The onions have been delivered to Wal-mart and probably other nurseries if you live in Texas. If you didn’t plant from seeds, it’s time to put the starters in the ground–1015Y is a favorite as always and there was also a red onion (it wasn’t named, but probably a southern belle–the point being for Texas you want a short day onion). The white onions (usually a granex or white bemuda for Texas) weren’t in yet. If you want to order onions, try this site: Dixondale.

Get planting! Mine will probably go in Thursday when temps will be near 70 and clouds are expected.

Last week I also started cucumbers and zucchini in peat pots (they don’t like their roots moved during transplanting).

If you haven’t already put in your beans and peas, you’re late! (Specifically any cool peas like snap peas and snow peas should be put in early in Texas and then covered during any light freezes.)

Update: 1/10/07: Onions are in the ground! Yes, I probably could have waited for tomorrow when it’s supposed to be cloudy, but I’m pretty impatient. We’ll have three nice days in the 70’s followed by gloomy 40’s with light freezes for three or four days. The onions won’t mind. If all goes well, I should have a few “testers” in late March (these are about the size of green onions) and full sized beauties at the end of May!

Update: 1/14/07: Cold. Rainy. Sleet and snow predicted. High 20’s for the lows. The snow peas, which had already come up, are burried under a light mulch as is the lettuce. The onions will probably be fine, but I put a plastic tarp over them (lightly so air gets under) in case of freezing rain. I don’t think the freezing rain will bother them, but I was out there mulching under the other things. It’s gross out there, folks. Find a good book and settle in for a read.

Update: 1/18/07: Yes, I know it froze. 28 for four nights in a row…the onions are probably okay. I’ve removed the ice and the plastic sheet that held the ice. As for the peas…I checked under the mulch. They look like they might have made it, but I covered them again, lightly. We have another freeze coming Monday or Tues with rain expected most days until then. This could be a year that requires replanting!

Meanwhile, the cucumber and squash are coming up indoors in the peat pots!

Update: 1/21/07: The snow peas were fine after I undercovered them from the mulch. A bit of freeze damage on the tips of some leaves and I broke off a couple of leaves/branches accidently from brushing too hard. Lettuce and cilantro was also fine after I undercovered them. The lettuce will need serious washing when it comes time to eat it as the “mulch” I used was peat moss and that stuff is all over the place now. The onions look just fine also; they probably didn’t even need the cover, but I figured getting the ice off sooner rather than later was a good idea.

The garden is going to need some cleaning up after things dry out. We’ve got one day of sun and then more rain on the way…

Onions

Onions grow very well in the hill country of Texas. The hybrids developed for Texas do better than starters from northern countries/states (such as the ones I tried from Norway one year—they did okay, but the Texas ones were larger and grew faster).

Texas has a major industry in onions and Texas variety sweet onions grown at home are outstanding. They usually have a number by their name (1015y). These are very large yellow onions and as far as I can tell, disease resistant. A Most Excellent flavor and easy to care for. Can be planted in the fall if you can find them. I have planted other kinds, but this kind seems to be available in early spring. Plant as early as possible; they can withstand light freezes without a problem (and even snow fall one year!)

I’ve ordered from the following website: Onion Plants - Dixondale Farms The short-day sampler—1015y, White Granex and Southern Belle was excellent. I planted the first week of January and all did well into February. Harvested in May! – Harvest was Excellent. All types, white, purple and yellow were medium to very large. Excellent flavor in all three. No bug problems, no rot. Kept until late July with no rotting problems.

I’ve also found these types of starters quite early at Wal-Mart and Home Depot.

Garlic
Garlic does well in hill country. Can be planted in the fall, but I didn’t find it gave me that much of a head start on growing. Most of the growing still seemed to happen in the spring/early summer. The garlic was good, but the darn cloves in the center were so small, peeling them was a nightmare…

The onions are in! Watch for pink onion roots when you buy your plants! I noticed some on several of the ones I had–this gets in the soil and is impossible to get rid of (takes 5 or 6 years). I believe I infected some of my soil last year, although I’m still not certain pink was the problem.

If you soak the onion starters in water before you plant them, it’s much easier to see whether the roots are pink or otherwise discolored. Discard any that look suspicious (or get another bundle from a different vendor!) Apparently it’s pretty easy to transfer via soil or water or tools.

I planted snap peas and snow peas, my favorite beans. They are a little hard to grow in Texas because they can only be grown in the early spring. I’ve planted these in Oct and November before–as long as I kept them covered during freezes, they did fine. This year, I waited until this weekend to plant them so that the soil could rest (and more importantly, I could rest!)

Tomorrow I’ll get flower bulbs in the ground. Next week…well, next week I’ll watch to see if the green onions come up and look for the beans!

I won’t put the tomatoes out until around February 15th.

Go on, go Grow Something!