Garden Notes -- February 28, 2019

The Spring 2019 garden has commenced! Yesterday I planted the Swiss Chard:

1. Magenta Sunset - FB Seed Group
2. Orange - Seedsnow.com
3. Rhubarb - Burpee Seed Co.
4. Sea Foam - Pinetree Seeds

 and the celery:

1. Red Venture - Trade Winds Fruit
2. Peppermint Stick - Pinetree Seeds
3. Kintsai Chinese - FB Garden Group
4. Pink Plume - Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

Today I planted out the Scarlette F1 Chinese cabbage that I started in the greenhouse - I couldn't believe that I got 12 plants to survive! 

So, it's a start.  I'm going to try to put in a few things every day (with a few days off this coming week because it's supposed to be very cold again, drat!!) I have a few more other varieties of cabbages that will all be fine in the cold.

The fava bean plants have a measly two beans on them.  I'm giving up on this particular bean - I just don't think they're a good match for Texas weather. They are a beautiful plant, though....

The greenhouse is totally full -- lots of tomato plants that I've now re-potted into gallon pots, peppers, and quite a few flowers.  I'm going to be spending a few days potting up these sunflowers. There's Mammoth, Tarahumara, and Lemon Queen in this tray.

Today I potted up about a dozen morning glories - these were a few mixed colors and some Flying Saucer morning glories, which is a striped blue and white. 

I'm going to try to cover all of the cabbages this year with netting, hence this mosquito net that I found on Amazon.  It's sized to fit over a camp bed, so I figured it's about the right size.  An experiment to see how it works.

 I also found these head covers that I'm going to use to cover the tomato blossoms that I want to save seeds from.  I read another gardener who puts these over her entire plant just to be sure that no pollinators get in.  I'm kind of excited to see how this goes!

The basils that I planted a while back in some pots have started to germinate.  These little purple blobs are the Purple Ruffles basil! They're going to be so pretty when they're grown. Then there's the Lettuce Leaf basil, a pot of mixed Italian basils, and some Globe basil.  Yummm....I can taste the pesto now!

The walking stick kale has bloomed! What a gorgeous flower - I'm going to save seeds from it since it's been isolated from all the other kales.

The Orient pear has bloomed, but the Warren pear hasn't popped out any blooms yet.  These blooms are just so pretty! 

And finally -- ta da!! Peaches!

Garden Log -- February 7, 2019

Goodness, I really need to catch up with this log -- I've been working hard to get the seedlings started, but haven't taken time to document. I really need to put this all down so I don't forget when all of these were started.

I've pretty much "potted up" all of the tomatoes that germinated and there's about 2 large trays of those. 

These pictures are a couple of weeks old now, so they've grown quite a bit from here.  I'm putting a fan on them in the greenhouse to strengthen their stems and they're coming along just great! Don't you love my new big white trays!? They're VERY sturdy and hard and so easy to pick up and move around compared to those flimsy black 1020 trays. I got two of them from Amazon, and I'll add a couple every year until I have all I need.

So.... my germination rate with the tomatoes was not that great, so I cleaned out the tray and planted a few more of some varieties that I really want to grow this year. After that I think I'll be done with the tomatoes. There's so many really interesting types and I just want to grow them all!

The peppers are just as slow to germinate as every other year, so I'm not terribly worried about them yet.  I'll probably just throw them in the corner like I do every year until they decide to show up just to prove me wrong. They're obstinate that way.

Next up is a tray of herbs of every type (but mostly basil, which I love, love, love!) I have some dills, sages, fennel, etc. Some are up now and I'll be transplanting them up to Solo cups as they do.

Then I planted a tray of morning glories, Dutchman's pipe vine, and some bluebonnets.  The morning glories are up and transplanted up to bigger pots, but only two bluebonnets are up so far, and nothing so far with the Dutchman's pipe vine.  I'm going to give them plenty of time -- not giving up yet.

Then a 12 pack of two different types of tomatillo - Gigante' Verde and Heirloom Green.  They've all come up and been transplanted up. This photo is a about 2 weeks old - they've huge now!

Meanwhile I'm starting the garden clean up which means I'm harvesting as much of the fall/winter garden as possible.  All of the cabbages are picked, including this gorgeous Scarlette (F1) Chinese cabbage.  This is the "crunchiest" cabbage I've ever grown, it's so full of water it snaps when you put any pressure on it.  It's pretty tasty, too! We had three of these.

Update on the fava beans - they've bloomed.  The Extra Precoce A Grano Violleto is in full bloom, while the Aqua Dulce is just starting. I'm hoping it's still cool enough for it to form pods, this plant really likes cold weather.

Next up is harvest for all of the carrots. I'm going to need John's help with these - there's digging involved! I've brought in just enough for a meal when I need them, but I really need to get them out of the way now.

Our fruit trees are all confused - they think it's spring.  We're expecting a frost tonight and tomorrow night, so I'm hoping the weatherman is wrong (he often is.) We'll just hope and pray - all of these trees are way too big to cover.  This is one of our two nectarine trees.  So pretty.

The plum trees have bloomed and are already dropping their blooms. Waiting to see what fruit shows up. It looks like snow under these trees with all of the blossoms - and the bees are all over these things.

I'll close this post out with a picture of the bluebonnets that are coming up near our front entrance.  John's been trying for years to get a stand of these going and we've had one or two come up every year, but this year I guess all the stars aligned and there's more then a dozen out there coming up! Yea! Can't wait to see the flowers!

Garden Log --- December 7, 2018

The greenhouse garden continues to grow - I've got a few trays of microgreens going in there. The seeds are getting a little old, but still getting some germination from them.  I'm going to have to get some fresh seed soon. 

The Ampletomate Himbeerfarbig tomato plant has started blooming.  Since it's in the greenhouse I'm giving it a good shake every day to help with germination. I put this one in a hanging basket since that's how it's promoted, and it's about 1-1/2ft. tall so far. If it starts to drape over, I'll hang it.

Not sure which this one is but I have a few blooms on it, too.

Out in the main garden I've been bringing in a few of the choy's - these went into a stir fry the other night.  This is the Toy Choy. Really delicious!

I received some cuttings and seeds from my FB garden group this week and I got them all planted out in the greenhouse.  There were some Paw Paw seeds that went into the fridge as they need to be chilled for a few months before planting.

There's Lavender Scallops, Crown of Thorns, Tumeric roots and Devil's Backbone. 

 I salvaged some of the bunching onions from the summer garden and have repotted them - these things are the most forgiving plants -- they pop right back even after being ignored and abused all summer.

JR and Ashley brought me a HUGE box of succulents that they cut back from their front yard this fall, and one of the plants was this Mother of Millions.  I'm trying to re-pot it and it's starting to respond. 

And finally, I've started to gather some seeds from the spent Morning Glory plants.  These are a mix of pink and blue varieties. 

I'm starting to plan the spring garden and decide what I'll be planting - the weather is rainy today, and cold, so that's the perfect way to spend my time. Now, how am I going to get John to expand the field garden by a few more rows?   ha ha!

Garden Log --- April 7, 2018

Not much new planted the last few days except for a few winter squash I'm starting inside to put out after the peas are done on the squash house.  Hopefully they'll be ready to go at the right time.

I've been spending a few days potting up and refreshing the plants I pulled out of the greenhouse. They've all survived but always look a bit tattered after the winter. They appreciate new soil, fertilizer and fresh air.

Here's a few photos from my morning walks this week:

I hadn't even realized that the honeysuckle was blooming.  The bees have found it, however! 

The second patch of bearded iris is in full bloom right now as the older patch is fading. So beautiful and a constant reminder of my parents and dad's love of growing things.

The Mr. Lincoln climbing rose is in full bloom on the trellis out front. Just a beautiful old fashioned full blown rose.  

Ugh, that trellis really needs some TLC. I'll have to get
 the stain out...

The oldest blackberry plants are starting to bloom - this is our thornless Chester.

I potted up the baby succulents that I started during the winter - cute little guys!

This is the only "Chaya" Mayan spinach plant that made it from the four cuttings. I'm just glad I have one. I've potted it up and was so afraid it wouldn't react well, but it did fine and is sending out new little leaves. I'm excited to see what the adult plant will look like.

The pole beans that I planted a while back in the squash house are coming up.  Only one seed germinated of those 4 True Cranberry beans, so this little guy has the future of his family in his hands! Grow - grow - grow!!

The mammoth dill plant is really living up to its name. This plant is at least four times bigger then the other dill I have out there. Its a beautiful plant.

The cylindra beets are coming up and growing well. I wish I could say the same for the other varieties - they're all a little spotty.

Have I told you how much I love these gloves Colleen got me last year? I love those caps on the right glove - I use them to hand mix soil, dig up little weeds, and more.  These are a winner.

The snow peas have arrived!

The Cranberry Fielder beans have started to wrap around their poles. 

This is what I've been getting from the Rapini broccoli plants almost every single day. I'm not sure if this is normal, but this is what I'm dealing with. I cut these off daily, and the next day I have another bunch of shoots just like this. I'll use these in stir fry.

All of the summer squash are germinating, even the seeds that were three years old. Whew! I was worried that they were too old.

Here's the current state of the Broad (Fava) beans. They look healthy and happy so far.  I'm going to have to get some stakes to tie them up soon according to what I'm learning about them.

We ate our first 4 strawberries! As you can see, one didn't make it to the house. ha!

This is the purple ruffles basil - very dark purple.... 

...and this is the licorice basil.  I can't smell licorice yet, but its still a young plant and perhaps it takes a while to mature.

The Chinese cabbages continue to grow so much faster then the regular cabbages. I'm impressed by these. The Chirimen Hakusai is my favorite (almost lettuce like, although crunchier), the Michihili is good but has a "furry" feel to it, much like mustard plants do. 

I'm seeing the beginnings of a little cauliflower in the center of this plant.  These are Green Macereta.

The bunching onions are starting to flower. 

And I'm still waiting to find my first tomato.  There are flowers like this all over the garden, but no little green tomato yet.  Did I confess to you that I ended up with 23 tomato plants? What's wrong with me!? ha ha! Oh well, hopefully I'll be able to make a lot of salsa this year.

I'll leave you with a picture of the hummingbirds (can you see the two attacking this feeder?) They are draining my two feeders every few days - hungry little birds. I love hearing them buzzing in to feed every morning.