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.
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.
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.
The peas produced a surprise second crop aided by cooler than average conditions in August. However, they are now spent and have been removed.
Beans were planted over Labor Day weekend.
Okra continues to produce and should last into October.
Corn (Butterfruit bi-color) is about knee high and doing well.
The corn harvest is just about complete. Unfortunately, I was on my way to Montana by the time the Butterfruit Bi-Color ripened. I stole an early ear, but I basically just wasted it because the kernels were so small. The first harvest of Silver Queen was excellent. About half of the ears had silk worm damage, but it really did not make any difference, although my granddaughter was somewhat repulsed. I like Silver Queen for its “corny” flavor. When I was a kid we just ate the field corn as roasting ears. When picked early it is delicious. The super sweet varieties are almost too sweet and not starchy enough for my taste. I have also had good luck with Sweet G-90 and Florida Staysweet. I have had bad experience with super sweets touted by seed catelogues. They are probably great for Michigan and New Jersey, but do not do well here.
My daughter liked the Butterfruit Bi-Color better than Silver Queen. I suppose it is sweeter. I planted the Silver Queen around March 1. Some of the seed were planted directly and some were sprouted indoors. I could not see much difference between the two. On the butterfruit I sprouted all the seed indoors and planted it in late March. Supposedly, the super sweet varieties need to be planted later because they require warmer temperatures for germination. Next year I will try planting the Butterfruit Bi-Color earlier. Of the sprouted seeds, the ones I planted early, before any green was showing seemed to do better. Some of the later sprouts did not survive, maybe because of something I did; I don’t know. I will write something on sprouting seed later. It is one of Bob Randall’s favorite techniques.
When the corn is almost ready, I plant cream and purple hull peas in with the corn. Peas add nitrogen to the soil; corn is a real nitrogen hog. When I was a kid my father often planted them together or alternated rows. I plant them in sequence. Peas are an excellent cover crop for the summer. I also love to eat them. Peas have always been my daughter’s favorite vegetable. We always cook them with snaps; that is, young pea pods cooked like green beans. It’s too bad that people no longer seem to have time to shell peas. As a kid we sat on the front porch and shelled peas for canning and freezing with my grandparents and grand uncle and aunt. I heard a lot of stories sitting on the porch shelling peas.