The 2023 garden has officially started. During the first week of February, I set up my Juwel Biostar 1500 cold frame outside (see pic below). I currently have no plants inside of it, but very soon my lettuce seedlings will be the first plants to go into it. Lettuce seeds were planted inside under grow lights on February 20th. In another 7 to 10 days I will start seeds of celery, kohlrabi, brussels sprouts, and broccoli inside. Around the middle of March I will start all of the rest of my warm season seeds like peppers and tomatoes inside. I like to start all my seeds inside under grow lights to speed germination. After the seeds germinate, I will move them to the cold frame outside, if the weather cooperates.
Most of my fall seeded lettuce has survived the winter under the plastic covered hoop (see pic below). My fall planted top-setting onions have started to push new green growth through the soil (see pic below).
Juwel Cold Frame in the Garden, Picture Taken 2-21-23Overwintered Lettuce Under the Plastic Covered Hoop, Picture Taken 2-21-23Top Setting Onions Pushing up New Growth, Picture Taken 2-21-23
Well the really nice fall weather was bound to end sometime. On November 12, the garden received about 2 inches of snow. Harvesting ramped up just one day before in anticipation of the snow and cold. I was able to harvest 3 giant heads of cauliflower, a few more giant Kohlrabi, several more heads of cabbage, the rest of the broccoli and celery, and most of the brussels sprouts. The temperatures dropped to the mid teens for a few nights after the snow. Even though I doubled wrapped the remaining 3 cauliflower plants with row covers, it was just too cold for the heads to survive. I did stick the largest half frozen cauliflower head into the chicken run for them to feast on. The remaining kohlrabi and cabbage plants seemed to have faired better in the cold. They also were doubled wrapped with row covers. I still have one remaining head of cabbage and at least a few more Kohlrabi plants out in the garden. They will probably be harvested over the next week or so. The lettuce did pretty well through the cold snap because it was covered with a plastic covered hoop. In fact, I was able to harvest some more lettuce about 4 days ago. The carrots also seem fine, as they were also covered with a plastic covered hoop. I have not harvested any carrots as of yet, but plan to start harvest on them soon. My refrigerator is still packed full with all of the harvested produce.
Giant Cauliflower Harvested on 11-11-22Giant Kohlrabi Harvested on 11-11-22My Chickens Ain’t Afraid of No Snow, Picture Taken 11-12-22Chickens Enjoying Grazing in the Broccoli Plot, Picture Taken 11-21-22Chickens Enjoying Small Head of Cauliflower in Their Run, Picture Taken 11-21-22
The fall garden is producing a record harvest for me so far. The weather has turned cooler, as one would expect, and at least some rain has fallen. Even though it is still pretty dry, the fall garden is producing really really well!! The garden experienced several lite freezes and some frost, but the cold weather crops were not effected much by the cold. I did cover most of the plants with either row covers or plastic covered hoops. The weather has recently turned unseasonably warm, which is alright for the garden. Harvest has been ongoing with broccoli (lots of broccoli), lettuce, cabbage, and kohlrabi. I still have a little bit of celery still growing even though the cold did in several of the plants. The brussels sprouts are starting to get some good size to them, so I expect a good harvest from those over the next few weeks. The late July sown carrots look really good as well and I expect to start to harvest some of them over the next month or so. If it starts to get really cold, I will have the carrots covered with a plastic hoop. As long as the ground does not freeze, I can harvest carrots through early January, if they last that long. Four of the six cauliflower plants are starting to head nicely so it won’t be long until harvest starts on them. The weather forecast looks like it will turning colder in about another week, so I will have to keep the row covers handy. I will be planting out my topsetting onions bulbs out into the garden within the next few days. They should overwinter out in the garden with no problem. Heck, the weather has been so nice that I still have a few tomatoes that are ripening up on the plants, even though those plants will probably get pulled up in about another week. Happy Late Fall Gardening!!
Sierra Lettuce Still Producing, Picture Taken 11-2-2022Scarlet Nantes Carrots Are Ready to Harvest, Picture Taken 11-2-2022Stonehead Hybrid Cabbage Still Being Harvested, Picture Taken 11-2-2022Jade Cross Hybrid Brussels Spouts Getting Bigger, Picture Taken 11-2-2022Giant Head of Broccoli (Packman Hybrid) Ready to Be Harvested, Picture Taken 11-2-2022Giant Kohlrabi (Kossak Hybrid) Harvested, Picture Taken 10-31-2022
My garden is still producing for me even in early October (See pictures below). There was a light frost yesterday morning, but it did not do any damage to the plants. That frost was about a week earlier than normal for my location. Harvest still continues on warm season plants, but their days are probably numbered as there is a moderate to heavy frost predicted in about three days. I will go ahead and pick the rest of the peppers, tomatoes, and green beans before they get zapped by the frost. The cool season crops I planted out in early August are growing really well. I have been harvesting my Sierra lettuce almost weekly now. The first fall broccoli heads are nearing maturity, with plenty more to come. The kohlrabi is also ready to harvest with some of the heads getting really large. The cabbage is starting to head up a little, but needs a little more time to get bigger. The cauliflower plants are really big, but the heads have not really begun to form as of yet. I even planted a few top setting onions about a month ago for green onions and they are nearing harvestable size. The late July sown carrots are really starting to grow now as well. The spring planted brussels sprouts are getting fairly tall, so I had to stake them up to keep them from falling over. The spring planted celery is still growing really well and I continue to harvest the outer celery stalks about once a week. Because of the predicted frost, I will cover the broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi with row covers and will cover the lettuce and carrots with a plastic hoop. I will also try to cover the celery plants to keep them growing for awhile longer. Celery likes the cooler weather, but will not tolerate a freeze. The early fall weather has been pretty good so far, albeit a bit too dry, so I have been watering the garden on a regular basis (mostly the cool season plants). I would rather have it too dry than too wet, especially this time of year. Here are the number of seedlings/transplants, with the variety name, I planted out for my fall garden:
How is your fall garden growing? If you have not tried growing a fall garden, you are definitely missing out. Send me an email and let me know how your garden is/or has grown this year. Send email to: tim@timssquarefootgarden.com I look forward to hearing from you.
Broccoli Heads Ready for Harvest, Picture Taken 10-5-22Brussels Sprouts (Left) and Broccoli (Right), Picture Taken 10-5-22Cabbage (Lower) and Cauliflower and Broccoli (Upper), Picture Taken 10-5-22Cabbage, Kohlrabi, Cauliflower, and Broccoli Growing in Very Full Raised Bed, Picture Taken 10-5-22Kohlrabi Ready to Harvest, Picture Taken 10-5-22Celery, Green Onions, Peppers, Lettuce, and Small Self-Seeded Lettuce Plants Growing Nicely, Picture Taken 10-5-22Poblano Pepper Plants (Caged) at Least 6 Foot Tall, Picture Taken 10-5-22
Happy Spring 2022 everyone!! I am finally back to blogging. I retired at the end of August, 2021 and I should have more time to devote to this blog, although I am busier now than when I was working. The spring weather, so far, has been very wet and cold. The weather seems to be turning more favorable thankfully. I planted 201 onion transplants on March 21st (Candy and Red Candy). My poor onion transplants have suffered through flooding rains and very cold temperature (with a low of at least 18 degrees one of those mornings) but have come through this weather relatively well with no protection. I was finally able to side dress the onions with my homemade organic fertilizer about 10 days ago. Lettuce seedlings were transplanted into the garden on April 4th and have been mostly covered with a plastic covered hoop since then. Red Norland potatoes were planted in 2 of the raised beds and in 4 grow bags on April 11th. Two 8-foot rows of peas (Green Arrow) and a small patch of radish (Champion) seeds were sown on April 12th. Broccoli (Packman), Kohlrabi (Kossack), and Brussels Sprout (Jade Cross) seedlings will be transplanted out into the garden in a few days. I was able to overwinter a few lettuce plants and I started harvest on those about 5 days ago. The fall planted topsetting onions are just starting to get some good green growth and I will hopefully start harvesting them, for green onions, within a few weeks. I currently have celery, pepper and tomato seedlings growing in the cold frame. Most of those seedlings are still relatively small, but they won’t be transplanted out into the garden for about another 3 weeks.
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Lettuce Seedlings Just Transplanted on 4-2-22
Topsetting Onions (Top) and Candy and Red Candy Onion Transplants (Bottom) Growing on 4-2-22
My spring garden is finally fully planted. Due to the rain and the cold, the planting of the warm season plants like tomatoes and peppers were delayed. I was able to finally get the tomato and pepper seedlings into the ground on May 23rd. That is about 10 days later than usual. About that same time I directly seeded cucumbers, bush lima beans, and bush green beans and transplanted my celery seedlings into the garden. The month of May is typically the wettest month of the year in Indianapolis. This May I have recorded 6.5 inches of rain in my garden rain gauge. That is about 2 inches above normal. The weather looks sunny and dry for at least the next 4 days, YES!!
Harvest continues on lettuce (which is growing like crazy right now), radish, and green onions. Started noticing a few cabbage worms on the broccoli, kohlrabi, and brussels sprouts and I have been hand picking them off. If the populations increase, I might have to spray them with Bt or Spinosaid. The March planted onions are finally starting to push on lush top growth and the peas are finally starting to grow up the pea fence. Because of the cold and rain, the potatoes are a little behind, but they have really started to grow over the past week.
Lettuce and Onions Growing Well, 5/26/20Kohlrabi and Broccoli, 5/26/20English Peas Starting to Vine, 5/26/20Hot Banana (Hungarian Wax) Peppers, 5/26/20
It has been very cold in the garden the last week or so. Indianapolis broke an all time low temperature record for the month of May of 27 degrees. My garden thermometer recorded a low of 23 degrees. Luckily I covered all of my kohlrabi, broccoli, and brussels sprout seedlings with plastic coffee cans and all of the seedlings survived the cold. I also covered my lettuce with the plastic covered hoop. The potatoes had just started to break through the soil and the vines were killed back a bit, but they should hopefully recover. The onions, peas, and radish were left uncovered and appear to have been undamaged by the cold.
Harvest started on the April planted lettuce seedlings yesterday! I have also been harvesting green onions like crazy. It does look like the weather will be warming up this coming week and I will be dismantling the cold frame and planting the warm season seedlings of peppers and tomatoes. I actually planted a few Ancho and Super Chili pepper plants over the last 2 days. I also planted out my celery seedlings 2 days ago. Within the upcoming week I will also start to directly seed bush lima beans, bush green beans, and cucumbers. The corn was directly seeded in the raised bed on May 1st, and it has just started to germinate, fortunately just after that one cold morning.
Green Onions Harvested, 5/4/20Spring Planted Lettuce Growing Well, 5/13/20
My late April garden is growing well. Had a hard freeze about 2 1/2 weeks ago with low temperatures in the low to mid 20’s. I was a little concerned about my onion transplants, but they seemed to have pulled through without any issues. The onions, a few radishes, and the overwintered lettuce (which was protected under the plastic covered hoop) were about the only things growing in the garden at that time. Since that cold snap, the weather has been fairly decent for mid to late April here in Central Indiana. No heavy rains and average to slightly above average temperatures with lots of sun.
Lettuce seedlings were transplanted out into the garden on April 18. Additional lettuce seedlings were transplanted out about 4 days ago. The lettuce transplants are currently growing under a plastic covered hoop. I should be able to start harvesting some lettuce from these plants in about another 2 weeks. Broccoli and kohlrabi seedlings were transplanted out into the garden about 6 days ago and brussels sprout seedlings were planted about 3 days ago.
The hot banana, ancho, and super chili pepper seedlings were potted up into larger containers about 4 days ago and were placed back into the cold frame. The earlier seeded garden peas have just started to germinate and the red norland potatoes have also started to poke up through the soil. Celery seedlings will be transplanted out into the garden in about 3 or 4 days. It is still a little too early to plant the warm season pepper and tomato seedlings out into the garden. They will be transplanted out in the garden by the middle of May. Harvest will begin on the overwintered top setting onions (as green onions) very soon! Happy Spring Planting 🙂
Lettuce Seedlings Growing in the Garden – April 25, 2020Top Setting Onions (Top) and March Planted Onion Seedlings (Bottom) – April 25, 2020Broccoli (Left) and Kohlrabi (Right) – April 25, 2020English Peas Starting to Germinate – April 25, 2020A View Inside my Cold Frame – April 25, 2020
