During the past 1 1/2 months, we have harvested all of the broccoli heads and have finished harvesting the side shoots. It is AMAZING how much broccoli you can get from one plant!!!
This is the first head of broccoli we cut, with a dinner plate for reference. We had almost a week of 80 degree weather, so the broccoli started to bolt. The florettes weren't even large enough to cut before they began to bloom. So, we spent Saturday pulling the broccoli out of the garden. We now have 1/2 of one of the 16' beds with nothing in it, which looks strange!!
We cut the first 2 heads of cabbage and had them for lunch on New Year's Day, especially since Granny went a gave the collards a serious haircut about a week before and they hadn't recovered! We cut the third head on Saturday (2 1/3 lbs after removing the outer leaves) and will be enjoying it tonight for supper.
After cutting the heads, I cut an X in the remaining stalk. A couple of days later, these little purple sprouts appeared.
A week later, these little purple sprouts have developed definite cabbage leaves. Not only are these on top by the stem, but they are literally above EVERY LEAF that remained on the stalk! I'm thinking of removing the large leaves and see what happens on one of the 2 plants.
We are also in the process of planning next summer's garden. Our most recent development: seed starting! I used my Christmas money to purchase a grow light with 4 T5 bulbs ($99), 40
2" self-watering pots and lots of seeds!! Dean then helped me put PVC pipes into 2 shelves we already had, which he then attached chain to hang the light from. The lights are on a timer, giving the seedlings about 14 hours of artificial light per day.
From this view you can't see the little seedlings, but they're there!
We also have other seeds planted, which haven't yet sprouted, on top of the refrigerator.
Dean has completely revamped our water spigots and water filter in preparation for the addition of a drip irrigation system. We have moved the garden shed outside of the fence and placed it at the far end of the house along with the composting bin. With the half-bare beds and missing garden shed, it looks really strange!
I'll be adding Papa's other composting bin, moving the dog's water to the other side of the shed where it will be shaded from all sun, and adding another gate so we won't have to walk all the way around the garden fence to get to the shed. We're also adding one 2'x6' bed, two 4'x12' beds, and four 2'x8' beds, along with something Dean is working on for strawberries beside the deck. The 2' beds will be added against the fences and will be the new home for all of the vining crops: cucumbers, cantaloupe, and watermelon, along with whatever else we decide to plant. If you look closely in the photo, you'll see orange spray paint along the fence on the right side of the photo. This is marking out where the 2'x8' beds will be. The 2'x6' bed will be to the right of the gate as you walk in. The two 4'x12' beds will join the far bed, and it will move to the left and closer to the far fence. With all of these additions, we'll be going from 178 sq ft of garden to 348 sq ft of garden, not counting the strawberries!! WOW!! Almost doubling our garden space will really help us share our produce with Mimi & Papa.
I also found out today that we can compost the "proceeds" from Bugsy's cage! So now she'll be helping by adding the "browns" to my composting pile- something I was definitely without this year!
Now she'll be helping to produce what she eats!
This is the results of Dean's Fruit Cocktail Tree! Just after the first of December, we picked 3 of the lemons and made Lemon Merangue Pie! Delicious!!!
