My corn stand was not very good but the quality of the produce was excellent. I hand pollinated because of the sparse stand. To hand pollinate take the seed like pollen from the tassels and put it on the silk. It helps both with sparse and thick plantings. Last spring I got some poor pollination because the leaves hid the silks in the thick plantings. I will plant sugar snap peas where the corn grew, probably about mid-December.
The Derby green beans are about finished, but production has been excellent. With the corn and beans gone, I now refer to it as a Houston winter vegetable garden, rather than a fall garden. We ate the lone kohl rabi; we used it in a salad much like jimaca. Bob Randall calls it the most under utilized vegetable in Houston. If you close your eys and ignore texture, it tastes like cabbage. We never raised it on our farm growing up, but the neighboring Czechs always planted it. The purple mustard greens are now being harvested and are excellent; perhaps a little milder than traditional mustard greens.
Beets are growing nicely. I plant beets outside, rather than under the grow lamp. Each beet seed will produce about 5 plants; each nodule is an independent seed. Somewhat surprisingly they transplant rather easily. The carrots are a reasonable stand. I just broadcast the seeds. Perhaps I would get better germination by being more careful with the planting.
I also planted some “bright lights” Swiss Chard; it will be a landscape plant, but we will eventually eat it.
All the vegetables started under the grow lamp are now planted in the garden; lettuce, collards and bok choi. They are doing nicely but it will be a while before harvest.
We had some great potatoes from the Bayou City Farmers Market this week also. I may try potatoes again. Previously, they had nematodes or some fungus disease.
