Too Much Rain, More of the Garden Planted

There has been way too much rain in the garden over the past 3 weeks or so, but the weather has been somewhat drier and warmer over the last week. Since the last blog post I was able to plant out into the garden 52 lettuce seedlings on April 13th (which is about 10 days later than I like), seed Green Arrow peas on April 14th, plant Red Norland seed potatoes on April 16th, and plant out into the garden broccoli, cabbage, and kohlrabi seedlings on April 17th. I was also able to finally side dress my onion transplants with organic fertilizer on April 17th as well. In addition, I potted up my pepper and tomato seedlings into larger pots on April 18th. Harvesting has continued on the over-winter lettuce with a few more harvests to go before it is through. The harvest from the the over-winter lettuce this year has been really good. The top-setting onions continue to grow, so harvest on these (for green onions) will probably start in about another week. The early spring planted radishes are starting to get bigger, so harvest on those will also probably start in another week. The peas have just started to emerge from the soil over the last day or so. Here’s hoping that the drier and warmer weather continues. Please enjoy the few pics of the garden below.

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Over-Wintered Sierra Lettuce with Some Spring Planted Onions and Radishes, Picture Taken 4/23/25

Recently Transplanted Lettuce Seedlings, Picture Taken 4/23/25

Starting Top Right Clockwise: Over-Wintered Top Setting Onions, Spring Planted Candy and Red Candy Apple Onions, and Spring Planted Lettuce Seedlings, Picture Taken 4/23/25

Onions Planted, More Seeds Started, First Harvest of the Season

The garden has been keeping me busy over the last several weeks. I was able to plant 175 onion transplants into the garden on March 18th (Candy and Red Candy Apple). These onions are doing well and are starting to get some new green growth. They will need some side dressing of fertilizer soon. All of the warm season seeds of tomatoes and peppers have been started indoors and all have now been moved to the cold frame. The spring planted lettuce seedlings growing in the cold frame are still a little small to be planted out into the garden, but hopefully they will be transplanted out in about another week to ten days. Harvest started today on the over-wintered Sierra lettuce!! I will keep these plants covered for about another three weeks or so. The over-wintered top setting onions are growing well and are getting some good green top growth. I will be planting pea seeds out in the garden in about another week, weather permitting. The Red Norland potatoes will not be planted until the second or third week of April.

Over-Wintered Lettuce (Sierra) Awaiting the First Spring Harvest, Picture Taken 4-1-25

Fall Planted Top-Setting Onions (Left) and Recently Transplanted Onions (Right), Picture Taken 4-1-25

A View Inside the Cold Frame, Picture Taken 4-1-25

Early Spring Gardening Activities Ramping Up and Seeds Started

The early spring garden activities are in “full gear” right now. Lettuce seeds were started on February 27th and broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, kohlrabi, and celery seeds were started on March 6th. All have germinated inside and were moved to the cold frame except for the celery. Seeds for the warmer weather tomatoes and peppers will be started inside over the next few days. Both compost bins were emptied and spread over the garden beds on March 10th. My onion transplants are expecting to be delivered by March 15th. The weather has been unseasonably warm and dry over the last 5 days, which is nice. The overwintered Sierra lettuce that has been growing under a plastic covered hoop is starting to green up nicely (see pic below). I was able to plant some radish seeds and some top setting onions in this bed as well. The overwintered top setting onions are starting to shoot up some new green leaves (see pic below).

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Over Wintered Sierra Lettuce Greening Up Nicely, Picture Taken 3-12-25

Over Wintered Top Setting Onions Starting to Green Up, Picture Taken 3-12-25

Seedlings in Cold Frame, Picture Taken 3-12-25

Chicken Domino, AKA My Shadow, Inspecting the Early Spring Garden, Picture Taken 3-12-25

Cold Frame is Up, Spring is Almost Here

The weather yesterday in Central Indiana was fantastic (partly to mostly sunny with high temperatures near 70 degrees) which allowed me to get my cold frame set up and ready to go (see pic below). It is always nice to be able to work outside without having your fingers go numb. If the weather cooperates, I will have lettuce seedlings out in the cold frame by March 1st with other cole crop seedlings (broccoli, cabbage, kohlrabi, brussels sprouts) not too far behind. I still need to empty the two big compost bins of compost, but that might have to wait until early March. The weather forecast looks like it will turn colder over the next few weeks, but at least we finally melted off all of the snow that was on the ground. All of my seeds have been ordered for the upcoming garden season. As always, I am really looking forward to warmer spring like weather.

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Juwel Biostar 1500 Cold Frame Set Up in the Garden, Picture Taken 2-3-25

Last Harvest of 2024 and Already Looking Forward to Spring

I harvested the last of the 2024 garden bounty on December 30, which were the second batch of the Scarlet Nantes carrots (see pic below). The fall harvest of carrots this year was outstanding. As I write this my garden is buried under 8 inches of snow, which is the most snow we have had on the ground in Central Indiana in at least three years. I am already looking forward to spring. I will begin ordering seeds for the 2025 growing season over the next few weeks. Not much else to report on the garden front right now. Everybody stay warm and safe.

Last Fall Harvest of Scarlet Nantes Carrots, Picture Taken 12-30-24

Great Fall 2024 Harvest About Finished

Wow, what a great fall harvest I had this year. I was able to harvest the very last of the cabbage, cauliflower, and kohlrabi on Thanksgiving morning, November 28th, before the really cold weather set in (see pic below). The nice thing about cabbage and kohlrabi is that it will keep for about 2 months in the refrigerator. In fact, I still have about four heads of cabbage and five heads of kohlrabi still in the refrigerator today. I started harvesting the first of the fall carrots on December 10th (see pic below). I still have about half of the carrots still in the ground (under a plastic covered hoop). They should keep for another month or so, unless the temperatures get below zero and the ground freezes. Overall, I have been really impressed with this year’s fall garden. Now I will be focusing on taking inventory of all of my existing seeds and placing new seed orders for 2025.

I would like to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous and productive 2025 New Year!!

If you have any questions or comments, please fell free to send me an email at:
tim@timssquarefootgarden.com

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Last of the Cabbage, Cauliflower, and Kohlrabi Harvested on 11-28-24

First Fall Harvest of the Scarlet Nantes Carrots, Picture Taken 12-10-24

Late November Garden Still Producing, First Snow

The late November garden is still producing, but it is definitely getting colder now. Central Indiana had its first measurable snow of the fall season on November 21st, about 2.5 inches of wet snow, after having been near 70 degrees two days before that!! I had the cabbage, kohlrabi, and the two last remaining cauliflower plants covered with row covers, and they did fine (see pics below). The carrots and lettuce continue to be covered with plastic covered hoops. Despite the weather, I have continued to harvest cabbage, kohlrabi, cauliflower. I have probably harvested the last of the lettuce for this year. I will let most of the smaller lettuce seedlings that self-seeded this fall continue to grow all winter under the hoop (although some will probably not make it to spring). The carrots are probably ready to harvest, but I will not start harvesting them for another few weeks. I harvested all of the brussels sprouts that I could over the last few days. The crop this year was very poor, due to all of the insect pressure. Despite the cold, aphids continue to be a major issue on the brussels sprouts this fall. I have never seen aphids this bad in the garden before. They have even started to spread to the remaining cabbage, kohlrabi, and cauliflower plants. All of The broccoli has been harvested and I opened up that part of the bed to let my chickens feast on the remaining plants (see pic below). Right before the snow, on November 20th, I picked the last of the jalapeno and banana peppers, which is the latest I have ever picked peppers! I was even able to harvest some Red Norland potatoes yesterday (see pic below). These were left over volunteer potatoes that came up from the spring cop. The top-setting onions I planted in late October have now started to shoot up green shoots. The weather forecast for the next two weeks is for cold temperatures (with lows under 20 degrees). With all of that cold predicted, I will be harvesting all of the remaining cabbage, kohlrabi, and cauliflower in the next few days, so my refrigerators should be packed full of produce. Time to make some coleslaw and sauerkraut. Happy Thanksgiving!!

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Cabbage Under the Snow Covered Row Cover, Picture Taken 11-21-24

Snow Covered Garden With Cabbage and Kohlrabi (Foreground) Under Row Covers, Picture Taken 11-21-24

Two Cauliflower Plants Under Snow Covered Row Covers, Picture Taken 11-21-24

One Jalapeno and One Banana Pepper Plant Covered With Snow, Picture Taken 11-21-24

Volunteer Red Norland Potatoes Harvest, Picture Taken 11-26-24

Chickens Feasting on the Leftover Broccoli Plants, Picture Taken 11-13-24

Mid-November Garden Doing Really Well

Wow, the mid-November garden continues to produce like crazy! Yesterday, 11/10, I think I harvested the biggest head of cauliflower I have ever raised. It was about 10 inches in diameter and probably weighed at least five pounds (see two pictures below). This was the first cauliflower harvested this fall. The variety of cauliflower I am growing is a hybrid called “Snow Crown.” I have five more cauliflower plants still in the garden, most of these are at or reaching maturity, but none will be that big (at least I think). I will probably harvest at least one more head today. On the few cold mornings we have had, I had all of these cauliflower plants covered with row covers. I might have to cover them again over the next few mornings as the lows are predicted to get into the low to mid 30’s. I will also cover the cabbage, kohlrabi, lettuce and carrots. The Scarlet Nantes carrots are doing really well (see picture below). I will probably not harvest any carrots for another month or so. The fall broccoli has really grown well and all of the main heads have now been harvested, with a fair amount of side shoots still growing. The fall cabbage and kohlrabi have also grown very well and harvest continues on them as well. The weather has been mostly warmer than normal over the past two weeks or so with some decent rain over the last week. I will probably not have to do any more watering this year. About 10 days ago, I was able to plant the top-setting onions, but the ground then was very hard and dry, which made planting a struggle. After planting, I watered them in real good and covered them with shredded tree leaves and a small row cover (to keep the squirrels from digging them up). The August planted lettuce continues to grow nicely and the lettuce I let go to seed finally sprouted on the other end of the bed (see picture below). Fall is a great time to garden, but I have had a hard time convincing some gardeners of this fact. Happy late fall gardening!!

First Head of Cauliflower Awaiting Harvest, Picture Taken 11-10-24

Ginormous Head of Cauliflower Harvested, Picture Taken 11-10-24

Scarlet Nantes Carrots Growing Nicely, Picture Taken 11-10-24

August Planted Sierra Lettuce (Bottom) and Self Seeded Sierra Lettuce Finally Starting to Grow (Top), Picture Taken 11-10-24

Late October Garden Still Producing, First Frost/Freeze

The fall garden is still producing lots of good home grown produce. The garden experienced its first frost and freeze on October 17th, which, in my opinion, is about the normal date for Central Indiana. The temperatures dropped below freezing for several hours, but no major damage was observed in the garden, with the exception of the bush green beans, which were not covered. That was okay, because I had harvested all the beans from the plants prior to that. I did cover all of the cole crops with row covers prior to the frost/freeze, and they did just fine. I also covered the lettuce and carrots with plastic covered hoops. There were several more frosty mornings that followed the first one, so I kept them all covered until it warmed up again. I harvested the first kohlrabi on October 23rd, with many more to come. I will be harvesting the first of the cabbage very soon. The peppers made it through the cold, and I have recently harvested what I think is the last of them as the plants have just about stopped growing. Harvest continues on the broccoli, with just a few more heads to harvest, although there are many side shoots starting to grow. The cauliflower heads are just starting to get some size, but they are not quite ready to harvest as of yet. Harvest has slowed considerably on the late planted lettuce, but I was able to harvest enough for a small bag. The brussels spouts continue to get bigger, but harvest on them won’t start up for another few weeks. The weather continues to be very dry, so I had to water a few of the plots with still actively growing plants in them. Over the past week I have removed my bush and pole green beans. Over the next week, I will be removing most of the remaining pepper and tomato plants.

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Four Heads of Broccoli Awaiting Harvest, Picture Taken 10/15/24

Cabbage, Broccoli (already harvested), and one Cauliflower Growing Nicely, Picture Taken 10/23/24. Note Volunteer Potato Vines Growing

Cabbage, Kohlrabi, Broccoli, and Cauliflower Growing Nicely in the Spring Planted Corn Plot, Picture Taken 10/23/24

Another View of the Old Corn Plot with Fall Crops Growing, Picture Taken 10/23/24

The First Fall Kohlrabi Harvested, Picture Taken 10/23/24

Early October Garden Update, Still Dry, Harlequin Bugs

The fall garden continues to grow well, but it is still very dry. The garden did receive about 1.7 inches of rain from the remnants of Hurricane Helene about 10 days ago, but it has since turned very dry and the garden had to be watered again yesterday. The first harvest of fall broccoli took place on October 5th. The two heads were a little bit smaller than I would like to see, but they were still very tasty. There are many more heads of broccoli in the garden that should be maturing over the next 2 to 4 weeks. Harvest continues on the late planted bush green beans, but this planting looks like to be about finished out. There are still some pole green beans that are getting to harvestable size. The peppers continue to produce, although the cooler temperatures have slowed their growth. Lettuce has also been harvested several times over the last few weeks. The kohlrabi, cabbage, and cauliflower plants continue to grow well.

Harlequin bugs have become an issue, mainly on the brussels sprouts, but they are starting to move to my nearby broccoli and cauliflower plants. This is the first time I have seen these bugs since I have been gardening in Indianapolis (about 30 years now). They are quite the nuisance bug, which attack mostly cruciferous crops. Apparently, they have been gradually spreading north over the years and now have found their way to Central Indiana The best way to control these bugs, at least for me, has been to hand pick them off the plants. They have done some moderate damage to my brussels sprouts, but mostly on the leaves and not to the forming sprouts, as far as I can tell. Here are some interesting links about the harlequin bug:
https://extension.psu.edu/invasive-insect-harlequin-bug, https://www.gardenia.net/pest/harlequin-bug