ZONES 8-9 FALL/WINTER 2010, PART II

WE CAME FROM HERE: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1110561/

Zone 8-9 veggie gardeners are gearing up for a whole new growing season! So, "What are you planning on growing this Fall/Winter?" Be as general or as specific as you'd like. Since we're learning from and with each other, we appreciate details, and we especially like PICTURES! So, make those lists, and check 'em twice! And post some pics that are really nice!

Qinx's Raised Bed - INTERLOCKING DESIGN/w Pre-Installed Hoop Pins
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1117901/

GARDENER'S SUPPLY KITCHEN GARDEN PLANNER - DESIGN TEMPLATE
http://www.gardeners.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-Gardeners...

WINTER SOWING DISCUSSION LINKS FROM THE BEGINNING http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1072154/

Kelly's ZONE 9A WATERING SCHEDULE
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=7919560

Jim41's ZONE 8A PVC DRIP IRRIGATION WATERING SYSTEM
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=7920004

Godspeed & Good Harvest!
Linda ^^


This message was edited Aug 17, 2010 8:35 AM

So, who's got anything to report?

Nothing to report, we're still out of town (cool MN, was 55 yesterday morning). We will start planting as soon as we get back. My chief garden helper said the beets and swiss chard have beet webworms on them now and spider mites are attacking the new tomatoes. Nothing is killing them. If it's not one bug, it's another!

I asked the extension agent about Spider Mites. He emailed back that they were found on stressed plants, last year the agent told me they were a universal pest in TX. Maybe its stressed gardeners! LOL I was out of town for 2 weeks and SMs killed my cucumber plants. Its amazing how quickly they can kill a plant.

I'm looking for a good broccoli and a red cabbage for the fall. Any suggestions?

This is a lovely purple cabbage I grew all winter and spring, and never ate it because it was as pretty as a rose! Dumb, huh?

And, I think this one might suit you.

DeCicco: This variety grows big center heads as well as lots of smaller side shoots. A late maturing type, it is both tasty and productive. It produces a good fall crop also. Seed packets hold 1.5 grams of seed, sufficient to plant a row of about 150 feet at the specified spacing. Plants will be ready to pick 90 days from when the seeds sprout.


This message was edited Aug 17, 2010 10:38 AM

I loved DiCicco! I harvested side shoots bigger than some of the heads on my Pacman broccoli!
My best broccoli was a different one though and I can't think of the name right now. I can look it up when I get home, can't remember if I got it from Territorial or High Mowing, but it took the heat, produced great heads right up into May yet still came thru the freeze in January without bolting. It was a hybrid.
For cabbage try Red Express and for cauliflower go with Cheddar or Cassius. They can take cold as well as heat. They (the cauliflower) finish in about 60-65 days from transplanting, about 70 days from direct seeding. Neither of these varieties made buttons after the freeze in January, the heads were full size. The plants are short. Cassius is not self blanching, Cheddar needs sun on the heads to be the bright orange. Both are delicious.

Calalily,
I know you're gonna direct seed, and I've seen your recommendations for getting them to germinate and keeping them alive. My problem is I have a day job, and trying to keep the seeds misted during the day just won't happen for me, so looks like I've got to go with trying to start seedlings and transplant.

Do the varieties above germinate quickly?

I don't think I've ever seen an orange cauliflower! Does it taste like a regular cauliflower?

Thanks Linda the other forum was getting quite long. Well my only update is I finally transplanted some of the purple Kohlrabi into their individual containers plus I started some more seeds, some Kale, Swiss Chard, some white kohlrabi. Will probably start another batch of broccoli and cabbage just in case my first one does not do well.

I just came from my organic store and decided to buy some of those Dandelion greens, they are pretty pricey but I really want to try them first and see if I like them and if I do maybe grow some in the future. I love going to the organic store and just see how much people are willing to pay for veggies, this give me ideas of what veggies are expensive and worth growing as well, I still have some artichoke seed that I need to plant, artichokes are one of the most expensive ones I have seen.

Oh by the way I started making my own sprouts as well, I am trying lentils, this is the second day and they already have roots on them, sprouts are so darn expensive in the stores that I thought I might try doing my own.

I have seen purple cauliflower and also green in selected stores but never orange how interesting!

The orange cauliflower was delicious, similar in flavor to the white but sweeter. Yes, they all germinated easily for me.
Gymgirl, we only water once per day in TX unless it's really hot plus high wind. You might try covering with newspaper or remay to retain moisture.

Thanks, Calalily! Now that I can do!

So glad ya'll are hanging with this thread, too. I've received so many comments on how helpful this discussion is to some who are just lurking and learning!

Carminator1, did anyone ever answer you about the dragonflies? They wont hurt you if you ignore them, to me they are clowns, they play at teasing the minnows, they feed on the smaller bugs like fruit gnats that swarm to sweet smells, too. I found one yesterday that had tangled in a spider web, and actually pulled free, but couldnt get off his back. He climbed on my pen and fell off,3 times, once on his back, so I pulled the spidersilks off his wings where he had them dangling, and took him to grass and released him. They really are quite comical

Dragonflies irritate me! I do like watching them, though, and we get quite a few of them in the garden all the time!

kittriana, actually ever since I saw them that day in my compost bin I have not seen quite as many anymore, there is always 3 or 4 lurking around in my garden but not as many as I saw that day, they really don't bug me but seeing so many lurking around the compost that day kind of frightened me a little bit. I don't mind a few bugs here and there but about a 100 of them can really get you.

On another note, the dandelion greens I bought to try are the same as the ones that grow wild as weeds, according to my DH I just paid $ for weeds, LOL. For some reason I really thought that the dandelion that they sold at the market were a different brand.

Dragonflies eat mosquitoes and are always welcome in my garden. We get them by the hundreds along with damselflies.

I will be trucking in some additional compost from a farm in Scottsdale this weekend to add to my limited supply and will be getting the beds ready to plant for fall! I'm so ready for cooler temps!

I grew a purple cauliflower last year - will have to look up the name. It was excellent! My favorite OP broccoli is DiCicco! Very productive and nice sideshoots too. Favorite hybrid? Early Dividend by a long shot - the most excellent producer for me. Newer hybrids are coming to market and the seeds are getting harder to find. I bought some from Veseys earlier in the year when they had them on their "clearance" sale, which means they probably won't be carrying them any longer. I also grew a decent red caggage - I want to say it was called Red Acre but don't quote me on that. It's past my bedtime - lol...

C - dandelions grow all over Maine where I grew up. I remember grumbling about them as I would just get our very large lawns mowed as a kid and those suckers would be up the next day - lol. Never knew they were edible back then though I'm sure my parents did. Hmmmmmm... Wonder if I ever unknowingly ate me some dandelions?

Cala that is what I read when I did a search on the computer to find out more about them, I guess at the moment of the incident I did not know that, who knows maybe there were tons of mosquitoes that day around my compost bins, I hate mosquitoes, we either get hot and humid mornings here and then as soon as the temps get a little nicer around 7 p.m then the mosquitoes are out bugging you while in the garden, I end up with tons of mosquito bites all over. By the way I was looking at the P and Allen gardening show this past weekend he recommends growing citronella also called sweet geranium I think in your garden and rubbing the leaves in your skin to protect you from mosquitoes, have any of you done this? Boy if it works I better get myself some seeds or plants.

Kelly I will be growing the ED broccoli this year and hope for bigger heads of broccoli, I will also be growing the purple sprouting broccoli as well, I have never tried cauliflower before but those colored ones look pretty interesting.

stephanietx.......Try Pac Man broccoli..........I have grown it very successfully for several years. Pac Man is very prolific, and produces very large heads. I am also trying broccolini for the first time this year. I planted my tomato plants on July 20th........I planted C.P., Sungold, Black Krim, Big Beef, and Sweet 100........My Sungold is loaded w/ maters, and the other plants are doing quite well despite the 100 deg. temps. This weekend I started my broccoli seeds, broccolini seeds, cucumber seeds, and squash seeds.......all in 4" potts.......Most of my raised beds are ready for fall planting. I am still getting cucumbers, and cantaloupe from the spring planting. The picture is of my CP, and you can also see a small cantaloupe in the upper right

hornstrider ~ what is CP? Thanks!

Looks like everyone is RAMPING UP!

"Buckle your seatbelts boys." "It's gonna be a bumpy ride!"

Line made famous by a gardener racing back from the seed store on the back of an old pickup truck loaded with compost and mulch for the raised beds. Not to be confused with a famous line by a cigarette-smoking, sultry-toned screen vixen...

I just remembered, the broccoli I absolutely loved was Belstar. Belstar made huge heads with small, tight beads and lots of really large side shoots. It also handled the cold we had in January as well as the heat later in the spring.

Last year I tried so many different broccoli varieties: Pac Man (beads too large but good flavor and large heads but bolts easily), Green Magic (nice heads, not as large as I like, side shoots are tiny), Calabrese (this was an accident, what a waste of space), Early Dividend (was okay), Belstar (my favorite), DiCicco (loved this one too and it has very short finish time plus nice side shoots, almost as good as Belstar), Gypsy (terrible, but it was already getting hot when I planted this one), Southern Comet (good for one time harvest, side shoots are tiny), Veronica (needs cool weather, cannot handle any heat), Violet Queen (sort of a cauliflower, sort of broccoli cannot take any heat).
This year I'm trying Marrathon from Johnny's.

Great info Calalily. Thanks for the first-hand report!

This message was edited Aug 18, 2010 9:54 AM

I am starting seeds this weekend thanks to Gymgirl! Cabbages, broccoli, quinoa and several other things.

Melissa,
I'm just happy to know someone else besides me is starting seeds, period! Are you keeping them inside or outside after they germinate?

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!^^_^^^^_^^ (Me and Melissa doing the seed sowing dance!)

I plan on getting my seeds ordered this week. I might take a trip down to the big feed store and see what they have left, too. I might be able to find some of these seeds. Of course, I might just try to sow the broccoli seeds I collected in the spring, too. Definitely need cauliflower, though.

After getting them in too late last year and not getting anything out of 'em, I'm erring on the side of caution this year. You make a lot of sense. I will probably keep them inside for a little while. I don't have lights, so they'd be better off outside in a semi-shady spot. Plus, the spot where I sprout them is Pixel's favorite place to sleep, so she will be happier if I move them quickly.

sapphire do you have a sunny window anywhere in your house? my mother in law starts them in her sunny window in the kitchen and so far she has been successful every time, she even sprouted some strawberry seeds I gave her and those are very hard to sprout.

She's got good sun...better'n mine...

Oh yeah, I have a great sunny window to start them, but that is also Pixel the cat's favorite sleeping spot. And she's pretty sassy when it comes to her spot.

LOL! I know that situation! If you do put the planters there, she'd probably knock them off to get to "her" spot!

evelyn..........CP=Cherokee Purple.....I had some success with them last fall............mucho success w/ CP this past spring!!

Hi. Quick question on potatoes. I know there's a huge thread on it in Vegetable Gardening but I didn't find the info I was looking for and I'd rather ask you guys that live in my neighborhood, so to speak.

Anyway, I bought organic potatoes based on someone's suggestion here (carminator, I think?) and I now have some shoots starting on them. I'd like to plant them in two "faux" whiskey barrel type tubs. How many plants would be appropriate for containers of that size?

Thanks.

How big are the containers? How many pieces do you estimate you'll get out of your potatoes once you cut them for planting?

LiseP,
I planted in washing machine tubs, and will be again. I erred on the side of "caution" and only planted 4 pieces in each tub. Well, mine grew wonderfully well (probably the great drainage...), except I didn't get a huge harvest.

This time, I'm planting 2x (maybe even 3x) as many pieces, and I'm staggering the layers. Read my plan in this post.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=8031300

Lise, I planted my potatoes in a barrel as well, and just like Linda I only placed about 4 pieces on the tub and it did O.K but not a huge harvest either. I will be trying planting them in layers this time as well and see if I get better results this time. For some reason I got much better results on my smartpot but it could very well be because the drainage was just better.

Wow, you guys are quick! Thanks!

Stephanie, I just picked out two small potatoes and stuck them on the window sill, for a total of three sprouting eyes so far. I was thinking initially that the tubs would just have one plant apiece in them, or possibly two -- but I do have more organic potatoes I could stick on the sill, if there will be room to grow them.

The tubs are the same size as those standard half whiskey barrels you see on sale everywhere for about $25, but these are made of man-made material so they are lighter. I just looked at my washing machine for comparison, lol, and I would say that my garden tubs are the same circumference as washing machine tubs but only about half as deep. I did put several drainage holes in them already. I need to pick up planting material though. I used everything I had for my new garden box, so all I have on hand now is a little mulch material and a little half-finished compost.

Thanks, Linda, for the pointer to your tiered planting plan. Sounds interesting! I'll probably need to stick to one layer though.

Oops, missed your post while I was typing mine, carminator1. So I guess I could put my already started sprouts in the bottom layer (2 in one tub, and 1 in the other), and then add a couple more as a second layer as I get them.

I tried growing potatoes once before in a standard garden bed, but around here, that means a couple inches of topsoil/clay over a rock ledge. They rotted in no time. I'm hoping putting them in tubs with good drainage will help!

Thanks for the tips.

So you'll have at least 3 pieces, if you don't start more. They can all go in 1 tub. You can probably plant 9-12 in one tub.

Yep.