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#1
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Fall garden, etc.
The missus had me spending Saturday trying for a better crop of tomatoes
than we had this blow torch of a summer. Maybe the global warming will make maters a winter crop around here ;-) Selection of starters was pretty sparse - I bumped into a guy at Home Depot that said the Natural Gardener had little to offer. HD had about 6-7 types from Bonnie Nursery - a few bush varieties, Early Girl, Carnival, Goliath. They all had 60-70 day maturation dates so I got all three and a Husky cherry. The problem with Bonnie is that just about everyone carries them so that limits the number of varieties you can expect to find. Next spring I'm going to start my own. Anyone have a favorite seed store? Oh yeah, the 5 okra I did plant from seed are producing about 2-3 pods each per day. After that rain last week I missed a couple of days and got a half dozen 8 inch monsters. My potted herbs and single strawberry plant are doing very well. The string of pots are home to a plethora of baby anoles that scamper all about when I water. The strawberry has some big long branching stems that I'll get rooted pretty soon. I had a bunch of purslane pop up this year from volunteer seed. Since it has been a couple of years since I grew any on purpose it was a nice surprise. Two red ones came up in between the pavers on my patio. Nothing special there except the pavers sit on solid concrete. Talk about hardy. The others, white, yellow and another red, preferred dirt and it shows in their prolific growth. Was surprised this morning when I cam across an althea that was harboring about 1 billion white flies! I blasted the crap out of them with a high pressure wash but they filled the air like smoke. Since we have a couple of semi-vegetarian dogs I shy way from toxins. I remember once at my parents house in the Rio Grande Valley the white flies were so numerous that they actually looked like real smoke drifting down the street. My dad said early morning joggers would wear those mosquito hats so the flies wouldn't get inhaled. Yuk! To top it off, when I stopped for gas in Falfurrias on the way back to Austin a bunch flew out of the engine compartment when I lifted the hood. That was about my creepiest insect moment. Any body else with gardening news? jOhN |
#2
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Fall garden, etc.
"jOhN" wrote in message ... The missus had me spending Saturday trying for a better crop of tomatoes than we had this blow torch of a summer. Maybe the global warming will make maters a winter crop around here ;-) Selection of starters was pretty sparse - I bumped into a guy at Home Depot that said the Natural Gardener had little to offer. HD had about 6-7 types from Bonnie Nursery - a few bush varieties, Early Girl, Carnival, Goliath. They all had 60-70 day maturation dates so I got all three and a Husky cherry. The problem with Bonnie is that just about everyone carries them so that limits the number of varieties you can expect to find. Next spring I'm going to start my own. Anyone have a favorite seed store? Oh yeah, the 5 okra I did plant from seed are producing about 2-3 pods each per day. After that rain last week I missed a couple of days and got a half dozen 8 inch monsters. My potted herbs and single strawberry plant are doing very well. The string of pots are home to a plethora of baby anoles that scamper all about when I water. The strawberry has some big long branching stems that I'll get rooted pretty soon. I had a bunch of purslane pop up this year from volunteer seed. Since it has been a couple of years since I grew any on purpose it was a nice surprise. Two red ones came up in between the pavers on my patio. Nothing special there except the pavers sit on solid concrete. Talk about hardy. The others, white, yellow and another red, preferred dirt and it shows in their prolific growth. Was surprised this morning when I cam across an althea that was harboring about 1 billion white flies! I blasted the crap out of them with a high pressure wash but they filled the air like smoke. Since we have a couple of semi-vegetarian dogs I shy way from toxins. I remember once at my parents house in the Rio Grande Valley the white flies were so numerous that they actually looked like real smoke drifting down the street. My dad said early morning joggers would wear those mosquito hats so the flies wouldn't get inhaled. Yuk! To top it off, when I stopped for gas in Falfurrias on the way back to Austin a bunch flew out of the engine compartment when I lifted the hood. That was about my creepiest insect moment. Any body else with gardening news? Thanks for the info on the tomato plants. I promised myself to try fall tomatoes for the first time. I didn't want to shop HD, but ended up there this Spring, very late and grew some wonderful plants, that didn't make but a handful on one Early Girl plant because of the heat. So now, it's already September and I haven't started yet, so thanks for the motivation to go get some now. I've been worried about the anoles during this heat and drought. I've seen a few around, but not as many as usual as my vines and other cover they like just wasn't as lush as normal. I've never bought seeds online, but if I did, I think I'd buy from these people. http://www.seedsofchange.com/default.asp |
#3
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Fall garden, etc.
cat daddy wrote:
"jOhN" wrote in message ... The missus had me spending Saturday trying for a better crop of tomatoes than we had this blow torch of a summer. Maybe the global warming will make maters a winter crop around here ;-) Selection of starters was pretty sparse - I bumped into a guy at Home Depot that said the Natural Gardener had little to offer. HD had about 6-7 types from Bonnie Nursery - a few bush varieties, Early Girl, Carnival, Goliath. They all had 60-70 day maturation dates so I got all three and a Husky cherry. The problem with Bonnie is that just about everyone carries them so that limits the number of varieties you can expect to find. Next spring I'm going to start my own. Anyone have a favorite seed store? Oh yeah, the 5 okra I did plant from seed are producing about 2-3 pods each per day. After that rain last week I missed a couple of days and got a half dozen 8 inch monsters. My potted herbs and single strawberry plant are doing very well. The string of pots are home to a plethora of baby anoles that scamper all about when I water. The strawberry has some big long branching stems that I'll get rooted pretty soon. I had a bunch of purslane pop up this year from volunteer seed. Since it has been a couple of years since I grew any on purpose it was a nice surprise. Two red ones came up in between the pavers on my patio. Nothing special there except the pavers sit on solid concrete. Talk about hardy. The others, white, yellow and another red, preferred dirt and it shows in their prolific growth. Was surprised this morning when I cam across an althea that was harboring about 1 billion white flies! I blasted the crap out of them with a high pressure wash but they filled the air like smoke. Since we have a couple of semi-vegetarian dogs I shy way from toxins. I remember once at my parents house in the Rio Grande Valley the white flies were so numerous that they actually looked like real smoke drifting down the street. My dad said early morning joggers would wear those mosquito hats so the flies wouldn't get inhaled. Yuk! To top it off, when I stopped for gas in Falfurrias on the way back to Austin a bunch flew out of the engine compartment when I lifted the hood. That was about my creepiest insect moment. Any body else with gardening news? Thanks for the info on the tomato plants. I promised myself to try fall tomatoes for the first time. I didn't want to shop HD, but ended up there this Spring, very late and grew some wonderful plants, that didn't make but a handful on one Early Girl plant because of the heat. So now, it's already September and I haven't started yet, so thanks for the motivation to go get some now. I've been worried about the anoles during this heat and drought. I've seen a few around, but not as many as usual as my vines and other cover they like just wasn't as lush as normal. I've never bought seeds online, but if I did, I think I'd buy from these people. http://www.seedsofchange.com/default.asp I've heard of those folks from a friend at work. Time to go shopping :-) |
#4
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Fall garden, etc.
why is it town water does not do some garden much good you canit beat water
from storms specialywhen lighting helps plants allso regards malcolm smith "jOhN" wrote in message ... The missus had me spending Saturday trying for a better crop of tomatoes than we had this blow torch of a summer. Maybe the global warming will make maters a winter crop around here ;-) Selection of starters was pretty sparse - I bumped into a guy at Home Depot that said the Natural Gardener had little to offer. HD had about 6-7 types from Bonnie Nursery - a few bush varieties, Early Girl, Carnival, Goliath. They all had 60-70 day maturation dates so I got all three and a Husky cherry. The problem with Bonnie is that just about everyone carries them so that limits the number of varieties you can expect to find. Next spring I'm going to start my own. Anyone have a favorite seed store? Oh yeah, the 5 okra I did plant from seed are producing about 2-3 pods each per day. After that rain last week I missed a couple of days and got a half dozen 8 inch monsters. My potted herbs and single strawberry plant are doing very well. The string of pots are home to a plethora of baby anoles that scamper all about when I water. The strawberry has some big long branching stems that I'll get rooted pretty soon. I had a bunch of purslane pop up this year from volunteer seed. Since it has been a couple of years since I grew any on purpose it was a nice surprise. Two red ones came up in between the pavers on my patio. Nothing special there except the pavers sit on solid concrete. Talk about hardy. The others, white, yellow and another red, preferred dirt and it shows in their prolific growth. Was surprised this morning when I cam across an althea that was harboring about 1 billion white flies! I blasted the crap out of them with a high pressure wash but they filled the air like smoke. Since we have a couple of semi-vegetarian dogs I shy way from toxins. I remember once at my parents house in the Rio Grande Valley the white flies were so numerous that they actually looked like real smoke drifting down the street. My dad said early morning joggers would wear those mosquito hats so the flies wouldn't get inhaled. Yuk! To top it off, when I stopped for gas in Falfurrias on the way back to Austin a bunch flew out of the engine compartment when I lifted the hood. That was about my creepiest insect moment. Any body else with gardening news? jOhN |
#5
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Fall garden, etc.
I am tossing the idea back and forth for a fall/winter garden myself.
My poor loose leaf lettuce died in the heat. The tomatoes are doing well, but the squash which had started out lovely is suffering in the heat. For a fall crop I had thought of cooler loving plants such as spinach , loose leaf lettuce or even brussel sprouts. I think if I start in late August beginning of September the plants should be fine as far as heat. And supossedely we will be off the water restrictions by the 1st of September. As far as online seeds I have had good luck with them. I have used two companies. Thompson & (I can't remember the second name) but they have a huge variety of seeds. And Heirloom Seeds they have very interesting seeds avialable. good luck, Anita |
#6
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Fall garden, etc.
In article
, " wrote: I am tossing the idea back and forth for a fall/winter garden myself. My poor loose leaf lettuce died in the heat. The tomatoes are doing well, but the squash which had started out lovely is suffering in the heat. For a fall crop I had thought of cooler loving plants such as spinach , loose leaf lettuce or even brussel sprouts. I think if I start in late August beginning of September the plants should be fine as far as heat. And supossedely we will be off the water restrictions by the 1st of September. As far as online seeds I have had good luck with them. I have used two companies. Thompson & (I can't remember the second name) but they have a huge variety of seeds. And Heirloom Seeds they have very interesting seeds avialable. good luck, Anita I did chard and broccoli one year with great success. :-) -- Peace! Om Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain. -- Anon. Subscribe: |
#7
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Fall garden, etc.
Whole foods in Houston sells heirloom organic tomatoes. I use the seeds
from them to plant. It takes about a week to dry the seeds properly and you get to taste the tomato before you plant it to see if you like it. Drying procedures. http://gardening.about.com/od/totall...omatoSeeds.htm |
#8
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Fall garden, etc.
I have given up on vegetable gardening for a while after this
miserable attempt this year. I had loose leaf lettuce in the shade (started from seeds) that wilted in the first heat. I had bell pepper plants that never did more then give a few leaves, and the tomato plants grew pretty gave me very small tomatoes initially and very few and then died as the summer progressed. I have been concentrating more on my front yard, as I have been for the past two years, as I have started brand new there. I had dug out all the grass and replaced it in some areas with Woolly Thyme and Elfin Thyme. Some with a varieties of Ajuga and planted vines along the fence. Irises, Daylilies and hostas also (under a large fruitless Mulberry tree). Its been a learning experience with much reading and then seeing what I have read applied to reality. Reality is a great teacher. I have also started working on a small side yard in the front by building a small path by a gate, and starting a few ice plants and some succulents. On another side yard in the front I planted many sun perennials as this side gets a lot of sun. They have done well . I actually love planting in the fall because of the cooler weather. I have found the plants seem to do quite well and are less strained by the weather. The Ajuga I planted last year in the fall has done beautifully and is spreading slowly as a ground cover. I have bought some more Ajuga and planted more this last week. And went to Great Outdoors (they have a lot of new plants there) yesterday and bought some fall annuals (pansies along with some kind of daisy plant) and some more Ajuga. Thursday will be planting day, whether it rains or not. Have a super Anita |
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