willsfamilyacres

Okra and Amaranth Bed

The amaranth is doing really well. Last year I tried growing from see outdoors and they never came up. This year I tried indoors and you can see the results.

Red Okra

Clemson Spineless

Clemson Spineless Okra has done really well. The red variety has not had great production, and does not pickle well since it turns the liquid an eerie red color.

Tomatillo Bed

I’ve never had much luck with tomatillos. I know you need more than one for pollinating. I’ve tried 2, 3 and 4 without huge success. This year I devoted an entire bed to tomatillos, and planted 6. I’ve had my best production ever.

Chocolate Pepper

Ozark Giant

Although peppers love the heat, they don’t love the Texas sun. Last year most of me bell peppers got sun scorched before they full ripened. This year I put up shade cloth on the west side. I have been very successful with the bells and have only lost a few high hanging ones. The emerald giant and ozark giant are huge, great for stuffing.

Chinese Five Color

Filius Blue

As usual, my jalapenos have not produced well. The habanero hasn’t either. The serrano has done pretty well, but the starts of the show have been the Chinese Five Color and the Filius Blue. These have produced way more than I can possibly eat. They are also stunning to look at. I will be planting both of these in my flower beds next year.

Lemon Cucumbers have produced well. The others have not.

Bolita Beans

The Bolita beans are thriving. The romano beans did well early, but have been taken over by spider mites. The rest of the beans have been stunted and non-productive. I’ve got to figure out why I have no luck with beans. I’m thinking it may be the nitrogen. I ran out of rabbit poo before getting to the bean bed.

Dr. Wyche yellow tomato did well early, but doesn’t like this heat. I don’t think the plant will make it through the summer.

Emerald Evergreen

Emerald Evergreen is my new favorite. This tomato has produced better and in my humble opinion tastes superior to my previous favorite, Cherokee Purple. I’ve finally had luck with the Zebra this year. I’m not sure why, but I’m happy!

Riesentraube

The seed company threw in Risentraube free for me to try. It’s a cherry tomato variety and it’s doing really well and is very tasty. It seems to be able to handle the heat, so I’ll be adding this one to the rotation.

Yellow Pear Cherry

The Yellow Pear, Black Cherry, and Isis are still good. The Fox has become really leathery in the heat. We’ll see how it does in the fall. The black cherry is good, but the production is quite a bit lower than the other three.

I didn’t get around to puting tomato cages in one Roma bed. I decided to give them a try since it’s supposed to be optional for them. Not a good idea. One of them snapped in half and the others have been much more susceptible to caterpillars and other critters.

Path near the entry

I still had two unused weed mats. I hadn’t put them down because the ground is too hard to put in staples. The bermuda has become so unruly though that I put the mats down with rocks to keep them in place. Once we get some good rain I’ll try staples again.

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I thought it was well past time to post on the veggies I have growing this season.

Tomatoes were planted March 3rd. It is the earliest I have ever planted them, and a big gamble. I did have to cover them 2 weekends in a row, but they seem to be doing well.

Tomatoes and Peppers

Tomato Varieties: Roma (12) , Amish Paste (4), Cherokee Purple (4), Green Zebra (2), Violet Jasper (2), Riesentraube (2), Dr. Wyche’s Yellow (2), Emerald Evergreen (2), Fox Cherry (2), Isis Candy Cherry (2), Black Cherry (2), Yellow Pear (2), Tomatillo – not really a tomato (6)

Peppers were planted the 17th and 24th.

Filius Blue

Pepperoncini

Other pepper Varieties: Red Cheese, Sweet Chocolate Bell, Ozark Giant Bell, Emerald Giant Bell, Chinese 5 color, Craig’s Grande Jalapeno, Mustard/Red/Chocolate Habaneros.

All of these germinated well except for the red cheese. Out of 10 attempts I only got one plant.

Beans were planted the 24th. This year I actually followed the instructions on the seed packets and soaked the seeds for 2 hours before planting. I noticed a huge improvement in the time it took for the seedlings to sprout. I only have a few that haven’t popped up yet, and I believe it’s due to the differences in varieties. I created this new bed along the original cross fence. I thought I’d put up some fishing line and let the beans go crazy.

New Bean Bed

Bean Varieties: Bolita, Monkey Tail Cowpea, Rattlesnake Pole, Dragon Tongue, Mccaslan 42 Pole, Roma II, Golden Wax

I am most excited about the Bolita. It claims to be tastier than pinto beans. It is a very popular in New Mexico, so hopefully it can handle a little humidity.

Cucumbers and melons were planted on the 24th as well.

Cucs and Melons

Last Year's Watermelon. This plant was strong enough to survive the winter, the least I can do is give it the chance produces fruit.

Cucumber Varieties: Japanese Long, Parisian Pickling, Lemon, Ruby Wallace’s Old Time White

Melon Varieties: Musk, Sugar Baby

The okra is still waiting to be planted. I have so many carrots going, that I thought I’d give them until the beginning of April to see what they can do.

Carrot Bed

Okra and Amaranth seedlings waiting for transplant

Okra Varieties: Clemson Spineless, Bowling Red

Amaranth Varieties: Motten Fire, Joseph’s Coat Perfecta

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