October 22, 2013

Here’s the broccoli the day after transplant on October 9. The bed is covered with bird netting to keep well, the birds from pecking at the leaves but also to slow down the cabbage moths . To my disappointment, the moths do slide in and out at will. I’m expecting to have to hand pick and spray with BT for cabbage worms. Row cover might be a better choice next year.

Eleven days after transplanting the broccoli into the garden they look like this and most are 15-18 inches across. Conditions have been ideal–rain when moved to the garden and a week with temps in the 70’s.

If you’d like to see how the broccoli got to this point check the broccoli saga on these posts:

Planting Broccoli Seeds
Transplanting to Four-Inch Pots
Transplanting to the Garden

To summarize, I planted broccoli blends from Renee’s Garden and Fedco. From the 50 or so seedlings, I transplanted 18 sturdy and healthy ones to the 4 x 8 foot raised bed. The rest went to friends and the compost bin.

The broccoli is planted intensively, 15 inches apart in soil enriched with compost, gypsum and Dr. Earth’s All-Purpose Organic Fertilizer. Since the leaves will soon shade the soil and limit weed growth, I won’t mulch the soil. 

And now the wait.