It's getting to be that time again. Would love to hear what you are planting this year, and hope that everyone that plants a garden will share some pix throughout the season as things develop and then as you harvest. Please feel free to pass along any tips, interesting new products and info you have come across. If anyone would be interested in maybe exchanging some seeds to try and grow something new, that might be a fun thing to do. The long growing season for those in Texas and the South means more chances without having to rush.

I have about 3,200 sf of garden space at the house that includes both a contiguous spot and some raised beds, and then we have a family "farm" property where we grow a few things not suitable for the back yard. Tomatoes and peppers are the staples usually, but I also have an affinity for melons. We always try new varieties each year to go along with ones that are favorites. We are going to concentrate on finding some new favorite "slicer" tomatoes this year, so we are testing a lot of varieties that we haven't tried to grow before. We'll probably cull to the 5 or 6 that we like best to grow next year, or maybe if suitable, this fall.

Here's what we have planned for 2020. Everything is started now, except for the corn, which we will sow directly instead of transplanting, after the the chance for another frost passes.

Tomatoes: Arkansas Marvel, Big White Pink Stripe, German Red Strawberry, Hawaiian Pineapple, Healani, Kensington's Big Red, Lilac Giant, Louisiana Pink, Sunset's Red Horizon, Texas Star, Eva Purple Ball, White Tomesol, Ukrainian Purple, Moonglow, Carolina Gold, Wayahead, Sweetie Seedless, Sugar Plum, Great White, Mountain Gold, Jeff Davis, Persimmon, Queen Aliquippa, Plum Lemon, Snowball, Bear Creek, Chocolate Sprinkles, Heatmaster, Ruby Monster, Early Girl, Raspberry Lyanna, Sunrise Bumble Bee, Berkeley Tie Dye Green

Peppers: Brown Jalapeno, Nadapeno, Etiuda, Goldstrike, Mega Marconi

Melons: Model, Kansas, Orange Sherbet, Tasty Bites, Tigger

Watermelons: Lemon Krush, Yellow Doll, Gold in Gold, Chelsea, Orange Krush

Others: Chiffon Summer Squash, Perseus Cucumber, Crystal Apple Cucumber, Tasty Green Cucumber, Dwarf Grey Sugar Snow Peas, Astronomy Domine Sweet Corn, Merveille Des Quatre Saisons Lettuce, Old Timey Blue Collard Greens, Cheddar Hybrid Cauliflower, Jambalaya Hybrid Okra, Butter & Sugar Sweet Corn, Peaches & Cream Improved Early Corn, Yellow of Parma Onion

Picked the first squash of the season today. One Yellow Straightneck and a couple of Ft Knox. All of the varieties have blooms and/or squash set now. The cucumbers are blooming and there are some Arkansas Little Leaf and Perseus that have set some fruit. All of the 45 varieties of tomatoes are thriving with the one exception of the Raspberry Lyanna. Going to retry that variety for the fall. I have a good number of strong tomato plants of more than a dozen varieties if there is anybody in the San Antonio area that would like some. Just drop me a PM.

Great garden! Do you ever eat the squash Flowers? Some great recipes online

Nice garden!

We just got ours going and are total newbies. Planted 1200 sqft. Have timed irrigation and fencing. Used Old Farmer's Almanac Garden Planner to know when to plant and where to place.

I live near OKC. So, my weather is probably a couple of weeks behind you.

Have a two rows of strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. Planted a large patch of watermelons and cantaloupe.

Have corn in a square to wind pollinate and beans mixed in.

Planted potatoes, carrots, spinach, and broccoli.

Have everything to make salsa; three varieties of tomatoes, two jalapeos, cilantro, onion, and garlic.

Planted three varieties of bell peppers, couple of okra.

Also, planted 400 sqft of cut flowers; roses, dalia, wildflowers n stuff.

Planted 80% of it from seed we started indoors. Everything is just now popping up.

Any advice you have is welcomed.

Edmond Bear said:

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Nice garden!

We just got ours going and are total newbies. Planted 1200 sqft. Have timed irrigation and fencing. Used Old Farmer's Almanac Garden Planner to know when to plant and where to place.

I live near OKC. So, my weather is probably a couple of weeks behind you.

Have a two rows of strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. Planted a large patch of watermelons and cantaloupe.

Have corn in a square to wind pollinate and beans mixed in.

Planted potatoes, carrots, spinach, and broccoli.

Have everything to make salsa; three varieties of tomatoes, two jalapeos, cilantro, onion, and garlic.

Planted three varieties of bell peppers, couple of okra.

Also, planted 400 sqft of cut flowers; roses, dalia, wildflowers n stuff.

Planted 80% of it from seed we started indoors. Everything is just now popping up.

Any advice you have is welcomed.

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I got a late start this year due to a knee injury, but the growing season is so long here that it doesn't matter as much. Most years I have fruit set on the tomatoes by now, but I imagine my early varieties will be blooming this week and next.

You are going to have some fun with that garden. There is an online conference starting next week called The Home Grown Food Summit that will last all week and have some really interesting seminars. Here's a link to register for it if you, or anyone else, is interested: Home Grown Food Summit

Among the seminars scheduled is one entitled Growing A Year's Worth Of Fruits & Vegetables In Your Backyard. There are a number of interesting discussions listed.

After a good number of years, we have developed a system for what we plant. We have our favorites that we rotate in and out and then we always try new cultivars every year. I love melons and tend to grow at least a half dozen watermelons and another 6-8 other melons. Tomatoes are the staple and we have over 120 plants split between 45 cultivars this year, all caged, some in containers. We grow the corn on my dad's place in central TX, but I will usually grow four rows of one variety here, but this year I decided to replace that square plot with sweet peppers instead. Were growing just two carrot varieties and two different onions this year, along with several types of okra, eggplant and a couple of hot peppers and tomatillos.

Try to take the time to review your results on the websites of your seed suppliers. Other gardeners really appreciate knowing that info, especially the ones in your neck of the woods.

And now for some garden humor:

There once was this new graduate teacher that took her first job teaching third graders at an inner city elementary school. Since she was a farm girl from the midwest, she thought she would bring some farm tools to school for Show & Tell and teach her class about gardening.

First she held up a shovel for the class to see and asked, "Does anybody know what this is?" All of the children had puzzled looks on their faces except for one boy in the back of the room who's hand shot up quickly. Johnny had spent every summer on his grandpa's farm in South Carolina, so he knew something about farm tools.

"Yes Johnny?," the teacher replied. Johnny confidently spouted, "Teacher, that be a shovel!" "That's very good Johnny. Johnny is right class, this is a shovel," she continued. Then she held a rake aloft for everyone to see. "How about this tool? Anybody know?," she asked. Again, only Johnny responded, and enthusiastically replied, "Yes teacher, that be a rake." Johnny was beaming as the teacher answered back, "You are right again Johnny."

Finally, she held up the third tool. A garden hoe. "Okay class, how about this last tool?," she queried. This time Johnny seemed to be stumped as well. "Anybody?," she asked. Still no hands in the air. "Well class, this is a hoe," she said. Johnny rumpled his face a bit and then ever so slowly lifted his hand over his head. "Yes Johnny?," asked the teacher. Johnny replied, "Well teacher.... my sistuh be a ho, and she don' look nuthin' like that."

I looked through the conference and there are definitely some sessions I will watch. Thanks for the link!

I'm also going to pass this session on to my aggie friends: Road Kill: Judging The Edibility Of Found Meat
(this is a real session)

I had beautiful tomato plants one year. The tomato worms agreed!

I decided to plant concrete that winter.

The next summer, there was a tomato worm laying in the middle of my concrete garden.

57Bear said:

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I had beautiful tomato plants one year. The tomato worms agreed!

I decided to plant concrete that winter.

The next summer, there was a tomato worm laying in the middle of my concrete garden.

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They are wicked. You can spot them at night with one of those black lights.

Edmond, Hopefully you didnt do the rookie mistake of planting your bells near your jalapenos...

Define "near.". Some of them are about 5' apart.

Edmond Bear said:

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Define "near.". Some of them are about 5' apart.

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I won't really matter unless you are planning on harvesting seeds from them to use next year. Peppers are self-pollinators, but cross-pollination can occur which will cause the seed in those peppers to be hybridized, which will alter the characteristics of future generations. There are pros and cons for planting different peppers together. For instance, jalapenos and bell peppers require similar growing conditions and soil compositions, so you can feed and water them similarly. The same pests feed on both, so if you get an infestation in one, you are going to be dealing with it on all of them. One of the reasons to keep your peppers away from your tomatoes is that hornworms love peppers and will decimate your tomatoes if they spread. They are also both susceptible to fusarium wilt among other things and will spread it to one another.

Edmond Bear said:

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Define "near.". Some of them are about 5' apart.

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should be ok but if you save seeds for next year, you may get a fun Surprise with a hot bell pepper plant

Thanks for the note. I transplanted the peppers last night to an area about 30' away.

I appreciate the advice.

We are harvesting in earnest daily now. Over the last several weeks we have enjoyed fresh summer squash (Chiffon, Straightneck, Pic n Pic, Fort Knox), zucchini (Elite and Golden), okra (Cajun Jewel, Zeebest, Jambalaya), cucumbers (Perseus, Diva, Tasty Green, Big Tasty, Muncher). We picked our first peppers (Tricked You Jalapenos) yesterday.

The tomatoes and melons are really starting to set now. Every one of the 45 varieties of tomatoes has bloomed and all but 3 have set fruit. We are only a week or so away from picking our first melons, and fingers crossed, we might have some watermelons in time for July 4th.

Her are some pics from this morning:

Bear Creek Tomato


Chocolate Sprinkles Tomato


Plum Lemon Tomato


Sugar Plum Tomato


Super Marmande Tomato


Early Girl Tomato


Jungs Wayahead Tomato


Neptune Tomato


Hawaiian Pineapple Tomato


Ukrainian Purple Tomato


Arkansas Little Leaf Cucumber



Orange Silverwave Melon

Malbec said:

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We are harvesting in earnest daily now. Over the last several weeks we have enjoyed fresh summer squash (Chiffon, Straightneck, Pic n Pic, Fort Knox), zucchini (Elite and Golden), okra (Cajun Jewel, Zeebest, Jambalaya), cucumbers (Perseus, Diva, Tasty Green, Big Tasty, Muncher). We picked our first peppers (Tricked You Jalapenos) yesterday.

The tomatoes and melons are really starting to set now. Every one of the 45 varieties of tomatoes has bloomed and all but 3 have set fruit. We are only a week or so away from picking our first melons, and fingers crossed, we might have some watermelons in time for July 4th.

Her are some pics from this morning:

Bear Creek Tomato


Chocolate Sprinkles Tomato


Plum Lemon Tomato


Sugar Plum Tomato


Super Marmande Tomato


Early Girl Tomato


Jungs Wayahead Tomato


Neptune Tomato


Hawaiian Pineapple Tomato


Ukrainian Purple Tomato


Arkansas Little Leaf Cucumber



Orange Silverwave Melon

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That is fantastic.

Malbec,

Is there a difference in taste between watermelons with seeds and watermelons without seeds?

I have nostalgia belief that watermelons of my childhood tasted better. It could just be that my grandparents were farmers.

tommie said:

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Malbec,

Is there a difference in taste between watermelons with seeds and watermelons without seeds?

I have nostalgia belief that watermelons of my childhood tasted better. It could just be that my grandparents were farmers.

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I think there are definite differences. Triploid (seedless, have 3 sets of chromosomes and are sterile) watermelons are bred to be disease resistant, have a longer shelf life and to ship well. While they have some of the flavor characteristics of diploids (seeds, two sets of chromosomes), some of the distinctive flavors are washed away during hybridization.

I love the "ol' timey" watermelon flavor like you got from those Black Diamonds you would buy on the side of the road. I did plant one seedless watermelon this year, Mount Shavano. I planted it mainly because of its drought tolerance. The three plants that I transplanted have so far produced quite a few golden sterile blossoms that were good attractors for bees and other pollinators, but have only set 5 melons as of now. I think that my bumper crop of melons has a lot to do with Mt Shavano's attractiveness to the bees, so I will probably continue to plant it for that purpose. I raised some Gold N Sweet seedless watermelon plants that I gave to my brother-in-law, but I don't know how those are doing yet.

Last year I planted several white and orange watermelon cultivars, but Orange Krush is the only orange fleshed watermelon I put in this year. I also planted Gold in Gold, Chelsea and Yellow Doll. Planted quite a few other melons like Tigger, Ice Cream, Vine Peach, Kansas, Orange Silverwave, Tasty Bites and Orange Sherbet. I'll snap some pics when I harvest some. I trellised Silverwave, Tigger, Ice Cream, Tasty Bites and Orange Sherbet this year. I noticed this morning that the Gold in Gold that was planted next to the Silverwave has decided to "borrow" the trellis as well.

I'd be happy to save some melon plants for you next season if you want some. Just drop me a PM sometime.

Chocolate Sprinkles Tomatoes harvested 6/16

Harvested some Orange Silverwave Melons last week and today we had our first ripe Tigger Melons of the season. We also picked our first Crystal Apple Cucumbers, which we planted late after finding we had some extra trellis room among the cucumbers; they were a big hit at dinner.

Tigger Melons

I must be sheltered. Have never seen anything like that. What do they taste like?

Edmond Bear said:

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I must be sheltered. Have never seen anything like that. What do they taste like?

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They have a taste that is very pear-like, except unlike a pear, the texture is smooth and creamy. Tigger is one of those melons that you will never find in the grocery store because when they are picked at the "half-slip" stage (the not fully ripe stage that commercially grown melons must be picked in order to ship them), they have very little flavor at all. It seems like all of the sweetness develops in the last 2-3 weeks between the color change and when the melon slips the vine.

They're really easy to grow and you can trellis them to save space. I'm still getting plenty of blooms and the three plants that I transplanted to the garden have set about 20 melons so far. They are small (a little bit larger than a softball) and they are a perfect breakfast melon for a couple. Those first two that I harvested weighed 20 oz and 18 oz.

I have a first-year garden going. We are in the OKC area and probably a couple of weeks behind Waco weather. It is going just okay. The best thing we are doing this year is learning.

• We have been harvesting tomatoes, onions, chives, bell peppers, jalapenos and garlic pretty well. Planning to make salsa tonight.

• Have cantaloupes and watermelons that we need to thin. Assigned that to my 16-year old. Next year, I am expanding their space by quite a bit and will be planting in mounds.

• Our potatoes have been small. But, we think there is too much clay in the soil and we need to bring in alot more dirt for them next year.

• Carrots have taken a long time to grow. They are just now getting to be a decent size.

• Corn has been thin and sporadic. Pretty sure i did not plant broad enough to account for wind pollination and will be planting in large squares next year.

• Wondered why blueberry production slowed until I noticed that the drip irrigation line for that row was off the spigot.

Looking at Fall planting right now. Have a large space for pumpkins. Any other suggestions?

Edmond Bear said:

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I have a first-year garden going. We are in the OKC area and probably a couple of weeks behind Waco weather. It is going just okay. The best thing we are doing this year is learning.

• We have been harvesting tomatoes, onions, chives, bell peppers, jalapenos and garlic pretty well. Planning to make salsa tonight.

• Have cantaloupes and watermelons that we need to thin. Assigned that to my 16-year old. Next year, I am expanding their space by quite a bit and will be planting in mounds.

• Our potatoes have been small. But, we think there is too much clay in the soil and we need to bring in alot more dirt for them next year.

• Carrots have taken a long time to grow. They are just now getting to be a decent size.

• Corn has been thin and sporadic. Pretty sure i did not plant broad enough to account for wind pollination and will be planting in large squares next year.

• Wondered why blueberry production slowed until I noticed that the drip irrigation line for that row was off the spigot.

Looking at Fall planting right now. Have a large space for pumpkins. Any other suggestions?

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We are planting winter squash; Guatemalan Blue, North Georgia Candy Roaster, Honey Boat. Also we have about 10-12 fall tomato varieties started that we expect to transplant about Sept 1. The peppers should continue to produce right up until late Nov. We also started a second round of summer squash (Chiffon, Graybeard and Zephyr), as well as some pickling cucumbers (Arkansas Little Leaf, White Pickling). We also planted some lettuce and cauliflower.

The best advice is the simplest; plant what you like and what your friends and family like. We have been covered up with tomatoes and slicing cucumbers, but have had no shortage of takers. We had two amazing Orange Krush watermelons for the 4th (12 and 15 lbs and sooooo delicious).

I wish I could grow blueberries like you, but South Texas is just too hot for them. We did grow about a gazillion huckleberries last year and have had some reasonable success with strawberries and blackberries in the past.

The tomatoes and peppers are still rockin'. It was a good year for melons. We had a bumper crop of Ice Cream Melons and Orange Silverwaves and they are still producing. The eggplants are now starting to roll, though we only planted a few. Here are some shots from today.

I have about 3,200 sf of garden space at the house that includes both a contiguous spot and some raised beds, and then we have a family "farm" property where we grow a few things not suitable for the back yard. Tomatoes and peppers are the staples usually, but I also have an affinity for melons. We always try new varieties each year to go along with ones that are favorites. We are going to concentrate on finding some new favorite "slicer" tomatoes this year, so we are testing a lot of varieties that we haven't tried to grow before. We'll probably cull to the 5 or 6 that we like best to grow next year, or maybe if suitable, this fall. <!---->Kodi nox

We are first-timers so we started small. All organic. We used seeds and started a little late so we are just now starting to slowly harvest.

Tomatoes first, them cucumber (none ready yet). We've had a half dozen tomatoes.

The dead space in the middle was a really good crop of butter lettuce that I cleared out early this week.

Then we have yellow squash, zucchini and red pepper. No pepper or zucchini yet, but they are growing. I grilled some squash tonight and it was excellent.

Picked four Hawaiian Pineapple Tomatoes this morning that were 13, 15, 17 and 18 ounces.

For our first year, we've done pretty well. Have been pulling a ton of great cantaloupe, peppers, jalapeos, tomatoes, onions.

We've had 2 major problems I need to solve.

- Freaking deer ate more of my summer corn than I could harvest. Now, they're in to eating other stuff in the garden. Have tried liquid deer fence. That works for two weeks. Have tried a fishing line deer fence. They just walk through it. Have netting around it now. Any other suggestions?

- Planted Sugar Baby and Black Diamond watermelons. We've pulled 10 or so, dried brown tendrils with a yellow spot. Only two were red on the inside. The rest were white or pink/white. Any thoughts on what I might be doing wrong?

Edmond Bear said:

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For our first year, we've done pretty well. Have been pulling a ton of great cantaloupe, peppers, jalapeos, tomatoes, onions.

We've had 2 major problems I need to solve.

- Freaking deer ate more of my summer corn than I could harvest. Now, they're in to eating other stuff in the garden. Have tried liquid deer fence. That works for two weeks. Have tried a fishing line deer fence. They just walk through it. Have netting around it now. Any other suggestions?

- Planted Sugar Baby and Black Diamond watermelons. We've pulled 10 or so, dried brown tendrils with a yellow spot. Only two were red on the inside. The rest were white or pink/white. Any thoughts on what I might be doing wrong?

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Deer don't bother any of my stuff except melons and leafy greens. Haven't tried corn, but I guess that's a problem too. If I want to grow anything that deer go after, I've pretty much concluded that I need an electric fence. They will work, but nothing else really does in my experience. That or a greenhouse.

Edmond Bear said:

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For our first year, we've done pretty well. Have been pulling a ton of great cantaloupe, peppers, jalapeos, tomatoes, onions.

We've had 2 major problems I need to solve.

- Freaking deer ate more of my summer corn than I could harvest. Now, they're in to eating other stuff in the garden. Have tried liquid deer fence. That works for two weeks. Have tried a fishing line deer fence. They just walk through it. Have netting around it now. Any other suggestions?

- Planted Sugar Baby and Black Diamond watermelons. We've pulled 10 or so, dried brown tendrils with a yellow spot. Only two were red on the inside. The rest were white or pink/white. Any thoughts on what I might be doing wrong?

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Sam's right. You are going to have to commit to some type of physical fence. I had similar problems with ripening melons this year too. Especially my orange silverwave melons. They produced like crazy, we kept leaving them on the vine for ever increasing amounts of time, even waiting for the last couple dozen to slip. We only got a few that were fully ripe. It was so hot for extended periods that I couldn't get any Chelsea Watermelons or Mt Shavanos to set. I think part of the problem was that with the relentless heat, we may have been overwatering which caused too much vine vigor and not enough energy to the fruit. I probably should have planted some muskmelons for fall just to see what we could produce, but we concentrated on winter squash instead.

Thanks. The netting has worked for deer. No tracks in a couple of weeks.

About 1/3 of my watermelons are edible.

Fall garden is rocking along. The Early Girls were the first tomatoes to set. We also planted Galahad tomatoes, and kept some indeterminate Mint Julep and Honey Delight going for Fall. Some of the winter squash like Guatemala Blue and Honey Boat have already played out along with Greybeard, but the Butterscotch Squash are really coming along. The Fall cucumbers are being stubborn, but we are picking Martin and Sweet Slice. We planted some very expensive Lime Crisp cucumbers and all 5 plants failed. Going to have loads of spinach, cauliflower, lettuce and cabbage.

The summer peppers are still producing heavily. Especially the Tricked You Jalapenos and the Brown Jalapenos along with the Sweet Chocolate Bells and the Etiudas. We have a beautiful, 7-feet tall Goldstrike pepper that didn't produce a single pepper all season... what a disappointment. I have a few fall cantaloupes that I planted and am hoping the can produce a few melons before the freeze. It'll be a race for sure.

Butterscotch Squash



Martin Cucumber


Listada de Gandia Eggplant


Early Girl Tomato


Baby Spinach

Hi I am Plantation expert and serving the Richardson and the surrounding Dallas, Texas area since 1978. I provide guides about planting to people, who'd love to have a garden of their own. In case you've any concern or would like to reach out to us, then please drop a message.

josephaiden4 said:

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Hi I am Plantation expert and serving the Richardson and the surrounding Dallas, Texas area since 1978. I provide guides about planting to people, who'd love to have a garden of their own. In case you've any concern or would like to reach out to us, then please drop a message.

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I could use any help that you are willing to provide. I took up the hobby (lifestyle) last year and am still learning. I want to know what I should be doing now. I have 1 5x10 bed where I grew cucumbers tomatoes and peppers (until rabbits ate them). I have a 2x7 raised bed that I grew cantaloupe. I just ordered a 2x11 bed that I am going to use next spring. I started all of my plants from seed inside with some ultraviolet lights. I live in McKinney. I just found this page in the forums. I love it.

josephaiden4 said:

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Hi I am Plantation expert...

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Hmmm.