Texas Spring/Summer Thread
- Thread starter Bird
- Start date
- Views: 820844
Western
Super Member
26* this morning, was a cool work night to say the least. At least the wind laid low!!
Bartcephus
Gold Member
30 Degrees this morning in Bowie County. :cold:
Good Morning All! Coffee pot on and brewing some joe to get the blood thin enough to flow through the plumbing... Wishing all a most wonderful, productive and happy day.
Good Morning All! Coffee pot on and brewing some joe to get the blood thin enough to flow through the plumbing... Wishing all a most wonderful, productive and happy day.
farmgirl19
Elite Member
26* currently in Parker County. I hope we don't have a peach shortage, this year. Just finished coffee, so will be out the door soon. You have a great day too!
jinman
Rest in Peace
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2001
- Messages
- 20,387
- Location
- Texas - Wise County - Sunset
- Tractor
- NHTC45D, NH LB75B, Ford Jubilee
The one's I'm going to eat, I cut when they are spears about 8" to 10" out of the ground. Some of mine are so big that they are 3/4" around at the base by the time they are 6" tall. They are very healthy, tender, and robust. Once the plant goes up and becomes a fern, it can handle cold much better than when it is young and tender spears. The taller plants thin out and become more woody. I just make sure I get the spears when they are tender. After they grow over a foot, they get tough and stringy at the base.
We had another round of 24 F weather last night. I'm pretty much writing off all asparagus that has been growing so far. My spears I cooked last night were delicious. I even had a cup of pot-liquor as an after-dinner drink. My grandson said, "YUK!"
Western
Super Member
Jim, I think I would cut all the asparagus back and wait for new growth. When ours froze in the late 90's at the "old place" that's what I did. Dont know if that is the right thing to do, but mine came back like nothing happened. I always cut mine at around 6"-8" about 1" underground.
jinman
Rest in Peace
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2001
- Messages
- 20,387
- Location
- Texas - Wise County - Sunset
- Tractor
- NHTC45D, NH LB75B, Ford Jubilee
We got most of the rest of our garden planted today. Yesterday, I went to my favorite greenhouse and bought tomatoes and peppers. The tomatoes were cheaper than last year because they are packed in 6-packs. They are $0.59 each or $18 for a flat of 48 plants. That works out to about $0.38 each.:thumbsup: How Walmart can charge $3.38 each for plants and sell any is beyond me. I guess it must be a convenience thing. I never thought of Walmart as a convenience store though.
Anyhow, I got 6 each of Better Boy, Big Boy, Burpee Big Boy, Super Fantastic, Early Girl, Sugar Sweets, Sweet 100, and BHN. I don't think I've ever set out 48 tomato plants, but I am this year. They are in the ground, but spaced a bit closer than in previous years.
For peppers, the greenhouse didn't have a big selection of sweet peppers and pimentos, so I just got 6 sweet banana peppers and 6 bell peppers. I left room in the row to add another 8 or 10 peppers if I find some I want to try.
We planted two rows of Bush Blue Lake beans and two rows of blackeyed peas. We also planted 6 hills of zucchini squash and 10 hills of two types of yellow squash. We also planted 8 hills of cucumbers.
I still want to plant some ****** Melons, okra, and several herbs like basil. I just don't waste my time growing those things I can buy at cheap prices. I buy locally grown corn, cantaloupes, and watermelons because it's just not cost effective for me to grow them.
I get really excited when stuff starts coming up. Our onions an garlic are sprouting up nicely. My sugar snap peas are not coming up with quite the stand I'd like, and it may be that they were planted too deep. I have enough to replant if I don't get a full stand by the 2nd week of April. This is my favorite time of year, planting a garden and dreaming fresh great tasting veggies.
Anyhow, I got 6 each of Better Boy, Big Boy, Burpee Big Boy, Super Fantastic, Early Girl, Sugar Sweets, Sweet 100, and BHN. I don't think I've ever set out 48 tomato plants, but I am this year. They are in the ground, but spaced a bit closer than in previous years.
For peppers, the greenhouse didn't have a big selection of sweet peppers and pimentos, so I just got 6 sweet banana peppers and 6 bell peppers. I left room in the row to add another 8 or 10 peppers if I find some I want to try.
We planted two rows of Bush Blue Lake beans and two rows of blackeyed peas. We also planted 6 hills of zucchini squash and 10 hills of two types of yellow squash. We also planted 8 hills of cucumbers.
I still want to plant some ****** Melons, okra, and several herbs like basil. I just don't waste my time growing those things I can buy at cheap prices. I buy locally grown corn, cantaloupes, and watermelons because it's just not cost effective for me to grow them.
I get really excited when stuff starts coming up. Our onions an garlic are sprouting up nicely. My sugar snap peas are not coming up with quite the stand I'd like, and it may be that they were planted too deep. I have enough to replant if I don't get a full stand by the 2nd week of April. This is my favorite time of year, planting a garden and dreaming fresh great tasting veggies.
We got most of the rest of our garden planted today. Yesterday, I went to my favorite greenhouse and bought tomatoes and peppers. The tomatoes were cheaper than last year because they are packed in 6-packs. They are $0.59 each or $18 for a flat of 48 plants. That works out to about $0.38 each.:thumbsup: How Walmart can charge $3.38 each for plants and sell any is beyond me. I guess it must be a convenience thing. I never thought of Walmart as a convenience store though.
Anyhow, I got 6 each of Better Boy, Big Boy, Burpee Big Boy, Super Fantastic, Early Girl, Sugar Sweets, Sweet 100, and BHN. I don't think I've ever set out 48 tomato plants, but I am this year. They are in the ground, but spaced a bit closer than in previous years.
For peppers, the greenhouse didn't have a big selection of sweet peppers and pimentos, so I just got 6 sweet banana peppers and 6 bell peppers. I left room in the row to add another 8 or 10 peppers if I find some I want to try.
We planted two rows of Bush Blue Lake beans and two rows of blackeyed peas. We also planted 6 hills of zucchini squash and 10 hills of two types of yellow squash. We also planted 8 hills of cucumbers.
I still want to plant some ****** Melons, okra, and several herbs like basil. I just don't waste my time growing those things I can buy at cheap prices. I buy locally grown corn, cantaloupes, and watermelons because it's just not cost effective for me to grow them.
I get really excited when stuff starts coming up. Our onions an garlic are sprouting up nicely. My sugar snap peas are not coming up with quite the stand I'd like, and it may be that they were planted too deep. I have enough to replant if I don't get a full stand by the 2nd week of April. This is my favorite time of year, planting a garden and dreaming fresh great tasting veggies.
Ah, those Super Fantastic VFN
Sweet, low acid, make fantastic juice, salsa, and good to eat breakfast, lunch, and supper.
We can't plant up here till the middle of May, anything that frost will get, so your garden is done by the time ours is starting to be good.
Western
Super Member
Jim, what can we grow cheaper than we can buy?, not counting specialty fruits and veggies
farmgirl19
Elite Member
I can grow yellow crook neck squash, zucchini, okra and tomatoes all cheaper than buying. Tomatoes might be a bit of a break even this year, due to the late freeze and having to replant.
With $1.00 worth of seeds, I can grow over 100 pounds of the squashes, and they are not usually available for less than $0.99/pound. Okra is even harder to find cheaply, and even then, it is old and looks bad. For $1.00 of okra seed (heirloom, at that), I can get hundreds of pounds of okra, so can eat, freeze, pickle, etc. and share! Find it in stores and it will run you $2.00-$3.00/pound!
Not to mention, I know what seed it is, and how it is grown! And that is before we talk about how much better it taste!
With $1.00 worth of seeds, I can grow over 100 pounds of the squashes, and they are not usually available for less than $0.99/pound. Okra is even harder to find cheaply, and even then, it is old and looks bad. For $1.00 of okra seed (heirloom, at that), I can get hundreds of pounds of okra, so can eat, freeze, pickle, etc. and share! Find it in stores and it will run you $2.00-$3.00/pound!
Not to mention, I know what seed it is, and how it is grown! And that is before we talk about how much better it taste!
