Brassica

About the only Brassica that I eat much of is broccoli - and I do like it alot. I try to grow enough to have frozen and soup to get through the Winter. While it takes a lot of space, I can get two or three harvests before removing the plants in late summer, I try to have some growing in mid summer to offer fresh plants in the Fall.

Last year I bought Green Goliath and had some Waltham 29 seeds previously. I still have seeds of both but I'll probably stock up again when seeds are marked down this Summer.

I've seeded plants in doors and out doors directly in place. The plants give me a head start for the first one or two crops and then there's enough time to let them grow in place. With luck I'll have 30- 40 plants during the growing season.

I do grow a couple of green and red cabbages - two or three reds and 3-4 greens. I don;t eat them, but they do make for good gifts and barter in the Fall.

Lettuce

Lettuce is another easy to grow vegetable, but it is easy to get too much at one time. Last year I planted too heavily and had that problem. This year, I'm working to plant just a little, but often. I like a variety of lettuce and so I plant both red and green colors of Simpson/Grand Rapids, Cos, and Buttercrunch types. The Simpson and GR grow very quickly and get used regularly. The Cos and Buttercrunch types are a little slower and longer to mature but help to make tasty Spring Salads.

This year, I started a few of each variety in-doors to transplant out into the graden, but after one or two crops, I'll be seeding directly outside. The small plants transplant fairly well and it gives them a bit of a head start during the cooler Spring. As with the Radishes, its best to plant just enough to get by rather than large amounts.

Generally I shoot for about a dozen plants at once of each type. The first few harvests, I'll cut leaves, but then after that I usually pull the plants to make a little more room for warm weather crops like beans.

Radishes and Carrots

Radishes are one of the fool-proof vegetables I grow. I don't eat a lot of them, but do enjoy some fresh and in salads. Because I don't need to grow a lot, I can grow a few varieties.

The best ones I grow are French Breakfast. These are an elongated cyclindrical type and grow quickly. The globe-type tend to go woody quicker for me, but I still plant Cherry Globe, Sparkler, and few Chinese White globe-types. Because the grow quickly, even up here, I tend to plant a few every 10 days or so trying to spread out the harvest. I usually try to limit my efforts to two or three feet at one time. Once it warms up they are best not planted as they go woody even faster. The key is to harvest them early and heavily. My goal this year will be to ruthless ly tend them and harvest as soon as practical to make room for my Carrots.

I do use more Carrots in soups, stir fries and freeze them for Winter. Because the beds are only 8 or so inches deep, I try to grow more short varieties than the longer classic types. Half Danvers and Nantes have proven the most reliable for me and I plant enough to get me through the Winter as well as enough to eat fresh.

Onions

I really like onions and eat lots from Fall through Spring. Last year I planted sets and they turned out ok - not too many of the baseball sized ones I was hoping for. Someone told me that the biggest sized bulbs can from plants and so this year, I'm putting out plants along with Shallots, Bunching seeds onions, and Garlic.

I like a good variety of onions so I got 50 each of Walla Walla, Mars (red) and Cora for overwinter. The Garlic just came from the grocery and was planted last Fall. This is the first time I've tried Shallots and Garlic - but both look to be a good addition to the allium bed. With the 150 plants I'll put in I hope to get about 50 nice onions to overwinter and share.