Planting Winter Vegetables
It’s time to plant our winter vegetables. Here’s a list of the vegetables we need to put into the ground at this time:
Beets
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Collard Greens
Lettuce (leaf, butterhead, romaine)
Kale
Mustard Greens
Radishes
Spinach
Swiss Chard
Sugar snap peas
Turnips
Luckily for us, the Montgomery Master Gardener Association has an herb and vegetable plant sale on Saturday, October 16, from 9 a.m. until noon. The location is 9020 Airport Road in Conroe. You can see the list of vegetables at http://www.mcmga.com. https://mcmga.square.site/
Vegetables aren’t the only thing we can plant now. If you’re into wildflowers, here are some sun-loving natives you can plant right now: Texas bluebonnets, gaillardia, lemon mint, Mexican hat, prairie coneflower, winecup, and Huisache daisy. Shade lovers include purple coneflower, pigeonberry, blue mistflower, and Turk’s cap. There are many, many more for both shade and sun. Several great wildflower seed companies are located here in Texas.
Wildflower seeds need sunlight to germinate. Therefore, the best way to get them to grow is to loosen the soil (lightly with a rake), scatter the seeds, and then walk over them firmly, bringing them in firm contact with the earth. Do not cover them with soil. And you don’t have to water. They only need rainwater to germinate and grow.
Scarifying Seeds
This doesn’t mean taking them to a Haunted House on Halloween. It means scarring them. Perennials seeds like Texas Blue Bonnets, butterfly weed, milkweed, cannas, and columbine. Vegetables like beets, okra, Swiss chard, edible peas, parsley, sweet peas, and New Zealand spinach must be scarified.
Lawns
Turfgrass (St. Augustine, Bermuda, and Zoysia) are going dormant now and don’t need water. You can shut off your irrigation system. If you feel you must irrigate, cut the time you usually water to one-fourth. Overwatering in the fall and winter kills essential soil organisms and harms roots, making the lawn more susceptible to disease and pests in the spring and summer.
You don’t have to fertilize now either. Wait until the lawn is fully dormant to do that.