I ordered all of the extra seeds I need for this year’s garden a few days ago. Now the agonizing wait for warmer weather starts. I am really looking forward to spring this year!! I will be putting up the cold frame in a few weeks and as long as the weather is not too cold, I will be starting lettuce seeds the last week of February. I also recently drew up plans for the 2010 garden. I like to put down on paper the different vegetables I am growing in each plot. I generally rotate in different vegetables for each plot every year. However, the corn and potatoes will still be in the same beds as they were grown in last year. I will keep make sure to keep all of you posted on my seed starting progress. GO COLTS!!
February 3, 2010
January 4, 2010
Happy New Year, A Look Back and Ahead, Chickens
Happy Belated New Year!! Winter has really set in now in the garden. As I am writing this post, it is 17 degrees outside with snow flurries coming down. It has been REALLY cold here in Central Indiana since Christmas day. The 2009 gardening season was quite successful for me. I tried several new things in the garden last year. One was saving seeds from my six Sierra lettuce plants. They took a long time to send up a flower stalk, but they finally did towards the end of July. I will have to wait to see how well the seeds germinate and grow next year. Saving seeds is very rewarding and seems to complete a natural gardening cycle. Other seeds I have been saving for the last few years now is the King of the Garden Pole Lima Bean and Fennel. I have also been replanting the topsetting onions for about the last 4 years, with great success. Now is the time to beginning planning your 2010 garden and ordering any seeds and supplies you might need. My mailbox has been loaded with seed cataolgs, has yours?
Chickens were another new garden experiment for the 2009 season. The two egg laying hens have been a real treat to have around and have been a fantastic addition to the garden. You might have spotted them in the lastest garden picture on the main garden page. Chickens are super easy to take care of and happily eat all of those bad bugs in your garden. All they require is a secure and dry coop and maybe a small run. My brother commented that if he knew chickens were this easy to take care of, he would have had chickens a long time ago. Last fall, we put up a new coop for the chickens and it has really worked out well. Two more chickens are in the plans for spring 2010. Every gardener should at least consider a few egg laying chickens for their garden. One piece of advice, if you let your chickens “free range,” you will have to keep them out of your vegetable garden with a small fence if you want to have anything to eat for yourself :-) I have posted some picture below of the chickens and their new coop.
Nugget and Penny in Their New Coop
Nugget and Penny Enjoying a Winter Lettuce Treat
New Chicken Coop as of November 2009
December 19, 2009
2009 Garden Season Officially Over
Harvest has now officially ended for the 2009 garden season. Surprisingly, a few of the brussels sprouts that remained on the plants were still harvestable on December 14th, despite the very cold temperatures that were experienced the few weeks prior. The remaining older sprouts that remain on the lower portion of the plants will not be harvested. The fall brussels sprouts harvest was very good this year. Now the garden sleeps until late February or early March, when the cold frame makes it yearly appearance. Now is the time to inventory all of the seeds and order new ones that are needed. It is snowing right now, which makes a nice Christmas feel to the garden. I would like to wish all of my readers a Merry Christmas and a very prosperous 2010.
December 7, 2009
Winter Has Finally Arrived, End of the 2009 Garden Season
Well, the warm November weather is now but a memory as the first hard freeze hit the garden about 4 days ago. Low temperatures dropped to around 15 degrees for two nights in a row and the high temperatures struggled to get above freezing. This morning, the garden was blanketed by the season’s first measurable snowfall of about 1 inch. The last 5 remaining cabbages were harvested on December 3rd, a day before the really cold weather set in. Also on December 3rd, I harvested most of the remaining brussels sprouts and a little bit more lettuce. The last of the lettuce will remain under the plastic hoop for the rest of the winter in hopes of an early spring harvest from the remaining plants. There were still a few carrots in the garden, which were dug up today. The last of the fall broccoli and cauliflower was happily eaten over the weekend. My 2009 gardening season has now come an end :-( I still have fresh garden cabbage, brussels sprouts, and some lettuce left in the refrigerator. Overall, my 2009 gardening season was successful and I am already looking forward to the 2010 gardening season.
November 22, 2009
Record Fall Harvest Continues in November
The fall garden has produced very well this year, probably exceeding all past fall gardens that I have grown. The weather has played a big part in this success. After the cool wet October, the weather for the first 3 weeks of November has been warmer and relatively dry. The garden has experienced several light freezes, but there has not yet been what I would call a hard freeze. The broccoli plants have produced more side shoots than any other fall crop that I can remember. The cauliflower plants have produced very large heads, most in the neighborhood of 3 pounds. I plan on harvesting the last few remaining cauliflower heads within the next week. Harvesting also continues on the cabbage. A nice bit of lettuce was harvested about one week ago, and the last two remaining celery plants were also harvested. The warmer than normal weather has allowed the brussels sprouts to fully mature. A few of the plant have really large sprouts developing on them. Brussels sprouts harvesting will begin today. They should make a nice addition to the Thanksgiving Day meal. With any luck, I should be enjoying fresh garden produce well into December.
I would like to wish everybody a safe and happy Thanksgiving Holiday!
November 2, 2009
Cold and Wet October - Broccoli, Cauliflower, and Cabbage
Welcome to November. Here in Central Indiana it was one cold and wet October. There were two freezes and several frosting mornings over the past several weeks, but that is not too unusual for this time of year. Because of the cooler weather, some of the vegetables have taken their time to mature. The cauliflower has finally matured! The broccoli continues to produce a nice harvest, along with the cabbage. The cabbage harvest has been very good, with some harvested heads probably approaching 3 pounds. The lettuce growing under the plastic covered hoop is growing very slowly. It seems like all of the lettuce has grown very slowly this fall. The brussels sprouts are starting to get some size to them, and it will not be too long before harvest begins on them. Overall, I have been very pleased with the fall harvest to date, despite the cooler and wetter than normal weather. The broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage plants have been covered with row covers for about the last 2 weeks. They seem to like a little protection from the frost and freezes. Two celery plants remain in the garden, which are also covered by row covers. Check out all of the new pictures below. The gardening season is fast approaching the end, but I am still living in denial!!
Row Cover Over the Broccoli
Lettuce Growing Under Hoop
Brussels Sprouts Ready to be Harvested
Cauliflower Head Ready for Harvest
Cabbage Awaiting Harvesting
Broccoli Growing Under Row Cover
October 15, 2009
First Fall Frost, Green Beans Galore
The garden was visited by ole Jack Frost on October 11th. Most of the plants that I wanted to save were covered with row covers, but some of the ends of the green beans were still nipped a little (low temps did not get below freezing, which is good). The garden continues to produce very well for me. I must have picked around 15 pounds of green beans on October 10th, with more still on the plants!! The fall green bean harvest has been a big success. The weather has turned unusually cold and wet. It did not even get above 50 degrees today. The forecast is for near or below freezing low temps for tomorrow night and possibly the next night as well. After that, it looks like it will warm up to more normal temps, Hooray!! I am hopeful to be able to get the cauliflower and the rest of the broccoli to mature before it turns really cold. The cauliflower heads are still a little small, but they are getting bigger (a few are about 3 to 4 inches wide now). Despite the cold, the peppers are still producing, but they have nearly stopped growing with all of the cool weather (their days are numbered anyways). I am hopeful to be able to get a few more good pickings of beans before the big freeze. The brussels sprout plants continue to grow, with at least a few decent size sprouts on most of the plants. Harvest also continues on the following: Cabbage, broccoli, green onions, and celery. I will submit photos with my next blog entry. Happy Fall Gardening!!
October 4, 2009
Early Fall Garden, Another Garden Video
My early fall garden continues to produce a nice harvest. The garden finally received some much needed rain. The weather continues to be somewhat cooler than normal. There was some frost last week in parts of central Indiana, but my garden luckily avoided any frost. Harvest begins today on some of the August planted broccoli and green beans. Fall is just an excellent time to garden. One can take time harvesting, as the plants do not ripen very fast in the progressively cooler temperatures of fall. Harvest also continues on peppers, celery, tomatoes, pole lima beans, and green onions.
I made another garden video today (see below). Happy Fall Gardening!!
You may also click the following link to view the video directly from YouTube: Early Fall Garden Video 10-4-09
September 20, 2009
Everyone Should Plant a Fall Garden
Greetings, I hope everyone is enjoying the early fall gardening season. Fall officially begins on September 22nd, but if you are a gardener in Zone 5, it should have started back in July and August. More people should start a fall vegetable garden!! Fall is a great time of year to grow many of the cooler season plants like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, all kinds of greens including lettuce, green onions, and carrots. I also have heard of people growing turnips with great success in the fall. I have included pictures below of some of my fall crops. The broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower plants were transplanted out into the garden around the first week of August. The green bean seeds were sown about the same time. All of these plants are growing really well. I noticed small heads already forming on a few of the broccoli plants. The late planted green beans are also growing well and have started to flower within the last week. I should be able to get a good crop of beans before the first frost of the fall season (which usually comes around the middle or end of October). The late planted carrots are not germinating very well, so it looks like I will not have a very good fall harvest this year. The late planted lettuce seedlings are also not growing very fast, but I am still hopefull that they will start growing better with cooler weather. Harvest continues on the peppers, celery, and lima beans.
The weather has been really really dry, but temperatures have been seasonable over the last month or so. I am really hoping for some good rain soon. Happy Fall Gardening 
August Planted Green Beans Growing in Old Corn Raised Bed
Fall Broccoli Growing Well
Nine Cauliflower Plants Growing Well in Old Potato Raised Bed
Eleven Cabbage Plants and Three Broccoli Plants Growing in the Other Old Potato Raised Bed
August 23, 2009
August Garden Harvest
The August garden continues to produce a nice harvest. The roma tomato plants continue to produce a nice harvest, although the leaf disease has spread to all six plants now. I harvested the first crop of “Eastland” baby lima beans about 5 days ago. The beans were a little smaller than I expected, but they were still good. More lima beans remain to be picked. The pole lima beans, King of the Garden, are just starting to mature, and I will probably start to pick some of those over the next few days. Harvest has started on the second crop of bush green beans with more to come. The green beans have germinated in the old corn plot as well as in the old onion plot. All of the pepper plants are growing like mad and I will be harvesting and freezing some of these. I planted my fall crop of Scarlet Nantes carrots 5 days ago (which is a few weeks later than I like). The broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage transplants are doing well and have started to grow a little. The celery is growing really well now, especially with all of this cooler than normal weather. I started my fall crop of lettuce seeds a few days ago, and some have already germinated. Labor day is now only 2 weeks away and Fall will be here before you know it!!