Veg OK, My (Late) Fall Garden Pics

[Txkstew]

Man, what a year. I got laid off last March, and have only my Garden to give me any joy. Somethings just don't go right in the Garden. I gave up on my Summer Garden thread, when worms got into my corn crop, and kinda popped my bubble. Climbing beans did not produce. Only thing of real harvest volume, was Okra. Those things kept producing right until a few weeks ago, when I had to pull them up for my Onion bed.

So Summer was not a total wash, that is until we got hit by two Hurricanes, a Tropical Storm, and an Election. I've been out in the Garden, almost every day now for 8 months. And I'm out here 6 to 8 hours a day. I might mention, a good friend of over 40 years, passed away from lung cancer. You can see how I might not want to do any posting.

But now, it's time to get on with it. Here are a few pics of what I've been doing since September.



I'll post more in the days to come. I'm growing Broccoli, Cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts, Green Cabbage, Purple Cabbage, Lettuce, Carrots, Mustard Greens and three types of Onions. Various other seedlings are coming along, but a space in the Garden is becoming scarce.

 

[packyderms_wife]

Looks great, where are you located to have such a beautiful garden this time of the year?

 

[Txkstew]

I'm 30 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, in Southeast Texas near the Louisiana Border. Supposed to get down to 32 deg F next week! That's our Winter, well maybe it gets down to 26 deg at some point.

 

[Txkstew]

Depends on who you listen to, but it's going to get down to between 28 deg F and 32 deg F here tonight for a couple of hours before dawn. I bought plastic sheeting to pull over everything, but decided not to. I've had fall gardens before, and these kind of plants can take a few hours of freezing temps. We'll see in the morning.

Instead, I built this today. It's a planting table, that's 40" high. Once I had all the treated lumber stacked up here, I banged it out in less than 3 hours. It helps to have a Bill of Material to lay out all the pieces and cut them, then screw it all together. Got this design from the Hollis guy I posted a thread on yesterday. His was 10 ' long, but I don't have access to a truck, and I can only fit 8' foot lumber in my car with the back seats lowered, so I cut it down to 8 foot overall. I can only carry about 10 boards that will fit between the driver's seat, and the front passenger seat. It might have gone fast, but I can tell my back will be complaining tomorrow. The price of Treated Lumber has gone through the roof.

 

[AlaskaSue]

Beautiful, beautiful! At most I have 90-100 days to grow things outdoors. The rest of he time I scheme, plan and grow starts inside - though this winter (Oct thru April) I hope to have herb and salad grow boxes inside. Gardening was the first occupation, it’s great therapy and can be wonderfully fulfilling - and horribly frustrating. I’m very sorry for the loss of your friend ...and the rest of how 2020 has been. And I’m also happy that you can get out and do things like this! Thank you for posting the pics!

 

[briches]

Looks great Txkstew! Beautiful pup too.

 

[Jeff B.]

Great pictures. I too get a lot from working in the back. We've got herbs, peppers and tomatoes and a bunch of ornamental plants in pots that the wife likes. I'd grow veggies and herbs in most of them and be happy. The other area is a "woodline garden" that is in back of the place. The town actually owns it and its part of a greenbelt, but I've been puttering back there for about 20 years, more seriously in the last 7 or 8.

Sorry about your friend, the dog looks like a good one!

Jeff B.

 

[ejagno]

I was in the eye for those two hurricanes (Laura & Delta) and swiped by the tropical storm and have nothing but dirt left (no vegetable or herb gardens, no citrus trees, no fruit trees, no oak trees, no home or outbuildings). Now in order to rebuild the "new" ordinances state that I have to raise my two acres 3'. For now I'm steadily gathering new plantings in pots. I had to haul all of that inside a makeshift greenhouse DH and I constructed this past Friday. Once the new home is built I'm hoping to be ready with plants that have had a chance to establish good roots in their pots for now. Your gardens looks lovely and the dog is adorable.

 

[Txkstew]

Just went out to survey the damage from the frost. My digital thermometer confirms the worst case weather temperature prediction. I have 28.7 deg F here. I went out and washed the frost off the plants with the hose, but it will have to wait until it warms up as the sun gets up good, to see the damage. It's always colder here than the "Official" temperature reading, due to the National Weather Service weather gauge being at the Airport, which is South of me and near to the Gulf waters.

Jeff, your place looks very peaceful and a good place to sit and watch the world go by off in the distance.

Sue, at least up there in Alaska, you get near 24 hours of daylight during your grow season, and if you get the starts going inside, you can make the most of it.

ejagno, I was thinking of you and my other Lake Charles friends during all our Hurricane hits. Sorry for all the stress that has been dumped on you guys. I've worked over there for almost 4 years total, and know the area and people well. I like you guys more than my actual Texas neighbors. You guys are so different in a good way. Last year, I worked for 6 months in the Capitol One tower in downtown Lake Charles, that had all those windows blown out.

 

[Txkstew]

Everything got bit somewhat, but the bright green lettuce is the only plants that got it bad. All the big plants are somewhat droopy but will be fine. Onions, carrots, mustard greens and the other lettuce look good.

 

[nebb]

Nice

 

[Jeff B.]

And, I like that bench!

Jeff B.

 

[Txkstew]

If you zoom in, you can see the freeze damage (28 deg F) on the Broccoli leaves. Not too bad.


And my latest little project I built, using the Hollis guy's plan for growing large container plants. Main reason, is to get the plants off the ground, and also to keep them from blowing over. I plan to build two or three more of these racks.

 

[ioujc]

Very nice>>>>beautiful garden!!

I am jealous!!

 

[Txkstew]

I went ahead and harvested a few heads for supper. Small, but very tasty.

It got down to 29 deg F this morning. I did get out and cover everything with Poly Sheeting yesterday evening. Fixing to go out there to see how it went, and get it uncovered.

I'm still planting seedlings in trays, and stepped up a bunch into 1 gallon nursery pots. I plan to grow what I can all Winter, and into the Spring.




I'm not the only one to have frost damage. This guy in South Georgia had it worse than me, and it got down to the same temperature as it did here.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKQ-Ky4LmS8

 

[summerthyme]

Nothing improves the flavor of Cole crops like a few light freezes...

I've got to harvest my Brussels sprouts, before I need a scoop shovel to find them! That's the last of our garden harvest for the year.

Summerthyme

 

[Txkstew]

Nothing improves the flavor of Cole crops like a few light freezes...

I've got to harvest my Brussels sprouts, before I need a scoop shovel to find them! That's the last of our garden harvest for the year.

Summerthyme

I've been meaning to thank you for the link to the Ukrainian seed company. It did take a whole month to arrive, but good selection, good germination, and got 18 packs of seeds for $15 shipped!

 

[summerthyme]

Oh, good! I'm excited to try some of their varieties next Spring. If I can find a spot yo set up one of my Aerogardens, I'd like to try growing some greens over the winter. But space is going yo be a huge issue in our new apartment, so I may have to wait until February and plant in their greenhouse.

Summerthyme

 

[Txkstew]

Bok Choy, I think! At the time, I was just planting seeds as fast as I could. No tagging or recording. I'm trying to get organized and get a record book. I did go to Wal*Mart and found some big popsicle sticks in the Arts and Crafts section. A Sharpie pen is kept at the planting table. At this point, I don't care, just grow. Things in container pots are kicking.

Bok Choy is such a cool looking plant, that you just figured it must taste good. I've bought it at the store, meaning to cook it, but at least two times it just turns into mush in a plastic bag in my refrigerator. The other day, I figured that if I'm going to grow the stuff, I should cook some. So I did in some stir fry. That was a unique flavor, and texture, I could start using often.

 

[Txkstew]

A few current pics. By covering everything with poly sheeting on frost nights, I don't see why I can't keep growing into the Spring. If we get a Hard freeze below ~25 deg F, all bets are off.

 

[Old Reliable]

Looks great and good.

 

[Grey]

You've got some nice broccoli heads. I haven't had much luck in getting a good size head just small ones. Must be doing something wrong. I will have to read up on it. I followed Hollis's instructions to grow potatoes in large containers. I have a vole and mole problem and thought that might help. I did very well.

 

[Txkstew]

 

[Txkstew]

Weather man saying we gonna get down to 13 deg F, damn it. I'm expecting to lose everything in my garden, so we went out and harvested all the carrots, most of the Bok Choy, and the last of the cabbage. I blanched the carrots and put them up in freezer bags, about 9 quarts. The onion patch is the only thing I'm really hoping to save in the end. I was given a roll of 25 x 50 black plastic sheeting, and have it pulled over most of the plants that are left. We'll see if that does any good. There should be 4 inches of snow and 1/2" of ice when I get up tomorrow.

I'm more worried about my water well, and all the exposed PVC water lines. Due to the ice storm that is approaching, I'm expecting the power to go down, so there will most likely be no letting the faucets drip. That leaves the only option of draining the whole system, which won't be easy. The hard freeze will be Monday night after the clouds clear. Al Gore had me brain washed to the reality of "Climate Change", and that we'd never have a hard freeze again in my life time. I hope the power goes off at his house, and his carbon spewing generator takes a crap.

Oh well, I have tomato plants started inside on a heat pad and grow light, and now it's time for pepper seed to get germinated. I have seed potatoes all eyed up and ready to plant the slips in my new rows I prepared two weeks ago. I have a lot of other seeds to get started in the next week, like squash, and egg plant. Spring planting should start in the next three weeks. I'm ready.

 

[BenIan]

Just pulled 143 oranges off my tree. harvested tons of carrots, lettuce, peas and turnips. About to cover the onions Ice & snow supposed to start around 7 pm.

 

[summerthyme]

You've got some nice broccoli heads. I haven't had much luck in getting a good size head just small ones. Must be doing something wrong. I will have to read up on it. I followed Hollis's instructions to grow potatoes in large containers. I have a vole and mole problem and thought that might help. I did very well.

Look for the variety called Coronado Crown (I THINK I bought it from Park Seed, but I order from so many places I don't remember). But I've harvested heads larger than a dinner plate from almost every plant. In fact, I had to cut way down on the number of plants I grow, because I was getting a couple bushels from a dozen plants! We don't eat THAT much broccoli!

Summerthyme

 

[Martinhouse]

I've read that covering the plants with plastic tarp can let damage happeen because the tarp conducts the cold through wherever it touches the plant. It said some sort of sheets or plastic would be better. I'd rathe use plastic becaues we always seem to get rain which then turns to ice and then show. I wonder if putting sheets on first, under the plastic would prevent that damage. Hoops would be best but that wouldn't work on my half-barrel container gardens.

 

[Grey]

Look for the variety called Coronado Crown (I THINK I bought it from Park Seed, but I order from so many places I don't remember). But I've harvested heads larger than a dinner plate from almost every plant. In fact, I had to cut way down on the number of plants I grow, because I was getting a couple bushels from a dozen plants! We don't eat THAT much broccoli!

Summerthyme

Thank you for that. I will look for that variety and try it.

 

[Txkstew]

I'm so surprised. We got down to 12 deg F a night after we got 3" of freezing rain. That's what I measured accumulated on the black plastic I pulled over the whole garden the evening before. It was the consistency of snow cone ice. I think it's what protected almost every thing in the garden. I mean almost nothing "died" from 12 deg F for 5 hours. It also stayed below freezing for 40 hr as well. Sure, things got bit, and are ugly, but I'll be eating most of what's growing. I have some new things I grew from seed in the house, that are in the ground and taking off. Pics later.

 

[summerthyme]

I'm so surprised. We got down to 12 deg F a night after we got 3" of freezing rain. That's what I measured accumulated on the black plastic I pulled over the whole garden the evening before. It was the consistency of snow cone ice. I think it's what protected almost every thing in the garden. I mean almost nothing "died" from 12 deg F for 5 hours. It also stayed below freezing for 40 hr as well. Sure, things got bit, and are ugly, but I'll be eating most of what's growing. I have some new things I grew from seed in the house, that are in the ground and taking off. Pics later.

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Thats great. It sounds like the ice provided insulation... you were blessed.

Summerthyme