Pak Choi and Other Fall Greens

A few weeks ago I planted our fall greens from seed in the vegetable garden.  I planted a mix of kale, chard, lettuce, spinach, pak choi, and Brussels sprouts.  The seedlings are all located in one of my long 10'x3' beds made from scrape lumber. They were orginally meant to be 10'x2' like in this raised bed layout but I altered the size a little. When the days begin to stay a little cooler, without the peaks of 80 degree weather, I'll install PVC pipe for a hoop house to keep my greens growing. Otherwise the greens need little care at the moment except for occasional watering during the dry spells.  Fortunately rain has been fairly frequent compared to normal this fall.  I sowed the seeds fairly thick but I'll harvest some of the younger greens to thin out the bed.

Earlier in the summer I planted a few pak choi (or bak choi) in another raised bed which are doing good.  There is also some self sown lettuce in the same bed that we'll cultivate and harvest as long as we can.  It's been my experience that lettuce sown in the fall will survive each year until spring even if it doesn't put on growth.  Once spring warms up the lettuce has a great head start.  I'll place a couple hoops over this smaller bed as well and cover to encourage growth for a longer period over the winter.

Are you growing fall or winter greens this year?

When to Plant Your Vegetables

When to plant your vegetables is very important knowledge for all gardeners.  It can mean the difference between a great harvest, a late harvest, or no harvest!  It's critical to know certain facts about the plants before you plant them. A little knowledge can go a long way to creating a great garden so let's examine a little bit abut when to plant your favorite vegetables!

Is it Cool Season or Warm Season?
Some vegetables like it hot while others do not.  Heat loving vegetables will not tolerate frosts and should never be planted out before the last frost date for your area without protection.  There are techniques you can use to plant your warm season vegetables early but that isn't necessary unless you live in a very cold climate and need to maximize your warm season vegetable time.

The most popular warm season vegetables include tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, squash, melons, beans and cucumbers.  Find your local last frost date and only plant these plants outdoors after it is past.   It's even a  good idea to wait an extra two weeks for the soil to warm up more.  I've planted both on the frost date and two weeks after it and found that the plants that are planted 2 weeks afterward tend to be just as larger or larger than those planted immediately after the last frost date. Keep in mind that just because its the last frost date it doesn't mean that a frost can't happen!  As a gardener you must always keep an eye on the weather.

Cold or cool season vegetables tolerate light to moderate frosts.  They may not actively grow when temperatures aren't warm enough but they won't get damaged by the frosty weather.  In this category there are variations of cold tolerance.  Spinach, kale, and chard will survive heavy frost conditions but lettuce may not so our planting times must be adjusted accordingly.

When to Start the Vegetables

The first step to knowing when to plant your vegetables is knowing which part of the growing season you can plant them.  The next step is being more specific and determining actual dates for planting.  For this we have to grab the last frost date again and base everything around it.  If you are starting your plants from seeds you also need to know how long to grow the seedlings before their ideal transplanting size.  This should be on the seed package.

When to Plant Warm Season Vegetables

To start your warm season seeds use the following chart as a guideline. Count back the number of weeks from your last frost date to find the actual starting date.  I prefer to direct sow squash, cucumbers, and melons but you can start transplants to grow a couple weeks earlier indoors then begin succession planting after the frost date.

Warm Season Start Dates
Cucumbers	2-3 weeks
Eggplant	10-12 weeks
Melons	2-3 weeks
Pepper	8-10 weeks
Squash	2-3 weeks
Tomato	8 weeks

Beans should be direct sown in the ground after the last frost date.

When to Plant Cool/Cold Season Vegetables

Cool season vegetables can be planted outdoors before the last frost date.  In Tennessee we can grow most cool season plants at any time as long as the ground is not frozen - which rarely happens! I begin planting Snap peas in January to mid-February after I have a bed ready.  Kale, spinach, and chard can be planted out in mid February and can be successively planted until the days get too warm.  You can still grow them in shady areas.  The key is to start a new crop every two weeks to have a steady supply. Lettuce is more tender than some other greens and shouldn't be planted too early.  A month to six weeks before the last frost date usually works well in my garden.  Carrots can be planted in the garden about a month before the last frost while onions and their kin should be given about 2 months if grown from seed.

Romaine lettuce

Keep in mind that as gardeners the weather is the ultimate decision maker.  The weather can make or break a garden. It determines when we start our plants and how they grow.  Pay close attention to the forecast and make adjustments according to what the forecasters say but also keep in mind what is normal for your area.  Last year we had a very warm spring and gardeners were able to start tomato plants almost a month early!  I waited on planting out my warm season vegetables because I was afraid of a late frost.  If we had a late frost my garden would have been fine but other gardeners would have had to cover plants or face losing crops.

Have you started planting your garden for 2013 yet?

Planting Potatoes

Potatoes are one easy vegetable that everyone should try.  There are a quite a few kind of potatoes that are delicious on the dinner plant that have developed over the years.  In our garden this year we're growing Yukon Gold, red potatoes, and Adirondack Blue potatoes.  The blue potatoes are new to our garden this year.  Yukon Gold is one of our favorites and has a nice buttery flavor good for baking or general cooking needs.  The red potatoes are great for potato salads or roasting.  I'm not sure yet what the blue potatoes are going to be good for yet, but any potato is a good potato!

There are a few ways to grow potatoes.  They do well in large pots, potato bags, raised beds, and in the ground.  The method you choose all depends on how you want your garden to grow.

Here's how I usually plant our potatoes:

• First I dig holes for each seed potato about 6-8 inches deep.  If the ground is well drained this works well, if not dig a more shallow hole and mound up (more on mounding in a minute).

• Then I added a little bone meal to each hole.  I didn't measure exactly but was probably less than an ounce per hole.  Bone meal has high levels of phosphorus which aids in root growth and general plant health.
  
• Then my daughter dropped one potato into each hole.

  Planting Tip
  Cut the potatoes into two or more pieces each with an eye to make more potato plants.

    
  
• I filled up the holes and mounded them up.  
• Now I'm waiting until the potato sprouts through the soil.  Once the plant emerges form the mound I'll begin mulch all around it with grass clippings.  I use grass clippings since they are readily available but you can use straw too.  As the plant grows higher continue to mulch around it.  Potatoes will form underneath the mulch and soil.  Adding the mulch will hold water in the soil, keep it cooler, and make the soil easier to dig when the potatoes are ready to harvest.
• Potatoes can be harvested after the plant has died back.  You can get some new potatoes (the small tasty ones) if you harvest from the outside of the potato mound around flowering time.

Potatoes can also be grown in pots or in potato bags.  The advantage to these methods is you simply dump the pot over when the potato plant is ready for harvest!

Our favorite use for potatoes is probably the skillet roasted potatoes with herbs.  We saute some onions and garlic in olive oil with the cubed potatoes and add chopped sage, rosemary, and time.  Delicious!

Have you planted your potatoes yet?

5 Vegetables and When to Plant Them!

This time of year can be very confusing.  Especially when the weather throws a few curve balls like extra warm temperatures!  It almost makes you think it will be fine to plant those tomatoes four weeks early.  I know why, everyone wants bragging rights about that first ripe tomato! I thought for today's Friday Five post that I would mention when to plant several standard vegetable garden favorites.  Remember, just because a plant is available in stores doesn't mean you should plant it right away!

1. 

   Cherokee Purple Tomato

   When to Plant Tomatoes - While visiting a home improvement store this week I stopped in the garden area and told a lady not to plant the tomatoes just yet.  She was gathering up several varieties to bring home to her garden.  We are still three weeks before the safe planting date and 5 weeks out from the ideal planting date for tomatoes.  The best time to plant tomatoes is two weeks after the safe planting date in your area.  This gives the soil time to warm up.  Tomato plants like warmth and will grow much faster in warm soil and warm air than they would with just warm air.  Peppers, eggplant, and tomatillo should be planted around the same time as the tomatoes.  I start my tomato seeds indoors about 6-8 weeks before I want them ready to go outside.  For peppers and eggplant I add two more additional seed starting weeks.
2. When to Plant Lettuce - If you start lettuce indoors you can transplant out to the garden about three to four weeks before the last frost date.  I usually direct sow my lettuce about 4-6 weeks before the last frost date.  I've had lettuce varieties that made it through our Tennessee winters which means we have a lot of flexibility with planting lettuce.
3. When to Plant Radishes - Radishes are probably one of the easiest vegetables to grow and are great for children's gardens.  You can plant radishes from seed right in the garden when the ground is ready to be worked!  You can continue to plant radish every week to 10 days for continuous harvests.  They like cool weather so once the hot summer weather comes you're radishes are about done.
4. When to Plant Corn - Plant corn after the last frost date.  Corn needs about 80-90 days depending on the variety to produce.  You may even be able to plant corn a week to ten days earlier than the last frost.  This is because it takes the seed time to germinate and emerge from the soil.  I haven't had great luck with corn - mostly because of racoons.  Plant corn in blocks to insure good pollination. 
5. 
   When to Plant Beans - Beans don't like frosts either and should be planted outside after all threat of frost has passed. If you are planting pole beans go ahead and plant away as many as you would like.  Pole beans continue to produce over a long season.  If you are planting bush beans then you need to plan for successive plantings.  Bush beans produce a large crop all at one time then are done.  It's a good idea to plant a combination of the two to insure a good harvest throughout the season.  In both cases of beans you should wait until after the frost to plant outdoors!

Don't be fooled by the weather.  Just because it may be warm now doesn't mean it will stay that way.  Our temperatures could continue to be in the 70's and 80's until April 14th when it might drop to the lower 30's for the low.  We just don't know for sure. For now plant with extreme caution and plant as though the weather is normal!

Previous Friday Fives

5 Plants No Garden Should Be Without 5 Vegetables That I Will Always Grow in My Garden   5 Favorite Trees That I Grow In My Garden  5 Ways to Help Wildlife in Your Garden 5 Ways to Naturally Eliminate Weeds   5 Easy To Propagate Plants from Cuttings 5 Herbs You Should Plant in Your Garden  5 Fun Foliage Plants!  5 Ways to Control Garden Pests  5 Companion Plants and How They Help  5 Things to Do To Prepare You Garden for Spring Planting