tomatoes

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

Join us this Saturday, September 17^th 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 1^st (granular) and the 15^thof 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.

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.

Tips for Tomatoes

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 1^st (granular food) and the 15^th 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.

Tips for Peppers

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 15^th of the month with liquid Hasta Gro.

Tips for Watering!

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.

Two of our favorite people, Marie (James’ sister) and Lanny (our brother-in-law) bought a home on the outskirts of Wimberley, Texas about seven years ago. It sits on an acre of land, with a covered veranda across the back of the house, looking out onto a small garden area and swimming pool with a grove of oaks along the back of the pool, and steps dropping down to a lower level of native trees and grasses.

Upon moving in, they both were drawn to the deer that wandered the neighborhood and the local and migrating birds and butterflies. So began the plan for their landscape. Their intention was for everything in the garden to be focused on birds, pollinators, and other critters.

Today, when James and I visit Marie and Lanny, we feel like we’re in paradise. Marie starts her day by filling the bird baths and bird feeders. Her monthly budget includes several hundred pounds of bird seed, peeled and shelled sunflower seed for the finches, a sunflower seed mix for cardinals, doves, titmice, woodpeckers, chickadees, and gold finch, a sunflower seed mix with peanuts and other goodies for the jays. And of course hummingbird feeders and plants for the hummingbirds. “Girlie”, a deer they befriended (and named) in the neighborhood, peers in their front window in the morning – a cue she and her fawn are ready for Marie’s protein formula deer food.

They have a trough of water they keep filled for the deer and smaller animals, including a local fox that comes around when the coast is clear. Marie keeps blooming flowers for the hummingbirds including salvias and Turks cap, and zinnias, tithonia and mist flower for the butterflies and bees.

Down below, on the undeveloped piece of their property, Lanny built a “She Shed” for Marie, where she displays many of her botanical prints, an amazing collection of her family’s antique colored glass flower vases, twiggy bird nests with colored eggs, snake skins, garden tools, garden fabrics and textiles, bird cages and bird houses. It’s heaven on earth for me!! Leading up to the “She Shed” are recirculating water fountains, birdbaths, ferns and hanging baskets with flowers spilling over. And of course on the covered porch are chairs for relaxing.

Ever since I’ve known Lanny, he’s always had a vegetable garden. In Wimberley, he built his biggest one yet. He edged his garden with limestone “cut rock”, created paths with crushed granite and fenced his 25’x20’ garden with wood posts and cattle panels, allowing sun to reach his garden on all sides. On the outside of the fenced area are more raised beds and the compost bins. Lanny says the secret to his garden success is soil regeneration and soaker hoses. He believes in the “no till” method, that is do not disturb the soil; leave the micro-organisms underground and healthy. Marie and Lanny save all their fruit and vegetable scraps for composting. He adds manure, cotton seed compost (high in nitrogen), and garden compost to his beds every spring and fall to ensure the best soil and healthy vegetables. Lanny likes to grow greens because they are compact and keep giving, like spinaches, Swiss chard, collard greens and mustard greens and he always has a great crop of tomatoes, spring and fall.

Marie and Lanny, surrounded by nature, are blessed with their three dogs – Uno, Izzie and Loki – their family. Their days are filled with all the surprises nature can bring – from a fawn just born nestled under the deck to bumblebees buzzing around blooming Mystic Spires salvia, hummingbirds sipping nectar and woodpeckers knocking on wood. James and I are so happy they’ve made a heaven on earth for themselves and their critters!

-Sally Gill

Tomatoes are one of the easiest vegetables to grow, but you need to get the timing right. Typically, you’d want to get them in the ground in August, but since it’s been so warm, it’s ok to wait until early to mid-September. But don’t wait longer than that! Here are a few tips for getting the best (and the most) tomatoes this Fall.

Start with a quart size or even a 1 gallon because you can wait a little longer to plant and it is easier to keep them watered in the heat. Add some organic Bio-tone starter fertilizer when you plant, add a tomato cage, water well, and watch them grow! On the first of the month, fertilize with Espoma Plant tone and on the 15^th use Hasta Gro liquid. Vegetables are heavy feeders and will reward you with a bountiful harvest if fed regularly.

Celebrity and Tycoon are 2 of the most popular larger tomatoes. Red Snapper, Red Deuce, Ruby Crush and Better Boy are also very good tried and true varieties. Most of these take about 70+ days from fruit to harvest.

If you’re looking for big flavor in a bite size, cherry or grape tomatoes are the ticket! Some of the tops, are Large, Red Cherry, Sweet 100, Juliet, Yellow Pear and my favorite… Sweet Cherry Surprise 968 aka BHN 968. Great for growing in a container, a raised bed, or in the ground. It is 4 times sweeter than any other cherry tomato on the market – almost like eating candy. Cherry tomatoes produce an abundance of fruit in a short period of time. One plant is plenty to keep several people supplied in tomatoes.

–DeAnna

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.

Tips for Starting Seeds:

I tried Wyatt’s kickstart method for starting seeds this week and it worked great:

Fold seeds in a damp paper towel.
Seal the damp paper towel inside a zip-loc bag overnight.
Remove the seeds from the bag/towel and plant in peat pots using seed and cutting soil.
Once the plants are ready, transplant the peat pots directly into the ground or other container.

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

Start Veggie Seeds Now for a Spring Harvest

Spring in South Texas starts around February 15^th– only 31 days away! We may have a couple more cold snaps ahead of us, but it’s time to start planning our Spring projects and planting veggie seeds. The first day for planting Spring seeds is January 15th give or take a few days – aka RIGHT NOW!

Simple Method for Starting Seeds

I’ve tried a few different methods for starting seeds but have been most successful using a damp paper towel, then folding the seed inside the towel and placing it in a sealable bag or dish. This will create a “mini greenhouse” effect and will help the seed germinate. I leave them in the bag for no longer than 24 hours, then put them into soil. When planting, I make the hole about a fingernail’s depth, gently place the seeds in the hole, and cover lightly with soil. Check out my video demo of this process – quick and easy!

We also carry seed-starting trays, peat pots, and special cutting/seedling soil if you’d like to skip the wet paper towel method. Either way, a good rule of thumb is that once the seedlings have made their first true set of leaves, they are ready to be transplanted into a larger container or directly into the garden bed.

Seeds to Start in January

Tomatoes!
Cold Crops and Greens: broccoli, cauliflower, kale, swiss chard, lettuce, spinach, and mustard greens
Root Crops: onions, carrots, beets, and potatoes
Herbs: parsley

Check out our full Spring planting guide here.

Pro Tip: When planting new seed be sure the soil is wet at the time of planting and always water with a light sprinkle. This will prevent your seeds from floating/washing out of the soil.

-Wyatt

These three insect groups are or will be the source of many gardeners’ angst this Spring. All three can do serious damage to food gardens from chowing on leaves to boring holes to piercing tomatoes… but don’t worry! One organic solution takes care of all.

Flea beetles are tiny – about ¼” or smaller. They leave their signature pin size chew holes in newly planted herbs & veggies. They’re also fond of flower buds just before they open.

Squash borers are the larvae of the squash borer moth. They lay their eggs at the base of the squash stem where the larvae bores into the plant. This causes the plant to die.

Stink Bugs and Leaf Footed Bugs are famous for the spots they leave on prized tomatoes. They pierce the fruit leaving holes that begin to rot. The immature-nymphs look like red spiders. But not to be confused with the nymphs of the boxelder bugs which are NOT detrimental to gardens. Boxelder bugs are a mild nuisance, but they don’t damage plants.

Your best solution for all three of these pests is Natural Guard Spinosad Soap. This organic spray controls all of these plus other garden pests very effectively. Plan to spray late in the day or early evening when bees are not foraging. It is safe for bees once the spray dries. Follow the instructions and these bad bugs will leave your food plants alone.

-Debbie