February 14, 2019

Good morning, it is almost hard to believe that we are through  January and half way through February. The time is flying.

I finally got my cold frame back together and the first toms are hardening off. Soon will follow the peppers and eggplants around the first of march. it time to also sow beans, summer squash, cucumbers, parsnips,  and divide and transplant the onions.

I so hope that we do not have any of the unprotectable weather weather  this year. It was quite humbling two events last year. One just as the year started and another just as the summer veggies were finishing. Two events where I am not sure what I could have done different.  When ever some event happens in the garden where outcomes are less than desirable I like to ponder  "what could I have done different?". Both events I had done everything possible and in both cases there almost was total crop failure.  In any case it is full speed ahead and we will deal with anything that comes our way. Fortunately I have lots of seeds.

It was lovely to see the first pea blossoms.  What with the last few very chilly mornings I would be surprised to see blossoms turn into peas. Ah where there are flowers there will soon be fruit.  The second sowing is nearly 8 inches tall. So look forward to pea season. The plan is to be more prompt on spraying and controlling spider mites. This year it is not quite as dry as last year. In dry years there is nothing green except what is in the garden and the mites  and thrips make a beeline. The fabric helps but is not bullet proof. There again we will cross that bridge when we get there. 

One thing I did with the second sowing of peas was to start a few peas in containers inside the house. I wanted to compare direct seeds to transplant. It sure does look like for my July planting that I will do transplants. Peas abhor warm to hot soils. Two years ago I got lucky and planted into a cool rainy spell and got a good take. Not so last year. I will give the transplants and with luck there will be fall peas. It does seem to be very doable it is just figuring out how to make it so. It took me several years to finally figure out how to grow bulb onions. Trial and error along with discovering a garden book almost explicitly told me what I was doing wrong, that changed everything. So it will be so with peas too. Cool season veggies can be a challenge in Texas

The garden continues to grow. Normally winter sowings just sit until warmer weather but this year I am seeing weekly growth and each week is just a little more greens to harvest.If the weather acts like it has most years, we have the worst of winter behind us. Now that we are in mid February the warming will increase and the cold will decrease. Perfect conditions for the fabric to save the daytime warmth for the night time. It is all good.

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