Category Archives: Potatoes

Onion Transplants Planted – Cold, Wet, and Muddy in the Garden

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!!

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New Onion Transplants Lower and Top Setting Onions Upper Part of Picture, Picture Taken 3-27-23

Summer Garden Harvest Update, Fall Seeds Started

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 7-9-22

Red Norland Potatoes Harvested From One 4ftx4ft Raised Bed, Picture Taken 7-13-22

Silver Queen Corn Growing Nicely, Picture Taken 7-9-22

Desert Gardening Anybody? Why The Heck Not!

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 6-22-22

Diva Cucumbers Starting to Grow Up the Cages, Picture Taken 6-22-22

Tops of Candy and Red Candy Apple Onions Starting to Flop Over, Picture Taken 6-22-22

Hungarian Wax Peppers Starting to Get Big, Picture Taken 6-22-22

Red Norland Potato Vines Starting to Turn Brown, Picture Taken 6-22-22

Broccoli Head Just Before Harvested, Picture Taken 6-22-22

Mid June Garden Update – Very Hot and Dry

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!!

Early June Garden Update

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.

Silver Queen White Corn, Picture Taken 6-3-22

Kohlrabi and Broccoli, Picture Taken 6-3-22

Beans, Peppers, Cucumbers, and Tomatoes, Picture Taken 6-3-22

Mid May Update – New Blog Feed Email Provider

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.

If you are reading this blog post via email, then you might have already noticed that I have a new blog feed provider, followit. You might want to customize how your feed is delivered to you by visiting followit through the link provided in the blog feed email. My old feed blog provider, Feedblitz will no longer work. A few of you might also be receiving emails from Feedburner. I will be deleting my Feedburner account soon so you will not be receiving emails from Feedburner after it is deleted.

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Pepper and Tomato Seedlings Recently Planted, 5-17-22

Kohlrabi, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, and Some Late Seeded Lettuce, 5-17-22

Late April Garden Update

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 4-29-22

Topsetting Onions (Top of Pic) Ready for Green Onion Harvesting, Picture Taken 4-29-22

Spring 2022 Update – I am Back!!

Happy Spring 2022 everyone!! I am finally back to blogging. I retired at the end of August, 2021 and I should have more time to devote to this blog, although I am busier now than when I was working. The spring weather, so far, has been very wet and cold. The weather seems to be turning more favorable thankfully. I planted 201 onion transplants on March 21st (Candy and Red Candy). My poor onion transplants have suffered through flooding rains and very cold temperature (with a low of at least 18 degrees one of those mornings) but have come through this weather relatively well with no protection. I was finally able to side dress the onions with my homemade organic fertilizer about 10 days ago. Lettuce seedlings were transplanted into the garden on April 4th and have been mostly covered with a plastic covered hoop since then. Red Norland potatoes were planted in 2 of the raised beds and in 4 grow bags on April 11th. Two 8-foot rows of peas (Green Arrow) and a small patch of radish (Champion) seeds were sown on April 12th. Broccoli (Packman), Kohlrabi (Kossack), and Brussels Sprout (Jade Cross) seedlings will be transplanted out into the garden in a few days. I was able to overwinter a few lettuce plants and I started harvest on those about 5 days ago. The fall planted topsetting onions are just starting to get some good green growth and I will hopefully start harvesting them, for green onions, within a few weeks. I currently have celery, pepper and tomato seedlings growing in the cold frame. Most of those seedlings are still relatively small, but they won’t be transplanted out into the garden for about another 3 weeks.

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Lettuce Seedlings Just Transplanted on 4-2-22

Topsetting Onions (Top) and Candy and Red Candy Onion Transplants (Bottom) Growing on 4-2-22

Mid Summer Garden Update

Sorry for the delay in writing another garden update. The mid summer garden continues to grow and produce fairly well. The onions were harvested about 2 weeks ago and the harvest was decent. Two rows of the yellow Candy onion developed a leaf disease and most of those plants did not grow very big or rotted in the ground. The tight spacing and the very wet May probably was the cause. The other rows did not seem to be affected by this. The harvest on spring planted broccoli is just about finished. I have been harvesting many side shoots from these plants over the last month. Harvest started on the celery.

The Silver Queen white corn is growing really well and harvest should start within the week, YUM!! Harvest continues to ramp up on the hot banana peppers and the first harvest of cucumbers will be starting within the week. Harvested the 4 large fabric bags of Red Norland potatoes. Harvest was fair with about 8 to 10 pounds of potatoes harvested out of these 4 bags. Will be harvesting the potatoes out of the two 4ftx4ft raised beds in about another week.

I have planted 2 empty garden areas with green beans over the last 3 weeks. The roma tomato plants continue to have issues with a leaf disease, but will continue to water and fertilize them in hope on getting a decent harvest. Seeds of broccoli, cabbage, kohlrabi, cauliflower, and lettuce were started in cell packs on July 4th, for transplanting out into the garden in the first and second week of August (for a fall crop).

The weather has been pretty hot and dry, but received some much needed rain over the last 2 weeks, but more rain is needed. Will have to start watering the garden again if the dry conditions persist.

Early Summer Garden Update

Sorry for the delay in posting a garden update. Wow, has time really flown by. The weather has been like a roller coaster ride. May was too cold and wet followed by a hot and dessert dry June. My garden did received some much needed rain over the last week. Despite the crazy weather, the garden continues to grow and produce.

The early summer garden is growing really well. I started harvesting broccoli on June 14th and now all of the main heads have been harvested. I just started harvesting broccoli side shoots within the last few days. The broccoli harvest has been decent, but not great this year. I have also started harvesting kohlrabi within the last week or so. Some of the kohlrabi have been really big. I have been harvesting peas over the last 2 weeks. The pea harvest has been really good this year (not sure why, I have not done anything different than in past years?). I will finish up my lettuce harvest really soon as it is getting pretty hot now. The onions tops have started to fall over, so I will be pulling those up soon and letting them dry out in the garden for a few days.

My pepper plants have really started to take off. I have even harvested a few hot banana peppers yesterday. The tomato plants have also started to look better after the wet and cold May. The cucumbers have just started to flower, so it won’t be long before cucumbers start forming. The potato vines are growing like crazy and have just started to yellow a little. Harvest should begin on these (Red Norland) in about 2 more weeks. The corn (Silver Queen) is growing really well and has just started to tassel.

I will be starting my fall seeds within the next few days. I will be starting broccoli, kohlrabi, cabbage, and lettuce in little cell six packs. I will have them growing outside on the covered back porch. The seedlings should be ready to transplant out into the garden by the first week of August.

Tim's Square Foot Garden Blog

This is where you can keep up to date on what is happening in my square foot garden, so check back often for updates!!