May in the Lower South

Sorry I'm so late getting this done, I've actually started twice, only to be called away and have to work on something else. My garden is in full swing right now and I wish I could say I have been out there in it, between the rain (and rain, and rain, and rain 8+ inches at our house), an allergic reaction to something in the house, complete with hives, this means a total wipe down (joy joy), and having to re-write my cake decorating curriculum, I have not had more than 30 minutes to go out and work in the garden.

We will have squash on the table in another week, our corn is 5" high, which means this week the beans will go out, direct seeded. The onions are almost onion ring size (our goal), we are still getting broccoli, the cabbage is almost ready, and we are finally seeing some cauliflower form. Almost all my tomatoes are out, I have a few that are not quite ready, and with all the storms flying over head I wanted to keep them in for a bit longer.

Here are a few threads that I wanted to list for what to plant in your part of the region for this time of year.
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t5862-planting-guide-for-ne-tx
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t6385-north-central-texas-dfw-area-here
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t6473-gardening-in-louisiana

If you have one for your area, please share it, what's great for my area, may not be great for yours. I also found a tomato planting guide I wanted to share, one of the pages at this site explained why I cannot get big tomatoes to set down here, they don't like to after it get's above 85 degrees, duh, that's half my growing season.
http://www.tomatofest.com/tomato-growing-zone-map.html#top
click on your area to see which types grow best. I know many are thinking it is too late to start tomatoes, not really, for those of us with an extended growing season, you can start another round inside in a couple of weeks, and when the others start to get tired, pull them up and put in new ones, the old ones rarely do well in the fall after spending all summer just trying to survive. Mine start to produce great, but nothing ever sets, we get plenty of green tomatoes, but nothing ever turns red, even on the smaller ones. I may be replacing some in early August, and putting up hoop houses around them in October, just to see, they're only seeds after all.

I planted tons of crook neck squash and zucchini, but staggerd the planting when starting them, they are in various stages of growth, mostly to keep the bugs confused, and so I can get plenty. Yes, they do take up space, but I've stuck them with my corn and beans, and I plan on starting some more from seed in about 4 weeks, again so I can get enough. That's the wonderful thing about summer squash down here, you can keep starting it over. I have personally seen one squash bug, and promptly killed it. I'm out of neem oil, but plan on getting more ASAP. I spray in the evenings once a week, then hand pick when needed, then call out the big guns when they get bad. I use organic, we have bees, and when that fails, I pull it up and set it on fire, another reason I started more. Don't put bug infested plants in your compost pile, it's just not worth it, and if you cannot burn it, put it in a trash bag, set it in the sun for a week or two, and then dispose of it.

I truly wish I had more for you at this time, but I really need to get back to my other occupation(s) for a bit. If you have something you are doing and want to share, please do so, and again if you are in an area of our region not shared in the links above, please do so.

Valerie

I did think of something I wanted to share but forgot to. With all these storms we've had, I just cannot stress enough the importance of taking just a few minutes to check a few things. Here are some great tips for emergencies.
http://beprepared.com/article.asp?ai=638
Here is a "how to" on making your own 72 hour emergency kit, out of milk jugs and items you usually have on hand anyhow, it even has a video.
http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/2008/06/13/how-to-make-a-72-hour-kit/

BE SAFE!!! Remember you don't need a tornado to cause you to evacuate, we live near a gas line, this area has been evacuated before, it could happen at any time.

FarmerValerie wrote:...Here are some great tips for emergencies.
http://beprepared.com/article.asp?ai=638
Here is a "how to" on making your own 72 hour emergency kit, out of milk jugs and items you usually have on hand anyhow, it even has a video.
http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/2008/06/13/how-to-make-a-72-hour-kit/.

Those are great links for all regions! I also used the foodstoragemadeeasy ladies' tutorial for a car emergency kit, which actually came in handy just last week for me. I had everything on hand for our car's flat tire when I wasn't with my hubby. Feels so good to be prepared!

YEAH FOR YOU JAZZY!!!! You should be so proud of yourself.

I remember as a kid growing up in IL, my mom, brother and I were traveling from Grandma's house to our home, only about an hour away. We hit a patch of black ice and went off the road. A couple of trucker's stopped and helped us back on our way, only to discover the road ahead was closed. We had to exit and stop at a truck stop and spend the night, they had a motel there thankfully. Mom did have either cash on hand or a credit card for emergencies, but we did not have a change of clothes, we were just visiting for a bit there was no need. What would we have done if the section of road we had been on had closed behind us and no one came along? Even being stuck in traffic due to an accident can be a pain, especially if you are pregnant and need to pee-don't ask. When I travel with my kids, I load up on snacks, bottled water (frozen), and when they were not house broken twice as many diapers and/or forumla as I think they need. Heck when we run to town we take bottled water and some kind of snack, prevents unneeded stops at hamburger joints.

Since my spring garden is starting to slow and stop and my summer garden is now in full swing, I am looking to my fall garden. I will be sharing a few links to plan in a bit but I did want to share this plan for a squash garden. It's not to late to start anything in this plan, except maybe the shard, you could use a slow bolt or summer lettuce for that spot. I did get permission to take pictures, put them on hubby's laptop, and share them here (I don't like others messing with my stuff, so I ask) so I hope to get some pictures up soon of a few of our boxes.
http://littlehouseinthesuburbs.com/2009/05/free-garden-plan-gourd-garden.html

I'm still getting broccoli, I harvested everything there was a few days ago on the plants, and I'm getting more. I have 2 cabbage left, I'll be pulling them today or tomorrow. The spinach is bolting, but I do have malibar spinach to fill in the gap until fall. The lettuce is at a standstill, and the shard is struggling-may be the goats like it even more than I do. The lettuce is not yet bitter, but it's just sitting there. The blondie peas (english pea) have stopped growing, it's probably time to pull them, but the sugar peas are still producing like crazy.

I'll try to get pictures and links to start planning fall gardens (I'll be starting things for fall in mid July-8 weeks from now), I just thought it would be something to do in the heat of the day during the summer.

Okay, here are a few links to look over for fall garden planting. My first average frost date is November 16. I have the Fall Garden Planner printed out and the dates filled in for 30-23 weeks before first fall frost, which is June 12-June 18. It says sow outdoors bush beans & lima beans. I'll include the link to the Spring Planter too, which goes from 12 weeks before to 9 weeks after last frost. Each week has a list of recommended plantings.

Fall Planner Printout (I don't fold like she says to, I print lines on the backside of each page, which gives me exrta space for notes).
http://littlehouseinthesuburbs.com/2009/01/free-printable-o-rama-herbs-fall-and.html

Spring Planner Printout
http://littlehouseinthesuburbs.com/2010/03/free-spring-planner.html

I know for most of us it's too late to plant taters (cept sweet taters for those of us who are "allowed" to) but this could be adapted for carrots, beets, and such.
Root Crop Plan
http://littlehouseinthesuburbs.com/2009/06/free-garden-plan-root-veggies.html

Here is just a "plan" for fall plantings.
http://littlehouseinthesuburbs.com/2009/06/free-garden-plan-fall-garden.html

I'll be soon planning what to put in the squares containing beets and after that carrots, I may put a summer lettuce I'm not sure, and need to figure out where to put all the fall beets and carrots soon so I don't put a pepper in there, those I leave out till the cold gets them.

Okay, so that should give us something to do when it's too hot to be outside. I'll get the pictures I took this morning up soon. What's growing in your garden right now?

Tater Boxes


NE corner


SE Corner


SW Corner


NW Corner