Growing leafy brassicas in reused plastic juice bottles- is it worth it?

Most of us grow brassicas the old fashion way. We grow seedlings and transplant them into the garden. We keep them watered and wait for them to grow heads. But what when they refuse to grow one? Is the problem in the variety which we grow, the conditions or climate? Can we grow them some other way?

No heads issue

Growing brassicas in my garden has been a real problem no matter what I did. The cold spring and autumn shortened our season so much that there was no way to grow any brassica heads. The cabbages and kale would miss that initial spring boost, suffer through the summer heat, and rot under the constant cold and rain in autumn. A few years back, I decided that the situation was going nowhere, and started growing leafy kale. The leafy kale turned out to be a good solution, and I grew never more kale that season.

The situation with seeds in Croatia is fairly bad. We are a part of the EU, and should be able to grow and buy any EU seed here, but the reality is completely different. Most stores sell only a couple of varieties, and I just can't find the varieties which I'd like to grow. Ordering from other European countries doesn't work, the shipping fees are huge and the corruption in the postal services is an issue. There are big chances we'd never get our packages. This is why I needed to find another solution.

Plastic bottles as pots, yes, please

I decided to grow all my brassicas as leafy brassicas and collect as many leaves as possible. Leaves on brassicas are all perfectly edible... Read more here

As of June, 2022 Rolling down my garden will be moving to its own side:

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Full new posts can be read on the new page.

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We've been busy at rollingdownmygarden new page

New posts on https://rollingdownmygarden.com 1) Apple harvest: compote and dehydrated apples 08/23/2022 2) Lazy Sunday lunch: All-in-one pot 08/21/2022 3) Garden diary: still dealing with drought 08/19/2022 4) Mini buhtle: sweet jam and chocolate buns 08/14/2022 5) Pasta with cabbages-krpice sa zeljem 08/10/2022 6) Watering the overheated garden: When and how 08/08/2022 7) Garden diary:late summer sowing 08/03/2022 8) Blackberries: how to store them for winter 07/31/2022 9) Garden diary: July side garden progress 07/29/2022

Lavender harvest

In Croatia, June is usually a Lavender harvest month. In the coastal parts lavender flowers sooner, and in northwestern Croatia we harvest it around the end of June. The lavender isn't very popular here due to the popular opinion that the lavender can't survive in the cold, but actually, some varieties grow excellent even in cold and can be grown in harsh winter conditions. Warmth, sun, and no watering is a perfect combination Lavender likes hot and sunny areas, but they can survive in colder areas, provided that the soil is not too wet. The humidity will kill the roots much faster than the frost will. The lavender prefers well-drained soil and doesn't mind being without water for a longer period. It is perfect for slope and rock gardens. Once you choose the right spot you can forget about it until the harvest time. Lavender doesn't need any fertilizers or fresh compost. It grows the best in a poor rocky environment. Give your lavender lots of sun and enou

The anti-hail netting is up

After years of worrying if we'll get a destructive storm or not, this year we finally said that it was enough and ordered anti-hail netting. It took a while to get it. Probably due to a lot of storms around us, and the increase in orders, but last Friday it finally arrived and we decided to install it right away. The best way to install an anti-hail net is to secure it on a strong metal frame. This way the netting can last up to 10 years without much maintenance, but that's not possible in our garden. Having a forest garden means that every possible flat surface needs a way to be cleaned. Once the autumn starts the garden is full of leaves that cover everything. We need an easy way to clean the netting, and having a fixed netting isn't an option... Read more here As of June 2022, Rolling down my garden will be moving to its own side: https://rollingdownmygarden.com Full new posts can be read on the new page

Fertilizing and more sowing

Last week before the rain, I decided to do some additional fertilization and sow some more vegetables. This year, instead of cow pelleted manure I bought a grocery sold manure. The pelleted manure which is sold in our normal stores is packed in smaller bags and can be bought at all times. Cow pelleted manure is sold in 25kg bags, and it is a problem to handle. I can't bring it to the basement on my own, and I need buckets to move it from the basement to the garden. The grocery sold fertilizers are actually not much worse than the big bagged ones. Still, I'll use these ones more often, so the result should be similar. I've already fertilized the garden in March and added some eggshells... Read more here As of June 2022, Rolling down my garden will be moving to its own side: https://rollingdownmygarden.com Full new posts can be read on the new page.

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