Category Archives: Cabbage

January 29, 2023 · 6:52 pm

CABBAGE UPDATE

This is the third winter

Of my seed starting education.

I guess if it’s a college course

I’m a Junior!

And honestly, I feel like I’m making progress.

As of today I have 128 cabbage “teenagers”

Since last week they were potted into

A bit bigger pot and seem to love it.

When I began the process

Of popping them out of their toasty cell homes

They were actually root bound.

That has never been the case for me.

I think the credit goes to having the grow lights much closer.

It’s really the only big change this year.

But there are a few tricks I’ve picked up

Over the past few years

That are improving the end result.

For years I had a problem with “damping off”.

It’s a fungus that kills a happy baby plant.

They just lay over and die.

Very disappointing.

While listening to one of the endless gardening

Podcasts or YouTube videos

Someone made the comment that Chamomile tea

Is a natural fungicide.

So now my seedling babies and I enjoy tea together

On a regular basis.

I simply put a tea bag in my wonderful mister

And one in the watering can.

I don’t want to jinx it but so far not a casualty this season.

Another great help are timers.

Since seedlings like about 16 hours of light a day

These are great for turning that off and on.

I also plug a fan into a separate timer

To go off and on every 30 minutes

About 10 hours a day.

The fan also helps with fungal growth

It’s big job is to act as a gentle breeze

Strengthening the stems of the plants.

Everything is watered from the bottom

Once it has sprouted.

I set the pots in everything from old cookie sheets,

To rejected boot bin trays

To saved carry out containers.

Yellow sticky traps come in handy

For all those gnats that will eventually come.

I’m sure there are more tricks to learn.

For me that is the joy of all of this

Picking up tips and tricks

And the continual learning.

You have to be willing to fail a little along the way

But then there is the joy of getting to try again…and again.

Gail

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January 15, 2023 · 8:19 pm

TINY MIRACLES

As I reported last week

I’ve started my indoor gardening season.

This is my third year for starting cabbage.

Just this week I read that the germination rate for cabbage

Is near 100%.

Wish I had known that before I planted 140 cells with seeds.

Sure enough within three days over 100 of those seeds had sprouted

And today I am the proud mother of 126 baby cabbages.

YIKES!

At least twice a day

Coco and I journey to the garden house

To make sure they are OK.

So far everyone is happy.

Now I don’t expect each of them to make it to maturity

But I probably will be looking for homes for some of these

Since I will have more than even Faith Farm can handle.

This week I added Flat Italian Parsley and Sweet Peas

To the line up.

So far they are still dormant

Which is fine with me

Giving me an excuse

To check on things.

Just as I was ready to plant an indoor lettuce crop

I noticed a tiny miracle in my garden.

The luscious crop that was a victim

Of the pre Christmas Artic blast

Is coming back from the roots.

Never did I imagine that.

Both areas are planted against the edge

Of the brick patio

Giving them warmth

And one area is well protected from the north.

But really

Surviving -20 degrees!

There is a richness that comes

From these tiny miracles.

For me it adds to the depth of joy

In the cold and sunless days of winter.

Wishing tiny miracles for you this week.

Gail

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January 8, 2023 · 7:21 pm

AND SO IT BEGINS

While our gardens are taking their

Long winter’s nap

Most gardeners are dreaming of spring.

The volume of seed catalogs we receive

Only makes us yearn all the more

For those first few days

When we know winter is fading.

Over the last few years

I’ve been filling this void

With indoor seed starting.

Each year I get a bit better at it

But I still have much to learn.

This year I’m improving the light

Available for seed germination and growing.

Thanks to a generous gift of LED lighting

From my friend Jenny

And a Christmas gift of a seed starting station

From John

I have a new found hope

Of even better results.

The first thing up is always cabbage.

Here in zone 7a cabbage plants need to be out

Between February 15 and March 10.

So last week their tiny seeds

Hit the dirt – so to speak!

It felt good to have my hands in soil again

Even if it came from a bag.

I’ll start Italian Parsley and Basil this week for Faith Farm

And a winter lettuce crop for myself

Since the pre-Christmas -20 wind chill

Took out all that was planted in the ground.

I think of gardening as one grand experiment.

Often pushing the limits

Or defying the “rules”.

I’ve accidentally done that this year

With the fact that the last of the spring flowering bulbs

Are just now going into the ground

Taking full advantage

That is the grace of God’s great earth.

Gail

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Filed under Basil, Cabbage, Community Garden, Gardening, Herbs, Lettuce, Oklahoma Gardening, Seed Catalogs, Seeds, Uncategorized, Vegetables, Winter Garden