The garden on Tuesday night. Tomatoes & peppers are under the white cloche. Originally, we kept it closed, but for some time now we just leave both ends open. (see 2005 here!)
In this bed: broccoli (thanks-Karen!), Brussels sprouts (thanks-Molly!), lettuce and volunteer borage, calendula and dill. Once we slowed down the cabbage worm crop, the broccoli & BS plants are more content. The harvesting has started.
Do you have a broccoli variety you recommend? In taking stock of what seeds I have and what seeds I need (and what seeds I want), I've determined I won't have enough broccoli seeds. So, what to order?
I've been growing a seed blend of Everest, Packman, Small Miracle and Southern Comet. These are supposed to produce over different periods and provide a nice season of broccoli. However, I haven't been able to tell them apart and I would like to know which variety is actually growing. That's why this year I'd like to grow a specific variety.
Each year, I winter sow some broccoli in milk jugs in late Feb. or early March. Then I plant the seedlings in the garden under the cloche or some sort of protection. I have to discourage slugs from eating the seedlings, usually by putting coffee grounds around the seedling. If I can get it past the size a slug can eat all in one night, then it will be fine on its own. I try to start more plants throughout the spring. The young broccoli plants above are from May 2007.
After harvesting the main head, I hope for lots of side shoots for more eating. Finally, I let the bees have it. See this link about broccoli bee bliss.
Any suggestions?
The broccoli looks good under the window frame cloche (all the other seedlings were eaten by slugs). We've been harvesting lettuce and chard leaves from these plants already.
I started some broccoli, lettuce and chard to see if we might eat into the fall. Unfortunately for the broccoli, the days may become too short to make it to harvest. This one is happily growing under the window frame cloche, along with lettuce and chard (which, of course, we can eat quite young).
So, as an experiment, some seedlings are out in the open, some are under the window cloche and some under the partially covered cloche (only partially covered to prevent scorching on the beautiful fall days like today). In spite of my coffee ground distraction method, the slugs have found several of the broccoli seedlings.
A closer look at the pea sprouts yesterday revealed some nice roots out the bottom of the pot... an immediate call to action! As the forecasted rain hadn't started yet, I headed out to the garden to finalize the location for peas this year. In spite of the rain last week, the soil wasn't too wet for digging so I prepared the space for tall peas, short peas and climbing beans (all needing decisions about where to place the trellises, etc.)
Saturday had very pleasant weather, so in between watching herds of spiders, we trimmed the flower stalks we had left in place all winter. Here is a link to the garden in January. Click on the Garden Photo label for prior months. With the trimming, the garden looks very one level now. It will change.
I planted some of the winter sown broccoli under the cloche, and set the container with the rest of the seedlings under it also. I see a slug has found one of the planted seedling already.
The larger lettuce plants also went in the ground under the cloche.
I had limited time to come up with a bloom day post, so I took a vote. By overwhelming majority, this is the most popular bloom in the garden! I voted for lavender and sunflowers (and I even voted several times) but those votes washed out with all the bees voting for the broccoli! I think there are some honey bees visiting the garden too. Wonder what broccoli honey tastes like?
The bees are in such a frenzy, most photos where just a blur. I don't think they even get this excited about borage. Check out their "pollen baskets," the yellow pockets of pollen on their legs. I've watched lots of bees in the garden before and have seen SOME with such full baskets. The bees in the broccoli ALL had full baskets!
These are my oldest 4 broccoli plants and they had been slowly overcoming all my tactics to keep them from blooming (at least there are still some younger plants producing). Finally, I let them go to see what the blooms would attract. Eventually, these plants, the bolting lettuce, the garlic and onions will come out and this may be where the Brussels spouts will go.
Do your peas hide well?Spent the morning blanching and freezing young peas and broccoli. I also picked every last giant pea pod that has been hiding out, in hopes of continuing the harvest of new peas a little longer. Some of the vines are starting to show signs of the warming summer, but others are still flowering.
Next came more beet harvest. Cooked & pickled some for the week. Added the young greens to the salad and prepared the medium sized greens for cooking tomorrow night. The largest and slightly yellowing leaves went to the compost.
Finally, rhubarb! I was starting to have second thoughts about it. How could I tell if it was ready? I understand it doesn't all turn red as a signal. Would it need so much sweetening that it wasn't worth messing with? Would it be too tough? But, I already had strawberries so next came the strawberry rhubarb cobbler. Not bad at all! I'll be having some more here soon.
It actually reminds me of the tart cherry sauce I was hooked on last year. See the post about it here. Since there are only a few cherries this year, I wonder how rhubarb might substitute? (I have more cherry liqueur from Germany now too!)
So now my question is ...how long can I keep harvesting it?
A quick shot in the dark light of a pending thunderstorm, following a week of hot weather. It was thundering while I planted the cucumbers and squash, the last of my seedlings to go in the ground. Still no rain yet, but we're ready!
The once little broccoli seedlings are quickly taking over the lettuce. We harvest lettuce about every evening, but it looks like I need to harvest more. Last year, the broccoli was too close together. With growing still to do, I think they'll be about right. Don't worry, there is more lettuce stashed throughout the garden. And some more little broccoli seedlings too. I spy a calendula volunteer in there, also.
Young Flashy Trout's Back lettuce (it's an Austrian heirloom aka Forellenschluss romaine). I loved it last year (though it was difficult to photograph then too.) Colorful and great tasting also. This is some started from seed and transplanted to the garden about 2 weeks ago.
The broccoli also started from seed and planted out a couple weeks ago seems to be quite happy. I remember the seedlings I bought last year took forever to show some growth.
Here are the March 24 planted tomatoes, anise hyssop, and spicy globe basil. As cute as they are, today is the day the baby tomatoes were potted up and moved out to the garage. What low temperature do you think they'll tolerate? They lean too much in the window and I'd rather they stay under the lights in the garage.
Big brother tomatoes here, were started March 3. They've been in the house ever since their purple screams, but I hope they'll now get comfortable in the garage under the light. As a side note, see the stone semi-circle and pipe out the window? The pipe is 4 feet, same as my beds. The stones are currently somewhere I don't want them so I'm considering using them as end caps for the garden beds. As they are, it has been a struggle keeping a clear line between the end of the bed and the grass. Straight ends would be more practical for grass trimming, but I think I'd like the curves.
The outside winter sowing experiment has had some good results. (I do take the caps off on the sunnier days.) They do get more light being outside. They are also should be better adjusted to the temperature patterns outside.
Lettuce seedlings and my first Swiss chard (Bright Lights). All my other lettuce seedlings were planted out in the garden last weekend, so these will be the next wave.
Spinach and broccoli here. My earlier seeding (inside) of spinach didn't sprout so I'm glad to have some here. Earlier seedlings of broccoli were also planted out in the garden last weekend.
Here's a little Eastershine for those you with Eastersnow. Just keep in mind that the sun was gone by 3pm, and we'll soon be back in the 30's at night. Above, you see the cold frames (with their end windows laying against the sides due to the warm temps).
My new (used) Easter (garden) basket. I don't know if the dividers are to separate wine bottles or something else, but they really work to keep tools in place, hold seed packets and to separate the camera from the tools. I've not been a big glove wearer, but now I wear these most of the time. Before the sun moved on, it was just a beautiful time for puttering around in the herb bed, pulling some young grass and dandelions and checking everything out.
And these are the little "Easter eggs" I found digging around in the herb bed. I'm also happy to see the bee balm / Monarda sending up shoots. The wonderful rosemary, sorry to say, did not make it though the snow and ice this winter. It was the trailing type and I've found it to be more sensitive to cold winters than the upright rosemary.
Angie posted about winter sowing here and here. I wondered if cool season varieties sown this way might be less inclined to grow so leggy, plus move more easily to the garden. I'd sow some directly in the garden under a cloche, except it is too wet to be digging in the beds and the sweet gardener might melt in the rain. So, these 4 containers have trials of lettuce, spinach, broccoli, Swiss chard, catnip and chamomile (both old seeds), nasturtiums and columbine. If my labels dissolve, this might be interesting to sort out later. Thanks for the great information, Angie.
These are the latest seeds in the "oven" (the cabinet under the kitchen sink that is warmed by the heating vent). Tomatoes (current 3 seedling are just not enough), the basil from Germany that sprouted so well last year, spicy globe basil (grew beautifully in AL, we'll see about WA), and anise hyssop. I believe they all like warm spots for sprouting, but then will be happy in cooler spots as seedlings. I'm still using up the planting pellets I have so that's what's inside this box. Next up: Baby tomatoes threaten to split if not transplanted immediately. Gardener complies.
