HomeGrownVegetables

Corn Planting

After last week visiting Cathy’s family in San Angelo, we had to bring it on home to plant some corn!

We seeded two varieties , some yellow flint and Funk’s G90 both Available at New Waverly Feed and Farm supply, ask for Kim, she’s the boss!  Anyway we got the trusty seeder and the tiller out and got to planting.  Its only been a week and a few are starting to come up , but the lack of water may be slowing it down. We haven’t had any rain in a while, so it’s irrigation time…hello water bill!

As they come up , you’ll be the first to read about it ! Stay Tuned!

Other Seedlings in the News!

I posted a while back about the seedlings we started, here is the update on those very same plants. they are going gangbusters, I’m gonna try to get them in the ground this week, since them temps seem to be staying warm enough. Take a look at the tomatoes!

Ok that last pic is Shallots and Elephant Garlic that I have in a container as a little experiment.

The tomatoes are mostly Roma and San Martzano paste style along with some Bradleys and some yellow variety that I have forgotten the name of.  Also a few different types of Asian chiles for some Kick!

As for the rest of the Garden, it’s coming along, the onions, garlic and peas are  right on track, Keeping up with the weeding is a bear, you know the drill… never enough time to do all that needs to be done.

The Purple hulls have really taken off in the last two weeks, we have pea pods everywhere!

I planted this patch with the Earthway Seeder, and after some tinkering I got the seed plates set just right. It didn’t take anytime for the peas to sprout and start growing, even with the rain deficit we are currently in.  And with a light application of 13-13-13 all purpose fertilizer, I know, I ran outta compost on the tomatoes earlier and I don’t have enough made up yet!  Maybe next time huh?, they are really greening up and growing up!

Anyway here is a before and after view of the pea patch, for your viewing pleasure!

Pea Patch Before.

Pea Patch After.

These pics are around three weeks apart, there are flowers all over and small to medium pods on most of the plants.  The weeds aren’t too bad , I tried to keep up but it just gets ahead of ya!

Note to self : next time space the rows better for easier cultivating!!

Anyway, enough about my laziness, I did find a few pods that were pretty good size.

Pea Pods

Again, don’t mind those weeds!

So i’m lookin forward to some purple hulls in a few more weeks!

The okra is coming along slowy but sure, it was also planted with the Earthway, and they went in very uniformly.  Looks like a pro planted it !

Okra Rows

I did leave the rows spaced so I could run the tiller through them, at least until they get up a little taller and can choke the weeds out themselves.

So there ya have it, we have been awful busy, but it looks like it’s gonna pay off soon!

Again thank for stopping by and we’ll see ya next time!

After several years of hand working gardens, tending milk cows and goats, raising a few pigs we finally decided to get a tractor.  After several weeks of shopping we finally came across Calvin at Allied Power Mart , he made us a deal and we took it.

We got a used rental tractor, Kubota L5740 with 178 hours,Front end loader,  a round bale spear, and a 60 inch tiller for a real good deal, they even delivered it to us, They are a real class act there at allied… and no this isn’t a paid endorsement.

Delivery Day

We didn’t wait long to try it out, we hooked up the tiller and started in on a 40 x40 foot plot that has sort of grown over, lemme tell you , it cut thru the overgrown weeds like butter, what would have take a whole day with a walk behind tiller took about 15 minutes, and that was with my brother-in-law and me taking turns on it and marveling at our achievements, Here take a look!

Tilling the garden plot

Like i said it chopped thru weeds and soil and left a smooth patch of dirt, you could hardly see any vegetable matter left.

60 inch tiller

You can see on the right side what the patch looked like prior to the tilling, and the results on the left side after just one pass, its smooth.

Before the tilling

Here is a better shot, you can still see the rows in the bottom right, that’s from previous cropping, it flattened those out too.

After 2 passes, here it is

As you can see it does a very thorough job smoothing out this plot, i’ll be planting as soon as the last frost date comes up in a few weeks!

Well thanks for checking by again, I’ll keep you updated on the planting soon!

Some Ideas For Your Spring Garden Preparations.

Here in my zone, it won’t be long until the cold weather goes away for a while, and will be replaced with the scorching temps that Southeast Texas is known for. In between those two extremes is the three week period known as Spring, when fair weather and sunshine prevail.

Until then the time is nye to make the preps for the long gardening season ahead. So here are some ideas to get you jump started.  Oh and If your are still under the 6 week sentence of  Punxsutawny Phil, adjust you times accordingly.

1. Order Some Seeds!

Get your seed catalogs out and order your new crops, get the beans, get the lettuce, get the melons , just get something! Also make sure you get the right crops for the right season!  There is no way I can grow lettuce  anytime after June in my area, its just way to hot.

2. Prepare the Planting Beds.

No matter if you till , or follow the no till, lasagna methods of bed prep, now is the time to start. I have loads of unraked leaves that haven’t made it to the compost pile yet, If you till, now is the time to work them in to the soil, They need time to break down properly.

Set up some raised beds, I have used concrete blocks landscape timbers, old tires, the possibilities are endless.  Also set up any fencing to keep the pests and varmints out! Bird netting too, don’t forget the bird netting! Its a life saver.

3. Start Some Seeds!

When the seeds you ordered come in, or the seeds you saved from last years garden, you did save some seeds didn’t you? You’ll need to start the seeds. Some plants do better being direct seeded, others do better with a head start, tomatoes are one example.

You can use the “Mini-Greenhouse”  kits you get at the box stores, or if you have a florescent light , and some space you can make a better homemade set up…Look for my post on this coming soon!  Anyway, use some loose seed starting soil and get to it, In five to fifteen days the seeds will begin to sprout, keep the grow light close to the seedlings so they don’t get to leggy!

Before you plant the seedlings, let them acclimate outside for a few days, wait till the weather will cooperate, this will keep the new tender plants from getting “weather shock”.

Well I hope these ideas get you started on the way to a great garden this year, lemme know what you get planted when the time comes, I’ll keep ya’ll up to date too!

And as always , thanks for stopping by!