The Brussels Sprouts Experiment

As a kid I don't remember eating Brussels sprouts much. It was about the time that they were a trendy food on one of those cooking shows on TV that I had a reminiscing conversation with my grandmother. She said Brussels sprouts were one of her favorite veggies. I'm assuming her cooking method was probably steamed/boiled and doused in cheese, not unlike the versions you can find in the frozen food aisle at the grocery store. The cooking shows though were showing all sorts of creative ways to cook sprouts, with high-heat oven roasting and deep fried (not breaded) looking absolutely delicious.

Fast forward about ten years. It's late February and I'm strolling through the garden plants section at the big box store, feeling rather daring and adventurous. My broccoli crop was a miss (who knew central AL would get down to 9 degrees??) and I had a open space in the garden. I figured another cool season crop would be a good fit, and the tag said it would be a little more than two months to maturity. Nine baby Brussels sprouts came home with me.

I didn't have room for nine, so I planted five of them among the pitiful broccoli that I would be removing soon anyway. The other four I gave away to co-workers. I dutifully watered and fertilized, but it wasn't until about early April until the plants really took off on their own.

Yeah, that's them peeking out from behind the carrots.

Gradually they kept getting bigger, and I was starting to dream of eating glorious browned and slightly crunchy Brussels sprouts from the oven. But nothing happened. The little sprout nubbins were about the size of large peas, occasionally a small marble, but certainly not big enough to pick.

I left for 10-days vacation, hopeful that the "watched pot never boils" concept also applied to Brussels sprouts. I returned from vacation and prepped for the next trip, telling my garden sitter to go ahead and pick if they get big enough. I returned from THAT trip and things were pretty much the same.

And then the plants started to wilt. I blamed the 90+ degree weather, but liberal watering did nothing to help the poorest of the plants.

 

Yeah, not doing so good.  I threw in the towel. I need the space and nothing is progressing. But then again, some of the stems were turning an odd shade of purple.

Green stem (happy)

Purple stem (not happy)

    And then I cut into the stems.

 In many of the purplish areas the outer skin was slippery like it was starting to rot, but the center was still in tact.

And then there was this one, which was hollow and rotted out with some small bugs crawling around inside. I was looking specifically for some type of worm/borer but didn't see anything.

So much for my tasty roasted Brussels sprouts. Good news is the zucchini is starting to produce. But that's another post.

End of the Lettuce

Strong thunderstorms blew through yesterday afternoon. I wasn't here for it, but the red and orange blobs on the radar looked impressive. Only 0.7 inches in the rain gauge, whereas my friends two miles away had over 2 inches. Such are the precipitation patterns in Alabama.

Along with the rain was some strong wind. I found one of my gladiolus spikes flat against the ground, and about half of the lettuce snapped off. I was going to pick lettuce and tear out the stems this weekend anyway, but I moved it up a day so I could salvage some of the lettuce that got hit by the storm.

I filled five gallon-size resealable bags with lettuce leaves, trying to put together a good variety of leaf types. The stems got cut off at ground level and are destined for the compost piles. The next step will be adding compost to the raised bed and working the soil so I can transplant the last few squash plants. Something for tomorrow.

The lettuce patch, last week.

First Post

Imaginative title, I know.

I've been pondering a gardening blog for some time. In part so I can share my trials, successes, and learning experiences (because nothing is a mistake). But also so I have a way of keeping my own record of what I've done when.

Let's face it, while keeping a calendar diary is helpful, it's also a little boring. At least with a blog you can post pictures, link to cool website finds, and share the adventure with other gardeners.

So, here's today's "What I did in the garden" post:

First potatoes of the season. I tried Yukon Golds this year. I bought a package of seed potatoes at the local big box home improvement store. The plants are blooming for a second time this year, which I didn't think was possible. I know potatoes start to develop the tubers about the time of flowering. Curiosity got to me about how big they really are, so I dug up one plant at the end of the row. Because of the size, locals might refer to these "new potatoes" even though most people think new potatoes have red skins. That's a discussion for another day. Ideally I'd like to get them to boil/bake size. I'll try to contain my enthusiasm for a few more weeks.