There's no harvest to speak of this week, but the green tomatoes that I picked last week have surprised me and by today, most of them have turned red and have been used in salads and sandwiches! There are still a few green ones left, but I'm really hoping they turn red as well. Tomatoes from the garden in December is a real treat! I still haven't picked the buttercrunch lettuce, but I have been busy. I pulled the remaining tomato plants then cleaned and stored the homemade cages, and then I tilled the area thoroughly to prepare it for my next planting.
This is where I am going to plant three rows of collards that I just bought, and one row of Swiss chard that I currently have growing in a container. Squirrels keep digging in the container and I'm sure that's affecting the growth of the plants. If there isn't enough Swiss chard to fill a row, I'll finish it up with some additional buttercrunch lettuce plants that I bought.
The broccoli is growing very well. The plants are very healthy but I don't see any broccoli florets yet. With plants looking as good as these appear to be, I wouldn't think it would be too long before the florets begin showing up. You can see by the weeds growing up that it's time to run my Mantis mini-tiller through the garden again. The great thing about that is that I planted both plots in a checkerboard pattern, so I can go criss-cross down the rows and between the plants. Everything except my lettuce is planted 18 inches apart so I can "weed" with the Mantis. If it wasn't for my brother Joe, I'd probably still be in the thinking stage about buying the Mantis. Thanks Joe!
That concludes the garden status for this week's post. I sincerely thank each visitor and also comments that are shared with me. I appreciate all of you for taking your valuable time to see how my garden is progressing during this time of year.
Have a great vegetable gardening day!
Veggie PAK
I think your garden looks great for December!
ReplyDeleteThat's quite a nice garden for this time of year. I've shied away from my winter garden and closed up the shop for winter. Send some tomatoes my way please!
ReplyDeletebecky3086, Thanks for the compliment!
ReplyDeleteGirlRural.com, Thanks to you too! For a lot of gardeners including myself, this time of year is pondering and planning time. With our usually mild winters, I can't resist planting crops such as broccoli and collards that grow slowly but can be harvested right through the winter. The real benefit is that in the spring when the ground is still too cold to plant, these veggies are growing nicely because they have an established root system.
Thanks for visiting and sharing your comments with me.
Have a great vegetable gardening day!
Veggie PAK
Your garden is looking great, especially that broccoli. I'm still in the thinking mode on a mantis tiller, every year I tell my wife that we need one for weeding projects in our narrow isles...maybe next year.:) Enjoy those tomatoes.
ReplyDeleteMy garden would never accommodate a Mantis tiller - it's far to small. For me the only option is weeding by hand.
ReplyDeleteDo you provide your lettuces with any protection over the Winter, or can they survive OK without?
Mr. H., I wasn't sure about the Mantis either, but if I already had it during previous years of gardening, it would have saved me a mountain of work. We are enjoying those tomatoes!
ReplyDeleteMark Willis, You may say that your garden is small, but you get some wonderful produce from it! I'm going to use a row cover or hoop house for both of the rows. You know, PVC pipe and plastic sheeting. I haven't grown lettuce through the winter before, so I'll find out if this hoop house idea will work. The broccoli and collards will survive the winter temps, but last year the unusual snows flattened them all. They had to recover from that, but I still got several harvests before it was time for spring planting.
Thanks for stopping by to visit and share your comments with me.
Veggie PAK
I've just found your blog! A nice Thursday treat..
ReplyDeleteI've heard good things about the Mantis, but haven't tried it myself.. good to know that you're finding it handy.
That broccoli looks promising.. we enjoyed broccoli last year until Christmas eve.. hopefully this year, we'll be able to harvest it into Jan with our mini-hoop tunnels..
Year Round Vegetable Gardener, Thank you! My broccoli is supposed to be ready on Christmas Eve, but I don't think it read the schedule. If I don't get to harvest it this winter, I'll get it in the spring before new crops go in.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and sharing a comment with me!
Veggie PAK