I need a little help- I am growing a small crop of beets-I put them in after my carrots got done. They are very nice, and it looks like they are forming beets. If I cut some of the greens early will it affect the growth below ground? I know I shouldn't cut them all, but some? I would love to have some sweet greens!
question about beets
Jo,
Post a pic of your beet greens so I can salivate...
Here ya go, Gymgirl- I just went out and took the photo- it's nippy out there- 52degrees! Summer is on it's way out- what a weird season- it took forever to get gardens going, now they are soon done.But I do love my fall garden. I have new crops of Caraflex Cabbage, Baby Bok Choi, and Buttercrunch Lettuce going. No leaf miners on my beets-yea! They always get them in the spring.
And here's my new 3 level Strawberry bed- do I need to cut off the gazillion runners when I don't need any more plants?
And here's what is left of my summer garden. I have pulled up all my pole bean teepees along with several tomatoes. General Lee cucumbers are still going strong. I have to use better wind protection next year. Several Ind. tomatoes blew down.
Beautiful garden! (Sorry, I don't have the answer to your questions.)
JO,
Wonderful flowerbeds! I'm thinking of borrowing some of your ideas, if you don't mind!
Question on your boxes: The top boxes look like cedar. What's the base box made of? Some sort of rot-retardant material?
Also, looks like you have herbs growing in the cement blocks, right?
Your bed along the fence looks to be about 32"? 36" deep from front to back, plus another 14-16" for the width of the brick, huh? Suh-WEET!
Linda ^^_^^ who's soooooooooooo happy to see the possibilities of keeping some of her precious grass, AND being able to have a space for some veggies along the new fence that's going up soon!
Gymgirl- Thanks for your interest- it always makes up puff up when someone says they like our ideas-after all, a big part of gardening is to have bragging rights-right?!
Now to answer some of your questions. This has been my 3rd summer in WA- we moved here from Gainesville FL, where I enjoyed my garden year round, and what a shock! If it wasn't for my other passion, sewing & machine embroidery, I would not survive the winters here.
My raised beds are partly cinder blocks (8x8x16) which I use to grow not just herbs, but lettuce & cabbage, which do great since they each have their own space. At the moment I have my fall cabbages & bok choi in several blocks. Mint, chives,tarragon, cutting celery,dill, and others do very well there.
The other base of the bed is a composite decking 1x6" that is indestructible. My 3 tier beds are made of cedar fence boards which I treated with water-seal before building.
The beds are about 2.5 ft from my fence,and about 50' long. It is very rocky soil, and I amend it constantly. The first year I made the mistake of planting things too close to the fence and had trouble not only with access, but the plants suffered from lack of air & sun. I learn a little each year! This year was pretty good, except our high winds cause problems, and I had several tall tomatoes get blown into the fence and make picking difficult. Next year I plan to use 5' metal fence posts with rebar connecting them, and anchored somehow to the fence- I haven't got the logistics figured out yet. I have a disabled hubby, and I will be 76 tomorrow, but I do it all-so far.When you love something you will usually find a way to do it. I have been gardening seriously over 40 years.This year I had a terrible problem with curled tomato leaves and stunted peppers, etc which after a lot of research found that it was contaminated compost & manure. I hope it doesn't happen next year. Anyway, I will be back later to see what you all have to say! It is a perfect early fall day here- I have to go out and dig dirt!
Jo,
I'm fascinated that you grow cabbages in the cinder blocks. How big do your's get, and how do you handle the spacing?
I've grown cabbages for 3 winters now in eBuckets and mine usually get pretty big. I'd love to use the cinder blocks if I can get a decent-size cabbage. Here's my average-size cabbages in 3 buckets.
I grow Caraflex- it is a pointed head, and it does very well in the blocks. Here's part of my spring crop- sorry it doesn't show more. I had 12 heads, and there had been several harvested when I took this-I just picked off some of the outer leaves that were shading other plants. It didn't seem to have any bad effects-
There's an apartment complex near me that includes a lot of fairly recent vietnamese immigrants. Quite a few of them have cabbage in blocks. More sorts of bok choi shaped things, not our big roundheaded cabbage. I have completely no vietnamese, and they're mostly still pretty early in their english learning, but I think they're saying this technique keetps the soil warmer (from the heat absorbed by the block), but the plant part stays cool?
Nice gardens Jo. I really like your long garden against the fence. And growing in the blocks... all great ideas.
I used to live in Western Wash. Very different climate than down south. Atlanta for me. Florida even warmer. It would take all summer to get a red tomato there. But cooler weather stuff did great. Broccoli to die for.
Thanks for sharing.
Helen
Very nice Jo. Thx Bird
!
Yes, you can harvest the beet greens. Even when young, a small number of greens can be harvested, maybe a leaf or two per plant. I love tender, young beet greens sauteed with shallots and herbs in butter. I've tried to get my husband, the green veggie hater, to eat them by hiding them in scrambled eggs and such but it doesn't work!
Beautiful veggies. Beautiful photos.
Beautiful people!