SPRING GARDENS thread!

Hey, Terri,
I have a bunch of 2x2s, and 1x2s that I'm going to make a trellis with for the Kentucky Wonder and Asian Yard Long Beans.

Just a simple frame like the one in this video. He ripped cedar fence pickets. I have some lying around (FREE), and can get more, so I may use those instead of the 2xs. Mine are less than perfect pickets, though, so I'd have to piece them together. Still, the nails would hold the sections together. I might need to get creative...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdPEHhxQGM0&list=PLCxrB0SIHkCW1FxEAzxpcdwiUJEkGNXbS&index=21

I hope to finish my hanging strawberry garden project. I seem to have pinched a nerve in my lower back so we will see. I can't plant any seedlings out yet. I have a few sprouts in my lettuce beds. They are covered with plastic.

Eggplants,peppers, melons, watermelons and cucumbers have been transplanted successfully outside.
Peppers, cucumbers and melons already have flowers.

My squash/zucchini this year have a place in my better vegetable garden and they will be growing under the Agribon cover (95% light going through) until they will be too big to fit.
I hope to win the fight with the SVB like I did last year with this method.

My tomato plants are growing fantastic and they are rewarding me for taking care of them during the very very cold months.
They survived the 15F degrees weather and now they have a stem that is 1" thick and all of them have flowers and now I start to see the first green tomatoes (so exciting).
So far these are the varieties that have fruit: Super Sweet 100, Gold Nugget, Sweet Millions, Nineven, Peacevine Cherry

Onions are growing really well, and garlic is huge this year !
I am constant harvesting lettuce, green onions and cardoon (which I love so much)

We had a hard freeze the other night, 24F plus it tends to be lower at my house than the official temp. I covered the lettuce but ran out of rowcover 80% through the peas. Hydrangeas that had died back to the ground this winter got a pile of leaves over the crown where new shoots were coming up.

Everything came through swimmingly except the hydragea farthest from the house, and I don't think it's terminal. Some shoots were mush but some looked okay.

It was so warm last night, my seedlings stayed outside. After a cold front passes Sunday night, we'll have some warm days and hopefully one of two pea blooms!

That looks great. You are way ahead of me.

Nicole, this crazy weather has to stop at some point...doesn't it? On Tuesday AM when to I my son to school it wax 33* at my place, 46* in town, and when I got back to the house it was 34*. That's a big difference for only 5 miles and it is making me crazy.

Lisa, that big difference between temps at your house and town is a big part of the reason your tomatoes produce all summer. You just have to pay the price during spring.

Boy howdy, do the plants like being outside on a rainy night. I think the tomatoes and peppers grew at least an inch last night!

David, I know realize that is why my veggies produce all summer. That extreme difference is only at night. During the day it gets just as warm...at least during the summer. So glad your surgery went well.

Gymgirl, I use this trellising system for my pole beans and cuqs. Works real well and is easy for me to set up and remove by myself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBeQT6kVR_w
The system you have picked our looks really good, too!

Also, I use the T-PUPS trellis system for my blackberries, etc. Once again, easy for me to set up by myself and I love to prune so this system is right up my alley.

Lots of wind and more wind over the weekend, but was able to get to most of what I wanted done. So sunny and up into the high 70's! My garden is actually starting to look like a garden. I told myself I wasn't going to do it...but I found some Dixondale onion starts for 4 bundles for a $1.00 at one of the local nurseries. So I bought some and planted out and fertilized. I know I won't get as big of onions from them but we'll see what happens. They already had two or three leaves on most of them. Mid-sized onions would be fine.

My garlic, on the other hand is looking real fine as well as all of the mustard and other greens and the radishes are really coming on.

My blueberry bushes which were damaged by the winter storm and all showing leaf buds and or baby leaves. With the new bushes I just received from Berries Unlimited I know have a 100' row of blueberry bushes and the drip irrigation and mulch will go in next weekend or maybe even this week if the weather holds. Also will be working on planting out the final bunch of roses and cannas this week.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Love the bean support video. Thanks so much.
The wind is blowing like crazy and my seedling are dancing out there.
The strawberries are in bloom, I am harvesting zucchini flowers for my salads (only the male ones).
Tomatoes are making more green fruits, the one in the picture #4 is Corinto, which is one of my best performer .. even if the seeds are expensive (it is a parthenocarpic variety) ... but first to produce and tons of cucumbers.
Garlic is starting to make flowers, so I removed them.
Sooo windy ....

Your garlic is already putting up flower stalks? Holy cow. I never harvest my garlic before May, and it is usually mid-to-late May. Are your leaves beginning to yellow too?

Ken

Some of my garlic is really thick.
Maybe just a few brown leaves ...
I also found some buds on the onions ...

That may be due to temperature fluctuations. Do you have your garlic and onions in hoops or out in the open?

My garlic was planted in early November, and it has been out in the open ever since. My onions were only planted three weeks ago, so it is not anywhere near the size of my garlic tops.

I too have some lower leaf browning, but I think it may be due more to our severely cold winter than anything else. I have no stalks/flowers though.

Ken

My garlic is out in the open, too. Some of it was killed back to the ground from the storm, but is now coming back. The rest is very green and has more leaves coming on. I think this may be due to the composted goat bedding rototilled into that bed in the fall. No flower stalks, I pulled the frost-bit leaves off so the new green leaves could take over.

One garlic related question....Is the number of leaves on garlic related to the size and number of cloves as with the number leaves on onions related to the size of the onion?

drthor, your tomatoes do look good.

My garlic was planted mid October.
My onions and garlic have been outside all winter ... or shall I say "that crazy winter".
I followed the suggestion of a guy at the community garden to plant by onions in December, so I did.
Dixondale sent me their sets on the first date available on December 9th ... and I planted them.
Well ... my onions did seat there all December and January, under the ice and cold ... and I thought I did make a mistake ... but now they are growing so good ... maybe he was right, but it is too early yet.

Thanks terri_emory
I still have the little blisters on my hands from covering those tomatoes ... with 6 layers ... but 95% of them survived.
I cannot wait to taste some of the new varieties.
So far I am very impressed with 2 new varieties that Baker Creek recommended for hot weather (remember there was an article on their page regarding some new varieties from Iraq that could stand very high temperatures) ...
http://www.rareseeds.com/abu-rawan-tomato/?F_Keyword=abu
http://www.rareseeds.com/nineveh-tomato/

Growing from seeds I noticed how thick these two plants were.
When I was transplanting out Abu-Rawan, I did SNAP its stem (trying to trench it) ... Then I did tape around the wound and this plant is alive and strong and yes it survived the 15F degrees weather and now they have both green tomatoes.
They look short and thick ... I truly hope they are good ones.
My favorite tomato to grow is Gold Nugget because it is short (3'), compact and my best producer ...
I will keep you posted on these two varieties.

drthor, I also plant out some onions in October and others on New Years' Day. They've always worked out before. Just this year I lost some to the winter storm (garden was under several inches of solid ice plus snow on top of that--I think the ice is what did it) so I re-planted just to see what will happen--and, of course, who could pass up four bundles of Dixondale onion sets for a $1! This summer I am going to try growing my own onion sets from seed. I've already bough the seeds. I think the only thing I will change is to top dress the onion sets with composted goat bedding come December or January. When I lived up north I always top dressed my onions and garlic with straw on Thanksgiving day and that carried them over into spring. I just didn't think I would need to do that down here in Texas. But I will still plant out the sets as I have been in October and on New Years' Day.

Yes, drthor. Always nice to hear how new varieties turn out!

You know, I have never read, heard, or have personal knowledge about the number of garlic leaves related to the bulb cloves. Perhaps someone will have an answer.

Ken

Dthdor, is the Golden Nugget OP?

Gold Nugget is an F1 bred by Dr. Jim Baggett at Oregon State University.
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-7930-gold-nugget-og.aspx

This tomato is a must have every year in my garden. This year I have 4 plants and they all survived the cold weather and they all have fruits now.

Composed a message earlier that seems to have disappeared in posting. I found several sources, including Totally Tomatoes, Tomatofest, and others that show Gold Nugget as open pollinated. Plant Files here on DG lists it as OP. I did find a few places that list Gold Nugget as F1 or hybrid, though. I think you would be safe saving seeds and growing.

David R

http://www.restorationseeds.com/products/gold-nugget-tomato shows Gold Nugget and they claim 100% OP seeds only.

That will be great.
Let me know if I could save the seeds ...

I really like growing things I can save seed from.

This is my garden as of 4-2-2014. It's just starting to take off.

Oops.

Timgreene, looking very nice. What do you have in the 5 gal buckets?

Those look great!

Five gallon buckets currently have lettuce and parsley, and one Big Boy tomato. Those are Brussels Sprouts in the center.

This message was edited Apr 4, 2014 4:40 AM

Timgreene,
Which side of Houston are you growing on? I live in the SE, near Hobby Airport.

Love the white picket fence!

Hi Gymgirl, I am right inside 610 near Reliant Center. I posted my fall garden, last year. I am terrible at staggering my planting, I clear it out, over plant then watch it develop.
I appreciate the comments on my fence. The fence is to keep my dogs out of the garden. Everyone loves that fence.

This message was edited Apr 4, 2014 11:36 AM

all this talk from u all down south..rub it in..LOL :)
up here in the frozen tundra..not quite..:)
ive been picking lettuce for a couple weeks now..yea!!!!!
my raddichio is doing great.. swiss chard,and beets are just poppin
up.. YEA !!
tomato seedlings are starting 3rd true leaves now.. ive put them outside last few days..
during the day.. free light!! :) theyre lookin good
still to early for me to start winter squash seed..but next couple weeks..
sigh.. finally.. spring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tropicalnut, it was 37* at my house yesterday morning. In town it was 46 *, that's only 5 miles away. Even tho I'm "down south" it's still pretty cool. It will be warm until this weekend then it supposed to be 60's and 40's, again. I did sow some seeds but the soil may not be warm enough for them to germinate. We shall see.

We've got something similar here. Awesome weather, then chilly. Awesome weather now... then 40F forecast in a few days. My plants badly need out of their pots and into the garden!