Winter Garden In Texas

You can have a winter garden in Texas. Usually, we have a mild enough winter compared to up North so you can grow a lot of vegetables. There are so many root seeds that you can plant in October and November, even December if you live in the Southern or South Central part of Texas. Let's explore the possibilities this week. Keep in mind that over the last four winters we have had some ice and snow that we normally do not get. Even so, we have been able to grow carrots, onions, beets, and turnips through all of the below freezing temperatures.

For another look at seeds for winter gardens, check out this article on David's Garden Seeds®.

We have not yet started growing anything on our top of the hill acre. It is nice and green now due to the rain we have had recently.

Winter Garden In Texas - 10/16-10/22/2023

Monday, October 16, 2023

Ethel and me in the truck. Ethel just turned 13 years old.

Happy Monday. Nacho and his team are out here today to do many things, one of which is to move our plants and trees back into the greenhouses because tomorrow night, it will be in the 40s. That is insane after the horrible 100° plus summer and fall that we have had.

I went outside with Ethel in the dark and it was cold, 50°! I wore jeans today instead of shorts.

David and I left the farm at 8:30am to go to some doctor appointments in San Antonio. I wore a hoody which is crazy. After all, we are in Texas. The traffic was really good and the visits went well. We came back to the farm close to 11am, ate lunch and got to work pulling orders. The garlic, the maroon bluebonnets, and the seed sets are going fast.

There are some people working over at the new cell tower. Hopefully, they will get it turned on and working soon.

Most of the plants and trees not in the ground are in greenhouses now, although the potatoes and sweet potatoes up front by the Farm Store are not.

This evening, I am going to make chili with rice to watch Kitchen Nightmares with Gordon Ramsay. These are the new shows, not the replays.

Right now, at 5pm, it is 78° Fahrenheit. We are closed for the day. We gave some farm tours and had some good sales. I still have more orders to fill but I will go make the chili for now.

Winter Garden In Texas

Here is one of our late fall broccoli harvests from last year.

By now, your fall gardens are probably doing well. Soon it will be time to grow your winter garden in Texas. If we are lucky, we won't get a first frost until January. But sometimes, we get it in December or even in November as it has been these last couple of years.

In your winter garden in Texas, you will want to include root vegetables such as carrots, onions, shallots, bunching or green onions, turnips, radishes, parsnips, beets, kohlrabi, fennel, scorzonera, salsify, rutabaga, parsnip, and leeks. These are all cold hearty vegetables so the occasional frost will not hurt them. Once the roots are growing and established, if you get a week of cold weather, your roots will be fine.

You will also want to think about including arugula, rhubarb, Swiss chard, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale, cabbage, lettuce, collards, various greens, mustard greens, peas, and spinach in your winter garden.

Tuesday, October 17, 2023

Good morning! It got down to 46° and it is so chilly here. I took Ethel out at 6:30am in the dark and the cold is real. But it is supposed to be 80° this afternoon. That is crazy.

The cell tower folks are there again today. I guess there is a lot more to do than just build it. So far, there are no lights on it. I know there should be some at the top in case a helicopter has to fly over it in the dark. When it is dark out here, it is pitch black. There are no street lights. We do get helicopters flying out this way trying to find criminals every once in a while.

We got new garlic in today for your planting enjoyment. I was busy pulling orders most of the day. Then at 4pm, we got a $508 order! It has taken me about 90 minutes to get it all together.

It is 77° with clear skies, a beautiful day here on the farm. Everyone but Matt is gone now. He is out with the animals. I need to go to the house and feed the indoor animals, then make dinner. My feet are tired. I was on them a lot pulling orders.

Winter Garden In Texas

Let's talk about planting your winter garden in Texas. Most years, you are pretty safe to plant things in November and December. Once in a while, we get a hard freeze but most of the time that is in February.

Most peas will do well in the cooler weather but a hard freeze will do them in. Plant them in October just in case we get a freeze in November. This year, 2023, The Almanac says we will get our first freeze on November 22 which is pretty early. In fact, I would go ahead and plant the above ground plants this year in October just in case. This includes the following:

Bright Lights Swiss Chard looks pretty and is good for you to eat.

Swiss chard
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Brussels sprouts
Kale
Cabbage
Lettuce
Collards
Various greens
Mustard greens
Peas
Spinach
Arugula
Rhubarb (We have this listed as a fruit on the website but it likes cooler weather.)
Cardoon
Celery
Beets
Leeks

This is rhubarb. You eat the stems. They make a wonderful pie. Do not eat the leaves. They are toxic. Always throw them away. Use lots of sugar.

If you are fortunate enough to have a greenhouse, plant these things in the greenhouse in pots to protect them from frost. If the temperature gets below 45°, turn on the heaters.

David in a jacket is a rare sight so you know it's cold. This is our high tunnel greenhouse where our spring veggies are started in December for our customers in early spring.

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

Good morning and welcome to our farm. It is cold at 49° and the sun is just coming up. I have been working at my desk for a while, enjoying some coffee. I took Ethel out in the dark and it is freezing out there.

My plan today is to finally plant the grow tower in the Farm Store. Let's hope that I can finally get to it instead of constantly talking about it. (I did not get this done once again...)

I have some good news! We have added German Red Garlic to our garlic bulb collection so now we have 7 varieties! One variety only has ten sacks left and that is the Georgia Crystal Garlic. Also, we have knocked $1.50 off of the price of every sack of garlic bulbs. Order soon. October is almost over! Here is the link to the garlic at David's Garden Seeds®.

The cell tower still does not light up at night but today, several vehicles of people were over there putting up a fence with barbed wire all around it.

Winter Garden In Texas

Today, let's talk about root vegetables. Roots should be planted and established before the first freeze. Plant any of the following roots in November and get them growing before the first freeze:

Black Nebula carrots are sweet and nutritious. I love them.

Carrots
Onions
Shallots
Bunching or green onions
Turnips
Radishes
Parsnips
Beets
Kohlrabi
Fennel
Scorzonera
Salsify
Rutabaga
Parsnip
Leeks
Potatoes (We don't sell seed potatoes but you can make your own.)

This fall, I planted my potatoes and sweet potatoes in troughs and pots so the gophers wouldn't eat them anymore. A winter garden in Texas would not include either but a fall garden would.

Because they are established before the first frost, they will do fine underground. Right before the frost, cover them all in about two inches of mulch or hay to protect them this winter. Don't forget to continue to water them if you are not getting much rain during the winter. If temperatures are below freezing, do not water during that time.

Mark the dates you planted each vegetable on the calendar. Also count ahead the number of days that plants should be harvested and mark that on the calendar so you don't leave them in the ground longer than you have to. Pull one up to see if each crop is ready for harvest. If not, leave them in the ground for a few more weeks and try again.

Thursday, October 19, 2023

The field next door at sunrise. There are two deer there looking for something to eat.

Good Thursday morning. I have the new garlic up on the website and it is for sale in our store now. Unfortunately, I still have not found time to plant the grow tower in the Farm Store. I was busy posting videos to TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram for the business, not to mention making other social media posts to see if we can get some sales. Matthew has started helping me with this because I no longer have time since I have to pull and mail the orders now. There is just so much to do!

Fall and winter gardens are a thing if you live in a warm climate in the southern United States. Not sure why more people do not grow them.

They are working on the cell tower again. In fact, two men are up on the tower this afternoon and I see some type of wires coming off of the tower.

Encino Pest Control texted that they will be here at 10am. Of course, David, Matt, and I will not be here. Brendon will have to take care of it until I get back. I am going to the dentist for a crown. Tomorrow will be all of the drilling that I hate so much. I dread it.

Matt also has a dental appointment in San Antonio.

It is now 5pm and the temperature has climbed upward to 89°. That is nuts. We had no Farm Store customers again today. I guess everyone is spending their money on Halloween costumes, candy, and parties instead of planning out their food.

With war going on in the Middle East and with all the craziness that is going on in Washington D.C., I would definitely not be wasting hundreds of dollars on costumes. I would be more worried about buying food and saving up some money, wouldn't you?

We were planning a trip to Israel next year. I do not believe we will be going now. So many on the Israel Facebook groups are saying they don't know if they should go or not this fall and winter. What? When there is a war going on, you don't go there. You stay home; you do not fly into a war zone on vacation. It has been a dream of mine to go since I was a child, but I definitely do not want to go now. Funny, I can never take a good trip without it being spoiled. In 2020, we were supposed to go on our first cruise. It was with Dave Ramsey. I was all packed and Dave canceled it due to covid a week before we were to set sail. That was in March of 2020. Now this. I bought the travel insurance but I heard that it does not apply to war which is ridiculous. Hopefully, the travel agency will cancel and just give us our money back.

At first, I thought it would be over quickly but reading what actual Israelis are putting on Facebook, this is different, very different than the wars they normally have. They are saying it will be a long time. In the meantime, we have received two emails from the travel agency saying right now they are dealing with trips this October, November, and December and will deal with ours later on down the line. They ask us not to bother them at this time. So I will let it ride but I will not make any more payments on the trip like I was going to this month.

Meanwhile, back on the farm, it is time to feed the fish, close up the Farm Store, get eggs and take care of the animals out back. Then I have to figure out what to cook for dinner and do some clean up. At 7pm, Hell's Kitchen comes on and I love that show.

Winter Garden In Texas

What about flowers planted in a winter garden in Texas? We plant them every year in October and November. The zinnias will last until the first freeze so we usually allow them to die back but sometimes, we will pull them out early after cutting the heads off of them where the seeds are. We collect the seeds i a bucket for next year.

In this part of Texas in the fall you will want to plant the following:

Crane red kale flowers are beautiful.

Snapdragons
Ornamental Kale Crane (Ornamental kale is edible and nutritious but it does not have a good flavor. Do not eat the roots of any kale. They are all poisonous.)
Violas
Pansies
Petunias
Scabiosa

Friday, October 20, 2023

Here comes the sun. When we first moved here, nothing was in the way but now there are houses and electric lines. I just hate that. It spoils my shot every time when we are in Daylight Savings Time.

Hello and happy Friday. Matt got here and he and I went out to take care of the animals this morning. We bred another rabbit last night and we put the female rabbit back in her own cage this morning.

Matt and I both have 10am dental appointments with different dentists in different towns. He is going into San Antonio for a filling and I am going to Pleasanton for a crown prep on a cracked tooth with a huge filling. I hate drilling and just going to the dentist in general.

As we were leaving the farm this morning, we had our first customer. One of our employees took care of him. Then another showed up and, of course, we were long gone. Encino Pest Control showed up at 10am for their monthly service and again one of our employees took care of that.

I got four numbing shots at the dentist before drilling commenced. I was a nervous wreck and felt like I was being water boarded. It was hard to breathe at times. But I got through it and then they took impressions for the permanent crown and made the temporary crown which I went home with. My mouth is sore on the right side. I will have to go back in about two weeks or so. They said they would call when the crown comes in so they don't make them there.

I finally ate lunch. My mouth was so numb that I couldn't. I was very hungry. It is awake now and I ate ramen noodles. I just waited on some more customers and it is now 4pm. It is 94° today which is insane considering it is almost November.

Matthew says he is doing well. I just realized that today is Friday so I have to work tomorrow as well. Come on out to the Farm Store and get your garlic and seeds tomorrow from 10am until 2pm.

David will be smoking a brisket for tomorrow on his new grill. That will be fun.

Winter Garden In Texas

Use a planter like a Greenstalk to grow your winter garden in Texas.

Herbs can best be growing in pots during the winter months. Most of them will die if they are outdoors during a frost. If you plant them in pots during the winter, you can move them to the greenhouse, your home, garage, or shed when you know it will be cold overnight. Mine have all been moved to the greenhouse.

Basil
Calendula
Garlic can be grown in the winter time as well. Ideally in Texas, you should plant garlic in October or November and then harvest in June or July. Garlic takes 240 days or eight months to grow. Before the first frost, cover the garlic with a two inch layer of mulch or hay.
Mint is best grow in a container because where ever you plant it, it will take over.
Parsley
Rosemary
Savory -- Winter only
Thyme
Oregano

Saturday, October 21, 2023

Sunrise this morning from the gazebo as I fed the fish.

I have been so busy waiting on customers, pulling and mailing orders, and working on pages that I forgot to say good morning. It is now 4:30pm. We had quite a day in the Farm Store. I did not get to close it until 2:30pm. The final person drove through the gates at 2pm and the second to last person was still in the parking lot. Our gates close automatically at 2:05pm. So I went out and greeted the 2pm customer and told the other one that the gates were about to close and he would be trapped. He left. I took care of the 2pm customer.

Then I went in the house and did some laundry and the breakfast dishes. I came back out at 3pm to finish up some orders and a man with a regular car was in the parking lot. I thought he was looking at a hoop house. He was out of his vehicle. I asked David how he got in. Then I went out and saw Amazon packages. He was today's Amazon driver and he could not figure out how to get the gate open, yet he used the code to come in through the gate. I had to go let him out. I have finally finished the orders for today.

David has a brisket on the grill and it is smelling amazing so we will be eating good tonight! I am hungry and excited about dinner and the movie. I doubt it will be Svengoolie. The channel keeps showing football instead of Sven. When they do show him, they are all Frankenstein movies that we have seen over and over. We will probably watch the next Star Trek movie in the series.

My mouth is still hurting from where the dentist gave me four shots to drill my lower right molar yesterday. The temporary crown is sharp so it is cutting the inside of my mouth. The dental assistant who placed it said not to chew on that side or it would come out. Swell...

David is preaching tomorrow as the pastor is not feeling well. Want to come hear him? Sand Branch Baptist Church on 2504, about a mile down from our farm at 11am tomorrow.

I am signing off for the night because I am so tired from today. I still have to go get eggs and take care of all of the animals, do some more laundry, and get things ready for dinner. It has been a full day. Have a good night.

Winter Garden In Texas

Some gardeners use the fall and winter to put nutrients back into their soil through the use of cover crops. Below are some cover crops we recommend for cold weather growing for this purpose:

Crimson Clover
Hairy Vetch
Rye Grass

Sunday, October 22, 2023

I thought the roses were done blooming but it got warm again. Isn't this pink and white one so pretty?

Good morning. I have been up for several hours. It is now about to be 8am and I still have not been outside to feed everyone. I woke up all night long and had miserable dreams in between; definitely not a good night. I woke up at 4:30am and took the thyroid pill.

The brisket that David cooked yesterday was delicious. I was so excited to eat it but I had a hard time with the stupid temporary crown. Every time I move my tongue a certain way, the temporary crown cuts it because the edges are sharp after it was shaved down some to fit right in my mouth. So the meat was delicious but I could not eat much of it. I did not chew on that side but somehow the crown kept hurting me. Fun times!

I hear the war is escalating in Israel so I am fairly certain that our trip will not happen. That is so unfortunate. I was going to be on here earlier but my computer finally updated this morning to Windows 11, I think it is. Things look a little different anyway on the computer. Hopefully, it will be faster but then again, we have horribly slow internet out here so everything is slow.

I am surprised that we have been able to stay in business with the awful internet we have. We can only get one kind until recently. If we had an extra $2000 lying around, we could pay it and then wait for about four months to get Star Link. Some around here have gotten it and they love it. However, they have only had to pay $500 because they are not businesses. They have come into the store telling us how much they love it. Maybe later. We would like to get it but that is a ridiculous price just to get the equipment because we are a business.

If you're new here, this is our gazebo. Part of our pond is in here, along with our official selfie spot.

I went out to feed the fish and found that it is humid today and will get up to 88°. I then went out back to feed the rabbits and chickens. One of our employees was supposed to rake all of the hay out of the hen houses on Thursday. He finally did some of it on Friday but did not touch the smaller house. I went in to feed and water them and it was a mess. I got the rake and raked it all out, sweating up a storm. It would have taken him five to ten minutes. Not sure why it wasn't done. Anyway, I finally got everyone taken care of.

The first rabbit that we bred a month ago did not get pregnant. A second one was bred and it looks like she is. A third one was bred two days ago.

It is now time to get ready for church. My husband is out in the kitchen practicing for today. I hope you have a terrific Sunday.

We went to Charlie's Daughter On The Green in Devine for a fried chicken buffet. The place was packed and the food was pretty good. This was our first time to eat there. If you live around here, try it out.

David's sermon went well on appreciating the pastor. We did not get much appreciation when we were in ministry so we always try to treat our pastor well, especially in the month of October because it is pastor appreciation month. Do something nice for your pastor this week.

I forgot earlier to mention that 32 years ago today my father passed from this life into the everlasting arms of his Savior. It was quite a shock but he had suffered from heart disease for years. I was pregnant with my daughter but did not even know it. He was 60 years old. Sometimes, life has pain, difficulties, and trials, but we need to learn to depend on our Heavenly Father who comforts us and gets us through. He supplies all of our needs and He is the God of all comfort.

Winter Garden In Texas

The point of our talk this week is to let you know that you can have a winter garden in Texas in most areas. I realize it gets coldest up North by Dallas but even there, you can grow a garden in pots that can be taken in when the colder weather hits.

Up until four years ago, we never got snow, ice, or freezing temperatures during winter except once in a blue moon. The Almanac says we should get a mild winter this year and I sure hope they are right.

For more information on buying winter garden seeds for your particular area, contact your local county extension agent or a university in your area that has an extensive agricultural program. You can also contact your local County Extension Agent. Remember that we are located in South Central Texas and are used to growing year round. Not everything we write about will fly in the cold weather that many of our readers' experience.

Return from Winter Garden In Texas to Year Five On The Farm

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