Texas Spring/Summer Thread

[txdon]

Jim this is my second year only, do you cut the asparagus before it branches or after but before it opens?


Black Swallowtail Butterfly Larva on Dill Weed. I have a bumper crop. I've counted about 50.

 

[Western]

26* this morning, was a cool work night to say the least. At least the wind laid low!!

 

[Bartcephus]

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.

 

[farmgirl19]

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]

Jim this is my second year only, do you cut the asparagus before it branches or after but before it opens?

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]

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]

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.

 

[pacerron]

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]

Jim, what can we grow cheaper than we can buy?, not counting specialty fruits and veggies

 

[farmgirl19]

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!

 

[txdon]

I spent $1 on dill seed and got 50 larva. I don't know anywhere where I can buy them at 2 cents each. Most people will give them away.

 

[farmgirl19]

Dill and basil come back each year, here. The Sage, Tarragon, and Rosemary are everygreen, so get to use them all year long. Great for adding fresh flavor to things you're cooking in the "off" season.

 

[Western]

Farmgirl, I agree on the "better taste" ,but I think it would be a close call on value. I know I have grown lots of okra, to have it fail for one reason or the other so end up buying some anyway:laughing: Some years get more than I can use too!

Then there is man hrs, fertilizer, water. It all has a price. For me it's the enjoyment I get from it. The real value to me is preserving/canning which we intend to get into more. If the economy "tanks", then them squash will be worth a fortune:thumbsup:

 

[Bird]

I know I have grown lots of okra, to have it fail for one reason or the other so end up buying some anyway Some years get more than I can use too!

I didn't know there was any way to make okra fail, except severe lack of water.:laughing: Okra was my best money crop when I was about 12 years old. We had a windmill and well that you couldn't pump dry even if you wanted to, so no shortage of water. I had two looonnng rows of okra that sloped very, very slightly downhill from near the windmill, so I could lay a garden hose at the end of the rows and it would eventually run all the way to the other end. I still remember cutting the okra every other day and I'd take it to town to sell to the grocery stores. Early in the year, they'd pay me 35 cents a pound for it and by late summer it would be down to where I'd only get 5 cents a pound. Of course you could buy a Coke, big candy bar, and lots of other things for a nickel in 1952.

 

[NativeSon]

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.

Farmgirl, I too got caught with the late freeze. So I learned my lesson and will replant after Easter. I just got in a hurry with all the warm weather.

Charlie

 

[jinman]

Ah, those Super Fantastic VFN
Sweet, low acid, make fantastic juice, salsa, and good to eat breakfast, lunch, and supper.

This is a first for me to grow the Super Fantastic. This year I decided to go with Texas A&M's advice for tomatoes in my zone. All my varieties are recommended.

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.

Jim, what can we grow cheaper than we can buy?, not counting specialty fruits and veggies.

Dennis, when I consider all my time and effort plus equipment costs for all gardening tasks, there is no such thing as break-even or even coming close to supermarket prices. However, corn, cantaloupe, and watermelon are three things that are so ridiculously low priced when they are in season that I just cannot be bothered to fool with them myself. This year I am planting ****** melons because they typically run almost $4 each at the fruit stand. I can't even find them in Walmart. By mid-June, Walmart will have loads of melons and cantaloupes from East Texas that are as good as I could grow. The cantaloupes will be less than $1 each and the watermelons around $3.50 each. Corn will be $0.10 to $0.15 per ear. The combination of extremely cheap and delicious tasting is what determines my grow or buy decision.

As Farmgirl19 noted, I can grow okra so well that I keep all I can and still give away almost half of my crop. Fresh okra sells for around $3 a pound at the beginning of the season and doesn't drop much below $2.50 mid-season. With my okra, I can pick and choose what size I want to harvest and get the pods at prime quality. With tomatoes, I figure any money spent on those red tasteless orbs they call tomatoes in the stores is wasted. No matter if they gave them away, I think I'd still grow my own delicious tomatoes.:licking: As long as I can keep the bugs out of my squash and zucs, I have bumper crops. I also have the ability to pick the fruit at exactly the size I know will be most flavorful and tender. Onions. . .well I love green onions with chopped tops in salads and fully developed onions also. I don't have to refrigerate my green onions. I just go pull a few before dinner and build my tasty salad.

I could go on and on, but I'll never beat the price of supermarket veggies; however, the quality and taste of my garden production is unbeatable. Sadly, many of our children today don't know the taste of good veggies. They only know the gas ripened tastelessness of pretty produce with no flavor and fast food with manufactured flavors overloaded with salt and designed to make our children addicted.

 

[Lou66]

, but I'll never beat the price of supermarket veggies; however, the quality and taste of my garden production is unbeatable. Sadly, many of our children today don't know the taste of good veggies. They only know the gas ripened tastelessness of pretty produce with no flavor and fast food with manufactured flavors overloaded with salt and designed to make our children addicted.[/QUOTE]

couldn't agree more Jim.. Lou

 

[jinman]

I didn't know there was any way to make okra fail, except severe lack of water.:laughing: Okra was my best money crop when I was about 12 years old.

Bird, did you notice that Sam's changed the brand of our 'favorite' pickled okra? I bought a new jug, but still have some of the previous brand in my refrigerator. I cooked up a big pot of beans yesterday, so I may have to have some pickled okra with a bowl of beans for lunch. YUM!!!

 

[Western]

Hard to beat pickled okra:thumbsup: I could eat them with almost any meal, same for dinner onions too!

Jim, I agree 100% that garden grown taste better, dont know if it's a "fact", or if the hard work helps:laughing: I know the only time I like packaged turkey (slices) in a sandwich is when I'm camping, but then everything taste better when in the woods for some reason??

I grow a garden for the satisfaction, I enjoy seeing the hard work pay off. My wife only eats Corn, potatoes and steak, so I will grow ALLOT of corn, some potatoes but no "steak"......Steak doesnt play well with other veggies in the garden!!:shocked:

 

[Bird]

Bird, did you notice that Sam's changed the brand of our 'favorite' pickled okra? I bought a new jug, but still have some of the previous brand in my refrigerator. I cooked up a big pot of beans yesterday, so I may have to have some pickled okra with a bowl of beans for lunch. YUM!!!

Yep, I recently finished a jar of the new brand. I think it was just as good as the previous brand. A daughter also gave me a jar of the Talk of Texas brand. I don't think she knew how much cheaper pickled okra is at Sam's Club. Anyway, I'll probably be buying another big jar at Sam's Club very soon.

Incidentally, this morning we were in the Walmart next door to the Sam's Club in Denton and noticed the first fresh corn on the cob for this year. Right now it's 50 cents an ear.