Posted on 12/13/2013 12:25:11 PM PST by greeneyes
The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks. No matter what, you won’t be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread. There is no telling where it will go and... that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us!
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I am innocent. I did not do it. One question. How come you have seeds you don’t want to plant?
Have a safe flight. It sure sounds like there will be plenty of shoveling going on all around the country.
Most people ignore them, and do what they want - like letting their dogs roam free instead of being in a pen or on a leash.
I am thinking that we might be able to get by with some “pet” chickens. Roosters would cause problems. Our subdivision rules state that we may not have any obnoxious animals. When I asked the owner what that meant, he said “Oh you know that would be like pigs”.
To me animals roaming the neighbor hood would be more obnoxious than a few little chickens in a portable house/yard, and anyway chickens aren't anything like pigs!
The weather is what makes me think twice. I don't really want to have to out when it's freezing, sleeting, and snowing. LOL
Thanks, I will read all the links you have posted. I didn’t know large bulb onions were difficult to grow here.
You can get some really big onions down here.
You just have to grow the right variety and start them at the right time. The onion growers in Vidalia GA start their onions from seed sometime in September and then transplant them later on. The more time to grow before they get that daylength signal the bigger the onion, for the most part.
“I like greens. ;)”
You’re not supposed to eat the dress, for goodness sake.
Ouachita is bush type. Developed for our kind of weather - hot. Make large, sweet blackberries. When I have a little time, I’ll put more info. about them on this thread and ping you.
That sounds like one of those made-up rules that can safely be ignored. ;)
/johnny
I have an onion bulb that for some reason is starting to have green shoots starting up. All the other onions we harvested are keeping well, and not sprouting.
Do you know why this is happening?
Hubby wants to plant it in a pot to see if it will do something like grow some more or produce onion stalks to snip or something - I couldn’r really understand what he thought would happen.
Here is the info. about growing blackberries in Texas. Note the info. on Ouachita blackberries - supposed to do well in my part of Texas.
Thorned Varieties
All these erect thorned varieties have ‘Brazos’ in their heritage. It was developed here in Texas and has been the standard for blackberry production in Texas for years.
‘Brazos.’ Developed at Texas A&M University and introduced in 1959, ‘Brazos’ has been the Texas standard for years and is still a great variety. The berries are large and the plants produce heavily. Probably the most widely adapted blackberry in Texas and recommended for most of Texas, this variety starts ripening early, May 15 to May 30 depending on your location. ‘Brazos’ has good disease tolerance. It is interesting that ‘Brazos’ has some raspberry and wild dewberry in its heritage. The berries are a little acid and are better for cooking and canning than fresh eating. This variety has more thorny plants and larger seeded fruit than many of the improved varieties.
‘Rosborough.’ Another Texas A&M introduction that was released in 1977, ‘Rosborough’ is similar to ‘Brazos’ but the berries are firmer, sweeter and it has smaller seed than ‘Brazos.’ ‘Rosborough’ ripens about the same time as ‘Brazos,’ and is intended as a companion or replacement for ‘Brazos.’ A good early variety for east and south-central Texas, ‘Rosborough’ is not recommended for northwest Texas because of low winter temperatures. The flower petals are lavender instead of the normal white.
‘Womack.’ Released in 1977 by Texas A&M, this is the smallest of the A&M releases but still a nice size. It is firmer and better quality with smaller seed than ‘Brazos.’ The flower petals are lavender. ‘Womack’ ripens at the same time as ‘Brazos,’ and is recommended for west-central and north Texas in sandy areas. It’s not recommended for southeast Texas or northwest Texas.
‘Cheyenne.’ Released by the University of Arkansas in 1977, ‘Cheyenne’ has very large fruit that are sweet and have a slight raspberry flavor. ‘Cheyenne’ ripens about June 8, and is recommended for east Texas. It is resistant to orange rust and tolerant to several other diseases.
‘Chickasaw.’ Released by the University of Arkansas in 1998, Chickasaw is comparable to ‘Shawnee’ but has better storage and handling qualities and high yielding plants. This variety is recommended on a trial basis only because the area of adaptation has not been determined.
‘Choctaw.’ A 1989 release of the University of Arkansas. The medium sized fruit are somewhat soft, and storage and handling is sometimes a problem. The outstanding quality of this berry is its very early ripening time. This variety has a 300-400 hour winter chilling requirement. ‘Choctaw’ is hardy to -14 degrees F. and is a good candidate for the Panhandle.
‘Brison.’ Released by Texas A&M in 1977, ‘Brison’ has berries that are firmer, sweeter and with smaller seed than ‘Brazos.’ A very early ripening blackberry, it ripens about a week before ‘Brazos.’ Production is equal to or slightly better than ‘Brazos.’ ‘Brison’ is recommended for south-central Texas on blackland clay soils. The low chilling requirement precludes this being a good choice for far north Texas. It’s not recommended for southeast Texas because of fungal diseases.
‘Shawnee.’ Released by the University of Arkansas in 1983, this variety has a long ripening season. The berries are medium to large in size, are somewhat soft and do not ship or store well. The plants are highly productive. ‘Shawnee’ ripens about a week later than ‘Cheyenne,’ and is susceptible to double blossom disease.
‘Kiowa.’ This, the last of our thorned variety recommendations, is one of the best. ‘Kiowa’ was released from the breeding program of the University of Arkansas in 1995. The fruit of ‘Kiowa’ are the largest of the varieties listed here and are at least 1/4 bigger than `Brazos.’ These berries are six to eight times the size of wild blackberries. The berries weigh an average of 10 grams with a blocky oblong shape. The fruit is firmer than `Shawnee’ and stores and ships well. The fruit starts ripening about three days after `Shawnee,’ about June 4 in central Texas. `Kiowa’ is recommended for east, north and central Texas, but is not recommended for northwest Texas.
Thornless Varieties
These erect thornless varieties can all trace their heritage back to the varieties ‘Merton Thornless’ from England and ‘Thornfree’ from the USDA breeding program. All are patented releases of the University of Arkansas breeding program.
‘Apache.’ Released in 1999, this is the largest fruited and highest yielding of the University of Arkansas thornless releases. The fruit are medium-large and ripen in early July in central Texas, late in comparison to the thorned varieties. The sweet berries are firm and handle well, and the plants are very erect. Recommended especially for northeast Texas but adapted to other areas.
‘Arapaho.’ Released in 1993, this is the earliest-ripening of the thornless blackberries. The medium-sized fruit ripen in the latter part of May to early June in central Texas. Not a high yielding variety, it yields about 60 percent the fruit of ‘Shawnee.’ The fruit are very sweet with small seed size, and ‘Arapaho’ is one of the best tasting blackberries. It is resistant to double blossom and rust.
‘Navaho.’ Released in 1988, this variety has medium sized fruit with high sugar content. A moderate yielding variety, ‘Navaho’ yields about 3/4 of the production of ‘Shawnee.’ It has a ripening season of about four weeks. With a high chilling requirement of about 800-900 hours, it is only recommended for north and northwest Texas. ‘Navaho’ is hardy to -14 degrees F. It is difficult to establish from root cuttings but grows vigorously when it does get established.
‘Ouachita.’ One of the newest thornless varieties released in 2003, the fruit are sweet, large and have good storage and handling qualities. Starts ripening about June 10 and continues for about 5 weeks. Production and size of fruit are comparable to ‘Apache.’ ‘Ouachita’ has a chilling requirement of about 300-500 hours, making it a good trial variety for central and southeast Texas.
‘Natchez.’ Released in 2007, with large, firm berries on a plant with high yields, ‘Natchez’ yields twice as many berries as ‘Arapaho.’ ‘Natchez’ ripens early, about June 1, and seems to have good disease tolerance.
Primocane Fruiting Varieties
The University of Arkansas in 2004 released the varieties ‘Prime-Jim’ and ‘Prime-Jane,’ new primocane fruiting blackberries. These varieties fruit on the first year primocanes. Unfortunately, they have not done well in Texas.
Two types of beans - not going to grow beans, buy bags at grocery to store.
Cantaloupe Vine Peach - don't want to plant it.
Little Gem lettuce - planting different kind
Two kinds onions - not good for here according to Black Agnes
One type Pea - have others I would rather plant for containers
Pepper Hot Jalapeno - too hot not going to plant - have Fooled You instead
Pepper Sweet Corno di Toro Giallo - takes too long to mature - planting other types developed for containers
Pepper Sweet Chinese Giant - planting other types developed for containers
Black Beauty Zucchini - insects kill them - growing Tromboncino
Waltham Butternut - insects kill them - growing Tromboncino
Strawberry Alpine Ruegen - won't grow here
Tomato Wild Galapagos - won't grow here
Cosmonaut Volkov Tomato - takes too long and growing ones developed for containers
Well, that’s a very detailed and through answer. Basically, you changed your mind, after getting additional information, would be a good way to sum it up I guess.
When I moved to Florida I vowed i would never shovel snow again, but it seems i end up doing it every time I visit Mom.
Oh well, I am about 25% Eskimo, so I guess it is my destiny!
(We Prefer the name MiQ’Maw/Inuit, but nobody knows what we are talking about, But I eat a lot of Sushi and like my steak RARE, which is what “Eskimo: means “Raw Meat Eater” ! LOL!)
I had seen information on all you listed except the last one on the list. And knew that Brazos was the variety that most were bred from. (I live 10 miles from the Brazos river)
Womach Nursery is where I got my original plants.
The Rosborough variety is not a bush type and requires a trellis to be able to clean around it. It is a bit of a pain to train the new limbs each year, but it produces an excellent quality berry and a lot of them.
This year was not a good berry year. Too dry and a hard frost after the 1st of May took all the stone fruit and we were also short on bees at a crucial time (in my opinion) because of the freeze. Neither the strawberries or the blackberries produced well.
I really like blackberry jelly. The secret to good blackberries is when you pick. You can tell by the sheen on the berry. Picked at just the right time and they are incredibly sweet. That time is just past when the berries get the plumpest and the surface of the berry gets a slightly dull look.
The last 3 years have not been normal farming years. Horrible drought, extreme hot temps in first 2 years of it. Hopefully we have seen the worst. It has taken it’s toll on the livestock and crop production.
Thanks for the specs on varieties.
"The flower petals are lavender instead of the normal white."
They must not all be lavender, mine are white.
I love onions. This should be interesting, Marcella. Maybe we should grow some onions this year. I think it takes a long time for seeds to sprout, but maybe I’m thinking of another plant.
Nice Christmas dress. :)
We are in upstate NY, so I chose breeds that are heritage to our type of weather. Our hens did well last year at temps that consistently dipped below 15 at night. We had a mild winter last year though. White Leghorn are kind of skinny and smallish, but very reliable daily layer of a large white egg, and very cold hardy. Speckled Sussex are bigger brown hens which lay medium sized light brown eggs - usually about five per week if the weather suits them! They are fantastic brooders though, shame I don’t need a brooder hen. They are also very smart and trainable - as I learned with my fav, Fluffy.
Our coop is waayyy to big for just the three hens, but my neighbor and I are co-conspirators in the chicken caper, and he is the one that built it. It’s a real beauty, and built as well as any house. It has an attached “yard” which is smallish, but decent. We MUST keep them in the double layer wire yard (the top is also double layered with wire fencing covered with chicken wire)because we have fox, felines, occasional loose dog, racoons, opossums and fisher cats - all of which are threats to the hens or the coop. Oh, and the occasional bear. Can’t leave out the bear. And the hawks, and nasty crows. They will kill chickens too.
My neighbor never got around to building their portable yard last year, but hopefully he’ll make it this year. Hens are the coolest things, and I love to hang out with them.
You can buy them already old enough to go straight into a coop, these are called “started pullets”, and bypass the baby chick raising thing (which has it’s ups and downs), which is what I intend to do next spring. I wanted the experience of raising the chicks from a few days old to full layers. Now I know what is involved, and although not difficult - requires a big commitment for weeks. I’d just as soon let someone else do that part as this time I only want to add two hens, and don’t want to deal with roosters.
NO ONE wants roosters, especially if you are anywhere near a neighbor. Unless they also have roosters, LOL. I did feel badly when we harvested them. I kinda cried when George went.
Link for started pullets: http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/started_white_leghorn_pullets.html
We aren’t allowed to have animals that are typically found on “farms”. So, chickens. Most of our neighbors are really cool and like our lady birds, one guy used to bring them the pulp produced when he made his organic juices.
Fluffy likes to hang out in the garden with me - it’s her special treat. I dig up worms and hold them out to her on the fork, and she comes waddling over to get them. It’s adorable.
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