Fall Veggie Picks (Cauliflower) by Patty Leander

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Jay White

Cauliflower’s prima donna reputation is slightly overrated. Yes, it does need consistent moisture and fertile soil, it is susceptible to freezing weather and is stressed by heat but hey, we all have our comfort zones. If you plant the right variety at the right time under the right conditions it will reward you with a large, edible head with a sweet flavor that barely hints of its relation to other members of the cabbage family. White cauliflower is what most gardeners and cooks are familiar with but several varieties produce lovely heads of purple, green and orange.

A colorful cauliflower harvest includes ‘Cheddar’, ‘Snow Crown’, Graffiti’, ‘Green Harmony’ and ‘Veronica’. Photo by Bruce Leander

So how do you keep cauliflower happily growing in your garden? Start with quality, 4-6 week old transplants. Set them in the garden 10-12 weeks before the first freeze in your area and stick with quality hybrid varieties. Here in Texas cauliflower performs better in the fall, when it matures as the weather cools off. Be sure to mulch plants well to help moderate moisture and soil temperature.

If you don’t meet cauliflower’s demands you may end up with an ugly, discolored and distorted head. Photo by Bruce Leander

You can easily grow your own cauliflower transplants from seed. However, it is a little late for that this year. If you want to grow your own transplants you need to start your plants 16 to 18 weeks before the first freeze. If you have to buy transplants, look for strong, healthy transplants at the nursery, but resist the temptation to purchase cauliflower that has already formed a miniature bud. You may think that tiny bud is a head start, but in reality it means that the plant is probably stunted and its growth will never catch up enough to support the formation of that large head of cauliflower that you are anticipating.

Look for healthy transplants; these stunted transplants will never reach their potential. Photo by Bruce Leander

Like broccoli, cauliflower grows best in loose, fertile soil with a pH of 6.0 to 7.5 and responds well to regular applications of soluble fertilizer. Slow, steady growth is essential. Development will be stunted if plants are stressed by lack of water, lack of fertility, too much heat or too much cold and the end result will be puny, unimpressive heads. Plants can handle a light frost but be sure to protect them if temperatures are expected to fall below 28°F.

White cauliflower should be blanched to prevent discoloration by the sun. Use a clothespin, rubber band or twine to tie leaves around newly formed heads. Photo by Bruce Leander

White varieties will need to be blanched to maintain their pure white color and mild flavor. This is simple to do: when the head starts to form wrap the inner leaves around it to keep the sun from discoloring it. Secure the leaves with twine, a rubber band or clothespins. Colored varieties do not require blanching but they are best served raw or roasted; if cooked in water they tend to lose their color.

‘Snow Crown’ is a dependable, vigorous and quick-maturing hybrid. Photo by Bruce Leander

The following varieties are recommended for Texas gardens (number in parentheses indicates days to harvest from setting transplants in the garden):

‘Snowball Y’ (70-80 days): an open-pollinated variety that produces flavorful, 6” heads; not as early as most white hybrids

‘Snow Crown’ (50-60 days): a popular All-America Selections winner that grows well in all regions of Texas; early-maturing plants produce large, uniform heads

‘Graffiti’ (80 days): striking purple heads are worth the extra time in the garden; color fades when cooked in water so best served raw, roasted or lightly steamed

‘Vitaverde’ (76 days): this hybrid “broccoflower” possesses characteristics of both broccoli and cauliflower; suitable for fresh-eating, roasting and stir-fries

‘Cheddar’ (58-68 days): mild-flavored, orange heads contain high levels of beta-carotene

‘Veronica’ (78 days) and ‘Tipoff’ (72 days): these lime-green Romanesco-type cauliflowers of Italian origin produce unusual spiral-shaped heads

‘Veronica’ is a romanesco variety that produces conical whorls of mild-tasting florets. Photo by Bruce Leander

Tree Watering Basics by Janet Laminack

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Jay White

Jay recently contacted me about a question he received on his blog from Gabriel Saldivar.

“I am worried about our Burr oak tree. We planted a 95 gallon burr oak in February of this year in Comal County. Its leaves turned yellow then brown. We got a heavy wind and rain this summer and most of the leaves fell off. I’m worried that it may be in shock and do not know what I can do to help it along the way. I’ve watered it twice a week since we have had it. I do see some new life with some newer leaves coming out. If anyone has any suggestions or know when I should really worry, please let me know.”

As a county agent, I hear questions like Mr. Saldivar’s fairly regularly. Since it is August and many of you are experiencing similar issues, I thought this would be a great time to review the proper way to water your trees.

Trees can be the most valuable asset in the home landscape. They add resale value to the home and they can reduce heating and cooling expenses. Since trees add so much to your landscape (and they are expensive to replace) it is important to learn how to water them correctly. Trees in Texas definitely need supplemental irrigation and they definitely need to be watered differently than the way you water your lawn.

Tree roots are opportunistic and the largest number of roots will be in the location that is most likely to receive rain or irrigation. In most situations, this means roots will be at the drip line, which is out at the edge of where the tree canopy or branches end. Think about where most of the rain will fall when the tree is covered with leaves. Watering right next to the trunk or spraying the leaves of the tree is not as beneficial as watering where natural rainfall would be, a few inches inside and beyond the drip line.

Water tree a few inches inside and outside of their natural drip line

Water trees a few inches inside and outside of their natural drip line

An efficient way to water is by using a soaker hose or drip irrigation. These methods lose very little water to evaporation. Sprinklers work as well, but will need to be adjusted to sufficiently water a tree deeply as compared to watering a lawn. Also, laying down a water hose and letting it slowly run works great, but you will need to move it around the tree periodically to ensure that all areas get sufficient moisture.

Soaker hoses are a great way to deeply water your trees

In order to create a healthy root system, trees should be watered deeply and infrequently. When watering, put down an inch of water at a time or ensure that you have watered to a depth of between 6 to 10 inches. This may sound difficult, but it’s actually very simple to make sure you are getting enough water to your trees. After watering, stick a screwdriver or a shovel into the ground. In most of our soils, it will only go easily in when the soil is moist. If you are using a sprinkler, put out rain gauges or catch cans (use tuna cans) and measure one inch of water being applied.

How often should you water? If we are not receiving adequate rainfall, established trees need a deep watering at least twice a month. Check the soil with your screwdriver. If your twice a month waterings are not doing the trick, increase the frequency.

One more note. The tips listed above are most effective for established trees. Newly planted trees need to be watered more frequently for the first three years of their life. Use your screwdriver to check newly planted trees every week. If the soil around them dries out completely between waterings it can send them into a shock that they may never recover from.

Here is a great video from The Texas A&M Forest Service that highlights the proper tree watering techniques discussed above.

I share these posts on Our SimpleHomestead Blog Hop. Be sure to stop by. The “hop” has tons of great information from gardeners and homesteaders all over the world!

Fall Veggie Picks (Broccoli) by Patty Leander

Posted on August 20, 2013 by Jay White

Broccoli comes with its own bonus: sides shoots form on the plant after the main head is harvested

Broccoli belongs to a big, health-promoting family of vegetables known as the brassicas; sometimes referred to as cole crops. From arugula to turnips, this nutrient and phytochemical packed group includes Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, kale, mustard, radish and numerous Asian vegetables. Broccoli ranks near the top as one of America’s all-time favorite garden vegetables and for good reason. If given a good start and proper care it is easy to grow, and all parts of the plant – crunchy stalks, hearty leaves and deliciously tender flower buds – are edible. And broccoli offers a bonus of multiple side shoots that are produced after the main head is harvested.

Home-grown broccoli transplants ready to be set out into the garden

Like all brassicas, broccoli is a cool season plant. It grows best in a temperature range of 50°-80° and once established can tolerate temperatures into the low 30s. Broccoli should be transplanted into the garden in early fall and if time and space allow stagger your plantings over a 2-3 week period so that all those heads of broccoli are not ready to harvest at the same time. Here in Central Texas we generally start planting in early September and continue into October. Check with your local Extension office or ask experienced gardeners for appropriate planting times in your area.

It takes a big, healthy plant to grow a big delicious head of broccoli

In order for broccoli to develop a big head it needs to first develop strong roots and healthy leaves. Prepare the soil by working in a layer of compost and about ½-1 cup of complete fertilizer per 10 foot row. A 15-5-10 lawn-type fertilizer (15% nitrogen, 5% phosphorus, 10% potassium) offers an adequate amount of nitrogen to support leafy growth but if you prefer to use an organic garden fertilizer double the amount since the percentage of nitrogen will likely be lower. Give plants plenty of room to grow by spacing them at least 12-18” apart. Water transplants in with a water soluble fertilizer diluted to half strength and for the first week or two use shade cloth, an old window screen or even an umbrella to help protect young transplants from the heat and sun. Broccoli will be ready to harvest in about 8 weeks but stress caused by high heat, lack of moisture or insect damage in the early stages will slow growth and cause smaller heads. Give plants a boost by sidedressing with 2-4 tablespoons of high nitrogen fertilizer when the head begins to form and again just after harvest. Ammonium sulfate (synthetic) and blood meal (organic) are both good choices.

A little shade will give young transplants a chance to acclimate to their new environment. BTW, did you see that A&M is ranked Number 7!!!

The main pest to watch out for is the cabbage looper which can do serious damage in a few short days. Carefully check the underside of the leaves for the small, green worms and remove them or dust them with a product that contains Bt. Considered an organic control, Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) is a naturally occurring bacterium that lives in the soil and is toxic solely to caterpillars. Be careful to spray it only where caterpillars are doing damage and repeat applications following label instructions.

‘Blue Wind’ broccoli grows happily in a large pot

Hybrid varieties of broccoli include ‘Arcadia’, ‘Belstar’, ‘Green Goliath’, ‘Marathon’ and ‘Packman’. Popular open-pollinated varieties include ‘De Cicco’ and ‘Calabrese’, both heirlooms that came to America with Italian immigrants in the late 1800s. Rather than forming one large head, these sprouting broccolis produce a few smaller central heads followed by several side shoots. ‘Blue Wind’ and ‘Small Miracle’ are suitable for container cultivation. Don’t confuse sprouting broccoli with broccoli raab, which may have broccoli in its name but is more closely related to turnip and shares that typical sharp, slightly bitter flavor.

Nacogdoches Named the Garden Capital of Texas – By Greg Grant

Posted on August 15, 2013 by Jay White

The following post was written by Greg Grant and is used with his permission. It has been previously published in “Shelby County Today”.

It’s official. The oldest town in Texas, is now the garden capital of Texas.

A bill authored by District 11 State Representative Travis Clardy was signed by Texas Governor Rick Perry on May 2, 2013 designating Nacogdoches as the Garden Capital of Texas.

This is why Nacogdoches was given this honor. This a picture in the Ruby M. Mize azelia garden on the grounds of Stephen F. Austin Universtiy.

At a ribbon cutting and dedication held at the Stephen F. Austin State University Pineywoods Native Plant Center, author, historian, and father of the LaNana Creek trail, Professor Ab Abernathy made the following speech.

Nacogdoches is a garden city. It was named after its first gardeners, the Nacogdoches tribe of the Caddo Indians. Thirteen hundred years ago the Nacogdoches Indians lived on the high ground between the two full- flowing, spring-fed creeks. Their name, Nacogdoches, meant “from the place of the high ground” (some sources say “persimmon eaters”). The Spanish came to the place on the high ground between the two creeks in 1716. They named the creek on the east La Nana, meaning “the Nurse,” and the one on the west La Banita, “The Little Bath.” The first gardeners–the first agrarian culture in Texas–were these Caddos, who brought gardening with them from their eastern homes. They raised corn, squash, and pumpkins. They cultivated a variety of beans, sunflowers, and tobacco; and they created the strongest and most advanced Indian culture in Texas.

The Nacogdoches Caddos gardened on the high ground between the two creeks for well over a thousand years. The Spanish learned the Caddo’s gardening ways, and added a dimension of herbs and spices to the garden plots.

A lovely perrenial border on the grounds of Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches

Anglo settlers began coming to and through the Gateway to Texas in the early 1800s. In 1832 at the Battle of Nacogdoches they ended Spanish military control in all of East Texas. In 1836, after the Battle of San Jacinto, Nacogdoches became a settlement in the Republic of Texas, and after 1846 Nacogdoches became a city in the Lone Star State in the United States.

In the 1830s, during the troublesome, birthing times of Texas, Nacogdoches gardened. C.A. Sterne describes Adolphus Sterne’s home:

“My father took great pride and interest in his gardens and orchard. There were three gardens on the place. The one on the north was devoted to flowers, with a great variety of roses and rare shrubs and plants, which he had brought from Louisiana, and which had been imported from France.”

“In the center of the garden was a summer house, which was covered with morning glories and multiflora roses. The fence was covered with woodbine and yellow jasmine. The south garden had vegetables of every variety. The west garden was the orchard with a variety of fruit trees and a butter bean arbor running the entire width of the garden. My father often resorted to the butter bean arbor to read and study.”

When Frederick Law Olmsted (designer of Central Park, the Biltmore estate landscape, etc.) came to Nacogdoches in 1853, he said of the town: “The houses along the road…stand in gardens, and are neatly painted–the first exterior sign of cultivation of mind since the Red River.”

Nacogdoches became a modern town in the 20^th century with parks and landscaping. It became a city of prosperous houses and ornamental gardens along the Camino Real. Its grandest show of flowers and foliage, however, developed around the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University (founded in 1923 as Stephen F. Austin State Teacher’s College). The SFA campus was from its beginning a flourishing garden of blooming plants and flowering trees and shrubs. SFA now is the center of the most prosperous and prominent set of flowering gardens in the State of Texas. SFA hosts the largest azalea garden in the state and Nacogdoches was named the first Azalea City in America.

Hydrangeas thrive in the acidic soil of Nacadoches,

The university is home to the Pineywoods Native Plant Center, the Mast Arboretum, the Gayla Mize Garden, the Kingham Children’s Garden, and the SFA Recreational Trails and Gardens. Collectively these gardens contain the state’s largest botanical collections of azaleas, baldcypress, boxwood, camellias, gardenias, hollies, hydrangeas, magnolias, and maples. For more information on these gardens visit sfagardens.sfasu.edu.

In addition to a number of public parks and walking trails, Nacogdoches is also home to the Durst-Taylor Historic House and Gardens, the Adolphus Sterne Museum and Gardens, and the Master Gardener Demonstration Garden.

In concluding his speech Dr. Abernathy went on to say:

The development of the beauty of gardens, parks, and trails is not for the purpose of luring tourists or improving business, although both areas will profit from such ventures. Natural beauty is encouraged for its own sake and for the fact that life among gardens, trees, flowers, and flowing water is richer and kinder than life among strip malls and parking lots. The Garden Capital of our beautiful and beloved Nacogdoches deserves no less than to be a setting for such a life.

Summer Vacation

Posted on August 12, 2013 by Jay White

A view of Mt. Baker from the ferry that shuttled us between the San Juan Islands

Sally and I just got back from a much needed vacation to the Pacific Northwest. This post is not a back handed attempt to make you look at my vacation photos. However, I saw so many amazing horticultural things while I was there, I didn’t think you would mind. Since most of us grow in a place with too much heat and not enough water, I thought you would enjoy seeing what happens to plants when they get plenty of water and just the right amount of heat.

These flowers were organically grown in the field on San Juan Island. This picture was taken on July 29. I promise, there is nothing like this blooming in “my fields” on July 29.

Our youngest daughter Whitney recently moved to Seattle to build a floral design firm that specializes in organic, field grown, fresh cut flowers. Because of all of her contacts, she was a great little tour guide.

The Madrone is a native tree to the area. It has red bark and lime green skin. While photographing this, an attractive, sharply dressed 60ish woman told me the first time she “dropped acid” she saw one of these and thought it was the drugs that made it turn such crazy colors. I assure you, I have never heard a story like that in Brenham!

Our first stop was The Good Earth Centre. This organic vegetable farm is the brain child and passion of Gary Miller and Amy Plant. Gary and Amy are two people that are truly committed to leaving the earth better than they found it. This farm is much more than a business. They practice no till, 100% organic and sustainable methods to provide the highest quality produce possible to the local restaurants that serve a clientele that cares very strongly about how their food was produced. By serving as a host farm for interns from the Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms and hosting self-sufficiency workshops and seminars, they are influencing the way the next generation of farmers grow and care for the earth. Whitney met this couple when she was WOOFing on their farm. It was indeed a pleasure for me to meet the two dedicated and visionary people that made a big impact on my daughter’s future in the world of sustainable agriculture.

The fields of the Good Earth Center. If you are going to farm, you might as farm in a place that looks like this!

The fields of the Good Earth Centre. If you are going to farm, you might as farm in a place that looks like this!

After leaving the Good Earth Centre we made our way to Lopez Village. We spent the next three days exploring all that the San Juan’s had to offer. Even though the natural beauty was over whelming, the ornamental plantings are what really captured my attention. I was surprised to see the same flowers growing up there as we grow down here. However, their flowers were bigger, brighter and healthier. One of the first things that stopped me in my tracks was a bed of FIVE FEET TALL DAISIES! Evidently, if you are a flower grower that wants to grow the best possible daisies, lavender, snapdragons, buddleia or anything else, the the Pacific Northwest is the place to be. Everywhere we went I kept thinking “This must be what the Garden of Eden was like and I live in the place that God sent them to after the unfortunate incident with the apple”.

My lovely wife in front of a bunch of gerber daiseys that are almost as tall as her!

My lovely wife in front of a bunch of gerber daisies that are almost as tall as her!

Now before I carry on too much about how horticulturally wonderful things are up there, let me assure you that I did find at least one thing that they can never do as well as we do here in Texas — grow a tomato! Since tomatoes need high temps with hot nights to properly develop their sugars, the Northwest will never ever be able to grow a tomato that tastes any better than those pale and pasty things offered by the chain grocers.

I found these lovely hierloom tomatoes at the Friday Harbor Farmers Market on San Juan Island. They sure were pretty and I paid $1 a piece for some. They were sweet and watery. They may grow pretty flowers but they need to leave the tomato growing to us!

Fall Garden Experiment – Growing Sweet Potatoes in Containers

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Jay White

Back in the spring I did another one of my experiments. I planted marigolds all around four Roma tomato plants to see if they would keep away the stink bugs. When I did it, I really didn’t expect too much. Even though the belief that marigolds repel stink bugs is so pervasive that it is assumed to be a fact, I wanted to see for myself.

Marigolds surrond the Roma tomatoes in my potager

Well, I am happy to report that I was wrong (kind of). Based on my results, there may be some truth to the belief that planting marigolds with tomatoes helps repel bugs. Early in the season, when I compared the number of bugs on my marigold encircled tomatoes to those planted in my row garden, the insect numbers were much lower. However, by the end of the season (when the marigolds were infested with spider mites and stink bug populations were high) there appeared to be no noticeable difference. Based on this, I am willing to say that if you want to use marigolds to repel bugs in your tomatoes, it is worth giving it a try. While the marigolds will not keep your plants bug free, they do apparently reduce the severity of infestations over the season.

I did the marigold experiment to test a “horticultural fact/wives tale”. The one I am doing now is using sweet potatoes to test a couple of things. First, I want try and figure out why you have to grow sweet potatoes from slips. Quite frankly, I don’t think you do. However, this practice is so widely accepted that I could find absolutely nothing on the internet about growing sweet potatoes without slips. Based on this highly unscientific research, the uninitiated might believe it is impossible to grow sweet potatoes without using slips. I know this is note true. I mean nature doesn’t produce slips that have to transplanted. No, sweet potatoes have survived for thousands and thousands of years by making a tuber that stays dormant in the ground until temperature and day length tells it to start producing vines.

My first experiment is to see if you get more potatoes from slips than you do from planting a whole potato. To test this I am growing sweet potatoes in two raised containers. The containers I am using are “Smart Pots”. These “Smart Pots” are 15 gallon fiber bags that are designed for growing squash and potatoes.

I filled both pots with an identical media that I created by mixing river sand and mushroom compost in equal parts. In one of the containers, I have planted a whole sweet potato. In the other container I planted a slip. If everything I have read is true, I should be able to dump my pots over in 100 days or so and harvest a bunch of sweet potatoes. It will be interesting to see which method produces the most potatoes.

I love the heart shapped foliage of sweet potatoes

This leads to the second test. I have grown sweet potatoes in my gardens before. However, my gardens are built on black clay. Because of this, even though the sweet potatoes grow pretty well, they are very difficult to get out of the ground. Since I truly love sweet potatoes, I am hoping that growing in pots will provide me a way to produce a respectable crop that is easy to harvest. If it works out I will have absolutely no problem switching from growing them in the ground to growing them in pots.

Wish me luck and don’t forget to check back in a 100 days or so to see how it goes!