Success!!!

congrats on the great looking carrots, Robbie. I could grow them but had a terrible time getting them out of our clay soil(they'd break in half). Seems weird to hear of veggies being picked at this time of the year--we are expecting snow today.

Thanks.

The patch of ground where my garden is required a large load of topsoil and many, many amendments over the years. My soil is clay and sand similar to that found in Georgia. Red with iron and hard as brick.

I still have a few carrots left, a whole bunch of Brussels sprouts, and some collard greens. Any kind of snow we may ever get here probably wouldn't bother them. Our temperatures hardly ever stay below freezing for more than a few hours at a time here.

I not only ignored the carrot seeds I planted, I re-worked the soil and planted something else after being told it was the wrong time of year to plant them (it was spring). They grew anyway. They weren't pretty to look at like yours, though. And I kept pulling them up prematurely and replanting them.

Are you eating your brussel sprouts? There again, I planted brussels too early this year. I nursed them through drought and snail invasions (garlic powder works best on that)and haven't seen any sprouts. None I could eat, anyway. I grew those in Metairie once. It was the best yield I have ever gotten out of a vegetable garden. That year, I had cauliflower and broccoli too. My strawberries made it through the winter and have berries on them now.

David has horse manure, lots of it already composted he says, that we can have. Katie and I are supposed to take a ride out there and get some one day. I look forward to spring planting and harvest of tomatoes, bell peppers, and basil.

I've had freshly-picked Brussels sprouts just once. They were fabulous. I'll probably have enough to cook this weekend. My broccoli is done but they were phenomenal this season.

Why would David have horse manure? Or, at least, why would he have lots of it?

He has two horses now. Or at least one and was considering the other. His stable is in Slidell. I don't really know how to work with manure in a garden that is already in place. Or any other time either, for that matter. I just know farmers use it so I probably should too.

I had no idea David had horses.

Horse manure is fairly potent. It has a much more powerful aroma than cow manure, particularly after a light rain. You really don't need a lot of it.