Garden 2011: Broccoli and More

After transplanting the full row of broccoli, Jo watered them with a fish emulsion mixture. The dogs think fish emulsion smells like something that really needs to be rolled in. (Part #1 of transplanting broccoli into the garden is here.)

Finally Jo covered the newly transplanted veggies -- broccoli, cauliflower and Chinese cabbage -- with high-tech mini-greenhouses, otherwise known as cloches, which I photographed the following day. We're not likely to get temperatures cold enough to damage the transplants, but the cloches also help keep them from drying out and protect the tender young plants from being buffeted around in our gusty south wind. (Yes, I really do need to crank up our lawnmower and mow the aisles between garden beds.)

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the garden... While it's not necessary to make an emergency run into town for whipped cream just yet, our strawberries are blooming.

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Garden 2011: Broccoli and More

Garden 2011: Transplanting Broccoli Into The Garden #1

Broccoli, cauliflower and Chinese cabbage sets ready to go into the garden. Jo usually starts our transplants from seeds, but this year she had a problem with the seed company and did not receive seeds soon enough to do that. Instead, she bought the sets at our local feed store.

We'd already prepared the bed, so all Jo had to do was lay out a center line and start digging. She'd purchased the transplants over a week ago, but a new cold front that arrived on Monday caused her to wait until Tuesday to set them out in the garden. Depending upon what kind of weather we were having, the transplants had either been soaking up a few rays under a grow light or setting out on the porch "hardening off".

And another broccoli goes into the ground. There's a hill directly to the west of our place, so sunset in the garden occurs a couple of hours before actual sunset. I thought I might have to start using the camera's flash before Jo finished planting.

Part #2 of "Transplanting Broccoli" will follow soon.

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Garden 2011: Transplanting Broccoli Into The Garden #1