My fall garden continues to grow well despite the desert dryness and the above normal temperatures. Central Indiana is now in moderate drought, with not much relief in sight for the foreseeable future. As long as the garden gets watered once a week, I think it will continue to do well. The August planted broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and kohlrabi plants continue to get bigger and they appear to be on schedule for a mid-October through November harvest window. The mid-July sown carrots continue to grow nicely. Over the past few weeks I have been harvesting green beans, lettuce, hot banana peppers, jalapeno peppers, poblano peppers, and just a few tomatoes. The last of the celery was harvested yesterday. This is the first time I have grown Tabasco pepper, which is just now starting to produce little red mature peppers. The plants are really tall (about 4 foot high) with many green peppers still on the plant (see pic below). I probably will not grow this pepper again next year. It is an open pollinated pepper, so I will save some of the seeds in case I decide to grow it again in the future. I really like the Super Chili hybrid pepper, but the seeds have gotten really expensive, and I decided to try Tabasco this year. I think I found a non-hybrid open pollinated replacement for Super Chili called Matchbox, which I will definitely be growing next year.
Huge Tabasco Pepper Plants, Picture Taken 9-17-24Cabbage, Cauliflower, and Broccoli. Picture Taken 9-17-24Cabbage, Kohlrabi, Cauliflower, and Broccoli (Bottom Bed) Broccoli and Brussels Sprouts (Top Bed). Picture Taken 9-17-24
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.
August Planted Broccoli (right) and Brussels Sprouts (left), Picture Taken 9-2-24Mid August Planted Seedlings of Cabbage, Kohlrabi, Broccoli, and Cauliflower Growing Nicely in Bed That Had Spring Planted Corn, Picture Taken 9-2-24Early August Planted Seedlings of Cabbage, Broccoli, and Cauliflower Growing in Bed That Had Spring Planted Potatoes, Picture Taken 9-2-24Two Early August Planted Cauliflower Seedlings Growing in Bed That Had Spring Planted Potatoes, Picture Taken 9-2-24July Sown Carrots Growing Nicely, Picture Taken 9-2-24
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.
Roma Tomatoes With Early Leaf Blight, Picture Taken 7-28-24Celery Showing Signs of Celery Anthracnose Disease, Picture Taken 7-28-24Silver Queen Corn Looking Good, Picture Taken 7-28-24Close Up of the Silver Queen Corn, Picture Taken 7-28-24
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.
Onions Curing on Hardware Cloth in Barn, Picture Taken 7-8-24More Onions Curing on Hardware Cloth in Barn, Picture Taken 7-8-24Silver Queen White Corn Pic 1, Picture Taken 7-8-24Silver Queen White Corn Pic 2, Picture Taken 7-8-24Five Grow Bags with Potatoes Ready for Harvesting, Picture Taken 7-8-24
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 6-24-24Lettuce With Shade Cloth Covering, Picture Taken 6-24-24
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.
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.
Top Left Clockwise: Diva Cucumbers, Early Jalapeno and Hot Banana Peppers, Bush Green Beans, and Roma Tomatoes, Picture Taken 6-4-24Potatoes Growing in One of the Two Raised Beds, Picture Taken 6-4-24Potatoes Growing Nicely in Grow Bags, Picture Taken 6-4-24Onions (Red Candy Apple and Candy) with some Topsetting Onions Near Top of Picture, Picture Taken 6-4-24Lettuce Growing Nicely, Picture Taken 6-4-24Silver Queen White Corn Getting Taller Every Day, Picture Taken 6-4-24Left to Right: Brussels Sprouts, Broccoli, Kohlrabi, and Cabbage, Picture Taken 6-4-24Left 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
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 5-4-24Giant Radish Harvested, Picture Taken 5-4-24
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.
(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 4-20-24Fall 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 4-20-24A Peak Inside the Hoop Showing the Spring Planted Lettuce Seedlings, Picture Taken 4-20-24Total Solar Eclipse on April 8, 2024
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!
Overwintered Lettuce, Green Onions, and Radish Under Hoop, Picture Taken 3-28-24Overwintered Top Setting Onions (top of pic) and the Recently Planted Onion Transplants Growing Nicely, Picture Taken 3-28-24Some of the Seedlings in the Cold Frame, Picture Taken 3-28-24Juwel Cold Frame Out in the Garden, Picture Taken 3-28-24
