Category Archives: Peas

More Harvesting and Planting, Tomato Trouble, Celery Disease,

The first harvest of the white Silver Queen corn took place yesterday (very tasty!!), with many more ears to harvest over the next few weeks. Harvest continues on the pole beans and broccoli side shoots. The last of the spring planted cabbage and kohlrabi was also harvested over the last week. The first few early jalapeno peppers were also harvested with many more continuing to ripen up on the plants. The cucumber harvest continues and I was able to put up ten jars of refrigerator pickles recently. The Scarlet Nantes carrot seeds were sown on July 23rd and most of them have germinated within the last day or so. Derby bush green beans were sown around the middle of July where the spring peas were growing and another planting of these beans were sown on July 25th where the spring onions were growing. About a week ago the dried and cured yellow Candy onions were placed in mesh bags and moved to the basement for long term storage. The harvest from these were pretty good, but maybe not as good as last year. The Roma tomatoes started out this spring looking pretty good, but the early blight has taken hold and they now look awful (see pic below). In the end, the very wet spring was there undoing. The last several years I have had really good tomato harvests, but not this year. I am currently researching determinate plum tomato varieties that have good disease resistance. I will not be planting Roma tomatoes going forward, as they have little to no early blight disease resistance. I am also battling disease on my celery (variety Tango). I have now come to the conclusion that my issue has not been “black heart” disease (which I thought I have had over the past few years now), but rather Celery Anthracnose or Leaf Curl Disease (see pic below). See the following good description of this from Cornell University: https://www.vegetables.cornell.edu/pest-management/disease-factsheets/celery-anthracnose-leaf-curl-disease/ Even though I have been practicing a four-year crop rotation, I still have been having this issue. My guess is that I need to make sure to discard all parts of the plants, including leaves, and not let them get into my compost bins. I am currently researching some “least susceptible varieties” of celery. Some might say why bother, but if you never had truly fresh celery right from your garden, then you are missing out. I plan on getting some lettuce, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower seedlings planted out into the garden in about another week or so. I still need to harvest the rest of potatoes in the two 4ft-4ft raised beds, which I will do within the next week.

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Roma Tomatoes With Early Leaf Blight, Picture Taken 7-28-24

Celery Showing Signs of Celery Anthracnose Disease, Picture Taken 7-28-24

Silver Queen Corn Looking Good, Picture Taken 7-28-24

Close Up of the Silver Queen Corn, Picture Taken 7-28-24

Potato Harvest Continues, Cucumber and Pole Beans Growing Like Crazy, Plenty of Rain

Just a quick update, five grow bags of Red Norland potatoes were harvested on July 15th (see pic below). The harvest from these was pretty good, with two more grow bags and 1 1/2 raised beds of potatoes that still need to be harvested. The Diva cucumbers have reached the top of the cages (about 5 feet tall) and are producing many flowers (see pic below). There are currently 2 cucumbers on the vines that are harvestable size with about 3 or 4 more nearing harvestable size. The rattlesnake pole beans are growing like mad on their two bean tower cages (see pic below). Needless to say, I have continued harvesting these beans as they get some size to them. Over the last week I harvested the first spring planted head of cabbage, with 5 more cabbage plants to go. I also harvested the first stalks of celery recently. Today I trimmed the cured Red Candy Apples onions (dried tops and roots) and placed them in mesh bags and moved them to the basement for longer term storage. The yields from these are a little better than last year. Also over the last several days I pulled up the last of the spring planted peas and planted that area with Derby bush green beans. The harvest on the Early Jalapeno peppers will begin within the next few days. The corn is looking really good right now with the ears starting to silk out. It now seems our dry growing conditions are a thing of the past with all of the rain we have seen in Central Indiana over the past several days. Hopefully it will start to dry out a bit soon.

Red Norland Potato Harvest From 5 Grow Bags, Picture Taken 7-15-24

Diva Cucumbers Growing Like Crazy, Picture Taken 7-15-24

Rattlesnake Pole Beans Producing Like Mad, 7-15-24

Fall Seeds Started, Onions Pulled, First Harvest of Potatoes, Green Beans, and Peppers

The fall seeds of broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi, and lettuce were started indoors in cell packs on June 30th. The seeds have since germinated and are now growing outside under my covered back porch. I pulled up the onions about a week ago and they are now curing on shelves on top of hardware cloth in my barn (see pics below). This is the second year I have cured my onions in the barn like this. I think it is great way to cure onions for long term storage. I harvested the first batch of bush green beans and pole beans on July 7th and have been harvesting a few potatoes, as needed, over about the last week. Also, the harvest has begun on the hot banana peppers, albeit limited at this time. The early jalapeno peppers are just starting to get some size to them, but are not quite ready to harvest. The potatoes in five of the grow bags will hopefully be harvested within the next week. Harvest continues on broccoli side shoots, but the growth on these seems to have slowed down a little. I might have harvested the last of the spring planted lettuce today, as the plants are starting to bolt (all good things must come to an end). I was able to pressure can five quarts of bush green beans on July 8th. I have not canned green beans in many years and it was good to be able to fine tune that skill. I am planning on canning tomatoes later on this summer. The Silver Queen white corn continues to grow like a weed and I even think I observed some very small ears already starting to form. The spring planted celery has finally started to grow, but I need to make sure to keep it well watered. Wow, the cucumbers have really started to vine like crazy and have already reached the top of my second cages. They are also loaded with flowers and I have even noticed a few small cucumbers on the vines. I have not pulled up my pea vines as of yet, but plan on doing that sometime over the next week. After they are pulled I will be seeding some bush green beans in their place. The weather has been very dry, but some much need rain is forecasted for the area today and tonight.

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Onions Curing on Hardware Cloth in Barn, Picture Taken 7-8-24

More Onions Curing on Hardware Cloth in Barn, Picture Taken 7-8-24

Silver Queen White Corn Pic 1, Picture Taken 7-8-24

Silver Queen White Corn Pic 2, Picture Taken 7-8-24

Five Grow Bags with Potatoes Ready for Harvesting, Picture Taken 7-8-24

Early Summer Garden Growing Well, Still Very Dry

The temperatures have really heated up over the last few weeks, with many days with temperatures in the lower to mid 90’s. The garden did receive at least some rain, but it still remains very dry. Despite the dry and hot conditions, the garden is doing well. Most of the onion tops have now flopped over and I plan on getting them pulled up and starting the curing process within the next week. It looks like the onion crop will be good this year. I have just finished harvesting the rest of the peas. Broccoli harvesting continues, with all of the main heads now harvested. Now the abundant broccoli side shoots will continue to be harvested for about another month. With all of the warm to hot weather, the peppers and tomatoes are really starting to grow. A few of the hot banana pepper plants have some harvestable sized peppers on them already. Harvest continues on the lettuce, but I need to keep the plants shaded with all of the heat, to keep the plants from bolting. The bush green beans are now starting to flower and the rattlesnake pole beans are starting to work their way up the bean towers. The Diva cucumbers are also starting to vine their way up the cages, but no sign of flowers as of yet. The potatoes in five of the grow bags are nearing maturity, so harvest will begin on those within the next few weeks. The corn is now about four foot tall and tassels are just starting to push out of the tops.

Wow, can you believe it is already late June!! Now is the time to start planning the fall crop. I will be starting seeds of broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi, and lettuce, in cell packs, within the next week, inside. After germination, I will move these seedlings onto the covered back porch until they are transplanted out into the garden as early as the first week in August.

Onions (Candy and Red Candy Apple) With Tops Falling Over and Ready for Harvest, Picture Taken 6-24-24

Sierra Lettuce Still Producing, Picture Taken 6-24-24

Lettuce With Shade Cloth Covering, Picture Taken 6-24-24

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

Lettuce Growing Like Crazy, Very Busy in the Garden, Too Much Rain

I harvested the first of spring planted lettuce on May 4th. Since it has been growing like crazy, I continue to harvest lettuce about every 4 days or so. The last of the early spring planted radishes were harvested on May 4th, and harvest continues on green onions. The Silver Queen white corn was seeded on May 11th. Tomato and pepper seedlings were transplanted out into the garden on May 13th and most of the beans were seeded about one week ago and the celery seedlings were also transplanted out into the garden about that same time. I received just over 4 inches of rain in less than 24 hours on May 15th, which is way too much rain. Up to that time, it had been relatively dry. Over the last month or so, my peas were getting damaged by sparrows, which were picking on the leaves. I first covered them with a row cover, but then decided to cover the vines with bird netting, as it lets in more sun. The peas have started to grow again and look pretty good. I had some of my seed potatoes rot, so I dug the rotting potatoes up and planted them with some extras that I had. The seed potatoes rotted in both the raised beds and the grow bags. I suspect the excessive wet and cold soil in early April caused the rot. I still need to direct seed my cucumbers and another small area of bush green beans, but I will probably wait a few days in the hope that the soil will dry out a bit.

Spring Planted Lettuce Awaiting the First Harvest, Picture Taken 5-4-24

Giant Radish Harvested, Picture Taken 5-4-24

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

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

Harvest Ramps Up, Dry Conditions Continue

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.

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Potato Harvest from 4 Grow Bags, Picture Taken 7-12-23

Potato Harvest from One of the 4ftx4ft Raised Bed, Picture Taken 7-23-23

Potato Harvest from the Other 4ftx4ft Raised Bed, Picture Taken 7-23-23

Some of the Yellow Candy Onions Drying in the Barn, Picture Taken 7-23-23

Left 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

Dry Conditions Improve, Garden Continues to Produce

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.

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