Growing Cabbage and Broccoli

Sorry I have not been on here in a while. The weather here in Iowa finally broke out of winter's hold in May and us gardeners had to get busy. Good news, it was a cold, wet spring, ideal for cool weather crops, even if planting was a little late we still had a great harvest of peas, radishes, leaf lettuce, spinach, and romaine.

I planted my cabbage and broccoli later than recommended, but so far they are both doing very well. I know some people shy away from growing their own cabbage and broccoli because of pests. When the weather gets warm, the pests start their feast on plants like cabbage and broccoli.

Don't let pests rule your garden! Plant what you want, not what pests won't eat. Cabbage and broccoli are better tasting when homegrown (as with anything). And are fairly low maintenance when grown in the right environment.

This is my first year growing cabbage, and my second year growing broccoli. The last time I grew broccoli, I planted in my garden, not a garden bed. Besides summer coming in March last year, the pests did a number on my broccoli and I had none by the end of the growing season. But this year I tried something different. I grew my broccoli and cabbage, together, in a garden bed. My garden bed is 4 feet by 4 feet and about 2 feet high, it is well off the ground. I had to thin my cabbage and broccoli out quite a bit to allow room for growth, but so far (and doing well) I have four cabbage plants in two rows and seven broccoli plants in two rows. What's nice about this close proximity planting is that weeds can't grow because the large leaves from the plants block the light. I have had a few weeds in my garden beds this year. The raised garden beds help deter pests because they won't (usually) climb garden beds to get to plants, thus eliminating the need for garden cloth or other ground covers to deter pests, which is usually recommended with broccoli and cabbage plants. So far the only rips in my plant leaves have been from excessive wind during storms, and it has not effected the plant's growth.

Broccoli and cabbage in raised bed. June 16, 2013.

Cabbage and broccoli prefer colder weather, so planting them in partial shade is ideal as they don't like excessive heat. My plants are in more full sun than I would like, but I have another problem to contend with...a black walnut tree. Broccoli and cabbage do not grow well under or near walnut trees, as many plants don't. Walnut trees put out a toxin from their roots as do the walnuts that fall from the tree. Sensitive plants like peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, and broccoli don't do well or grow at all near these trees. Needless to say, this is why my cabbage and broccoli are in more sun than I would like or recommend.

I sowed my cabbage and broccoli directly in the garden bed, although they will do well if you start them inside. However, as I have learned from experience, do not start your plants too early, the soil will lose nutrients and the plants will starve and die. If you do start your cabbage and broccoli plants indoors, start them about three to four weeks before planting outside. Broccoli and cabbage can be planted 2 to 3 weeks before the last spring frost date, they will tolerate a light frost. My plants even survived a freak early May snowfall, they were covered with about 4 inches of snow for 24 hours. However, young plants may not survive a hard freeze for extended periods, always check the extended forecast before planting seedlings outside.

One other problem with broccoli and cabbage is root rot. Make sure to not over water your plants and ensure they are in soil that is well drained, and loamy (adding some sand to your soil helps with this). A sure sign of root rot is yellowing leaves and stems, and stunted growth. There is no cure for root rot, if you notice one of your plants has root rot, pull it immediately to avoid infecting other plants. Do NOT throw infected plants into compost piles or on the ground near other plants. Ideally put the infected plant into a burn pile, burn barrel, or throw into your trash.

I hope this information has increased your confidence and your desire to grow cabbage and broccoli. If you would like additional information on growing cabbage and broccoli, check out my Pinterest boards: Growing Cabbage and Growing Broccoli

I love spring anywhere, but if I could chose, I would always greet it in a garden. -Ruth Stout

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Magnesium Deficiency in Tomato Plants

About four days ago I noticed my tomato plant's leaves were turning yellow, but the veins were still green. This is a sure sign of a magnesium deficiency and can kill plants if not treated. But, luckily, its easy and cheap to cure.

Potted plants and seedlings in trays can experience soil depletion. Meaning, the plants soak up all the nutrients in the soil and will start to show signs of stress and nutrient deficiency. It's important to keep those plants "fed" with fertilizers, and there are lots of organic options to help keep plants healthy. Tomatoes are especially "hungry" plants, during their growing and fruit producing stages they are what I call "nutrient supersoakers". Tomatoes like plenty of nitrogen, and magnesium. Before transplanting your tomatoes outside dump wood ashes on your soil and mix in with the soil to prevent a strong wind from carrying away your ashes. Ideally, you want to let the ashes "soak" into the soil for a few months, but if you are pressed on time, some ashes are better than none. We have a wood stove that we use for heat over the winter and we have been dumping wood ashes on our garden beds all winter, the snow was excellent for packing the ashes down into the soil for deep soaking. Giving your plants magnesium is as easy as buying Epsom Salt. Epsom Salt is actually Magnesium Sulfate, not salt, so it is an excellent organic source of magnesium for your plants.

Once I noticed the deficiency in my tomato plants, I went out and bought some Epsom Salt. If a magnesium deficiency is left untreated, the leaves will eventually turn yellow, and the veins, and the leaves will die and fall off. I mixed one to one and a half tablespoons with warm (not hot) water in a gallon jug and shook the jug until most of the "salt" had dissolved. The nice thing about Epsom Salts is that it dissolves quickly. I poured the water into one of the empty cells in my seed trays (I like to leave an empty cell to check water levels). Once the water level in my tray reached a little less than half, I poured the remaining water into a spray bottle and gently sprayed the tomato leaves with the water/salt mixture. By filling the seed tray and spraying the leaves, I am helping ensure that both the roots and the leaves receive the magnesium immediately.

For the past four days, I have gently sprayed the water/salt mixture on the leaves. Water levels in my seed tray show the plants still have plenty of water. After four days, I saw significant improvement in the health of my plants. The leaves are still slightly yellow, so I will continue my treatment until the yellowing has disappeared.

Healthy plants = successful transplanting. I am planning (weather permitting) to transplant my tomato plants outside in my garden beds in three to four weeks. If my plants are to survive the stress of transplanting, they need to be as healthy as they can be. Good luck on your spring gardening! 

For help on other plant deficiencies, check out my Pinterest Board: Soil Deficiency Identification & Cures or my Organic Garden Fertilizers board. 

"There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments" ~ Janet Kilburn Phillips

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DIY Compost Bin

If you decide to go organic in your gardening adventure, which I highly recommend, you will more than likely want to start composting.

Composting is beneficial in many ways. One, it reduces household waste and over time reduces your contribution to your local landfill. Two, it encourages earthworms to visit your soil, which increases nutrients going to your plants, thus increasing their health and vitality (without the use of excessive fertilizing). And three, even without earthworms, the nutrients provided by compost are better than any fertilizer on the market.

Of course, compost doesn't happen overnight, it takes time for food waste to decompose. To help your garden immediately, put food scraps directly on the soil. If planting in garden beds, put food scraps in bed, mix in the soil the best you can with a hoe or shovel, try to chop up larger pieces as much as possible to help speed decomposition, then put new soil on top of the food scraps covering completely. Ideally, you want to do this a few weeks before planting any seeds or plants in the beds, to allow the nutrients to fully "soak" into the soil. If you are not using garden beds, simply mix and chop the food scraps into the soil the best you can and try to cover completely.

Creating a compost bin is simple and cheap. The main things your compost bin needs is, a lid; this helps keep animals out of your food scraps, you don't want to feed the local raccoon population, holes; holes allow for the compost to "breathe", and allows for rain to enter the bin, which greatly helps the decomposition process, and lastly your bin needs to be made of a material that helps retain heat. Decomposition creates heat, which speeds along the decomposition process, plastic, wood and metal are all good insulators of heat, which make them good materials for compost bins.

I decided to convert an old, plastic tote into a compost bin. Below are the steps I took to create my compost bin.

Just an ordinary, plastic tote with lid.

Mark where you want the holes to go. 

Drill holes where you marked and scrape off excess plastic from the holes to ensure they aren't clogged. 

And you are done! You are ready to start composting. Not sure what to compost? Stay tuned on my blog for information about what to compost and what not to compost. Happy composting! 

"Don't wait for someone to bring you flowers. Plant your own garden and decorate your own soul" ~ Unknown

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Growing Onions from Seed and Hardening Off

Anyone who has ever gardened has more than likely grown onions. Onions are a staple in most homes, at least they are in mine, and for the most part are very easy to grow and store well.

Growing onions from seed, just like most other vegetables, offer more variety than choosing onion sets and organic options are often available. This year I ordered New York Early (organic) from Johnny's Selected Seeds. This variety is well suited for my climate, which is zone 5b (Iowa). We tend to have cooler springs, warm summers, and mild falls. It is important to choose a variety that will do well in your zone, find your zone here. 

When growing onions from seed, patience is a virtue. Onion seeds can take weeks to germinate, and weeks to sprout. I started my onion seeds on February 6, there were sprouts barely breaking through the soil on the 12th. Onions are a slow growing plant, my onions (pictured below, taken today) have looked virtually the same for weeks.

The one thing onions are picky about is water. When growing onions from seed, its important to keep the soil uniformly moist throughout the growing season, not soggy, but moist. If the soil gets too dry, onions will stall on growing and in later stages may cause the bulbs to crack and split. 

HARDENING OFF

Like most, if not all, plants started indoors, onions need to be hardened off before transplanting in the garden. Hardening off is a term used by gardeners which refers to getting indoor sprouts used to outdoor conditions, before planting them permanently outside in the garden. Today, I started hardening off my onion sprouts. They will be going into the garden this weekend, and should be hardened off for at least a week. Today is a little chilly, below normal for this time of year, but my onion type is suited for cooler temperatures, so I felt comfortable putting them outside for a while. I put them on our back porch, which has the most sunlight this time of year. Onions like at least 6 hours of sunlight per day for optimal growth, I put my onions out at noon and will bring them back in before sunset when the temperatures start to drop. I will continue this process throughout the week and my onions will likely be ready for their new home in my garden by this weekend. 

If you didn't have a chance to start your seeds inside, onions can be directly sown in the garden. Just be sure to plant them after the threat of frost has passed. Also be sure to get an "early" variety, so you can harvest your onions before the first frost in the fall. Onion sets are available, for those who choose to go that route, at most gardening stores. Onion sets grow faster, which will ensure a crop harvest before the fall frost. If you live in an area that has mild winters, and the threat of frost is non-existant or much later than northern territories, you need not worry about how late your onions are harvested, thus planting from seed directly outside may be your best option. 

My Pinterest Board: Growing Onions, offers a variety of articles on onion growing tips. Happy Spring Planting! 

"A garden requires patient labor and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfill good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them." ~ Liberty Hyde Bailey

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Seed Selection

Now that you have an idea of how much garden space you have or are going to have, the fun part starts! Selecting your seeds. 

Seed selection is fun, more fun than going to your local Wal-Mart and picking from the limited selection of Burpee seeds (would not recommend this). There are several options out there for more variety of fruits and vegetables, all you need is a little time to do research, and a dream of what you want to grow. I have listed a few sites on my blog that were recommended to me by gardener friends, but feel free to search others as well. I ordered all my seeds from Johnny's Selected Seeds, and so far I am very impressed with the germination rate. I only had some trouble with the onion seeds, but Johnny's gives germination percentages on their packaging and the onions I ordered only had a 73% germination rate, so I had to replant a few in my seed trays. Most of the other vegetables I ordered had 95% and above for germination rates and are all doing very well in my seed trays. 

If you decide to go all organic, make sure to double check your order for organic options. Johnny's Selected Seeds has a combination of both organic options and non-organic options. I am hoping to be all organic by next year, but this year I do have a few vegetables growing that are not USDA Certified Organic. When you get your seeds, make sure they have listed on the package that they are USDA Certified Organic, if that's the route you decide to go. 

Keep a list, or bookmark the companies you order seeds from, or want to possibly order from in the future. Sign up to receive newsletters, and catalogs from these companies so that when next spring rolls around you won't have to do all the research work you did this year. Although I ordered all my seeds from Johnny's this year, I would recommend ordering from a few different companies to get more variety and to help ensure you get the exact fruits and vegetables you want. Happy seed ordering! 

To plant a garden if to believe in tomorrow ~ Audrey Hepburn

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Starting Tomatoes From Seed

I know I am getting a little a head from my last post, but I think this is important for anyone starting tomatoes from seed (which is the best way in my opinion).

There is no question that starting a plant from seed requires extra patience and extra work. Seedlings require ideal conditions to help them thrive and produce healthy plants. Tomatoes, although a hearty plant, do require a little extra love when starting them from seed.

I started my tomato seedlings at the end of February. It is very important when starting warm weather plants, like tomatoes and peppers, that the soil in your seed tray be kept at 75 degrees or slightly above, for proper germination. If the soil is too hot or too cold, the seed will never germinate and eventually rot in the soil, thus giving no plant. Heating mats specifically for seed trays can be purchased just about anywhere gardening equipment is sold. They can be a little pricey, but are well worth the investment. If you stagger your seed planting, you can get by with two heat mats (which is what I have). Most early spring seeds, like cabbage, beets, broccoli, lettuce, and spinach germinate best in cool soil (extensive heat can cause these seedlings distress), in which case a heat mat would not be needed. My advice is to start with one, then decide later if you need another. Seedlings also need to be kept moist until sprouting, moisture can be controlled by using a plastic covering for your seed tray, these are usually sold with seed tray packages or can be purchased separately. My recommendation is to find a covering with a center vent, this allows for air flow and prevents white mold from forming on the soil.

Once your tomatoes sprout and are in full "growing"mode, it is important to continue to monitor them closely. Tomatoes are what I call "nutrient suckers". They require A LOT of nutrients while growing and producing fruit, they also require adequate moisture. I checked on my tomatoes today and found a slight yellowing of the upper leaves.

Yellowing of the leaves can occur for various reasons, since my seedlings are inside where there are presumably no pests, my assessment was moisture levels were low and the soil in the tray cups was likely running low on nutrients. To remedy this I watered my tomatoes first with water I saved from boiling eggs a couple days ago. This water is high in calcium, which tomatoes love. Next, I poured WARM water into the drainage tray, so that the roots can reach water. My personal preference when plants reach this stage is to NOT pour water on the plants in the trays. It compacts the soil, thus decreasing the amount of soil in the individual cup, and eventually the soil at the bottom ends up in the drainage tray, which does your plant no good. I recommend using warm water for warm weather plants, this keeps the soil warm and doesn't "shock" your plants with cold water. Next, I applied a small amount of Mykos Drops. These drops, or granules, can be found anywhere garden supplies are sold. The Mykos Drops contain natural bacteria which help to maximize soil nutrients and root health. I will continue to monitor my plants closely for the next few weeks to see if the yellowing disappears. 

Here is a great article on why tomato leaves may yellow. Also check out my Pinterest Board: Growing Tomatoes for all kinds of great information on growing tomatoes.

Don't let this deter you from growing tomatoes from seed. You have selection of more variety (and organic options if you go that route), whereas the plants you buy from the store have likely been treated with chemicals and are of only a few varieties. We grew tomatoes from seed last year, they were not only the best tasting tomatoes I had ever had, but they survived our Iowa drought and immense heat last summer. I canned over 40 quarts of tomatoes and could have canned several more if I had not run out of jars. For beginner gardeners I highly recommend starting with tomatoes, and if you have limited space, cherry tomatoes grow great (and often prefer) containers like pots. 

My tomatoes (organic and cherry) after a month of growing in the seed tray

Good luck on your growing adventures! 

"I was just sittin' here enjoyin' the company. Plants got a lot to say, if you take the time to listen" ~ Eeyore

  

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Creating Your Garden Space

Now that you have decided to grow your own food, what is the next step? Garden space. This varies widely on where you live, how much space you want to dedicate, and how much food you want to grow. My advice, if just starting out, start small. Grow plants that are hardy, and can grow well with little maintenance. Adding to a garden year by year is easier than starting with too much. 

SPACE

It doesn't matter where you live, you can have a garden. Urban gardens often consist of containers, like pots and garden boxes. Certain varieties of vegetables, fruits, and herbs grow best in containers/pots, be sure to check the seed catalogs for these varieties if you plan to do container gardening. Also be sure to select the correct pot size, plants like cherry tomatoes will need deep large pots to thrive. 

Those with yard space, urban or rural, can either till up yard space or build garden beds. I, personally, have tried both and raised garden beds are by far the best investment. Raised garden beds save yard space, and allow roots to grow deeper without the potential of encountering rocks further down in the soil. By building raised garden beds, you can provide the best soil conditions for your plants, and you can cater the soil to accommodate more finicky plants. For example, some plants prefer more sandy soil to thrive, by adding sand to your garden bed you provide ideal conditions for those specific plants. Raised garden beds reduce weeds, not only because you are putting high quality soil in the beds, but you can plant things closer together reducing light and nutrients going to potential weeds. Weeds that do pop up, are usually small and can be pulled easily. To maintain high quality soil, compost and soil will need to be added every year for the first few years to each bed. After a season of growing, rain, and snow (depending on where you live), the soil in the beds will settle and become compact. Adding more soil, sand (depending on the plant), compost, and a quick loosening of existing soil will have your beds ready in no time for a new season. 

Garden beds are easy to build, and can be fairly cheap depending on what type of wood you use. The garden beds in my garden are built from pine, but virtually any type of wood can be used. Below are a picture of the beds my husband and I built last spring. We started with six 4 foot by 4 foot beds, and may potentially add a couple more this year. 

My Pinterest Board: Raised Garden Beds has tons of information about raised beds, and inspirational ideas. 

Here is a tutorial from Organic Gardening on how to build raised beds. Keep in mind while following this tutorial that any sized boards can be used. Click here to view >>

Good luck on your gardening adventure! 

All Gardeners Live in Beautiful Places Because They Make Them So ~ Unknown

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