Tag Archive | broccoli ‘Happy Rich’

Patches For Pollinators: Less Grass To Mow

Jul18

2022

 

 

patches for pollinators

 

 

Patches For Pollinators

 

In this article, I’ll describe how new garden spaces and “Patches for Pollinators” have decreased mowing time, while providing nectar and pollen for pollinators and seeds for songbirds. Also included is information about several insects found in the gardens this summer.

A common theme running through The Farm In My Yard is my goal of replacing much of the lawn with layered gardens, including trees, shrubs, perennials, bulbs, and annuals. Flowers and more natural surroundings attract bees and butterflies, toads and birds.

All the rest of the animal kingdom are showing up as well. Mice, moles, and voles…snakes and rabbits…foxes and deer. Lots of praying mantises, five-lined skinks, ladybugs, fireflies, and many insects I’ve never seen before. Occasionally, a cat sits patiently under the bird feeder until he’s shooed off. And some pests, too, such as…

 

…Japanese Beetles

lettuce-leaf basil, Japanese beetles

Lettuce-leaf basil ‘Tuscany’, with Japanese beetles.

Japanese beetles (Popillia japonica), accidentally imported into the U.S., were first spotted in New Jersey in 1916. They’re present here (northern NC) in enormous numbers this year and demonstrate a particular fondness for my lettuce-leaf basil, marigolds, blueberries, and raspberries. But they will feed on hundreds of species, including linden, cherry, plum, birch, rose, grape, and hollyhock.

To prevent “skeletonized” foliage on farmers’-market-bound basil, I cover the plants with an old sheer curtain to exclude the beetles. Future plans include growing berries and other susceptible plants under insect screening, with allowances made for bumble bees to pollinate the flowers.

Although a few birds eat them, the damage these beetles do to the landscape and to my inventory far outweighs their benefit.

Japanese Beetle Life Cycle

With regular rainstorms, soil stays softer, allowing female beetles to repeatedly lay eggs deeper into the soil in July and August. There, the eggs and young grubs are not stressed by hot, dry soil. White C-shaped grubs feed voraciously on healthy roots (particularly those of lawn grasses), and, in autumn, descend deeper into the ground, protected from severe cold.

In spring, grubs rise closer to the surface to continue feeding. In late spring, well-fed larvae pupate in the ground, and adult beetles emerge in early summer. Moist soil—from rain or irrigation—contributes to this beetle’s success. Where the ground is soft and moist in summer and fall, you can count on large populations of Japanese beetles the following year.

Incidentally, chewed plant tissues emit certain scents which attract even more beetles. That’s why we find them congregating in large numbers in the tops of blueberry bushes or in rose flowers.

Applying Milky Spore powder, a bacterium, to the property (grass and gardens) in early autumn kills grubs feeding on roots. This remedy isn’t 100% effective because beetles fly in from quite a distance—miles, in fact. At the very least, there will be fewer grubs devouring roots in your landscape. If you can encourage the entire neighborhood to apply Milky Spore, everyone will benefit. Except Japanese beetles. Moles, by the way, feed on these grubs. Plenty of those around, as well.

Other than that, I’m not fertilizing the lawn, applying any chemicals, or reseeding. In the future, I might work on a limited amount of presentable lawn close to the house. But for now, since the lawn comprises about 75% weeds and undesirable grasses, I’m just cutting it. Besides, much of that ground will be turned over, amended, and planted with something other than grass.

 

 

Less Grass To Mow With Patches For Pollinators

 

New Gardens

When I bought the house in late 2021, the lawn covered about half the property, taking 5½-6 hours to cut with a walk-behind self-propelled mulching mower. Part of the lawn’s square footage has been taken up by the many plants installed last fall and winter. They’re the beginnings of new gardens, which will expand as I propagate perennials, seed the annuals, and plant drifts of new shrubs. Space taken up by low-maintenance gardens will decrease the time required to cut grass.

 

foxglove

Foxglove.

 

Several white oaks (Quercus alba) tower over the property, providing a high canopy for proposed shady gardens underneath. About 200 tiny foxgloves just began germinating from seeds sown in a pot. Some will be sold at the market, and many will be planted in morning sun or under the trees’ dappled shade.

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) is toxic to most warm-blooded animals, including rabbits and deer. (It is a source of pharmaceuticals, but only under a doctor’s care.) The greatest risk to these plants is from dead twigs falling from the old oak trees.

Foxglove is a biennial, and, if happy, drops seeds at the end of its growth cycle for a self-sustaining colony of plants with stately flower spikes, from cream and pink, and rose to purple. It blooms in spring to early summer, then sheds seeds and dies. After those tiny seeds germinate in summer, young plants will remain dormant in winter. They’ll bloom the following spring, thus repeating the cycle. Insects and hummingbirds gain sustenance from the flowers.

From Crape Myrtle To Virginia Sweetspire

 

patches for pollinators, garden bed with flowers and edible greens

‘Red Russian’ kale, komatsuna, and tiny itea, foreground, plus kales, collards, cosmos, and crape myrtle, toward the back, after planting and mulching.

 

Growing plants from seed is one way to economically fill a large garden bed. I started a new garden last fall, close to the street, where I planted a pink crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) and 2 tiny Virginia sweetspires (Itea virginica ‘Henry’s Garnet’) brought from Charlotte.

Early this year, I turned over the ground to a depth of 10″ between the shrubs and beyond, and added leaf mold and black topsoil from the woods. Also incorporated into the soil was a generous portion of chopped oak leaves stored in trash bags since the previous autumn.

All this loosening of the soil and the additional materials created a raised bed about 22′ long and 6-8′ wide. It’s an irregular shape with a curved outline. And, naturally, it will be enlarged over the years.

purslane, pink and white flowers

Purslane and ‘Red Russian’ kale.

This garden is where I’d planned to have a mass of large light pink cosmos. So, I grew ‘Cupcakes Blush’ from seed and planted about 40 of them in 2 groups. Between them, I added dozens of blue-gray ‘Lacinato’ kale, the similar but more purple ‘Dazzling Blue’ dinosaur kale, and the frilly ‘Red Russian’ kale. Behind the crape myrtle, I planted 10 collards, with rounded light grayish-green leaves. On the end, near the itea, I added a few clumps of komatsuna ‘Green Giant’, with broadly rounded dark green leaves. These plants complement each other in both color and form, and all the greens (kale, collards, komatsuna) are edible.

I picked up a purslane at a local roadside stand. It had solid deep pink flowers on a low, spreading plant. But the heat, apparently, turned the new flowers pink and white striped. So, I stuck that into the “pink garden”, and put a few cuttings near it, which are now growing.

Not In the Pink

I won’t grow ‘Cupcakes Blush’ cosmos again because it took too long to grow and fill out. It didn’t have the number of flowers hyped in the catalog, and fewer than half were light pink!

The fast-growing greens are winners in both vegetable and flower gardens. They’ll look even better when paired with blooming violas in fall and winter. The fact that they survived at all during this overheated summer is a marvel. Adding ‘Scarlet Frills’ mustard greens (edible) will echo the burgundy fall color of the iteas and crape myrtle.

 

Marigolds.

 

***Update***: Close to 2½-3 months of frost-free weather is just too long to put up with plants that aren’t delivering. So, all the “pink” cosmos were taken out in early August, and replaced with dwarf marigolds (photo, above), dwarf ‘Cosmic Orange’ cosmos, and coppery-leaved coleus. Much better. But the pink purslane will have to move. The crape myrtle bloomed very lightly this first season in the garden. 8/6/2022

 

Vegetable Gardens

This property includes a sizable fenced garden, partially shaded by the oaks on the east side of the house. As the sun’s arc shifts through the year, the garden receives more or less sun than it did the previous month.

Last autumn, I stuffed oak leaves into large trash bags, and stored them next to the foundation over the winter. In early February, I incorporated a few of those bags of leaves into the top 12″ of this garden’s soil, along with aged cow manure. After planting the greens, a thick layer of oak leaves was applied as a mulch, keeping soil moist, cooler, and weed-free. By late spring, the greatly improved soil was well-populated by earthworms, and the organic matter will continue to break down for months to come.

I’ll dig and amend more of this garden and add cool season greens, such as spinach, Swiss chard, green onions, and leeks. And peas, of course—the edible-podded ‘Sugar Snap’ and a variety of snow pea called ‘Oregon Giant’. It’ll receive more hours of sun after the trees defoliate. The brassicas (arugula, broccoli, miniature broccoli ‘Happy Rich’, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, kale, mustard greens, pac choi, and others), or cruciferous crops, figure prominently in autumn and winter gardens and in the kitchen.

Hostas brought from Maryland a decade ago grow plump in the composted soil on the shadiest end of the garden. I’ll add more varieties of hostas here, safe from deer, until it’s time to pot them up for the market.

Miniature Broccoli ‘Happy Rich’

 

mini broccoli 'Happy Rich'

Miniature broccoli ‘Happy Rich’ planted 14-16″ apart, with peas behind them.

 

Brassicas (plants in the Brassicaceae family) appreciate moist, well-composted soil, generous portions of aged cow manure, and neutral pH. Here in USDA zone 7, many types of greens can grow in cold weather, even through the winter. I plant several kinds of brassicas every fall. During severely cold periods, a loose covering of clear plastic keeps the foliage in good condition.

Late last winter and in spring, I set out about 30 plants of miniature broccoli ‘Happy Rich’ on the north end of the garden, farthest from the oaks. While the trees were leafless, the plants grew in full sun. Now, in summer, these brassicas enjoy a couple of hours of mid-day shade from the hot sun.

This is one of my all-time favorite vegetables. Maybe even the favorite. I eat this versatile broccoli a few times a week, sell some at the Elkin Farmers’ Market, and donate a bunch when the market hosts cooking demonstrations. Great sweet flavor, and super healthy!

(***Update***: These same plants produced small harvests into mid-November. Then, with cooler weather, leaves grew larger. Unusually cold fall weather—up to 20 degrees colder than average—has caused them to decline earlier than expected. However, after the oaks dropped their leaves, the broccoli grew more vigorously, almost until Christmas, 2022. That’s why ‘Happy Rich’ is my favorite vegetable—9 months of harvests!)

‘Happy Rich’ and Insects

 

harlequin bugs on cabbage

Harlequin bugs on cabbage.

 

‘Happy Rich’ branches out after each cut, producing more stems, leaves, and small heads to harvest. Four species of caterpillars (from 3 species of moths and 1 butterfly) prove quite troublesome all season long, even beyond the first frosts. To prevent them from ruining the brassicas, I spray every 7-10 days with Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis). This isn’t a chemical, but a naturally occurring bacterium that kills larvae of moths and butterflies.

Bright orange and black harlequin bugs (photo, above) also feed on brassicas, spotting and distorting the heads and leaves. I squish them when I see them.

 

patches for pollinators, bumble bee on broccoli flowers

Broccoli ‘Arcadia’ and a bumble bee in spring.

 

As the plants finish up their last harvests now and in spring, some of the stems will bloom. Beneficial insects, especially bumble bees, honey bees, sweat bees, and tiny braconid wasps, collect nectar and pollen from the flowers. Heading broccoli has yellow flowers, but ‘Happy Rich’ has pure white flowers on stems up to 5′ tall.

Tomatoes

After warm weather had settled into the area, I planted several tomatoes and peppers among the mini broccoli plants.

 

tomatoes protected from deer

A small garden for cherry tomatoes.

 

Another section, north of the garden, gets sunlight longer into the season. There, I secured posts and strung deer netting between them (photo, above). It’s a narrow space, so deer won’t jump into it. This small area has a few cherry tomatoes, which can lean against the stronger existing fence, where edible-podded peas grew from late winter to early summer. You can see the pea vines growing through the fence.

Tobacco Hornworms

Tomato plant denuded by tobacco hornworm.

If one of your tomato plants seems a lot less leafy than it did yesterday, it might have a tobacco hornworm (slash markings) or a tomato hornworm (V-shaped markings). This very hungry caterpillar is the larval stage of a hawkmoth. A few weeks after a ‘German Johnson’ tomato went into the garden, it suddenly lost all its foliage. I’ve seen this before and knew to search for a 4″-long green caterpillar.

Several hornworms were found munching on the tomatoes this season. Most were carrying the pupae of a parasitic wasp and had stopped feeding. These pupae look like small grains of white rice. A female wasp lays eggs on or in the caterpillar. The eggs hatch into tiny larvae, which eat the inner tissues of the caterpillar, weakening or killing their host. Those should be left alone.

The few that hadn’t been parasitized lived out their lives on old tomato plants tossed behind the gardens. Birds or other animals might eat them.

Two dozen tomato plants that weren’t good enough to sell found homes in a few other areas around the property. Most are surrounded by posts and deer netting, although the deer did find—and destroy—90% of the big sunflowers meant for the winter songbirds… …

 

 

***Tomato Update***:

(This section added 9/4/2022.)

Tomatoes generally are underproducing. Those getting just an hour more sun are yielding fairly well, but not abundantly. Gardeners in this region experienced devastating blights on tomatoes from frequent rainstorms and persistent humidity.

After planting cleaned up not-quite-dead tomato plants, I sprayed them with a solution of dissolved aspirin. Here’s another link. They recovered better than I had any hope of expecting. Although not receiving the recommended biweekly spraying, they’re still producing fruits.

Later in the season, tomatoes had sun scald due to the sparse foliage, so I shaded new fruits with mesh bags, old peat pots, or large cucumber leaves. Sun scald causes tomatoes to rot.

 

tomato shaded with peat pot to prevent sun scald

Tomato shaded by old peat pot.

 

 

Headings

Page 1: Patches For Pollinators (Japanese Beetles, Japanese Beetle Life Cycle), Less Grass To Mow With Patches For Pollinators (New Gardens, From Crape Myrtle To Virginia Sweetspire, Not In the Pink, Vegetable Gardens, Miniature Broccoli ‘Happy Rich’, ‘Happy Rich’ and Insects, Tomatoes, Tobacco Hornworms, Tomato Update)

Page 2: Long Vines That Might Smother the Grass (Next To the Tree Stumps), Patches For Pollinators: Don’t Mow Here (Weeds To Watch, Early Patches For Pollinators, Late Spring and Summer Patches For Pollinators, Patches For Pollinators: Living Proof, The Saddleback Caterpillar), The Pretty Moths and Butterflies

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Seedlings For Your Garden: 12 Tips

Jun27


2022

Updated 5/21/2024

 

 

 

seedlings, zucchini

 

 

 

Starting Seedlings For Your Garden

 

Busy spring! This lengthy article focuses on starting and caring for seedlings and getting them established in the garden. If I’m not working on the seedlings, I’m working in the gardens, creating new beds and expanding those started last fall and winter. Winter weather was delightfully mild to allow planting right through the cold season. The weeds and I have come to an understanding, and in the next article, I’ll tell you how in “Patches for Pollinators”.

Foremost on the agenda has been starting plants to sell at our local Elkin Farmers’ Market. It’s been a challenge this year, keeping plants in good condition with high heat, heavy humidity, and frequent rainstorms. If I had a climate-controlled greenhouse, there might have been fewer losses. But, for the most part, my company, Wellspring Gardens, is producing more seedlings than I can sell at the market.

Some of that overproduction is destined for the vegetable gardens. It will yield small harvests of produce to sell at the market in addition to what’s needed in the kitchen. This is new territory for me, adding produce to the plants offered at the farmers’ market.

I might even consider canning, which I’ve never done…but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. That would be helpful, though, considering the rapidly rising prices at the grocery store. For that reason alone—the impact of rampant inflation on our wallets—it’s wise to learn how to grow at least a few vegetables.

 

sun's path

The sun’s path across the sky, Charlotte NC.

 

Watching how the sun tracks across the sky from month to month reveals good spots for the sun worshipers and areas where leafy greens should thrive in partial sun. This is my first summer in this house. The massive oak trees create shifting shade patterns that cause me to periodically rethink the plans.

So, let’s begin!

 

 

12 Tips For Starting Seeds

 

 

1. Start with clean materials for seedlings.

 

pepper 'Glow' seeds and cell pack

Sweet pepper ‘Glow’, started in 9-cell packs.

 

This calls for packaged seedling mix or fine-grained potting soil. Don’t use “dirt” from the garden, with its pathogens, insects, weed seeds, and worms that disrupt soil structure around tiny roots. In addition to the unknowns lurking in garden soil, its high clay content causes drainage issues in containers.

Potting soil that has a lot of coarse materials, such as pine fines (bits of pine bark), can be improved by sifting the soil. I use a clean plastic pot with small holes in the bottom. Fill the pot partway with the soil, and shake it vigorously up and down over the containers. Do the same thing when covering seeds.

Soil used previously for potted plants is not a good medium for your seedlings. It’s often depleted of nutrients, might contain pathogens, and the organic matter has partially decomposed. If it’s only one season old, it’s probably safe for transplanting potted annuals, when mixed with fresh potting soil, or incorporated into the backfill for that new sourwood tree. Or simply throw it under the shrubs or into the compost pile (never in the trash!).

Because seedlings are susceptible to soil-borne diseases, play it safe and start with pasteurized bagged seedling mix or potting soil. This, however, doesn’t guarantee a successful outcome, as many disease spores are air-borne. But we can increase the odds of success by using clean materials.

When reusing cell packs, pots, and flats for seeding, wash them in a 10% bleach solution, and rinse well before proceeding. Don’t smoke around plants, and wash hands thoroughly before working with them. Tobacco and other plants in the nightshade family (Solanaceae, including tomato, pepper, eggplant, and potato) can fall prey to the same disease organisms. Spores can transfer from tobacco products to your hands to the plants.

 

Pasteurizing Potting Soil

For bagged soil that’s questionable, you can pasteurize it in the oven. Don’t heat soil that contains timed release fertilizers. Use an oven-safe covered pot or baking dish, wet the soil, and heat the oven to 200°F. When the soil registers 140° on a meat thermometer, lower the oven temperature and maintain soil at that temperature for 30 minutes. This kills most pathogens. Wait for it to dry somewhat and to cool thoroughly before using. Various websites recommend different temperature levels from 140° to 300°. At the high end, however, beneficial microbes are killed off as well.

Let it cool down outdoors. Considering the pervasive “earthy” odor coming from hot soil, you might prefer buying a new bag of seedling mix or accept a small risk with the open bag in the garage.

Another method of pasteurizing (not sterilizing) soil is to place a heat-resistant container of soil in a black plastic bag. Place the bag in a sunny place outdoors on a warm day, and let the sun do the work for you. This is called solarization, and can raise the temperature inside the bag to 140-160°F. To prevent damage to the beneficial microbes, take the temperature, and maintain it at 140° for 30 minutes, opening the bag a bit to prevent overheating.

Most bagged potting soils and seedling mixes already have been heat-treated to eliminate pests. Close the bag securely and store in a cool dark place. The last and only time I pasteurized soil was nearly 50 years ago because that’s what the experts recommended.

 

 

2. Grow disease resistant varieties…

 

While fungicide and bactericide formulations—both organic and conventional—are available, I’d rather grow disease resistant varieties and not rely on spraying. Keep in mind that resistance is not 100% effective, particularly when plants are exposed to stressful weather or cultural conditions.

Certain varieties are more flavorful than others, but all well-grown fruits and vegetables from your own garden taste better than those purchased from grocery stores. Picked when vine-ripened perfect, anything coming from the garden will be superior to what’s found elsewhere except, perhaps, at farmers’ markets and farm stands. Freshly picked produce also has the highest nutrient content.

Digging in the garden is great exercise; proceed slowly at first. Working outside in nature feels good, and self-sufficiency is never amiss. A few steps from the back door gathering a green onion, spinach, dinosaur kale, and a little ripe sweet pepper for the veggie omelet is more rewarding than I can describe. You’ll see!

Those are just a few of the many benefits of growing our own vegetables. Using disease resistant varieties, if available, makes the job so much easier. Many new gardeners gave up after having suffered the disappointment of losing an entire crop to early blight or bacterial leaf spot. And we also have to deal with deer, rabbits, and insects!

Although this article concentrates primarily on edibles, flowering plants also have their own set of disease organisms. Again, look for resistant varieties, grow them in conditions that don’t favor infection, and look for remedies at the garden center.

 

…Especially Tomato Seedlings

tomato disease septoria?

Disease beginning on ‘Rutgers’ tomato.

Tomatoes and peppers, two of the most popular crops for home vegetable gardens, are vulnerable to many diseases. They’re caused by fungal, bacterial, or viral pathogens. In some areas, nematodes also can be a problem. Usually, we can harvest some fruits before disease claims them, but resistant plants last longer in the garden. Plants infected with viruses should be removed and destroyed. For fungal and bacterial pathogens, products at garden centers will help. Always read the labels.

Tomato diseases include Alternaria stem canker, early blight, late blight (Phytophthora; very few varieties are resistant to this one), Fusarium wilt, grey leaf spot, leaf mold, tobacco mosaic virus, tomato mosaic virus, tomato spotted wilt virus, and Verticillium wilt. Catalog listings use initials to indicate disease resistance. For tomatoes, AS, EB, LB, F, GLS, LM, TMV, ToMV, TSWV, and V, respectively, represent those diseases.

Tomatoes are weedy plants and normally produce good crops, despite many organisms that target them. Peppers are susceptible to several races of bacterial leaf spot, and basil to basil downy mildew. Some zinnias are plagued by powdery mildew. Weather conditions, such as high humidity and frequent rain, exacerbate these disease problems.

Most hybrid (or “F1”) tomatoes have some resistance to one or more pathogens, but not to all of them. ‘Big Beef Plus’ is resistant to a wide variety of diseases. ‘Damsel’ and ‘Defiant PhR’ are resistant to late blight. Hybrid seeds carry a higher price than open pollinated varieties due to the cost of research that developed them and the extra steps needed to produce hybrid seeds each year.

It’s so hot out there!

 

shading tomato flowers

 

If you live in a hot climate, look for tomato varieties that have been bred to produce better at high temperatures. The pollen in tomatoes and peppers, and others, can die at high temperatures. While these plants are comfortable at 65-80°F, pollen dies above 88°, 90°, or 92°, depending on the cultivar. No pollination = no fruits! A reference to “heat” or to the “south” in the plant’s variety name indicates its higher tolerance for heat.

Researchers are investigating thermo-tolerant genetics in wild tomato species (Solanum pimpinellifolium) and incorporating them in tomato breeding programs.

One trick to preserve viable pollen is lightly shading the plant in the hot afternoon hours. Attach shade fabric—a black woven mesh—to a support over and on the west side of the tomato or pepper plants. This provides a decrease of up to several degrees in hot climates or temporarily during a heat wave. In the photo, above, mesh bags from the grocery store protect fruits from squirrels and sun scald, and lightly shade new flowers and their pollen from high heat.

The young ‘Estiva’ tomato plants (“estiva” refers to summer), a hybrid bred for heat tolerance and great taste, lost most of their diseased bottom leaves in heavy rains, but those little fruits are still growing! I’ll plant them out this weekend, after the temperatures drop well below the 108° heat index value we have now. Recent weather has been in the record-breaking mid- to high 90’s F, with high humidity. Not my favorite conditions to dig in the garden…so I don’t.  I was not bred for heat tolerance!

***Update***: ‘Estiva’ tomatoes endured this hot summer and produced fruits past the first fall frosts. I covered them on chilly nights to ripen the last of the fruits. These were among the last tomatoes to succumb to the cold, in mid-November. Autumn 2022

A Few More Tomato Tips

Your best defense against tomato disease, in addition to growing disease resistant varieties, includes these tips:

  • Stake them. Tall indeterminate types need a 6-8′ tall stake, taller for some.
  • Space them farther apart, at least 3½-4′.
  • Thin the vines to 3 or 4 main stems by removing excess suckers.
  • Remove leaves on the bottom 12″ of the plants after they’ve become established.
  • Locate them where a breeze blows through the garden. These first 5 tips address increasing air circulation around and through the tomato plants.
  • Give them lots of direct sun—a minimum of 7 or 8 hours. The more sun they receive, the shorter the window of opportunity for pathogens to germinate on damp leaf surfaces.
  • Mulch the soil under the plants to prevent disease spores lying dormant in the soil from splashing onto and infecting the foliage. More on Page 4.
  • Water in the morning to early afternoon so all foliage is dry going into the night. Try to keep the foliage dry at all times and avoid handling wet foliage.
  • Water established plants heavily (1½”/week) when needed, but avoid giving little sips every day. Young seedlings need more frequent watering until their root systems expand.
  • Clip off leaves that show early symptoms (yellowing, spotting), and dip your pruners in alcohol when moving from plant to plant.
  • Don’t smoke near the garden, and wash hands thoroughly before working with plants.
  • Rotate your crops. Don’t plant a member of the Solanaceae family where any members have grown in the past 3-4 years. There’s more about crop rotation on Page 4.

All plants grown with good soil preparation, good air circulation, proper watering techniques, adequate sun, and appropriate fertilization are less stressed. Less stress equates to lower infection rates.

Growing Heirloom Seedlings

 

 

Heirloom tomatoes are always in demand because of their exceptionally good flavor. Heirlooms are open pollinated, which means gardeners can save seeds from fully ripened fruits each year for the next season’s garden. Because they’re not F1 hybrids but have been breeding true, for the most part, for many decades, heirlooms retain their traits from one generation to the next.

These varieties, however, don’t have much built-in disease resistance. Nevertheless, I’m growing a few heirlooms, and spacing them 4′ apart for improved air circulation. We’ll see what happens.

Commercially grown tomatoes must be able to survive long distance transportation and handling without damage. They’re picked early, when green or first showing color. Varieties of these tomatoes have skins that normally are tougher.

Heirloom tomatoes have more desirable thinner skins and, therefore, travel poorly. So, you won’t see them in grocery stores unless those stores buy from local farms. Heirloom tomatoes from the grocery store might cost $5.00/lb. or more! So, yes, it is worth growing a couple of heirloom tomato plants in our gardens.

A few prolonged and heavy rainy periods this spring almost wiped out certain tomato varieties, namely ‘Carmello’, ‘Brandywine’, and ‘German Johnson’. I still have a few that show less damage than others. ‘Black Krim’ and ‘Cherokee Purple’ are doing fairly well, although they are heirlooms. Most of the remaining plants will be set in the garden. There’s usually a breeze blowing through the property, and by spacing them appropriately, I should get plenty of fruits.

 

Basil Downy Mildew

 

basil downy mildew

First symptom of BDM: yellow blotches between the main veins.

 

Although this dreaded disease targets only basil, it hasn’t appeared yet this year. But I’m prepared.

Last year, I grew ‘Rutgers Obsession DMR’ (DMR = Downy Mildew Resistant), an acceptable substitute for our beloved ‘Genovese’ and other susceptible sweet basils. Last year’s ‘Obsession’ did not develop any basil downy mildew (BDM)—not one speck—although wet and humid weather presented a worthy challenge. Other basil varieties in the ground or in pots succumbed to the disease within a week of infection…even young seedlings.

This year, I’m growing ‘Rutgers Obsession DMR’ and also ‘Rutgers Devotion DMR’ outside all summer. In addition, I’m seeding the old favorites, including ‘Genovese’, ‘Italian Large Leaf’, Thai basil ‘Siam Queen’, ‘Marseillais Dwarf’, and ‘Tuscany’, a lettuce-leaf basil. A few non-resistant basil plants will come indoors at night when warranted, as described below. But I’ll stop seeding susceptible varieties, except for a few pots, and concentrate on the resistant ones for the farmers’ market if the disease appears in the neighborhood.

Several other BDM resistant varieties can be purchased as seeds or as started plants.

Avoid High Humidity

basil seedlings in clay pot

Healthy sweet basil, in a pot.

If you want to grow your favorite basil varieties that are not resistant to BDM, there is a way to prevent a total loss.

BDM spores move up from the south on the breeze or on infected plants shipped into the area. The spores don’t overwinter in cold climates. If spores land on a susceptible variety, they need a relative humidity above 80-85% for a couple of hours in order to germinate.

Even during pleasant weather, the relative humidity can reach 90% or higher in the 2-3 hours around dawn. That’s when the temperature is usually the coolest and, therefore, the relative humidity is the highest.

When plants show early symptoms of BDM, remove the affected leaves. Take potted basil plants indoors for the night, every night. Indoor conditions never reach those high humidity levels, so you can still grow your preferred basil varieties successfully with a little effort. Remember to place the plants back outdoors after the sun has been up for a couple of hours.

Follow this regimen during rainy weather, although the plants might need to spend a day or two inside. Find the brightest spot to keep them during their temporary stay indoors. If possible, provide some artificial light. Unless it’s wilting, avoid watering basil indoors. Less sunlight means the plant won’t be photosynthesizing optimally or using much water, and wet soil can initiate root rot.

 

Headings

Page 1: 1. Start with clean materials for seedlings. (Pasteurizing Potting Soil), 2. Grow disease resistant varieties… (…Especially Tomato Seedlings, It’s so hot out there!, A Few More Tomato Tips, Growing Heirloom Seedlings, Basil Downy Mildew, Avoid High Humidity)

Page 2: 3. Timing is important for seedlings. (The Fall Growing Season, Keeping Records, The Cooperative Extension Service, Starting Seedlings Outdoors, Don’t Start Seedlings Too Early, Cool Season Crops, Extending the Growing Season, Seedlings Transplanted Into Bigger Pots, Bunching Onions, The Brassicas, Brassicas In My Garden, Lettuce), 4. Is the temperature suitable for seedlings? (Miniature Incandescent Lights For Warmth, Water Temperature)

Page 3: 5. Start seedlings in small batches. (My Simple Infrastructure), 6. Seedlings need strong light. (Growing Seedlings Under Shop Lights), 7. Cull the weaklings and anomalies. 8. Prevent damping-off disease from killing your seedlings. (Actinovate), 9. Seedlings and plants need fertilizer. (The Elements, Read the Label)

Page 4: 10. Prepare the soil for your transplants. (Start With Good Drainage, Air Pore Space, Gypsum and Lime, Add Nutrient-Rich Amendments, Bury It), 11. Try succession planting for maximum yield. (Crop Rotation, Mulch), 12. Stop the pests before they ruin your garden. (Slugs and Snails, Larvae of Moths and Butterflies, Spider Mites and Thrips, Deer and Rabbits), Concluding

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Starting Seeds for Cool Season Greens

Feb24

 

Starting Seeds for Cool Season Greens 

 

 

dinosaur kale, 7/18/19

 

 

The coldest part of winter has passed for most of us, and it’s time to start seeds for cool season greens. Late winter transitioning to spring is my favorite time of the year. That’s when I start seeds for early harvests. This article covers details for growing some of the early greens, particularly spinach and the brassicas. On Page 3 is a recipe for a veggie omelet, an easy way to get more greens into the diet.

If the garden were bare, I would have started seeds a few weeks ago. But the greens in the vegetable garden continue to offer harvests. Unfortunately, the “list of wants” from the seed catalog is far more extensive than the garden’s square footage can accommodate! It’s time for the last harvest of collards for soup; that’ll open up some space.

While we’re harvesting established cool season greens, I’ll start several new crops indoors. These plants will be plugged into the garden as space opens up. But the seedlings will not be kept in their little pots very long; this stresses the plants and causes them to bolt, or to flower prematurely. (Photo, above: dinosaur kale germinated at night; it will green up in the sunlight.)

 

 

The First of the Cool Season Greens: Spinach

 

spinach 'Monstrueux de Viroflay' in pot

Young spinach ‘Monstrueux de Viroflay’.

 

I would have sown spinach directly into the garden by now, but we’ve had a long run of chilly rain. The soil is so wet that it’s doubtful any seedlings would even be tempted to germinate. At this time of the year, pay close attention to the weather forecasts. Conditions could deviate considerably from the averages.

It’s not good to dig in soil this wet anyway. That would drive out air spaces and ruin the tilth of the soil by compacting it. 

As temperatures begin to moderate, slugs come out in force and will decimate any seedlings that dare to grow in this weather. Rain: good for slugs. Sluggo: bad for slugs! Organic Sluggo pellets attract and kill slugs and snails. This version of the product contains materials (iron phosphate) that add nutrients to the soil. Check the label, though; Sluggo has other products with added ingredients. The organic option is safe to use around the edibles.

 

Spinach From Seed Is Easy!

Spinach germinates readily, from 50°F up to the mid 70’s (soil temperature), as soon as the ground can be worked in late winter or early spring. For better chances of success, choose varieties that are disease resistant and slow-bolting. In well-prepared soil, spinach is one of the easiest crops to seed directly into the garden.

Prepare the bed by incorporating 2″ to 3″ of compost and/or aged manure into the top 5″ of soil. Spinach prefers soil pH near neutral, from 6.5 to 7.3. A soil test will indicate how much lime, if any, should be added to raise the pH.

For baby leaf harvest, sow the seeds thickly in a patch, about 1″ apart. For full-size leaves, space the seeds a few inches apart, with rows 8-10″ apart. Crowding the seeds too closely or poor soil will result in a disappointing crop.

‘Monstrueux de Viroflay’

There’s a wonderful variety called ‘Monstrueux de Viroflay’ (photos, above and below), a French heirloom dating to 1866. It grows very large for spinach, up to 20″ tall with 10″ leaves, and should be spaced several inches apart.

Viroflay, or Monster, as it is often called, is lower in oxalic acid, or oxalates, than other spinach varieties. It might be acceptable for people with health concerns that prohibit spinach consumption. Check with your doctor.

Keep the soil moist and add organic fertilizers, such as fish emulsion, Sea-Plus, or earthworm castings, every 2 weeks. In cold soil, however, liquid synthetic fertilizers high in nitrogen work better than the organics. Microbes in the soil break down organic material and make those nutrients available to plant roots. But microbes are dormant in cold soil, so they can’t perform this vital service. They’ll become more active as the soil warms up in late winter or early spring.

 

spinach seedlings

‘Monstrueux de Viroflay’ spinach seedlings.

Spinach Bowl

Another option is to sow seeds directly into a 14″ wide, 6″ deep bowl filled with fresh potting soil (photo, above). The pot has drainage holes. Portability allows me to bring the pot indoors on especially cold nights while the cool season greens are beginning to germinate. And moisture levels can be carefully monitored.

Since the sappy crooked pine tree that shaded the deck from afternoon sun has been cut down, conditions on the fenced-in deck are more favorable to growing vegetables in containers.

Fill the pot with potting soil to within an inch of the rim. Simply scatter seeds on the surface, a couple of inches apart for smaller varieties and a few inches apart for Viroflay. Cover with another 1/3″ to 1/2″ of soil. Water…and wait… Spinach’s two seed leaves, the cotyledons, are easily differentiated from other seedlings by their long narrow shape. Thin as necessary; you can eat the culls.

Don’t neglect fertilizing potted greens. Rain and irrigation quickly wash nitrogen out of the soil.

 

Harvesting Spinach

Spinach.

Harvesting the crowns begins within 4 or 5 weeks, depending on weather and soil fertility. Pick individual leaves at any age, allowing the central growing tip to continue producing new leaves. Or cut the entire plant at the soil line before flower buds begin to grow.

By sowing new crops of spinach every week or two, you’ll have continuous harvests of spinach, as long as the weather favors growth.

Spinach quickly bolts, or goes to flower, at temperatures above 75°. Dry or nutrient-poor soil stresses the plants. And spinach will flower prematurely if the plants are stressed by growing too close together.

Harvest the entire plant if you notice flower buds forming. Cutting off the flowers will not stimulate spinach to grow a new bunch of leaves. Instead, start more seeds.

Use spinach steamed as a side dish, or in sauces, soups, smoothies, salads, pasta dishes, or an omelet.

 

 

And Then the Brassicas

 

cool season greens grown as microgreens

These microgreens are mostly brassicas.

 

The Brassicaceae family is a huge group of edibles. It includes arugula, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, kale, komatsuna, mizuna, mustard greens, pac choi, radish, tatsoi, turnip, and others.

All members have similarly notched seed leaves, or cotyledons. Those are the first two heart-shaped leaves to emerge from the seeds (photo, above). Because the seed leaves are already formed inside the seed, the little plant can begin photosynthesizing—and feeding itself—immediately upon germination. True leaves, which develop after the seed leaves, are also similar for most of the cruciferous vegetables. That’s why it’s important to label your pots so you can distinguish “this” seedling from “this other similar looking” seedling.

 

Include On the Label:

  • the name of the crop (dinosaur kale)
  • the name of the cultivar (‘Black Magic’)
  • the date of sowing (brassicas germinate in less than a week if sown indoors)

Store leftover seeds in their original packets, and make sure the cultivar name is included on the label. Store in a cool, dry place, such as the refrigerator. Most seeds of cool season greens are viable for 2 years or so. If not already indicated, mark the year of purchase on the packet.

It’s helpful to keep a record of the varieties you’ve tried and liked or disliked. Include how you started the seeds (in 4″ pots or cell-packs, under lights, directly in the garden), the dates you seeded and transplanted, and the weather conditions. Include notes on what was successful and what wasn’t, and possible explanations. Did the seeds germinate and then keel over and die (damping-off disease)? Did critters eat your cool season greens as soon as they started growing? Should the seeds have been started earlier? Or later?

There are successes and failures in every gardener’s life. Being able to pinpoint the reasons for a disappointing crop will enable you to be more watchful or to try a different approach next time. Check with your local cooperative extension office, through state land-grant colleges and universities, for advice. Failure is a learning experience, not a reason to stop trying!

 

Damping-Off

Damping-off disease can appear soon after germination. Sometimes, diseased seedlings don’t even appear above the soil, looking as though the seeds didn’t sprout at all. The small seedling develops a narrowed brown spot on the stem. Then the top of the plant falls over, and the seedling dies. This is caused by several species of fungus, whose spores are in the air, in the soil, in the water, or on the seeds themselves.

Damping-off often accompanies:

  • poor air circulation
  • high humidity
  • crowding
  • low light
  • low temperatures
  • reusing old soil
  • and overwatering

Space the seeds farther apart, run a small fan nearby, water in the morning, and increase the temperature and light levels if they’re low.

The first time I used the organic biological fungicide called Actinovate, life became a bit sweeter. It is costly, but a much safer option than chemical fungicides. And, with the number of seedlings I grow each year, a wise investment. Make up a small amount of the solution when needed and apply from a spray bottle or a small watering can when sowing the seeds and as soon as the seeds germinate. Always exercise caution when using sprays, and read the labels.

 

Caterpillars on Cool Season Greens

When the weather warms up in mid- or late spring, you’ll notice butterflies and moths flying around your cool season greens. How nice, you might think. But those lovely insects are on a mission, and that mission is to find suitable plants on which to lay their eggs.

 

 

Most of the brassicas are targeted by the female:

  • Cabbage Moth (or Diamondback Moth)
  • Cabbage Looper
  • the velvety green Imported Cabbageworm (also called the Small White Butterfly or Cabbage White Butterfly—white with black markings). Look for them lined up on the leaf’s midrib.
  • Cross-striped Cabbageworm (fine black stripes across the back, yellow stripe on the sides).
  • A few other species target particular brassicas or are limited geographically.

Here in my North Carolina garden, the 1¼” long Imported Cabbageworm has been the most commonly seen caterpillar on the brassicas. It is well-camouflaged in the green foliage. But for the past couple of years, populations of the Cross-striped Cabbageworm have been increasing. They’re especially pesky when lodged among the broccoli florets. Sometimes I don’t see them until I begin cutting the broccoli (just remove them). Inspecting the produce and spraying Bt regularly takes care of that.

Eggs hatch in a few days to a week, and immediately get to work chewing little holes and then bigger holes in your broccoli, kale, and other brassicas.

 

Harlequin bugs on cabbage

 

Another insect feeding on brassicas is the black and orange harlequin bug (photo, above). I squish them when I see them, although they’ll see you approaching them and will try to hide. They cause whitish blotches and distortions in the foliage.

Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt)

As soon as you notice the white moths and butterflies flitting near the brassicas, it’s time to get the sprayer bottle ready. The imported cabbageworm is the larval stage of a butterfly and the one you’ll see in the daytime. The other caterpillars are moth larvae and are active at dusk or at night.

Mix up a solution of Bt, Bacillus thuringiensis, available from the garden center. Dipel and Thuricide are brand names for Bt. It doesn’t take long for these voracious little caterpillars to inflict considerable damage to your plants, so don’t delay.

Spray both the upper and lower surfaces of the foliage, occasionally agitating the solution. Begin spraying a few days after first seeing the moths, or certainly when you see holes appearing. Set the sprayer nozzle to a very fine spray; larger drops of water will bead off the waxy foliage. One or two drops of dish soap in the sprayer will help the solution stick to the foliage if you can’t get a fine spray.

It washes off in the rain, but any Bt clinging on the reverse (bottom leaf surface) might be enough for the current batch of caterpillars. Spray the brassicas every 5 to 10 days, as long as the insects are active.

 

sprayer

 

How Does Bt Work?

Bt is a naturally occurring bacterium that disrupts the caterpillar’s digestive system when ingested. The insects stop feeding immediately and die within a day or two. Spray as soon as you notice them because young caterpillars are more susceptible to Bt than older caterpillars.

Bt effectively rids the garden of moth and butterfly larvae, including swallowtails that eat parsley. Although they won’t bother your broccoli, black swallowtail larvae feed on parsley and its relatives in the Apiaceae family, including dill, cilantro, and bronze fennel.

The tradeoff? Fewer moths and butterflies, but more undamaged produce. I enjoy watching the black swallowtail butterflies, though, so I plant the large perennial bronze fennel for the caterpillars picked off the parsley and dill. Bt targets larvae of moths and butterflies, and nothing else.

After picking the crops, I sometimes let the caterpillars feast on the remains. Those caterpillars might feed another brood of baby birds or green anoles at that time of year. Once cold autumn weather has settled into the area, these caterpillars will no longer be around to bother the fall crop. Autumn is another delightful time to garden.

Bt is perfectly safe to use on edibles. Use up the diluted solution within a few days. Store Bt in a cool location out of the sun. Buy a small fresh bottle every couple of years, as this is a live organism, not a chemical.

 

 

Headings

Page 1: Starting Seeds for Cool Season Greens, The First of the Cool Season Greens: Spinach (Spinach from Seed Is Easy!, ‘Monstrueux de Viroflay’, Spinach Bowl, Harvesting Spinach), And Then the Brassicas (Include On the Label, Damping-Off, Caterpillars on Cool Season Greens, Bacillus Thuringiensis [Bt], How Does Bt Work?)

Page 2: Broccoli (Improve the Soil for Cool Season Greens, Harvesting and Side Shoots, When the Brassicas Bloom), Mini Broccoli (Early Sprouting Broccoli and ‘Spring Raab’, Broccoli ‘Happy Rich’, Who’s My Favorite?, Gai Lan and ‘De Cicco’, Sowing Seeds, Late Sprouting Broccoli)

Page 3: Dinosaur Kale, Hardening Off Cool Season Greens (Gradual Changes), Growing Plants Under Lights (More Tips Using Artificial Light), Getting More Cool Season Greens Into Your Diet, A Veggie Omelet Recipe Using Cool Season Greens

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Pages: 1 2 3

Easy Broccoli One and Easy Broccoli Two: Recipes

Aug1

 

broccoli one and broccoli two recipes

Fresh broccoli crowns.

 

 

The route from “farm to table” can’t be any shorter than if it starts in your own back yard. Here are two broccoli recipes that take minutes to prepare, and might convince you to grow some plants this fall. 2 or 3 servings.

 

 

Easy Broccoli One:

 

  • Use a medium size pot, with a lid. Add 2 or 3 Tbsp. water.
  • Broccoli: Rinse a fresh crown, about 5″ in diameter. Remove tough, thick stem. Cut head into bite-size florets; remaining tender stems should be cut smaller. Some people don’t use the stems, just under the head, but they’re perfectly edible, as are the leaves. Place florets into the pot.
  • Mushrooms: Wash and trim stems of a few white button mushrooms, slice, and add to pot.
  • Cover, heat up the pot, then lower temperature, to steam the broccoli and mushrooms. Mix once or twice. Don’t overcook; heat enough to turn broccoli to a bright dark green color, which takes only a minute or two. Overcooking this vegetable makes it soft and smelly.
  • Finely mince a clove of garlic, and add to a small butter pot (ours is 3″ in diameter, stainless steel) with 1 tsp. butter and 1 or 2 Tbsp. olive oil. Heat this pot over low to medium heat until garlic is a light golden color. (Burned garlic tastes terrible. If you have to start over, that’s better than using the burned garlic.) This step might take a bit longer than cooking the broccoli; I start this one first.
  • Drain water from the broccoli pot. Add to the broccoli the contents from the garlic pot and a dash of salt. Mix and serve.

 

This is a great, fast side dish by itself. Or use it over some enriched pasta, with a little more oil and grated Romano cheese. Photo, below—it’s dinner, with a few black olives on the side.

 

easy broccoli one

 

 

 

Easy Broccoli Two:

 

  • cheese and graterIn a medium frying pan, add about 2 Tbsp. thinly sliced onion and 1 or 2 Tbsp. olive oil. On medium heat, cook and turn until onion is transparent to a light golden color.
  • Then add broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces, prepared as in Easy Broccoli One. Add 2 Tbsp. water and a dash of salt.
  • Mix well, and cover to steam over low heat. Stir once or twice, adding water if necessary. It’s done when it turns a bright green color or cook it to the desired tenderness. Drain excess water.
  • Serve with grated Romano cheese.

 

 

Wasn’t that easy? Delicious and super-healthy! Sometimes I add a few stems of ‘Happy Rich’ miniature broccoli (photo, below) if they’re ready to pick. This variety has small heads with great flavor. Several inches of the stem and the leaves are also edible. Like other brassicas, it tolerates freezing temperatures, and this one often forms heads until mid summer.

B and C vitamins are water soluble. Use as little water as possible so nutrients aren’t washed down the drain. Or, add the liquid to soup or freeze for later use.

After trying these recipes, you might decide to grow your own broccoli. Start seeds yourself or look for transplants at your local garden center or farmers’ market in mid summer to early fall and again in late winter to early spring. After you pick the main head, smaller side shoots (photo, below) will grow above the remaining leaves for many more weeks. You’d be right if you were thinking that broccoli is “the gift that keeps on giving”. Enjoy!

 

 

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Time To Think About Fall Greens and Vegetables

Jul29

Updated 11/16/2024

 

 

Ready To Grow Fall Greens and Vegetables?

 

 

seedings of early spring greens

 

 

It’s hard to believe it’s already time to start seeds for fall greens and vegetables. I’ve been putting it off because of the hot weather we’ve been having. But, unless I want to buy transplants, seeds will have to be started soon. You folks up north probably have sown seeds for the broccoli and cauliflower by now, and certainly the Brussels Sprouts.

Here in North Carolina, fall seems a long time away, but in order for us to harvest those fall greens, we need to start sowing seeds now. Remember to locate your fall/winter garden where it will receive adequate sunlight. And, of course, I’ll sow successive crops through the rest of summer and early fall, as space permits.

Because we have a long growing season in the Carolinas, we can squeeze in another crop of summer vegetables. Zucchini, summer squash, cucumber, and beans can be sown again. But with the encroaching canopy of the trees on the berm, south of the garden, I’ll be planting only cool-season vegetables for late summer and autumn harvests. The ‘Diva’ cucumber is loaded with fruits. And I will wait patiently for every last fruit to ripen on the tomatoes and peppers.

(***Update***: A few days ago, a large and dangerously crooked pine tree was taken down, and now there’s more afternoon sun for the tomatoes and peppers. More sun also gives us opportunities to grow containerized vegetables and fall greens inside the fence, protected from deer. August 2018)

 

 

If They Can’t Take the Heat

 

spinach in a bowl

Spinach.

Temperatures are still too high to sow lettuce and spinach outdoors, so I’ll wait another week or two. It’s still in the 90’s! They can be started indoors, in air-conditioned space, if needed.

Check the temperature of the soil before sowing seeds in the garden. Direct sun beating down on the dark soil surface can raise the temperature too high and dry it out very quickly. Look for one of those “Easy Tunnels”, or fabricate something yourself, to partially shade the soil and the tender young seedlings. You can purchase knitted shade fabric, made from black polyethylene, from mail order suppliers. In the southern states, 30-50% shading should work during the late summer months. This could lower the temperature by 10° or 15°F. Keep the soil surface moist to ensure good germination and to cool it down.

The best germination occurs between 55° and 70°F for lettuce and spinach. I usually put transplants into the garden instead of sowing seeds directly because hungry slugs, snails, and cutworms find tiny seedlings very tender and delicious.

Organic Sluggo will bait the mollusks (slugs and snails) to their deaths, and Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), sprayed on the seedlings, will kill cutworms. Slug baits made with iron phosphate, such as organic Sluggo, are far less harmful to pets and to people than products containing metaldehyde, so be sure to read the labels.

One way to gather up a whole lot of slugs is to place a board, maybe 1′ x 2′, over damp soil. Go out and check the underside early the next morning, old knife in hand, and cut them quickly in half or squish them any way you choose…but, don’t use salt in the garden!

 

Choosing Varieties of Fall Greens

 

botanical interests seeds 

Sowing seeds for fall greens and vegetables, which prefer cool weather, can be tricky in July’s heat. Look online or through seed catalogs for lettuce, spinach, broccoli, and other crops that are described as being heat tolerant varieties. Yes, all lettuce and broccoli varieties prefer cool temperatures, but some will take warmer or colder weather than others as they form heads. If you’re buying transplants, ask the grower.

Either way, plan to provide some sort of device that will lower the temperature during these last hot weeks of summer. For later harvests, I’ll sow seeds that grow cool and mature in cold weather, and they will not need the shade fabric. Plants grow better with more hours of direct sun as the temperatures cool down.

Check with your local agricultural extension office for recommendations or for a planting calendar.

 

 

Planting Young Transplants

 

Soil

turned soil

Rich, dark soil with lighter brown clumps of clay, before incorporating.

Starting a vegetable garden with soil that has not been conditioned could result in a mediocre or poor harvest. Fall greens grow faster and larger in well-prepared soil.

Garden soil for these crops needs additional organic matter (compost, composted cow manure), drainage material (pine fines, coarse sand), and sometimes lime. A soil test will indicate the need for lime.

Our fall greens are being planted in soil that has been worked for 6 years, so it’s in very good condition. I will, however, continue to add compost, fertilizer, or manure to the garden with all new plants.

When digging soil, bring some of the lower-level clay up to the surface, and turn under the richer topsoil 4″ to 6″ deep (a few inches deeper for tomatoes, in spring). Over time, the clay soil on the surface will improve as mulch decomposes or when compost is added as a top dressing. Here you can see clumps of light brown clay that were brought to the surface of the soil (photo, above) before they were broken up.

 

Roots

Growers use pots and market packs of various sizes, including small 9-cell packs, 4-cell packs, 2″ peat pots and 4″ plastic pots. A smaller root ball needs more careful monitoring while the plant becomes established.

 

 

An important step before planting is to rough up the outside of the root ball (photos, above). This slightly injures the inner root layer called the pericycle, stimulating the plant to quickly send out new lateral roots into the soil. Be careful not to so severely damage the root system that the plant can’t supply water to the leaves on a hot, sunny day. Do this for every plant that is about to be repotted or planted into the garden.

A root ball that’s tightly packed with roots can be shallowly scored down the sides in a few places. Use a knife, a rock, or even a twig. Or use a cultivator to pry out some of the roots.

 

To Bury or Not To Bury?

broccoli

Broccoli ‘Arcadia’ from 4-cell-pack.

Most young vegetable transplants can be placed an inch deeper into the soil, or up to the bottom leaves. If the plant is more mature and has developed a somewhat woody or tough stem, plant it at the same level it was growing in the pot. But always, if possible, choose younger transplants.

Older plants can be stressed by being potbound or underfertilized, and might go to flower or head up prematurely, yielding undersized harvests. Young plants require more time to grow, but they will give you the largest heads of lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage. If in doubt, plant the top of the root ball level with the soil surface.

Firm the soil around the roots and stem using medium pressure. Humidity between the soil particles encourages the stem to grow fine roots without interference from tightly packed soil. Watering the plant helps the soil settle in around the root system and charges the soil with much-needed moisture.

 

broccoli in winter

Broccoli ‘Arcadia’ in winter.

 

These are same broccoli ‘Arcadia’ plants photographed in late December (photo, above). Trees on the berm cast too much shade until leaves dropped off, delaying harvest. When the garden gets more sun, heads should form in mid to late winter.

 

Fertilizer for Fall Greens

Planting fall greens and vegetables into late September, I mix a handful of granular organic vegetable fertilizer into the planting area. These crops grow beautifully with adequate nitrogen, so I will soon use higher nitrogen fish emulsion. Another application of fish emulsion will be made every 2-3 weeks through November, or every 2 weeks for potted greens.

mustard seedlings

Mustard seedlings in the garden.

Microbes in the soil break down organic compounds and make nutrients available to the roots. But, as the weather cools significantly, microbial activity slows down. I’ll use synthetic soluble fertilizers a few times in winter to keep the plants growing.

Greens and vegetables can grow all winter here, with some protection during very cold weather. This is worth the effort, since I can pick beautifully fresh kale and spinach for the Sunday omelet, or a big bunch of collards for collards soup.

Mustard greens ‘Florida Broadleaf’ was sown in late September, and germinated a few days later. The thinned seedlings will be used in soup, salad, or an omelet. Spinach sprouted about a week later.

 

 

Arugula

 

 

Love, love arugula! A forkful of salad greens that has a piece of arugula in it…mmm… The variety I prefer is ‘Astro’. It’s not as hot as the wild types, and it tolerates warmer temperatures. Arugula self-sows if it likes where it’s growing. Just let it flower and set seed. The papery seed capsules release the seeds, which germinate within 2 weeks, during favorable weather, near the mother plant.

It grows well in morning sun, during warm weather, and in moist, rich soil. Those who are more adventurous than I might enjoy growing the hotter ‘Wasabi’. Arugula doesn’t look like a member of the family Brassicaceae, but it, too, is in that famous family.

You might have seen the term “cruciferous” being used when describing members of the Brassicaceae family (formerly Cruciferae). It refers to the flowers of these plants, which have 4 petals arranged in the shape of a crucifix. The terms brassica, cole crops, and crucifer (or cruciferous) refer to the same plants.

 

 

Broccoli

 

One of the most nutrient-rich foods, broccoli is a must in my garden. Nutrients include protein, Vitamins A, several B’s, C, K, minerals, fiber, and their famous phytonutrients. To say that we eat broccoli in one form or another every 2 or 3 days is not an exaggeration. Just ask Mother.

broccoli crowns

Broccoli crowns.

Heat and cold tolerance ranges from poor to excellent, depending on the cultivar. In this zone 7b area, ‘Imperial’ can be sown in July or planted as transplants from July through August; Johnny’s Selected Seeds’ catalog rates it “excellent” in heat tolerance for broccoli. Normally, broccoli grows best in cool weather, but you can extend the harvest by choosing 2 or 3 varieties that are suited to the weather at different times of the year.

The variety that will see us through the winter is cold-hardy ‘Arcadia’, which grows a large number of side shoots once the main head has been harvested. For that reason, don’t cut off too many leaves when you do harvest broccoli, because each of those leaves could be topped by another side shoot.

By the way, tender broccoli leaves are edible as well. Add them to soup, a smoothie, pasta, or a stir-fry. After the harvest is done, I keep the plants in the garden to flower. Bumble bees and other early risers are fond of this bounty, and the flowers are quite pretty!

 

broccoli flowers and bumblebee

Bumble bee visiting broccoli flowers in early spring.

 

 

 

Miniature Broccoli ‘Happy Rich’

 

broccoli happy rich, delicious fall greens

Broccoli ‘Happy Rich’.

I’ve grown ‘Happy Rich’ for many years. This plant grows a small head at the end of a stem, harvested ideally before the white flowers open. Each of those little green beads is a flower bud, and even if the buds start opening when the stems are picked, they’re still going to the kitchen.

The head will never get to the same size as regular broccoli, but the flavor is superb. Once the little heads have been cut off with 6″ to 10″ of the stem, the plant will branch out and grow more little heads. The stem, the leaves, and the head are edible—steamed, stir-fried, or added to soup or a pasta dish.

Two plants have been growing in the garden since the spring, and they don’t look very happy. It’s been a hot summer in Charlotte, so I didn’t expect them to survive this long.

***Update***: In autumn, 2021, I moved to a larger property in the Piedmont, with lots of gardening potential. In the photo, below, ‘Happy Rich’ produced harvests for over 9 months in 2022. An Arctic Blast just before Christmas, when the temperature dropped 50 degrees to the low single digits, put an end to this planting. This area is in USDA zone 7b, so average temperatures allow growth all through the winter for many types of greens…usually. 11/16/2024

 

miniature broccoli 'Happy Rich'

Miniature broccoli ‘Happy Rich’ in spring.

 

Bt

 

 

The imported white cabbage butterflies visit frequently—more frequently, alas, than I do with the bottle of Bt.

Bt is an abbreviation for Bacillus thuringiensis, a naturally-occurring bacterium that kills caterpillars of moths and butterflies, and nothing else. Before you groan “no chemicals”, Bt is used by organic growers and it’s been around for decades. Perfectly safe, even for pollinators, and not a chemical. It easily rinses off produce. You can find both organic and conventionally prepared products.

All brassica crops are targeted by a few kinds of moths and one species of butterfly, which lay eggs on the leaves. The eggs soon hatch into voraciously hungry and well-camouflaged caterpillars. After consuming some of the Bt, they stop feeding and die shortly thereafter. Young caterpillars are more easily controlled than older caterpillars. Thuricide and Dipel are two brand-name products with Bt as the active ingredient.

 

cross-striped cabbageworm, common on cool season greens

Cross-striped cabbageworm, becoming more common here, on mustard greens. Expect several generations per season. Look for clusters of white woolly eggs.

 

 

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Page 1: Ready To Grow Fall Greens and Vegetables?, If They Can’t Take the Heat (Choosing Varieties of Fall Greens), Planting Young Transplants (Soil, Roots, To Bury Or Not To Bury?, Fertilizer for Fall Greens), Arugula, Broccoli, and Miniature Broccoli ‘Happy Rich’ (Bt)

Page 2: Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Collards, Kale, Lettuce, Nutritional Considerations of Fall Greens (The Sulforaphanes, Where’s the Beef?), and Only the Beginning

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