[gardeners] Gardening in Bastrop Co.

Allen Merten (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Thu, 4 May 2000 15:52:09 -0500 

Hi All,
    We have received 4.3 inches of rain this week. It fell over a 48 hour
period, most of it soaked in, very little runoff.
    We've finished harvesting broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kohl rabbi and
turnips. The broccoli, Green Comet and Packman, produced prolifically. They
produced large central heads and continued producing lots of side heads
until early this week. I'll plant the same variety of cabbage, Rio Verde,
again. The heads ranged from 4-1/2 to 8 pounds. Only two heads out of 18
were as small as 4-1/2. The majority were over 6 pounds. The flavor was mild
and sweet.
    The cauliflower was Snow Ball. It produced beautiful white heads 8-1/2
to 11 inches across. Great flavor, too.
    I have been "stealing" a few new potatos. La Soda has been a very
dependable variety for the last few years.
    I had a few Kentucky Wonder pole bean seeds left over from last year. I
planted them on one of the fences that divides the garden into sections. We
have been picking about a handful every day. They haven't really taken off
yet. I am going to try a different variety next year. These beans get real
stringy if they don't get picked every other day.
    The tomato and pepper plants are all in excellent condition. Lots of
little green tomatos on all of the varieties. The peppers are either
blooming or have set fruit and are continuing to bloom.
    I have one little 9 inch tall Bertha Bell that had a 7 inch long pepper
on it. I picked the pepper. I believe if I had left it the plant would have
been stunted.
    I'm trying Tomatillos for the first time this year. Planted 9 plants. I
grew them from seed.
    The onions are maturing a little earlier than I expected them to. The
White Granex matured first, followed by the 1015Y's, then the Red
Burgundy's.
    We cooked a 3 lb. 1015Y on the pit. Boy, that's good. We did the onion,
a 7 lb. head of cabbage, new potatos, and chicken. Very nice supper. Our a/c
compressor had been broken for almost a week at that time. We did a lot of
cooking outside or in a crock pot. The a/c was finally repaired yesterday.
Luckily, the temperatures have been moderate, humidity low, except for the
48 hours that it rained. The temps were cooler, humidity was higher then,
but all in all we were comfortable.
    I hope every one's garden is doing well. We're happy with ours so far.
    Allen
    Bastrop Co., SE Central TX
    Zone 8