Zones 8-9 Fall/Wntr 2010 IS UNDERWAY - Part III

Thanks I'll have to try that, so far I only counted about 4-5 big ones.

Or cover the whole garden. Once again my garden looks like tent city but at least it really froze last night. A couple weeks ago I covered everything and it didn't freeze.

Thanks lisac, my maters look horrible now though they are definitely at their last legs so I am thinking of pulling them out soon, just wanted those 5 big ones to ripe up some before I pull the plants out. I would love to use the mater space to plant something else anyways, maybe more cabbage or so. By the way talking about cabbage, can I plant Chinese cabbage in the winter as well or do I have to wait for the spring time to plant them out?

Also I just got a box of flower bulbs, I could not resist since they were 75% off so I ordered quite a few of them, my idea us to plant them in the front of the house with some veggies as well, but I really don't know anything about planting bulbs at all, do they need a chill period? when is the best time for me to plant them? I still have to dig more lava rock out and do a lot to the front before I can start planting anything so it might take me a good 15, 30 days before I can plant anything in the front, will this be too late?

Uh, C, you are with child. You need to relax...

C - we can plant Chinese Cabbage here into mid-December, but transplants. Too late for seeds.. If you get cold they may need protection until they have some size to them...

Bulbs - really depends on the bulb as to if they need a chill period (think tulips) and when to plant. Some do not like/handle cold at all and need to be planted in the spring (think Caladiums)...

Most bulbs are planted at a depth equal to thier height if not a little more. Bone meal in the bottom of th plantinghole, covered by a bit of soil, then the bulb is how I plant.

HA ha ha ha Linda - I was just thinking the exact same thing...

I know, I know, :0

Is funny I was so sick for the first few months and now that I feel better I just want to do it all. Anyways the hard part is almost over taking care of all the lava rocks, after that my DH will be doing the rest the turning of the grounds and placing more compost, I really am taking it easy, I really only have time to do a little bit at a time on saturdays and maybe sundays, I am thinking of asking my DH for a little more help tackling the lava rocks, he just had surgery a few weeks ago so I did not want to push him too hard.

Now, see, there is something seriously wrong with the sound of a pregnant lady tackling lava rock, cause her husband just had surgery. What's wrong with that picture? People will think you've stuffed the lava rocks under your shirt to haul them away!

^^_^^

Latest pic of my broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower.

Congrats on #3, Carmen.

Red cabbage, more broccoli.

I got mine planted today

Mine are in the fridge waiting.

I'm always behind. But I'm still picking tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers. I'm going to cover everything again tomorrrow, but if the cold fronts keep coming I'll have to give up. I'm sure my neighbors are wondering why I have sleeping bags in the garden.

I'm a little behind but have a freind that puts his cherry tomatoes in paper egg cartons to ripen.

Dane

I have ripe tomatoes! First of the season.

John, that's a beautiful harvest. How deep are those beds?

I'm just not ready to give up these plants it took them so long to produce.

Good Lord I forgot to post the picture

I hear yah Lisa!

I used yet another batch of bells in the Thanksgiving greens last night. Just when I think they're done, they throw out another batch of sweet peppers!

I started them from seeds in January!

I started mine at the end of Jan. and started putting them in the ground at the beginning of April. Crazy I have to go unload feed get me off this computer!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Picked my first tomatoe today, finally.

I have several fruit on my Egg Plant and have been waiting for them to turn purple. Today I noticed they were turning yellow. They started out green with purple. Is a diffrent type of Egg Plant?

Ya'll, check this out...may be useful...

http://www.chestnut-sw.com/growform.htm

I looked on line and found some Eggplant turns yellow when mature. Went and picked three of them and they were green yet. Left one yellow one on the plant, guess I'll see if this one turns purple for me.

Thanks

Dane

Dane, don't leave it on too long. Just keep in mind the eggplant is best picked when it's shiney, at it's peak.

It starts getting bitter as it gets more dull

Linda

Purple eggplant starts out purple. If it turns yellow, it is too ripe.

Sorry I can't be much help with eggplants, mine did horrible they did not turn a bright purple color either and so I was not sure when to harvest them, the bottoms where yellowish as well.

Hope this works here is a picture of my kids showing some of what we have been getting from my raise beds.

Another picture of the last of the tomato harvest, most are green since they did not have time to turn color on the vine, but if you place them inside some of them do turn a pretty red color and I have been using them in salads and such.
Had tons of sungold maters but I really don't like the taste so much they are just too sweet for me.

Here are the long red noddle beans that I had this summer, the plant was filled with ants and wasps so I wont be growing this type again, is just to much of a hazard for me.

Here is a picture of some chicks I hatched from eggs this thanksgiving, it was my first time ever and was a great experience for me and the kids.

Carmin,
You and your beautiful children warm my heart! Congratulations on your successful year, and I pray to God for many more to come for you and your family!

Linda

What a great picture (first one) of those youngin's, and your turnip harvest! (And your oldest child, the one in the back wearing the big black hat, looks as happy as the other two kids!) *grin

Congrats on your harvest year, Carmen! Those children are being brought up in a wonderful environment. Great going!

Best,
Shoe

Thanks guys, I am very proud of them, my little girl love to plant veggies with mom and eat them too, just yesterday I was piking some broccoli and she was munching on the head while I wasn't looking, the whole head was eaten up.

That's funny Carmen, and those are some cuuuuutttttteeeeeeeeeee kiddos;o)

Thanks Kelly, I have been pretty bad about taking pictures of all that I have been getting, plus the fact that I had a hard time figuring out how to get the pictures in my computer. Been enjoying some mustard greens and mesclum mix as well.

One thing I have noticed about the mesclum mix I planted is that some of the seeds sprout and some don't, the pack lists a lot more that goes into the mesclum mix but the only thing that sprouted was the arugula, mustard green, red russian kale, orach, the lettuces in the mix and corn salad never sprouted for me and this is the second year I am growing this mix.

Carminator, like all your pics and those cute kids... the chicks remind me of going to a feed store as a little girl to see all their young fowl and wishing for some! What are long red noddle beans? My mesclun mix didn't do well either.

Carmen, the corn salad (vit) and orach take longer to germinate and the seeds also need chilling before planting. Orach seeds are notorious for poor germination if not chilled two weeks in the refrigerator before planting. Just put the whole package in the fridge for a couple of weeks and you should get better results. Also orach and vit are much slower growing, I prefer to buy those in separate packages and plant them apart from the rest. Vit has a wonderful, flowery taste and orach is like the best spinach you've ever tasted!
Arugula, kale and mustard germinate fast and should provide shade for the lettuces. The mustards can be a bit overpowering if allowed to get too large before harvest.
(we grow tons of salad mixes for market)

TX_gardener, The red noodle beans are just an Asian long bean that you stir fry in many dishes, it does taste good but unfortunately mine attracted a lot of wasps and also ants, I also gave some seeds to my mother in law who lives in Michigan and she only had a few ants in hers but no wasps at all. You can buy these at rareseeds.com if you are interested in growing them, they also sell the green ones which don't attract as many for what I hear, this beans produce in abundance though, I have heard they are really good for is just stir fries and they tend to become mushy if you boil them or even freeze them for later use.

The mesclun is growing great the ones that sprouted practically covered the whole row where I planted them, I am still enjoying it in many salads. Another new green that I am growing that I really like is Kinoa, I really like the flavor of this one in my salads, the only problem is that is not very frost tolerant mine is starting to die on me.

Cala, I actually keep all my seeds in my fridge at all times, I have heard that this way seeds tend to last longer. Yes I agree, the corn salad seeds I planted took forever to germinate and germination did pretty poorly, they are still in the ground but they are in the baby stage.

The corn salad does grow slowly, but it's worth the wait.
I keep my seeds in the fridge too, seems to help with germination of most things plus it keeps bugs out. I like to buy seeds in bulk and use them during the whole growing season without having to place multiple seed orders.

Does anyone grow watercress? Trying to figure out if I can grow it without it being in the water since our carpet grass grows right to the edge of the water. I have one bed in the garden that stays wetter than the others.