Planning for Spring, 2013

I'm hoping that I can grow OK-tasting micro-greens or baby leaves with very-cross-polinated seeds.

Lots of what I grow is Brassica rapa, and they cross-pollinate very freely. My plan for sprin g 2013 is to let 1 vareity bolt (or two closely-related varieties at most) , but pull anything else that bolts ASAP. That way it will only be moderately cross-polinated.

For example, several similar OP white-stem Bok Choy that cross "ought" to give fairly consistant seeds. At worst they will germinate at different rates and I'll harvest some micro and some baby leaves.

On the other hand, two F1 Chinese cabbage varieties (or even just one!) might be all over the map in the F2 generation. Depending on what bolts when, and how long the seed takes to mature, I may find out this year.

Have any of you tried that Purple Mountain Spinach? I am trying this year. It's not spinach but related to spinach. I have no idea what it taste like but it's suppose to have lots of vitamins and great for salads , smoothies, and stir frys and its suppose to be an heirloom that tolerates mild drought and a little more sun.




This message was edited Jan 12, 2013 10:52 PM

I wouldn't call it related to spinach. They are both Chenopodiaceae (Goosefoot family), but otherwise totally dissimilar. Atriplex hortensis is more like amaranth leaves, IMO, which isn't surprising because Chenopodiaceae is a subfamily of Amaranthaceae. It is really a cool season crop; it just tolerates heat better than spinach. I haven't tried it in the summer in North Alabama; you may want to stick it in a spot that gets some shade.

OK, here's my "Compact 2-Tier Sunlite Garden." Sorry about the rotation of the photos! I have everything "at the ready" and best of all, my dear husband has agreed to expand our vegetable garden! I must also thank the beautiful Blue Spruce we lost earlier this Winter, for succumbing to the two very bad storms...

Very nice!

Everything, EXCEPT THE ONIONS, was shriveled back by the light blanket of frost in my yard, this morning.

But, I was already considering when to start taking down the cauliflowers and broccoli plants (and, start some new), and the beets and turnips weren't doing exactly great anyways, so, the decision has been made for me...

I think the carrots are ok, although they shrank a bit, too...

My tomatoes under lights have taken off, and are too tall for the 4" pots anymore. They are also telling me that they are about to be ready to EAT!

The stems are long (but not leggy), so, looks like I'm gonna have to pot them deep into the tall drinking water bottles from this weekend until hardening off on February 9th.

That's only 4 more weeks before plant out on February 16th.

I'm actually ON SCHEDULE for a change! Life does get better!

P.S. I've decided that, NEXT fall, I really need to watch the temperature predictions more, and not plant the brassicas when it's still too warm.

I need to wait until the end of September to start these seedlings, and transplant out beginning late October or early November. When the weather is too warm here, those plants just don't thrive, and, the up and down warm/cold just stresses them out.

So, the adjustment will be to start the seedlings later, and have more transplants growing inside for transplanting out in the late fall/early winter, when it's already cold. I can always transplant them out under my covered hoops until they take. The ambient air temperature should be the steady cool/cold that they truly need. Hardly any of my cabbages have made tight heads, cause it's just been too warm for them.

Linda

Gee, I thought that my life-long dream of starting my seeds in a special lighting/indoor situation was so extravagant, but you all amaze me! What with the special seed-starting mixes that aren't adequate enough and need fortification, to the actual starting of seeds (while I patiently watch the Calendar), to the use of household appliances...wow. I stand totally in awe of you! I am totally left behind...
Congratulations, all of you green-thumb geniuses! May your 2013 gardens grow with great gusto.

Join in, Gracye- it is so much fun! And we all learn a lot from each other.

Gracye, everything I've learned about veggie gardening I have learned here at Dave's. It's amazing how resourceful folks are!

Necessity is the mother of all schemes- and the guys who search these pages for stuff to invent for us to help our gardens grow have our knees, backs, and urgings

My daughter posted this on fb and I just had to share. How cute, esp. if you have kids. Even if you don't. I'b grown green beans on teepees like this.

Sea-Absolutely fantastic! The greenness from summer sun makes the photo even nicer! Thank you for sharing with us. How I look forward to seeing Spring! And thank ALL OF YOU for giving me so much to think about - my farmer-father would have been proud that his daughter is learning and doing what he loved so much.

We used to have bean teepees when our kids were small; they loved them!

Grayce,

If you have some shop lights and empty plastic tubs, buy some seed-starting mix and you're in business!
Seed-starting is easy and the few pitfalls are easily experienced and overcome.

Line some cut-down cardboard boxes with big plastic bags to catch run-off water.
Some Miracle-Gro soluble fertilizer if you're holding seedlings more than a few weeks.

I think "expertise" is just another name for having drowned a few trays of seedlings, and let another few trays languish by starting them too soon and not planting them out or potting them up quick enough.

If you pick easy seeds and avoid damping off, you can be an instant expert your first year.
If you have a cat and can find some oats or winter wheat, you can treat your cat o cat grass in mid-winter.

I am rethinking cauliflower, guessing it's too late to plant from seed at this point. Will try to follow your advice for fall cauliflowers, Linda. Ditto broccoli, I guess!

Lise,
My broccs and cauliflowers take a good 8 weeks from seeds to be ready to go out into the cold as sizeable plants. I read somewhere that brassicas need to be a good size transplant to ensure they'll do well after transplanting into that weather. Mine go out with at least 6-8 true leaves.

I was toying with starting some more seedlings, but, I really don't think we'll have enough cool/cold ahead of us. My cabbages didn't even head properly 'cause it's been so warm.

The aphids are already bad, and the stinkbugs are right around the corner...

Thanks for your input, Linda. Will nix the brassicas for now -- got plenty of other things to plant, anyway. I do have a couple broccoli plants that have been out there since fall, but they got shaded out by the tomatoes and are just now starting to look healthy once I finally tore down those darned late tomatoes, lol.

Back in December we had several days in a row when the temperature stayed in the 20 degrees to 30 degrees range and it killed 3/4 of my broccoli. In past years I’ve never had cold temps kill broccoli or any other cole crop. Maybe it was the new variety I tried from North Haven Gardens. This year I’m avoiding buying any transplants from nurseries by starting all of my vegetables and annuals from seeds.

hrp50,
I am so sorry to hear about your broccoli.
I did cover my vegetable garden before the Christmas snow. I was lucky that I arrived home just the day before that.
I didn't lose anything ... even the tender lettuce survived.
My broccoli plants were a pretty good size. I did started them in August and transplanted outside early September.
Maybe older the plants are, they have a better change to survive the cold ... huummm

Now I am curious. How long were your plants in the ground?

This year I discover that if I start lettuce from seeds in August (yes during those hots days)... the lettuce plants are though enough to go all trough the winter. In fact I am still harvesting lettuce from those August plants ...
The trick is to get them established before the cold arrive ...

LiseP,
I have observed that my brassicas grow best in a spot that gets some bright sunshine (but not full-hot sun), and some cool shade. My best world is bright light and cool shade...

I have them in a bed running east/west on the north side of my yard. It's relatively bright from morning sun until around noon, then the sun is just about overhead and setting on them for a couple hours. Then, around 6 p.m., they're back in the shade. Heat is NOT their friend...

drthor,
Yes! "The trick is to get them established before the cold arrives..."

That's the same principle I apply to my brassicas seedlings. Once they have at least 6-8 true leaves (sometimes my seedlings are almost 8-10" tall at transplant), they go out and can get established before the cold.

Broccoli and Cauliflower timeline:
8/6/12 Sowed seeds
9/3/12 Potted up some that were ready to be potted up
9/17/17 Hardening off some
10/7/12 Transplanted 17 cauliflowers out -RB #3
10/13/12 Transplanted 11 broccoli out -RB #3;
10/13/12 Transplanted 7 green magic broccs & 6 caulis out -RB #2
12/03/12 Broccoli and Cauliflowers making buttons at 120 days from sowing

I direct sowed some broc in the late summer and harvested a bunch of it today. This is NOT one head! This is lots of side shoots and a couple of small heads.

I finally got around to installing some trellises for the blackberry plants that went in last spring. I'm so looking forward to some delicious blackberries, if only a handful this year.

Also, planted where 3 new raised beds are going in. One will be devoted to sweet potatoes and another to peppers.

Jo-Ann

What will you do with your blackberries? I still have bags of them in my freezer from last year!

COBBLER!!!

I tried earlier to post. ah well. There is a freezer shelf life for blackberries, i dont remember how long it is - how about a 'bake sale?' Girl Scout Cookies aren' t too far away now- and you still have a ways before fresh ones happen...The strawberries looked so RED at Oxnard, Calif this week, I know those aren't far from groc store shelves now.

Gymgirl,
Yes to blackberry cobbler!

I was at North Havens Gardens Nursery in Dallas on Thursday and they finally got in the "Apache" variety of thornless black berry that I have been asking them for, along with others. I'm going back today to purchase one Apache and one Ouachita to go with my other three blackberry bushes (Arapaho, Navaho & Natchez). Blackberries are real easy to grow in this part of Texas and they produce a lot of berries. But as I have mentioned before, it drives me nuts having to share my berries with our neighborhood Mockingbirds. I'm still toying with the idea of adopting a rescue cat but she/he would have to be a good hunter and would remain outside because of my indoor dog and two rabbits, which my son lets run around on the floor of his bed room.

Oops, I'm probably posting this on the wrong thread of the wrong forum, so excuse me. I blame it on jomoncon.

A bunch of Girl Scouts were selling cookies today when I was out running errands, kittriana. They're baaaack.

hrp50 - A roll of shade cloth to keep the birds off your berries is a lot cheaper than a cat in the long run. I haven't been very pleased with my Ouachita although they *are* in a tough spot. I may replace them with Arapaho since those were just an all-around great bush for me at my old place.

Cookies have been on sale here for about 3 weeks.

Little blackberry cobblers, gs shortbread cookies and ice cream. yummmmm

I'm not sure I ever found a cobbler recipe that I like, but I discovered that if I use a single frozen pie shell and fill it with my usual berry pie mixture, bake it, cool it, and cover it with crème fraîche or a mixture of sour cream and cream cheese with some sugar, it makes a wonderful dessert. I decided I like it better than a two-crust berry pie.

I'n not sure I ever looked at a recipe for cobblers! The pie crusts in the fruits were definitely important tho as far as flavors. And even tho I can' t have dairy foods without pain now tho, (no ice creams, sweet creams nor cream cheeses) it doesnt stop the memories! Sigh. yummmm. Cakes go good with berry drizzles too.

just really hard to beat just eating the Blackberries out of hand

Definitely "Yes" to warm blackberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream on top. With all of this talk
about cobbler, I may have to visit the grocery store to buy some blackberries and bake a cobbler
'cause I don't believe I can make it to June when my berries will be ripe.

Just eat them plain. Ohhh so good.

Our blackberries never make it in the back door! We munch on them while working in the garden.

hrp50
I have grown those NHG thornless blackberries since I have my black yard. They are delish.
Watch out !
They suckers a lot !! even 6' away form the original plants.
I did like them at the beginning, so I could have a lot of free plants ... now the suckers are trying to get into my veggie beds .. aaahhh

I'm cleaning out the beds right now, cutting broc and Cauliflower stems at the soil line, and harvesting some of the tender leaves for soup.

What're yall doing with the stems and trash leaves? Last year, I threw it all into the compost garbage cans, but it made an awful stink.

Lemme know soon, cause I have a huge garbage bag of mostly leaves. Some are cabbage leaves full of aphids....

Anything with bugs goes to the curb in the yard bag for the city to pick up on trash day. Thick stems and such also go to the curb because they take longer to break down and I don't have the patience for that.