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Being a gardener in Lubbock is a greater challenge than I imagined, but each year is getting better.
Come follow my progress as I get my hands in Texas soil.
Joy Blooms
. . .
with veggies, flowers, birds, butterflies, & creatures
This page last updated: 05/08/2016 08:07 AM
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My Butterfly Garden in Lubbock, TX
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Sow What? 20 Raised Beds, Shop Veggie Garden, Berry Patch, Iris River Flower Garden & Butterfly Garden |
| Transforming "blank" land into a Victory Garden |
| In March 2011 we accepted a contract on our Thornton, CO house. Since we had anticipated the sale, we were packed and ready to go. On April Fool's Day, Hubby & I + the 2 beagles headed for Lubbock. We gladly traded in our down-jackets for shorts & T's. We moved to Texas into temporary housing (3 month rental on a house is Wolfforth). So no gardening
for me. My "garden" was a planter box with dusty millers and marigolds.
We ratcheted up our search for a new home with some acreage. I really wanted a victory garden! At the end of May 2011 we closed on our Lubbock
home. During the month of June we took our time and began moving in. By the end of June we returned the keys of the rental and started the process of making the house and Lubbock our home.
The property is
just a touch over one acre, located outside the city limits, of good ol' Texas RED dirt. Most of the acreage is in the backyard; plenty of room for a long-dreamed-of Victory Garden. Hubby built (I helped) 20 raised bed in which to grow veggies.
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| The pictures below where taken on June 5,
2011. As you can see there is an over-abundance of red dirt. |
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This is a North view from the backdoor. The garage is to the
left and the shop ("basement") is to the right. |
Ultimately the Victory Garden consisted of 20 raised beds,
located SE of the shop ("basement') |
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The space south of the raised beds will become an "Iris River"
The garden will feature iris, small shrubs, perennials & annuals. |
East of the "Iris River" will be the location of a Butterfly Garden.
I will be able to view it from my office window (single one). |
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| Lubbock is in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 7. A nice change from Thornton's Zone 5. The growing season
here is longer, which means
that I can put seeds and transplants in the ground a couple of months earlier than I did in Colorado. It also
means that I can harvest to Thanksgiving and maybe even beyond.
When the seed catalogs start arriving arriving in November, I methodically page through them and circle the seeds and/or plants to order. It is a great joy to day-dream about next year's gardens. After narrowing down the "wish list" I order seeds. I can't resist also buying some seeds locally as soon as the
displays are up.
With seed packages in hand I complete an elaborate Excel spreadsheet detailing the names, locations to be planted, dates to sow, dates to harvest veggies, and much much much much more. I get as much joy out of planning as I do from the "doing."
Oh the anticipation of waiting to get my hands dirty.
By March I start to play in the dirt. It seems the winds blow pretty steadily in March & April. That's a problem. |
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