The very dry conditions continue in my early September garden, but at least the temperatures have cooled a bit over the last week or so. The fall garden has all been planted and the seedlings are growing pretty well so far. The Roma tomatoes are really producing right now. Looks like another fantastic crop of tomatoes this year, just like last year. The tomato plants are starting to develop a leaf disease that is causing browning of the leaves near the bottom of the plants, but no worries. I should have plenty of tomatoes from now until frost. The later planting of bush green beans are doing well and should be ready to harvest within the next week. Harvest also continues on peppers, celery, and a few pole green beans. I was able to harvest a few leaves from the early August planted lettuce seedlings. I have been giving these plants some shade when the temperatures start to warm up. Needless to say, I have been doing some watering, but not as much on the more mature plants of peppers and tomatoes. The late July sowing of carrots are starting to grow, although slowly. The average first frost of fall is only about 5 weeks away, so cooler weather is just around the corner. Make sure to check out the many picture of my garden below.
Kohlrabi, Cabbage, Broccoli, and Cauliflower Growing in Old Corn Bed, Picture Taken 9-2-23Cauliflower Growing in Old Potato Bed, Picture Taken 9-2-23Cabbage, Broccoli, and Cauliflower Growing in Another Old Potato Bed, Picture Taken 9-2-23Fall Planted Broccoli and Spring Planted Brussels Sprouts, Picture Taken 9-2-23Roma Tomato Plants Producing Abundantly, Picture Taken 9-1-23Early April Planted Sierra Lettuce Plants Finally Flowering and Going to Seed, Picture Taken 9-1-23Early August Planted Sierra Lettuce Growing Nicely, Picture Taken 9-1-23Late July Sown Scarlet Nantes Carrots Starting to Grow, Picture Taken 9-1-23Mid to Late July Planted Bush Green Beans Almost Ready to Harvest, Picture Taken 9-1-23
The fall garden planting has officially begun. I sowed seeds of Nantes carrots on July 29th, and they have just started to poke their green shoots above the ground. Over the past several days I have been transplanting lettuce, cauliflower, cabbage, and broccoli seedlings out into the garden. I will be transplanting additional seedlings of cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and kohlrabi seedlings out into the garden over the next several days. All of these additional transplants will be going into the raised bed where the corn was growing. Speaking of the corn, the last of the Silver Queen sweet corn will be harvested today. Overall, the corn harvest has been really good this year. The Roma tomatoes are starting to turn red and I will begin harvesting these in earnest over the next few days. Harvest continues on the hot banana peppers and the jalapeno peppers as well as on the pole green beans, bush lima beans, celery, and cucumbers. The very dry conditions have continued in my garden, but at least some sparse rain has fallen over the last few weeks. I have continued to “artificially” water the garden, as needed.
The harvesting activity in the garden has really ramped up over the last several weeks. Harvest started on the Red Norland potatoes in the grown bags on July 12th. Total harvest out of four of the five bags was pretty good (see picture below). That is not a picture of the exact total as a few potatoes were previously harvested out of the bags. Potato harvest began today on both of the 4ftx4ft raised beds (see pictures below) and the harvest was pretty good from those beds as well. I started harvesting the first of the Diva cucumbers a few days ago and was able to put up six jars or dill refrigerator pickles. There are many more cucumbers on the vines. I will probably put up another 4 jars of refrigerator pickles over the coming weeks. I probably harvested the last of the spring planted lettuce this last week. Harvest also started on the Tango celery this last week and harvest continues on the Hot Banana and Jalapeno peppers, Rattlesnake pole beans, and Derby bush green beans. Planting of more bush green beans was completed about one week ago. The Silver Queen White corn will be ready to start harvesting in another four or five days, YUM! The six Roma tomato plants are still growing like crazy, but no red tomatoes as of yet. The spring planted Green Arrow peas were finished growing and were pulled up. The Yellow Candy onion plants were also pulled up about a week ago and those have been drying in the barn. The onion crop was excellent this year and I might just run out of mesh bags to store all of this bounty!
The garden did received some much needed rain over the last week, but it still remains very dry here in Central Indiana. The forecast looks like it will be hot and dry over the next week or so. I hope to be able to sow seeds of Nantes carrots in about another 10 days and, if the weather is somewhat favorable, I hope to plant out seedlings of cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi, lettuce, and broccoli by the second week of August, for a fall harvest.
Potato Harvest from 4 Grow Bags, Picture Taken 7-12-23Potato Harvest from One of the 4ftx4ft Raised Bed, Picture Taken 7-23-23Potato Harvest from the Other 4ftx4ft Raised Bed, Picture Taken 7-23-23Some of the Yellow Candy Onions Drying in the Barn, Picture Taken 7-23-23Left to Right: Red Cannas and White Disco Belle Hibiscus in Front of Chicken Run, 4ftx4ft Raised Bed, and 8ftx4ft Corn Raised Bed, Picture Taken 7-21-23
The extreme dry conditions in the garden have improved slightly as at least some rain has fallen over the last several weeks. However, most of Central Indiana is still in a moderate to severe drought. The garden has continued to produce very well despite the extreme dry conditions. The onion harvest has started and it looks like it will be another great year for the onions. The Red Candy onions were pulled up and are currently drying on screens in the barn. It looks like the red onion crop this year will be the best I have had. The Candy yellow onions are still in the ground, but will be pulled up soon and moved to the barn to dry. In addition, the top setting onion tops will be harvested and allowed to dry and then planted out into the garden in late fall. The rest of the plants will be dug up and composted. Over the last several weeks harvest has also begun on broccoli and kohlrabi. Harvest still continues on the lettuce, but the last of the peas were harvested a few days ago. Overall, the peas harvest was pretty good this year. Harvest began two days ago on the hot banana peppers, with many more to come. The peppers, cucumbers, and tomatoes have really exploded in growth. The Roma tomato plants have as many blooms and small tomatoes on them as I have ever seen. Needless to say, I think my tomato harvest will be excellent this year. The Silver Queen white corn is nearing 7 foot tall with many small ears already starting to form. The Tango celery plants have also started to get some good size to them and I expect harvest on a few outside stalks to begin soon. The Derby bush green beans and the Rattlesnake pole green beans are growing nicely and harvest should begin on those very soon. Some limited harvesting of the spring planted Red Norland potatoes has begun. A full harvesting of these potatoes, both in the grow bags and the two raised beds, will take place sometime over the next week to ten days.
I have decided to start saving seeds of the Green Arrow peas, so I am letting some of the better looking pods dry on the vines before pulling up the plants. By the way, I started seeds of cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and kohlrabi on July 1st for transplanting out into the garden by early to mid August. Fall will be here before you know it! Over the next few weeks I will be planting bush green beans in the area were the onions and peas were growing. I will need to make sure to place soaker hoses in those plots first, so they the beans will have plenty of water as they begin to grow.
Ears Starting to Develop on the Silver Queen Write Corn, Picture Taken 7-7-23Rattlesnake Pole Green Beans, Picture Taken 7-7-23Right to Left: Cucumbers, Peppers, Bush Green Beans, and Tomatoes (Behind) Growing Like Crazy, Picture Taken 7-7-23Clockwise from Left: Walking Onions, Candy Onions, Celery, Hot Banana Peppers (Barely Visible), and Lettuce, Picture Taken 7-7-23Giant Kohlrabi Harvested, Picture Taken 7-4-23The Perfect Early Summer Dinner: Fresh Garden Broccoli, Fresh Garden Potatoes and a Perfectly Grilled Grilled Ribeye Steak, YUM!
The spring garden is now fully planted. All that is left to plant is one bean tower, which I will plant with some rattlesnake pole green beans in about three weeks. The weather has turned really dry, so I have begun watering most of the garden. The spring planted lettuce continues to grow well, albeit with some minor slug damage. Most all of the recent seeds that were sown have now germinated including Diva cucumber and Derby bush green beans. The Red Norland potatoes are growing really well in the raised beds and the grow bags. I noticed a few flower buds just starting to form on a few of the potato vines. Harvest has been ongoing on the lettuce, radish, and green onions. See pics below of most of the garden beds. Happy Gardening.
Kohlrabi, Broccoli, and Brussels Sprouts (Lower Bed) and Potatoes and Corn (Upper Raised Beds), Picture Taken 5-24-23Potatoes (Upper Raised Bed) and Corn (Lower Raised Bed), Picture Taken 5-24-23Onions, Lettuce, Radish, and Two Peppers, Picture Taken 5-24-23Green Onions, Peas, Four Pepper Plants, Bush Lima Beans (not really visible yet), and Pole Beans, Picture Taken 5-24-23Cucumbers (not really visible yet), Peppers, Bush Green Beans (not really visible yet), and Tomatoes, Picture Taken 5-24-23
The mid May garden is starting to really take off now. Broccoli and Kohlrabi seedlings were transplanted out into the garden during the fourth week of April and the brussels sprouts seedlings were transplanted out about a week ago. Additional lettuce seedlings were also planted out into the garden about the same time. Silver Queen sweet corn seed was sown on May 6th, and all seeds have now germinated. Rattlesnake pole bean seeds were sown a few days ago along with another planting of some radish seeds. A few pepper seedlings have already been planted out. All of the rest of the pepper seedlings along with the tomato seedlings will be transplanted out into the garden over the next week, as the danger of frost has now passed. I also planted out my celery seedlings about a week ago, although they are a still a little small. Fordhook 242 lima beans will be sown in the next few days.
The spring planted lettuce is really taking off now, and harvest continues on that about every fours days. Harvest also continues on green onions and radish. All of the Red Norland potatoes have now poked up through the soil and the vines are starting to growing. The peas, after a slow start, are now starting to grow and the onions are really taking off now.
I have an update on the new lettuce/green I was trying for the first time this year, it is called Mizuna. See post about that here: http://blog.timssquarefootgarden.com/wordpress/index.php/2023/04/04/lettuce-planted-weather-is-improving I am not a big fan of this green. I did not like the flavor and it actually started to flower (bolt) very early. I pulled up the plants and fed what was left to my chickens (they seemed to like it). Besides, I need the extra room for additional plantings of lettuce.
I will post another update, including pictures, in about another week.
I was able to plant 30 lettuce transplants out into the garden yesterday, variety Sierra and Green Ice. About 6 or 7 Nevada lettuce seedlings will be planted out in about another week. I also planted out 5 seedlings of a new lettuce/green that I am trying for the first time this year. It is called Mizuna. The catalog described it as follows: “Classified as a mustard green or a Japanese green often used as part of a Mesclun mix. Very attractive, deeply cut and serrated, narrow leaves grow vigorously into large bunched heads that resist bolting and allow for extended picking. Mild, pleasant cabbagey flavor. It is supposed to hold up well in the heat and can be cut several times, so I am hoping to extend the lettuce growing season a little with this plant. It is also said to be cold tolerant, so I might try to replant this in the late summer for a fall/early winter harvest.
Mizuna is also described as follows (Source: https://tendingmygarden.com/mizuna-evergeen-elegant-and-delicious/): “The leaves are mild with a bit of pungency. Mizuna doesn’t have the bitterness and bite of arugula. It’s great mixed with other lettuces or used as a substitute for lettuce at times when lettuce is scarce. Sow this versatile green anytime from early spring through early autumn. It’s fast growing and the first leaves can be harvested in about 3 weeks. (Maturity takes 40 to 50 days depending on the variety.) Clumps get about 8 to 12 inches tall and can spread to a diameter of about 18 inches. You can harvest leaves at any stage. But if you want a big harvest at once, allow the plant to mature and cut it back just above the growing point to harvest all the leaves.”
The weather has turned warmer and somewhat drier. My onion transplants are definitely liking the weather as they are starting to green up quite a bit. The overwintered top setting onions are now about 4 inches tall. It is nice to finally see some green in the early April garden. I was also able to plant the rest of my really small onion transplants out into the garden yesterday, for green onions. If the weather stays favorable, I should be able to plant out Red Norland seed potatoes in the 2 raised beds and the fabric grow bags in about 5 days. Garden peas will also be directly sown into the garden in about a week.
Since it has warmed up, I was able to move my tomato and celery seedlings out into the cold frame a few days ago. If it stays somewhat warm, I will be moving the pepper seedlings out into the cold frame soon.
Lettuce Seedlings Planted (Left) and Top Setting Onions Greening Up Nicely (Top Right), Picture Taken 4-3-23Overwintered Sierra Lettuce is Almost Ready to Harvest, Picture Taken 4-3-23
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
