Leave the plants intact after harvesting a head of cabbage. Smaller heads will develop at the base of the plant.
Garden Journal columnist Ron Kujawski began gardening at an early age on his family's onion farm in upstate New York. Although now retired, he spent most of his career teaching at the UMass Extension Service.
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Leave the plants intact after harvesting a head of cabbage. Smaller heads will develop at the base of the plant.
Having reached an age which some would call “ancient,” it does take me much longer to accomplish some basic tasks. Keeping up with weeds in the vegetable garden is one example. They have really gotten away from me this year.
In one area of the garden left vacant after an earlier harvest, the weeds have moved in. They are not only tall but are also fast approaching the time when they’ll be setting seeds. As such, removing these weeds is a top priority. My strategy is to mow down the weeds with my string trimmer and then rake up and remove them. Since they have not yet produced mature seeds, the debris will be tossed onto the compost pile. The vacated area can then be tilled and planted with buckwheat, a great cover crop that will suppress the development of weeds.
While on the subject of seeds, this is the time of year when many plants besides weeds are producing seeds. Dill is one example. We use dill frequently for canning pickles and for seasoning certain dishes. Yet, I can’t recall the last time I sowed seeds of dill in the garden. The plant itself takes care of that. Most dill plants in our garden have now reached maturity and are dropping seeds on the ground. These will give rise to next year’s plants. Yes, the plants will be scattered about the garden and some will need to be pulled up if competing with other vegetables, but it is still worth letting the dill take care of itself.
Here are some tasks that will not take care of themselves:
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