# Our garden



## HozayBuck

*This was the first time in my life that I planted tomatoes and actually got a crop! And they were wonderful. The Okra was and still is producing but the wonderful yellow squash are done as are the tomatoes... I miss them already!

That was the extent of the garden this year. But next year it will be bigger and better!..

Damn heat is getting bad.. but I know we can feed ourselves damn near year round!...and with a little spit and sweat we can do it thru the winter.

East Texas is wonderful!!*


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## Emerald

Borrow this book from the library (or buy a copy for yourself) Four Season Harvest- Elliott Colman. shows how to start late summer plants that last all winter if taken care of in certain ways.. I want to do this but need to fix my green house and make the cold frames.. but in Texas you won't need to make them as durable against the cold that we get here.


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## Davarm

Hozay,

I think you are on/about the same latitude, there are a number of things that you can plant in the fall and will produce through the winter.

Cabbage
Collard
Beets
Chard
Turnips
Some Mints(with a little attention)

There are others, I am going to do some homework and likely plant some of these things for a winter garden this year.



HozayBuck said:


> *This was the first time in my life that I planted tomatoes and actually got a crop! And they were wonderful. The Okra was and still is producing but the wonderful yellow squash are done as are the tomatoes... I miss them already!
> 
> That was the extent of the garden this year. But next year it will be bigger and better!..
> 
> Damn heat is getting bad.. but I know we can feed ourselves damn near year round!...and with a little spit and sweat we can do it thru the winter.
> 
> East Texas is wonderful!!*


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## LincTex

Wow, have I got you covered!
Save and print all of these that you can use!

http://easttexasgardening.tamu.edu/

http://easttexasgardening.tamu.edu/homegardens/vegtext.html

http://easttexasgardening.tamu.edu/homegardens/fallveggarden.html

http://easttexasgardening.tamu.edu/homegardens/vegetable.html

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/regional/

http://gardening.about.com/od/warmclimategardening/a/Vegetable-Gardeing-in-Warm-Climates.htm

http://donitaworld.com/States/Texas/links.html


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## Moby76065

That was damn nice of ya LincTex

Great site


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## *Andi

Emerald said:


> Borrow this book from the library (or buy a copy for yourself) Four Season Harvest- Elliott Colman. shows how to start late summer plants that last all winter if taken care of in certain ways.. I want to do this but need to fix my green house and make the cold frames.. but in Texas you won't need to make them as durable against the cold that we get here.


I saw this book the last time I went to the bookstore and had to buy it ... I hope you are happy now! 

By~the~way ... Thanks, great book! 

Can't wait to give it a try come fall & winter.


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## Emerald

*Andi said:


> I saw this book the last time I went to the bookstore and had to buy it ... I hope you are happy now!
> 
> By~the~way ... Thanks, great book!
> 
> Can't wait to give it a try come fall & winter.


I want it but have my money tied up in other things right now.. I just borrow a copy from the library and drool over it and try to memorize the parts one by one.. 
I need to get new plastic for my greenhouse and I did buy stuff to make a cold frame. But so far many things are on the back burner due to family stuff. 
He has a new book out too but can't remember the name of it but it is about the fourseason growing too..


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## HozayBuck

*Thank you all!!!

I'm planning a green house, I have to draw out the plan but I got the idea from the "Re-Store" in Tyler, folks donate stuff that still has life and it's resold. they have a ton of old sliding patio doors so I figure I can frame the walls in such a way as to use the sliders.. I can close them when it's colder and open them when it's warm..

Winter nights here get a bit cool but by 10ish it's warming up pretty good .. Just need to figure out where I want to put it.. maybe where it gets morning sun and around 1:00 pm or so the trees will shade it...now to do it lol..

I'd love to have "real" tomatoes all winter...as opposed to those hothouse things that never have the taste to match the look.. my biggest concern is that even in the winter it might get too hot if the sun beats down all day..thus the shade idea..

Again thanks to all for the advice !!*


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## Jim1590

I think there is also a broccoli that you can plant in the fall and harvest late spring. Broccolini I think. I have no exp with it (and the wife is allergic to broccoli) but I recall reading about it. The frost is also supposedly raising the brix count of it. Anyone know more about it?


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## Emerald

JimMadsen said:


> I think there is also a broccoli that you can plant in the fall and harvest late spring. Broccolini I think. I have no exp with it (and the wife is allergic to broccoli) but I recall reading about it. The frost is also supposedly raising the brix count of it. Anyone know more about it?


I've grown something called Broccoli Raab.. may be the same thing it is sweeter in the fall after a nice frost.. gets icky after a hard frost tho..
It also tends to be a tad bit bitter.. so I do what the restaurant I worked in did years ago.. I blanch it in boiling salted water till it just wilts and then drain and cool till I am ready to either steam it or fry it with sausage.. it will still have a bit of bitter tang but not unpleasant. reminds me of radicchio and I like that.
between the fat of the sausage and maybe a bit of good vinegar it really goes well.


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## HozayBuck

Emerald said:


> I've grown something called Broccoli Raab.. may be the same thing it is sweeter in the fall after a nice frost.. gets icky after a hard frost tho..
> It also tends to be a tad bit bitter.. so I do what the restaurant I worked in did years ago.. I blanch it in boiling salted water till it just wilts and then drain and cool till I am ready to either steam it or fry it with sausage.. it will still have a bit of bitter tang but not unpleasant. reminds me of radicchio and I like that.
> between the fat of the sausage and maybe a bit of good vinegar it really goes well.


Anything you gotta work that hard to kill and then use Vinegar to kill the taste...NOT ME!!! lol I hate Vinegar!


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## Emerald

HozayBuck said:


> Anything you gotta work that hard to kill and then use Vinegar to kill the taste...NOT ME!!! lol I hate Vinegar!


good for you.. I use vinegar to enhance things not kill the taste.. 
there edited for all the little babies in the crowd.. of course I can't have an opinion either.. .


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## Storm8

Emerald said:


> good for you.. I use vinegar to enhance things not kill the taste..
> nice to know that the @sshole virus is still going around.


Someone needs to take a chill pill. We all have different likes and dislikes, just because they differ from others does not make them an ahole.


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## Jim1590

Nope it was not the Broccoli Raab I was thinking about. I will find out tomorrow what I recall it from. I think it is a old Chinese version that someone brought here to the US, and started selling it. But I am no where near sure on that. I do think that is has a 200 something day growing cycle, it is intended to last the winter before harvest. As for the name it was going under, I will get that soon.

The mild frost may be the same principle in the Raab raising its brix count. As I find more info, I will post it up.


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## HozayBuck

Emerald said:


> good for you.. I use vinegar to enhance things not kill the taste..
> there edited for all the little babies in the crowd.. of course I can't have an opinion either.. .


Take a pill girl, I was making a joke... jeeze..but no I don't like the stuff.


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## *Andi

Something in the water ... maybe ...:dunno:


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## Jim1590

found it:

http://www.anniesheirloomseeds.com/products/Purple-Sprouting-Broccoli.html


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## tsrwivey

Hozay- cherry tomatoes will continue to produce much longer than regular ones in east TX. They're a lot of trouble to slice up for a sandwich but taste much better than a hot house any day.


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## Meerkat

HozayBuck said:


> *Thank you all!!!
> 
> I'm planning a green house, I have to draw out the plan but I got the idea from the "Re-Store" in Tyler, folks donate stuff that still has life and it's resold. they have a ton of old sliding patio doors so I figure I can frame the walls in such a way as to use the sliders.. I can close them when it's colder and open them when it's warm..
> 
> Winter nights here get a bit cool but by 10ish it's warming up pretty good .. Just need to figure out where I want to put it.. maybe where it gets morning sun and around 1:00 pm or so the trees will shade it...now to do it lol..
> 
> I'd love to have "real" tomatoes all winter...as opposed to those hothouse things that never have the taste to match the look.. my biggest concern is that even in the winter it might get too hot if the sun beats down all day..thus the shade idea..
> 
> Again thanks to all for the advice !!*


 We had a greenhouse out in the yead,lots of work .
Now we have a leanto right up against the house,just step off porch into the GH.Weather no problem,plus the house helps warm it and cool it .


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## HoppeEL4

I find myself often envious of other parts of the nation when it comes to dependable enough springs and summers to grow stuff in...Our springs lately have been colder than they should be and it is now just full on summer. Our last two before this were the same way. Cold streak I think, hope it is not an issue this next year.

I opted out of the gardening at all this year. I am going to build some garden beds and get some professionally prepared mulched soil mix...I know how lame. Our soil in this spot is very acidic, in fact our elderly neighbor who has lived in their home since 1958 said he has had to dump about 1000 pounds of lime a year on it in order to grow stuff in it....The only reason I could think why would be these two lots were wooded just before both places were built in 1958 and 1960, so they were never anything but fir trees for centuries....

I really wish I was at least in a spot in Oregon where I could just plop down some starts or seeds and just watch it take off. We live near the Cascades where settlers came through but it was mainly always just logging and some livestock up through those times. Soils is rich, but so acidic the plants have a hard time taking it all up.

We did take a drive up to Hood River Valley today, now that is some incredible farmland and orchards through there. Got some super red ripe tomatoes some cherries and some early apples. That's a place I have always wanted to live.


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## ContinualHarvest

HoppeEL4 said:


> I find myself often envious of other parts of the nation when it comes to dependable enough springs and summers to grow stuff in...Our springs lately have been colder than they should be and it is now just full on summer. Our last two before this were the same way. Cold streak I think, hope it is not an issue this next year.
> 
> I opted out of the gardening at all this year. I am going to build some garden beds and get some professionally prepared mulched soil mix...I know how lame. Our soil in this spot is very acidic, in fact our elderly neighbor who has lived in their home since 1958 said he has had to dump about 1000 pounds of lime a year on it in order to grow stuff in it....The only reason I could think why would be these two lots were wooded just before both places were built in 1958 and 1960, so they were never anything but fir trees for centuries....
> 
> I really wish I was at least in a spot in Oregon where I could just plop down some starts or seeds and just watch it take off. We live near the Cascades where settlers came through but it was mainly always just logging and some livestock up through those times. Soils is rich, but so acidic the plants have a hard time taking it all up.
> 
> We did take a drive up to Hood River Valley today, now that is some incredible farmland and orchards through there. Got some super red ripe tomatoes some cherries and some early apples. That's a place I have always wanted to live.


Build some raised beds with brackets to put up hoops for plastic sheeting. Extends the season some.

Here is a link to an article with more info.
Raised Garden Bed Hoops


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## HoppeEL4

ContinualHarvest, yeah I am going to have to do this. I will also have to buy some really good compoted mulchy soil from a local garden place to fill them. I am hoping next spring will be good and with all that in place can grow some stuff.

I was going to try my own version of a hoop thing...I was going to make the beds facing east/wesr and put together some adjustable panels, frames on stands really, wiith clear sheet plastic on the frame and this way they can be turned east, west, or simply up above to control the amount of heat needed, then taken off when plants are well established.


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## Dove150

Last November I put in a "Back To Eden Garden". http://www.backtoedenfilm.com/#movie

I love it. Very little to no watering, no weeds and almost one year later the soil is rich compost. I figured the older I get the less hassle I want with my garden.

Another benefit is in the past I always kept rain barrels and was always buying mosquito dunks to fight the mosquitoes. No more rain barrels. I still have mosquitoes (I live in the South) but they are not nearly as bad as they have been.


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## Tank_Girl

Dove150 said:


> Last November I put in a "Back To Eden Garden". http://www.backtoedenfilm.com/#movie
> 
> I love it. Very little to no watering, no weeds and almost one year later the soil is rich compost. I figured the older I get the less hassle I want with my garden.
> 
> Another benefit is in the past I always kept rain barrels and was always buying mosquito dunks to fight the mosquitoes. No more rain barrels. I still have mosquitoes (I live in the South) but they are not nearly as bad as they have been.


Oh that was awesome, Dove and thank you so very much for posting that link!
I've just watched the movie and I'm so excited.:2thumb:

If I could "like" your post a thousand times I would, but I can't, so I'll just do the allowed once and do a little happy dance in my chair! :kiss:


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## HoppeEL4

Dove150, thanks for the link. I also think I am going to try this. I laid in bed thinking about my strategy and decided since I had 8 50# bags of lime (with the intention of it for front lawn) I would mark out the area I want to improve, have husband help me spread it all out, cover with newspaper, then start the layering process. However, we have some of our own mulch here to start with. We have been composting some straw with chicken manure, then there is the hay/horse manure that was composted in the barn we have already piled up outside, then there is the stables down the highway (they do sell it but it is cheap) then we'll top it off with a nice layer of the wood chip compost. No clearing the grassy weediness...just lay it all down in the layers shown now and see if it is workable to some degree in early spring, and just keep adding.

Sad used to be around this town everyone had a horse or cows and you could count on finding plenty of compsted manure, not so much anymore. However....there is this little local dairy in a nearby tiny town I might just go and solicit some of their stuff. Get some local tree company to dump of their new chips, let those sit, add later...

It made me sad we invested in this expensive tiller two years ago to think it may not get used again if this works here.

I am also hopeful, as it seems this soil was so acidic, and hopefully this method will eventually correct it.


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## LincTex

HoppeEL4 said:


> It made me sad we invested in this expensive tiller two years ago to think it may not get used again if this works here.


No biggie ... winterize it properly, so it will start up in the spring. When spring hits, advertise it on Craigslist and you will be sure to sell it for a good price.


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## HoppeEL4

There's an idea...If figure if I use the Eden method then a tiller will not be needed. Works for me since I do not have the height (5'4") or upper body strength to use it on my own, was needing the manly 19 year old son to do it, or my husband. This makes doing the garden something I would want help with, but would not have to need it for the manpower.


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