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
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
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, it is now official, most of Central Indiana is now in a “moderate drought” according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Needless to say we need some rain, but we did get at least some about 5 days ago, which helped a little. Despite the drought, my garden continues to produce an abundant harvest, as long as I keep up on the watering. The spring onion crop this year might be a record for me. The Red Candy Apple onion produced about normal, but the yellow Candy onion looks like a record harvest as I have some truly gigantic sized onions (see pic below). The harvest on the Red Norland potatoes looks to be near a record as well this year (see pic below). The Tango celery is growing really well (as long as I keep the plants watered) and harvest has started on these as well. The spring planted lettuce has finished for for now, but I will be transplanting lettuce seedlings for fall harvest in about another month. Harvest on my green beans has started. I am trying an heirloom pole green bean this year called Rattlesnake. It has started producing harvestable sized beans over the last week or so and I have been very impressed with this bean so far (see pic below). It also looks like I will have the best crop of Roma tomatoes as I have had in at least 5 or 6 years, as I have been able to keep the early blight in-check this year. I tried using landscape fabric under the tomato plants this year, and this seems to have helped. I anticipate harvesting many tomatoes in about another month or so. The broccoli harvest this spring has also been pretty good. All of the main heads have been harvested, and now I am enjoying the many side shoots that have been sprouting. The white Silver Queen corn is growing like crazy right now (see pic below) and harvest should start on in about another 3 weeks, YUM!! I have been harvesting Hot Banana peppers and a few Jalapeño peppers.
Even though it is only the middle of July, it is not to late to start planning your fall garden. I started seeds of broccoli, kohlrabi, cauliflower, and cabbage on July 3rd in cell packs. They have since germinated and are growing on the covered back porch. I will be transplanting these seedlings out into the garden on the first or second week of August.
Yellow Candy Onion Nearing Harvest, Picture Taken 7-9-22Red Norland Potatoes Harvested From One 4ftx4ft Raised Bed, Picture Taken 7-13-22Rattlesnake Beans, Picture Taken 7-9-22Silver Queen Corn Growing Nicely, Picture Taken 7-9-22
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
My late April garden is growing pretty good so far. All of my garden has been planted with the exception of the warm season plants, which include corn, celery, peppers, tomatoes, green beans, lima beans, and cucumbers. Those won’t be planted out into the garden until at least around May 7th. Harvest starts today on the fall planted topsetting onions (for green onions). The March planted lettuce seedlings are starting to get to harvesting size. Harvest will start on them within the next 4 or 5 days. The potatoes have started to push up green shoots through the soil and the peas have germinated. Earlier this year I retired my old Juwel cold frame and purchased a new one, the Juwel Biostar 1500. It is larger than my old one and so far it seems to work just as well.
March Planted Lettuce Almost Ready for First Harvest, Picture Taken 4-29-22Topsetting Onions (Top of Pic) Ready for Green Onion Harvesting, Picture Taken 4-29-22
