Planting in the Vegetable Garden

May 13, 2017

It's time to plant the vegetables!

My gardeners, Ryan and Wilmer, have accomplished so much in the vegetable garden this week. After making all the beds, and mulching the footpaths and surrounding tree pits, they planted our first crops of the season - several beds of cruciferous vegetables. Cruciferous is the scientific name given to a group of vegetables including broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and kale. Named for the cross-shaped flowers they bear, crucifers contain a wide variety of disease-fighting antioxidants and phytochemicals including carotenoids, and vitamin C. I love these vegetables and always plant enough to share with my family and friends.

Enjoy these photos.

: Once the beds were complete, Wilmer began creating the main footpath in the vegetable garden.

: The mulch is made right here at the farm. Mulch is often used to retain soil moisture, regulate soil temperature, suppress weed growth, and for aesthetics. It looks so pretty between our garden beds.

: My Pomeranian geese are always on the look-out. They’re very curious about all the activity.

: Here are the first of many vegetables to be planted here in the garden. Brassica is a genus of plants in the mustard family. Members are informally known as cruciferous vegetables, cabbages, or mustard plants. They are also sometimes called cole crops.

: Ryan measures each bed to assess how many rows of each vegetable can be planted in the space. He takes into consideration the amount of plants and the size of the vegetables when mature.

: The cabbage was started from seed and then planted in beds 12 to 24 inches apart in rows. The trick to growing cabbage is steady, uninterrupted growth. That means rich soil, plenty of water, and good fertilization.

: Ryan creates three beds of cabbage with two rows in each.

: When planting, Ryan removes the biodegradable peat pots. Some remove just the rim of the pot before planting so it won’t wick moisture away from the roots, but here, it was easier to peel off the entire pot.

: Ryan spaces all the plants equally before planting. The planting season for cabbage is quite long. Early cabbage should be transplanted as soon as possible so that it can mature before the summertime heat.

: Twine is used to help keep the rows of plants straight.

: Ryan begins by digging the hole for each plant – it is very easy to plant in raised beds because of the light, fluffy, well-drained soil, which encourages vigorous plant growth.

: Ryan is using a right angle trowel from Johnny’s Selected Seeds. Designed for transplanting, it is made of stainless steel, with a five-inch by three-inch blade and a five-inch handle. Ryan likes it because it reduces strain on the wrists. http://www.johnnyseeds.com/

: Ryan digs a hole so that the plant goes deeply into the ground – about half the stem should be buried.

: Ryan backfills the hole and then lightly tamps down on the soil around the plant.

: ‘Alcosa’ savoy cabbage is an early producer of round, deep blue-green, crinkled heads that weigh up to four-pounds each. These are a smart choice for closely spaced plantings of mini cabbages.

: ‘Famosa’ is a savoy cabbage. It has deep blue-green heads weighing about two to four-pounds. The yellow tinted interior is filled with great, tender leaves with a very good flavor.

: ‘Tiara’ cabbage produces beautiful, three-pound round heads packed with mildly sweet leaves that are excellent for cooking or fresh use.

: Red, or purple, cabbage is often used raw for salads and coleslaw. It contains 10-times more vitamin-A and twice as much iron as green cabbage. This variety is called ‘Red Express’ – with solid, round, two to four-pound heads with good appearance and flavor.

: This is Asian cabbage ‘Wakamine’. This popular Japanese hybrid is vigorous, easy to grow and has good heat tolerance. The medium size deep green head weighs about three-pounds and has a slightly flattened shape.

: This is Chinese cabbage ‘Rubicon’ – it has firm, 11-inch tall heads that weigh up to weigh six-pounds. They are blemish-free, with deep-green leaves and broad, white ribs. The flavor is sweet, tangy, juicy, and delicious!

: For cabbage, seeding to harvest takes 60 to 100 days, depending on the variety.

: Broccoli is also in the Brassicaceae family. It is one of the healthiest vegetables, and is high in vitamin-C and fiber. ‘Green Magic’ heads are smooth, well domed, and very attractive.

: Another cole-crop is cauliflower. ‘Amazing’ cauliflower is a medium-sized plant with domed, solid curds and self-blanching, upright wrapper leaves when well fed.

: Cauliflower plants grow best in cool daytime temperatures of 70 to 80-degrees Fahrenheit with plentiful sun, and moist soil conditions high in organic matter.

: Kale or leaf cabbage is a group within the plant species Brassica oleracea. They have purple or green leaves, in which the central leaves do not form a head. Among the varieties we are growing include ‘Starbor’, ‘Redbor’ and ‘Winterboro’.

: Cold-hardy and resilient, kale is easy to grow. They can be transplanted early in spring – they will grow steadily for months until the weather gets too warm.

: Everything looks great, Ryan. There are lots of plants to fill our 44-beds. And that’s just in this garden – there is another one adjacent to to this one.