Planting the Vegetable Garden

Posted on Tuesday, May 10, 2022 · Leave a Comment 

Every gardener has an opinion about when to start planting the vegetable garden. Frost hardy plants like spinach, onions and peas should already be in the ground for most everyone, but tomatoes and peppers? I believe that waiting until June is right for my garden –even if we get no more frost.

 

Artichoke ready to pick in my garden

Why do I plant later than many others? Tomatoes and peppers like warm soil. In fact, they’d rather be growing in Mexico than Cornish Flat. Yes, you can plant them early but they won’t grow much. They’ll sit there and sulk. If you can get your hands on a little soil thermometer, check your soil down 3 or 4 inches. If it is 60 degrees or more, fine. Have at it.

 

Another way to decide when to plant is to ask an “old timer”. Ask someone in your neighborhood when it is safe to plant various crops. If she has been gardening in your neighborhood for the last 25 years or more, her advice is probably excellent.

 

If you started seeds indoors, your tomatoes or broccoli may be tall and lanky. So tall that they will fall over when planted. The solution? Plant much of the stem in the ground – either in a deep hole for the root ball, or sideways in a shallow trench. Remove and low leaves to make it look like a little palm tree. Then make a hole for the root ball with a 6-inch trench next to it. Lay the tomato seedling in the ground, and gently turn up the top while covering the stem with soil. All the buried stem will produce roots. Broccoli or other brassicas I just plant deep if they are too tall.

 

Potatoes ready to hill

Potatoes can go in the ground now unless your garden is still soggy. In fact, don’t plant anything in soggy soil. I have somewhat soggy place for my garden, but make raised beds which helps with drainage. I have made two kinds of raised beds:  raised mounds (30-to 36-inches wide) or wood-sided raised beds. I use rough-sawn hemlock planks that are a full inch thick and 8 inches wide. Pressure treated wood is now said to be safe to use in the vegetable garden, but I prefer untreated hemlock which I find lasts about 10 years.

 

Potatoes are started from chunks of sprouted potatoes, or from whole, small potatoes. Buy “seed potatoes” at your local feed-n-grain store, hardware store of garden center. Grocery store potatoes are likely treated to avoid sprouting, although organic potatoes are probably fine. Seed potatoes are sold as disease free, which is important. If you cut large potatoes into chunks, make sure each has a couple of “eyes” where they will sprout stems. Leave them in a shady, breezy place for a day or two to heal the cuts.

 

Loosen the soil well, and dig a hole with a hand tool. You want the spud to be at least 3-inches deep when planted as the new potatoes need space to grow above the seed potato. Cover with just an inch of soil at first, but then fill the hole with more soil after the leaves and stems are up above the soil level.

 

Peppers and eggplants I plant as small plants in mid-June. To give them even more warmth at night I sometimes cover them with row cover (a thin agricultural fabric sold at garden centers). And I’ve been known to place dark-colored rocks near some special French hot peppers I grow to store heat during the day and kick it back at night. Peppers and eggplants can be wind-pollinated, but bees help, too, so don’t leave row covers on once they start blooming.

 

Parsnips I plant by seed in mid-June, and they generally take 2 weeks or more to germinate. Most seeds are good for 3 years, but you must buy parsnip seeds every year. Like all root crops, parsnips benefit from having loose soil with few rocks (Oh, sorry, Vermonters).

 

Artichoke ready to pick in my garden

Be sure to thin all root crops in early July once they are big enough to grab onto. Give the carrots an inch to start, then in a month later, thin to 2 inches. You can eat the thinnings. Beets, same thing. And beet greens are delicious.

 

What about unusual veggies? I like to buy an artichoke plant at my local greenhouse. I have started them from seed, but it is long process starting in February. Give your artichoke a 2-foot square of space, add lots of compost and a little organic fertilizer, and place it in full sun. Make sure it does not dry out. It will produce one good-sized artichoke at the top of the plant, and smaller ones as side shoots. The foliage is lovely, so you can plant one in your flower garden!

 

Swiss chard is pretty enough to sneak into your flower beds. Get ‘Bright Lights’ chard, which has red, yellow and green stems.

 

Artichoke ready to pick in my garden

Beans come as bush beans or pole beans. Bush beans all ripen over a 3-week period and are then done. Pole beans, if you keep on picking them, will keep producing until frost. ‘Kentucky Wonder’ is the classic pole bean, though ’Kwintus’ is my favorite. It’s good eating, even when large.

 

A word of caution about fertilizers: more is not better. Chemical fertilizers can burn fine roots. And too much organic fertilizer can push growth too fast. Compost is always a good addition to your planting hole.

 

I never use insecticides in the garden. Their side effects can be awful for you, your kids or pets. Just hand pick bugs, or spray off little things like aphids with a stream of water.

 

Henry is the author of 4 gardening books and a lifelong organic gardener. Reach him by e-mail at henry.homeyer@comcast.net.

 

 

 

Filed under Article · Tagged with growing artichokes

It’s Harvest Time!

My garden is finally paying me back for all the work I’ve done this year. I’m putting up the harvest and eating vegetables until they (almost) pop out of my ears. It’s been a great summer.

Let’s look at how to know if your vegetables are ready to harvest, as it’s not always obvious. Potatoes, for example, are not obvious – the tubers are underground. The earlier you harvest, of course, the smaller the potatoes. But you can snitch a few after they have bloomed. If you have loose fluffy soil you can poke your hand into the soil under a plant and grab a spud without disturbing the plant – or the other potatoes that are still growing. Or you can dig up one plant and leave the others to grow.

To avoid damaging potatoes at harvest time, plunge a garden fork into the soil a foot from the plant, tip it back, and the roots – spuds and all- will be visible. Grab ‘em, but place gently in a bucket so as not to damage the still tender skins. Harden off in a cool, dark place – and leave the soil on if you want to store them.

Kennebec potatoes picked now are a good size

Generally I let potatoes grow through September, harvesting only after the leaves have yellowed and died back. But I keep testing to see if they have reached the size I like. Some varieties develop hollow spots in the center if they get too big. That’s not a big issue for me. But I don’t want them too small and I generally start mine in June, long after most gardeners have started theirs. I do that to minimize potato beetle damage, and it seems to work. I didn’t see one beetle this year!

I grew artichokes again this year, though I don’t always. It is often hard to know when to pick them – an immature artichoke looks exactly like a mature one, but for the size. Same color, same feel if you squeeze them. But if you wait too long, the leaves get hard and unappealing. I picked my first ‘choke when it was about 3 inches across and didn’t seem to be getting bigger. That plant also produced a second flower (artichokes are actually flowers), and I picked it when it was about half the size. Again, it seemed to have stopped growing.

Artichoke

Summer squash can be picked at any size from tiny to mammoth. My favorite variety is ‘Romanesco’, which has stripes along its ribbed sides. I like it small, but it is still good to eat even if it “escapes” and gets huge. I just take a big spoon and scrape out the seeds. Generally I grate the big ones in my food processor and freeze the results in zipper bags for use in winter soups. I don’t blanch the squash, but do try to use it within a few months. Blanching kills enzymes that promote aging, while freezing does not. So squash is less appealing after months in the freezer.

It is tougher to know when winter squash is ready to pick. In general it is best to let winter squash like butternuts and hubbards stay on the vine until the leaves start to yellow and the stems turn brown and dry. But the best test is what I call the “fingernail” test: push your thumbnail against the skin. It should be tough enough that your nail leaves no mark. If you feel it digging in, stop pushing your nail against it.

When picking winter squashes or pumpkins, bring a sharp knife or a pair of pruners so that you can cut the stem, leaving a 3 inch “handle”. But don’t carry it by the handle, as you don’t want it to pull off. Most winter squashes also need some time in a warm sunny place to cure after being picked. Acorn squashes should go directly to a cool location, as they can get stringy if left in the sun. Always store winter squash in a low humidity area.

Never, I repeat never, let winter squash get frosted. If you don’t want to harvest them and frost is forecast, pull the comforter off you bed and cover them up. Or use an old sheet, I suppose, or even a plastic tarp.

Speaking of frost, which I hope is still weeks away, here are some veggies that will not survive even a light frost: basil, beans, cucumbers, eggplants, peppers, tomatoes and squash of all types.

On the other hand, plants that survive light frost include artichokes, beets, carrots, cauliflower, celeriac, lettuce, parsnips and Swiss chard. Plants that can still thrive after a hard frost include broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, kohlrabi, parsley, radishes, spinach, turnips and leeks. I often pick kale and Brussels sprouts in December.

My onions were ready to harvest weeks ago. I know when they are ready to pull because the tops flop over. I cure them in a warm sunny place outdoors until the tops dry up. I store them, along with winter squash, in a low-humidity cool location indoors.

Growing vegetables really is for cooks. I probably would only grow flowers if I didn’t love fresh veggies so much. And of course being able to store and use my vegetables all year makes all that work even more worthwhile.

Want to have big Brussels sprouts? Read Henry’s blog for a 10-second trick: https://dailyuv.com/news/859799. Henry is the author of 4 gardening books. His website is www.Gardening-guy.com.

Copyright © 2014 Henry Homeyer

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