I joined DG when I saw the Texas gardening forum.
After going through about 5 pages I don't see much on vegetable gardens.
I'm from the northwest and I'm trying to learn the ins and outs of growing vegetables in the heat, the two gardening seasons, solving insect problems, tomatoes that split etc.
Is this the forum to exchange information like this?
Perhaps another TexasVegtables only forum might streamline things a bit.
Any ideas?
Thanks
Larry
Texas Vegetable Gardening
We vegetable gardeners are here, Larry. But we hop over to the other forums, too. Post any comments or questions you have, and responses will usually be quick. Meanwhile, get some tomato seedlings set out if you haven't already. There are some crops that are hard to grow here - I've given up on rhubarb, and asparagus is a real challenge. But Swiss chard can be perennial, and there are some reliable standbys. Where is Princeton? I'm trying to visualize your hardiness/heat zones. Yuska
Hi Larry,
I grow veg too. This year i have had some super tomatos, and various sorts of pepper. I think I messed up the aubergines - egg plant - I expected them to take ages to ripen and they have now gone from purple to yellow!
Next year, or maybe in the fall I'm going to try lettuce and scarlet runner beans.
Carol
If you like greens, I have had great luck with Kale, I like the curly kind.
This plant is hardy and will give you wonderful healthful greens all year long.
They are biennial, so they go to bloon the second year.
I have done very well with Swiss Chard too.
Josephine.
I do vegetables every fall; as well as in the spring. The fall is actually my preferred season because the days cool down gradually as the daylength decreases. I do fall tomatoes (still have peppers but they are sulking!), green beans, brocolli (my favorite), lettuce, spinich, english peas, and squash. It's just a bit early yet. My fall tomatoes will go in about the start of August (I rooted cuttings from spring plants a week ago when they were just not producing anymore due to heat).
I don't hop over to the other forums because Texas problems and seasons are so unique. Use a search engine and get a fall planting guide from your local county extension service (or I don't know where you are but the next big town--like DFW if that's where you are). Good luck and keep posting here because there are us veggie growers here! And we love to talk!
:) Debbie
This message was edited Jul 19, 2005 8:37 PM
Thanks for the replies!
Princeton is 45 miles north and slightly east of Dallas-between McKinney and Farmersville/Greenville.
I moved here from zone 2 - Spokane WA. where I was just starting to do seed saving, and heirloom vegetables.
We could have a killing frost in June! and one year had a killing frost August 29th!
But, I had wonderful soil, and bumper crops of corn carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, beans, etc.
I could never grow a cantaloupe and right now I have three small ones planted in a pot. The crenshaw melon plant has not set any fruit and gets stressed all the times from the heat. Cukes are doing well as well as tomatoes, but many in pots are not doing well.
My greatest need is assurance that the seeds I buy are for varieties that will do well here. The Aggie site varieties seem limiting to me at first glance.
I thought I wood get some good local advice from the Wilhite seed comany near Fort Worth, but both times I called they said they are not gardeners, just order takers. I did buy some seeds from them and was pleased with their service.
I miss the expertise of a Store in Spokane called Northwest Seed and Pet which had many gardening experts right at the store.
I'm adjusting, though!
Are there any gardeners in Texas that are experimenting with other varieties?
Thanks
Larry
Larry, the best thing you can do is contact your local County Ag. Extension office. They can give you a wealth of information on growing conditions, varities of plants, etc. just for your area. The thing about gardening in Texas is that there are just so many climates and mico-climates. You can grow so many plants in your area that I could never grow down here. Also hit this link...
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/
If you want to grow anything in Texas...Texas A & M can tell you how....
Good Luck and Happy Gardening
Larry, welcome to Texas! Yes it is a challenge. I would suggest that you check out the gardening magazine Texas Gardening. It has taught me so many things about gardening here, and even divides the state up into zones with reccomended planting times for veggies. Yes, Fall planting is great. You may be a little late to put in tomato transplants now, but if you get some large, well rooted ones, you might get a few maters before the first frost. This site, is the best source for information! So please, Ask Away! We are a bunch of chatty Cathys. Good luck and hope to hear from you with your questions and concerns. SEEYA, Margie aka Queen of Dirtland LOL
On July 11, right before all the rain down here in Houston (all of 5 and a half inches over 7 day period and not a drop since! sorry off task--we need more rain!), I decided for fun and chuckles to put in some pole green beans. I am happy to report they are up and happily wrapping themselves around the lattice and about a foot and a half tall. They seem to be doing just fine through this hot dry spell we've had since July 22nd. They are doing better than the cucumbers planted at the same time but I feel its the variety of cukes I planted. I had the seed, the time, and the space for this what I thought at the time was an effort in futility. So I guess that experimentation in Houston can sometimes reap rewards! Gotta love gardening--I think we might be closet gamblers!
I buy my vege seeds from Park Seed. They are very polite and helpful. Also Seeds of Change at www.seedsofchange.com. They had a good selection of non-gmo seeds and also heirlooms.
For heirlooms I like Baker Creek - www.rareseeds.com
My interest isn't serious enough to participate in the VG forum, but I'm glad someone started a thread over here! I don't usually grow veggies, but do have a small garden that actually belongs to my son. I'd like to learn more tho. He's got a huge mess of things growing: tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, watermelons, and all over each other and out of their boundries.
I want to grow some pumpkins for him. Is there time? Do I plant now? any particular kind?
I must admit that I am not a veggie eater, but I'm trying! I'd like some Fall tomatoes for salads. Any ideas on what kind to start?
Those pole green beans are still lookin' good--an amazement to me. I think we should keep a veggie thread over here too because our conditions are just so very different from most of the zones I've seen on that forum.
What I like about Park's is that they foil Vacuum seal those seeds which, in my humble opinion, gives them a longer shelf life.
Wilhite seeds in Texas has a new bush bean variety supposed to be good in the heat called Festina which I just got some of to try in Sept--will let ya'll know how those go.
Larry your county extension service will probably have fall planting tables for the DFW area or try searching this aggie link:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/tamuhort.html
I just tuck all my veggies in with the annuals and perennials. I'll post some pics as soon as I get them scanned in on this new computer.
Debbie
This message was edited Jul 29, 2005 10:08 PM
Yes, I am glad we have our own Tx vege gardening thread too. I feel very fortunate that Texas has its own forum and now vege thread too. I feel very well taken care of. Texas gardeners have so many things to deal with that northern gardeners never even consider and vice versa. It's exciting to know where to go to talk to others who are facing the same challenges and learn from their experiences.
This is probably a stupid comment (like I've never made those before LOL) but, I take Neil Sperry's magazine and he's based out of the DFW area right? I think he even has some radio/TV spots too huh? Up in that area?
He also has excellent planting guides for the state Larry.
Debbie
For central Texas Gardeners, there's KLRU (PBS channel 18) at noon on Saturdays, It's a 1/2 hour show. There's another one on radio and on-line. I'm sure there must be something for every area. I've also seen an amazingly large selection of books on Texas gardening at Barnes & Nobel. But I always end up getting information from TAMU.
Yuska, I discovered Baker Creek this spring. I like their selection. I've ordered from Park for years and have saved seed from one year to the next. The foil wrap is easier to fold and store. The following spring, since I still have some Park seed, I go looking for something else and that's how I discovered Baker Creek.
The young man who originated and runs the Baker Creek place, Jere Gettle, also publishes a magazine called the Heirloom Gardener. It's a quarterly and not so impressive to look at because it's printed on recycled paper, but contains unique articles. He also holds an annual event on the property, sort of a "festival" for gardeners.
I agree with you that Parks is a consistently good place to order. I've had good luck with their plants, too.
This message was edited Jul 30, 2005 3:41 PM
Can somebody give a link to Baker Creek Place? I can't seem to find it.......along with my mind.........
dmj,
Yuska provided it above, but here it is.
http://www.rareseeds.com/
Bettydee--You are so right! Thanks--I swear sometimes the older I get the mor ADHD I get!
Debbie
I wanted to give this thread a bump and let everybody in the DFW area know about the Collin County Master Gardeners site: http://www.ccmgatx.org - we are still building the site but there's lots of good information there, including vegetable recommendations. (I also write a vegetable-growing column in our bimonthly ECHO newsletter.)
As for my own recommendations, well...I take a chance and if a certain variety doesn't do well here, I don't grow it again. Some of my biggest summer crop successes: Early Girl Bush tomato, Yellow Pear tomato, Green Zebra tomato, Zephyr squash (seed only available from Johnny's, I believe), Superstar melon (from Gurneys seeds), Hungarian wax pepper.
Very helpful site, thank you for posting.
Josephine.
Well I am glad I strolled in tonight to see what new threads were going on.
Welcome to Texas Larry ....I'm not alot of help as in what grows and doesn't as this is my first year in Texas I came form Illinois back in July, but I can tell ya everyone here is wonderful and very helpful ask and answers will come.
I am working on getting an area for my veggies set up so I can do my trial and error on what will grow good for me near Tyler.