dbailey, you'll be glad to hear, I did not use the poisen -- I used a shovel. But, I know I did not get deep enough -- ground too hard. The battle is not over. I figured this fall when the rains come and bring it all back to life, I'l resume the fight.
The empty potato bed gets my attention tomorrow. I watered today, so it should be easier digging. Such fun we gardeners have. But, one exciting thing is it will be cooler. . .Only expecting 92 tomorrow, but low 60s tonight. I'm loving it.
Fall Garden
Greta,
See if you can find someone with one of those small back hoe?? machines the construction crews use. It can come in and scoop up the whole area with one pass. And, it can go deep enough to catch all the roots.
Now that's an idea!
This morning was great - weather wise. I'm taking a break from my weed pulling/digging. It's 10am and 75 degrees. Unbelievable in TX for August. I did clean up my 3' wide potato row with my kids' help -- we homeschool, and today we will call this course botony. Amazing how out-of-shape you realize you are when you attempt to use a shovel to turn over a 3'x30' row. Good thing the kids were helping.
A backhoe is a bit excessive for a garden. You will be digging out the plants along with your topsoil. Not to mention the heavy compaction it will cause.
Invest in a good spade fork and spade shovel. They are easier on the back and will get the job done. They are also light on the soil.
BTW- Yes, I am happy to hear you didn't use chemical controls.
Digging in the garden can be a good workout, I know! My potato patch is about half that size, and I need to go out and prepare it for the fall veggies. I've been putting it off but can't do that much longer. Luckily, our temps are cooling down here as well. This is my first attempt at a fall garden, and I have a feeling my timing is off. We'll see.
We planted mustard greens 4 days ago and they have already sprouted...on very bad soil.
mustards are hardy. they'll live...
Mustard Greens??? What do you do with them??
Most people steam them, kind of like collards. They can be eaten raw, in salads when they are small.
Overnight in the slow cooker. (Lilly Mae's Greens recipe below is for frozen greens. I use one bag each of mustards, collards, spinach and turnips, layered on top of the meat, in that order. If cooking a double batch, keep the ratios even: 2 mustards, 2 collards, etc...increase the onions and bell peppers (1 lg. + 1 med onion, 3 large bell peppers). 1Tbsp + 1/2 more Seasoning; 1 whole teaspoon ground black pepper & use 2 cups water)
PROCEDURE:
Layer smoked turkey necks in the bottom of your slow cooker/crockpot (as many as will fit).
Dice up 1 large onion and 2 medium bell peppers.
Layer the greens on top of the turkey necks. Pile 'em in to the top of the crockpot (they'll go down as they cook).
Layer on the chopped bell peppers, then the chopped onions (and, yes, you WILL have a mountain by now -- don't worry, it'll all go down...).
Mix 1 heaping Tbsp. Season all Brand Seasoning (or your choice), and 1/2 to 1 whole teaspoon ground black pepper in 1 cup of water. Pour evenly over your onions, and then cover (mash the lid down as tightly as you can -- it'll go down, too). Don't stir anything...
Set on high, and go to bed. I usually put em on between 8-10pm and they're ready when I wake up around 6-7am. Fold in the onions and the bell peppers before you serve them.
Try to sleep through the night. But, if you don't, try NOT to eat up all the greens before morning....
Serve on a bed of fluffy white rice, with a side of candied sweet potatoes. Put the Louisiana Hot Sauce on the table.
Enjoy.
Linda
This message was edited Aug 27, 2010 1:23 PM
Now, as much as I detist good greens, this does sound tempting. Thanks!
I have a question for fall gardening workers concerning grasshoppers. We have them (grasshoppers) and I am getting very leary of even attempting a fall garden. Won't those nasty grasshoppers just eat all the new tender plants? Anyone know?
Yes, I could use row covers, but, corn does get tall and would eventually outgrow any cover I could provide. I'm beginning to wonder if I should just plant a cover crop and hope for the best. Not happy with this choice! Plus, I guess the grasshoppers would also devour those nice tender young plants. Seems like a loose-loose situation. This could get depressing. HELP!
Go cook a pot of "Lilly Mae's Greens" tonight, and it'll help clear your depression...
She was my mother, and went home 12 years ago, today...
I'm feeling "greens" in the morning...
This week I planted cucumbers, carrots, charentais melons, broccoli, cauliflower, mesclun mix, leaf lettuce, sweet potato slips, beets, kohlrabi, green onions, canary melons, spinach, arugula and a few more things I can't remember. I have tomato and pepper seeds I will plant as soon as Hermine moves out and the soil dries a bit.
I use remay on all rows. I buy 5ft for small stuff and 11 ft for big stuff. Many of the things I planted were coming up today.Remay keeps the soil cool and the bugs out.
Calalilly -- that sounds great. Lots of goodies. I remember when my in-laws lived in Corpus Christi, I was so amazed at the wonderful things that grew all year round. I was mostly impressed with the houseplants that we grew in N. TX, she grew outside. It was all so beautiful. They (my in-laws have passed on and it has been 13 years since visiting that beautiful part of the country.
I managed to plant carrots, turnips, beets,and two yellow squash. Hoping those squash will produce a veggie or two before it gets cold; I didn't get any this summer. I am also planning on planting corn and some greens. i am trying to plant by the moon. . . I need all the extra help possible!
Thanks for the reminder of the remay. My biggest fear is the grasshoppers will devour all of it as it emerges from the ground.
Great reporting, folks!
When we stopped for gas in North TX I saw the grasshoppers and katydids. I couldn't believe how many there were!! We don't have a problem with them down here.
Remay will give about 6 degrees protection from cold and also from heat. I love it because it keeps the bugs out!
We just got 8 inches rain from Hermine. Shredded the lettuce and mesclun mix that was ready to harvest and blew over corn and okra but because the beds are raised no flooding. I think it washed some of the compost from the tops of the beds but I can shovel that back up when it dries out a bit.
Can Remay be purchased locally, or only ordered online?
8" rain -- wow. I had heard you may get up to 12". We are getting some of that rain today. I haven't been brave enough to go check the rain gauge -- afraid I'll melt. I'm sure wishing I had the corn planted. The garden is ready, but the seeds have yet to arrive. Bet it comes in today. I'm beginning to think it is getting too late to plant, but I'll probably take my chances and plant some anyway.
Gymgirl -- I purchased my remay years ago on line, probably from Johnnys or Territorial. I'm just hoping I can find it -- we've moved 3 times since then. Right now I have chicken wire laying on the fresh seeded beds to keep the cat out. My turnips have sprouted. With this rain, I'm being very glad my beds are raised.
A.M. Leonard has remay blankets.
Jordan Seed has it. I can also buy from a local supplier here, just not always the size I need.
I had to remove the remay from the carrot and onion seeds, they germinated better without covering.
I planted Tyee spinach, it germinated very well after chilling, was looking great and suddenly died from damping off just as it was getting its true leaves. We've had more rain and the humidity has been horrible.
My tomatoes are in the ground, some from transplants, some direct seed. Germination on the broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage has been very erratic. I want this direct seeding to work but I have to get the germination rate up.
Calalilly,
How do You get the germination
Rate up?
Think damp sand and a refrigerator for things that germinate in cool soil.
Calalily,
You know, I've had that though in the back of my mind for awhile now, wondering if it was possible to germinate some of the cool weather seedlings in the fridge!!!!
So, I can do this with my cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and spinach and lettuce seedlings?
Please tell me more about your process!!!! Now, I'm REALLY, REALLY, REALLY EXCITED, 'cause I don't have the $$$ to spend on seedlings, and I still have time here to germinate cole crop seedlings, if I could use the cool of the fridge.
THANK YOU, EVERSOMUCH!
And, yeah, I REALLY need to come visit you down there!
Hugs!
Linda
The brassicas (i.e. cole crops) will germinate and grow easily in high temps. No special treatment is needed for them. Lettuce and spinach should sprout just fine inside an air conditioned house. IMO, the high humidity and poor air circulation of a fridge would probably encourage damping off. Also, the temperature may be too low.
It is my understanding and experience, that cole veggies germinate and grow fine under regular even hot temps. We grow them under cooler temps so that they don't bolt and go to seed. I don't worry about the temps while they are seedlings I just wait until the weather cools off to plant them out.
Thanks!
I have my seedlings setting on a heating mat, along with the baby guinea bird that got stuck in its egg
Oh, the things we do in the name of life!
Hey, I'm multitasking the plants sure don't make as much noise as that d... bird.
I finally got my fall planting done yesterday. May not have time to make but it took me that long to get my new planting bed made. My DH has been having an awful time with his health. I may be able to buy them enough time with a row cover if we don't have an early, hard winter.
I planted broccoli raab, parisian carrots, prize head ; black seeded simpson and buttercrunch lettuces, leeks, chives, pak choy, dwarf bok choy and osaka purple mustard.
I have had to switch to square foor gardening. this will be a good practice run for spring. Going to do a few containers and a couple bales then too.
Most seeds will germinate here just fine, but beets, turnips, spinach, lettuce, hon tsai tai, pac choi.....things I get sparse germination on and have to replant I started in the refrigerator and had absolutely no damping off and got almost 100% germination. One container of watermelon radish seed I forgot in the fridge for at least a couple of weeks. I planted them two days ago, even though they were sprouted and were about an inch tall, they look fantastic in the garden.
Here is my method:
Take a jar, any size will do. I use everything from half pints to full wide mouth quarts. Put a little sand in the jar, again the amount is up to you. Dampen the sand, don't make it soggy, just damp. Add the amount of seeds you want to germinate. For cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower I need 90 seeds and want to space them in the garden as I plant so I use a little sand (so I can find the sprouted seeds) and for things like lettuce I put enough for 5 rows in about half a jar of sand. Shake well to distribute the seeds in the sand. Place in the refrigerator. Check after 3 days for germination, you don't want them to advance too far without planting. Just keep checking the jars for the beginning of germination then plant as usual.
It sure speeds up germination and increases the rate dramatically. It took some practice to judge the rate of sand/seed mixture to place in the rows. I learned less sand is better.
I forgot to add, put the lid on the jar before storing in the fridge.
This message was edited Sep 22, 2010 6:29 AM
FINALLY got my fall seeds in the ground yesterday. Green peas, sugar peas, carrots, cabbage, radishes, brocolli, spinach, and beets. Onion seeds and garlic still to go. Leeks came up nicely on their own from last springs little bulbs, and chard is still growing strong from last year. (Does that stuff ever go to seed? It must, it came from seed, but it was stinkin hot this summer and it didn't bolt.)
Beets are new for us, for no particular reason - I detest them, and the cuban half of my household doesn't know what they are. So I am anticipating fabulous yields...
RBL LOL you will probably have a bumper crop!
Calalily,
Wow, this is waaaaaaaaaaay super simple!!! And, right on time for my cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli!
So, I just sprinkle the seeds in the jar with the LIGHTLY dampened sand, cover and shake? Don't some seeds go waaaay under the sand? And, do you use just regular old play sand?
And you don't wait for true leaves? Just starting planting them out soon as they've come up after three days?
Do you plant the germinated seeds directly into the garden/RB/container garden, or to another seed flat or some interim planting setting?
THANKS!
Linda
This message was edited Sep 22, 2010 9:11 AM
Calalily-do you do this with cool crops too?
I'll try to explain a little better. Yes, put the seeds in the barely damp sand and shake (this mixes them up with the sand instead of being a clump of seeds), put them in the fridge until they just start to germinate. I planted turnips yesterday and they already had the little root sticking out. They will be up in the garden today. I plant directly in the garden.
I give the container a few shakes to be sure the sand and seeds are loose then plant as if it were just seeds down the row. At first I had trouble gauging how much sand/seed to put in the row and would run out before I got to the end. I finally worked that part out, I use about half a cup of sand (I got it at Lowe's in the builders section) for a 34' garden row. For 5 rows of spinach I used about 2 cups in a big mouth quart pickle jar.
Here are the seeds I've successfully germinated this way: beets, swiss chard, lettuce, turnips, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, pac choi, hon tsai tai, radishes, spinach, carrots, onions and mesclun mix. Some warm crops like purple orach(oracle) germinate much better when started this way. Beets and swiss chard do just as well when started without chilling and so do carrots and onions so I no longer start those in the fridge (no more room). When I direct sow my lettuces without starting them in sand I get terrible germination this time of year, but if I put them in the sand I get almost 100% germination.
We have a market farm, I can't take chances that cool season crops won't germinate. The winter Texans will be arriving and they want veggies!
Something I learned with the remay: It is like a greenhouse under the cover. Use hoops to hold it off the crops (or bricks or flower pots every so often down the row) and vent the ends! I cooked a bed of carrots and one of onions before learning this important lesson! So far no virus on the squash and no bugs. I will have to remove the covers when the flowers begin so the bees can pollinate.