Category Archives: Cabbage

First Broccoli and Pea Harvest, Getting Very Dry

I harvested my first 3 heads of broccoli on June 13th and the first Green Arrow peas were harvested on June 14th. The garden has been getting very dry, so I have started my full scale garden watering a few days ago. The forecast is for very hot temperatures for the next week or so, with not much rain. The garden did receive about 1/2 inch of rain last night, which helped out quite a bit. I am glad that it rained, as my rain barrel was empty and that rain just about filled it back up. The potatoes in the grow bags continue to look very good as they get watered every other day now. The vines have finished flowering and some of vines are starting to yellow, so it looks like they have almost reached maturity. I will continue to water these grow bags for another few weeks and then I will withhold water to let the vines die back naturally before I start harvesting, probably around the 1st or 2nd week in July. The potatoes in the raised beds are not growing as good. I think I let them dry out too much, but some of the vines are starting to look better now. I continue to harvest lettuce about every 4 or 5 days now. I have just started to cover the lettuce with shade cloth. This will be even more important with hot weather approaching. Most of the tops of the Red Candy Apple onions have just started to flop over and some of the Candy onion tops have also started to flop over, so the onion harvest will probably start in about another 3 weeks or so. The green beans (bush and pole) are doing better now since the weather has warmed, along with the peppers and the tomatoes. The Diva cucumbers have germinated and are starting to get bigger now. With temperatures expected to get into the mid 90’s by early next week, I might try to shade the rest of my maturing broccoli in order to keep it at optimal eating condition. The cabbage is still a little small right now but all of the plants are starting to push on heads. I have one Kohlrabi plant that looks like it is nearing harvestable size, but the rest still look a little small. The Silver Queen corn was side dressed with a high nitrogen fertilizer about 4 days ago and it is growing like crazy right now.

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First Broccoli of the Season Awaiting Harvest, Picture Taken 6-12-24

Spring Garden Fully Planted, Soil Still Too Wet

The spring garden has been fully planted, but the soil remains a little too wet. The tomatoes and pepper seedlings have struggled a bit but are starting to look a bit better now with the onset of warmer weather. It has been a struggle this spring, especially with the warm season plants. I had to replant some of the beans because of the wet soil and I waited probably an extra two weeks to sow my cucumber seeds. Fortunately, the weather has improved somewhat and the hope is all of the wet soil conditions have passed. Harvest continues on the lettuce with more to come. I have noticed that the slugs have almost disappeared on the lettuce. The Packman broccoli are starting to form little heads, so I think broccoli harvest will probably start in about another two weeks. I have just started to noticed some minor damage from cabbage worms, so I will probably need to apply some Spinosad on these plants soon. The Silver Queen white sweet corn has germinated and most of the plants are nearing one foot tall. I harvested the last of the green onions about five days ago. The rest of the onions look pretty good so far. The potatoes growing in the grow bags have finally started to grow, and in fact look really good right now. The potatoes growing in the two raised beds do not look as good, but I remain optimistic that the harvest from these beds will turn out decent this year. I have had to start watering the potatoes in the grow bags every other day, which is normal. I have posted several pictures of my garden below for your viewing pleasure.

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

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Top Left Clockwise: Diva Cucumbers, Early Jalapeno and Hot Banana Peppers, Bush Green Beans, and Roma Tomatoes, Picture Taken 6-4-24
Potatoes Growing in One of the Two Raised Beds, Picture Taken 6-4-24
Potatoes Growing Nicely in Grow Bags, Picture Taken 6-4-24
Onions (Red Candy Apple and Candy) with some Topsetting Onions Near Top of Picture, Picture Taken 6-4-24
Lettuce Growing Nicely, Picture Taken 6-4-24
Silver Queen White Corn Getting Taller Every Day, Picture Taken 6-4-24
Left to Right: Brussels Sprouts, Broccoli, Kohlrabi, and Cabbage, Picture Taken 6-4-24
Left to Right Clockwise: Kohlrabi, Ancho Peppers, Bush Green Beans, Rattlesnake Pole Beans, and More Kohlrabi. Looks Like Someone Needs to do Some Weeding! Picture Taken 6-4-24

Peas, Potatoes, Lettuce and Cole Crop Seedlings Planted, Total Solar Eclipse

Garden activity is really starting to ramp up. Pea seeds (Green Arrow) were planted out into the garden around the third week of March and have since germinated. These were the saved pea seeds from last year’s crop and almost every pea seed germinated, which is great. Lettuce seedlings were transplanted out into the garden under the plastic covered hoop on April 9th. The following number of seedlings were transplanted out into the garden on April 18th: 17 broccoli, 6 cabbage, and 6 kohlrabi. Brussels sprout seedlings will be transplanted out in about another week. Seed potatoes (Red Norland and Superior) were planted out into the two raised beds and various grow bags in the first week of April. Some of these have started to emerge from the soil.

Harvest of the first of the green onions (the top setting onions that were planted last fall) started on April 8th, with more to come. Harvest of the overwintered lettuce (Sierra) started on April 9th. Harvest of the early March seeded radishes (started under a plastic covered hoop next to the overwintered lettuce) began on April 17th with more to come.

All of the pepper and tomatoes seedlings were transplanted into larger pots about one week ago. They are still in the cold frame and will remain there until they are ready to be planted out into the garden, probably by the 2nd week of May.

The weather and the garden has finally started to warm up and dry out since the garden received over 3 inches of rain in a short 24-hour period about two weeks ago. Before then it had been very dry.

The total solar eclipse that took place here in Indianapolis on April 8th was awesome. The one thing that surprised me the most was how dark it was during the approximately 4 minutes of the total eclipse. I have experienced at least 2 partial solar eclipse in the past and those were pretty interesting, but nothing like this. The time leading up to totality was interesting as well. The best way to describe it was that it looked like the sun was filtered, and you could feel the lack of warmth of the sun on your skin during the hour or so leading up to totality. The speed that it went from light to total darkness also surprised me, it was in a matter of a few seconds. Being a weather geek, I was also surprised by the drop in temperature. I heard that temperatures dropped around 10 degrees during totality, which I would believe. I was also interested to see how my chickens would react to the eclipse. They had been free ranging in the back yard for a few hours before totality. During the time leading up to totality they seem unaffected, but when totality started (total darkness) they started to make their way to the coop, but did not actually go in. I do have a light in the coop, which stays on most of the day, which probably confused them a little as well (see picture below). After totality, when it started to get light again, they went about their business like nothing happened. This was truly a once in a lifetime event that I will probably not experience again.

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(From Bottom to Top) Peas Emerging from the Soil, with Green Onion and Some Potatoes Starting to Poke Up Through the Soil in the Raised Bed. Picture Taken 4-20-24
(Left to Right Clockwise) Cabbage and Broccoli Seedlings, Radish, Overwintered Lettuce, and Green Onions, Picture Taken 4-20-24
Fall Planted Top Setting Onions and March Planted Onion Transplants are Growing Nicely. April Transplanted Lettuce Seedlings are Getting Bigger Growing Under the Protective Hoop, Picture Taken 4-20-24
A Peak Inside the Hoop Showing the Spring Planted Lettuce Seedlings, Picture Taken 4-20-24
Total Solar Eclipse on April 8, 2024

Onions Planted and Some Seedlings in Cold Frame

Spring planting is really starting to to ramp up now. I planted 182 onion transplants out into the garden on March 12th (varieties Candy and Red Candy Apple). This was a little earlier than normal, but all transplants are doing well, despite some really cold mornings in the middle 20’s. I covered all of these onions with some row covers for a few of those cold mornings, and they made it through with no issues. I was able to side dress the onions with some good organic fertilizer a few days ago. I also seeded the Green Arrow peas out into the garden a few days ago. I ended up with many more onion seedlings than I had room for, so most of them were planted out in another spot in the garden as green onions. The overwintered top setting/walking onions are really starting to grow now, so it won’t be long before harvest begins on those for green onions (see pic below). The late winter/early spring weather here in Central Indiana has been drier than normal, which I prefer as it allows me to work in the garden without all of the mud. I hope to be able to transplant my lettuce seedlings out into the garden by mid to late next week (approximately April 4-5), making sure to cover them with a plastic covered hoop. My overwintered lettuce, at least the plants that survived the winter, are doing reasonably well under the plastic covered hoop. I also was able to plant some more top setting onions and 2 small rows of radishes in this same hoop. They have since starting to grow now (see pic below). New boards for the two 4’x4′ potato raised beds were installed about a week ago, which turned out better than I expected. I will be planting out my Red Norland seed potatoes out into these beds, as well as in grow bags, in another few days. I am trying a new potato variety this year called Superior. It is a fast maturing white potato, so it should mature about the same time as the Red Norlands. I have moved all of my broccoli, cabbage, kohlrabi, and brussels sprout seedlings out into the cold frame. I have also moved my tomato and some of my pepper seedlings out into the cold frame. I plan to move the rest of my seedlings from under the indoor grow lights and out into the cold frame over the next few days. Happy Early Spring Planting!

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Overwintered Lettuce, Green Onions, and Radish Under Hoop, Picture Taken 3-28-24
Overwintered Top Setting Onions (top of pic) and the Recently Planted Onion Transplants Growing Nicely, Picture Taken 3-28-24
Some of the Seedlings in the Cold Frame, Picture Taken 3-28-24
Juwel Cold Frame Out in the Garden, Picture Taken 3-28-24