We’re all ready to start our edible gardens. Early veggies & herbs are coming next week beginning August 13th! Starting with fresh peppers, tomatoes, and herbs that can take summer temps. Every week we will add more to the mix.
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-Debbie
We’re all ready to start our edible gardens. Early veggies & herbs are coming next week beginning August 13th! Starting with fresh peppers, tomatoes, and herbs that can take summer temps. Every week we will add more to the mix.
-Debbie
What a joy to see green everywhere! You can feel the big sigh of relief from plants and people too. All this rain is FANTASTIC news for fall gardens! Here are our top must-do’s this month as we head into our best planting season.
Check out our September Garden Guide for more tips and remember that trees, shrubs, and perennials can be planted 12 months out of the year! The only difference is the amount of water they need depending on temperatures and wind!
Fall is our best planting season here in the Coastal Bend. We are bringing in lots of new plants with our pollinator friends in mind! While you’re choosing what to plant, consider adding Texas Natives like Turk’s Cap and Lantana that birds and bees love. If you want to attract and support butterflies, try butterfly weed, Gregg’s mist flower, and lots of different blooming salvias.
It’s time! Tomatoes, peppers, & warm weather edibles should be planted by now, or at least early this month. Plant cool weather veggies & herbs anytime this month and remember to shelter them from scorching sun and keep watered. Seeds of cool weather crops like turnips, beets, and radish should be started now. Carrots and greens should be planted later in September and into October. Here is our Fall veggie planting schedule. And save space for citrus trees, figs & other fruits to round off your garden grocery store! Revisit Josh’s guide to planting citrus trees.
Pulling weeds – part of the gardening full-body workout plan! And a great stress reliever too. With the ground saturated from recent rains, most weeds are so easy to pull. Make sure to get the root, then add mulch to the area 2-3” deep to prevent new weeds from sprouting.
Plants that are cold hardy (trees and woody shrubs) will benefit greatly by planting during our Fall season. They’re under less heat stress, and they grow more roots, making them stronger and ready to “take off” next Spring. More roots, stronger plants, better success! Oak trees, Crape Myrtles, Hawthorns, Lantana, Plumbago, Boxwoods and a host of others should be planted starting this month.
Setting simple traps with organic Mosquito Dunks or Mosquito Bits is perhaps the most effective method for controlling mosquitos. It couldn’t be easier – grab a 5-gallon bucket, fill it with water and add a few handfuls of straw, leaves, weeds, food waste, etc. This will start to stagnate and attract female mosquitos to lay their eggs. After a day or 2, toss in a Mosquito dunk or a spoonful of mosquito bits which will kill the mosquito larvae. Try a few traps plus some repellant granules and incense!
September is the best time to plant wildflower seeds. Fall rains help wildflowers like Bluebonnets grow strong and have beautiful blooms next Spring. Choose an area with good sunlight and cleared of weeds or unwanted plants. Rake clean, sow seeds, cover with soil, water, and wait for the transformation!
My two goals for my garden are to only use organics and to constantly be eating!
Check out the harvest: wax beans, eggplant, cucumbers, banana peppers, tangerine peppers, purple string beans, jalapenos, San Marzano tomatoes (great for pasta and pizza sauce), and sun bright tomatoes.
If you want good veggies, prepping the garden beds is the most important thing. I amended my soil with organic compost and used Medina Growin’ Green to fertilize. I sprinkled both on the surface of the soil, then used a tiller to work both into the existing heavy clay soil.
Since I’ve re-done this bed a few times, the soil has gotten closer to a nice sandy loam. It gets a lot softer and easier to work with each year.
Other than making sure you prep your beds and amend your soil, keeping everything mulched might be the next most important thing to do. Mulch helps a lot with watering – it helps retain moisture. Since I don’t want to use any chemicals, mulch is also important for helping control weeds.
Pro tip: plant your entire veggie garden first, then go in and fill small spots with wax bean seeds since they produce a lot and don’t take up a lot of space.
-Larry
Last week Keith shared with me his Swiss Chard success story. Years ago, he remembers (I don’t) James and I gave Sandy & Keith a pot of Swiss Chard for Christmas. Knowing that Keith is a gardener extraordinaire, we knew it was the perfect gift for them. Keith grows it all – Brussel sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, tomatoes, peppers, greens, herbs, and on and on! The Swiss Chard was such a hit with their family; it’s now one of his annual plantings.
Planted in the Fall, Winter or early Spring (now!) you’re guaranteed a good crop of tasty greens. Sandy is the family’s cook extraordinaire! She often stir-fries Swiss Chard, including the stalks, olive oil, garlic, a little lemon and salt for something simple and quick. Or, one of her favorite recipes is Seared Scallops with Bacon Braised Chard – she does it all.
Sandy and Keith make a very great team; we love them and their garden successes!
-Sally Gill
Growing food is all the trend as farmers markets, farm to table restaurants, and the phrase “locally grown” gives credit that the food will be the freshest available! But to grow your own? Even better!
Fall is about the best time to grow food and especially true if you are new to South Texas gardening. Days are getting shorter, a little cooler (don’t laugh), less bugs, and less problems. Selections are virtually endless. Beans, tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, all kinds of greens, carrots, turnips; and the list goes on! You’ll be amazed at how delicious and easy food gardening can be!
Top to plant now? Tomatoes and peppers. Both of these need the warm days and will appreciate cool nights. There are tons of tomato varieties. Celebrity & Tycoon are favorites for slicing; Sweet 100 & Juliet are delicious cherry tomatoes. The best pepper to plant? You can’t go wrong with a jalapeno or serrano. Good flavor, usually not too hot, & great for salsa. A great way to check how hot a pepper is; cut the top off enough to catch a little of the pepper core. Place the core top on your tongue. You will know how mild or hot it is and how much to use.
Mid-September and it’s time to start planting cool weather veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, lettuce, cabbage, turnips, beets, spinach, kale, and a garden of culinary herbs. Don’t be afraid to try your hand at planting by seed. Botanical Interest is a fantastic seed company, all non-GMO with great organic varieties.
Do you need a large planting space? Not at all! A 4×8 space with at least half a day sun is plenty for a family of 4. Water troughs and large pots make great planters for food.
Help your soil to help your plants. Adding compost, dried molasses, and organic fertilizer to new and existing garden areas will feed the soil microbes that also feed your plants. Our favorite compost is Natures’ Blend Compost by Back To Nature. If you are planting in containers, use a good potting mix.
Plan to water and fertilize with a good organic fertilizer. We love Medina Hasta Gro, Espoma Plant-Tone, and Bio-Tone fertilizer. Find more details about watering and care of your garden through out the fall season on our website.
The most important part? Have fun gardening. Enjoy your harvest!
-Debbie
We are so happy to welcome Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds back to Gill’s! Baker Creek offers one of the largest selections of 19th century heirloom seeds from Europe and Asia, and their 2021 catalog contains about 1,000 varieties.
Founder Jere Gettle started Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. in 1998 as a hobby in Mansfield, Missouri. Today, Baker Creek includes trial gardens, greenhouses, a pioneer village, and a seed store. Their seed packets feature amazing photos of crops grown at their facility! We brought in a cool assortment of varieties that we think will work well in our area, like these Bosque Blue Bumblebee tomatoes and Pippin’s Golden Honey sweet peppers.
I tried Wyatt’s kickstart method for starting seeds this week and it worked great:
Of course, you could start the seeds directly in soil, but this extra step speeds up germination. I actually left my seeds in the bags for 2 days (because I forgot, oops). By the time I got around to opening the bags, most of the seeds had already sprouted. One day later, they’re already pushing up out of the soil.
Right now is the time to start lots of veggies like squashes, cabbage, and beans from seed – here’s our schedule for Fall veggies.
One more tip – seed and cutting soil is blended to allow tiny young roots and sprouts to break through. It’s very light and fluffy, so the soil and seeds tend to float up out of the container when you add water. So, water the soil first, let it settle, then push your seeds into the saturated soil. The back end of a pair of tweezers works well.
–Jesse
It may not feel like it yet, but Fall is coming! It’s already time to plant your tomatoes and peppers. We want to make sure you get a big harvest with plenty to share! Here are a few key tips.
Start tomatoes in a bed enriched with Nature’s Blend Compost, about 1 bag per 12 square feet mixed into the existing soil. You can also plant them in pots, but make sure the pot is large enough; tomato plants get big! Use a good potting mix if planting in pots. As you plant, add a couple tablespoons of Bio-tone plant starter under the roots. This will help your plants get off to a rapid start and develop a strong root system. Tomatoes are one of the very few plants that can and should be planted deep. Plant deep and new roots will grow off the main stem. Key tip: add a tomato cage when you plant! If you try to add it later, you’ll end up breaking branches.
Feed tomatoes once a month with a good organic like Plant-tone or Medina Growin’ Green, and supplement every 2 weeks with liquid Hasta Gro to ensure good production. Set a calendar reminder for the 1st (granular food) and the 15th of the month (liquid food) to make this easy.
Be sure to rotate where you plant your tomatoes! This will help in the prevention of root knot nematodes as well as other problems that can occur. Learn more about crop rotation here.
Peppers love warm weather and sunlight, so its important to get them going now to get good production before temps get too cool. Unlike tomatoes, peppers should be planted level with the surrounding soil or slightly higher. Like most plants, they have feeder roots on the surface of the root ball which should not be buried with soil. Otherwise, use the same procedure as tomatoes. Enrich the existing soil with Nature’s Blend Compost and add Bio-tone plant starter when you plant.
Peppers are heavy feeders too if you want good production. You can follow the same feeding schedule: 1st of the month with a granular organic food, then 15th of the month with liquid Hasta Gro.
Since it’s still very warm out, be sure you have a good plan for watering your garden. New veggie plants will need water every day, at least until they get established. It’s a good idea to position your veggie beds near a water source if you’re planning to water by hand. Soaker hoses are great for veggie beds too. Just snake a soaker hose around your plants in the bed and turn on the water as needed. Soaker hoses also help ensure proper watering – remember that plants should be watered at ground level, not sprayed from above. A good layer of mulch over your veggie beds will help retain moisture. And we’ll say it again…a moisture meter will come in handy and take out the guesswork.
Join us this Saturday, September 17th at 10:00am for our first Fall ’22 garden talk! DeAnna Baumgartner and Wyatt Page, our garden center managers and expert veggie gardeners will share their tips for maximizing your Fall and Winter veggie harvest. Here’s a preview – see you Saturday!
Soil, Sunlight, and Spacing are Key
Soil nutrients and micro-organisms are critical for healthy veggie plants. That means compost! Prep your beds by working in about 1 bag of Nature’s Blend (our favorite compost) per 12 sq. ft. of space, or a similar amount if you’re using your own compost. Be sure your spot for fruiting veggies, like tomatoes and peppers, gets a good 6 hours of direct sun per day. Leafy veggies can grow in a little more shade. And be sure to give plants proper room to grow. For example, tomatoes should be planted at least 3 feet apart. Proper spacing gives you a better harvest and helps you control any insects or disease issues.
Know Your ‘Days to Maturity’
Warm season veggies like tomatoes and peppers need 60-90 days to mature and produce. That means around mid-September is our last chance to get them planted so they have time to produce before temps get too cool. The second half of September is time to start cool-season veggies like broccoli and cauliflower which need 55-85 days to mature, and Brussels which need 80-120 days. When you get the timing right, you’ll be continuously harvesting!
Feed Your Veggies and They’ll Feed You!
Regular fertilizing is essential for a good harvest. Veggies are heavy feeders. Our tried-and-true method is to feed with a good organic granular (like Plant Tone) once a month, then follow up with Liquid Hasta Gro in between. Set your calendar for the 1st (granular) and the 15th of the month (liquid) to make this easy.
Recruit Some Help from Pollinators
It’s a great idea to plant flowers like Marigolds or Nasturtiums and blooming herbs like Thai Basil in and around your veggie garden to attract bees. In order to produce, veggies need to be pollinated! You could get involved and use a Q-tip or small paintbrush to move pollen from male to female flowers, or just let the bees do their thing.