Gardening 2021

[Spaulding Smails 1,552]

6 hours ago, Post Oak said:

Talk to me about fall vegetables in CTX.  What do you plant and when do you plant it?

We are covered up with tomatoes and my wife has made plenty of bread and butter pickles.  Squash has been good, basil is thriving.  Not much luck with strawberries or watermelons yet.  

I usually start planting my fall garden around late September.  Tansplants include broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, onions, potatoes and garlic.  For seeds, I'll do carrots, collard greens, spinach and lettuce.  Fall gardening is awesome.  Less weeds to mess with and production always seems to be more spread out over the season.  

[NorthLoop 14,183]

1 minute ago, Spaulding Smails said:

I usually start planting my fall garden around late September.  Tansplants include broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, onions, potatoes and garlic.  For seeds, I'll do carrots, collard greens, spinach and lettuce.  Fall gardening is awesome.  Less weeds to mess with and production always seems to be more spread out over the season.  

If you start any from seed, when do you start them? July? 

[Spaulding Smails 1,552]

@Both Tacos This is year four of our blackberry bushes.  I think it was year three before they really started to produce.  They're a freaking weed, and I have to be cognizant of shoots coming up in the main garden (they're planted outside the garden in my setup).  They froze back hard after the freeze in February, but came back stronger than ever.  We've picked at least 20 bowls that big so far this year.  Tons of cobbler, blackberry cheesecake and blackberry ice cream.  We've frozen a ton and made several jars of blackberry jam.  

[Spaulding Smails 1,552]

1 minute ago, NorthLoop said:

If you start any from seed, when do you start them? July? 

That sounds about right, but I'd be concerned about putting them in the ground in July.  Assuming your in Central Texas, I think you'll have to start them indoors.  My guess is the heat will zap them that early if they're outside in July / August.

[NorthLoop 14,183]

1 minute ago, Spaulding Smails said:

That sounds about right, but I'd be concerned about putting them in the ground in July.  Assuming your in Central Texas, I think you'll have to start them indoors.  My guess is the heat will zap them that early if they're outside in July / August.

Oh yeah for sure. I have a hard enough time keeping the tomatoes and peppers alive in July and August without having to worry about seedlings. 

[Post Oak 20,208]

One of my concerns with our garden was protecting it from the sun. We built a shade cloth cover and then planted sunflowers on the western side.  Made a huge difference in temps.  Plus those sunflowers are buzzing with bees and butterflies.  

A few losses this year so far but this idea was a win.

[NorthLoop 14,183]

My lone tomato plant this year is nestled amongst a bunch of jalapenos. Noticed this today. Not sure what to think. 

 

[Both Tacos 1,806]

Instant salsa

[Trey3216 15,345]

I have 4 jalapeno plants, a serrano, 6 bell peppers of different varieties, 3 banana pepper, 4 tomato (3 beefsteak, 1 Roma), green beans.  Already pulled my first attempt at yellow onions and potatoes (both red and Yukon gold).  

 

All grown in above ground planters I build last year when I was bored out of my mind during the COVID shutdown.  

 

Peppers are going bonkers.  I've probably given away 75-100 jalapenos already, let alone what I've used at a few cookouts and a some fresh salsa I made with my first batch of tomatoes and onions.  

 

Banana peppers I'm pulling 20-30 per week already.  Bell Peppers are coming in nicely and have harvested a few small ones.  Banana peppers are being used for pickling as well as frying.  

 

Grandad's Fried Peppers

-slice long ways from stem to end.  Keep the seeds.

-In a large cast iron, heat a liberal amount of olive oil at a temp perfect for frying garlic.

-Take a few cloves of fresh garlic and mince it.  Fry the garlic first then add the banana peppers.  Fry peppers until they start to soften (don't want them totally mushy, just pliable).  

-Can them suckers  

 

Delicious on sandwiches or with pepperoni/salami and cheese/crackers.  

[miguelito 11,255]

Reminder to be careful out there.  I went to grab this tomato cage from behind my shed, and found this out-of-focus fellow:

 

 

 

[Spaulding Smails 1,552]

Anyone have any suggestions for taller tomato cages?  I've used the standard 48" round cages, and every year about this time of year, I swear I'm going to ditch them and build something custom.  My plants outgrow them every year, and they start to tip over pretty easily.  Just curious to see what others have come up with.  

[Both Tacos 1,806]

Anyone have any suggestions for taller tomato cages?  I've used the standard 48" round cages, and every year about this time of year, I swear I'm going to ditch them and build something custom.  My plants outgrow them every year, and they start to tip over pretty easily.  Just curious to see what others have come up with.  

Rebar mesh. You can get sheets of them at Lowe's. Roll the two ends together and secure with 3 to 4 zip ties.
I will also secure it in place with a t-post so it doesn't topple over once the plant gets tall.
The sheets have 4"×4" squares so it is easy to get your hand in there to pick.
Also, if your plants get taller than the top, you can add another one on top to extend it.

[Both Tacos 1,806]

This week's harvest has been pretty good. Things are just starting to produce after being stunted with all the rain in the spring/early summer. Hope it doesn't get too hot too quickly and everything clam up.
May have to put up some shade this summer to keep production going.
Yes, that is an odd place for the veggies but my dumbass chocolate lab loves to counter surf and eat anything she can get her paws on.

[Walden Ponderer 12,639]

Still getting used to my new schedule. First tomato ripened yesterday; in College Station, tomatoes were usually all crapped out by July, here they're just getting started.

And I've grown the biggest, tastiest jalapeños of my life here in Carolina.

Not doing anything special, just prepped the soil with plenty of chicken poop, like I've always done. 

Pumpkins should be picture-worthy soon. First blooms started up. If I can keep the damned deer away, we may be on to something. Might even make pumpkins a cash crop.

[Etexhorn13 3,045]

Anyone know what kind of rodent poop this is? I’m thinking squirrel… had some smaller droppings like this near my jalapeño plant which was eaten to hell. 

[NorthLoop 14,183]

Google "shits tiny hand grenades" 

[Etexhorn13 3,045]

Surprisingly, that turned up exactly what I needed. Looks like I’m dealing with tomato worms. 

[NorthLoop 14,183]

Stick with me and you'll get far 

[Mrs Whiggins 13,050]

On 8/17/2021 at 9:28 AM, Etexhorn13 said:

Surprisingly, that turned up exactly what I needed. Looks like I’m dealing with tomato worms. 

If they're tomato horn worms, those guys get big.

I have a lot of monarch and swallowtail caterpillars on milkweed, parsley, and dill and they can excrete a lot of poop.

[NorthLoop 14,183]

30 minutes ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

If they're tomato horn worms, those guys get big.

I had one of those fuckers earlier this almost completely destroy one of my bell pepper plants. It's been a couple months and it's just now getting back to recovered. 

When I caught that fucker I went and put him on top of the fence by the greenbelt so he'd make a nice meal for some lucky bird. 

[Mrs Whiggins 13,050]

They can mow through a plant quite quick. We had a volunteer chili plant--the pequin type and it was rather alarming the rate at which the caterpillars (two that we found) consumed it. Never touched my tomatoes though, so got lucky on that front.

[NorthLoop 14,183]

On 8/18/2021 at 1:22 PM, NorthLoop said:

I had one of those fuckers earlier this almost completely destroy one of my bell pepper plants. It's been a couple months and it's just now getting back to recovered. 

When I caught that fucker I went and put him on top of the fence by the greenbelt so he'd make a nice meal for some lucky bird. 

Btw these are all from that same plant 

 

[miguelito 11,255]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CUDOn4FFkUX/

 

Not exactly gardening-related, but y'all will enjoy this.  The hummingbirds are migrating right now.  We have 2 feeders out, and last night we counted at least 15 different birds.  This video is from TX Parks and Wildlife, but if you have feeders out right now, you'll see a similar scene.

We've had hummingbirds all summer, but usually only 4-5 max. 

[Post Oak 20,208]

That's awesome. My feeder had 5 this morning which was 2 more than I thought we had.  Seems like they're loading up

I love seeing them. I suspect they're gone by this weekend.

 

In the last few weeks my watermelon plant has taken off.  I've got 14 watermelons of various sizes going ofo of one plant. Tomatoes still putting out and my bell peppers and jalapenos have kicked it in gear the last month or so.

My basil is still going strong. We made a bunch of pesto last weekend but will have to make a ton more to freeze.

[Both Tacos 1,806]

That's awesome. My feeder had 5 this morning which was 2 more than I thought we had.  Seems like they're loading up
I love seeing them. I suspect they're gone by this weekend.
 
In the last few weeks my watermelon plant has taken off.  I've got 14 watermelons of various sizes going ofo of one plant. Tomatoes still putting out and my bell peppers and jalapenos have kicked it in gear the last month or so.
My basil is still going strong. We made a bunch of pesto last weekend but will have to make a ton more to freeze.

Things are about to really ramp up with this cooler weather.

[Spaulding Smails 1,552]

16 hours ago, Post Oak said:

That's awesome. My feeder had 5 this morning which was 2 more than I thought we had.  Seems like they're loading up

I love seeing them. I suspect they're gone by this weekend.

 

In the last few weeks my watermelon plant has taken off.  I've got 14 watermelons of various sizes going ofo of one plant. Tomatoes still putting out and my bell peppers and jalapenos have kicked it in gear the last month or so.

My basil is still going strong. We made a bunch of pesto last weekend but will have to make a ton more to freeze.

I never thought about freezing pesto, but that's a great idea for taking advantage of the basil.  

[Texas St. Armadillos 1,381]

9 minutes ago, Spaulding Smails said:

I never thought about freezing pesto, but that's a great idea for taking advantage of the basil.  

Yep.  We did that about 3 weeks ago.  Going to have to do it again this weekend.  Give away what you can, freeze the rest.

[Mrs Whiggins 13,050]

On 9/21/2021 at 9:50 AM, miguelito said:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CUDOn4FFkUX/

 

Not exactly gardening-related, but y'all will enjoy this.  The hummingbirds are migrating right now.  We have 2 feeders out, and last night we counted at least 15 different birds.  This video is from TX Parks and Wildlife, but if you have feeders out right now, you'll see a similar scene.

We've had hummingbirds all summer, but usually only 4-5 max. 

We've had them in waves. We hang multiple feeders and space them far enough apart that one male cannot defend more than one. It makes for some spectacular air battles. At the beginning of September we had a good size crowd of about 20 and then it dwindled down to half a dozen and then a day or so before the front they picked back up again to fifteen to twenty. With the cooler nights, I expect to seem them filter farther south at a faster pace now, but it is always a joy to sit and watch them zoom.

[Mrs Whiggins 13,050]

It's been awhile since I posted some pics from the garden so here's a few from earlier. I kept harvesting and cooking the vegetables before I would remember to snap pics, so it's odds and ends. I have two tomato plants for fall that are full size determinate and two shrub types that are left over from spring that are still putting out tomatoes. We'll see if any ripen before first frost or if I need to bring the fruit inside. Also have a broccoli and a cauliflower and will put in some spinach soon.

Here are the coleus that sprouted this spring that have been growing rampant all summer. I usually set my own seed in late spring but the freeze mean I was still cleaning out the damage and forgot but all the seeds from last year just sprang up. The bees love the flower spikes. I trim those off most of the time as it means the plant is mature, but I leave some for the bees and as fall approaches just let them all go so the bees can store up as much as they want.

I cook a lot of pasta and so have herbs growing but one pot I leave alone for the most part unless it gets leggy and then I trim it so it will stay lush. Most of the time, however, it doesn't get leggy because it gets eaten by my lil friends:

I had probably twenty caterpillars on this batch of parsley and they ate ALL of it. Hard to complain when they change into the lovely large swallowtails that are yellow/black or all black like this one:

After the wings dry, they flutter over to the zinnias and grab some nectar.

[4th and 5 4,914]

I just rebuilt my herb garden, new bricks, brand new garden dirt, three kinds of lettuce, spinach, herbs, flowers and have a few trays of seedlings. Arugula and more spinach and lettuce

 

The garden is full of tomatoes that I started from seed during the summer

Edited October 15, 2021 by 4th and 5

[Bookman 4,638]

I want to start a garden, but with all the deer, squirrels, raccoons, etc., won't they just eat everything?