[gardeners] Bastrop County Gardening

Allen Merten (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Sun, 26 Mar 2000 21:16:41 -0600 

Hi All,
    Slowly but surely we are getting our garden planted. I have never taken
so long to get things done. It gets frustrating many times.
     Some of the first things that we planted are nearing maturity.
Meanwhile I am still planting tomatos and  peppers. I got my hands on some
cantaloupe and watermelon seeds. My family didn't think I was going to plant
any this year. Ha!! I got to have my melons. What's summer without melons?
    I haven't planted as many tomato plants this year like the past few
years, when I planted over 100. I have instead gone for variety. I planted
one 6 or 9 pack of each of these; Brandywine, Black Brandywine, Better Boy,
Celebrity, Merced, Super Fantastic, and about a dozen of the volunteer
tomato plants. I am still confused about which cherry tomato this plants are
going to be. I remember planting Sweet 100. My records show Small Fry. The
last years volunteer cherry tomatos were indeterminate. Small Fry is
supposed to be determinant.  So its still a guess. We have given away nearly
100 of the plants so far. There are still several hundred out in the garden,
like nut grass. I hate to kill a tomato plant. They are in the way of
progress. I wish some of you were close enough to give some of these plants
to. The plants are really stocky, with a wide canopy of leaves.
    I went pepper crazy this year, too. Lots of variety, not so much in
numbers. Hot Peppers; Anaheim Chili, Ancho, Habanero, Jalapeno, Chile
Pequin. Sweet Peppers; Banana, Big Bertha, Ivory Bell, Jupiter.
    George, would you please post your recipe and method for your fermented
pepper sauce?
    Our onions are doing great, some are have bulbs larger than golf balls
already. I'm looking for baseball size and larger by maturity
    We have, surprisingly, gotten just about enough rain for the last 3
weeks that I haven't had to do any supplemental watering. I tell you, after
being in a drought for 3 of the last 4 years, it feels strange. Last week we
had 2.2 inches of rain in one 24 hour period. That is the most rain at one
time since 1997. It is the 2nd highest amount since we moved here.
    All of the veggies in our garden are doing very well. I hope the rest of
the list members are having the same results.
    Light rain is falling as I type.
Allen
Bastrop Co., SE Central Tx.
Zone 8