Come walk in the wet and chilly garden with me for a bit, then let’s go inside and check on the seedlings and talk about the spring.
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Black Gumbo shares our suburban, backyard, sustainable gardening efforts. We work a small-scale teaching garden, much like the typical Zone 9a backyard garden and raised beds, the kind of gardening accessible to all. We tend to take the slice of life approach and hope you will enjoy our family, our dog, our cooking, our adventures, and occasionally some commentary and advice. We love family, joy and friendship, and we invite you to enjoy these things with us!
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48 Comments
The only seeds that germinated in my light box this year were chard and a few beets. None of my tomatoes or peppers have come up yet, and I bought new seeds for most of them! So if they still haven't come up in the next few weeks I may have to get transplants. But we'll see. We're dealing with the winter and ice storm warnings here in the DFW area of TX, so I'm living for the weekend when we get back into the 50s-60s temps! 😆
I'm hoping my San Marzano and Creole tomatoes do good😁😋
I'm going to try and grow some Filipino veggies this year for my wife and I if they will sprout this year !!
I'm ordering some of that paint to use on my new fruit trees Scott👍 !!!
My onion seeds are already popping up that I who is planning the day that you release the last video. I'm surprised how fast they are popping up. That looks nice and warm compared up here we got ice for the last 3 days now
I hope you get as much joy from your garden this year as you have provided us in the past.
Nice pronunciation on the Korean GoChu (that just means pepper). When you add 'jang', gochujang is the Korean pepper paste, and 'garu' is powder or flake, so gochugaru is a major star ingredient for kimchi. It will be interesting to see how you use it in your kitchen.
Ms. Phoebe looks so comfy in her fur coat.
I can't believe how nice your garden looks right now mine is dead.
I went to test the soil to prepare my beds…frozen solid 2/1/23. We had rain for 2 weeks solid. That ended last week
Don't blame you on wanting to take the relaxing approach. I tried so hard to be one of those people that sat down with pencil and paper, figuring out where I wanted what and where plants needed to go to keep crop rotation. It's stressful and sucked all the fun out of gardening for me. October of 2021 I learned about square foot gardening and that was a 180 for me. It has its up and downs I'm still navigating but I love that I can make up my grids and just go out there with my seeds and plant. No thought into what so ever. I just walk around and say "I think this plant will do good here" 😃
Scott, do you know if you can use a regular heat mat set on low over a seed heat mat?
You said "Man it's Cold" in NW Ohio Feb 1 it's 17deg
I haven't started my single seed challenge yet. Hubby and I have been down with the flu all of January. I'm hoping by the end of this week I can get some seeds started. I also have quite a few garden chores I'm behind getting completed. I look forward to getting them done.
I like your relaxed approach for the year. Praying your year is less stressful than last!
The orange spice jalapeño is supposedly hotter than the pumpkin spice. I love that pumpkin spice some are orange and some are yellow Then I add green and red regular jalapeños it makes such a pretty cowboy candy.
We have ice and I just stayed in the house. Can't wait for spring! I tried to keep my lemon trees alive outside, but I'm pretty sure the dies over the Christmas freeze. I don't mind the damp, but the wind will go right thru me. My single seed has to wait a couple more weeks to start. I don't usually start much inside and now my garden room is becoming a baby's room for our first great grandchild, so just starting Tomatoes, peppers and watermelon in the living room. I'm sure by the time the go outside my turtle dove will be glad to see the grow lights go. God bless and keep growing—zone 7 in middle TN!
Whats the spacing on your stone fruit ?
Holy cow you have a great jump on stuff.
Gardening should always be fun and relaxing. I'm sorry to hear about the loss of this family business. I pray they can recover and come back stronger. TFS 🙏
Wait a while- hot peppers are notoriously slow germinating. Phoebe!
Try squash in containers – to avoid your insect problem – I do in zone 6b and they grow great
I’m not doing squash either this year…same problem, squash vine borer. I live a little south of you in Alvin
Have you tried tatume squash? I can plant them in spring and still have production into the fall. Just cooked the last of the ones that I let fully ripen.
Cold and damp isnt a good combination as you get older Scott, I know from experience. I cant wait for 5b to get to the temps you have now, we have had single digits this week. Still my onion seedlings are coming up in my seed starting room so I have something green growing. Soon I will be starting herbs, because you are right, they are important. Gardening is supposed to be fun. I do plan out the garden and draw out a location plan. Its something to do in the winter, so I dont have to think about it during spring. Way to busy then. Sorry to hear about seeds for generations, fires are never good.
I'm pretty sure that your fig trees will be fine. I have about 25 varieties, and some take their good old time budding out. I had a problem squash bugs, I know that their not vine bores, but this still might help. Last year I put 1/4 cup of bone meal when planted my transplants. The plants were so healthy that you couldn't tell the the yellow squash from the zucchini, and no squash bugs until the plants started suffering from blight and powdery mildew. I know how much you love your squash, it's worth a try.
Heads up. Careful with the Everglades. Great tasting little tomatoes but if left to grow on it's own, can become a major nuisance plant. Massive producer. So much so, it will drop a ton of ripe fruit and overtake an area quickly. I pulled 2 volunteers this January (9b) because they got out of control. Anyway, thanks for another fine video👌
I’m gonna try to sow some cold weather seeds on the beds soon. Hopefully it does warm up a bit outside next week. I’m over in Manvel. I have some seeds outside in a plastic dome but haven’t checked on them even tho they’re 5 feet from the back door. It’s too cold 😆
I've got six Bunches of onions in the ground I may go get a few more once the ice storm lets up but I'm in the DFW area
I am hoping this wet stuff passes for us. I am pulling up grass that made it into my garden areas. Stinging nettle is my biggest pain in the main garden. I am planting more tomorrow. I'm waiting for the sun to take my tomatoes back out.
Do the wasps build nests inside your post pounder? I noticed it hanging upside down on a small post.
The great thing about your channel Scott is that I've begun looking forward to watching each new post…not particularly based on the video subject…but because it feels like I'm just catching up with my buddy Scott. You are a great person with an infectious 'good-company' personality.
No plan here either. Just going with flow . I always have a hard time germinat peppers don't matter what I do . Well I started doing the paper towel method and goodness gracious I have peppers . What I do is put them on top of my fridge on the warmest spot . Less the 10 day's i got 🌶 .
God bless .
Wow everything in your garden looks so good! I have a lot of new seeds hopeful for the new year! SO far so good with my onions, garlic, asparagus, sunchokes and rhubarb
Last year I got my Everglades tomato seeds from David the Good's child's sales, and they also took a time to come up but ended up doing really well. Some didn't make it, but enough did to keep us in tomatoes big-time! Those are so good and I hope to always have them. I would offer you some of the seeds I saved but I'm guessing his child will be selling again this year. We had the tomatoes in the greenhouse as well as in the raised beds, and were able to eat fresh until just a couple of weeks ago. Charleston SC zone 8b. We love our Everglades tomatoes!
Looks like a new fence… Some years, you need to be relaxed Scott, that me this year too.
How amazing to have blood oranges. My figs and lemon trees are inside where it is much warmer that the weather in west central Texas right now. Monday will be 72. So excited for that weather!! I will use this warmer weather coming up to finish my winter sowing and seed starting trays. Glad to see you have things growing outside! We still have ice on everything😳
We are 85 here
Scott, how about squash in a pot instead of the ground?
Great vid, Scott!
I have heard about a germentating process where a person puts a seed in wet cloth in a dark spot for a couple of days at room temperature and it will sprout. If it is going to sprout. Then they plant it. How do you fell about that process?
I wrapped tinfoil around the squash vines starting from the root and put a nasturtium and Marigold close to each one in different parts of my property. Success! They are getting very ripe now so the next acorn squash is going to be a creamy soup. Yum! I have one pepper plants still alive in the basement. Hoping it survives till planting time. Between overwatering and fungus gnats I'm debating whether or not it's worth overwintering. Might try heat mats and lights next year to start early. Maybe build a cold frame. Relax for sure. But there's a fine line between relaxing successfully and dropping the ball timewise. That's my concern. Probably easier for seasoned gardeners to find the right balance.
I'm so sorry to hear about the fire at Seeds for Generations. I bought from them in the past and knew they had a relatively limited selection, which one would expect from a small family operation…but I had also looked in the past month and saw they had added a LOT of variety. They were certainly headed in the right direction, now they have this to overcome…I hope they come through stronger than ever.
Hi Scott! Where do you get your beneficial nematodes from? I didn’t plant squash last year and it unfortunately just put my other crops in way more danger and I fought leaf footed bugs on everything else. My poor grape tomatoes took the worse hit. (I’m also in zone 9A)
Totally agree with you on just enjoying the garden. I never do intricate planning as it takes all the joy out of it. I'll have to check out that radish looks great. Such a shame about the squash. My favorite fun thing to grow as they are so difficult outside of a greenhouse in my climate that any little one I get is exciting 😅. Take care
I hope your figs are ok. You could take a few dormant cuttings before a deep freeze as insurance but IMHO you should plant them in the ground. I mean you don't even move them but you could easily dig them up if you wanted because they're super easy.
I like your approach to the garden this year. I am so sorry for Seeds for Generations – the seeds I ordered from them were great. I will contribute, Thanks Scott!
I’ve had good luck with Tromboncino squash. I grew them in the fall one year and they were abondant. I’m going to try in the spring this year.
Here is the Low Country of SC that cold snap did some damage some of my plants but some did survive. Two weeks ago I planted 36 lettuce plants. I have to go and visit family and my Mom in IL so I will not be able to start my seeds until mid March. So I will be able to get my summer plants in the ground around May 1. Down here we still get frost in mid April. Great video…
Looking good. Love all the blossoms on the trees . I love the plans you have . I am starting seeds inside slowly but we have maybe one or two more freezes coming . I worry about Valentine's Day , that is a time I have seen more freezes , ice and snow in recent years .
I am not looking forward to another hot , dry , buggy summer . I hope we get more rain soon . We so need it , we just don't need the tornadoes and wind storms . We did get the bad trees out this fall . I am going to plant something to try to grow fruits . I know , the next resident of this house will love it longer than I will at my age , but it keeps me going to spend time in my happy place.
Strangest thing this year.. Not one pepper seed germinated. Bell, cayenne, banana, habanero, jalapeno…I restarted three times and nothing! I've always heard different years bring different harvests but this is frustrating!