I am so jealous ( hahaha) of all your veggies that you all are growing NOW! Of course I have just started growing veggies this year & failed miserably.However.. after reading a TX gardening book I have learned the PROPER season to grow certain veggies!!
So I hope you don't mind me "tagging" along on your thread(s) as I have already learned some things.
I live near Dallas & we have just had a freeze over Christmas... are the vegtables still able to survive? Or do I treat them like my flowers & cover them. I have to grow in containers here as the soil sucks!! As you Texans know. Someday I hope to be able to have space for a small garden but I live in a mobile home park..also the location of where the sun hits plays a big factor for me too.
Thank you for this thread!
Cindy
Zones 8-9 Fall/Wntr 2010 IS UNDERWAY - Part III
Shoe,
Thanks for the heads up on the sale, I feel better having more seed to play with.
Thanks for the info Calalilie, I think I'll plant a few at a time over the next couple months. I can see where this would be a problem here since it can warm up here early and not have time for the seedlings to chill.
Later
Dane
Cindylove, I live near you in Irving. We actually have a great vegetable gardening year ... not season.
We can grow vegetable all year around here.
Right now I keep harvesting lettuce, chard, kale, broccoli, kohlrabi and I hope soon brussel sprouts.
Like you I didn't know much at the beginning and I really owe my education to the FREE classes I have taken at the North Haven Garden www.nhg.com.
It is on the other side of town for you, but it is really a "MUST" if you want to do vegetable gardening.
Check their "EVENTS" schedule.
Lots of classes are coming up in January and February.
When you will visit the nursery, make sure to go in the back where they have their vegetable garden display.
They built raised beds using different materials.
Good luck
I have heard of North Haven Drthor, thank you... I wrote incorrectly..& you are right about gardening all year.. what I should have said was..particular veggies can better grown at different times of the year. Like zuchinni..I LOVE it & don't mind it's abundanc but it did not grow this summer.... nor did my beans... these two in particular would have done better in the fall. Unfortunately October is when we go on vacation so I may have to re think some things. hahaha
I will try to get to New Haven one day. I'm very interested in learning new things.
Fwiw, we're still planting peas. Normally that wouldn't be a good bet, but as warm as it has been, so far it's working out, and the above normal temps are predicted to continue. I figure if it freezes bad enough to kill the plants before they produce, we still got some nitrogen fixing.
cindylove, here some information from NHG.
The planting dates for our area:
SPRING: http://nhg.com/pdf/NTxVegPlanting_spring.pdf
FALL: http://nhg.com/pdf/NTxVegPlanting_fall.pdf
Zucchini do really well in early spring here. The big problem is the squash vine borer and it is much worst in the heat of our summer.
The only beans I grow are FAVA BEANS and they are in the ground now, and I will have fava beans I hope in March !! They are the most amazing beans ever.
What do Fava Beans taste like? I keep envisioning Anthony Hopkins with a canibalized human body, Fava Beans, and "a nice bottle of Kianti (sp)"
I am with you drthor, I love fava beans and just purchased some seed to plant out, we are still having freezing temps here in Mobile AL, so I am wondering when can I plant them out in the bed? I know that they prefer cool weather. I am not sure how to describe the taste but to me they are more buttery tasting and we use them a lot in Spain as well.
Fava beans taste like "deliciousness". They are the only beans I grow.
Here there is an article by Leslie Finical Halleck from NHG:
http://growlively.typepad.com/growlively/2009/03/rolling-in-fava-beans.html
in the DFW area we started the fava beans mid september.
This message was edited Dec 29, 2010 8:42 AM
Thank you Dthor, I am wondering would it be too late for me to plant them now? or should I wait until next year. Boy I had no idea that you could also eat the leaves in salads, this is the type of veggie I love to grow. Also did you finally find out when to start the Fennel seeds and transplant outside, I have been looking all over the net with not much luck, I guess Fennel is just not a very common veggie here to grow.
I really don't know if you can start the fava beans now ... sorry.
My fennel has been outiside in since october. It is growing. I did cover them the last couple of night since we went down to 30 degrees. You can see in the picture.
So it is still alive. I will keep ya posted.
Hmmm...I posted recently about growing fennel somewhere here. We must have another fennel thread (or two) someone on DG. Maybe it was hidden in another thread somewhere. But, what I did was start seeds in cell packs and set the plants out 6 weeks later, harvested in June or July. Seeds were started in February. I have no idea when ya'lls HOT weather kicks in but wonder if you started seeds now (Carmin) if you could pull them byMay. As for the heat causing them to bolt, go for it then harvest the seeds. Ideally you could let your fennel patch become a perennial and/or a self-sowing area.
Fava beans survived the winter here some years back and did great! Unfortunately this past winter was quite a bit harsher and I lost every plant (two rows of plants, each 60 ft long). I was bummed out about that.
Shoe (NC, where snow and ice is melting on a nice sunny day, finally!)
Shoe I did a research about growing fennel in my area, it did mention that in warm climates it should be grown no later than November as it does take a long season to grow, now I do have tons of seeds that I got I believe was rare seed, I could always plant a few now and transplant in my herb garden and just see how they do, worst case scenario I will end up with more leaves and no bulbs but I can still use the aromatic leaves for fish or other dishes, actually fennel grows wild in Greece and I had so many wonderful dishes made with the fennel greens, they make a really nice one that uses fennel greens, kalamata olives and calamari that is to dye for.
About the fava beans, I think I might just wait until next year and just plant all my other beans, yesterday I went to Home Depot to buy some items for my DH latest project, he is getting so excited about all the things we are growing in the garden that he wants to put more rain barrels, then place a pump so I don't have to keep watering by hand all the time, then he is running electrical to the shed and to a light pole right next to my raise beds so I can just walk there at night and the whole thing lights up, especially handy when I forget to cover the raise beds and I am covering them in the dark, also installing a better drainage system in the backyard since half of my yard puddles up when rain hits, and he is also talking about drip irrigation, boy the list keeps going on and on. I may get an extra raise bed or two as well. Anyways my 2 little ones and I went to the garden section as well and they saw Disney packaged seeds and so we had to buy some, now I have more seeds, some tricolor beans and also some peas, I am trying to get my 5 year old excited about veggies and so if this Disney character packs helps I am willing to try them.
Mornin'...
Sounds to me like your hubby is really going to town on ya'lls garden. Way to go! And getting those young'ns involved is great, my DD practically grew up in the gardens from Day One.
Keep us all posted on your progress. It sure sounds like a good plan to me.
Shoe
Thank you Drthor... I have bookedmarked North Haven as a fav!! Much appreciated!
Happy New Year!
I intended on planting my onion plants today, but had ants in all 6 of my EarthBoxes. So I spent hours pouring boiling water through the boxes. There will be no ants in them tomorrow.
I also intended on ripping the bell pepper plants to free up the eBuckets. I expected them to look like mush from my neglect and Old Man Winter's chill. Instead, I had to break out the pruners.
I'm thinking I'll repot the BP plants in some fresh medium and see if they'll keep going thru the Spring. They sure wanna live.
Here's the New Year's Day harvest!
Gymgirl, I have bell peppers over a year old. I pruned them back the other day and they're putting out new growth and a few flowers. I had a couple of poblano peppers in a bad spot so I moved them. I don't know how they will do, but it was worth a try.
Pretty peppers, Linda!
I ordered some seeds yesterday. :) It's been a horrendous December and I didn't get around to ordering them until yesterday. I ordered some maters, a pepper or two, and some radishes. I have plenty of seeds leftover from last year for everything else. Now I just have to get the husband motivated to get my light system set up. So far I'm not having any luck.
I was at Big Lots yesterday, and in the half price Christmas stuff they had lots of 18ft clear rope lights- just $3.75 a box! I got one to use for germinating seeds. They put out just enough warmth to be really good.
Hopefully, I'll WS the tomato seeds this weekend, just like last year. I had hoped to have WS them two weeks ago, but health issues got in my way, and I lost Thanksgiving and Christmas vacations to sick days...
I'd still like to plant out by the end of February this year! That's right around the corner!
Nice peppers Linda. Hard to believe it is about time to sow tomatoes and peppers, huh? Seems like yesterday. Anyway, I am preparing my wish list and I have many seed catalogs to help me decide. Need to decide soon but I have seeds from last year that I will get started tomorrow.
Here's a cabbage I harvested this evening. We are making some type of Lebanese cabbage roll recipe tonight but I am sure we will have excess cabbage. I think I harvested late so hopefully it still tastes good, lol. I think I should have harvested around mid-December according to my transplant date of Oct. 3rd.
Also, I think the thread monitor is slacking, : )
Linda so sorry you had been so sick and that you did not get holidays off. Nice looking peppers, I had no idea you could keep them for so long, I might try what you are doing this year, I started some Carmen Peppers ( I thought it would be fun growing something that has my name), Early Jalapenos and just one plant of Sweet banana Peppers, all the seeds I have received in the pepper and tomato exchange.
By the way I have one question, have any of you tried growing potatoes in the big contractor bags, last year I grew some potatoes in 1 bag of smart pot I have and it did very good but I am wondering if I should try just regular plastic baggies to save $ or not, this way I can grow even more potatoes this year.
John, I collected one of my cabbages about a week ago and with the outer leaves I made some cabbage rolls and then I took the center part and I am making some sauerkraut, the cabbage rolls were delicious and tender, mine were a Greek cabbage rolls recipe I found online and you have to place some garlic and yogurt sauce on top.
Car, google for planting potatoes in a garbage can. Sounds like a good idea.
John: "Also, I think the thread monitor is slacking, : )" ??
This message was edited Jan 4, 2011 8:40 AM
The husband says we're not planting potatoes this year, but I really want to try again. Maybe I'll order just 5 pounds of one or 2 varieties. I really liked the Purple Vikings I grew last year.
I have no need for the large order quantities I've seen online so I may find some organic potatoes locally and plant those.
I'll have to look up the Greek cabbage roll recipe sometime, C. Sounds delicious. Our Lebanese recipe turned out ok, but we did not add enough liquid (tomato juice) at first so the rice inside the rolls did not cook all the way. We added more but had to cook them a little longer of course. The cabbage itself was just awesome.
TX_gardener- the "thread monitor" comment was a shout-out to my good friend Linda who is also the threadmaster. I was poking fun of how long the thread has become.
Yes, I was just thinking about how long it's getting. Maybe she'll be along soon.
Tx_gardener, no I don't mean garbage cans, I really want to try to grow them in garbage bags, the ones that contractors tend to use, they have a thicker plastic and are a lot stronger, I really don't want to spend $ in buying garbage cans, if I was to spend any $ I might as well just buy 2 or 3 more of those smart pots since it worked so well for me last year.
I thought I'd found my solution for thick bags for various uses -- 2 mil compactor bags. Only problem: they're scented! Didn't notice that until I opened the box, darn. A local hardware store carries a very thick plastic bag (I think that concrete can be mixed in) but it costs almost as much as a garbage can!
THE THREADMASTER HAS SPOKEN...PLEASE DO NOT POST ANYTHING BEYOND THIS POINT ^^_^^
Meet us at the NEW Thread: Zone 8-9 Spr/Sum Veggie Gardening is UNDERWAY - Pt 1
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1147789/
This message was edited Jan 4, 2011 2:13 PM