Category Archives: Spring Gardening

Spring Garden Activities Ramping Up and the Weather Has Improved

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!!

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The Spring Garden with the Eastern Redbud Tree in Full Bloom, Picture Taken 4-18-23

Early April Planted Lettuce Seedlings Growing Nicely Under the Plastic Covered Hoop, Picture Taken 4-18-23

Onions Really Starting to Grow Now. Notice the Lettuce Under the Plastic Covered Hoop to the Left, Picture Taken 4-18-23

Lettuce Planted, Weather is Improving

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.

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Lettuce Seedlings Planted (Left) and Top Setting Onions Greening Up Nicely (Top Right), Picture Taken 4-3-23

Overwintered Sierra Lettuce is Almost Ready to Harvest, Picture Taken 4-3-23

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

The 2023 Gardening Season has Begun!

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).

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Juwel Cold Frame in the Garden, Picture Taken 2-21-23

Overwintered Lettuce Under the Plastic Covered Hoop, Picture Taken 2-21-23

Top Setting Onions Pushing up New Growth, Picture Taken 2-21-23

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

Spring Garden Fully Planted

My spring garden is finally fully planted. Due to the rain and the cold, the planting of the warm season plants like tomatoes and peppers were delayed. I was able to finally get the tomato and pepper seedlings into the ground on May 23rd. That is about 10 days later than usual. About that same time I directly seeded cucumbers, bush lima beans, and bush green beans and transplanted my celery seedlings into the garden. The month of May is typically the wettest month of the year in Indianapolis. This May I have recorded 6.5 inches of rain in my garden rain gauge. That is about 2 inches above normal. The weather looks sunny and dry for at least the next 4 days, YES!!

Harvest continues on lettuce (which is growing like crazy right now), radish, and green onions. Started noticing a few cabbage worms on the broccoli, kohlrabi, and brussels sprouts and I have been hand picking them off. If the populations increase, I might have to spray them with Bt or Spinosaid. The March planted onions are finally starting to push on lush top growth and the peas are finally starting to grow up the pea fence. Because of the cold and rain, the potatoes are a little behind, but they have really started to grow over the past week.

**Lettuce and Onions Growing Well, 5/26/20**

**English Peas Starting to Vine, 5/26/20**

**Hot Banana (Hungarian Wax) Peppers, 5/26/20**

Record Breaking Cold Temperatures

It has been very cold in the garden the last week or so. Indianapolis broke an all time low temperature record for the month of May of 27 degrees. My garden thermometer recorded a low of 23 degrees. Luckily I covered all of my kohlrabi, broccoli, and brussels sprout seedlings with plastic coffee cans and all of the seedlings survived the cold. I also covered my lettuce with the plastic covered hoop. The potatoes had just started to break through the soil and the vines were killed back a bit, but they should hopefully recover. The onions, peas, and radish were left uncovered and appear to have been undamaged by the cold.

Harvest started on the April planted lettuce seedlings yesterday! I have also been harvesting green onions like crazy. It does look like the weather will be warming up this coming week and I will be dismantling the cold frame and planting the warm season seedlings of peppers and tomatoes. I actually planted a few Ancho and Super Chili pepper plants over the last 2 days. I also planted out my celery seedlings 2 days ago. Within the upcoming week I will also start to directly seed bush lima beans, bush green beans, and cucumbers. The corn was directly seeded in the raised bed on May 1st, and it has just started to germinate, fortunately just after that one cold morning.

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!!