I am going to for the first time this year be planting a lot of seed. In Austin, the last expected frost date is March 31 and I have read that your tomato plants should be about six weeks old then. So I wasn't going to start tomatoes until mid-February. Am I waiting too late? Have you had good look with the Ponderosa Red and Sun King? What others are you trying?
Annie
Jan 2008 Chat thread Part One
I don't have a lot of time for seed starting and such once the semester starts, so I did them now. I think end of Jan, beginning of Feb is fine. Probably depends where you are as well. I purchased the following from Totally Tomatoes:
Solar Set
Florida 91
Costoluto
Zapotec Pink
The ones I grew last year didn't do that well but it wasn't a good year for much of anything with all the rain. So I am giving them a second chance this year.
Kim
Bronc is there a time limit on how soon they have to be gone by?
I work ever day except Sunday and to send him without me coming along as navigator he will get lost.
( it is true....... he went to Austin Sunday with his son to pick up sons stuff and they took a 20 mile detour since they didn't pay attention to the route they were to be taking)
otherwise the 21st and 22nd we don't have school and I could probably get one of those days off from the restaurant
21st or 22nd sounds good.
ok let me double check with him and then check with boss and make sure and put in my request. and I'll let ya know for sure
Thanks, Bubba!
Last summer was my first crop of anything, EVER. I successfully grew the following in my Earthboxes from seed, all with the help of the seasoned DGers:
Pruden's Purple (my ABSOLUTE favorite, but quite stingy on the yield -- long time waiting).
Black Krim (was my ABSOLUTE favorite, until I tasted the Pruden's...150 days from seed to my first bite!)
Eva Purple Ball, fabulous and a prolific yield
Cherokee Purple, great flavor, too. A bit stingy
Azoychka, yellow and prolific, but very mild taste. Also, the Leaffooted Stinkbugs seemed to like this tomato the best. They held conventions on these tomatoes and didn't bother anything else. I let them live cause I wasn't fond of this tomato...it was a win-win situation...
Persimmons, another yellow, huge, better than Azoychka, but the yellows weren't my favorite.
Sun Gold. Much too tart for my tastebuds
Arkansas Traveler, nice red and really cranked them out in spite of the rain.
I actually grew 11 different varieties, and can't remember the rest right now...
I did ferment seeds from all of my summer yield (including okra, bell peppers, & banana peppers), but I can't attest to how viable the seed will be for my Spring crop. Something oughtta happen, though. I'll be sowing seeds this weekend. I'm gonna experiment with wintersowing some of them in milk jugs outside so they won't need to be hardened off when I transplant them to the EBs the second weekend in March.
I'm willing to share seeds with anyone who wants to take a chance with me. Send a dmail and I'll send you my addy.
This message was edited Jan 9, 2008 1:51 PM
There is at least one DG'er in Mexico - Katiebear - saw her reply in Soil & Composting.
Gymgirl, you sure have done a great job for a first timer or anyone, Congratulations!!!
Josephine.
This shows 4 subscribers in Mexico but there's 310 members there. http://davesgarden.com/community/memberlist/viewby.php?area=country&arg1=MX&showonlysubbers=1
well i do like tart tomatoes gymgirl. i really thought the soil was what made those things taste that way. always in miss. the tomatoes my papaw grew were the best because they were so acidic tasting. i like sweeter ones too.
How are ya'll finding that subscriber list? I must be doing something wrong. It's great to know that we are more international than I originally thought.
Gymgirl...you are really doing good!
It is in the Extras right?
That's where I was looking but I must be going about it the wrong way. I went to 'Find Subscribers in Your Area' and then just typed in 'Mexico'. Guess, that's not the most direct method. I'd really like to strike up conversation with some of our South American friends....they have valuable input for our gardens...especially in this area since we're 'sub-tropical'....sort of.
click COMMUNITIES and then MEMBER LIST. then just click your country for member names.
Thank you, Mamajack.
OK....I see all the talk of collecting vegetable seeds. I do a vegetable garden in the spring but never have time to do the fall or winter garden. I grow several varieties of tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, squash, okra, bell peppers, jalapenos and banana peppers, cantaloupe, lettuce, spinach and a pretty comprehensive herb garden.
I primarily grow flowers (a large butterfly garden collection) and collect seeds from flowering perennials, annuals and vines all year long. In fact, I'm quite the nut about it and spend several hours a week collecting, cleaning, sorting and labeling. I roam the pasture next to me and get quite a variety of natives. (Which I would know nothing about without reading Frostweed's threads). It's turned into quite the hobby and I have a huge wooden chest full of seeds. I really don't have time to do trade lists and trade seriously. I'm just a collector and trade (or just give) when I see that someone wants something or the particular seed/plant comes up in conversation. So, is there any other nut out there like me? Are any of you Texans in need of some pretty seeds? Happy to share the bounty. I have more than I can plant.
got any stachys coccinea? or any variety of texas solanums?
I'm not good with Latin names.....LOL.
I have books but that's too much effort for the fun for me. Ya got me, Mama! what are the common names?
lol - the latin are hard to get used to, but they can be a huge help in getting the right plant.
I love collecting seeds as well, although I don't have the time to do it as religiously as you seem to. I'd love to though. It can be addicting...lol. It is so fun to grow something in the garden and know you grew it from seed.
Right? There is a pride there you dont get any other way.
stachys is texas betony i think. and solanum is any plant in the nightshade family. does anyone have any seeds of thorny (nonrose) plants?
Hey mama I can give ya green briar vines...ROFL they are thorny and it would be plants not seeds ...joking of course.
I remember helping my grandma collect seeds from her flower beds every year to save for the next year.
I collected some this year form a few flowers that were blooming when we moved in but I am looking at online catalogs as I have alot of land here and want to have several flower beds if I can.. I loved having the hummingbirds around to watch but we didn't have much in butterflies so guess I'll need to work on that. LOL
I've already made a list of what I am going to order for seeds for my veggie garden ...Thanks Mitch of the tip on Baker Creek..... I am going to try 3 different types of watermelon and muskmelon along with 2 types green beans and a couple of tomatoes and other stuff LOL
tee hee hee. yeah, why don't you dig me up some of those girl and just pot them for me until the swap. lol.
ROFL...really? your not serious are you?
nah. lol
well party pooper thought maybe we could start a new trend .....hahahahahahahahaha
Good morning, all!
Any plans for the garden today? I got most of my yardwork finished yesterday. We had planted several new shrubs and they needed to be watered. Also, moved our Wood chipper and alot of various spare pots to a different part of the yard. I was tired of it ruining my 'view' as I looked out the window. It looks so much better now!
I will have my nieces over today while their Mom goes to work. The 11 y.o. gets along very well with my 13 y.o. but the little one (she is 5) will probably be with me. She is bringing her brand new roller skates, but can only skate on carpet! The hard floors are too much for her. No way that she can skate outside yet! She is quiet the gardener, too, so maybe we will check on my WS containers from sprouts.
Enjoy your day!
Necia
hey y'all was' up ...lol
went and saw bronc monday and got some 4x4's and left him with some homemade candy.....I bet by today it is all gone too...lol
I stopped at walley world after work today and picked up 2 plastic 10 gallon containers & worms and DH and I have got the holes in them, the wet paper, some dirt and smashed up eggshells and worms...so now we will see IF I can keep worms alive and well fed for composting....and get this Dh didn't have a bad thing to say about it either LOL
WE rented and used the backhoe last weekend to dig up the bamboo and got a good chunk of it lose and Dh found where the water line goes to the house when he went out front to get a stump out....he called DD and I when we were in town saying I needed to get a 12" piece of heavy hose and 2 clamps....we went to home depot on the way back and got just what was really needed so he had the water line fixed and back on 1/2 hour after we got home.....lesson learned? Yes do not leave Dh at home alone with a backhoe.
We borrowed a 4-wheeler from a guy DD works with to hook the disc up to that we brought with us from Illinois so today after I got home we played in the sand so to speak pulling the disc through the sandy dirt to get the bamboo roots and such loose and to work on leveling out the ground some....sure makes for a bumpy ride going over mounds of sand and roots I'm sure my body will feel some of it tomorrow. LOL but hey it was fun and there is still more work to be done going over it more.
I just might get a veggie garden in yet this spring.
Hey Phyllis, Only day home in over 10 days. What did I do? Absolutely nothing. In years past I have ridden the tractor and held onto the tiller. Can really wear a girl out. Because of all that I am going to the Baylor Spine Center again in the morning to see just what can be done to repair the damage so you take care of yourself, ya hear?
Oh no worries I am not going to over do it. as a matter of fact I could have went in and worked today at the restaurant but choose not to since next week I will be doing bus certification classes on tues and thurs nights til 9:30 and on sat from 6:30 am - 11:30.
I do enjoy working with the chef and the 1 waitress we have but the owners don't seem to understand there is more to it then just saying we are going to sit down and go over things and it never happens. I've been told since I started that we were going to sit down and go over the set up and what not for events and here we are a lil over 6 mos and it has yet to happen.