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.
Garden activity has really picked up over the last several weeks now. The weather has really improved here in Central Indiana, with a 6-day stretch of warm and sunny days. It rained about a half inch yesterday, which was good as the soil was just starting to get a little dry in spots in the garden. With all of the warm and dry weather, the onions and the early April planted lettuce seedlings have really started to grow. Most of the rest of the overwintered lettuce has been harvested. Selected individual leaf harvest will probably start on the spring planted lettuce within the next week. The first harvest of the fall planted top setting onions was started yesterday, for green onions, with many more to come. Potatoes were planted out on April 13th and 15th. Some of these vines have just started to poke through the soil over the last day or so. Pea seeds were planted out into the garden on April 9th, and most have germinated within the past few days. I was able to pot up my tomato and pepper seedling into larger 4 inch pots on April 9th. For now, they will stay in the cold frame. They won’t be planted out into the garden until the second full week of May. The broccoli and kohlrabi seedlings will be planted out into the garden in about 4 days. Frost is expected tonight and tomorrow night, so I will keep my lettuce protected under the plastic hoop for at least a few more weeks, making sure to pull the plastic up on both ends in the mornings. Happy Spring Gardening!!
The Spring Garden with the Eastern Redbud Tree in Full Bloom, Picture Taken 4-18-23Early April Planted Lettuce Seedlings Growing Nicely Under the Plastic Covered Hoop, Picture Taken 4-18-23Onions Really Starting to Grow Now. Notice the Lettuce Under the Plastic Covered Hoop to the Left, Picture Taken 4-18-23
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
Wow, the weather has been awful here in Central Indiana over the past month!! I did manage to get my onion transplants out into the garden on March 22nd (about 200 onion plants, Yellow Candy and Red Candy), right before the flooding rains hit (see pic of my onion plot below). It seems like we get one or two somewhat warm and dry days, then it rains for two to three days and then gets cold. The garden is so muddy right now, that you cannot plant anything in it until it dries out a little. I did cover part of the garden with a plastic covered hoop to keep that area drier for my lettuce seedlings, which should be able to be planted out into the garden in a few days, making sure to keep them protected until the weather gets better. I moved all of my cool season seedlings out into the cold frame. I still have my tomato and pepper seedlings inside under grow lights. Some of the seeds have not sprouted as of yet, but should over the next week or so. My fall planted top setting onions are starting to push on new green growth. It is always good to see any kind of green in the garden this time of year. I still have many leftover small onion transplants that need to get in the garden. I like growing these for green onions. If the weather stays somewhat dry, I am hopeful to be able to get my peas and seed potatoes planted out within the next 2 to 3 weeks. Happy early spring gardening!!
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
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
Very sorry for the delay in updating my garden blog, as I have been very busy. I thought when you retired you were not supposed to be this busy 🙂 Wow, can you believe that October is almost here and that the average first fall frost here in Central Indiana is only about 2 1/2 weeks away. Well, the early fall garden is growing great right now. In the first week of August I planted out 18 broccoli plants, 12 kohlrabi plants, 12 cabbage plants, and 6 cauliflower plants. I also planted out 12 lettuce plants. All are now growing really well (see pics below). When these seedlings were planted out, it was very hot and very dry, so I had to make sure that they received plenty of water. The weather has finally turned more favorable over the last few weeks with cooler temperatures and some rain. It is still somewhat dry, so I will have to keep watering these plants as we progress into the fall. I have been harvesting the late planted lettuce over the last few weeks now. The late July seeded carrots are also growing really well now. The July seeded bush green beans will be ready to harvest in a few days. The fantastic tomato harvest is starting to wind down now, with a just a few ripe tomatoes on the plants now. The hot banana peppers and the jalapeno peppers are pushing on their last fruits of the year. The poblano peppers have really started to produce peppers now. I was a little worried about these plants earlier in August. The celery is still growing well and harvest will continue on these plants until the first hard freeze. Happy Fall Gardening!
Cauliflower Growing in Raised Bed, Picture Taken 9-20-22Cabbage, Broccoli, and Cauliflower Growing in Raised Bed, Picture Taken 9-20-22Kohlrabi, Cabbage, Broccoli, and Cauliflower Growing in Raised Bed, Picture Taken 9-20-22More Broccoli Growing in a Garden Plot, Picture Taken 9-20-22Lettuce Growing in a Garden Plot, Picture Taken 9-20-22
Can you believe it is already August 9th. The summer is really flying by!! The garden finally received some much needed rain last night and this morning, Hooray!!! The last of the the Silver Queen white corn was harvested on August 3rd. It was a most excellent corn crop this year. Harvest started on the Roma tomatoes for real on August 1st. I probably harvested at least 30 pounds of tomatoes and was able to process and freeze 10 containers of tomato sauce. The six plants are still absolutely loaded with ripening tomatoes. This is certainly my best year for tomatoes in at least 6 or 7 years. Harvest continues on the jalapeno, hot banana, and super chili peppers. I have been drying the super chili peppers and freezing the others. The 5 poblano pepper plants are producing some peppers, but not as many as I like. Harvest also continues like crazy on the Rattlesnake pole beans. These have really produced well for me this year. The celery continues to produce well, despite the dry conditions. I have had to water these plants quite a bit. The fall garden is starting to take shape. The spring planted broccoli plants were pulled up and were replaced with more broccoli seedlings about 3 days ago. The raised beds were planted with broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and kohlrabi seedlings over the last few days and lettuce seedlings were also transplanted out into the garden. Scarlet Nantes carrot seeds were planted out in the garden the last week of July and have since germinated. This seed bed was watered well and then covered with boards for 3 days to help keep the seeds from drying out. The carrot bed is now covered with a row cover to give it a little shade in this hot and dry weather. As the weather cools a little I will remove the row cover. Happy Late Summer Gardening!!
Three Very Full Bags of Roma Tomatoes Ready for Processing, Picture Taken 8-1-22Last of the Harvested Silver Queen White Corn, Picture Taken 8-3-22Silver Queen White Corn Ready for Eating, Picture Taken 8-2-22Many Roma Tomatoes Still on Plants. Notice the Row Cover Over the Carrot Bed to the Right, Picture Taken 8-5-22
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
