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!
Well, it is now official. We are now in a moderate drought here in Indianapolis. The very wet and cold March is now but a distant memory. Obviously, I have been watering the garden on a regular basis now. Despite the drought, the garden continues to grow and produce. Harvest still continues on the lettuce and the first harvest of broccoli will begin today, hooray!! I have started to harvest a few Green Arrow peas, with many more to harvest over the next few weeks. I have been having all kinds of problems with sparrows pulling on the leaves and tendrils of the pea plants. It got so bad that I had to cover the plants with a large row cover, for a time. I have since removed the row cover. A few birds have returned, but not as many as before, so hopefully those issues are passed. Harvest will also start soon on some of the Kossack kohlrabi plants as they are starting to get to harvestable size. The potatoes in the grow bags are just about finished growing and some of the potatoes have started to push up out of the soil, so some harvesting of these potatoes will start over the next few weeks (I am getting tired of watering these bags every other day anyways). The pepper and tomato plants are starting to flower and are getting some good size to them. I even noticed some small tomatoes and peppers on the plants already. The Diva cucumber plants are starting to climb up their cages and should start blooming in the next few weeks. Most of the Rattlesnake pole bean vines have reached the top of the bean towers. The tops of the March planted onions have started to flop over, which is a sign that they are nearing harvest time (it has been 90 days since they were planted out). These onions (Candy and Red Candy Apple) have really bulbed up nicely and it looks like I will have a really good crop of onions for the second year in a row. The Silver Queen corn is getting really tall and should start shooting up tassels soon. Wow, can you believe it is already June 24th. I will start planting seeds of lettuce, cabbage, kohlrabi, broccoli, and cauliflower, for a fall harvest, by early July. I have loaded you up with garden pictures for this post (see below). Happy Summer Gardening!!
Potatoes Pushing up Through the Soil in the Grow Bags, Picture Taken 6-23-23Green Arrow Peas Maturing Nicely, Picture Taken 6-23-23Candy Onions Getting Big and Nearing Maturity, Picture Taken 6-23-23Onions with the Tops Falling Over, Picture Taken 6-23-23Lettuce Plants Still Growing, Picture Taken 6-23-23Clockwise From Lower Left to Right: Cucumbers, Peppers, Bush Green Beans, and Tomatoes, Picture Taken 6-23-23Silver Queen White Corn Getting Really Tall, Picture Taken 6-23-23Kohlrabi, Broccoli, and Brussels Sprouts, Picture Taken 6-23-23Broccoli Head (Variety Packman) Ready to Harvest, Picture Taken 6-23-23From Left to Right: Rattlesnake Beans, Fordhook Lima Beans, and Ancho Peppers, Picture Taken 6-23-23
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
Well, the drought continues in my area of Central Indiana, but I did get about an inch of rain yesterday morning, which was much needed. Harvest has started on the Silver Queen white sweet corn about 5 days ago. Fresh sweet corn is fantastic!! What I don’t get to eat fresh, I will freeze. The corn will only stay good and sweet for about another week or so. About a week ago there was storm that blew down some of the corn. Luckily, it only blew down a few of the plants which were ready to be harvested anyways (see pic below). I have been harvesting the last of the broccoli side shoots. These plants will be pulled up in another week to make way for my fall broccoli transplants. I will be sowing bush green bean seeds, where my spring planted onions were growing, very soon. I will also be sowing carrot seeds either today or tomorrow. Harvest continues on all of the peppers, pole green beans, celery, kohlrabi, and cucumbers. With the cucumbers, I was able to put up 7 jars of refrigerator pickles. Harvest has also begun on the roma tomatoes, with many many more to come over the next few weeks. I will be harvesting many of these tomatoes within the week to start making and freezing tomato sauce. I will hopefully be transplanting broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi, and lettuce seedlings out into the garden in another 10 days or so. My brother and I have been raising 4 new egg laying hens since late February, 2 Barred Rocks and 2 Rhode Island Reds. They are now about 20 weeks old and all have started to lay eggs. We now have a total of 7 hens. All are laying eggs except the oldest one, which we have named “white chicken.” She is over 7 years old (see pic below). Fall will be here before you know it!
Silver Queen Corn Blown Down by a Storm, Picture Taken 7-23-22My Spoiled Chickens Enjoying Some Leftover Corn Cobs. Their Name Are: White Chicken, Ruby, Rosie, Aubrey, Abbie, Tipper, and Domino, Picture Taken 7-24-22
Well, Central Indiana has been desert dry with many days with temperatures in the 90’s over the last 3 weeks. I have not seen it this dry in June since the drought year of 2012. My garden has not seen any measurable rainfall in 3 weeks and it was already dry before then, Yikes!! I have been watering parts of my garden about once every 5 days. Despite the heat and lack of rainfall, the garden has been producing relatively well. My spring planted peas are not doing too well, but they are nearing the end of their season anyways. Over the past few weeks I have been harvesting broccoli, lettuce, and peas. I will start harvesting kohlrabi today. The Red Norland potato vines have started to turn brown, so harvest on those will begin soon. The warm season crops like corn, beans, tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers are doing fine in all of the heat, as long as they get enough water. The Silver Queen white corn is growing like crazy and has just started to send up tassels within the last few days. The spring lettuce crop is almost finished and most of the rest of the plants still growing will start bolting soon. The tops of the spring planted onions have started to flop over and turn brown, so I will be pulling those up to cure within the next few weeks. See the pics of some of my garden below. All pics were taken on June 22nd.
Silver Queen White Corn, Picture Taken 6-22-22Diva Cucumbers Starting to Grow Up the Cages, Picture Taken 6-22-22Tops of Candy and Red Candy Apple Onions Starting to Flop Over, Picture Taken 6-22-22Hungarian Wax Peppers Starting to Get Big, Picture Taken 6-22-22Red Norland Potato Vines Starting to Turn Brown, Picture Taken 6-22-22Broccoli Head Just Before Harvested, Picture Taken 6-22-22
The mid June garden is growing pretty good despite the very hot and dry weather over the past 5 days. The garden this time of year seems to grow overnight. Harvest began on the broccoli yesterday, with more heads to come, although it looks like most of the heads will be a smaller this year, probably due to the weather. The spring planted peas are suffering with all of the heat but, with any luck, I should be able to start harvesting at least some peas over the next few weeks. I have started watering the garden over the last week because it has been so dry. The Red Norland potatoes have just about finished growing, but I did water them a few days ago due to the fact that they are growing in raised beds. The potatoes growing in the grow bags need to be watered every other day in this heat. Some potatoes might be able to be harvested in about another 2 weeks. Some of my onions tops, especially the Red Candy Apple onions, have started to flop over. Some of the spring planted Kohlrabi are nearing harvestable size. Some of the lettuce plants (Salad Bowl and Green Ice) will be pulled up and fed to the chickens over the next few weeks, as they are starting to bolt. The Sierra and Nevada lettuces are still doing okay. I did place shade cloth over the lettuce to help them with the heat stress. The bush green beans have started to flower, so I expect I will be harvesting some beans in about 3 weeks or so. The Silver Queen white corn is growing like mad and is already at least 3 feet tall. The peppers are growing really well and I even noticed a few small peppers on the Hungarian Wax pepper plants. The Diva cucumbers are starting to climb, but have not flowered as of yet. No pictures with this post, but look for pictures of the garden in my next post, coming soon. Stay Cool and Happy Gardening!!
Sorry for the long delay in posting a garden update. Things have been very busy in the garden over the last few weeks. Harvest has completed on the last of the spring radishes and the green onions. The lettuce continues to grow like crazy and harvest continues on that at least twice a week now. The Red Norland potatoes vines are really starting to get big and have also started to bloom. It looks like I will have a good crop of potatoes this year!! The white Silver Queen corn is already about 6 inches tall and the plants were side dressed with some high nitrogen fertilizer about 2 days ago. The Diva cucumbers were seeded about 2 weeks ago and they have sprouted but are still a little small. Bush green beans (Derby), bush lima beans (Fordhook 242), and pole green beans (Rattlesnake) were directly seeded into the garden about 2 weeks ago and they have germinated. The pepper, tomato, and celery transplants are starting to get some good size to them. I even have blooms on the Roma tomato plants and the Hot Banana pepper plants already. The peas (Green Arrow) have just started to bloom, although they do no look like they will produce as well as they did last year, but time will tell. The onions (Candy and Red Candy) are really starting to get some good tall green tops to them. The broccoli (Packman) and the kohlrabi (Kossak) are starting to get really big. The garden is getting a little dry, so I starting watering some, especially the potatoes, since they are in raised beds.
Potatoes, Picture Taken 6-3-22Peas, Picture Taken 6-3-22Lettuce, Picture Taken 6-3-22Silver Queen White Corn, Picture Taken 6-3-22Kohlrabi and Broccoli, Picture Taken 6-3-22Beans, Peppers, Cucumbers, and Tomatoes, Picture Taken 6-3-22
Been very busy in the garden over the last week. All of the spring garden has now been planted including transplanting of all the celery, pepper and tomato seedlings. I am trying something new this year with the tomatoes. I am using black landscape fabric around the plants to see if it reduces the leaf disease issue that I have had over the last several years. Harvest continues on the lettuce, which is growing like crazy. There has been a little bit of slug damage on the lettuce, but it is not too serious at the moment. Harvest also continues on radishes and green onions. The potatoes continue to grow nicely in the raised beds and in the grow bags and some of the vines are approaching 8 inches tall. Cucumbers, bush green beans, and bush lima bean seeds were also recently sown. I am trying a new pole green bean this year called Rattlesnake. It is an old heirloom variety. I will keep you posted on how it performs. The Silver Queen white sweet corn seeds were sown about 9 days ago and they have already emerged. See pictures of some of my garden plots at the end of this post.
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Onions and Lettuce, 5-17-22Pepper and Tomato Seedlings Recently Planted, 5-17-22Kohlrabi, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, and Some Late Seeded Lettuce, 5-17-22Silver Queen White Corn, 5-17-22
