Now that it's mid-August, it's the perfect time to plant some fall brassicas - broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, and Brussels Sprouts. The end-of-season cold weather will sweeten them up and make for a great harvest.
A few weeks ago, my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, started several trays of seeds for our autumn crop. When planting brassicas, it is important to plant seedlings rather than seeds so they have time to become established before any drastic temperature fluctuations. Yesterday, the plants were big enough and strong enough to put into the ground. And then it's just six to eight weeks before we're picking fresh fall greens once again.
Here are some photos.
We start many of our vegetables from seed inside my greenhouse where they can be nurtured until they are ready to transplant. If you follow this blog regularly, you may recall Ryan started these trays just weeks ago.
The trays are kept inside our Urban Cultivator until they germinate, and then they are brought out into the main greenhouse to grow some more.
It doesn’t take long, but now they’re ready to get into the ground.
First, the beds are cleared of any organic debris left over from the last crop. For fall planting, as soon as early-season plants have passed their prime and appear close to bolting, they can be pulled out and the area can be replanted with a different crop. Rotating crops will help avoid diseases particular to one plant type and balance nutrients in the soil.
In this bed, Ryan measures the area for cabbage. The cabbage seedlings should be spaced at least 12 to 18 inches apart in the row…
… and then those rows should be two to three feet apart. Proper measuring will ensure the vegetables have enough room to grow. Our cabbages have been so beautiful and large in this new garden.
Cabbage seedlings have roundish leaves with very small teeth. As they grow, they get a thick center stem and then the green or purple cabbages in the center.
Ryan gently removes each seedling out of the tray. Seedlings should be about two to three inches high before transplanting, and after the seedling has its two “true leaves.” True leaves are the leaves that grow after the initial seed’s cotyledon leaves appear.
Ryan is using a stainless steel widger from Johnny’s Selected Seeds. This is one of our favorite tools for working with small plants. The unique convex stainless steel blade is ideal for delicately separating seedlings and transplanting.
The seedling should be planted at the same depth it was grown in the tray. Ryan scoops a handful of dirt to make a hole.
And then gently places the seedling into the soil.
As with every plant, Ryan then tamps down on the surrounding soil carefully to make sure there is good contact.
Here is the bed all planted – it won’t take long before these grow. They will be watered and checked every day. We still have a lot of summer vegetables growing, so there is always something to harvest during the season.
This is a tray of Brussels sprouts. Like most vegetables, Brussels sprouts need a minimum of six hours of sunlight daily. They also like fertile, well-drained, moist soils with plenty of organic matter.
Ryan looks through the tray and thins the seedlings. He selects only the strongest, healthiest, and most compact plants.
And then using the same widger, Ryan removes the plants from the tray and places them where they will be planted in the garden bed.
Brussels sprouts need room to spread out, so Ryan places them 18 to 24 inches apart also with two to three feet in between rows.
And then just like the cabbages, he plants the Brussels sprouts as deep as they were in the tray and then tamps down lightly around the plants. These require a fairly long growing season, about 80 to 100 days to harvest.
The leaves are similar to broccoli and cauliflower, but more circular in shape and grow in whorls. Once developed, the plants will be upright with a single stalk thickly set with small, firm, cabbage-like heads.
Ryan also plants new beds of cauliflower, broccoli, Romanesco, mustard greens, and kale.
With the right timing and care, any garden is one that keeps on giving. I look forward to every harvest. We’ll be picking again very soon!
Aside from their beauty and intoxicating sweet scents, roses can continue to flower throughout the summer.
If you follow my blog and watch my televisions show, "Martha Gardens" exclusively on The Roku Channel, you may recall I redesigned a new rose bed behind my main greenhouse earlier this year. The 68-foot by 30-foot space now includes three types of roses - floribunda, hybrid tea, and shrub roses - all with gorgeous color, form, and fragrance. And all bordered by lush green boxwood. Now, several months later, the entire garden is thriving.
Enjoy these photos.
This garden was completed in spring and already all the rose bushes have grown – we planted more than 120 roses in this space.
The entire garden is surrounded with boxwood. Large boxwood shrubs anchor the corners and mark the middle and main footpath of the garden. These smaller boxwood, which I’ve nurtured from bare-root cuttings fill in the rest of the perimeter.
Buxus is a genus of about 70 species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood. Boxwood is native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean.
Boxwood leaves are evergreen and remain on the plant through the winter. They range from half inch to one inch long and are dark, glossy, and green on top. The back of the leaf is usually a lighter green with a distinct white mid-vein.
All of these roses came from Danielle Hahn, author of the new book “The Color of Roses,” published by Ten Speed Press.
We planted floribunda roses, hybrid tea roses, and shrub roses. This one is a soft cream. color.
Hybrid tea roses, also called large-flowered roses, usually have only one flower per stem and tend to flower in three flushes from summer to late autumn. Floribundas or cluster-flowered roses have many flowers per stem and tend to repeat-flower continuously from summer to late autumn.
The leaves of the rose are described as “pinnate” – meaning there is a central rib and then leaflets off to each side, with one terminal leaflet. Rose leaves can have anywhere from two to 13 leaflets. And rose stems are often armed with sharp prickles – they aren’t thorns at all. Unlike a thorn, a prickle can be easily broken off the plant because it is really a feature of the outer layers rather than part of the wood, like a thorn.
This garden includes a variety of different pastel colors from pink to apricot to lavender, yellow and creamy white.
Yesterday, my outdoor grounds crew mulched the garden. Mulching benefits roses through soil amendment, water conservation, weed control, and disease and insect control.
It also makes the garden look very neat and tidy. Here is Phurba spreading the mulch around the roses and in the footpath. The mulch should only be about three inches thick.
To produce an impressive show of flowers, always use nutrient-rich compost, composted manure, and other organic and natural fertilizers, such as fish emulsion. Organic amendments also help to encourage beneficial soil microbes and a well-balanced soil pH. I am fortunate to be able to make my own rich mulch right here at the farm.
Here is a beautiful pink rose. A rose is a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus Rosa, in the family Rosaceae. There are more than a hundred species and thousands of cultivars.
When selecting a location, plant roses in a sunny spot where it can get at least six hours of sun and good drainage.
We also planted strong disease resistant varieties. Many roses are bred and selected to resist the most common rose problems.
This week, we’ve had several overnight showers, so the plants and blooms are a bit wet, but when watering roses, give them the equivalent to one-inch of rainfall per week during the growing season.
Here is a gorgeous cream rose – opening perfectly.
And here are some just beginning to unfurl. Given the right care, healthy roses can bloom al the way until early fall.
And when cutting roses for an arrangement, try to do so in the early morning when they’re fully hydrated.
This rose garden is flourishing. I am so pleased with how it is doing. For more great gardening tips on planting and caring for roses, be sure to watch “Martha Gardens” on Roku.
Now that the kids are heading back to school and weekday schedules are busy with activities, it's time to plan those quick, nutritious, and easy-to-prepare dinners. If you haven't already, sign up for Martha Stewart & Marley Spoon. Our meal-kit delivery service is full of delicious, wholesome dishes that can be on the table in 40-minutes or less.
Every week, I order several Martha Stewart & Marley Spoon meal kits to enjoy at my farm. Yesterday, my housekeeper, Elvira Rojas, cooked one of the kits I selected from the week's menu - Fast! Lemon-Herb Burrata Ravioli & Prosciutto with Mint & Peas. It's just one of our easy, satisfying, and flavorful meals. The entire dish was cooked in 20-minutes. And as always, all the main ingredients are pre-measured, pre-packaged, and included with the delivery. Our service features so many inspiring recipes and cooking ideas, and you can choose the recipes that best fit your family's lifestyle. Just go to the web site right now to subscribe and see our flash deals!
Here are some photos.
Whenever we cook our Martha Stewart & Marley Spoon meal kits, we remove all the ingredients included and place them on the counter. These ingredients are pre-portioned and come in easy to open packaging. All one needs to provide is the olive oil, salt, and pepper if needed. One of the great things about our meal kits is that we include a large recipe card with the photo of the finished dish on the front with the estimated cooking time listed…
… And images on the back showing each of the main preparation steps. Plus, we include the ingredients list, the tools or supplies necessary, and a rundown of the nutrition values. These recipe cards are great to save for future use.
The first step is to empty the two tubs of mascarpone into a medium bowl and combine with 1/3-cup water. Mascarpone is made similarly to American cream cheese, but it uses a base of whole cream rather than milk. Like cream cheese, it is a fresh cheese that is not aged before it is eaten.
Then, using a whisk Elvira mixes it all until smooth and adds pepper to season.
Next, Elvira heats two teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Once heated Elvira adds the prosciutto piece by piece in an even layer. The word prosciutto, which translates to “ham” in Italian, is made only from the hind legs of pigs and is aged during a dry-curing process. There are typically two types of prosciutto: prosciutto cotto, which is cooked, and prosciutto crudo, which is uncooked, yet cured.
The prosciutto pieces are cooked until fragrant and browned in spots. Prosciutto is a flavorful, delicately sweet and salty product. It typically has a salmon pink to brownish-red color. Because prosciutto is already salty, our recipe does not call for any extra salt.
It only takes about two to three minutes to cook. Elvira also flips each piece halfway.
After the prosciutto is cooked, it is placed on a plate and put to the side.
In the same skillet, Elvira heats one-and-a-half tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high.
She adds the ravioli and cooks without stirring for about two minutes until the ravioli is golden brown on the bottom. Each ravioli is filled with burrata, lemon, and herbs. Burrata is a semisoft white Italian cheese made from mozzarella and cream. While mozzarella is more solid, burrata is a casing of mozzarella filled with soft, creamy curd.
The peas are added on top along with 1/3-cup water. Peas are so nutritious. They are a good source of vitamins C and E, zinc, and other antioxidants that strengthen the immune system.
Elvira quickly covers the skillet and cooks until the ravioli is tender and the peas are warmed. This only takes about five minutes.
Elvira picks the mint leaves off the stems…
… and chops them up into small pieces. One can also tear them into bite-sized pieces.
Elvira also tears the prosciutto into small pieces.
The prosciutto is plentiful and crispy. As a meat, prosciutto contains a good source of protein and various vitamins and minerals such as iron and thiamine. Additionally, prosciutto’s main fatty acid is oleic acid which is actually a “heart friendly” fat.
Next, Elvira adds the mascarpone to the skillet.
She also adds half of the prosciutto and half of the mint and then stirs until all the ravioli is coated with sauce. This doesn’t take long – just about 30-seconds.
The ravioli is plated and topped with some of the remaining prosciutto and mint and it’s ready to enjoy. Our ravioli looks perfect – just like the photo. And it’s so delicious. Sign up for Martha Stewart & Marley Spoon today and enjoy these dishes with us.
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