It’s been warm and rainy here in Atlanta, and our food garden is blowing UP! I headed out to the garden with my camera the other day to take some shots of our food-growing progress, and I’d love to hear what’s growing in your gardens! Tell me about what you’re planting or planning to plant in the comments. If you have photos, feel free to share links, too.
One thing that’s baffled me is that, despite the warmer temperatures, our kale plants are still producing like mad! I always considered kale a fall/winter veggie, but our kale is just now starting to bolt. Something’s eating the leaves, but I’m happy to share since I didn’t even expect to be growing kale this late in the season!
The chives in our herb spiral are just starting to flower. I know some folks say you don’t want to eat herbs once they’ve started flowering, but I’ll tell you a secret: I have been doing it anyway!
The cucumbers in our raised beds are also growing up like gangbusters! We started from plants this year, and we’re already seeing tiny spiny baby cukes on the vines, and the vines are filling in nicely, too.
The only plant that’s sort of frustrating me is the Brussels sprouts. I started these from seed back in the fall, and they’re just not growing like I’d hoped. I rode out to some local farms with the CSA where I volunteer, and their Brussels sprout plants are big and beautiful! Mine is so tiny! I’d love to hear suggestions from you guys on what I can do to help. We’ve been fertilizing the whole raised bed (where the kale, cukes, and Brussels sprouts live along with lots of pepper plants) with bat poop every month or so. Is there something else I can do?
The same critter that’s munching the kale is eating my poor baby sprout. I should probably be doing something more proactive about that. All I’ve done so far is plant some nasturtiums around the raised bed hoping that pests might eat those instead. An offering, if you will.
So, spill it, my fellow gardenistas! What how your garden grow this spring?
Becky, You haven’t lived until you have tasted chive flowers. The bugs that are eating your kale and sprouts are cabbage worms most likely. You’ll notice the white butterfly checking out your plants, actually a cabbage moth. She’s laying eggs that hatch into little green worms that will devour your plants. Next year or this fall, plant kale again and cover them with some kind of row cover. You can use a sheer curtain or thin light colored sheet, even a pillow case. Some folks will build cages with window screen netting to keep plants safe from damaging insects.
Happy Gardening!
Thanks, Carol! I’ll harvest some of those chive flowers!
Thanks for the tips about cabbage worms. I’ll cover our beds next go-round. :)