Week 41 Tips for the Zone 9 Garden

Posted on October 9, 2015 by Jay White

Well, summer is refusing to leave. It is hard to believe that after the record rainfalls of spring, we are slowly slipping back into a drought situation. Because of this, take time this weekend to do some deep watering of your trees, shrubs and other perennials. Below are some more things you can do in your yards and gardens this weekend.

Now is a great time to plant lettuce from seed and shallots. I grow them together in the beds of my potager.

VEGETABLES

Plant greens – Now is a good time to plant spinach and lettuce from seed. I use my Cobrahead Hand Hoe to make a shallow furrow in soil that has been well worked with compost. I spinkle the seeds and then cover lightly. Most greens need some light to germinate os do not plant too deeply or compact the soil too tightly after planting. Keep the soil moist until the plants are at least 1 inch high.
Plant shallots –. While it is still too early to plant bulbing onions, you can plant shallots now. I grow three varieites of shallots. These keep us in onions through the winter and we use their tops in in soups and salads.

My “Crimson Glory” roses are putting on their fall show. Feed your roses now with high phosphorus fertilizers

ORNAMENTALS

Feed your roses – Most of my roses are putting on their fall show. Feed them now with a high phosphorus fertilizer and give them regular water until the first freeze
Gather seeds – My wife loves saving seeds. By this time some of our zinnias and bachelor buttons are beginning to look pretty ragged. Sally pulls up the entire plant, ties them in bundles and then hangs them upside down in our garage. Once they are dry she crushes the seed heads into paper bags, lables them, and them places them in the refrigerator to be used next spring.
Plant poppies – Thanks to my wife’s efforts we have lots of poppy seeds saved from last year. Scatter them on the ground and then drag a rake over them. Water and then forget them. Wait until April and enjoy one of the most prolific and showy flowers of the spring garden
Divide Daylily and iris now – I dig up the entire clump and then beak them up into individual plants. I space my daylilies about and iris about a foot apart.

This weekend is a great time to divide day lilies and iris.

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!

Winter Garden Chores

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Jay White

There is always something to do in the Texas garden – even in the winter. Granted, winter does kind of reduce the number of tasks, but our mild winter ensures that we can be outside tending or growing something every single month of the year. While there are several tasks in winter that can help us get our gardening fix, winter gardening does have its challenges. It seems like every time I need to weed or plant or harvest it is either raining or miserably cold. Sunday was a perfect example of this. Despite the cold and the standing water in my rows, nature had decided to provide me with a bountiful brassica harvest; as long as I was man enough to brave the elements and harvest it.

The broccoli I harvested this weekend was planted on Sept. 28. It will continue to produce for me until April or May. Photo by Bruce Leander.

I am proud to say, I sucked it up and was richly rewarded for my efforts. Once I got in the garden and started cutting my cole crops I didn’t even notice the cold. Before long I had harvested six pounds of broccoli, some gumbo onions, a bunch of baby carrots and a three pound head of cauliflower. I don’t know about you but nothing gets my garden juices flowing more than a good harvest. As I worked I actually forgot about the cold and enjoyed myself in my muddy little garden. When I brought the veggies in I was reminded again why I love gardening in Texas. I really can enjoy healthy, organic produce year round.

While I was in the garden I also noticed lots of broad leaf weeds that were doing about as well as the broccoli. So, while I was out I took the hoe to them. Hoeing is not nearly as much work on a 40 degree day. Because it was such a “pleasant afternoon” I actually enjoyed chopping through all of the dandelions and thistles that were popping up.

This weekend I harvested my first cauliflower of the season – a three pounder! Photo by Bruce Leander

Luckily, not all winter gardening chores have to be done outside. It is currently time to do what I consider the most important gardening task of the entire year —STARTING YOUR TOMATO TRANSPLANTS!!! If you live in zone 9 you need to get your seeds started by January 15 to ensure you have big, healthy transplants on March 15. My friend, and MOH contributor, Patty Leander has a great article in this month’s Texas Gardener magazine on growing your own tomatoes from seed. If you don’t subscribe I really recommend picking up this issue. Her article is awesome.

It is time to start those tomato seeds! There is no other way to ensure you have the varieties you want when planting time comes. Photo by Bruce Leander

Gumbo Onions

Posted on February 4, 2014 by Jay White

There are two things that really get my gardening juices flowing–pass along plants and discovering a new, exceptionally good variety of something. This year I received a true gift – a pass along onion that has turned out to be the best green onion I have ever grown. The “Gumbo Onion” is everything you look for in a green onion. The white bulbs are firm and spicy and the green leaves taste great and are firm enough to be easily chopped.

These “gumbo onions” have been grown in the same family for over 100 years

I got my “Gumbo Onions” from fellow Texas Gardener writer Patty Leander. Patty got her starts from Chris Corby who is the editor of Texas Gardener. Chris got these amazing onions in the mail from L. E. Andrews of Houston. L. E. sent Chris several of these amazing onion bulbs. L.E. told Chris that the onions came from a family of Cajuns from south Louisiana who migrated to Texas. They have been growing these onions in the same family for well over 100 years.

Shallots are grown just like regular onions. Only they have no day length limitations.

Mr. Andrews’ “gumbo onions” are technically shallots. Shallots (A. cepa var. aggregatum) are a variety of the onion family (Allium cepa) that reproduces primarily by division. Plant a single shallot bulb and that bulb will create several “off sets” from the main bulb. Because of this growth habit some people call them “garlic onions”

Each shallot bulb will reproduce by creating several “offsets” around the main bulb.

Shallots are not grown in large numbers in the U.S. I am beginning to see them in a few feed stores and nurseries in my area. However, most of the varieties that I am aware of are still passed from gardener to gardener. Shallots are grown just like regular onions (except you don’t have to worry about any day length issues). Plant them in the fall for an early spring harvest or in the early spring for a summer harvest. Do not plant them in soil that has been recently manured. Shallots should be planted with the root scar down and the pointy end up. Stick them in the ground deep enough to just cover the top of the offset. Now all you have to do is water and weed.

L.E. Andrews’ “gumbo onions” are the best green onions I have ever grown.

I am thankful for people like L.E. Andrews. He, and others like him, are preserving our horticultural past by growing these old timey varieties that have slowly fallen out of favor with the nursery trade. I am so glad that he decided to share his heirloom onions and their story with those of us that will appreciate them and hopefully keep them growing for another 100 years.

BTW, if you live north of I10, it is time to get your onions and shallots in the ground!

Planting the 2012 Spring Potager

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Jay White

March 15 is the ultimate go date in the Zone 9 garden. At this point there is an almost 0% chance of a freeze. Because of this you can now plant just about everything. I have to admit, I am a little behind the curve this year. The rain, while much needed and much appreciated, has seemed to come at times that have interfered with my time off. Who would believe that after last’s year’s drought, I would be delayed in my planting by rain?

A "found" Cherokee rose that I propogated from cuttings now spills over the fence of my potager

As soon as it dries up a little, I am going to plant the potager. I love selecting and designing with the plants that are going to go into the potager. Each year I replant it gets a little easier. I learn which plants do well and I also figure out their size and scale when mature.

A lot of my outside beds are now filled with perennials. I have lots of salvia, roses and dianthus. I also have lots of herbs like rosemary and Mexican Mint Marigold (Tagetes lucida). There are also Egyptian Walking Onions, larkspur and hollyhocks. The only thing that will need to be pulled this spring is the garlic. In the open spaces in these outside beds I am going to plant several herbs. On a recent visit to Texas Specialty Cut Flowers, my wife bought several varieties of peppers. I have also grown some pimento peppers and Napoleon Sweet Bell peppers from seed. These will go toward the back of the beds with a few varieties of basil that we have saved from seed. Along the front, we will be planting parsley, oregano, lavender and thyme.

Salvia and daiseys in last years potager

The center beds are going to be all for vegetables. The look of the triangular beds will not change dramatically. As a “spiller”, I will replace the spinach and lettuce with Contender Bush beans. Beans are a pretty quick crop so when they fade around June 1, I will pull them up and replant with purple hulled black-eyed peas. For my “filler” I will divide the shallots that are there now and leave a few behind the beans so they can divide for replanting in the fall. Finally, I will plant Black From Tula heirloom tomatoes that I have grown from seed as my “thriller” on the trellises in the center of the beds.

The last bed in the potager is the center diamond shaped bed. Right now it is full of byzantine gladiolus. Once these bloom and fade I will plant a lovely red okra. The okra needs to be planted in June anyway so this work out well for me. I selected okra for this bed because it grows a pretty, nice, tall and structural plant. Okra is in the hibiscus family. Because of this, it produces very large and lovely flowers that look just like hibiscus.

The hibiscus like flowers of okra

Right now is a great time to be outside. The martins have returned, the bluebonnets are in full bloom and the fruit trees are in bud. Why not get outside this week and plant your garden? Below is a list of some of the veggies that you can plant now.

The Fall Potager

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Jay White

Even though it is the middle of December, my little potager has never looked better. This is one of the reasons I love living in Texas. Because of the mild winters, I can literally garden year round. Everyone loves to complain about our hot summers. However, in my opinion, our winters more than make up for it. I heard last night that Houston averages 16 days per year below freezing. We are about 90 miles north of Houston but I am willing to bet we only have 20 to 24 days that are that cold. Due to this, with proper crop selection, some rotational planting and the willingness to occasionally cover things up, your fall garden can last right up to the spring planting. Below are several pics of the things that are currently growing in my potager:

I have three different varieties of broccoli growing in my garden.

I have 12 cauliflower growing. I planted the cauliflower in blocks of three two weeks apart. This way I don’t have to worry about eating 12 cauliflower in one week!

My wife and I love spinach. Because of this, two of our triangular beds are lined with it. In classic gardening form, one bed had a bout a 100% germination rate. In the other bed, the germination was very spotty. These little set backs are the things that keep me interested. I will spend hours trying to figure out why one bed performed perfectly and the other, identical bed, was somewhat of a disappointment.

I always grow lettuce in the fall. We eat a ton of it and it is so easy. I only grow leaf lettuce. Nothing against head lettuce, but once you harvest a head you have to replant and wait. With leaf lettuce you can continuously clip the leaves through out the season.

I love shallots. Their form is lovely in many applications in the potager. I grow these things year round. I never harvest them all. Many people call them dividing onions and there is a good reason. I recently left a clump in the ground for a year and there were almost 50 off shots on it. I have about a dozen heads of cabbage scattered around the potager. We are going to try our hand at homemade sauerkraut when the harvest comes in.

I don’t just have veggies growing in the potager. I have tons of flowers. These are baby larkspur. I also have lots of Victoria Salvia, poppies, calendula, mums, two different roses and hollyhocks. There are also a few byzantine glads and dianthus scattered around as well.

Pansey’s, vi0las (Johhny Jump Ups), carrots and shallots in the center bed.

A very dedicated little bee is gathering nectar on a 40 degree day.

Calendula are often called pot marigolds. Their petals are edible and they will bloom until it gets about 90 degrees.

Shallots in the Potager

Posted on September 12, 2011 by Jay White

I love my little potager. It is truly the best gardening gift that I have ever given to myself. Not only does it provide my wife and I with all of the veggies, herbs and flowers that we need, it allows me to constantly experiment with plant selection and design concepts. Even though I want to produce as much food as possible in my small space, it is just as important to me that the beds of my potager are as attractive as they are functional.

Shallots and cauliflower in my triangular beds

Every August and February, I get out my graph paper and sketch out where I want to plant the several varieties of plants that I am going to grow. I pick plants that are tall and plants that are small. I will find plants that have interesting textures or colors that will break up all of the “green” in the beds. Even though I try several different varieties in each design, the one plant that I use in each and every one of my garden designs are shallots.

Shallots are the perfect plant for the potager. They are highly productive, easy to care for, have very few issues with disease or pests and their upright foliage is the perfect border. I use shallots in my designs much like most folks use mondo or lariope in their flower beds. Last year, I used them to line the fronts of my exterior beds. This year, I am using them as a middle planting in my triangular beds. The design for my triangular beds is based on the “Thriller, Filler and Spiller” design model. The beds will be made up of three different types of plants. I have selected cauliflower for the “thriller” component of the bed. I love the large scale and course texture of cauliflower and it will contrast nicely with the upright form of the shallots that I am using as my “Filler”. The outside border will have different varieties of leaf lettuce and spinach acting as the “Spiller”.

A handful of shallot "offsets". Some folks call the offsets bulbs. Whatever you call them, stick them in the ground just deep enough to cover the neck.

Background – Shallots (Allium cepa var. aggregatum) are often called dividing onions. They grow in clusters of offsets that make them look somewhat like garlic when harvested. Technically a perennial, they will continue to “divide” as long as they are left in the ground. Because of this, I never harvest all of my shallots. I always leave a few in the ground until I am ready to replant in the fall. This year I pulled up a single clump that had 43 offsets. Additionally, shallots are extremely cold hardy. Last winter was brutally cold by Texas standards. It got down to 18 at my house and we had several days below 24 degrees. Still, my shallots thrived.

I got my original shallots from Plants and Things nursery in Brenham. They are the only folks in the area that carry shallots. In fact, they grow them in their own garden on the back of the nursery property. This year, I needed a few more shallots to finish my bed design so I stopped in and visited with Mary Stolz. She told me that the shallots they sell came from a start she got several years ago at a Master Gardener’s event. Through the years, those few starts have yielded enough for them to be able to eat all they want and still offer plenty to their customers. In spite of this year’s drought, they have harvested three wash tubs full of these tangy little onions. That should tell you a lot about how prolific and reliable these small, bulbing onions are.

The yupneck's youngest daughter planting shallots in the potager. The round thing in the background is a fully ripe tatume' squash that I am drying for seed.

Planting – Shallots are grown just like regular onions (except you don’t have to worry about any day length issues). Plant them in the fall for an early summer harvest. Do not plant them in soil that has been recently manured. Shallots should be planted with the root scar down and the pointy end up. Stick them in the ground deep enough to just cover the top of the offset. Now all you have to do is water and weed. Some folks suggest pulling the soil back from their base once the roots set, but I have not found this to be necessary.

Harvesting/Curing/Preserving – Just like “regular” onions, the tops of the shallots will “fall over” when they are ready to harvest. However, you do not have to wait until they are fully mature to enjoy them. My wife and I use young shallots just like we use “green onions”. The tops are excellent chopped into a salad and the young offsets have a very strong flavor that I enjoy raw.

Since shallots are actually onions, they can be “cured” for later use. Cure your shallots just like you would cure any other onion (click the link to read the details of how to do this). The only difference in curing them, as opposed to regular onions, is that you need to divide your clumps into individual offsets before you cure them. Cured shallots can last up to six months if kept in a cool, dark place.

Another advantage that shallots have over regular onions is their ability to withstand your freezer. My wife and I chop up several small Ziploc baggies full of shallots and then stick them in the freezer. This makes it very easy for us to use them later in eggs, soups and casseroles. They do lose a little of their texture when frozen but they maintain that spicy flavor very well.

Store bought shallots are very expensive. If you eat a lot of shallots, then they are one of the few vegetables that you can grow and truly save money in the process. Because they are so productive, carefree, tasty and ornamental, shallots have earned the title of the only vegetable that has a guaranteed spot in my fall garden. Why don’t you stop by Plants and Things today and give them a try in your own garden?