Friday, June 29, 2012

Garden Porn- Crowns of Green Heads of Purple


This third year in the garden I planted my first Red Cabbage and Broccoli. Our community garden had extra plants so I purchased two red cabbage plants and four broccoli plants. I Planted them in the same raised bed as my Detroit Reds and Chioggia Beets. Since I planted the cabbage and broccoli sort of late I did a couple of things to speed up the growth; I added fresh compost and a row cover. Before we left for Minnesota I fertilized again with Plant-tone, crossed my fingers and bid adieu to my garden. 
When we returned home the crops were practically exploding under the cover, sure enough, their growth had tripled in only a week and a half. I removed the row cover and waited. And waited and waited some more for the broccoli to crown and the cabbage heads to form. Nothing. Meanwhile at the Eric Waller Garden we were harvesting beautiful heads of Cauliflower, Cabbages and Broccoli. 
Now there is something here to consider. The Eric Waller Garden gets about 3 more hours of sunlight then my garden does, so in general my crops tend to be slower growing. Which is fine because then we enjoy two cycles of the same vegetables. We also planted these crops a lot earlier and in super rich mushroom compost. So sun and nutrients. 
Again I added more compost and Plant-tone to my beds and water, water and more water (its been very hot and dry) and then BAM! I have crowns! I have cabbage heads for the crowns! This weekend I will be harvesting my first crowns of Broccoli and next weekend I will harvest my first heads of Red Cabbage and the rest of my beets. 
Now the question is...what do I plant next? Beans? More beets? Both? Can you juice broccoli leaves? Suggestions and ideas welcome!
XOMC