One of the secrets to a healthy garden in the spring starts with steps taken in early winter. One of your most important tasks is to spread a three-inch layer of mulch around the roots of all plants. Not only does mulch protect roots from the cold (and hot) temperatures, it also helps to conserve water and cuts down on the growth of weeds.

We recommend shredded hardwood or shredded cedar mulches. The added benefit of these mulches in gardening organic is that they slowly break down, adding organic matter to the soil. If you are adding mulch for the first time, I suggest you put down a one-inch layer of compost first. Pull the compost and mulch back away from the crown of the plant and make sure there is no mulch on the plant stems or foliage. If you have a reliable source of finished compost from a compost pile and/or shredded leaves, these make great mulches as well.

Our first fall vegetable garden in Texas was in 1979. What a treat that was for the girl from Ontario to be picking broccoli from the garden for Christmas day dinner. Even then, we were gardening organically. Leaves were used for mulch. A large compost pile was kept behind the garden.

The trick to the fall vegetable garden is protecting those little plants from our scorching hot August and early September sun. Cedar roofing shingles, or in our case, Redenta’s Garden info signs, work well. In the middle of August, a little later than we should have, we planted a dozen tomato plants. We also planted some lemon and Armenian cucumber seeds, French fillet, yellow and purple bean seeds and some squash seeds. In September, we followed with broccoli, cabbage and Brussels sprouts plants, and radish and turnip seeds. We have had many cucumbers, several meals of beans and last week I harvested the biggest crown of broccoli ever. Today we will have tomato salad and tomato soup. The turnips will be used in both a beef stew and minestrone soup I plan to make this weekend. And Sunday breakfast may include fried green tomatoes if the weather forecast rings true and we have our first frost.

For the past several years, we have been growing a Meyer lemon tree in a pot. This month we have started harvesting them. It looks like our yield will be 26 large lemons. Last year we enjoyed the lemons in margaritas and martinis as well as part of our every-day meals. My favorite use though was a large jar of homemade preserved lemons. They have such an intense, lemon flavor, slightly sweet with just a hint of tartness. I minced them and added them to Moroccan stews, couscous, vegetables, grilled and roasted chicken and fish.

We will soon be bringing the pot inside and placing it in a sunny window, whenever the temperature threatens to go below 40. After harvest, I will prune it back by at least a third. All long, weak branches will be lopped off, since they cannot hold the heavy fruit well. By Christmas, we will again be enjoying the sweet smell of lemon blossoms and again anticipating next year’s harvest.

We here in north Texas expect our first frost in mid-November. Frequently we will have only one or two evenings of freezing temperatures, and then swing back to long stretches of mild weather. How do we make sure our plants survive those few nights?

We have always promoted and used Maxicrop liquid seaweed as an organic root stimulator. We know it contains natural growth stimulants that strongly enhance seed germination, root development and general plant growth and health. We soak the root ball of every plant and the planting hole each time we plant. We continue to water those plants with liquid seaweed every week for the first month to insure that they have the best start possible. We soak seeds and bulbs overnight in a seaweed solution before planting. Liquid seaweed promotes root growth when used as a foliar spray as well.

Feeding with seaweed increases a plant’s resistance to stresses such as insect pests, diseases, drought and frost. Studies conducted by Dr. Senn at Clemson University showed tomatoes treated with a seaweed solution survived temperatures down to 29 degrees Fahrenheit. Nancy Bubel in her book The New Seed Starter’s Handbook, maintains that Eskimos have long used seaweed to protect vegetables from frost damage.

Feed the soil around your plants and foliar spray weekly plants that are a bit more sensitive to the cold. On the night of a freeze, you will also get several degrees of protection by covering plants with a frost cloth. Gardening organic means being prepared!