Week 52+24 - Bed EX5

Week 52+21 - Bed EX5

Week 52+7 - Bed EX5

After tidying up this bed there are only 3 cabbage plants left, and only two of them are going to produce a head of cabbage.

The one cabbage plant is starting to produce small but tasty flower shoots.

The chard plants had a lot of old torn and rotting leaves removed to reveal a younger heart of leaves that are in much better condition - it is a shame that no one in the group seems to like chard.

Week 52+5 - Bed EX5

The cabbage in the foreground is finally starting to produce a head, though it will still take a while before it firms up. The Swiss Chard is has looking rough after the hard frosts, heavy rains and wind of the winter.

One of the small savoy cabbages has started to bolt. Although it will not produce a head of cabbage, the immature flower heads can be picked similar to sprouting broccoli.

Week 49 - Bed EX5

We have harvested a few cabbages, which were small but tasty, and pulled a few out that were very small.

Week 40 - Bed EX5

All of the Rhubarb Chard plants have bolted and are towering over the cabbage plants beside them.

The chard are substantial plants, especially when they go to seed, with beautiful red stems.

The Swiss Chard (seen from above) is growing well, and may be affecting the growth of the savoy cabbage transplanted next to them.

We pulled out the Rhubarb Chard, and harvested the largest of the Cour di Bue cabbages. There was very little to it, not a lot of growth at all, and it had not really filled out. It is unlikely that the remaining three plants of this autumn cabbage will produce anything, even with the towering chard plants removed, and we may pull them out as well to make room for some overwintering broad beans.

Week 38 - Bed EX5

More chard plants are bolting, and they all need harvesting. It seems that not many people involved with this garden like chard (or know what to do with it).

One of the Cour di Bue Cabbages has formed a head that is firming up and almost ready to harvest ...

... but the one beside it has been attacked by caterpillars and is unlikely to produce anything at this stage. Which came first, the attack by caterpillars or the stunted growth?

The Vertus Savoy cabbage is getting larger and will form a head later in the season to be harvested during winter.

Week 35 - Bed EX5

A few of the Swiss Chard plants have bolted (gone to seed) and will be pulled out.

The recent cabbage transplants, including this savoy cabbage, are doing reasonably well, and have increased in size over the past two weeks.

Week 33 - Bed EX5 Planting

We finally harvested the remainder of the beetroot, some of which had become quite large, but remained fairly tasty and sweet. Several of the cabbages were doing very poorly from being crowded for too long by the mature beetroot. Although the larger beetroot plants would have sheltered the new transplants until they got established, we should have removed all of the beetroot within a few weeks, at the most, as the recently transplanted cabbage roots were not able to compete with the established beetroot.

We pulled out the worst of of the cabbages, and replaced them with healthier plants that had been left in the seedbed, even though these were quite large for transplanting. We ended up with 4 Vertus Savoy Cabbages and 4 Cour di Bue Summer Cabbages.



The chard is doing well, but needs to be harvested. We probably planted too much.

Week 31 - Bed EX5

After a month of cool wet weather, this bed is doing quite well, apart from the cabbages.


The beetroot and the chard prefer the cooler weather, and outgrew the recently transplanted cabbages. We should have harvested more beets before we went on holidays. Hopefully the large beets will still be tender and sweet.

This cabbage plant has been weakened and attacked by slugs. It will not produce much of a crop and should be removed.


The chard plants are healthy, with plenty to harvest.

Week 26 - Bed EX5 Planting

We harvested some beets this week, from both of the varieties. Both the roots and the leaves will be eaten. In the space between the two rows of beets we transplanted from bed DD6:

• Vertus Savoy Cabbage (5 plants at the north end) - medium late variety with round flattish heads, medium green, well curled and frost hardy
• Cour di Bue Summer Cabbage (3 plants at the south end) - large pointed heart variety, maturing in early autumn, light green in colour

Although the plants are crowded at the moment, next week we will be harvesting the beetroot from around the cabbage transplants, and within a month or so, all of the beets will be harvested from both rows, leaving plenty of space for the cabbage plants to grow to maturity.

We could have waited for more of the beetroot to be harvested before transplanting, but the brassica seedbed is getting really crowded, and by planting in among the beetroot, the plants will gradually get more space, which will be a smoother transition than going from a crowded bed to being transplanted into an open wind swept bed.

Week 25 - Bed EX5

View from above, 10 weeks after sowing, showing red beetroot (top), pink beetroot (middle), Swiss Chard (bottom left) and Rhubarb Chard (bottom right). These plants have done well in the recent weather, and seem to be flourishing in the soil conditions.


Typical globe beetroot (top) and the white/pink ringed Barbietola di Chioggia variety both needing to be thinned/harvested.


Rhubarb and Swiss Chard ready for the first harvest of outer leaves.

Week 24 - Bed EX5

After 9 weeks, the chard and beetroot are all doing well. We have harvested some of the beetroot thinnings to eat as part of a salad or as a steamed vegetable.

Week 15 - Bed EX5 Planting

We finished cultivating this lazy-bed down to a fine seedbed and sowed 3 long rows

• Rhubarb Chard (south 1/2 of long row) - rich ruby-red leaf stalks and dark green/purple foliage
• Swiss Chard (north 1/2 of long row) - dark green leaves with broad white ribs
• Barbietola di Chioggia Beetroot (1 long row) - a mild-flavoured italian, pink skin variety with white flesh and pink rings
• Storuman Beetroot (1 long row) - fast growing globe beetroot, which can be used as both summer and main-crop