Re: N&C Midwest: May 2023

**Scorpio Rising** 5/17/2023, 8:00 pm

I just spent about an hour plus weeding then amending then planting 6 Yukon Gold potatoes, a bunch of Candy onions, and for the first time, shallots! I am excited. We are expecting a frost here tonight, but for these guys it doesn’t matter.

My tomatoes, peppers, etc. and flowers are basically ready (some over ready!) to go in….gonna wait until this weekend.

OhioGardener 5/18/2023, 12:14 pm

We had a light frost this morning. Fortunately all of the plants I currently have in the beds are frost tolerant and were not harmed, in fact the brassicas seem to love the chill.

Last week while cleaning one of the beds for planting of the peppers the end of this month, I noticed several young Kale plants coming up from the roots of last year's plants that were cut off at soil level. I dug down into the soil and found these young plants were growing from the roots of the old plants, so I cut off three of them and transplanted them into another bed next to the Bok Choy and Napa Cabbages. Apparently the transplanting worked, this morning I noticed all three plants have new leaves on them. First time I have ever experienced that happening.

**Scorpio Rising** 5/18/2023, 7:16 pm

OhioGardener wrote:We had a light frost this morning. Fortunately all of the plants I currently have in the beds are frost tolerant and were not harmed, in fact the brassicas seem to love the chill.

Last week while cleaning one of the beds for planting of the peppers the end of this month, I noticed several young Kale plants coming up from the roots of last year's plants that were cut off at soil level. I dug down into the soil and found these young plants were growing from the roots of the old plants, so I cut off three of them and transplanted them into another bed next to the Bok Choy and Napa Cabbages. Apparently the transplanting worked, this morning I noticed all three plants have new leaves on them. First time I have ever experienced that happening.

Interesting, OG regarding the kale!

I have my maters and peppers outside at the moment hardening off, along with some flowers. It is not supposed to get too cold tonight, so leaving them out there…

I did have either flat leaf parsley or cilantro in one of my little planters. I think it is the flat leaf, because I haven’t planted cilantro for years because it self seeds do readily!

OhioGardener 5/19/2023, 4:48 pm

Pulled some of the Canada Red rhubarb today to cut up and put in the freezer for next winter.

**Scorpio Rising** 5/20/2023, 1:44 pm

That is an excellent idea, OG. I am gonna do that too. I have never been able to do that due to the recent transplanting of my rhubarb! Do you just straight up freeze chunks, or cook it first? I hope you say straight up freeze chunks! Lol!

Oh! I see that you are chunking and freezing. I can do that! Never mind….

OhioGardener 5/20/2023, 3:36 pm

Scorpio Rising wrote:Oh! I see that you are chunking and freezing. I can do that! Never mind….

N&C Midwest: May 2023 - Page 2 3170584802

Yep, raw Rhubarb can be kept frozen for up to a year in a tightly sealed bag or container. We prepare it in batches of 6 cups of 1/2" pieces of Rhubarb per bag, which makes one pie or crisp.

**Scorpio Rising** 5/20/2023, 5:54 pm

Great idea…I am gonna do this.

Finally got my cold frame cleaned out. Will amend it tomorrow. Planted radishes, lettuce, and sugar snaps on a trellis in my fire ring.

My maters, peppers, eggplants and other stuff aren’t quite ready size-wise. Maybe next week? Not sure.

I want to put the maters in the new 4x4, which hasn’t been sited yet. It’s crazy…I bought 6 plants today at the Master Gardeners plant sale. It is an obsession… Wink

OhioGardener 5/20/2023, 6:16 pm

We got a nice gentle half-inch of rain last night that helped get the beds ready for planting. Today I pulled out the last of the Giant of Sicily radishes and planted some De 18 Jours radish seeds in their place. Been really enjoying all of the fresh radish this spring. Also pulled some spring onions for the salads. Still hardening off the tomato, eggplant and pepper plants to be ready to transplant - a little bit behind this year after life got in the way for a few weeks.

JAM23 5/20/2023, 7:44 pm

You guys have been so productive! All I did today was harvest some lettuce and cleaned out/planted herbs in the herb garden! Need to plant some more radishes tomorrow OhioGardener!

ScorpioRising, still trying to decide where I want to place my new cold frames and one that gets decided them it's time to dig up the ground, add compost, etc and get it ready to plant in this fall!

**Scorpio Rising** 5/21/2023, 7:03 pm

JAM23 wrote:You guys have been so productive! All I did today was harvest some lettuce and cleaned out/planted herbs in the herb garden! Need to plant some more radishes tomorrow OhioGardener!

ScorpioRising, still trying to decide where I want to place my new cold frames and one that gets decided them it's time to dig up the ground, add compost, etc and get it ready to plant in this fall!

Oh Jam you kill me! Take your time and get the coldframe in the right space. I am proud that I got my plants in that I bought yesterday! But they went into the ground with the exception of the Amana Orange tomato (new one to me). None of my other stuff is ready yet….too small. In good time.

I am starting my squash, melons, and cucumbers along with some sunflowers today! I love them, so happy!

markqz 5/22/2023, 10:17 am

OhioGardener wrote: Apparently the transplanting worked, this morning I noticed all three plants have new leaves on them. First time I have ever experienced that happening.

Oh, that's cool you can get it to work in temperate climes. My experience so far is that Ukrainian kale will go two years. It doesn't get more than 3 feet tall. Dinosaur (Italian) kale will go indefinitely, but grows taller and may fall over from it's own weight. I have transplanted the U. Kale and it survived for awhile, but didn't produce good leaves. Maybe if I had transplanted it to a better composted bed it might have done better. It will be interesting to see how yours does.

On a similar note, Italian chard really builds up it's root stock. I've just transplanted 3 chard root cuttings to the front yard, and it looks like at least one of them is taking.

**Scorpio Rising** 5/22/2023, 7:10 pm

I wish I liked kale…grows here seasonally of course, does really well….I do like cabbage, but keeping it segregated from the butterflies (then worms) is a feat….it is at least cheap to buy.

OhioGardener 5/22/2023, 8:42 pm

Scorpio Rising wrote:I wish I liked kale…grows here seasonally of course, does really well….

We make a copy of Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana soup which makes Kale irresistible. Very Happy

We use this recipe:
https://www.lecremedelacrumb.com/easy-olive-garden-zuppa-toscana-soup/#wprm-recipe-container-22886

markqz 5/22/2023, 8:59 pm

Scorpio Rising wrote:I wish I liked kale…grows here seasonally of course, does really well….I do like cabbage, but keeping it segregated from the butterflies (then worms) is a feat….it is at least cheap to buy.

Coat with olive oil and sprinkle on seasoned salt. Bake at 350 or so for 10 minutes, possibly turning the leaves over mid-cycle. The leaves turn fluffy crisp and tasty.

OhioGardener 5/23/2023, 5:08 pm

markqz wrote:
OhioGardener wrote: Apparently the transplanting worked, this morning I noticed all three plants have new leaves on them. First time I have ever experienced that happening.
Oh, that's cool you can get it to work in temperate climes.

Two of the three Kale plants that I transplanted are growing pretty well (left two with arrow between them), and the third one is still alive but hasn't developed new leaves (right one). These are Lacinato (Dinosaur) Kale.

Meanwhile, the Bok Choy is growing really fast, and should be ready to harvest in two or three weeks. Very Happy

nrstooge 5/23/2023, 7:16 pm

Set up new vertical planter - will have 12 peppers in bottom 2 tiers and the other 4 tiers are brassicas and celery.

What would eat the top off my tomato seedlings? Evil or Very Mad

I had many extras, but have lost a dozen in the last few days. Will plant the tomatoes, then begin hardening off the peppers and eggplants.

**Scorpio Rising** 5/24/2023, 9:28 pm

NR: I have no idea what would eat the top off of a seedling. Was it small? If so, I would venture squirrel or raccoon….

OK…I have kale seeds that STILL germinate! They are the Dwarf Blue Vates. It was supposed to be mildest…grows like a weed.

Finally got my super hotties planted and sunflower seeds in for germination. Melons, winter and summer squashes including pumpkins, cucumbers all in on heat.

nrstooge 5/25/2023, 8:19 am

Caught the culprit - Birds!

OhioGardener 5/27/2023, 5:07 pm

My Sugar Snap Peas on the arbor have begun flowering, so we'll soon be eating fresh peas. hungry

OhioGardener 5/28/2023, 4:37 pm

Transplanted the tomatoes and swiss chard into the beds today. The pepper and egg plant seedlings are still too small to transplant out, but soon. Very Happy

nrstooge 5/28/2023, 4:39 pm

I finally got all the tomatoes transplanted, even if they were on the small side - I know they will catch up quickly. Put peppers/eggplants out to harden off.

JAM23 5/29/2023, 8:36 am

Same here! I got the last of the warm weather crops planted. I am the most excited about the ground cherry seedlings that I grew this year. I had a difficult time getting them to germinate and they took forever to get just a few inches tall. They are transplanted on the small size as well and I hope they do okay because I can't find them anywhere (local nurseries, etc.).

My spinach has all bolted already so I need to get that out of the garden and figure out what to put in those squares. I have pepper plants intermingled with my spinach squares, so I need to figure out what can go there.

Hope you are all enjoying this beautiful weekend!

OhioGardener 5/29/2023, 11:22 am

Picked some fresh Spinach this morning before the day starts getting hot. The drip irrigation ran early this morning, so the plants are all perked up.

OhioGardener 5/30/2023, 9:15 am

Picked a bowl full of Swiss Chard this morning. It is hard to keep up with the greens this time of the year.

JAM23 5/30/2023, 4:13 pm

Picked 3 heads of Little Gem lettuce and 3 heads of Tom Thumb lettuce and one stalk/head (?) of purple choi for our stir fry tonight.

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N&C Midwest: May 2023