It's pepper, tomato, squash, beans, and corn time

Since I last wrote, garden activities have quickly shifted to summer mode. Almost all of the brocolli is finally out of the greenhouse. I have three plants left to be used as replacements if I were to lose any that are in the garden. So far, all are performing well. So I will have to find some place to squeeze these guys in. Throwing away garden seedlings is something terribly painful for me. Yet it is wise to plant extras because sometimes there is loss in the garden.

I transplanted the last of the cauliflower and brussels sprouts over the past week.

I planted a batch of 60 day yellow sweet corn mixed with purple bush beans last Saturday. I set out summer squash and pole bean hills which are started in the greenhouse in gallon pots on a regular basis now. These are ready for transplant when all three squash plants are up and have their first adult leaf. The beans are usually more than ready and are already sending out runners by the time the squash gets its first adult leaf.

Almost all the turnips are gone now. The last six will go out this weekend. The first ones I planted almost a month ago are starting to produce bulbs as are the Rutabagas. All the fennel has been set out.

I have also set out four tomato plants. It is a bit early for tomatoes especially this year when it has been so cold. But the plants have outgrown their gallon pots and are starting to show stress. They respond by flowering. This is not good because the plant needs to remain in grow mode and not flower until much larger. So I pinch off the flowers and out they go. Ideally, I would like to wait another week. Over the next ten days, all of the tomatoes will be transplanted into the garden.

The next big event is the garden planting of 90 day Kandy corn and Silver Queen corn mixed with carrots and pole beans. This will be done before the weekend is over- maybe tomorrow (Friday April 13).

I continue to transplant pepper and eggplant seedlings from the six packs into gallon pots. The first early Gypsy peppers will be set out around Mother's day. All will be in the garden by the first of June.

The 2007 leek is just coming up in flats located in the greenhouse. Note that I produce most of my own leek seed. I occasionally buy a seed pack just to keep some diversity. I still am transplanting onions as last year's carrot ground from which I am still digging carrots becomes available. It is very late for onions. These last guys may choose to go to seed before bulbing. If they do, then I harvest them as bunching onions. Fortunately, I have a bunch already in the garden which should bulb just fine - I hope.

I will continue to start hills of summer squash throughout the summer. The first of the winter squash won't get planted until late May or early June. I delay planting of winter squash in order to maximize the finding of squash bugs among the summer squash. As I have stated before, if you smash a squash bug, it puts out a strong aroma which attracts more squash bugs. Squash bugs like both winther and summer squash but do little damage to the summer squash plants or fruit. However, they can be devastating for winter squash. Plus I don't mind a late harvest of winter squash because we don't eat them until late fall anyway. I still have a lot of winter squash from last year stored in the patio.

Except for the squash, greenhouse vegetable garden seeding is finished until September when I start the first of the 2008 cauliflower. I take this time to start flowers and herbs in the greenhouse. I will start Mexican sunflowers in a couple of weeks. Hopefully, when they are ready to be transplanted in late May, the wildflowers will have died down in the flower garden providing space for the sunflowers. I just don't have it in me to pull out blooming wildflowers. So the sunflowers will have to wait.

That's it for now.

danh

Last week plus a note on tilling

I continued to set out brocolli last week as it became ready and will continue the same this week. It will all be transplanted by the end of this week. Meanwhile, small pepper and eggplant seedlings are gradually taking their place in the greenhouse. My tomatoes are growing too fast. At this rate, they will be ready to transplant in two weeks, but I like to wait until the end of April. And I am finally down to the final four cauliflower left in the greenhouse. I will try to post a picture of the cauliflower patch next week. These plants are beautiful right now producing huge eight inch white heads. The ones producing now are Fremont and Ravella which were set out in December.

I also continued to set out turnips which are in quart pots in the greenhouse. I used to seed these directly in the ground. But have discovered that if they are individually started in the greenhouse, they produce a much nicer bulb with much less nematode damage. When one directly seeds these, they end up being either too thick or none come up. A variety of pests love to spoil a turnip crop. By setting them out individually, one can dispurse them throughout the garden creating a better chance for success. These guys companion well with greens, kohlrabi, rutabagas, and brocolli.

I also continue to set out summer onions from flats. I'm late this year. I usually like to have all the onions planted by mid march. They have to be done by the 15th of July because the ground they are growing in is destined for my last planting of 90 day corn at that time. Nothing gets in the way of corn in my yard. It is king and by far my favorite vegetable.

I continue to start a few summer squash hills in gallon pots in the greenhouse. Two are in the garden now. But neither has started to grow. They just sit there with the leaves showing a light green instead of the healthy dark green exhibited in a happy growing plant. I think conditions just aren't right yet for summer crops. But I keep trying in order to detect as soon as possible when conditions are right. Note also that the volunteer pole beans which have sprouted throughout the garden are stunting as well and are being pecked clean by birds.

Purple KW, yellow goldmaire, and blue lake are my choice for early pole beans. My favorite, Musica, likes to be planted from late May through August.

I have prepared the ground for the first planting of corn mixed with purple bush beans. This is a cool season tolerant sixty day yellow corn - kandy quick or equivalent. I mix in purple bush beans which grow but don't heavily produce until the corn is removed. They then they should take off and produce for the rest of the summer. At least that was my experience last year. This will be planted next Sunday. Shortly thereafter, I will plant my first 90 day kandy corn and silverqueen mixture. They will be companioned with carrots and a few blue lake and goldmaire pole beans. I will write more about carrots next week.

Finally, we are enjoying fresh brocolli from the four December planted plants which I set out in late January. They are producing almost as well as the spring planting does in May.

Here is a post on cultivating that I posted to the Charles Street Garden blog this morning in response to a discussion about rototilling:

For years I rototilled my garden once a year in order to get a loose easy to work soil makeup. This is what every gardener I knew did. But recent soil science shows that heavy cultivating can actually harm the soil because it disturbs the vast complex microbial world that exists in the soil. It dries out the soil and disrupts earthworms. It tends to bury valuable organic material which exists in the top couple of inches of the soil. And it actually adds to weed problems because some dormant weed seed which hadn’t germinated because it was buried too deeply is actually brought to the surface. Weed seed can last for years in soil.

For these reasons, I haven’t even started the engine on my roto tiller for four years now. I still double dig (by hand) the yard once a year but only because I walk on the soil due to the size of my garden. If I had a plot at the CSG, I would double dig it once every three to four years to break up hardpan and then lightly turn the soil by hand to incorporate compost into the top three to four inches of soil once per year. I would mulch with compost on a continuous basis throughout the year as I do in my own backyard. I now have a couple of beds in my yard where I never walk on the soil. I am experimenting with eliminating all cultivation of that soil with the exception of lightly working compost into the top few inches and making holes for transplanting of seedlings from the greenhouse.

Note also that roto tilling also tends to spread the bindweed which is a constant problem at the garden. The reason is that it breaks up the subsurface root structure. Each piece cut from the structure is capable of generating a new plant because new roots can form anywhere on the stem.

And finally, gasoline roto tiller machines are not sustainable. These small engines generate as much pollution as a midsized car because they have no pollution control equipment on them.

Happy gardening,

danh