June 28, 2008
Or is it “black eyed peas”? I planted black eyes along with the remaining purple hull seed I had left as a cover crop while I am in Montana. Peas enrich the soil with nitrogen because they are a legume. They also keep the weeds down. My daughter has been picking them and shelling and eating them. They were always her favorite vegetable growing up. We cook them by sauteing some bacon with onions and then boiling the peas for 1/2 hour or so. Always include some “snaps”, immature peas that are cooked like green beans. You will have to raise your own to get snaps because they are never in commercial produce whether shelled or unshellled.
Cowpeas are hard to find in Houston now even though they were a basic staple of the regions for years. We ate them all summer on the ranch where I grew up. They are a very nutritious vegetable. I spent my summer days on the front porch shelling peas with my mother, sister, grandmother and great aunt and uncle. Shelling peas is a very relaxing and satisfying thing to do. You can see exactly what you have accomplished. My Minnesota wife never could understand why I can shell peas so fast, but I had a lot of practice.
It is hard to find peas now. Central Market carries shelled peas at astronomical prices and Caninos in the Airline Farmers market has them, but sitting around shelling peas seems to by a lost art in these rush-rush days.
May 20, 2008
Corn ear worms are a annoying pest to the Houston vegetable gardener. It is not that they eat so much of the corn, they just make it look bad. Having members of the carrot/parsley in bloom is supposed to attract a wasp that attacks the moths. I always try to have something blooming in the garden to attract beneficials. At the time the corn is vulnerable, cilantro is blooming everywhere. I usually have more problems with ear worms in the fall than in the spring.
This year I also tried an organic remedy recommended by U. Mass. It involves squirting a small amount of vegetable oil with BT added to it onto the roots of the silks a few days after they appear. I tried it and so far I have not had any ear worms.
The corn did not fill out the ears very well. I don’t think the ear worm treatment is responsible, but I guess it could be. Probably the corn was planted too close together and the leaves interfered with pollination. Often I hand pollinate, but this year I did not.
The first round of beans is finished. The Derby beans are blooming again; the Maxibel are dying off. The next picking will be smaller and of poorer quality but still a picking.
Tomatoes are being picked daily. As usual Sweet Chelsea and Sun Gold are producing massive amounts. The slicers produced very good quality this year but a small yield. Champion made only 3 tomatoes. Merced was better than Bush Celebrity, but unfortunately no more seed are available for it.
Tomorrow we are off the Montana to start a spring garden there. I planted black eye and purple hull peas as a cover crop. Hopefully, some relative will pick some of them, but most people are too busy or too lazy to shell peas these days.
April 24, 2008
This picture shows the third picking of beans from my Houston vegetable garden. They weigh about 1 .5 pounds. This quantity came from about 25 square feet of garden space. It shows how much food one can raise in a small space. The first two picking were about the same size and about 4-5 days apart. One nice feature of Derby beans is that will likely have a full second blooming and crop.
April 20, 2008
I picked the first mess of Derby and Maxibel green beans today–right on schedule about 50 days after planting the seed. Derby is producing more heavily as expected. First tomatoes were picked–Sweet Chelsea and Sun Gold. The slicers still have a way to go. Also, the Contessa white onions are ready. Onions are ready when the stem collapses and falls over. These are great, sweet onions and are easy to grow. Just order the plants from Dixondale (see links) in November. I picked up some shallots at Walbash’s while there for something else. Probably not the best time to plant them, but we will see.
Also picked 2 quarts of wild dewberries last Thursday–dewberry cobbler for dessert today–yum! You do not have to go far to find dewberries. Watch for the plants blooming around March 1 and make a note of where they are. I found these on the esplanade of a busy street a few blocks from the medical center. The only hard part was crossing to the median without getting run over. Normally, you have to be careful of copperheads when picking berries, but I doubt any copperhead could have made it there without being run over. Nevertheless, my old instincts kept me on the lookout. Roadside ditches typically are full of dewberries. Most people these days are too lazy to pick them so competition is light. My Kiowa blackberries are blooming and have some green berries. It will be a few weeks before they produce.
April 8, 2008
I pulled the last of the winter vegetables this week; sugar snap peas, beets and carrots. The sugar snaps gave a great yield and are one of the most rewarding vegetables to grow here, especially given the price and quality of supermarket offerings. We really enjoy the Kinbi carrots. They are yellow, rather than orange and are really beautiful when cooked. They are also very sweet.
The spring vegetables are coming along fast with the recent warmer weather. The beans are blooming. Corn is about a knee high and ready for a side dressing of cottonseed meal. The Sweet G-90 plants are more hardy than the Butterfruit bi-color; but that is to be expected because G-90 makes a much larger plant. All the tomatoes have small tomatoes on them. The Champion plant is rather anemic; I probably planted it in a bad place, a mistake on my part because I wanted to give Champion one last try. It is rated as good by others for the Houston vegetable garden, but I have had poor results.
Cilantro and parsley are blooming and the cilantro especially is very pretty. I have let it go to seed in the blackberry bed. It and the parsley will reseed next fall. It is best to grow each is a small bed with a lot of plants rather than as specimen plants (not practical of course if you are paying dollars per plant at the nursery). Harvest by cutting off 6″ or so sprigs at the ground. It will keep coming back until it bolts to seed.
It is time to plant the warmer summer vegetables; okra, cowpeas, eggplant and melons. I won’t be planting any because I will be in Montana when they produce. No other family member is dedicated enough to come and pick them.
December 3, 2007
The late planting of Derby and Maxibel green beans has been much more successful this year. The week after Thanksgiving, about 50 days after planting, I began picking a lot of high quality beans and have had successive picking every few days of about the same amount. I think the main difference from last year when the crop was rather weak is that I made sure it was in a sunny spot. Compared to spring planting which mature in late April and May the amount of sun is much less per day in the fall. Also the low angle of the sun makes more location subject to shadows. Beans and other seed crops require a lot of sun. Root crops can get by on less and leafy crops need the least. However, more sun is better for everything. In the fall Houston vegetable garden do a sun survey before planting.
Maxibel were a bit disappointing the last time I planted them, but this time they are produced right up there with Derby. Maxibel is long (7″), slender bean that has good “plate appeal”. I cannot tell the difference in taste between them and Derby.
Turnips have been disappointing. First the usual green worms had a feast and then some sucking mites took over. I will not get much of a crop, but I can always replant later. The mustard greens are producing well and have not been bothered by the pests even though they are planted right next to the turnips. Bok Choi is about ready for harvest.
I planted sugar snap peas yesterday. It is a bit earlier than normal. The old guide was about Christmas and then it was moved up to December 15. I think it a good idea to get them started before the main possibility of really cold weather hits. My brother already has some producing. He may be a bit lucky because October was relatively cool. They don’t like hot weather.
October 24, 2007
When I returned in early October I planted Derby green beans and turnips. Both came up well and are growing. Early October is really too late for beans, but I got a mess or two last year with the late planting. This year I planted them in a location that will get more sun in November. We will see.
I also planted seed of mustard greens, broccoli, bok choi, fennel and lettuce in a planter box under a grow light. (See Main Menu for information on this very good method) Those seed came up well also, but I had to delay transplanting them until the temperature got below 90, a longer wait each year it seems. The cold front this week gave me the opportunity to set them outside. The bright sunlight has been a bit hard on them, but I have watered them each day and I think they will catch on ok.
Next up will be carrots and beets. The weather should be fine for planting them now. I just need to get some carrot seed. I will plant Kinbi and Touchon if I can find the seed. Urban Harvest is stopping their seed selling program because of the time intensity of the effort; however, they probably still have some left. Also will plant some mache’ and some lettuce by direct sowing.
Time also to order my Contessa onions from Dixondale. The last time I checked they showed out of stock, but probably the plants just are not ready yet.
April 20, 2007
Today was the first real spring harvest in my Houston vegetable garden; Derby green beans and Contessa onions. (Shown below). My best gardening advice for Houston beans is plant the Derby variety. They are very productive, continue producing for a long time and are tasty. I try other varieties from time to time and am always disappointed. the first picking yielded 1 3/4 pounds of beans from 30 square feet of garden. Contessa onions are a white 1015 type and are very sweet and juicy. The green beans were planted in late February and the onions in mid-December (ordered from Dixondale) Onions are ready for harvest when the stems bend over. The ones shown below are not quite ready. I picked off the seed shoots when they appeared a couple of weeks ago.
April 15, 2007
I planted Envy edaname on April 15. I have never raised them before and could use some gardening advice for growing edaname in Houston. Some sources say they are a hot weather plant like cowpeas; others say to raise like green beans. I think the latter is more the current thinking. We will see. Let me know if you have any experience.
The Derby green beans planted in late February will be ready for the first harvest this coming week. The first tomato was picked today; a Gold Sun cherry tomato. All the winter vegetables are now cleared except some beets which will be harvested next week. The contessa onions are about ready also.
March 23, 2007
A busy day getting rid of most of the fall and winter vegetables and continuing to plant for the spring vegetable garden. The Derby green beans I planted in late February will be blooming a week or so. I sprouted the Florida Staystweet corn and planted the sprouts at the same time as the beans. The stand is good and the corn in now about 8 inches tall. For some reason some of the plants are very strong and a few are very weak. I have always observed this with corn but do not know why.
All of the original lettuce is bolting and now has added some needed green matter to the compost pile. The Red Sails lettuce I started indoors in February in now ready. The beets planted in November are ready for a final harvest. The ones I planted in December need another week or so. The arugula is about 4 feet tall and blooming. I pulled all but one plant, leaving it for the flowers. Likewise, for the bok choi. The bok choi was good, but I never got around to eating all of it. Greens and bok choi are a bit hard to give away. Most people either don’t like it or don’t know how to prepare it.
Planted some black eyed and purple hull peas; probably a little early, but I expect they will be fine. Also planted some Genovese Basil seed that we got at the Urban Harvest Gala.
Sugar snap peas have been outstanding. The plants are about 8 feet tall and covered with peas and white blooms. They are a must raise veggie for here. Plant around December 15. Tomatoes are blooming and the cherry varieties have some little tomatoes. The plants are a little leggy. Maybe I left the frost cloth on too long, or it may just be the nature of the plant. The Sweet Chelsea seem to be related the the bean stalk in Jack and the Bean Stalk.
