All the spring crops are planted and the final harvest of the winter Houston vegetable garden is about complete. I planted the beans last week right before the cold snap. Hopefully, the seed did not rot; I am sure they did not germinate. But, warm weather is here now. Not much to do now except watch things grow.
Sugar snap peas are in full production; they liked the cooler weather. Probably a record crop this year. Hardly any vegetable is better to grow in terms of upgrade from the supermarket. Onions and leeks are developing nicely, but it will be another month or so. Parsley, cilantro and arugula are going to seed. Bush tomatoes are blooming.
The corn I started indoors is really kicking the seed planted outside. Not only is it further developed, but the plants are stronger. Certainly the way to go from now on.
Time to get rid of the last of the winter vegetables in your Houston vegetable garden and plant the spring crop. Last week I planted the tomatoes from pots into the ground and yesterday put frost cloth around them for the cold weekend. See previous post on how to do this ( http://www.houstonvegetablegarden.com/index.php/2008/02/07/growing-tomatoes-in-houston-cont/) I planted some corn in the garden and some under the grow light. I hope the warm weather last week was sufficient to germinate the triple sweet varieties which require soil temperatures of at least 65. The seed under the light came up almost at once with 100% germination. They need to be put in the garden but I will wait until it warms up a bit tomorrow. Corn develops large roots fast so the starter flat gets overwhelmed rather quickly.
I still have some beets and carrots to pull before I plant the beans. They should go in next week sometime.
Still overwhelmed with lettuce–having been giving it to anyone in sight. Sugar snap peas should be ready this week.
Parsley and cilantro are started to bloom and seed. Their blooms attract beneficial insects as well provide the seed for next years crop. They will reseed indefinitely, but be careful not to over mulch after the seed have fallen.