf
To find your planting calendar in Texas:
Type in (your county) Planting Calendar and reference the Texas Agrilife Extensions Website or Your Local Master Gardeners Site for a pdf download
Directory:
0:01 intro
0:25 Spring In Texas
01:27 Planting Calendar
02:07 Garden Schematic
02:37 Sun Mapping the Garden
4:21 Cottage Garden
5:47 Kitchen Garden Tour
8:49 Seasonal Transition
11:37 My Seed List
14:53 Choosing the right varieties
15:54 Deciding Garden Goals
16:42 Determinate vs Indeterminate Tomatoes
+ Full tomato breakdown
19:43 Green Bean Breakdown
21:14 Bitter Cucumber Tips
22:32 White Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes
22:14 How to plant sweet potatoes
23:44 Squash Woes
26:12 Luffa !
27:29 What’s next?!
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28 Comments
Not in Texas? Type in your zip code at this site to find a planting calendar guide for your area! https://www.almanac.com/gardening/planting-calendar
Just a little east of you and this has been SO helpful!
Had an awful time with leaf footed bugs destroying my loofahs and tomatoes come June/July last year, but hoping we can avoid them totally taking over this year. They’re a pain to get rid of once they go crazy!
Great stuff, lots of useful tid bits.
Fellow Texan here! You know you’re from Texas when you put your seeds in an ammo can! 😂 Great Video!
Hello Vanessa, fellow Texan here by way of the Military. We retired in San Angelo (Tom Green County, Zone 8a) about 225 miles west of Austin. We are West Central Texas. We have been here about 18 or so years. I am going to Grow Mushroom Basket for the first time. I am super excited. Love your channel. Did you draw that layout? 🤯, Wow! My goal is to start a channel this year as there are not any YouTubers here in West Texas. There’s farming and ranching here, but I live in town, and want to share my bliss! I have gardened for 6 years now, and have a small kitchen garden, that I
like to call an edible landscape. Thank you for sharing and inspiring!
Are you in Houston?
Where did you get your Culantro?!?
Just planted my first fall garden. Nothing grew except kale 😅
You were mentioned in the HCWG Weekly Newsletter yesterday. Congrats! Here's to an early Spring!!!
In Tyler Texas , zone 8b.
Fellow Texan here. I'm southwest of your location. My first priority has to be fencing. Otherwise, it's useless to garden due to the high population of deer. (Low population rural subdivision) My neighbors feed the deer to the point that they are lazy & dependent upon the daily feedings. After the deer, feral cats & stray dogs are a huge problem. They are pretty destructive. After that, the sun is the next big problem. I've been slowly buying t-posts, cattle panels, wire fencing, vinyl fencing & shade cloth. I'm hoping to be able to fence off a 32' x 48' space for my garden. (100% full sun until after 12 noon) I've been researching plants that are deer resistant. Some highly aromatic plants tend repell deer & other furry pests. (Marigolds, sage, mint, rosemary, etc.) However, I have seen deer eat native sage down to the ground in bad years. I haven't had problems with raccoons & squirrels yet because there's nothing for them to eat right now. The jack rabbits & cotton tail bunnies will probably also become a problem. I'm sure that they'll all show up for a buffet once I get a garden planted. Fortunately, the way my house is situated, the backyard is located on the east side of the house. Most of the garden will get the cooler morning sun & be shaded by the house in the afternoon. I'm still working out a layout before I set the fence posts. Wish me luck.
I'm in the golden triangle and the only thing I've had any luck with is okra. My cukes do well till the heat really hits and I'm lucky if I can get a couple of good tomatoes. My celery did well over the winter. That's about it. Everything else has been difficult
Sounds like you’re my neighbor! Subscribed 😊🌱
This video was super helpful! The way you put a visual on paper and in person was great and explaining how the heat hits your garden. I'm a beginner and trying to figure out where to start. I'm in East Texas, our weather looks very similar to your area. As a visual learner you helped my brain organize what I need to know. Thank you!
I would pay you to come help me do that. I simply don’t have the gumption.
Glad to have found a fellow gardener in ATX area.I am in north Austin as well.
Is it possible to visit your garden?
I cannot find a planting calendar for my Texas county at those sites😕
Love this video! I have a similar situation in my San Marcos garden – oriented NE/SW, with shady areas that vary from season to season. (Tree and small building). It was very helpful to see your layout and explanation about managing changing light/heat levels, planting times and rotation, as well as recommendations for varieties for this area. I’m trying Yukon golds for the first time this year, followed by sweet potatoes, which I hope are more productive this year. Nothing but skinny roots last year, perhaps their spot was too shady. Last year success with Swiss chard, tomatoes, cilantro, summer squash, basils, parsley, okra and cantaloupe. No luck with eggplant. Getting an earlier start this year, yay!
Love the Yard long but we had an issue with them getting infested with aphids and some sort of beetle. Having trouble keeping the red ants away to. Zone 9A.
Fellow Texan here I grow year round now , just planted my kale, Swiss chard, radish, green beans, green onions, already got my lettuce in, carrots, cabbage, sweet Texas onions and creole onions I over wintered and protected my onions , garlic with deep leaf protection, cabbage and carrots I tented 6 mil growers plastic , I am poor so used my tomato cages to keep plastic off my carrots and cabbage. Once my brassica, and greenbeans are done I will amend my beds and in will go my 26 tomato plants, 26 bell peppers which I grow thru the summer, I already have my sweet potato’s ready to produce my slips for 6 black mineral tubs. I have 8 above ground beds and 50 black mineral tubs sitting on free pallets for good water drainage. I depend on my garden and succession plant my cucumbers to give myself and many cucumbers thru out spring , summer, early fall, any savings beats none. Thanks for your vid grow grow grow
Info for the greenhouse please
Wichita, zone 6b here. the purple gmo tomatoes were a complete dud. They are not heat tolerant at all. blossoms fell off while my heirloom Baxter's bush cherry plants had TONS of tomatoes. The purple gmo plants began to set fruit in October and they didn't taste well.
My struggles here is the heat burning all my tomatoes and the bugs killing my squash. I'm going to try some shade cloth this year and staking up my squash plants and see how that goes
Just found your site . I also live in zone 9 here in Cameron Tx(Central Tx). I am hoping to revamp and restart my garden. So I am very happy with all your great advice and Information. Coming from California , its taking Hubby and I time to Climatize to Tx. Plus we are in our 70s and sometimes move a bit slow, but hoping we can accomplish our dream soo, that is growing some of our food , and fruits. Ninette Bird- The Caribbean Wife- Tx
I cant find the texas guide on the master gardeners website, could you place a link?
Is it too early for planting pepper in central Texas? 🌶️ it would be great if you can do a video all about capsaicin!
I'm in the DFW area and I can't wait to get planting
This is wonderful. So many good tips and here in TX.