Veggie Garden Info

checking on the mid winter kale

Original post from Skippy’s Vegetable Garden.

I went out to the garden this morning to check on the kale. I haven't been out there in a few days. I didn't realize we had more snow coming in, but there is another fresh layer coming down. I had to dig down to find the kale.

The more tender Red Russian kale has frost damage. Little round spots on the leaves. Last year, once it got these it looked terrible after bringing it inside and thawing. This happened at 10*F last year. Our temps got down to about 8* over the past few nights.

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Two new brassicas...

Original post from Gardening in Central Florida, January 8, 2009

My gardening guru and pal Christine gave me a couple new brassicas to try, Beira Tronchuda Cabbage and Redbor Kale. I transplanted some of them out into the garden this morning, along with another planting of radishes (Cherry Bell), peas (Cascadia this time, amongst some Super Sugarsnaps) and Upland Cress. (All these seeds from Pinetree.) I also picked another three large and beautiful tomatoes (Jetsetter).

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Seed Stalks Parading Through the Veggie Garden

Original post from Veggie Gardening Tips, May 04, 2008

A recent article discussed a problem with lettuce and other vegetable plants bolting and going to seed prematurely, but flowering is just a part of the natural cycle of things out in the veggie patch. A look around the back yard revealed quite a few edible plants that are bolting and flowering, but for the most part it’s not a problem if it occurs at the proper time and shouldn’t be taken as a sigh of something gone wrong. Here’s just a sampling of all the vegetable seed factories currently in production out in the garden: Kale - This one is at the top of my list and I frequently refer to it as mock broccoli.

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my seedlings on Easter morning

Original post from Skippy's Vegetable Garden, March 23, 2008

 

They are all growing very fast. The peppers came up today. The kale and escarole have their second set of leaves starting. The onions are straightening up. I move the trays around during the day to catch the best sunlight. Also, I am working on thinning out the more dense seedlings.

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Record Weather

Original post from Bifurcated Carrots, February 17, 2008

 

A number of records have been broken recently concerning extremes in weather. January this year (2008) was the second warmest on record, since they began keeping records in 1706. The warmest January on record was last year (2007). Last year I started all my plants indoors at the usual time, and planted them out also on schedule.

Had I know the weather was going to be so warm, I could have put them out two months earlier. This year I’m going to assume the weather is going to be warmer and not wait before putting some of my plants out.

Yesterday another record was broken. This record was for the highest barometric pressure ever recorded in February. This has meant for the last several days the weather has been sunny and very dry. Anyone who lives in a northern maritime climate will know this is not normal for February. This meant it was a good day for taking pictures.

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Fall's Arrival Doesn't Spoil a Vegetable Garden

Original post from Veggie Gardening Tips, October 01, 2007

Yes, it’s officially fall according to the calendar, but the vegetable garden is still lush, green, and continues to yield plenty of fresh organic produce.

I’ve been gradually removing summer crops, including the heirloom tomatoes to make room for fall plantings. The only remaining warm weather veggies are the okra plants which will be pulled later this week, and a few peppers that will continue growing until the first fall frost wipes them out.

Incredible Fall Vegetables

As usual the leafy greens account for the bulk of my fall vegetable production. This season I’m growing lots of my favorite kales; the Tuscan Black Palm Kale variety and the Wild Garden Kales Mix. I also planted seeds of more traditional kale varieties such as Siberian, Dwarf Blue Curled, and Russian Red.

Kale greens are my favorite fall crop for their ease of cultivation, flavor, and productivity. They will not only reward you with plenty of delicious greens during the fall months, but the plants will also over winter to yield additional harvests of early spring greens.

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covered kale

Original post from Skippy's Vegetable Garden, August 18, 2007

 
My kale is now covered. I bought some galvanized stainless wire and made hoops and then covered them with row cover and secured with plastic pegs. I picked a good batch of it a couple weeks ago (photo below), but ended up composting it because there were too many holes in the leaves for it to be appetizing. Hopefully the cover will help. Of course, it doesn't get rid of the caterpillars that are already on the leaves. It just prevents the moths from laying more eggs.

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Last of the seedlings

Original post from Tiny Farm Blog, August 4, 2007

A tray of Red Russian kale are the last transplant seedlings for this year. It’s extremely late to be planting this out now, but RR is a fast grower, there’s space, and it’s always fun (and good experience) to see what happens! 

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