Thursday, August 12, 2010

Cabbages, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts, oh my!

You might recall that we had some rabbit challenges in the garden this spring. They ate and ate and ate until we buried chicken wire around the perimeter of the garden to keep them out. Fifty cole crop transplants were among the many things we lost to the little rodents, as well as leeks, lettuce, arugula, spinach, and even a few tomato and pepper plants. But we really love our broccoli, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts, so I started more seeds a few weeks ago in the basement. Now, what do I do with them? Cole crops like cool weather, and it's been in the mid-90s the past few days and will continue to be in the 90s for at least another few days. And when do I plant seeds for lettuce, spinach, and arugula? They don't usually germinate if it's too hot. In spite of the huge harvest of heat-loving vegetables, this is shaping up to be a challenging year for gardening.

4 comments:

Margie said...

i can relate! we've had squirrel challenges this year, along with the extreme heat challenges. my hubby finally had success with growing corn, only to have the squirrels discover it, and they have been having corn parties almost every day. even though it's upsetting, i have to laugh at them because they look so joyous as they are stripping the corn and eating it! they leave empty cobs scattered in a circle around the one tree in our back yard! *sigh* yep, overall not a good year for gardens!

LindaG said...

Pots or buckets until it cools off?
Good luck with them. They sure look good right now. :)

Robert said...

We didn't have rabbit problems, but we didn't get any spring planted Brussels Sprouts to produce. The plants got real big, but no sprouts this year. I just pulled them up. Out of half a bed of broccoli, we got enough florets to lightly garnish two bowls of salad. And my cabbage only got about softball size. All plants started from seed inside and transplanted in the early spring. I wish I could blame it on the rabbits!

Deborah Niemann said...

It got so hot so early that we might have had the same problem, Robert, if the rabbits hadn't eaten the transplants.

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