Greetings, I hope you enjoy this November garden tour of my backyard here in Austin Texas Zone 8B. As we prepare for storms, a cold front, and maybe even the first frost of the season, there are still all sorts of things to grow. I hope this update on my raised bed and fruit trees is entertaining, informative, and inspiring!
Here in Austin Texas, I am working with some really dense clay soil, because of this, I’ve decided to grow fruits and veggies in a large raised bed, and build a french drain for my peach and fig trees.
My raised bed is 60 square feet (20’x3′) and about 2 feet high, this fall I’m growing dill, cabbage, eggplant, tomatoes, carrots, radishes, and a fig tree. I’m also doing a little zone pushing by growing pineapples and an avocado tree in containers, which are moving into my garage under grow lamps for the winter.
I hope this garden tour is entertaining, educational, and inspiring. Good luck with all your gardening projects this fall!
Video Chapter Timestamps
0:00 Intro, Life Update, and my Neglected Raised Bed
6:26 Revitalizing the Raised Bed
8:59 Raised Bed Garden Tour – Dill, Basil, Eggplant, Cabbage, Carrots, Tomatoes, Jalapeños, Strawberries, Blackberries, and Radishes
21:25 Backyard Orchard – Peaches, Olives, Figs, and a Granny Smith Apple Tree
31:03 Closing Thoughts and a Zone Pusher’s Winter Garden Preparation for Tropicals and Ornamentals
Thanks again for watching Austin Texas Gardening!
#AustinTexas #Gardening #Horticulture #Zone8B #suburbangardening
9 Comments
Heck ya at work glad you uploaded so I can watch while I wrap my day up.
Ants love my potted purslane. I can’t bring it inside so I’m going to propagate some cuttings instead
Do you have a preferred place that I might share pictures? I don't know if I will but I think I can impress you. Today is the last warm day of growth for the season with the first cold storm here now.
I have mangoes and citrus here in Austin. I just throw them in my shed when the lows are predicted below about 45. They survived Feb 2021 so I'm not too worried about doing that. You also have to watch out for mountain Laurel. It seems like in the burbs you guys don't have many trees in general, but in the city Laurels are everywhere. The seeds are extremely toxic to all mammals. We had a dog pass away from kidney failure due to consuming one.
Do you think your tomato plant will make it with the cold front coming? Im hoping mine will be ok but it seems this cold front is going to be around for about 2 weeks. ugh! And of course it'll be back in the 80's after our plants die. lol!
I bought an olive tree and it came with purslane growing under it too! Nice
My potted plants during the winter go indoors and that's it. Your garage, which I've seen in past videos, is quite more elaborate
I think you will find you will need to add about 3 to 4 inches every year to the raised beds. The organic matter will burn up and cause the level to shrink. Nor really anything to do with compaction. Also, the strawberries should survive just fine. Many people in zone 8 or higher plant them in the fall and try for a spring crop. You might also try to vary your varieties of peach trees. Try to get ones with different ripening dates to extend the harvest. My first 2 peach trees were the same variety and really one tree is enough for one family as they ripen. Most varieties ripen over a 2 to 3 week period. Pick one variety that ripens in late May, one in Mid June and a third in late June , early July. That way you have peaches for 3 months instead of 3 weeks.
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