Re: Veggie Intro #2


On Saturday, January 02, 1999 Monica <mathena@iquest.net> wrote:
> ...
>ps- lets  hear  from  all of you  out  there  in  veggie-land,  especially
>in  the  warmer  climates!!
>

Well.  Okay, since you asked.
Direct-seeded 3rd squarest succession crop of cool season vegetables on Jan.
2 (lettuce, mesclun, Swiss chard, beets, carrots, radishes).  Kinda slow to
germinate in this cool weather so I covered the lettuce section with clear
plastic and used black plastic on the rest.  Radishes already sprouting.
Finally picked the Country Gentleman sweetcorn which was allowed to ripen on
the cornstalk for seed.  Great 1998 fall crop!  Broccoli side shoots have
been abundant since early December.  Cauliflower starting to form heads but
cabbage isn't heading yet.  Kohlrabi and the first beet crop are getting a
little tough and wooden.  Next planting activity will be potatoes on January
15.  That date was chosen because the waning moon will be in Capricorn (Hey,
with potatoes we need all the help we can get).  I plan to plant potatoes
that were greened per instructions in Ronniger's catalog as well as some
from the same batch of seed potatoes that were not greened - for comparison
to see if it really makes a difference.  Started seeds of tomatoes, peppers,
eggplant, marigold, nasturtiums, asparagus, and artichokes (Imperial Star)
on January 1 indoors under lights.  Everything already sprouted except for
the asparagus which I expect to take 3 weeks.  Good citrus crop this year.
Picking fruit from two orange trees (AZ Sweet) and one tangerine tree since
mid December.  Just beginning to pick grapefruit - kinda small.  Mineola
tangelos won't be prime for another week or two.  Lemon tree is prolific as
always.  Enough lemons from one tree for the entire neighborhood.

Then on January 06, 1999 7:51 PM Monica <mathena@iquest.net> wrote:
> ...
> ... I  cannot  talk much  about  gardening  now,  because  I  have  been
snowed  in  for  the  last  4  days.
> ...

Talked to relatives Sunday back in Northern Indiana where I grew up and
learned there were 5-foot snow drifts with more snow on the way.  All roads
closed.  People were asked to stay at home.  Single digit temperatures
reported the past few days.  Son is home for the holidays but his roommate
reports his pickup back at West Lafayette is totally covered with snow (with
a little help from the snow plow).  We have had about a dozen light frosts
with  temperatures in the mid 30s and 3 medium frosts with temps in the high
20s which zapped the peppers and tomatoes I neglected to cover.  Leaf edges
on lettuce and Swiss chard slightly frost-burned but the plants are
otherwise okay.  Not cold enough yet to affect citrus.

Olin
Phoenix AZ (And delighted to be 2,000 miles WOW from Elkhart IN).
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