23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
Yep --we eat kale flowers and arugula flowers, mustard too -- really any brassica flowers, stems, buds, seed pods are all very tasty raw in salad or cooked. Nice to know you haven't let the brassicas go to "waste" just because you couldn't get to them before they bolted.
Radishes are also a brassica -- and if you let them bolt (they can get huge) and develop seed pods, the seed pods are quite a delicacy in salads.
I have 2 question for chinese kale (gailan)specifically.
(1) it's november fall season I planted chinese kale, they are 4 inches tall and flowers are appearing. Did they BOLT(meaning the end of the growing season for the plant?) or are they part of it as they grow. Anybody please give me an advise.
(2) How do you harvest them properly in order to last until late spring.?
The first picture is definitely a green striped cushaw, not a overly healthy one, but a cushaw all the same. Cushaw are Cucurbita agyrosperma, this species has relatively few varieties compared to the other pumpkins species and interspecific crosses are less common, if possible at all, depending on what species you have growing.
The second picture you posted looks like some form of an unknown cross. Looks like Cucurbita pepo to me though.
To answers your question: The source are other insects, their parents. If you bought your soil it is highly unlikely your soil was infested with insects.
If you dont want any critters in your soil, beneficial or not. There are a couple of things you can do.
1. Put your bed over lawn wire. This also prevents moles and gophers from getting in there.
2. Put a bird bath near your garden and a small bird feeder. But be prepared the birds may choose to eat your vieggies and there are several ways to prevent that.
3. Get diatomaceous earth and follow the directions.
Less than 10% of the bugs you see in your garden are destructive. Identification is crucial. If they just gross you out and prevent you from enjoying your garden, which is the main point to all your work then get rid of them. Just keep in mind no insects at all = more work and less production.
Beneficial nematodes were really helpful in my garden and milky spore is another option for grub control. Asian beetles are a huge problem here, the University is studying it right now but unfortunately, the traps they are working on have an attractant and they're putting them all over the neighborhoods so more are attracted to the area and find they like gardens better than the traps. What they're after is nice fluffy moist garden soil to lay their eggs in.
The grubs themselves aren't usually a problem but when they reach the numbers that we see in this area (1 to 2 DOZEN per shovel full at times,) they ARE a problem because they kill plants by disrupting the roots. I let them stay in my compost where they are great workers but screen them out before adding it to my beds.
I would have to agree with Dave. Every single crop that was listed can easily take up all that space in your garden with just a very small number of the plant, and the garden will be far easier to take care of that way. Two crop types are the maximum for that garden size imho. One annual and one perennial. Or maybe one more annual, top.
This post was edited by ceth_k on Mon, Nov 17, 14 at 7:06
Re: "Two crop types are the maximum for that garden size imho."
I'm befuddled. I've had community garden plots in the past, and people regularly grow ten or fifteen different things in their 12X25 plot. Sure, it would be less work to fill the OP's whole 95X35 space with raspberries, or tomatoes, or make it all one pumpkin patch, but I don't see it as actually impractical to grow several things.
This post was edited by chickenfreak on Mon, Nov 24, 14 at 2:12
Last year my artichokes did nothing either, but I realized that my mistake was not to veralize them. I am told that artichokes need to experience 190-210 hours of temperatures below 50 degrees in order to induce blooming. Next year I intend to ensure that theat is done.
No, lol... I meant 14 degrees F... apparently my lack of sleep and mommy brain got to me last night. I brought my two squash in this morning when I went out to defrost the chickens' water... the squash were frozen solid. I'm hoping I can cut them in half and bake them today without ill effects.
Imn-F777- I would have thought that a spammer would try to make their post a little less obvious. Guess I was wrong.
wertach- If I had the room for corn (and if it was allowed on gardenweb) I might take you up on that offer. haha
Rodney
Were all the colors dent? There's a lot of blue out there, from pastels all the way to solid indigo. Best guess would be Mayo (Tuxpeño or Batchi).
"FWIW I'll probably only replant the white ones just because the end product is easier to work with."
Don't be too surprised if you get the same variations you got before.
Here is a link that might be useful: Pictures
Thank's Ken. I have one brussel sprout and all the leaves are totally with holes like they bombed Nagasaki. Will this plant die? Or i'll just leave them alone and keep looking for the green meanies.?
Next year cover all your cole crops with row covers as soon as they germinate; if the butterfly can't lay the eggs, you won't get any worms. works great and I've been doing it for years.