Sunday, February 27, 2011

More Spring Planting!

Spring is here in South Texas and I couldn't be happier.  But mind you...we are not completely free of a few more frosts and cold nights.  It's too early to put tomatoes, peppers, squash, eggplant, beans and cantaloupe in the ground, but there's plenty of cool weather vegetables that can be planted now.  If we are expecting a frost or very cold night, I'll just cover the beds with a large frost blanket.  Easy fix :)


Early last week, I set the soaker hoses in 2 of the three beds I prepped (the 3rd one already has my 1015 onions in it), and planted the following: 

"Originally from Europe and grown for over a century for its distinct peppery flavor.  Leaves and white flowers are all edible.  Great in salads or lightly sauteed with garlic and pine nuts over pasta.  Plant early spring or late summer as it prefers cool weather.  High in protein for a green."

 "Diminutive, sweet romaine from England.  Compact heads with dense, blanched hearts and fine long standing flavor.  The small size and tight heads are a real space saver."

"Beautiful luminescent, bright golden leaf petioles are striking in the garden and on the plate.  Leaves are light to dark green and semi-savoyed.  Steamed or in a stirfry, a great midsummer alternative to spinach, but will produce well into fall.  Baby leaves are great in salads."

"A gorgeous burgundy beet with a flattened globe to round shape that tapers subtly and keeps a uniform size.  Delicious dark green and burgundy leaves with deep red petioles.  More vigorous than most red beets."

 "Highly frilled, deep red leaves that grow slowly but resist bolting.  Excellent as a cut and come again lettuce and stunning in salad mixes."

 
 "Well balanced, earthy, sweet flavor, made the the winner in our (Seeds of Change) recent taste trials.  Shorter roots perform well in heavy or shallow soils.  A popular choice since 1929.  Stores well."

 "Golden roots that are both sweet and round make for a unique beet variety.  The attractive and nutritious, deep green tops feature contrasting yellow stems and are mild flavored and delicious when cooked.  45 days for baby-sized roots; 60 days for full size."

 "Striking reddish purple with a nearly coreless brilliant orange interior.  Good raw, cooked and juiced.  Freezes well for storage.  Unique color and fine sweet taste are sure to be a hit with children.  Slicing and peeling reveals marvelous contrast of colors.  Bred by John Navazio." 

So...as you can see my spring garden is well underway :)  As a matter of fact, the arugula has already begun to germinate!  And I saw a couple of the Little Gem Romaine lettuce heads beginning to peak through the soil this morning. 
 


I just *love* it when the first tiny seedlings begin to poke their little green heads through the dirt!  I'm one of those weird people that goes out to the garden every day and peers closely at each row to see if anything has begun to germinate.  

My plan is to succession plant the red leaf lettuce, carrots and the beets by planting another row of each in about two weeks.  

I have such high hopes for my spring garden this year.  I've learned so much since getting back into gardening full throttle these past few years.  Wish me luck and I'll surely keep you posted :)

11 comments:

  1. I am one of those weird people that check the garden out for new growth as well.we are enjoying the 70 plus weather by planting. Hopefully the cold spells are gone. Your garden choices look great!

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  2. Ahh, your post gives me hope that Spring will come. Still waiting...

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  3. Hello Fellow Texas Gardener! Where in Texas are you? I couldn't tell by your blog. But yes, we garden geeks look for the tiniest sign of anything beginning to grow. Good to hear from you...thanks for stopping by!

    Yes, Carolyn, it will come soon. I know we are very blessed in this part of South Texas to be able to garden virtually year round. So good to hear from you!

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  4. I'm a geek too and say so proudly! I look forward to watching your garden grow too ;) Best of luck!

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  5. I'm planning on planting some of the same veggies from Seeds of Change!! I'm growing candy striped and gold beets and yellow and purple carrots in containers. :o)

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  6. Ya, but gardening geeks are very cool people! I'm real excited about my garden this year. Let's hope I don't screw it up!

    That's exciting TS! I looked at the candy striped beets, too; they are beautiful! Good luck with your garden! Can't wait to hear about it :)

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  7. Hello Diane,
    you are right, Spring is finally here and I really don't think temperature to dip down close to freezing anymore here in the Houston area. Thank God! Yesterday's high was in the mid 80's here just north of Houston.
    I'm not so much vegetable gardening, I'm more the plant and flower gardener but reading your posts about what you are planting makes me getting all excited for you.
    BTW, thanks for visiting my store and your kind words about my store. I really appreciate that very much.

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  8. Hi Paula Jo! Yes, I think Spring is here; but we here in the hill country will get at least one more freeze and likely a few more frosty nights. But there is usually plenty of warning to cover the plants! Thanks for your encouragement on my garden. Maybe I've bitten off more than I can chew...only time will tell. Thank you for visiting :)

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  9. Greetings from Southern California

    I added myself to follow your blog. I invite you to visit my blog and follow me if you want too.

    God bless you :-)

    ~Ron

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  10. Hi Diane,
    don't discourage yourself! You are doing just fine I bet.
    What concerns Spring so we are a little ahead of the beautiful Hill Country. It really would rock me off the chair if we see another night temperatures dipping down to a freeze. Currently we have over night temperatures in the mid to upper 40's and I think that's as low as it will get. But you are right, the Hill Country might still see a couple cold nights. Isn't it amazing, we are actually living only a couple hours away from each other and still, there can be quite a bit of a difference in the temperatures.
    God Bless You
    Paula Jo

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  11. Thanks, PaulaJo! I'm just a geek when it comes to my garden. The temperature here in the hills dipped to about 31 degrees last night...a light frost. And I'm glad I put my lemon tree in the greenhouse and covered my new little seedlings. We'll probably get a few more nights like this, but as long as we don't have *days* of freezing temps...I'll be happy! And yes, Texas is such a big state that the temps can vary soooo much from region to region!

    Hi OldGeezer (gosh...I don't mean to be rude) thanks for visiting and linking to my blog!

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