Monday, May 18, 2015

Garden Update 18 May 2015

Super_Star_onion

 

The onion plants from Dixondale are now obviously breaking dormancy and starting to grow. These are Super Star sweet white onions, an intermediate day onion I am trying for the first time. These are much larger than plants I have grown from seed, but they are dormant when planted and take several weeks before they establish roots and start growing. I was wondering if you really gain any advantage with the dormancy delay, but comparing these to my seed grown shallots, I would have to say yes. Sometime next week I will add some blood meal to the onions for their first nitrogen feeding.

 

Golden_Sweet_pea

 

The Golden Sweet snow peas are about a foot tall and looking for a trellis to climb. That was Sunday's task, to construct and erect 4 new trellises and cover them with netting. Trying to unravel a 50-foot length of trellis netting in the wind was a challenge so I had to enlist the aid of my son. I’m now ready for the peas and the pole beans I will plant next week.

 

beets

 

The beets have emerged and are in bad need of a thinning. I plant 16 per square and you can see I got 16 to germinate in this square. I do not usually get such a good germination rate with beets, particularly in dry weather as this has been.

 

chard

 

The chard is doing really well and starting to add size. So far they are not bothered by leaf miners. I usually get those later in the season. The unplanted squares on either end of the bed are waiting for the cucumber plants I have started inside in peat strips. When the cucumber plants are ready to set out, I plan to dip them in a Surround clay slurry to see if I can ward off the cucumber beetles and the dreaded bacterial wilt.

 

endive

 

The endive is starting to grow, as is the escarole above it. It is time for another dose of Sluggo to deter any slugs looking to make a salad out of my greens before I do.

 

kohlrabi

 

The kohlrabi are starting to add size. That is Azur Star at the bottom and Winner above it. They weren’t affected by the flea beetles when I looked last week, but the beetles have now discovered them so these got sprayed.

 

spinach

 

The Tyee spinach is looking good and maybe I will start getting a few leaves next week.

 

brassicas

 

In my other plot, the row of brassicas are doing very well under their Agribon tent. That is Fiesta broccoli on the right, then dinosaur kale and Brussels sprouts on the far left. Notice the leaves are hole and bug free. The challenge is to keep the row cover closed at all edges despite the high winds we are getting.

 

transplants

 

Next week is going to be a frenzy of planting. All of the above transplants are being hardened off outside and most will go in the garden by the end of the week. The peppers and eggplant are still inside under the lights and they may not go into the garden until June. There is no point in exposing them to possible cold nights, which will just set them back and delay growth.

 

That’s an update of my garden. To see what other gardeners are harvesting from their gardens, visit Daphne’s Dandelions, our host for Harvest Monday.

14 comments:

  1. Even though my onions were grown from seed, I still find it takes them a while to get going once I transplant them outside. For the first few weeks, they look pretty sorry - good thing I made of note of that last year or I would have been worried.

    Your transplants look great! I'll be planting out everything by next week too, although many of mine are behind where they should be. This year has been a strange year for my transplants - for some reason, they do not seem to be growing as well as usual, so I've decided to get them in the ground ahead of schedule - I think they'll do better then.

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    1. The peppers are still tiny but once I potted up the tomatoes they have boomed. They are ready to go in the ground. Maybe I need to pot up the peppers to get them going.

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  2. As much as I want to get everything in the ground, it seems there might be another cool night or two next week, so I'm holding off. Your peas look amazing!

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    1. I'm with you. I am wary of the unstable weather we have been having and the possibility of a really cold night, or even a freeze.

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  3. Looks great, Dave. Congratulations on getting a full square of beets--I always have spotty germination with them. Your peas, chard, and spinach are outpacing mine. When did you plant?

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    1. Thanks. The peas were seeded on 4/12, just before the only significant rain we have had. Chard was started indoors 4/5 and set out 4/26. I started the spinach indoors in 3/4" soil cubes 4/12 and set out on 4/28.

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  4. Your garden is coming along nicely. The onion starts do take a while to get going, but once they do they really seem to take off. You do have your work cut out, that's a lot of transplants to get int the garden. I'm facing the same task...

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    1. Except your task is ten times larger. Good luck with that.

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  5. I wish I had grown copra onions from seed as I'm growing them from the transplants from Dixondale. I do have shallots from seed, but it isn't a true comparison as they are different plants. I think my shallots are a tad better overall, but a lot better than the Walla Wallas as they were really tiny when they came.

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    1. Too bad about your Copras, maybe they will take off and surprise you. My Copra plants were reasonable size and the Red Zeppelin were huge. Only the Candy onions were tiny, but those will get pulled while smaller anyway.

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  6. Those plants look good under the row covers. That and the black plastic seems to be doing the trick to keep them clean and get them growing. I know what you mean about working in the wind. The wind always seems to pick up when I try and spread paper for mulch, or use a row cover!

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    1. Yes, as soon as I got the row cover measured and cut, the wind picked up. Took two of us to get it over the hoops and clipped into place.

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  7. Your plants are looking good Dave, despite the bugs! I'm particularly interested to see you growing Endives. Not many people I know grow these. They have an undeserved reputation for bitterness. I love to grow Endives, even though they are hard to get right. In my dry sandy soil they bolt very readily, so need constant attention. I recently bought some Endive seeds in France, where they are much more popular.

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    1. The variety of Endive I grow is a French variety called Dubuisson. Endive must be popular with Germans as well since my parents always grew it. The slugs love it too. The bitterness and frizziness is tamed by wilting it with a warm bacon dressing. And as you once suggested, a bit of crumbled bleu cheese is nice.

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