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Tag Archives: Winter Vegetable Gardening in Texas

Glorious Gardening in The North Field

December 2, 2022

Joy in the garden and what to expect in your fall and winter gardens:

Our gardeners who work in the gardens pictured are called the “vegetable team.” Beverly writes-I have been thinking about the gratitude the vegetable team has for the harvests we have donated. (over 675 pounds donated) When we are trying a variety that is new to us, we taste it-often as a part of lunch before we go home from our workday. I’m grateful for that fellowship.  I’m also grateful for the gardeners who start seeds for us at their homes. 

The loofah and Zucchino Rampicante (Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds) escaped the raised beds and trellises after the worst of the summer heat was over. The loofah seeds were saved from a prior year and direct sowed. 
Aji Dulce peppers are mild and productive. They become very sweet when allowed to turn red. Our seeds were a gift and we save them from year to year.  They are becoming easier to find at some of the specialty seed outlets.

We planted small varieties of carrots such as “Little Finger” from Botanical Interests and kept the soil consistently moist until they germinated.  

Even though garden centers have turned their inventory to Christmas trees, you can still find lettuce, Swiss chard, spinach, kale, and herb transplants. Also, keep direct sowing radishes.  You may get a wonderful winter crop of vitamin packed vegetables. 

Ann Lamb and Beverly Allen, 2 Dallas County Master Gardeners

Pictures by Starla Willis, Dallas County Master Gardener-2008

More Vegetable Gardens at Raincatcher’s

The Raincatcher’s team has been busy putting in new gardens. Led by Leonard Nadalo and Beverly Allen a ridge and furrow garden was built in October with the purpose of growing food for the North Dallas Shared Ministries’ food pantry and demonstrating an alternative to raised bed gardening on our clay soil. It is aptly named The Donation Garden. One of our turf beds has also become a new veggie plot and is the home for turnips, beets, spinach and some struggling carrots.

Enjoy a look at seedlings of butter crunch lettuce, Georgia southern collards, Chinese broccoli yod fah, and purple top white glove turnips.

If all this planting is making you crave cruciferous crops, don’t delay. It is a little late to start seeds outdoors but transplants are available at garden centers. Which brings me to an important discovery: mini broccolis (thanks Beverly!) We planted Broccoli Atlantis F1 by seed in our garden.

It is called a mini because it is harvested mainly from side shoots that are smaller than what you buy in your grocery store. When you harvest the center first, side shoots branch out and can be harvested all through the winter. Other mini broccolis, such as Artwork F1, are also available as transplants at local garden centers.

The vegetable team has plans for the future that include increasing the production capacity of The Donation Garden and finding a carrot variety that can get happy in Zone 8a. 

Ann Lamb, Dallas County Master Gardener Class of 2005 with additional information by Beverly Allen, class of 2018

Photo of Broccoli Artwork F1 courtesy of All-America Selections 

Note: We chose Atlantis F1 for it’s shorter days to maturity (33) when compared to standard broccoli (56 or greater).

Happy New Year 2019 and It’s Getting Cold Outside!

Raincatcher’s Volunteers at our Christmas Party. Some Volunteers are missing from this picture and more needed! Happy Gardening in 2019 from our garden to yours.

Q. You have often mentioned cold tolerant vegetable crops and those which are very susceptible to frosty injury.  Could you list these and temperature lows which they can tolerate?

A. This is very difficult to do and be accurate since cold tolerance depends on preconditioning. For instance, if broccoli has been growing in warm conditions and temperatures drop below 22 degrees F., it will probably be killed. If these same broccoli plants had experienced cool weather, they would probably survive the sudden cold.

In general, a frost (31-33 degrees F.) will kill beans, cantaloupe, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, okra, peas, pepper, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, tomatoes, and watermelon.

Colder temperatures (26-31 degrees F.) may burn foliage but will not kill broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, chard, lettuce, mustard, onion, radish, and turnip.

The real cold weather champs are beets, Brussels sprouts, carrots, collards, kale, parsley, and spinach.

Thank you Aggie Archives for this information!

More about frost protection here.

Cold Tolerant Veggies from Daniel Cunningham here.

Ann Lamb

 

 

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