Planting Artichokes and Brassicas in the Vegetable Garden
The beds in my vegetable garden are filling up quickly.
My gardeners have been very busy in the outdoor vegetable garden down by my chicken coops. After making all the beds and spreading salt hay on the footpaths, they planted a number of big crops - artichokes and brassicas, also known as cruciferous vegetables. I love these vegetables and always plant enough to share with my family and friends. Cruciferous is the scientific name given to a group of vegetables including broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage. Named for the cross-shaped flowers they bear, crucifers contain a wide variety of disease-fighting antioxidants and phytochemicals, such as carotenoids and vitamin-C. Globe artichokes are half-hardy perennial thistles native to the mild climates of the Southern Mediterranean. In this area, they grow best started indoors from seed and then transplanted in spring for a late-summer to fall harvest.
Enjoy these photos.
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- The globe artichoke is an heirloom vegetable grown for its tender, edible flower buds. Because we live in a colder climate, we started these in my greenhouse from seed earlier this year. Then they were “hardened off” in the cold frame to prepare them for outdoor conditions. Now, they have large, silvery-green leaves, thick stems and are ready for transplanting in the ground.
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- Ryan starts by positioning all the artichoke plants on the bed to see how much space will be needed – we have more than two-dozen artichoke plants.
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- Ryan positions them about two to three feet apart to give them enough room to grow. Artichokes thrive best under full sun with deep, fertile, well-drained soil.
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- Ryan uses a tape measure to ensure all the plants are spaced perfectly. He takes into consideration the amount of plants and the size of the vegetables when mature.
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- He also measures the width of the bed to see how far apart the rows should be planted – everything is done very methodically.
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- Ryan uses this Intervale Garden Row Marking Line from Gardener’s Supply Company to mark the planting rows. https://www.gardeners.com/
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- The two stakes are made of ash and the jute twine extends 59-feet.
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- The line is run down the entire length of the bed.
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- When planting, Carlos also uses a two foot long piece of bamboo to make sure every specimen is planted in the right spot.
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- Carlos begins by digging the hole for each specimen – it is very easy to plant in raised beds because of the light, fluffy, well-drained soil, which encourages vigorous plant growth.
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- He digs a hole so that the plant goes deeply into the ground – the root ball and almost half the stem should be buried.
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- Then Carlos backfills the hole and lightly tamps down on the soil around the plant. The twine is kept down through the planting process to keep the rows of plants straight.
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- It didn’t take long to plant all these artichokes.
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- Artichokes are among the finest sources of dietary fiber and antioxidants. They are also an excellent source of vitamins C, K and B6 as well as folic acid, potassium, iron, manganese and phosphorus.
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- The artichokes were given a nice thorough watering. Plants need about one-inch of water per week during the growing season. Flower buds will form in early summer atop tall stems that soar out of the center of the plant.
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- Here is Carlos putting down salt hay in between the garden beds. The newspaper is placed first to deter any weeds from growing. Salt hay, or salt marsh hay, consists of grasses harvested from salt marshes. Their wiry stems do not mat down or rot as quickly as straw, and any seeds that are present will not germinate because they require wet, saline soil.
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- Salt hay is a little more expensive than regular bales of hay and straw, but well worth the investment and use.
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- Brassica is a genus of plants in the mustard family. Members are informally known as cruciferous vegetables, cabbages, or mustard plants. They are also sometimes called cole crops. Cauliflower plants grow best in cool daytime temperatures of 70 to 80-degrees Fahrenheit with plentiful sun, and moist soil conditions high in organic matter.
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- Broccoli is also in the Brassicaceae family. It is one of the healthiest vegetables, and is high in vitamin-C and fiber.
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- The planting season for cabbage is quite long. Early cabbage should be transplanted as soon as possible so that it can mature before the summertime heat. Red, or purple, cabbage is often used raw for salads and coleslaw. It contains 10-times more vitamin-A and twice as much iron as green cabbage.
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- Everything looks great. There are lots of plants to fill our 44-beds. It’s going to be a wonderful growing season. What vegetables are you growing?
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