Dallas Fruit and Vegetable Grower

Corn

I had much greater success with my corn this year.

I planted two beds of corn and staggered the planting dates by about 60 days.  Each bed is five feet by sixteen feet.  The first bed was planted around May 1st and the second at the end of June.

I planted three types of hybrid sweet corn with each bed planted at the same time divided in three parts by variety.  I used the "corn succession" offered by Territorial Seeds which included: Earlivee, Bodacious, and Golden Jubilee.  Earlivee only grows to five feet tall and is mature within 60 days.  Bodacious is seven feet tall and is mature within 80-90 days.  Golden Jubilee reaches six feet and matures within 90 to 105 days.

The idea is to have a succession of corn that is "just ripe" over a period of time.  It worked pretty well.

The one thing that I noticed was that the maturity time was much shorter for Bodacious and Golden Jubilee, by about 20 to 30 days.

I was pretty disappointed by the Earlivee and don't know if I will plant an extra early variety like that again.  The stalks only grew to about three and a half feet tall.  The ears were very small -- around 6 to 8 inches.  In contrast, the Golden Jubilee and Bodacious were six to seven feet tall with 12 inch ears and two to three ears per plant.

What I don't know is how much of the growing environment affected the Earlivee.  The bed is on a slight downward slope.  With the drip lines ending at the bottom of the decline, the Bodacioius and Golden Jubilee might have gotten more water, affecting performance.  Also, I don't know if the soil quality was better on the down slope -- but I doubt it.

A lot of the ears had been invaded by corn ear worm.  You can see what the damage looks like.  This is easily remedied by just cutting off the damaged portion of the ear since it doesn't affect the taste or aesthetic of the remainder.  I had dusted the plants early on with Bt Dippell Dust, which is an organic product, but apparently that was not enough.

The other thing that I found challenging was knowing when the optimal time was to pick the corn.  If you wait too long, it starts to get starchy.  The experts say that a ripe ear has a small amount of greenish silk where the silk meets the husk, with the remainder of the silk being brown and dry.  That's pretty good advice.  You can see what the brown silk looks like in the top photo.  This year, it was raining a ton over the two week period of time when the corn started to ripen, and the rain did a number on the corn silk making it difficult for me to really evaluate whether the silk was brown and dry because the corn was ripe or because of the rain.

Some additional advice if you are just starting with corn, plant at least three or four rows together to ensure proper pollination.  Corn is wind pollinated, and if there are not enough plants together, there is no guarantee that you'll have good pollination leaving voids where kernels should be.  I planted three rows in a five foot wide bed with each plant about 1.5 feet from each other in the rows.  That's pretty tight and may have impacted how tall the plants got.  I watered regularly with the drip lines and applied Garrett Juice every two weeks for an added boost.

Some more advice, boiling the ears for only 2.5 minutes seemed perfect.  I harvested right before eating.  I also harvested some in the morning and immediately refrigerated the ears for that night.  The second you harvest the corn, the sugars start to turn to starch, so don't wait long to eat them, unless you are going to refrigerate them for later that day.

Here are some photos of the corn at 30 days and 60 days.

Leaf footed bugs

Have you seen these in your garden this year?

I have been swarmed by them.  I purchased a hand held vacuum cleaner and am capturing them by the dozen.

You might want to do the same if you are growing fruits and vegetables.  They suck the juice from leaves and fruit and attack asparagus, tomatoes, peaches, potatoes, and other crops.

Its predators, in addition to me and my vacuum, are assassin bugs, wolf spiders, tachinid flies, birds, lizards, and frogs.

Good luck.

Here is a photo of their young - nymphs.  They tend to congregate in groups as big as 10 to 20 bugs.  I keep catching them on my peppers and cucumbers. 

Garlic, Onions & Shallots

My garlic and onions are still holding strong in storage.  This May, I put up about 70 to 90 heads of garlic and about 40 to 50 small white onions.

After I had pulled them from the ground, I let them cure on my covered back porch for approximately four weeks.  I then cleaned off the dirt and stored them in my pantry in mesh bags.  The extra curing time really seemed to do the trick.

It looks like the garlic will maybe last us through the end of the year.  I planted two types in early November 2009: Chinese Pink early soft neck garlic, and Italian Late soft neck garlic.  The early variety was ready to be harvested in May, but the late was not ready until June.  The late variety got in the way of my summer planting; consequently, I'll probably stick solely with the early variety this fall when it is time to plant again.  I may also try a couple of the hard necked varieties as they say the flavors can be unique and more intense, in contrast to the soft neck varieties.  However, the hard necked varieties generally don't store as long as the soft necked types.

The white onions were starts of a Grano or Granex variety that I bought from North Haven Garden in February.  In my haste to get my corn planted in the late spring, I actually harvested the onions too soon.  As a result, my onions were all pretty small -- about the size of a chicken egg.  At the time, I thought I had made a bad mistake, but it turned out to be a blessing since the smaller size is perfect for salads in that there are no left overs and no waste.  Next spring, I'll probably plant two beds of onions and pick one early like I did this year and allow the second bed to fully mature and get big.

Unfortunately, I did not have much success with my shallots.  I bragged earlier in the year about the plentiful harvest of shallots that we had -- and we did.  However, it appears that I did not cure the shallots for enough time.  I let them cure for two weeks.  By the end of June, however, over 80% of the shallots had spoiled in their net storage bags.  Oh well, you live and learn for next year.

Ripe Cantaloupe

We had a ton of rain in late June and early July in Dallas, and all that moisture had an impact on my melon crop.

Specifically, the majority of the melons that ripened in early July split at their blossom end.  I suspect that they split before they had reached their full sugar content; nevertheless, they were great.

If you had a similar experience, the split in the skin shouldn't discourage you too much.  The split will harden as it oxidizes, but the inside still remains moist and fresh.  When you carve the melon to serve it, you can simply carve out the sections where the split is located.

Whenever I pick a melon, I let it sit on the counter at room temperature for two or three days.  I personally think that the flavor and sweetness develop and get richer over that time.  Also, the texture gets thicker and becomes truly amazing.  The texture becomes substantial and meaty and then, within seconds of putting it in your mouth, it practically melts in your mouth.  When we ate the melons you see above, they were so good it made us let out a little "mmmmm".  Put a little powdered sugar on them, and they are simply over the top good.

In the photo above, the melon on the front left is a french cantaloupe variety called Noir Des Carmes.  The other three melons in the photo are Charentais.

To know when to pick my french cantaloupe, I look for the following things:

1.    Smell.  You can usually smell the cantaloupe smell from the outside of the melon when it is ripe

2.    I push in on the button where the flower blossom was (opposite end of the stem) with my thumb.  If it has quite a bit of give, it's probably ripe.

3.    Color.  Most cantaloupes will change color when they are ripe.  For example, the Noir des Carmes turns from a dark, dark green to a bright yellow.  Similarly, the Charentais turns from a green or greenish white to having yellow highlights. 

The french cantaloupes do not slip their stem, typically. Consequently, you have to cut off the melon from the vine.

In contrast, the muskmelon (which they sell at the grocery store as a cantaloupe) with its heavily netted skin will generally slip from its stem with a little pressure when it is ripe, providing an additional indicator of ripeness.

As with the french cantaloupe, muskmelons will typically grow lighter in color when they are ripe.

After the first cantaloupe ripens, I try to be vigilant for the others checking on them in the morning and evening.  The squirrels usually know better than I do when a melon is ripe, so if it appears that a squirrel has been messing with it, I'll often pick it.  One challenge is to keep track of all of the melons in the heavy undergrowth of the melon vines.  I misplaced a few this year, and the wildlife got to them before I did after they had split.  I should have put markers over all of them rather than rely upon memory.

Ladybugs in the Garden

Here's a shot of an adult ladybug on a fennel flower.

Obviously, you should do everything you can to encourage your ladybugs as their larvae are very beneficial, devouring aphids and other pests.  If you are seeing lots of ladybugs in your garden, be pleased as it is a sign of good health.

I had tons and tons of ladybugs last year in contrast to this year.  However, whenever I have seen aphids or aphid eggs this year, the ladybugs show up shortly thereafter.  Hopefully, I'm getting closer to finding an equilibrium between the pest insects and beneficial insects.

Last year, I was spraying Garrett Juice on my vegetables practically every week, and the ladybugs really seemed to go crazy over its presence.  I have cut back to once every three weeks this year, so that could also be an explanation to the reduced numbers.

Here's another shot of a ladybug larvae chowing down on some aphids.

Crop rotation in our vegetable beds

Here are some ideas on vegetable pairings and rotations.  I'll keep you posted on how these do for us.

We have four raised beds that are 5 feet by 6.5 feet that are dedicated solely to herbs.

We also have nine raised beds that are 5 feet by 16 feet for vegetables.  (By the way, if you are thinking about making some raised beds, give some serious thought to how wide you want them.  If I had to do it again, I think I would build them only 4 or 4.5 feet wide because it is challenging to reach the middle.  However, 5 feet wide is perfect for three rows of corn)

The following are the last winter and current summer rotations.  There are two rotations and a final permanent bed for asparagus.

Rotation 1:              Summer                                Previous Winter

Bed 1                     Tomatoes                                           Leeks

                                Basil

Tomatoes and Basil are reputed to be companion plants.  Basil allegedly helps tomatoes against insects and disease and improve growth and flavor.  (On the companion planting wisdom, I am not entirely convinced of how true and accurate it is, but I am giving it a try).

Bed 2                      Sweet corn (3 varieties)                  Shallots

                                Orange fleshed honeydew             White onions

Corn and cucurbits (melons and squash) are considered to be companion plants.  (I should also have pole beans growing in here, but not get them in the ground this summer.)   The melons are supposed to repel raccoons which do not enjoy walking through thick vines -- so far I have not seen any evidence of raccoons, but that is not likely because of the melons.

Bed 3                     Green and red peppers                 Carrots

                                Pepperoncini

                                Pimiento peppers

                                Anaheim peppers

You need to alternate beds containing tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant because they are subject to many of the same pests and soil diseases.  In other words, it is preferable if you don't plant them in the same place in consecutive years.  (FYI, in a small vegetable garden where you are adding a lot of mulch, compost and organic fertilizer each year, I have seen where some experts have stated that crop rotation is not crucial for ensuring that the soil does not get depleted of a particular mineral or or other aspect of the soil.  Additionally, to really effectively deter pests and disease in soil, a crop rotation of 3 to 7 years is probably required.  Consequently, I don't know how truly effective this crop rotation scheme will be, but it may help somewhat.

Bed 4                     Pole beans                                        Garlic

                               Charentais cantaloupe   

                               Squash - Chiogga de Marina

I would not duplicate this bed just yet.  These combinations go against conventional wisdom.  For example, I planted early ripening and late ripening garlic.  As a result, there was some overlap before I harvested the late ripening garlic and planting the pole beans.  Garlic and pole beans are reputed to repel each other, but they both did just fine.   If I repeat this rotation, I will probably just plant the early ripening garlic next fall.  On another note, I think the pole beans and cantaloupe have been fine companions.  Of concern, I read that if you plant melons with squash or cucumbers and they cross pollinate, the squash/cucumbers can make the melons bitter or less sweet.  So far I haven't noticed any issues with taste.  I am hoping that I avoided this issue by planting the squash approximately 45 days after the melons so that the squash flowers will be blooming after the majority of the melons have fruited.  We'll see.

Rotation 2:               Summer                                Previous Winter

Bed 5                     Pickling cucumbers                           Radishes

                                Slicing cucumbers                             Red onions

                                Noir des Carmes melon                   Broccoli raab

                                Spaghetti squash                               Beets

The cucumbers and radishes are companion plants in that the radishes are reputed to repel cucumber beetles.  I have allowed the radishes to remain in the ground for continued affect as recommended; however, I still see tons of cucumber beetles, so I don't know whether this companion planting wisdom is legitimate.  The cucumbers and melons are both cucurbits so should be fine; however as I previously noted, there are some who say that cucumber pollen can make melons more bitter.  I have not noticed it yet.

Bed 6                       2nd planting of corn in June            Lettuce

                                 Bush beans                                        Spinach

                                 Summer spinach - Malabar             Celery               

                                                                                                Kale

                                                                                               Cabbage

                                                                                               Chard

Bed 7                      Sweet Potatoes                                 Snap and sugar peas

                                2nd planting of pole beans              Shelling peas

                                Prescott Fond Blanc melon       

                                Butternut squash

As I previously have warned, there are some who say planting melons with squash can make the melons bitter or less sweet.

Bed 8                      Cherry tomatoes                            Potatoes

                                Eggplant                                   

                                Horseradish

                                Watermelon

Bed 9

Contains a permanent planting of perennial asparagus.   I interplanted the asparagus with determinate roma tomatoes this year.  I'll see how the asparagus does in the spring before deciding whether I will do that again. 

Vegetable garden

 

Here are a few photos of our vegetable garden earlier in the summer.

Picking blackberries

One of the things what we struggled with this year is knowing when our blackberries were at their optimum for picking.

If you are thinking about planting blackberries, my best advice is to plant the Ouachita variety because you can tell when its berries are ripe because they swell to enormous size that are differentiated from the smaller, unripe berries.

If you are picking other types of berries, it is a bit more challenging.

Obviously, if the berry is red, it's not ripe!

Kim Pierce of the Dallas Morning News wrote a piece on June 4, 2010 that I thought was helpful and gave a few more hints.  Here is an excerpt:

"If you're picking blackberries, Cowdrey says, they're ripe when they lose their shine. The color turns dull, and they fall off in your hand. 'If you have to tug at it,' he says, 'it's not really ripe.'"

www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/nwsltr/recipeoftheday/stories/060410dnlivrecipeofthedayblack.6dcf759d.html

I think the "tug" advice is dead on.

As to telling when a blackberry is "dull", it takes a lot of practice to tell when a blackberry has lost its shine and is dull.  But, once you know what you are looking for, it can be a pretty good indicator.

The taste test is also helpful.  In other words, taste a nearby berry to see if the others are also ripe.  However, one caveat, this is not foolproof because the berries ripen at different times.  Consequently, the one you taste may be ripe, but others nearby may still need a few more days to reach perfection.

Not to worry, Kim Pierce's article notes that you can always add a bit of sugar to your berries to add sweetness.

Growing blackberries in Dallas

Our blackberries are pretty well done producing for the year.

They were ripe starting around May 24th and continued producing until approximately June 21st.  I am still getting a blackberry here and there by July 4th, but only sporadically.

If you want fruit in your Dallas yard and you want it easy, go with thornless blackberries.  These have been great for us and prolific producers in only their second year.

These really seem to be hardy plants with few needs. They are erect growing and do not need trellises or staking.

I planted three varieties to extend the season and had berries over a four week ripening period.  We planted Navaho, Arapaho, and Ouachita.  All are thornless and were developed at the University of Arkansas, so they are perfect for Dallas' hot weather.  Needless to say, thornless is the way to go because -- no thorns.  Also, these plants don't seem to sucker and can be kept in check.  In their second year, the plants generated massive, one inch thick canes.  These will grow to seven feet tall, but I am pruning them at about three or four feet to encourage side branching and to keep it tidy.  These new canes should produce next year's fruit.  Now that the plants are done fruiting, I will probably prune the smaller canes from last year that produced fruit this year -- as I understand it, they will no longer produce fruit.

If you are only going to plant one type of blackberry, I would plant the Ouachita.  It has huge berries that make it easier to determine when they are ripe.  (I planted the Navahos this year, so I cannot report yet whether they will be superior to Ouachita; however, I cannot speak highly enough about the Ouachitas).

Here is some information on these three types of blackberries from the University of Arkansas:

Arapaho:  Earliest of these 3 varieties to ripen with a reported four week ripening period -- approximately the last week in May in Dallas.  Fruit size at 5 grams with flavor rate as "good, higher than most thorny varieties," percent sugar averages 9.6 %; moderate yields, usually lower than Apache and Navaho.

Ouachita:  Starts ripening about a week to a week and a half after Arapaho -- so about the first or second week of June.  Reported five week ripening period, but I would expect less. Fruit size at 6 to 6.5 grams with flavor rate as "very good", percent sugar averages 10-11%; consistently high yields in research trials - "comparable to exceeding Apache and Navaho and consistently exceeds Arapaho."

Navajo:  It is reported to ripen two weeks after Arapaho -- approximately the second week of June; however, my experience this year was that it ripened at the same time as Arapaho.  It is reported to have a ripening period of five to six weeks, but we'll see.  Fruit size at 5 grams with flavor rate as "excellent" and "consistently rated the highest of the Arkansas varieties"; percent sugar averages 11.4%.  Moderate yields in research trials - "comparable to exceeding Apache and Navaho and consistently exceeds Arapaho."

You can obtain five gallon containers of these plants from Bob Wells Nursery in Lindale, Texas.  Alternatively, next spring, you might be able to find some of these varieties at North Haven Gardens, Lowe's, and Home Depot.  Do not buy a variety that you have not researched.  You need to stick with the University of Arkansas thornless, erect varieties, or your yard will be overtaken by native blackberries with thorns!!!!

Here are a couple of photos of our blackberry bushes in the yard.  We have two beds planted each with two rows of blackberry bushes.  In the one bed, there are pear trees planted within the blackberries.  In the other bed, we have apple trees planted within the blackberries.

In the following two pictures, we have a row of strawberries in front followed by a row of Nanking cherry bushes.  Behind those are two rows of blackberry bushes.  The first row are the Navaho bushes that I planted this year and still have small bamboo poles for support.  The back row are the Ouachitas and Arapahos that I planted in 2009.

On the other side of the yard is the bed containing the blackberries and pear trees:

Growing blueberries in Dallas

The blueberries started to ripen in June and are continuing on into July.

While blueberries will require more bed preparation in Dallas, you should definitely give them a try.

My blueberry bushes have been very successful and produced berries in their first year. Now that they are in their second year, they have set a fair amount of fruit.  As the bushes get bigger and more mature, I'm hoping for more in the coming years.  I must say that the mockingbirds are tough competition for the blueberries.  I keep looking out the front window to see mockingbirds hanging upside from the bushes trying to get at the berries.

In Dallas, plant blueberries like you would an azalea bush.  Blueberries like acidic soil, so create a raised bed using azalea planting mix or other type of acidic planting mix (Dallas has alkaline/clay soil, by and large).  Blueberries also like a fair amount of water - especially that first year. To help conserve water, put a heavy layer of mulch on top of the azalea mix to retain the moisture. Make sure you don't let the soil dry out that first year. I installed drip lines under the mulch in the flower beds where I planted the azaleas to conserve water.  You can keep the soil acidity up by occasionally topping off the beds with acidified mulch from Soil Building Systems or another mulch supplier. Alternatively, you can spread some sulfur to the beds in the winter to boost the acidity.

Remember that blueberries need a pollinator, so you should plant at least two varieties; however, I recommend three. When picking blueberry varieties, try to pick varieties that ripen at different times so you extend the picking season. For the south, many experts recommend southern rabbiteye varieties which do well in the heat. I planted Tifblue, Woodard, and Brightwell. These varieties are deciduous and can grow from 6 to 12 feet tall. A national nursery supplier called Monrovia sells smaller, evergreen varieties called Misty and Sunshine Blue.  They claim that these varieties will grow only to 3 to 5 feet. If you speak to your local nursery that you use, they might be able to special order some for you. Raintree Nursery (a mail order nursery) also sells these varieties, but they typically offer smaller, immature plants. I encourage you to plant as many plants as you can to ensure that you get a nice amount of berries at a time. Blueberries ripen over a period of time, and you want to be able to pick a fair amount of berries. Try to plant 6 bushes or more, if you can. The more the merrier. 

I purchased my blueberry bushes in 2009 from Bob Wells Nursery in Lindale, Texas: www.bobwellsnursery.com.  I purchased 3 gallon containers. 

If you want to plant some, Bob Wells Nursery may have some that you can plant in October.  Alternatively, wait for next spring.  This year in the spring, I noticed that North Haven Gardens, Lowe's, and Home Depot were carrying 3 gallon bushes.

Here are a few photos of how we planted our blueberries in our front yard.  As you can see, we made a raised bed, and the blueberry bushes are planted among several crepe myrtles.  In front of the blueberries are strawberries.  Our bushes are still pretty small around 2.5 feet tall and not filled out; however, they will eventually get to be approximately 6 feet tall.  Blueberries like full sun for best berry production.  In Texas, our summer sun is so powerful, I think these bushes are getting adequate sun for fruit production even though there is intermittent shade from the crepe myrtles.