Laying Drip Irrigation

Compost Demonstration Site

We are nearly done with the construction phase of our Compost Demonstration Site. Many thanks to the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council for the grant that is funding this project! Signage, one more composter, and some more plants are all that remains until this construction phase is complete. Come by and learn how to compost your household and yard waste - It's good for the environment - It's good for your pocketbook - and it's good for your garden!

Peaches for the Rio Grande Valley

Please, can you tell me what "brand" of peach tree will produce fruit here in Cameron County? We are wanting to purchase at least one this Spring. Dana

Dr Enrique Perez, Cameron County Extension Agent, writes: Back in the mid 80's a group of Starr County producers established an orchard on approximately 75 acres. The varieties adapted to the area or chosen due to chilling hours were EarliGrande and Rio Grande. From my evaluation, these two varieties performed well. A chilling requirement of a certain number of hours of winter temperatures between 32° to 45° F is needed to break dormancy and induce normal bloom and vegetative growth. This chilling requirements caused some problems for the commercial producer in terms of size and yield. But for a home owner this may not be an issue. The other problem is cotton root rot disease which exist through the Rio Grande Valley. Also, we have the issue of pH in the soil. Our soils here are alkaline. Peach varieties have a problem with alkaline soils. The life span for production of these trees are from 5 to 10 years.

One Master Gardener shares that she has had great success with the EarlyGrande variety. It sets lots of small to medium fruit. She gives it minimal care: water, a little pruning and a little horse manure on occasion. Her tree came from Grimsell's Nursery in Harlingen. Rivers End Nursery in Bayview specializes in fruit trees. The varieties they list in their newsletter are Tropic Beauty, Tropic Snow and Florida Glow. They grow what they sell and can give you specific information about each variety. Most local garden centers will stock peach trees during the spring. Their staffs tend to be knowledgable on varieties that do well in the Rio Grande Valley.

For more information on Peach Production in Texas, check out Aggie Horticulture.

Return to "Ask a Master Gardener".

One of the weekly tasks at the Compost Demonstration Site is turning the compost piles. In Week 1, the Master Gardener Interns put most of the material through the chipper/shredder and refilled the bins, sprinkling the material as they went. The bins are currently heavy on brown stuff (carbon) - but members help keep the Compost Demonstration Site supplied with green stuff (nitrogen) by bringing trimmings from their homes and gardens, and old fruit and vegetables from fruit stands.

Week 2, the piles are warm to the touch - so we know they are "cooking". We have found it is easier to empty the entire bin and turn or mix it in the open ground. Then it is reassembled, adding water as needed. Remember, our compost piles should be damp to the touch - like a wrung-out sponge.

We've also been rustling leaves . . . . Our last few bags are leaning against the storage shed in the photo above. Any bagged leaves left on the curb are likely to be snatched and added to the demonstration.

It is amazing how fast we are making compost now that we are turning the piles every week!

Recycling Your Dolly & Ike Debris

Wood fences are very apt to be destroyed in the high winds of a hurricane. If you live in deep south Texas (Hurricane Dolly in July) or the Houston or Galveston area (Hurricane Ike in September), chances are you may have a stack of fence boards waiting for the refuse removers to pick up. Walt brought his to The Arboretum yesterday and made this nifty compost bin! It is a 4 foot cube.Walt had already constructed the two sides with the slatted boards. It's pretty nifty how the angled boards keep your compost ingredients in the bin while allowing for some ventilation. If you are inexperienced with carpentry like I am, you can always make all four sides solid. Just drill a few holes in the boards. Walt connected his two pre-constructed sides with 4' fence boards. Not only did he end up with a compost bin that would look great in any yard, he kept these wooden boards out of the landfill!

Here's a close-up view of the sides. Just cut triangular pieces to set the slats an an angle.

And don't worry if your fence didn't blow down. I'll be you have a neighbor who would love for you to haul off their old boards.

Composting - It Ain't Rocket Science

We began setting up a few of the compost bins for the educational programs (and to enrich our garden). The one in the foreground is one distributed by many Valley cities a few years ago. It is an open plastic mesh bin. It is not real firm, but once it has some been filled, it will stand on its own. We attached it to some step-on fence posts to stabilize it. Behind the plastic bin, you see a simple open bin made out of a stiff wire fencing. It took less than 10 minutes to build and the supplies cost less than $27. You will need about 12 feet of 36" wide wire fencing, 4 or 5 zip ties (or wire or twine to close the ends) and 3 or 4 posts. This is easiest made with two or three persons. Be sure to wear heavy gloves when working with this wire fencing. Unroll the wire fencing upside down on level ground and walk on it to flatten it out. Form the fencing into a circle. Connect the ends with wire, twine or zip ties. To keep it from blowing around in our high winds, attach it to the fence posts.

The bin we are assembling at the left is a 170 gallon plastic pre-fab bin . It is made from 100% recycled materials and required no tools for assembly. We purchased it online from The Home Depot and it arrived in five days. This company also makes a smaller 90 gallon version.


Lining up the panels took a minimum of 2 persons - and the final panel was totally a group effort! (see the picture below)

It has a lid and is sturdy. The one downside is moving it around in the garden. You have to be very careful or it will fall apart on you and then you're back at square one lining up the panels.



And now we begin the compost pile! Everyone brought raw materials from home - grass clippings, shredded paper, kitchen waste, dried ebony leaves, garden trimmings and small twigs. Roger demonstrated the building of a compost pile and discussed what goes in and what should stay out! We also discussed the 30:1 carbon:nitrogen ratio.
Debbie got the award for the "Best Composting Attire" - and we all yearned for her mosquito netting since we are still dealing with our post Hurricane Dolly mosquitoes.

Construction begins on Outdoor Classroom

It looks like things will get worse before they get better - at least when it comes to the looks of the Compost Demonstration Site. But how exciting to see dirt moving equipment in The Arboretum this morning! The footprint of the slab was moved back a bit from the original plan - so we'll have to move one of the Cedar Elms, Ulmus crassifolia. The Compost Education Committee is working diligently on the presentations to be given here.