FALL/WINTER Gardens 2015 Pt 1

Lisa et al,
I'm holding my breath on this weather, too!

Got 50 tomato seedlings that are ready to be potted up to individual cups today. They're looking really good. At first I thought keeping them in the room with the beets would be counter productive, however, with the weather drop last week, the room's been pretty moderate, but, not as warm. So, they're happily co-inhabiting, and, I believe the cooler air for the beets is slowing the toms down and allowing them to fatten up.

Also, (and, I know there's a difference of opinion on this) I've been feeding the toms daily with a very weak solution of Mittleider Magic Minerals (they call it the "Constant Comfort" formula). So far, they look almost as good as my very best batch of tomato seedlings, ever.

Also, a bazillion beet seedlings need to be potted up, too.

Finally, after reviewing some pics from my canning sessions last season, I'm gonna roll the dice and plant my green bean seedlings under a DOUBLE hoop. I'll put a couple low tunnels side x side in the 4x8 bed, then, cover the entire bed over with the perforated plastic sheeting from Territorial Seeds.

If I can keep the toms from growing so fast, I might even do the same with at least one row. Long as they're low enough to fit under the tunnel, LOL! Come to think of it, I could probably pot up a couple for this experiment, set them outside next week for hardening off. So, in two more weeks they should be ready to go under the tunnel.

I like that idea, LOL!

Hugs, ya'll!

Glad to see we're still here...

So i was looking for something this morning and i came across an old package of sweet pea seeds, they must be at least 5 years old. Im going to soak a few of them to see if they are still any good.

Dangit all! My entire MULCHED garden is covered in weeds! We've had NO cold weather to speak of this winter and now it's going to take me a couple of weeks to clear the weeds just so I can plant. So frustrated!!

I feel your pain. I have live weeds and dead weeds that have taken over all my gardening areas. Most of it is grass that had gotten really tall. Everything is in some sort of raised bed so I can't till it in. This is way more the I can do by hand, I've noticed new weeds in some areas but the night time temps have been around freezing for the most part. Today was beautiful, in the 70s but the high is supposed to be in 50s for the rest of the week.....

I potted up tomato seedlings last night, from the yogurt cups to 12 oz cups.

Two more weeks under the lights, 4 days to harden off, and transplanting into the garden the weekend of February 13th.

Now, to tackle all those beets, LOL!

It was 25* this AM. It's been so nice during the day I guess I didn't pay attention to how cold it got at night! No wonder the cat wanted to sleep inside.

Hi yall! I was hoping if I checked here, I'd find some action! So, Lisa & Stephanie, I totally know the major weed problem you're facing. I have 2 raised beds behind my garage. The smaller one wasn't too bad because I'd weeded then covered it with that black fiber cover. But the larger one got weeded & not covered. This was probably last spring-I had no summer garden😵 Luckily, my hubby & I got out there a few days ago & he weeded that large one! There's no way I could have done it.
Anyway, living in W. Houston, what veggies are ok to plant now? I have seeds for many lettuces & greens (kales, bok choy, arugula, spinach, chard), snow & sugar peas, beets, turnips, carrots, & even soybeans but really not sure those would grow here anyway. Yall know how crazy our weather is. Will it get hot too fast to plant any of these? Gardens are ready to go--thank you Mark!! Any advice is greatly appreciated💜

Hey, I wish I could help but I don't know what your temps are or might be. I live in such a small microclimate it can be 5-10* cooler here then Liberty Hill proper or Austin. I wish this held true for the summer months. Lol

I'm not sure what I'm going to do about the weeds. Even tho many of them are dead they are still in the way.

I still follow a planting guide no matter the weather because our crazy weather can turn on a dime. I found these by searching for Harris County planting guide.

http://harris.agrilife.org/files/2011/05/VegPlantingChart.pdf
http://harris.agrilife.org/hort/publications-links/veggies-herbs/

I had those guides, somewhere,,,, they are great. I do try to stick to some sort of guide unless it's too cold ATM and the forecast is for more cold. This last week I lost some container pepper plants due to an unpredicted freeze. Im sure it had gotten that cold before. Lol

Thanks a bunch! I'll look those over & decide.

Woohoo! Got my tomato and pepper seeds sown today!

What a fantastic day ! 74 F!!
Lettuce and kale are growing just amazing

Lots of fennel this year and cabbages are growing so good !I will need to harvest all of them real soon to give room for the tomatoes

Tomatoes seedling are growing really well.
I have started already eggplants this year. In the past 2 years I did start them later and I had an horrible eggplant production ... so I am back to my original planting time (I always had fantastic eggplant harvests in this way)
I have started only 2 pepper varieties this year: GHOST and SCORPION. Only Scorpion peppers have germinated so far.
I really think my pepper plants are still alive ... look they are protected by the wood fence ...
I am taking the risk ! I did harvested so many peppers last year.
My freezer is full of peppers and I have tons of pickled jars of peppers in my pantry !

Happy gardening

The super hot peppers can take a long time to germinate. Sometimes over a month. You can tell if your pepper plants are still alive by scratching the main stem with your fingernail...if you see green they are alive.

I have my peppers on a heat mat. We'll see if it helps this year or not.

Stephanie, how did you germinate them before?

Kellogg's Breakfast, Sioux, and NOID tomato seedlings reading to go outside for hardening off...

Bull's Blood and Detroit Dark Red Beets ready for transplanting.

Kale, harvested Monday.

hope you do better with the bulls blood beets than i did, i could never get mine to ever bulb up in time before conditions became unfavorable for them

Stephanie, I always use a heatmat for peppers and eggplants but I've never used a thermostat. I keep my house pretty cool so I start tomatoes on it too. I also use the aluminum pans. They seem to help hold the heat.

hmm, yeah, i would say my potatoes are eager for spring to get here!

Tomato seedlings heading out for hardening off this weekend.

Kellogg's Breakfast, Sioux, and a NOID cherry tomato.

Bull's Blood & Detroit Dark Red Beets.

African Blue Basil that keeps trying to die...

Wow,it's supposed to be 27* here tomorrow AM good luck!

Crazy Texas weather! Well, we planted sugar snap peas, snow peas, turnips, beets, & a couple other things. It's all a gamble here since it can stay relatively cool for a couple more months or turn to summer sooner! Left a spot for tomatoes, which will be planted in March. Isn't it fun to run out every day to see if your seeds have come up?! The magic of gardening! Janet

I have sprouts! I have tomatoes sprouting. First ones up were Earliana, followed by Century. Lg Cherry should be sprouting tomorrow. Still waiting on the Marmande tomatoes.

My "First Prize" are up. Only 24 seeds but all are up. Going in the hoophouse early.

I absolutely love this time of the year !
I am harvesting all the fennel right now and radishes.
I am also trying to harvest all the cabbages and broccoli.
Cabbages are going to be blanched and frozen.
I need the room for my tomato plants.
There is a lot of lettuce to eat right now.

Great news: my pepper plants did NOT dye yet ! Instead they are shooting new leaves !!! WOW !!
But I am sure that we will still have some cold weather soon ...

More fennel and lettuce.
I made a lot of "FENNELOIL " with the fennel leaves.
I am addicted now to these herbs oil. They are a staple my kitchen.

I have been doing some more reading on what plants to pair up with each other and what to keep away from each other.

Im reading that tomatoes planted near corn is one of the big no-no's. Im just curious about how far away from each other would be good enough?

I got a yard of compost for Valentine's Day! Woohoo! Planted most of my onions yesterday. Still have one bunch to get out. I planted two bunches of Texas Legend (sweet yellow onion), one bunch of Texas Early White, and one bunch of White Bermuda. Almost ALL of my seeds have germinated, which is a first! I have tomatillos to sow, but they grow much faster than tomatoes, so I'll plant them sometime this week. I also got some Anaheim peppers to try this year. Maybe they'll mature about the same time as the tomatillos and I can use them to make salsa verde.

Steph,
That doesn't look like you planting onions, LOLOLOL!

I planted a few rows until Mark came out and took over. My physical therapist thanked him today. :)

The things gardeners want for gifts....lol

Hahaha, that's what I was thinking, Lisa!
Oh, honey, you must love me so much. Thank you for the compost. I shall cherish it forever 💖

I cleaned up the vegetables on the tomato areas.
I harvested all the cabbages ... which they were a lot this year. My freezer is already full.
Interesting fact: since it has been so warm here, I noticed that the cabbages are tasting not as sweet as before. They are tasting more bitter ... thank you hot weather.
I also harvested more radishes and all the broccoli florets.
My tomatoes are hardening off outside during the day.
They will go in the ground Sunday.
Today I am putting down compost and preparing the hoop house and covered them with plastic. The soil will be super warm for my tomatoes this year.

My 2015 pepper plants are making leaf buds !! They did not dye !

This message was edited Feb 17, 2016 8:05 AM

Finally got the tomatoes out for hardening off. The Sioux and Kellogg's Breakfast are looking outstanding. Best seedlings yet!!

Collards, Spinach, & Bok Choy growing like gangbusters in the covered Earthboxes. Need to transplant the collards to the raised beds, and harvest & eat the spinach & bok choy. Best stand of spinach I've ever grown!!

Broccoli heads growing everywhere (25 plants, LOL). A couple are showing tiny tinges of yellow blossoms. Will harvest those first, and leave the rest where they are. Cold spell and rain coming through here, next week.

It's 80° and sunshiny today!!!

The Meyer Improved Lemon tree is covered with blossoms and tiny thumbnail sized lemons! Whoo Hoo!!! Finally!!

Hi everyone, watching your posts, it inspired me to start my veggie garden. Yesterday I pulled up weeds and cleaned my small raised bed in our community garden. Looking forward to a the growing season here in our zone. Lisa, Collards, Spinach, & Bok Choy! Wow, I wished I knew those could withstand the winter chills. Great going.