Spring is slow to settle in--plants are loving it

I keep going out to look at the plants because my tomatoes have NEVER looked so good. I have taken lots of advise about how to grow good tomatoes and what varieties to grow and am having a great year so far. every plant on the lot (20+) was grow by me from seed except for 2 that I got as transplants. I am pleased that the Early Girls are living up to their names--each has cascades of blooms and are setting most of them. So far most plants look to have 5-6 or more tomatoes on them. The San Marzano's are just behind them and since they went in 2 weeks later--doing great. They also have lots of blooms and have set 3-4 tomatoes per plant already. The Supersweet 100s and black cherry are also ramping up as is the Thai Pink Egg (top corner above) We are excited that the new Jaune Flammee(center), an orange tomato is setting clusters of 5-6 tomatoes and is blooming like crazy. They are getting measured water and fertilizer each week and had protection from the cold winds a few weeks ago with row cover. I was really worried as I waited and still they got a bit more cold than I thought they would do.


The herb area and the front part of the garden are getting a real facelift this year. It is fun to make it so colorful and unique. The cucumbers seem to love their rales and the scarlet runner beans are already blooming on the bamboo trellis. I am still not pulling out the peas as it is cool and they are still producing enough to keep us eating a time or so every 10 days. 












The onions I planted last fall are really getting big. I have been scraping back the soil from around the bulbs and think the harvest will keep us in onions for months. I have harvested about half of the green cabbage but none of the purple yet. The heads are doing well and getting big. I was able to trade a couple of heads of the green for eggs and make 3 - 1/2 gallon batches of kraut plus slaw. We intend to eat some cooked too. Brocoli is going well but will bolt if the heat comes on too fast. good thing it is getting within days of picking. I am already planting beans where I had beets this winter. There are only a few beets left out front but I am replanting in the back were there is more afternoon shade. Lettuce too in shadier spots so we have it until bad heat.

New growth as garden goes from winter to spring

I have been so busy trying to rearrange the plants and cope with the crazy weather we are having. Hot days in early spring confuse the plants and are making me cover and uncover to keep things on an even keel.  Got all the tomatoes in just after the last freeze date around March 10th only to have very cold nights a week later--37-39 is not freezing but way too cold for the little guys. I did a different thing in up-potting them that I will do again. I put the seedlings into 4" round pots that fit into quart yogurt containers and had self watering seedling pots. Roots came down, plants grew great and transplanting went really well. No root bound plants.

I put in a second round of broccoli from the nursery and am encouraging the brussel sprouts to make little heads--fighting the bugs. We will see how it goes. Peas are just about done and need to come out so I can plant the blackeyes there or peppers there and blackeyes where the cabbage is.
Was lucky to get another variety of eggplant at the sustainable harvest spring event and put them in and got one more in a plant exchange.
I harvested 3 beautiful cabbages this morning. Biggest yet--around 4-5 lbs. each. I am going to shred some for slaw and kraut and cook some for dinner. well worth planting!

March Garden Guild focus on shade gardening

Wells Branch is an aging neighborhood and with that comes a wonderful cover of shade from mature trees. Or maybe not so wonderful if you're trying to figure out which plants to grow in the lower level of sunshine. Many people also are trying to find perennial or drought tolerant plants to add to their landscaping. 

The March meeting for the Wells branch Garden Guild will help you with all these questions. We are lucky to be having Michelle Pfluger from Green and Growing in Pflugerville to talk to us about shade plantings. In the brief discussion I had with her recently, she reeled off all kinds of ideas to address this "growing problem." Join us March 16th at 11 at 3000 Shoreline  for the presentation and at 10:30 for chat and seed/plant exchanging.

Winter crops coming along

Seemed like such a long time since I planted the cabbage and the cauliflower and broccoli in the beats. All of a sudden all of them are getting ready to harvest. We have been eating beets now for several weeks, both the cauliflower and the broccoli have small heads on them and the brussels sprouts are taking off and putting on lots of their small heads on each stem. The spinach didn't fare too well this winter but we are getting a smattering. The bok choy keeps bolting because of the warm weather however is the flowers are absolutely covered by bees every day. They have put on nice large leaves which I'm harvesting individually. Even the lettuce is finally beginning to produce. I have two different kinds of P is growing and the ones that only get about 2 feet tall are producing well the other ones finally are blooming but they're getting mildew on them so we'll see how they do.

Going inside the greenhouse makes me smile. I have four different kinds of peppers in there and two different kinds of tomatoes as well as basil and one eggplant. All of the peppers are producing nicely and one of my tomatoes given to me by a friend is covered with small tomatoes that we have been able to ripen every few days. I am using the shelf to bring along the tomato seedlings  until I can plant them in March. I have had to move most of the herbs out of the greenhouse and put them in the ground as they're big enough and have tolerated the transplanting.