How to handle “Deep Summer”?

My first year learning to garden in Dallas, I had stopped into the Trinity Haymarket to buy some seeds. The previous half decade of my life was spent in the concrete landscapes of Brooklyn and Beirut. A childhood in Houston left me unfamiliar with the climactic concepts of North Texas like drought, freezing temperatures, and seasons. Trinity Haymarket owner, Fred, was working that day and conversation turned to planting dates for tomatoes in Spring. Many of you probably know Fred, a fellow Elmwood neighbor. Still shaking his head after nearly three decades of Dallas gardening, unable to fully outwit the climate’s volatility, he mentioned Fall as the best time to garden in North Texas. Ira Wallace, the matriarch of Southern gardening, calls Fall “Second Spring”. Fred gave me his take. It was that Fall is hands-down the best time to garden in Dallas. Temperatures are moderate. Pest and disease pressure has fallen. Rain has returned. Working outside is more enjoyable.

With this in mind, those Summer months where nothing wants to grow due to heat and drought could be best thought of as “Second Winter”. For us at Elmwood Farm this means taking advantage of late Summer to grow a cover crop for green manure or a no-till mulch. With long days and warm temperatures, subtropical grasses and legumes can mature in a quick 60 days. When faced with an even shorter window around 30-40 days, we turn to Buckwheat. Crop selection depends on your specific goals and context. Our overarching goal is to keep the soil covered above ground and planted with roots below ground. These plants keep moisture in the soil, preserve and build nutrients, lower soil temperature, and keep mycorrhizal and other key microbial relationships alive. Establishing a cover crop in July can require what feels like a lot of water if rain is absent, but once crops are established, they can hold their own without irrigation. The overall water needs are very low and will more than repay itself in future water holding capacity of the soil.

If you want to dig deeper into the on cover cropping, join us on July 8th at 8:30am for a workshop as we transition one of our plots into Summer cover in preparation for Fall.