October 22, 2009
Well almost fully planted. I planted pak choi (will be interested to see how it differs for bok choi which I also planted), turnips, beets, carrots and green beans directly in the garden. I started mustard greens, collard greens, some bok choi, fennell, lettuce, arugula, and chervil under the grow light. All of these have now been transplanted to the garden during these cloudy days and with a forecast of cooler temperatures. Sugar snaps will be planted in mid December as will onions and leeks.
I am trying a few new varieties: Yellowstone carrots (I could not find kimbi for a yellow carrot), Red Ace beets and Contender green beans. I will plant some more lettuce in a couple of weeks and save a lot of room for Contessa onions and leeks.
January 5, 2009
Seems rather a cold day to be thinking of tomatoes for the Houston spring vegetable garden, but it is time to start the seed indoors. In posts from last year I described the method so I won’t repeat. This year I planted 2 of my remaining Merced seed. Merced is (or was) a great tomato for here but no one sells the seed any more. I also planted Sweet Chelsea, Floramerica, Celebrity and Homestead. I have not tried Floramerica before but it is recommended for the area. I gave up on Champion after last year. It is recommended here by various experts but I have never had good luck with it. Homestead is an old variety that we raised commercially when I was a kid so it has been around for a while. I have not planted it in many years–will be interesting. I normally plant Sun Gold, but found that I had run out of seed.
The seed will probably come up in 3 or 4 days and be ready to transplant to 4″ pots in a couple of weeks. I will then put them in gallon pots before ultimately planting them in the garden in mid February. In the old days on the farm we started the seed in “hot beds” and transplanted to “cold frames” before finally planting them in the field. We raised about an acre. It was hard manual labor but at least the work was in a pleasant time of the year. The market collapsed in the early 1950s when mechanized planting in the Rio Grande Valley started.
I also threw is a few lettuce seed to get a late crop. The lettuce planted in October is now in full production. The mustard greens are about finished, but it has been a great crop. I really like the Osaka purple; beautiful plant and a nice milder flavor. I will let it flower out and save the seed, but I am not sure if the seeds will come back true or not. The collards planted later are now producing well–may be sick of greens by the time the winter is over. Parsley and cilantro are everywhere from reseeding. Next year I will try to find some chervil seed. Chervil is from the same family and has a mild licorice flavor.
I planted my remained turnip seed to get a second crop. The Royal Crown turnip seems to be an improvement over the regular purple top. The turnips stayed sweet even when they got quite large.
December 14, 2008
Sugar snaps are one of the highest reward vegatables for the Houston vegetable garden. I planted them yesterday, a little earlier than the recommended date of between Christmas and New Years. I prefer to get them started a little sooner before really cold weather typically comes. Some people plant them as early as Thanksgiving, but you must wait until the chances of weather in the 80s are low. A fence of at least 6 feet is needed.
Other vegetables are coming along fine. We have more greens and turnips than we can eat. I have really been pleased with the Osaka purple mustard greens. They have done well, are beautiful in the garden and have a very nice flavor–somewhat milder than traditional mustard greens. The Derby beans gave one last burst and I will have enough for 2 people for one more dinner. They were burned a little by the frost last week. After this picking they will be heading for the compost pile. Lettuce is being harvested by clipping off leaves. The bok choi is ready as “baby bok choi”. Beets are doing well but it will be a while yet. Cilantro and parsley are coming up everywhere and they have to been thinned for control.
I have been putting last year leaf compost around the vegetables. The plants are big enough now and I need to make room for this year’s leaves.
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.
October 25, 2007
I did find the carrot and other seed at Urban Harvest; still quite an inventory left. The beets planted were Chiogga, a beet most would not recognize as a beet. It is yellow with concentric red bands when sliced. It is supersweet compared to the traditional red beets like Detroit Dark Red. Beets are interesting in that each seed is really a number of seed. Thus you might get 5 or 6 plants from seed. Young beet plants are rather spindly and do not transplant very well. As a result I usually just thin them.
Carrots are planted by broadcasting and then covering lightly with sifted compost or potting soil. I also planted some kohlrabi the same way. I do not normally raise it, but each year I plant something different. This year it was kohlrabi. We usually eat it raw or put it in salads something like jicama. If you stopped 10 people on the streets of Houston I doubt that more than one would have ever heard of kohlrabi. The one that would know likely would be of local Czech ancestry. It was a favorite vegetable of the Czechs I grew up with in central Texas. I planted Kinbi and Touchon carrorts. Kinbi are a pale yellow and quite sweet. Touchon are more traditional looking carrots and a type of the well known Nantes carrot.
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.
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.
December 17, 2006
The Contessa onions sets I ordered from Dixondale Farms ( see links) arrived yesterday and planted in garden today. The date recommended by Dixondale for planting onions in Houston vegetable gardening is about a week earlier than this, but I was a little late in ordering. Should be fine though. A bunch of 60 plants cost about $10 including shipping. Incremental bunches are much cheaper. See a previous post of these great, sweet onions. Give them plenty of fertilizer ideally below the root line. They should mature in April-May.
December 7, 2006
The first of the winter vegetables are coming in. Today will be the second batch of mustard greens. I planted Florida Broadleaf, a variety with huge flat leaves and Southern Giant, a variety with curly leaves. I much prefer the FB. It produces better and has a milder mustard flavor. The Southern Giant is a bit strong for my taste without being mixed with other greens such as collards (which I find a little bland on their own).
Chioggia beets and Packman broccoli will be picked this week. Some of the beets matured much more quickly than others. Some of the laggards are ones I transplanted, but not all are. The greens on the beets look wonderful.
Lettuce of various vintages are ready. The Winter Density I started indoors in September is fully mature, although cut worms and grub worms got a lot of it. The other varieties are large enough for leaf picking or basal clipping. The mizuna mustard matured quickly and is ready to add a little zest to the salads. Arugula is also ready.
I picked a mess of turnips but found they were infested with sucking bugs, mealy bugs or something of that kind. I sprayed them with insecticidal soap and killed the bugs, but a lot of damage was done because I did not notice them soon enough.