Category Archives: general

Greens update

 

I grew too many greens this year. I planted more seeds than I needed because I thought the seeds might be too old so I planted more in case the germination rate was low. Guess what? They all germinated.

Lettuces have been transplanted outside in green house-Thursday Mar 23, Pak Choi, Bok Choi, arugula, spinach and a few more lettuces are going into cold frame up by house. I had to fix 2 areas from mice or bigger animal-one big hole where someone dug in from  the under a side board in my cold frame and in the green house, mice were getting inside a completely covered bed that has been mice proofed for 3 years. I dug down in the cold frame, removed the soil where it was. I used hardware cloth to block the underside and the inside and outside of the wall to block out whatever got in there. Hopefully this will solve the problem. And on the inside of the green house, where I have 2 eight foot beds that are completely covered I put self sticking window gasket on the edge of the lid and a latch where there may have been a gap for a small mouse to get through to close up that possibility. The green house looks good with no one nibbling on the lettuces. Since I just planted more in the cold frame, the verdict is out if I’ve thwarted the rascal. A few days will tell if I succeeded.

When I put the lettuces in the green house last week I forgot to look at the weather for that night before I planted them and afterwards saw the projection! It was suppose to get down to 21 degrees that night here in Santa Fe. Stupid me! I’m always telling everyone to look at the forecast before planting in early spring. The greenhouse stays about 5-10 degrees warmer than the outside air. I freaked a bit so I put down 2 sheets of medium weight row cover on top and that night I put a 3rd sheet of row cover over it, hoping they would all survive. I use medium weight row cover which has about 3-4 degree protection from freezing weather. It worked-so all of them came through beautifully. Just goes to show you I should listen to my own advice! I lucked out!

Successful Seed Planting class handouts

For those of you who attended the class I taught last night at the Seed Library in Southside Library, Santa Fe, thanks for coming! All 58 of you! And thanks to the Santa Fe Extension Master Gardener for putting this class on. Even if you couldn’t attend the class, you may find the handouts useful.

Don’t forget you can pick up seeds at the Seed Library at Southside Library starting MARCH 25.This will be in lieu of the various seed booths around town.

Below are the handouts as pdfs so you can print them in case you need them.

SEED STARTING SOURCES

soil temperatures for veggie seeds

Seed-Starting Calculator-2023

COOL SEASON:WARM SEASON CROPS

SEED STARTING BASICS

Easier seed starting schedule

So after thinking about my last post, I realized it might be too much info (TMI). So today I am giving you just some starting dates and planting out dates that I use here in Santa Fe, Zone 6B.  You will need to transplant anything you start inside as it gets bigger before planting outside.

This schedule will be simpler to follow (especially if you only grow a few veggies) and if you want to see when to plant up to a bigger size pot, you can always go to my very detailed schedule from before. Also be aware this is MY schedule and I use row cover and wall of waters to be able to put the crops outside earlier AND weather will always influence when I plant outside. If you don’t use these aids, transplant tomatoes, peppers and eggplants in JUNE.

FEBRUARY-MARCH
-Start COLD SEASON CROPS-INSIDE-greens-lettuce, arugula, spinach and Asian greens, cabbage

MARCH
-EARLY MARCH-INSIDE COOL SEASON CROPS kale, chard, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi

-EARLY MARCH-INSIDE-start peppers and eggplants

-MID-MARCH-TRANSPLANT OUTSIDE COLD SEASON CROPS (with protection) IN GREEN HOUSE OR COLD FRAME OR MINI GREENHOUSE-all greens that were started in FEB

-LATE MARCH-inside-start tomatoes

APRIL
-Transplant starts OUTSIDE-beets, kale, chard, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, cabbage, onion sets, garlic

-OUTSIDE-DIRECT SEED-Radishes, flowers, carrots, beets

MAY
-plant OUTSIDE-tomatoes (WITH PROTECTION), flowers, and anything above you haven’t planted outside yet

JUNE
-Plant OUTSIDE transplants of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants (if you don’t use wall of waters)

-DIRECT SEED WARM SEASON CROPS OUTSIDE-more flowers, corn, beans, cucumbers, squash, melons, pumpkins

Here it is as a pdf  SIMPLIFIED SEED STARTING SCHEDULE so you can just print it out.

 

Seed Starting Schedule-2023

With all the snow outside right now isn’t it too early to start seeds inside? NO!

My radio show will air on Saturday, Feb 25 on KSFR 101.1 radio station and airs the last Saturday of every month where I give tips and advise about gardening for the following month.  March will be about my seed starting schedule which I’ve already started but many veggies can be started later too from the schedule.

I want to talk about my planting schedule for 2023. Thought you readers might be interested. Of course, the dates are not carved in stone and changes a little each year but it tells me when I should get growing and how I think when starting crops. Some are started inside and later many warm season crops are started inside and more warm season crops will be direct seeded into the ground when the ground warms up in June. If you plan to grow veggies this year, it is good to be organized. I need to see it in writing.

This may seem a bit much to make up such a detailed schedule but I grow so many varieties of veggies and they each have their own growing season so it keeps me on track. You can use mine or make your own up-you can do it simply in a notebook but I hope this will help you start to think of your planning.

You can listen to the show and pick up the notes and schedule after the show or get them here. This is shown BELOW as a jpeg, but you can print it out the pdf ( 2023 SEED STARTING SCHEDULE) I also have it as an Excel file (2023 SEED STARTING SCHEDULE for those of you who have it-that way you can adjust your own schedule)

Please note that once I plant the early cool season crops outside, I use row cover (polypropylene fabric) over them on a cold nite to keep them from freezing. I have people ask if they can use a sheet-NO and one person told me they used a sleeping bag-NO! It didn’t work! ( I told them the only way they could use that was if they were in it!)

For germination tips, go here:  Also here is (Zone 6a):  SEED GERMINATION CHART which gives the optimal soil germination temperature of crops and how long to germinate.

Later when ready to transplant tomatoes and peppers/eggplants outside, I will use wall of waters (WOWs) to help start the season earlier so if you don’t use either of those aids, then you will have to wait till danger of frost is over. These two aids are invaluable and will give you a head start on getting some of the crops outside in earlier.

I have already started INSIDE with lettuces, spinach, arugula, bok choi, and pak choi. All these will go from the germination trays to pony packs and then after they are big enough, go in either the Green house or cold frame. Seems early? YES but I want to get to harvest the cool season crops before the heat comes and they take 30-60 days to grow to harvest. Must get them out of the house before we start tomatoes inside on March 28 as we need the space inside by then!

PEPPERS

The next thing I will start are peppers inside on Mar 1 (on the schedule), because they take a long time to get sized up.  I always said wait until June 1 but if you have wall of waters (WOWs) they might help get your pepper plants outside a little sooner. Even then, it is still very cool at nite. What happens to peppers if you plant outside when it is still cold at nite? They will stall out and stop growing! And they won’t start growing again-then you would have to buy some because it will be too late to start them again.

TOMATOES

Next- will plant tomato seeds on March 28.

NOTE: Before it get’s hot in JUNE, take off the WOWs as you can fry the plants-all plants.  BUT if you don’t have WOWs, wait till June 1 to plant peppers/eggplants and May 15 for tomatoes outside.

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For March-to recap

Cool season crops inside, under lights -NO heat mats early March

Warm season crops inside-Tomatoes/peppers/eggplants under lights with HEAT MATS and a THERMOSTAT will help keep the temperature at the correct germination temp. Notice peppers/eggplant seeds are planted earlier because they take so long to size up before planting outside and tomato seeds are being planted Mar 28 this year.

If this is too much info, go buy your plants ready to transplant-you can still use the schedule. Why do I grow my own varieties? Because there are so many more great varieties of veggies you can grow IF YOU START THEM YOURSELF.

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LEGEND FOR SEED STARTING SCHEDULE below (in case you don’t know what my initials mean)

seeds/i=starting seeds inside under lights/no heat for cool season crops/warm season crops also get a heat mat.

tranplant/pp/i=transplanting up to pony packs-still inside under lights (4 or 6 cells-like what you buy flowers in)

transplant GH/CF-transplant into unheated Greenhouse/cold frame. Use row cover over crops at nites to protect from cold-I sometimes use 2 layers of row cover if very cold.

DS outside-Direct seed outside

I write notes all over the schedule so I see what I did for next year. For instance, I changed my cold season crops (lettuces/spinach/arugula) to a later date. No reason except I didn’t check last year’s dates and am late, but not too late. I try to be done with them when it gets too warm in the green house or cold frame which is usually around late April-early May before they bolt. Bolting is when they produce a flower stalk which makes them bitter. I either compost them then or feed them to my chickens. I don’t like bitter greens.

2023 SEED STARTING SCHEDULE (EXPAND TO SEE BETTER OR JUST DOWNLOAD ONE OF THE THE FORMATS)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pepper varieties & how to grow

People ask why don’t I grow green chiles from southern New Mexico or red chiles from northern New Mexico. If I did that, I would need an acre as we eat chile all the time. New Mexicans call their hot peppers chile, not chili, (which refers to the dish chili) while most of the US call them chilies but not here in New Mexico! Confused? I was-when I first move here! The heat of New Mexican peppers can vary drastically so I prefer to buy them already peeled and rated from mild to hot in the fall. (I’m a wuss-I like mild). So I’ve spent some time the last few years growing other less hot, less known pepper varieties and have found some real winners-if you don’t like hot. Besides I want room in my garden to grow other things as well.

 

Normally I grow 4 varieties of peppers-NONE are hot—Jimmy Nardello, Lava Red (a variety of Corno di Toro), Habanada, which is sweet, (NOT Habanero which is very hot), and Poblano (which is mildly hot-used for chiles rellenos (dried it is called Ancho pepper). I don’t like store bought bell peppers as there are so many better sweet varieties out there.You just need to grow them!

 

This year, in 2023, in addition to growing my staple of peppers above, I’m gonna grow some new varieties to me. They include Piquillo Lodosa Basque pepper (left pic-courtesy of Secret Seed Cartel), ‘Ancient Sweet’, Calabrian Caviar pepper (I got all from Secret Seed Cartel). None of these are too hot either but look interesting. Secret Seed Cartel has other peppers from all over the world.

 

 

 

 

In addition, I just bought some hard to find seeds for Chilhuacle Negro Hot Pepper, an ancient chile from Oaxaca Mexico area. I’m getting those seeds from Terroir Seeds. Suppose to be the original pepper seed for mole negro dish. Hope it’s not too hot!

 

 

 

So when do I start peppers?
-End of March or first week of April, I plant the seeds inside in germination trays, under lights, and on a heat mat.

Around April 15, I transplant them out of their germination trays-maybe 2 weeks (after they get their first true leaves-pic left) and into 4 inch pots where they will still stay inside, under lights till I plant them out in the garden the last week of May through the first week of June. And if they do outgrow the 4 inch pot, transplant them up to a bigger pot before transplanting outside.

 

-Around May 25-June 1-When I transplant them outside, I put them in walls of waters (WOW) for a week or two to keep them safe if we get one of those cold nites again. But don’t leave them in the wall of waters too long (pull the WOW’s off) as you also don’t want to fry them either and we go from cold to hot quickly here in Santa Fe although lately the past few years, it has been getting hotter sooner. So it is important to really watch the weather to see when it will change to take off the WOWs.

-Why plant outside so late? Because if you plant them earlier outside, the nights are cold and the peppers could stall out and stop growing-FOREVER! Then you would have to start over and they take 10-12 weeks to get big enough to plant out which is not enough time with our short season.

-Most people don’t start the seeds early enough here. Timing is everything.

And lastly, if you don’t want to bother with growing your own pepper seeds, I suggest you go over to Agua Fria Nursery, here in Santa Fe which has many different varieties of pepper transplants starts later (not now). There may be other nurseries here that sell pepper plants but I bet AFN sells more varieties.

 

SEED LIFESPAN CHART and viability test

For my February garden show, I talked about seed lifespan or viability on my radio show amongst other topics relative to February.

Here is a seed lifespan chart that I compiled from several charts online: SEED LIFESPAN

This is a general guideline and depends a lot on how the seeds were taken care of. I’ve had seeds germinate that were way past their prime. In fact, my giant green squash, ‘Jabba the Hut’ set a new NM State record in 2011 of 340 lbs! It came from a seed that was over 8 years old, which according to this chart, the lifespan should have been between 4-6 years old but it was the only seed I had. In fact some seeds have been germinated from tombs in Egypt centuries ago. So if you have a special seed, try it despite what the chart may say.

Below is a chart for optimal seed germination temperatures if you are growing from seed inside. It is very important you try to germinate seeds at their optimal temperature-too cold a temperature then the seeds might not germinate or even rot and too hot of temperature, the seeds may fry. This chart is also good as to what temp the soil should be if you direct seed outside.

(Zone 6a):  SEED GERMINATION CHART

This is an important topic this time of year as many of us are deciding whether our seeds are too old to germinate or still good and if we need to replace them. Here is some of the info I gave on the radio show:

‘Every seed has a shelf life. You can search how long seeds can be stored and how to test their viability. Fresh seeds are essential for good germination. Older seeds have less success of germinating.

To test them, take 10 seeds and soak them in water overnight and then put them in a damp paper towel and put them in a Ziploc bag and on a warm windowsill or on top of your refrigerator (but not a sunny place, you don’t want to fry the seeds). Then in a few days check them to see how many have germinated.’ If all 10 seeds germinate, then you have 100% germination, 5 seeds would be 50% and 2 seeds would be 20% and so on. I will usually get rid of any vegetable seeds 30% or less.

 

In the case for old flower seeds, I just throw out the seeds in spring and see what pops up. This is from last year’s garden-fantastic but of course we had a very rainy summer so that helped!

Look on the package to see the year the seed company sold them. I have noticed that some seed companies do not put the date on the packages, in which case I write down the year I bought them on the package.

Hope this helps when making decisions about which seeds to save and optimal seed germination temperatures when starting them.

Happy New Year!

Ok, I for one am glad 2022 is over and looking forward to a new year and a new growing season. But I have much to be grateful for despite my dismal yield of tomatoes last season. So instead of looking at the negative which there is plenty of that in the news, I’m going to focus on the positive from last year’s garden. So here are some of the successes in 2022:

-Because we had such a good rainy season (monsoons), my annual flowers (in fact all my flowers, perennial and annual flowers were absolutely fantastic. All the annual seeds I threw out on the ground (I didn’t even start any inside last season) came up and in fact I had to thin out some of them to keep from overcrowding. I don’t think I have had a more beautiful flower garden inside the veggie garden.

-Actually most veggie crops did well for me except the tomatoes. All cool season crops continued to produce very well throughout the summer because of those rains and cooler temperatures-kohlrabi, kale, chard, lettuce, onions, potatoes did great.

-The raspberries and finally the blackberries  produced LOTS of berries, again because of the rains. Still, no salmonberries or honeyberries last season but am hoping for their berries to show up this year.

-My winter and summer squash did exceptionally well with very little disease-I grow butternut squash and Friulana summer squash because they usually don’t get many (if any) squash bugs. Only one butternut squash out of 8 squash got them but it is interesting to note that all the butternuts were crowded in one bed (as in overflowing) so they were all very close together and only one plant got them and none of the rest got them and no squash bugs or disease in the Friulani summer squash plants either.

-I grew Yukon Jack potatoes in 2021 and that harvest was dismal. But in that same bed I had 5 volunteer potato plants that came up and produced very well and most were good sized spuds. I guess I missed some of the teeny-tiny potatoes during the previous year but again with all the rain, it was a good harvest.

-My carrots were bodacious! I still have about 10 lbs stored from this last season. I really liked the ‘Dragon Purple carrots with their dark purple skins and bright reddish orange flesh inside.

-The Italian dry pole bean variety, Casalbuono di Panzareidd, a white bean with red splashes was super productive and super tasty.

So as we enter the new year with many new growing possibilities, I get excited with new hope for a great 2023 growing season. I wish you all a happy new year where you all prosper and flourish in your gardening and personal lives.

2022 fall vegetable garden tour

Today is cold and windy-a nice day to be inside!

Every year for the past few years, I film my veggie garden usually in the fall when harvesting slows down. The garden won’t be at it’s prime but it’s when I’m not so headless. Next year I will try to film it in it’s prime. I like to see it in the winter to inspire me as to what might be for next season, to see a little green, dream about next year’s garden and refresh my brain as to how it looked. Of course every year is different which is actually exciting.

In the garden everything did well except the tomatoes. The flowers were especially wonderful and for the first time in many years, I got lots of carrots. I attribute that to the rain we had this summer.

This year after looking at the film again, I noticed how much Early Blight infected my tomato plants. Usually I start spraying the plants with Copper fungicide (use to spray with Serenade which is no longer available)  early before I see it as a preventative but this year I got behind because I had Covid for 20 days and never really caught up. This is a good lesson for me especially if we have a rainy growing season like we did this year. Rain exacerbates Early Blight with it’s humidity and moisture. Early Blight can hit our tomato plants when water splashes up from the ground onto the lower leaves. Early Blight spores live in the ground and when they splash up on the lower leaves, they colonize and spread upwards. If you want to know more on Early blight on my website, go here:  giantveggiegardener.

 

Happy planning for next year-Hope you enjoy this video!

2022 Tomato Review

For those of you who don’t listen to my radio show on KSFR 101.1 which airs the last day of each month at 10 am, I talk about what problems are in the garden, what we can do, how to deal with certain pests, what we can grow and review crops I grow, etc. Generally, lots of veggie growing tips. This Saturday, Nov 26, I am reviewing my top crops for 2022-all of them. So if you can’t listen this Saturday or want a copy to keep as reference, I am posting my favorite tomatoes for 2022. There are few new ones and some that are on my top 20 list of tomatoes year after year.

I grew 29 tomato plants this year and it was probably the worse year tomato wise (but other crops did well). I think because it was a cool rainy, cloudy season and once the tomatoes set their blossoms into fruit, they like warm, sunny days which we didn’t have many in 2022. However, my cherry tomatoes saved the day and were very prolific but the slicers didn’t grow fast or ripen very fast either. I had a lot of green ones at the end of the season, which I ripened inside. I believe that’s because of the cool weather. Some of my standard slicer that I grow year after year didn’t do so well but I still include them because they have been great till this year. I don’t necessarily stop growing one tomato because of one bad year especially if it has done well in the past.  But it is interesting to note that my peppers did well and they like hot weather too, so go figure.

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2022 TOMATO REVIEW

SOME OF MY FAVORITE SLICER TOMATOES THAT DID WELL THIS YEAR:
Paul Robeson-named after the famous opera singer-has superb rich flavor. Get seeds online or at Agua Fria Nursery.
Cherokee Purple-Wonderful flavor. Get at Seed Savers Exchange.
Cherokee Carbon-a hybrid with all the great flavor of Purple Cherokee without the cracks. Get online or at Agua Fria Nursery.
Lucky Cross-A wonderful large bi-color tomato of yellow with a red blush inside- very sweet. Get at Victory Seeds.
Virginia Sweet-Another outstanding large yellow with red blush tomato-can get it online.
Goliath-A medium size red hybrid tomato with old fashion flavor. Almost perfect with few blemishes. Get online. Good eating or I make sauce.
Large Boar Boar-a mahogany color with green stripes-great flavor. Get at Wild Boar Farms.
Black Sea Man-looks and tastes like Black Krim tomatoes only more productive. Really like them. Get them at Seed Savers Exchange.

SOME OF MY FAVORITE CHERRY TOMATOES THAT DID WELL THIS YEAR:
Black Cherry-A fantastic purple cherry tomato. Get seeds online or plants at nurseries. Agua Fria Nursery.
Ruthje-Red cherry tomato-I grew this last year and it is a super sweet tomato. Get from Restoration Seeds online.
Moby-a dwarf cherry tomato-A large yellow cherry tomato on a small plant with great flavor You can get Moby at Victory Seeds. Only gets about 3-4 feet high so great for pots.
Sungold Cherry-a real favorite-super sweet. Get seeds or plants at nurseries like Agua Fria Nursery.

You notice I mention Agua Fria Nursery here as they have the biggest selection of Heirloom tomato plants in Santa Fe in the spring. Here is my pdf which includes all my crops AND live links for you: 11-2022 VEGETABLE REVIEW


			

	
	



				
					


	

		
Cold weather to subside this week!


				

			
				
			
					

			


		

		
Is it cold enough?!


Recently we have had to endure really cold temperatures both in the day and at night. This morning was 14 degrees at 7 am when I went out to feed the barn animals and with the wind chill (10 mph) pushed it down to 7°degrees F.  I had to wear 3 layers on both my bottoms and top, lined gloves, plus a fleecy headband covered by a wool hat. I looked like a bear with all that on! So I fed in their stalls so they didn’t have to endure the cold wind. I couldn’t wait to get back to the house. It’s been in the teens at night all week. But this coming week, the temperatures will rise into the mid 40’s in the day and nighttime temps will be in the 20’s. Ahh, almost balmy!


But what about the garden? What garden?! Mine has been shut down since we got that first hard freeze in late October. A hard freeze is defined as 28°F or lower. Crops pulled and compost was added on top of the beds.  Everything is turned off drip wise and all drip timers are in the house with their batteries removed. To water the perennial veggies/fruits in winter, I have to hook up a hose and then drain the hose after I’m done so the water drains out and doesn’t freeze in the hose. Nothing worse than a frozen hose. I once had to drag the hose in and throw it in the bathtub in hot water to melt the water in it. I learned a hard lesson there. Now I always drain the hoses. A bit of a pain in the ass but watering is needed if we don’t get any snow. Luckily I didn’t have to water this past week as we got 4 inches here. I water around 1x every 3 weeks in winter unless it snows, and then I’m off the hook. This also goes for established fruit trees in winter or even your perennial bushes.


So what can we do in winter as gardeners?


-Research out new varieties of veggies online that I might try out next season


-Order seeds


-Research problems I had in the garden.


-Order your catalogs or go online.


-Check your supplies and get more if needed.


-Look for specials at our local nurseries and online.


–Search for topics on this site–all topics are on the far right side, just scroll down to view under ‘GARDEN TOPICS’. Lot’s of info here on this site for our area.

			

	
	



				
					


	

		
Support our local radio show this Saturday


				

			
				
			
					

			


		

		










Hey folks! This Saturday Oct 8th, is KSFR 101.1 radio fundraiser. This is the radio station that I broadcast my gardening podcast on. It is hosted by Santa Fe Extension Master Gardeners and is the Home Grown New Mexico edition. My show contains info on what we should, could and can do in our veggie garden each month in the Santa Fe area-how to become better organic, sustainable veggie gardeners. If you like my show (or if you have never heard it) it is on KSFR 101.1, from 10:00-10:30 on the last Saturday of each month). The reason I’m promoting this we need you to support KSFR so shows like these can continue. 


Please call in this Saturday and pledge something to continue to keep shows like this going and it’s inportant to call in YOUR PLEDGE DURING THE SHOW Call 505-510-KSFR (505-510-5737) so they don’t cancel it. The more people call in to support us, the better.




Here is more info below:


The Garden Journal on KSFR–Saturdays at 10am on KSFR 101.1 and podcasting at KSFR.org


Please support KSFR’s Fall Fund Drive during The Garden Journal on Oct. 8 10am-10:30am. Call 505-510-KSFR (505-510-5737).


You will be supporting KSFR Community-Supported Public Radio and The Garden Journal.


The free air time Home Grown NM receives on KSFR is invaluable! It enhances visibility and our events to the community. Your contribution will help demonstrate that The Garden Journal has an engaged audience and will ensure that the program continues on the air.


Please call in with your donation of any size during our October 8 program between 10 and 10:30.


Pledge Gifts (only available Oct 8 from 10-10:30 during the Garden Journal broadcast, while they last) have been donated from our friends:


• Donate $150 and receive a set of three books on the critical role of insects to the environment: Doug Tallamy’s “Bringing Nature Home” and “The Nature of the environment: Doug Tallamy’s “Bringing Nature Home” and “The Nature of Oaks” and “The Insect Crisis” by Oliver Milman. Retail value $75. Provided by Plants of the Southwest.


• Donate $60 and receive a free $35 membership to Home Grown New Mexico.


• Donate $50 and receive a $25 gift certificate to Agua Fria Nursery.


Call 505-510-KSFR (505-510-5737) on Saturday, Oct. 8 from 10-10:30.















































 
















 







			

	
	



				
					


	

		
Start your fall garden NOW


				

			
				
			
					

			


		

		


There are a surprising number of vegetables suitable for zone 6 fall vegetable planting. Many cool-season vegetables seeds can be planted directly in the garden in August. The goal is to get the seedlings planted outdoors in time to take advantage of the warm days of summer while we still have them.


Most people start their fall gardens too late. It’s hard to think about growing crops for the fall when we are just getting into the main season and are starting to harvest many of our summer crops. I start fall crops inside or direct seed outside in July and by mid-August for a fall garden. When you sow seeds in late August, you may not have enough time to harvest before our first frost sometime in mid-October, depending on the crop, so get your fall crop in now.


What can you grow in August? The key is to choose crops with less days to harvest so you get to harvest before it freezes. For example some radishes are 28 days to harvest (see photo). Look at your package to see how long before you can harvest. You also need to add 10 more days as the days get shorter and crops will take longer to harvest. So for this radish, 28 days plus 10 days equals 38 days to harvest so you would still have enough time to grow them since our first frost date is around Oct 10 (but could be earlier or later).


Another alternative is to go buy plants from a nursery and put them out now.  Buying plants will get you a good head start.


Use row cover over your seedlings outside to protect them when the nights get cold whether planting from seeds or transplanting.


You will notice that I haven’t mentioned any warm season crops. There is generally not enough time before it gets too cold to start more warm season crops.


An where do you put these fall varieties? Space can be a problem and location too. Anywhere you have already harvested creates more space. For instance, I just picked all my beets and cauliflower and have a lot of space right now, so I’m planting more fall crops in those bed. I also harvested garlic so that bed is empty but not for long! I try to grow my fall garden close to the house so I only have to water with a watering can vs a hose that may or may not freeze which is a pain to empty out if it freezes.


Below is a suggested list of what to plant for a fall garden. Some of these are already growing in the summer garden and will be ready to harvest soon like carrots and beets so you must decide if you want more in late fall. Cool season crops are what you should plant for a fall harvest.


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Direct sow seeds outdoors:

arugula

lettuce

beets

carrots

radish

spinach

lettuce (heat tolerant and cool season varieties)

cilantro

bok choy

kale

			

	
	



				
					


	

		
How to tell when to pick apricots off your trees


				

			
				
			
					

			


		

		
Bumper crop of apricots this year!


Apricot season is here and even though I didn’t get any on my apricot trees this year, many of my friends have offered me lots of them for which I am grateful. So far I’ve made 16 jars of apricot jam, dried a couple of gallons of them and I plan on making a apricot clafouti and an apricot/berry cobbler.


People ask me when they should pick apricots?


Should they wait till they are completely ripe or pick a little earlier. If you wait till they are completely colored up still on the trees, then you will be competing with the birds for them. Apricots are not like cherries where once you pick them, they stop ripening. The good news is you can pick earlier and most of them will continue to ripen if left out on trays in your kitchen. Then as they turn their beautiful apricot color and give to finger pressure, they are ripe and you can store them in a zip lock baggie in the refrigerator and keep adding more to the bag as the rest ripen. Of course they will only last a few days in the refrigerator but this will give you time to get enough of them and think about what to do with them.


 Left-all green, 2nd light green-yellow, 3rd one starting to color, 4th one ripe but still needs a day to give to finger pressure


Above is a photo I took of apricots in various stages. The one on the far left is still ALL green and will NEVER ripen so throw those out or compost them. The 2nd one (from left) has a faint light green-yellow color and it will ripen up completely if left out on a counter. The 3rd one (from left) is definitely ripening and turning more yellow and the 4th one is ripe but still a bit hard so I wait till they give to finger pressure-just a touch of give before I use them in a recipe. Now you don’t have to compete with the birds!

			

	
	



				
					


	

		
The heat is on


				

			
				
			
					

			


		

		
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been feeling the heat lately and try to get out early in the morning and sometimes a little in the evening in the veggie garden if it cools down. So my gardening time is limited to when it is cooler. Of course it’s not as hot as where I grew up in Phoenix, AZ (I escaped)! Above is the forecast thru July 28 for Santa Fe. Looks like it’s going to cool down a little.


With this heat wave it is time to water your garden a little extra. Water your garden either first thing in the morning or last thing in the evening in addition to your normal watering. Today is the last day of temps in the 90s-tomorrow is suppose to be 89-still hot for here and then the temps drop to mid 80s. To see if my plants need extra water, I stick my finger in the soil up to my second digit and if it is dry when I pull it out and the soil doesn’t stick, it’s time to water. If it comes out wet, and the soil sticks to it, it still has good moisture. Also a real sign your plants need water is if they start to wilt. I try not to let them wilt. Plants in pots can dry out very quickly so water them 2x/day when it is hot.


One good thing is the tomatoes are just starting to come on. I now have a bowl of them on the kitchen table. I know they won’t set fruit when temps reach 92 degrees but they will keep producing blossoms and will set fruit once the temps cool down. And once they set some fruit, they don’t mind some heat. Some of my early varieties set their fruit in June. That’s why I try to plant so early-this year June 2nd, to give them a chance to set some fruit before the heat really sets in and they get blossom drop. But of course, that means putting them in wall of waters so they can deal with freezing nights that early in the season, but I don’t mind if I can get some tomatoes a little earlier. After all, it’s been since last November since I’ve had some home grown tomatoes. The wait was worth it!

			

	
	



				
					


	

		
COVID strikes


				

			
				
			
					

			


		

		


I’m not looking for sympathy but in case you were wondering why I haven’t’ posted lately or approve comments, it’s because I had been sick with COVID. It lasted 20 days for me and I was sicker than a dog. I took Paxlovid pills and was starting to feel better when I started to feel bad again. Turns out I had a relapse. Hence the 20 days. I had my vaccinations and one booster and was going to get the second booster the week I got sick. I had escaped it for 2.5 years but went to a party in June and wasn’t as good as I should of been, pulling my mask down and pushing it up frequently. Turned out that 17 out of 30 people got COVID from that party. So be careful folks-wear your masks. I know we all are experiencing burnout but the new variations are extremely contagious and you don’t want to get Omicron, whatever version-it’s no picnic (at least for me).


So now that I’m over it, I’m finally returning to the garden (Yay!) and will post what’s up in the garden in July. I got lots to catch up on! Stay tuned.