Are you challenged with not knowing WHEN to sow or plant your veggies? Well, this is the place for the Zone 10a-10ba veggie growers who already know what they'd like to plant for their 2011 Fall/Winter veggie gardens, but don't exactly have the sowing/planting timeframes down!
If you are a veggie grower in Zone 10a-10b, and you have the sowing/planting timing down to a fine science, please share with us who desperately want to learn from you! Help us by posting WHEN you're doing the next thing toward growing your fall/winter veggies. We're not asking for a minute, day-by-day report, but if you could update us within say a week of each progress activity, we'd only be a week behind you!
Your tutilage would be so appreciated. We look forward to learning from and growing along with you in the Fall/Winter 2011 veggie season!
^^_^^
What I did TODAY in Zone 10ab, for my Fall/Wtr Veggie Garden
well, read on the farmer's almanac site that now was the time to plant pumpkins, which we did yesterday.
I will jump in! We grow pretty much year round for market, but my neighbors sort of follow my lead for their home gardens. This week I planted mesclun mixes, arugula and other greens except spinach (I can germinate it, but the heat is too much and it won't grow), okra, melons, sweet potatoes and heat set tomatoes to be ready end of August when no one else has tomatoes. I also planted Little Leaf and Babylon cucumbers, zucchini, scalloped, gold zucchini, romanesco and yellow squash along with 8 kinds of winter squash (we use them for blossoms as well as fruit). The cucumbers and summer squash are under row covers with 3' high hoops holding it off the plants. Sweet potatoes were slips planted, not rooted, and will be under remay also because we have trouble with the sweet potato weevil.
I also planted more cherry tomatoes, my favorites are chocolate cherry, sweet treats and orange parouche. They don't mind the heat.
I amended the soil, we are vegan organic so don't use any animal products and the soil needs fed more often to insure adequate nitrogen is available, especially in the heat. This go round they were fed a combination of kelp, cottonseed and alfalfa meal along with dry molasses. We haven't had measurable rain since Feb and it is 10* above normal most days. We irrigate.
Spider mites are my biggest problem in the summer. The row covers help and I use organicide mixed with either insecticidal soap or colloidal(spelling) plant wash.
I saw three SVBs on my squash the other day and smashed them. I haven't had any loses and haven't seen any more of the moths flying around. The best time to scout for the moths is just before dark.
Lots of good information. Thank you for posting.
katie
Yesterday, I found my planting date list!! I can start planting for the fall on June 15th!
What a great thread! I will have to get a jump on F/W planting while I have the time. Thank you for all the great info.
Oh, btw, I had a couple of volunteer buttercup winter squash that came up in February. I have already harvested 3 nice size ones from those (4 to 5 lbs each). There are about 5 more that will be ready in a few weeks, then I'll pull the vines. What this tells me is that I can just put some seeds in the ground in January and let Mother Nature does her thing.
where can i find a planting guide for south florida zone 10b?
I already have buttercup squash, but think it's run its course - I harvested one ripe squash (but had three plants trellised), but bugs or caterpillars kept getting the rest - think I probably could have had 30-40 squash otherwise.
my summer crookneck is getting attacked by something - many of those squash don't make it past two inches, then die.
but once i pull the buttercup squash, what should I plant in its place? green beans?
where can i find a planting guide for south florida zone 10b?
This is where I go. http://www.thevegetablegarden.info/resources/planting-schedules/zones-9-10-planting-schedule
oh, wow! THANKS!
We're harvesting the last of the cauliflower and broccoli, melons are ripe and we're digging sweet potatoes. I'm cleaning out beds, adding shade cloth to the spinach and greens and pulling out squash that has SVB.
We are in an extreme drought, no rain in 5 months, winds in excess of 25mph almost daily and higher than normal temps.
I planted heat set tomatoes for fall and they're up. Carrots and onions just don't want to germinate (or grow) in this heat, but the ones already up and growing when the heat came are doing well.
@Calalily: So sorry about the drought. We had a bit too much rain here this year (not really, but it was unusually wet for SoCal). When did you plant your tomatoes? I wonder if I should plant mine now, too.
I picked tomatoes, cukes, and peppers. Still waiting on the green beans. Had to pull my buttercup squash and swiss chards. The squash vines were covered with powdery mildew and turned crispy brown. The chards were decimated by something grayish black and squishy. Now I'm wondering if I should figure out a way to kill those bugs first before putting new plants down.
I staked my bell peppers! Maybe they'll last til fall!
It rained!!! So far 4.25 inches!!!
Quyen, I'll have to double check but I think it was June 8th. Peaceful Valley has a Black of Tula that is supposed to be heat set.
Sluggo is an organic snail bait and it does work.
Stephanie, I need to stake peppers too, especially the big Italian peppers, they're falling out into the isles.
I just harvested the best cantaloupe I've ever tasted. It is called Sivan from High Mowing. Consistent size, ripening, full slip, minor splitting from the heavy rain(2 out of 50), loaded with melons, healthy vines. Emerald Gem should be ready in about 2 weeks. I'm anxious to taste that one too.
I dug sweet potatoes last week and planted more slips in a different bed. I just cut off a slip and stick it in the ground. We cover with remay to keep the weevils out. New greens are germinated. Remay on hoops was not the best solution for shading my spinach experiment so we went to the big greenhouse supply place and bought a 300ft roll of 30% knitted shade.
SVBs finally got some of my zucchini so I pulled them out along with some yellow squash that never did well. I replanted more squash in a different area, parthenocarpic so it will be grown completely covered. Now if I could only figure out how to kill these fire ants. They make me say lots of bad words!
Cala, have you tried growing the cantaloupes that the folks at Dixondale Farms grow? They're located in Carrizo Springs and I think they grow a variety called Carrizo.
Calalily ~ may I ask the cultivar of heat set tomatoes are you trying? There is such a narrow time frame between too cold to set and too hot to set. I am always looking for the right tomato combination.
On your fireants, you might try grated orange (or other citrus) peelings. A&M was doing some research on citrus being an organic solution to fireants. Honeybee in NC says she would do that when she lived in Florida with success on repeling them, if I recall. You should have better access to citrus in your area.
This message was edited Jun 27, 2011 4:05 PM
I tried orange oil on the fire ants, tried grapefruit rinds chopped up in the blender, tried molasses.............nothing works, not even boiling water. They just move the nest a few feet.
Heat set tomatoes: Black of Tula, Arkansas Traveler, Jet Star. They all taste good too.
Haven't tried cantaloupes from Dixondale, but this year we have Emerald Gem (pretty good), Sivan (really good), Swan Lake (not ripe yet), Amy (not ripe yet) and Ein d'or (baby plants) and Hearts of Gold (excellent).
The last 24 hours we have received almost 4 inches of rain!! Yippee for the gardens and the orchards, not so for the melons. Every rain like this saves $500 in irrigation on the orchards (water plus 2 men 2 days labor)
Planted more greens, more squash and more cucumbers. Peppers are doing great. Sage plants died again this year after the rain. What am I doing wrong? Also, what is the white fungus that comes on after a rain but disappears when it dries out? It gets on leaves, stems, soil, mulch and is gray if you smash it.
Yay for rain!! Is it from Arlene?
received a 'three sisters' pack to plant for fall.
should I start seedlings now, though?
is this the time of the year to do it for a fall/winter harvest? it doesn't get 'cool' until december, usually, and then only 40s at night/60-70s during day. it's january when it gets continually cooler, but then only for a week or two at a time.
any guidance helpful.....anxious to get my next raised bed going.
Rain is from Arlene. It seems to have moved west of us now.
SoFla, your winter sounds like ours. I can't advise about the seeds, I don't grow corn or beans (too windy, too salty). I start planting cool weather seeds the end of August into September. Potatoes start going into the ground in Sept. and continue thru Feb.
What is that a link to, kurango?
thank you, calalilly.