Vegetable Demonstration Garden
This week’s harvest includes:
Sweet peppers—1.05 pounds
Hot peppers— 2.3 pounds
Eggplant—12 pounds
Kale/cabbage/mustard mix–11 pounds
Lima beans/king of the garden beans mix—11.6 pounds
Bok choy— 3.3 pounds
Turnips—3 pounds
Tomatoes ripened at home— 9 pounds
A total of 53.25 pounds of produce was harvested this week. These vegetables were donated to the Caring Place and the Round Rock Area Serving Center. To date, Williamson county master gardeners have donated a total of 3,724.185 pounds of demonstration garden produce to local charities.
Weekly rainfall: 1.95 inches of rainfall were measured the week ending 12/11/2016.
Summary of garden activities
The arctic blast we experienced last week forced master gardeners to implement protective measures in the demo garden. A hoop house with row cover was constructed to protect the new seedlings in row 2.
Liquid seaweed was applied to plants in row 2 for added protection against the cold. Raised bed gardeners covered seedlings with pine straw. Other gardeners recovered their beds with heavier row cover to protect plants from freezing. On Friday, dead tomato plants and eggplants were removed from the row garden (left pic). Root knot nematodes were identified on a pepper plant root (right pic).
Mulch was scraped off those rows. The wind break trellis was reassembled after the winds blew it over. An irrigation leak in the orchard area was repaired. Compost piles were cold with temperatures measuring 42 and 58 degrees F. Elbon rye in the trial beds, image below, tolerates cold weather. It survives even in hardiness zone 3!
Some root veggies do very well in cold weather. Master gardener Carol shows what a Texas-sized rutabaga looks like!!
Protecting your garden in cold weather
Shrubs, annuals, perennials, trees, flowers and vegetables have hardiness zone designations. A hardiness zone is a geographically-defined area in which a specific category of plant life is capable of growing, as defined by its ability to survive the minimum temperatures of the zone. Our hardiness zone is 8b. The vegetables in the demonstration garden are selected with this characteristic in mind.
Central Texas usually experiences it’s first freeze around mid-November. A freeze occurs when the ambient temperature drops below 32 degrees F. When water inside a plant freezes, it causes plant cells to burst causing irreparable damage. There is a range of freeze damage caused by dropping temperatures. A light frost or freeze occurs when temperatures drop to 28 degrees F for a couple of hours. Ice forms on the outside of the plant. Only tender plants and herbs will be harmed. Green basil leaves, for example, will die back as temperatures approach 32 degrees. A hard freeze or killing frost occurs when temperatures drop to 25 degrees for several hours. Blossoms and foliage are damaged. Root hardy perennials and crops may be damaged. A severe freeze occurs when temperatures drop below 25 degrees for several hours. Most plants sustain damage through desiccation or drying out.
So what can we do to protect our cherished plants? When a freeze is forecast, vegetable gardeners may harvest tender crops and let them ripen indoors. Tomatoes, for example, can be harvested green and successfully ripened on the kitchen counter. Harvesting tender herbs and dehydrating them for long term storage is another way to preserve herbs as well as some vegetables. Container plants should be moved indoors when freeze warnings are posted for the area. Tender, in-ground plants including citrus and freeze-sensitive shrubs can be covered with an old sheet, blanket, row cover, or commercially available protective thermal coverings. Some gardeners hang a string of Christmas lights on the limbs of their shrubs before covering them. Lights generate heat, which is trapped under the coverings, giving the shrub some degree of protection from colder temperatures. In-ground crops can also be protected by thoroughly watering the plants. Well hydrated plants can withstand a light freeze or frost. Applying a generous layer of mulch, pine straw, or other ground covering around the plant will also protect the root zone in freezing temperatures. Fertilizing plants ahead of a freeze should be avoided. Again, the inherent hardiness of the plant or vegetable is predictive of its survival in sub zero temperatures.
December Gardening in Central Texas
The Texas A&M Agrilife Extension vegetable garden planting guide suggests the following vegetables for fall planting:
Asian greens (seeds or transplants)
Cool season greens
Garlic
Lettuce (seeds or transplants)
Spinach (seeds or transplants)
Radish
Come visit us!
Our demonstration garden is located beside the Williamson County Extension Office driveway at 3151 SE Inner Loop Road, Georgetown, Texas. Master gardeners are usually at work in the vegetable garden on Tuesday and Friday mornings from 8:30 AM to noon, weather permitting. Anyone is welcome to stop by to see the garden or to ask questions of the master gardeners!
Click here for location on Google Maps