Gardening

[Bartcephus]

Folks... its getting about that time to think about your spring garden projects. I've started my seeds in a Burpee starter bed, peppers, (sweet and hot), tomatoes, onions, watermelon. I have my corn, cucumber, peas, beans, squash, pumpkin seeds waiting for the last frost. I ran the middle buster and then disk one garden spot and disk another. Now all I have seen is rain rain rain. Freezing temps at night and more rain.... The onions were the first to germinate and are now about 2" tall, the tomatoes followed and passed the onions, and the watermelon is now emerging right there in my kitchen. The farm is soooooooo wet now. Got the tractor stuck about two weeks ago. Don't even want to try it now. So, am I too ahead of the game? or am I doing it just right or am I behind? What are you guys doing now? (BTW, I'm in Zone 8)

 

[NSBound]

Folks... its getting about that time to think about your spring garden projects. ........... (BTW, I'm in Zone 8)

hahahaha - you are about 3 months ahead of us. Still pushing snow. Zone 5b here.

 

[lakngulf]

I'm in central Alabama and started Celebrity and Better Boy tomatoes on January 31. One seed per grow pod and they are all up and going. Plan is to transfer to larger container this weekend (two weeks from planting). Will plant them deep with just the leaves showing. Also, will start another group this weekend.

Too early? It is good to see something grow, and I want to have some plants ready when the soil temperature will do.

Wet here as well. Nothing but mud to work in.

 

[Trkrd]

I'm a little north of you, and not the gardener of the family (just run the plow and tiller). The wife already has our house looking like a green house. Can't sit down without moving a plant of some kind. Tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, peas, peppers are in the living room now. As I am typing this she just said "If you had built me a green house like I ASKED YOU TO, they wouldn't be in the house !!

 

[bp fick]

Well, seeds have been purchased, trays are stacked up and excitement builds, but we are months away from even indoor planting. Target date to put things in the ground is May 20th and even then, frost is still likely for weeks!!!

 

[LRTX1]

I have had my peppers in the greenhouse since 1st week of Jan. I will transplant those and plant okra, yellow squash, cukes, watermelons, and some other stuff near the end of march. That is in the garden at the house.

I will be planting white acre peas(3.5 acres) as soon as the grass starts to grow and I can get the cows off of the rye field, turned, harrowed. Hopefully that will be middle/late march.

If all goes well my second planting will be 10 acres or so.

 

[charlz]

Well onions are cold tolerant so you are OK on those. Peppers and tomatoes you want to be pretty big by the time you transplant so those also are likely OK. The melons grow pretty fast and need warm soil once you transplant them so you might be early on those. What is your average 'frost free day' (first day of the year where you no longer get frost)?

 

[Bartcephus]

Charlz,

About the first week of March is our last average frost. First time with melons. From what I read, they need a long growing season. So I thought I would give them a head start.... Maybe I should have used that for okra or something?

 

[radioman]

Wow - thats pretty early -- but then you are in zone 8. I cant even think about gardening until april. Then I can plant stuff in may depending on how wet it is.

 

[LRTX1]

Charlz,

About the first week of March is our last average frost. First time with melons. From what I read, they need a long growing season. So I thought I would give them a head start.... Maybe I should have used that for okra or something?

Melons should be somewhere around 90 days. If planted by april 1st, you should have a few for the 4th of july.

As far as okra goes, to get enough for a good mess every third day or so, you would need about 100 +/- feet spaced every 6 inches or so. I wouldnt want that many okra plants in my living room

 

[NSBound]

As I am typing this she just said "If you had built me a green house like I ASKED YOU TO, they wouldn't be in the house !!

Sounds to me like you have a summer project!

 

[rus_geek]

I thought about getting my spring planting in this week. For some reason I couldn't get enough pressure in my garden hose to blow the ice out of my sprinkler nozzles

Actually just getting most of my seeds acquired since they were on sale this past weekend. We'll get our indoor stuff rolling in the first or second week of March. Probably won't put anything in the ground until June unless I build some hoop frames to take care of those last few frosty nights.

Had to remove the 14" drifts from the drive before work this morning, so it'll be a good while before I can see my garden again, much less get to it.

-rus-

 

[Mousefield]

For your planting times ask at the local plant nurseries, different plants get started at different times. Our local ones are great at giving advice.
Wife does the gardening here, she has been buying seeds in the past couple of weeks. Even thought we just had the warmest January on record in British Columbia, Canada we could still get cold weather in the next month or two. Next week the weather is forecast sunshine and will cut our lawn. Then the house gets extra tables by the south facing windows and the greenhouse also gets plants started in it. The three pics of my homemade greenhouse were just taken this morning.

 

[jeffinsgf]

I started my peppers this past weekend. 7 kinds of hot and 4 sweet. Started some cabbage and eggplant, too. Won't start the tomatoes for another couple weeks.

If you're going to start melons, cucumbers or squash indoors, you need to do it just a couple weeks before planting, and that should be after all threat of frost is past. Cucurbits (that family) don't like being transplanted once they're more than a couple weeks old. They want warm conditions for both germination and growing.

As far as okra goes, I don't know how many people LRTX1 is feeding, but about 20 okra plants about a foot apart fed my wife and I all we wanted last summer and filled the freezer, too. I've never started them indoors. They germinate fine when sown directly after all threat of frost is past.

Garlic, shallots and walking onions keep shooting up green through the snow. That's kind of a nice sight. Tough little buggers. First time planting garlic for me. Looking forward to harvesting in July.

 

[Bartcephus]

Thanks for all the advice! I looke at my starter this morning in shock. The tomatoes and onions are almost three inches tall! They are hitting the plastic lid to the starter bed. The melons are coming in and look huge with their thick stalks compared to the onions and tomatoes. Peppers have yet to break the soil. At work today, we got a warning about ice, snow and freezing rain to come in tomorrow, Thursday and Friday. I guess I'll have to replant the melons... I'll wait on the cukes, okra, peas, beans and corn. It will be interesting to see how well these transplant. If they keep growing at this rate they are going to be huge by the middle of March to transplant into the garden. Every year... I learn a little more.

 

[LRTX1]

As far as okra goes, I don't know how many people LRTX1 is feeding, but about 20 okra plants about a foot apart fed my wife and I all we wanted last summer and filled the freezer, too. I've never started them indoors. They germinate fine when sown directly after all threat of frost is past.

You must not eat okra like I do, no breading on mine. Cut and fry in a cast iron skillet, cooked until very browned. Cooking it this way it loses a lot of size. During the summer I cut and eat okra every other day. My 100' row feeds 3 1/2 people, me, the wife, and our 15 year old boy.

I guess my "mess" of okra is larger than most peoples

 

[jeffinsgf]

.... My 100' row feeds 3 1/2 people, me, the wife, and our 15 year old boy.

I guess my "mess" of okra is larger than most peoples

I'm gonna guess that the 15 year old boy makes the difference.

We like it fixed about any way it can be fixed. Stir-fried with tomatoes and corn is a favorite. Found this recipe early this summer. Okra Laced Hoecakes Recipe : Paula Deen : Food Network It is like a piece of fried corn bread full of okra. Yum. Just thinking about them makes my mouth water. Might have to see if it works as well with frozen. Most of my frozen has gone into gumbo, so far.

 

[lakngulf]

Hey, Jeff, do you have a recipe for that gumbo? During the summer I cook 'maters and okra together and freeze it. It is ready for winter soup, or what I call vegetable gumbo. Would be interested to know the definition of gumbo in other areas.

 

[LRTX1]

I'm gonna guess that the 15 year old boy makes the difference.

Yep, he accounts for the extra 1/2.

Okra is also good in chilli.

 

[jeffinsgf]

lakngulf,

There's not much "vegetable" about my gumbo.

I make it after Thanksgiving and Christmas with leftover turkey, a few pounds of andouille, some home cured tasso ham, trinity and okra.

A few times through the winter, the wife will buy a whole chicken and I'll take everything except the breasts and throw it in the freezer. When I get 3 or 4 of them like that, I'll make a pot of gumbo.

Regardless what meat you have, I've always made gumbo about like this.

1) Boil your chicken parts (or left over turkey) in a big stock pot with a bottle of white wine, onions, carrots, parsley and bay leaf and enough water to cover everything.
2) When the meat is done, pull the meat and bones out, cool, pick clean and return bones and skin to stock pot.
3) Simmer stock for at least an hour, then strain out bones, skin and veg.
4) Brown up the sausage in a cast iron skillet.
5) Chop the onions, pepper and celery (trinity).
6) Make a dark brown roux (flour and grease stirred constantly over heat until chocolate brown).
7) Cook the trinity in the roux.
8) Add some of the stock to the roux, then mix the roux into the stock pot.
9) Add the sausage, poultry and tasso. Simmer for about an hour.
10) Add the okra and simmer for at least another half an hour.
11) Season to taste with salt and Tabasco.
12) Serve over rice with crusty bread to soak up the juice.