Category Archives: Summer Gardening

Early September Garden Growing Well, Finally Received Some Rain

Sorry for not posting recently, I have been very busy over the last month. The garden has been growing pretty well, despite the very dry conditions. The garden did receive some much needed rain over the last few days. Before that, the garden was being watered well about every week. The early August planted seedlings of broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kohlrabi, and lettuce are growing nicely now. The mid-spring planted brussels sprouts (variety Jade Cross) suffered badly from lack of water (due to gardener neglect), but they have now rebounded nicely, with many medium sized sprouts observed on most of the plants. They also had a pretty severe infestation of white flies and aphids, which, I think, has been rectified with a few applications of insecticidal soap. I sowed a few small rows of lettuce seeds in mid-July and they have grown well. I did have to keep them well watered and covered with shade netting during the real hot days, which helped them quit a bit. I have been harvesting some lettuce from this planting over the last few weeks now. The July sown green beans are doing well and harvest will begin on one of the plots today. The other bean plot is a few weeks behind the other, but the beans are starting to flower now, so it will not be long before harvest begins on those. I am hopeful to have enough green beans to pressure can another 5 or 6 quarts. Despite the early blight on the Roma tomatoes, the plants produced enough for me to can 6 quarts of tomatoes and make some salsa. I still have a few tomatoes on the plants to enjoy fresh on salads. The celery is still producing a small harvest, despite the celery plants experiencing celery anthracnose disease. The jalapeno and the hot banana peppers are still producing nicely. I have also been able to harvest a decent amount of ancho poblano peppers over the last month. The July sown Scarlet Nantes carrots are staring to get bigger. Since the weather has cooled a bit, I might sow some radish seeds within the next few days. It is hard to believe, but the average first frost for Central Indiana is only about 5 or 6 weeks away.

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August Planted Broccoli (right) and Brussels Sprouts (left), Picture Taken 9-2-24

Mid August Planted Seedlings of Cabbage, Kohlrabi, Broccoli, and Cauliflower Growing Nicely in Bed That Had Spring Planted Corn, Picture Taken 9-2-24

Early August Planted Seedlings of Cabbage, Broccoli, and Cauliflower Growing in Bed That Had Spring Planted Potatoes, Picture Taken 9-2-24

Two Early August Planted Cauliflower Seedlings Growing in Bed That Had Spring Planted Potatoes, Picture Taken 9-2-24

July Sown Carrots Growing Nicely, Picture Taken 9-2-24

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

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

Spring Garden Fully Planted, Soil Still Too Wet

The spring garden has been fully planted, but the soil remains a little too wet. The tomatoes and pepper seedlings have struggled a bit but are starting to look a bit better now with the onset of warmer weather. It has been a struggle this spring, especially with the warm season plants. I had to replant some of the beans because of the wet soil and I waited probably an extra two weeks to sow my cucumber seeds. Fortunately, the weather has improved somewhat and the hope is all of the wet soil conditions have passed. Harvest continues on the lettuce with more to come. I have noticed that the slugs have almost disappeared on the lettuce. The Packman broccoli are starting to form little heads, so I think broccoli harvest will probably start in about another two weeks. I have just started to noticed some minor damage from cabbage worms, so I will probably need to apply some Spinosad on these plants soon. The Silver Queen white sweet corn has germinated and most of the plants are nearing one foot tall. I harvested the last of the green onions about five days ago. The rest of the onions look pretty good so far. The potatoes growing in the grow bags have finally started to grow, and in fact look really good right now. The potatoes growing in the two raised beds do not look as good, but I remain optimistic that the harvest from these beds will turn out decent this year. I have had to start watering the potatoes in the grow bags every other day, which is normal. I have posted several pictures of my garden below for your viewing pleasure.

If you have any questions or comments, please fell free to send me an email at:
tim@timssquarefootgarden.com

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Top Left Clockwise: Diva Cucumbers, Early Jalapeno and Hot Banana Peppers, Bush Green Beans, and Roma Tomatoes, Picture Taken 6-4-24

Potatoes Growing in One of the Two Raised Beds, Picture Taken 6-4-24

Potatoes Growing Nicely in Grow Bags, Picture Taken 6-4-24

Onions (Red Candy Apple and Candy) with some Topsetting Onions Near Top of Picture, Picture Taken 6-4-24

Lettuce Growing Nicely, Picture Taken 6-4-24

Silver Queen White Corn Getting Taller Every Day, Picture Taken 6-4-24

Left to Right: Brussels Sprouts, Broccoli, Kohlrabi, and Cabbage, Picture Taken 6-4-24

Left to Right Clockwise: Kohlrabi, Ancho Peppers, Bush Green Beans, Rattlesnake Pole Beans, and More Kohlrabi. Looks Like Someone Needs to do Some Weeding! Picture Taken 6-4-24

Fall Garden is Cranking, Drought Continues

The early fall garden is growing really well despite the very dry conditions. Most of central and northern Indiana is experiencing a moderate drought. At least the temperatures have been cooler, which helps most of the fall plants in the garden. As long as I continue to water these plants, they should do well. Evaporation rates this time of year tend to decrease which helps out a lot. My garden did receive some much needed rain two days ago, although it was not nearly enough to break the drought. The heat loving plants like the peppers and tomatoes are still producing. I had one of the best tomato crops ever. I had so many Roma tomatoes that I stopped watering the plants, but they continue to push on new growth and new tomatoes. The peppers are also still producing, but I have watered them a little more. The mid to late summer planting of bush green beans starting producing around the second week of September with many more beans to come. The Rattlesnake pole beans continue to impress me with their constant production, despite not really being watered much. The early August planted seedlings of lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and kohlrabi are really starting to grow. In fact, I have many small heads of broccoli starting to form on most of the plants. I anticipate harvesting some of these heads in another week to ten days. I have been harvesting lettuce again for about a month now, with more to come. The Tango hybrid celery plants have grown just okay this year. I lost many of the plants due to black heart disease. This was probably due to the very hot and dry conditions. I still have three mature celery plants growing and have been harvesting stalks from them. The late July sown carrots are finally getting some good top growth. The brussels sprouts are starting to mature with a few plump sprouts showing up on a few of the stalks. I really enjoy gardening this time of year as the plants mature much slower which allows you to enjoy a fresh harvest over a longer period of time. The average first frost for central Indiana is fast approaching (usually around October 10th). The two week weather forecast is still showing slightly above normal temperatures with no signs of frost, but unfortunately, not much rain either. Happy Fall Gardening!!

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Sierra Lettuce Growing Nicely, Picture Taken 9-27-23

Kohlrabi, Broccoli, Cauliflower, and Cabbage, Picture Taken 9-27-23

Two Celery Plants, Picture Taken 9-27-23

Scarlet Nantes Carrots, Picture Taken 9-27-23

Cabbage, Broccoli, and Cauliflower, Picture Taken 9-27-23

Brussels Sprouts and Broccoli, Picture Taken 9-27-23

Chickens Enjoying Brussels Sprout Leaves Pinned Up Through Fence in Front of Tomatoes, Picture Taken 9-27-23

Early September Garden Producing Well, Still Very Dry

The very dry conditions continue in my early September garden, but at least the temperatures have cooled a bit over the last week or so. The fall garden has all been planted and the seedlings are growing pretty well so far. The Roma tomatoes are really producing right now. Looks like another fantastic crop of tomatoes this year, just like last year. The tomato plants are starting to develop a leaf disease that is causing browning of the leaves near the bottom of the plants, but no worries. I should have plenty of tomatoes from now until frost. The later planting of bush green beans are doing well and should be ready to harvest within the next week. Harvest also continues on peppers, celery, and a few pole green beans. I was able to harvest a few leaves from the early August planted lettuce seedlings. I have been giving these plants some shade when the temperatures start to warm up. Needless to say, I have been doing some watering, but not as much on the more mature plants of peppers and tomatoes. The late July sowing of carrots are starting to grow, although slowly. The average first frost of fall is only about 5 weeks away, so cooler weather is just around the corner. Make sure to check out the many picture of my garden below.

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Kohlrabi, Cabbage, Broccoli, and Cauliflower Growing in Old Corn Bed, Picture Taken 9-2-23

Cauliflower Growing in Old Potato Bed, Picture Taken 9-2-23

Cabbage, Broccoli, and Cauliflower Growing in Another Old Potato Bed, Picture Taken 9-2-23

Fall Planted Broccoli and Spring Planted Brussels Sprouts, Picture Taken 9-2-23

Roma Tomato Plants Producing Abundantly, Picture Taken 9-1-23

Early April Planted Sierra Lettuce Plants Finally Flowering and Going to Seed, Picture Taken 9-1-23

Early August Planted Sierra Lettuce Growing Nicely, Picture Taken 9-1-23

Late July Sown Scarlet Nantes Carrots Starting to Grow, Picture Taken 9-1-23

Mid to Late July Planted Bush Green Beans Almost Ready to Harvest, Picture Taken 9-1-23

Fall Garden Getting Planted, Good Summer Harvest Continues Despite the Dryness

The fall garden planting has officially begun. I sowed seeds of Nantes carrots on July 29th, and they have just started to poke their green shoots above the ground. Over the past several days I have been transplanting lettuce, cauliflower, cabbage, and broccoli seedlings out into the garden. I will be transplanting additional seedlings of cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and kohlrabi seedlings out into the garden over the next several days. All of these additional transplants will be going into the raised bed where the corn was growing. Speaking of the corn, the last of the Silver Queen sweet corn will be harvested today. Overall, the corn harvest has been really good this year. The Roma tomatoes are starting to turn red and I will begin harvesting these in earnest over the next few days. Harvest continues on the hot banana peppers and the jalapeno peppers as well as on the pole green beans, bush lima beans, celery, and cucumbers. The very dry conditions have continued in my garden, but at least some sparse rain has fallen over the last few weeks. I have continued to “artificially” water the garden, as needed.

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Silver Queen Sweet Corn, Picture Taken 7-29-23

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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