Veggie Garden Update – June 16
I haven’t shown you how the veggies are doing lately, so come along for a tour. Above, from left to right, is the Packman Broccoli and Cheddar Cauliflower all in the same row, then the onions, Red Zeppelin and Yellow Copra. The short plants in between the onion rows is the Clemson Spineless Okra, and the bushy green plants on the right are the potatoes, Red Pontiac and Kennebec. I didn’t get any pics of the Bush Crop cucumbers, but they don’t look much different then when I planted them.
The potatoes are blooming now, which means they are also setting on little taters. Here’s a close-up of the blooms.
Here’s the sweet corn. It’s almost waist high now. We planted the same variety as last year, Peaches and Cream. It froze well, and we are still eating from last year’s crop.
Here are the Celebrity Tomatoes. They’ve been blooming for some time now.
The largest of the growing maters is about 2 inches across.
And here are the Grape Tomatoes. They’re putting on dozens and dozens of little maters.
Here’s a close up of the Red Zeppelin onions,
and the Yellow Copra onions.
In a few more weeks, they’ll be ready to pull.
The Clemson Spineless okra is not growing as fast as I would like, only about 3 inches high. I don’t think it cares for all the rain. It’s more of a drought loving plant.
The Packman Broccoli has been producing like crazy. I wish I could share some with you, we have more than we can eat.
Nice tight heads too.
We haven’t had any of the Cheddar Cauliflower yet, but it’s almost ready. The yellow color is beta carotene, and according to Jung Seed, where I bought the seed, the heads don’t need to be covered like regular white cauliflower.
I’m sure you can see the evidence of what the cabbage moth worms have been doing to both the cauliflower and the broccoli leaves. They have been eating like pigs out there – I swear I can hear them munching from the house. I don’t know what I can spray on them though that would be safe and non-poisonous. Help!! I need advice!!
If you are interested in seeing earlier posts about the veggies when they were planted, click here.
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Do you have little green worms in the broccoli? I planted some this year but I heard that we have problems with small green worms in the broccoli in my area. Apparently you can rinse them and soak them for days, but when you steam the broccoli, you still find worms in the bottom of the pot. Any advice?
Hi Amanda,
The worms are eating the leaves, and hanging out in the broccoli heads. So I have to pick them out one by one. I accidentally microwaved a few of the little worms, and that really grossed me out. They are just really bad this year, and I don’t know how to get rid of them other than picking them off prior to cooking.
Suzanne
Your garden looks healthy! I should try that broccoli. It looks good. I do a lot of bug picking. I don’t spray anything except soap and water on my vegetables anymore. Oh, and some garlic to try to deter pests. I’ve been told soap really gets caterpillers because it makes them poo so much they dehydrate. Don’t know about the science with that but it might be worth a try. I hope you get nice big onions. The greens on them look great.
Hi Gardener,
Thanks for the advice. I’ll give it a try.
Suzanne
Your garden is lovely! Mine is a lot futher behind yours.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
Hi Linda,
I spoke to my sister yesterday who lives in Brighton, and she said the growing season there is so short that last year her tomatoes froze before they ripened. Are you able to get tomatoes to ripen where you are?
Suzanne
BT (bacillus thuringiensis) is what I’ve seen recommended for cabbage worms. The worms eat the bacteria and it kills then. Not harmful to people though.
Hi Mary,
That would be great!
Thank you for sharing, and for stopping by,
Suzanne
Wow the garden looks great. Ours isn’t but we got started late and timing is everything in the garden. Wishing you a bountiful harvest.
I don’t have any advice for getting rid of worms…I’ve had slug trouble this year, but seem to have it mostly under control now. Your garden looks like it could feed a lot of people 🙂 Wish I could help!
Hi Janet,
I’ve never had slug trouble, so I guess I’m lucky in that regard. I wish I could share the veggies with you, minus the little cabbage worms of course.
Thanks for stopping,
Suzanne
Your garden looks awesome! Mine is way behind yours. I just have the first blossoms on the tomatoes.
Hi Teresa,
What kind of tomatoes did you plant? I’m always curious to know what other people recommend.
Take care,
Suzanne
Slugs have been a major issue for our garden in NY as well. We just started using beer to lure and drown them. I hope it works soon. They are eating far far too much!
You might give DE (diatematious earth) (sp??). It’s a food grade natural pesticide. I use it in my chicken coop to keep the flies away and to keep it dried out, but I’ve heard of people using it on ants and other stuff. You can even put it in YOUR food, it won’t hurt you. In fact, I’ve read that it really improves your digestive system. I’ve not worked up the nerve to try it myself yet tho. lol.
Hi Lana,
This sounds like a good idea. I may try it along with a row cover.
Thanks much!
Suzanne
For this year, I’d also suggest Bt, which is not a poison, but a disease that only affects the caterpillar phase of various flying creatures.
For next year, you might seriously think of using a floating row cover to keep the cabbage moths away, since nothing in the cabage family needs to be pollinated.
Hi Helen B,
I’ve never had much of a problem with the cabbage moths before, but next year I’ll be ready. The row cover seems the easiest way to go.
Thank you much!
Suzanne
i agree, Bt works great- just not on BIG worms. I think it is also sold as Thuricide. Gorgeous garden.
Hi Danielle,
Hmm…well if it doesn’t work on the BIG worms, I could use those to go fishing.
Thank you,
Suzanne
Your garden looks awesome. I wanna come pick something..lol..I never heard of celebrity tomatoes before. I’ll have to check into those. Hey, I have some potatoes, when do you harvest them? What are the tall tell signs to beging harvest? I haven’t a clue…Yikes
Hi Julie,
With regards to the potatoes, when the plants bloom,that means they are setting on new potatoes and you can dig down carefully and harvest some of those. But we let them go until maturity, and harvest them then. You can tell they are mature when the plants start to die back.
Happy Gardening.
Suzanne
I used to use flour on potato plants. I just put it in my hand and sprinkled it over the plants. If it rained or was watered, I had to put more on but it was healthy and cheap. It worked like a charm. I saw the idea in a Yankee Magazine from a gardener for year.
Oh really? Never heard of that. What an easy fix. I will remember that. Thank you!