Nobody's Mad

We’re seeing some leaf yellowing and curling in the cabbages and cauliflowers. Possible causes include iron deficiency, nitrogen deficiency, and “yellows”. Iron deficiency doesn’t seem likely given the number of rusty nails we’ve found. “Yellows” are often associated with excess nitrogen, which is unlikely given the volume of green leaves that the broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, rutabagas, and swedes have put out since the last fertilizer treatment two months ago.

And so a soil test is in order. We sampled four places in the brassica patch, and combined them:

We took two samples from the NE corner which is to be the new veggie area, and mixed them for testing.

The corner includes a good-sized rhododendron, a lavender/rosemary patch, and compost space. They aren’t included in the 200sq ft to be treated. There is very little vegetable matter in the soil so we’ll add a lot of compost.

Purple Top, White Globe
Expected germination: 7-10 days
Expected harvest: 55 days

9 seeds

08/06: Planted 1 per cell in 9 cells.
08/15: 8 of 9 (89%) are 3/4″ to 2″ tall.
08/23: 7 of 9 (78%) are 2″ to 2-1/2″ tall.
08/28: Planted out.
08/30: Some stressed. 1-1/2″ to 3″ tall with foliage diameter 2″ to 6″.
10/13: Harvested first turnip, approx 1-1/2″ diameter.

Harvest: 68-TBA days

Fordbook Giant
Expected germination: 4-10 days
Expected harvest: 55 days

18 seeds

08/06: Planted 2 per cell in 9 cells.
08/15: 15 of 18 (83%) are 1/2″ to 1-1/2″ tall.
08/23: Shoots are too dense to count and mostly 1-1/4″ to 2″ tall.
08/29: Planted out.
08/30: Stressed. 2″ to 3″ tall.

Oregon Sugar Pod II (Stover)
Expected germination: 14-21 days
Expected harvest: 65-70 days

54 seeds

08/06: Planted 2 per cell in 27 cells.
08/15: 42 of 54 (78%) are 0″ to 2″ tall.
08/23: Shoots are too dense to count and mostly 2-1/2″ to 4″ tall.
08/28: Planted out.
08/30: 2-1/2″ to 6″ tall.
10/27: Started harvest.

American Purple Top
Expected germination: 3-10 days
Expected harvest: 90 days

9 seeds

08/06: Planted 1 per cell in 9 cells.
08/15: 7 of 9 (78%) are 1/2″ to 3/4″ tall.
08/23: 7 of 9 (78%) are 1-1/2″ to 2-1/4″ tall.
08/28: Planted out.
08/30: 2″ to 3″ tall with foliage diameter 2″ to 4″.

French Breakfast
Expected germination: 5-7 days
Expected harvest: 23 days

18 seeds

08/06: Planted 2 per cell in 9 cells.
08/15: 18 of 18 (100%) are 1″ to 2″ tall.
08/23: Shoots are too dense to count and mostly 2″ to 3″ tall.
08/29: Planted out.
08/30: Some stressed. 1-1/2″ to 5″ tall with foliage diameter 2-1/2″ to 5″.
09/09: Good size – started harvest.
09/28: Most of the radishes were harvested in the first 7-10 days. Two small radishes remained which stubbornly refuse to grow larger so we finally picked them today.

Harvest: 34-53 days