Nicole do your friends call you Mr.Monk ( TV show) which is what I call one of my OCD friends..LOL
STARTING OUR 2012 FALL/WINTER VEGGIE GARDENS - PT. 4
Linda, I'm really interested to hear how those Siberian tomatoes do. Wish I had some blooming now. Are they hybrid or OP?
Jo-Ann, I'm curious how your onions do! I have some extra bok choy seeds and seedlings going, and beets, and more onion starters than I knew what to do with.
Broccoli and my younguns don't mix, so I've never even tried, but if there's any other seeds you want to split, happy to help a neighbor out.
Jo-Ann,
That's a good-looking patch!
Keep sowing seeds! Our weather is practically identical, and the seed-sowing window doesn't close until December 20th or so. And, even then, if you start some indoors, you'll have early star ts for planting out after January 20th for a spring harvest!
Texas has approximately 285 growing days. NOLA should have just about the same number. I'm hoping to have something ready to go in as soon as I pull something out.
Keep 'a goin'.
Here's some pics from my garden today.
Today's harvest of 2 bell peppers and some broc side shoots.
More peppers ripening. Woohoo!
All the broccoli now have heads on them. Yay!
Cilantro seedling and Spinach seedling.
Nice, Steph!
Which broccoli are you growing? I'm growing Green Magic for the first time.
Peppers and Broc. at the same time? Are you sure this is Tx? Got to luv it.
I've loved the broccoli, my heads seemed more flat than rounded but tasted great. Some of them are starting side shoots so that's a little bonus. The turnips, collards and mustard greens tasted great but I think I'll stick to the collards (it's the only type I can get my non southern hubby to eat) The beets tasted great roasted but not sure if I'd grow again due to space. My cabbage is huge but not sure if I need to do something to get it to head. I'll be ordering my Baker's Creek today so looking forward to tomatoes soon
Linda, I think I'm growing Calabrese. My packets are out in the sunroom and it's not accessible at this time.
Steph,
I think you're right. Calabrese is a more delicate, long-aren't variety, more like what's used in stir fry. Not a big fat head.
Yours sure are pretty!
long-aren't variety?
Long-stemmed..
I harvested a few small yellow crookneck squash today, had them with tostados and a burrito. The yellow pear tomatoes and a big red one (lost the pack, so don't know the name of it) were heavenly on the tostados. My eyes were bigger than my stomach, though and couldn't finish the burrito. I made boiled eggs for my hens this evening and served it up with some half and half cream. They were cooing like crazy. I just boiled the eggs and crushed them, shell and all, to give them a little extra protein treat.
I planted spinach and lettuce the other day, still not up, but we have cabbage lift off! The Brussels sprouts in the green house are doing well, and the Brandywine tomatoes are really growing faster than I expected, which is fine with me. :) The Hass Avocado, as I mentioned in the video is now putting out lots of new leaves, but I discovered, today the cold hardy avocado is putting new leaves on as well. Yay! I hand pollinated the corn - do that everytime I do out there - today again, and there are many plants tasseling. My moon and stars watermelon is just sitting there, though, so dunno, may have to bring that one inside and put it back under the light. Hopefully before winter's over, I'll get some lights for the gh; that'll make such a difference in the growth of everything. Have to find a place to transplant the Smoke Signals popcorn. That picnic table may have to go, lol. I already have it and the bench covered with pots, so I'm crowded out already on the nice idea of sitting at it on sunny days. Been going through my seeds, and I still have a lot of stuff to plant and not enough time to match all that. Sigh. I love the idea of fresh garden veggies in the winter, though, so must find the time (and energy) to plant more.
Here's my weekend report:
I worked like a DOG, but, it was GREAT!
Played with my new leaf blower/vac/mulcher, and turned 1/2 a yard of dried leaves into a 40-gallon bag of mulch. SUH-WEET. Only issue is having to stop so often to empty the shoulder bag. It fills up quickly.
Fed everything a base of liquid seaweed and fish emulsion, kelp meal, worm castings, and either ammonium sulphate? for the leafy stuff, or potassium for the growth systems.
The broccs and caulis are growing FAST! Last Monday, almost nickel size -- by this Saturday, they were full quarter-size. And, since I got caught out after dark with the mulcher, I decided to use a lantern to track down whatever was poking holes in my leaves. Located one huge and three smaller cutworms, and quickly dispatched them to the wormhole in the sky....they were hiding in the space created by my double walled RBs. Will try to close that up with additional deck screws...but, at least I know where to find them now. Searching on top of the soil was proving futile...
The turnips are taking off, finally, and so are the beets. If I didn't like beets so much, I'd give it up. But, it is SOOOOOOOOO worth it in the end...patience.....
The beets I started inside are all up, and so are more of the cabbages. Only two tomato plants are up (Siberias). Slow germination, and wondering about seed viability. Patience.....
Oh, almost forgot. I'm about to set up my own WORM BINS and do my own vermicomposting, so I started making worm food. Those worm castings are getting pricey, and I'm using more and more of it. May as well, invest in my own source of Black Gold! I'm under tutilage with an expert over on the vermicomposting thread. Spent Saturday morning making slushies out of blended veggie and fruit peels. LOTS of work because I had lots of peels. But, in the end, I've got almost 8 lbs. of slush that I will freeze flat in Ziplock baggies for the worms.
Vermicomposting is EZ, and, it's dah' bomb for having a steady stream of castings for the veggies! Once you're set up, it's like the gift that keeps on giving. You keep the worms happy and they keep you happy!
Put the remaining Christmas lights up yesterday, in church clothes and heels, cause my dear neighbor was on the spot offering help soon as I got out of my car, and I took it when I could get it!
Racing home to put up the hoops with the perforated plastic sheeting. Not for the cold front down into the 40-30s°, but for the 20-30 mph WIND gusts they're predicting for the next three days. Wind does more damage to my veggies than the cold ever does...
Purposely waited for the rainstorm last night to soften the ground, so I can pound in the hoop anchors.. I love it when a plan comes together!
Hugs!
Linda
Linda, just reading about your work makes me tired!! Where DO you get all that energy? I work a bit and then rest. work-rest, work-rest. I probably get aabout 50% of what others get done. I pulled weeds and cut back perennials yesterday so today Im taking Ibuprofen and playing on DG. Linda, Im really using your tip about the floating seeds. It's so much quicker than doing a germination test. So far, it has proven very helpful. I save my own seeds and of course some seeds aren't fertile and I hate to plant a whole 6 pak and 1 comes up. Thanks for the tip.
Steadycam3,
You're very welcome. The tip I got from Pinterest! Glad it works!
Lest I have misled anyone on the size of my "back 40", my yard is only 35 x 80. I have three raised beds in place, and 9 Earthboxes ( 5 of which have yet to be planted with my onions!).
It's not a big operation, but, it's my little patch of Heaven!
Also, I can be downright L-A-Z-Y, and I do fight against the urge, constantly. But, when I line up the projects beforehand, and wake up on the good side of the over-55-ailments, I do like my friend Bubba says, and I "git 'er done!"
I'm a "fallen-off-the-wagon" Lifetime Weight Watcher, and doing a hard press helps me feel like I'm back on the physical program, since I haven't made up in my mind to start back to the gym at the crack of dawn (GYMgirl...)
But, that's coming, too, since I can't fit into any of my clothes, and I refuse to buy a whole new wardrobe. I've got a few threads left before my outfits become obscene!
LOL!
Linda
12° here last night so really knocked down some of my fall crops but the collards look okay as do the carrots but the winter radishes look DONE IN as is the Arugula and the lettuce the Kohl Rabi is toast as is bits and pieces of a lot of other stuff forecast is a bit warmer tonight but afraid the damage is done ..
Aw, Grits!
Sorry about that.
We're having our first real spell of "winter" weather here in north Florida - down to 64F overnight, then a high tomorrow of only 66, then to 48 tomorrow night. Cool enough for a jacket.
Um, and then going back up to 72 on Friday. No freezes in the forecast yet...but yesterday (Monday) there was a 30-40% chance of rain and around here we got up to 3" of heavy driving rain - the first significant rain we've had in about a month, and it wasn't in the forecast. Before the rain started, I measured 84F outside around midday; then it dropped over 15 degrees and stayed there for an hour or so, then by dark (around 6PM here) was back up to the low 70's before it started dropping again.
I've got a friend who grows broccoli in her fall garden every fall who reported her plants are actually being dwarfed by the heat - small heads forming on plants only a few inches tall.
Florida is strange weather personified. Right now it's raining steadily in Tallahassee (to the north and west, in the panhandle area) and storming in Fort Myers (a few hours drive south)...and the skies here in Gainesville are mostly clear. Tomorrow the chance of rain here is going back up to 90%. About 20% of the people I know are walking around with head colds, and probably another 20% have seasonal allergies.
-Rich
We have gotten some lite rain over the last couple of day and that coupled with unusually high temps might just save some of the F/W garden ..But what it is is what it is ..Started in on a rehab project of some raised bed flower beds ,they have been in use for 10 years and were pretty well rotted down ..This should keep me busy for a few days ..
I spent all day shredding leaves my neighbors are leaving on my driveway. About six 40-gallon contractor bags. EZ-ier this time because instead of dumping them from the small bag into the compost bins, I just dumped them as pathways between my raised beds and along the entire back fence where, eventually, there will be more raised beds.
I figured, "why not let them break down in place?"
So, I shredded and lined the areas with about a 4-6" layer, and wet them down thoroughly before our promised rainstorms yesterday. Just needed to make sure they didn't blow all over the yard before the storms, and that they were wet enough so the rain would penetrate through to the ground below.
Do ya'll know how awesome shredded oak and pecan leaves smell? Like a fresh forest!
Didn't get to sow the tomatoes for shredding the leaves, and absolutely HAVE to get them sowed today and tomorrow. I've pulled 16 varieties to try this time. That's really, really, really, really ambitious, considering I need to have at least 10-15 of each seedling for the friends and neighbors to try. That's upwards of 300+ seedlings in two rooms at home.
The most I've done is 208.
Ya'll pray for me...
Linda
I bit the bullet and pulled all my green tomatos and peppers from my outdoor plants yesterday. Today I sowed my pepper and eggplant seeds for spring. Tomatos are next on the list.
This message was edited Dec 18, 2012 9:10 PM
Did you sow inside or outside?
Inside, my husband just set up a new indoor seed area. He did not want to see another season of me climbing around on the bathroom sink, or up on a chair in the kitchen, twice a day to place my seedlings up in the recessed fluorescent lighting chamber. I sleep with visions of seedling dancing in my head
How are you Sharon! You were the first person ever to reach out to me on DG, and it meant a lot. I hope you are well.
Im eating snow peas from the winter garden and still eating Limas from the summer garden. My romaine is heading. The first broccoli I planted looks like it's starting to head. I have new broccoli just starting as well as Gai Lan and white stem bok choy. accidentally hosed the soil off a potatoe plant and there are good sized taters underneath there? Garlic 6" high. Tomatoes loaded with blooms and some green fruit. Ive started my Bell Pepper seeds for Spring. They take a full 3 months in my set up to get seedlings to plant so I started early this time.
Steadycam3!
Girl, you are ON it! I got the Urban Harvest newsletter two days ago, and was surprised by the number of veggies we can still start indoors now through the end of the month, and January and February for plantout as seedlings.
I've got more cabbages started, but I can start more broccolis and cauliflowers, too.
Was it you who started beets indoors or HoneybeeNC? If it was you, my beets are "fainting" under the lights. Could it be the warmth from the flourescent or do I need to feed them? They have really nice leaves about 2.5" long, so I'm thinking it's almost time to put them out for hardening off anyways. Lemme know.
Linda
Growin, you have come a long way young lady. How has your first year of gardening in Las Vegas been going. I watch all these news reports when they bust these marijuana grow houses. They always have such great grow trays and lighting systems. I wonder if they sell them at the police sale. That would be great for us gardeners.
I have a beautiful crop of baby lettuce. I was going to cut some today but the wind was blowing so bad I did not want to go outside.
Great I'm flying thru LV on Sun. don't want to hear about how windy it is.
In Florida they call it hurricanes. Here they call it windy. Hang on when flying over.
Sharon, that's a great idea. Call your local PD's (or sheriff's) office and ask.
92 pounds of turnips went off to the charity garden this afternoon. It took me almost 2 hours to harvest, cut off the tops and pack them up in buckets. The tops were way past their prime. They were happy to get them since all they had to put in people's boxes were greens.
Several turnips I pulled up and all there was was a top and the bottom eaten away underneath. Well, well, now. Either I started the new beds over someone's home or someone moved in while the garden wasn't locked down. It's still not locked down; I need that gate!
The last of the fall cleanup is that I still have to pull up the radishes that the boy didn't like, and they are too old for good eating now. I have some cabbage and kohlrabi ready for harvest, and the chickweed (which volunteers itself everywhere) is very tasty this winter.
I don't have any sweet potatoes or winter squash in storage this year. It feels weird to be buying so many vegetables from the grocery store. $2 for a green pepper?! Ack!
Gym girl, get those beets in the ground! They are completely winter hardy and the greens can be used in salads. I start most things indoors due to the cutworms. It gives my plants a fighting chance. I kept an old beet around for about 3 yrs. The root was not fit to eat but it just kept churning out the leaves for my green salad mix.
A cold front has been by my house on it's merry way to Arkansas and now we have winds over 20mph and temps in the 30s so whatever was spared by last weeks hard freeze will likely blow away..Oh well at least we got some rain
I had a rainstorm at 2:15 a.m., then we had 40mph wind gusts the rest of the day. I watched my poor Broccs and Cauliflowers whipping around!
The hoop wasn't up yet...
Supposed to get down to 33° by morning. The wind finally died down this evening. Hope they make it.
This message was edited Dec 21, 2012 12:36 AM
Okay, yeah, the ice patterns are pretty on the window, but I'm not liking winter at all.
Cecil B de Kitty is wondering where all the birds are. He can't see them through the ice.
Eek. And I was feeling the cold because it's going to be positive 24F tonight.
-24F -- is that even a real temperature?
I've had a couple of hard freezes that pretty well squelched all the seedlings I had planted except the spinach. I got a really late start, so everything was very small. I didn't have time or the material to cover anything. Even the broccoli died back. At least the garlic didn't freeze!
I received my onions and hope to get them in the ground in the next few days. Maybe I'll have time Christmas day, after all the festivities are finished. I guess I will replant the turnips, beets, etc. sometime in February, after the highest chance of hard freeze is over. The beds are still in good shape and should only need a quick raking to be ready to replant.
Merry Christmas to all!
David R
Kinda had the same thoughts about just waiting and see what is alive later then can just Rake over and re plant Then will get started on the hugelkulture bed..but for now all I am going to do is keep warm and plan for next spring ..Not going to do anymore physical labor until after Christmas..My back is feeling pretty good so don't want to have the aches and pain that always seems to come after digging ..I need to get it done before Febuary cause then I will be turning 77 and kinda think that may be a little young to start a new style of gardening
Well,
I think we got down to around 45° last night, and everything looked good this morning. The hoop ribs are up, but no cover on yet. Tomorrow.
My cauliflower and broccoli heads are about 2.5"-3" diameter. Need to tie up the cauliflowers...
Steadycam3,
I set the trays of beet and cabbage seedlings out yesterday, and they look like they survived the night outside. Will transplant them into the raised bed tomorrow. My "tomorrow" list is so long, I'm running out of tomorrow...
Linda
Never enough time for all the things on the tomorrow list. I just make a new list every day and try to prioritize. Im happy because I looooove growing stuff.