By Katherine Hegemann
They first begin to arrive in mid-December. The flood begins the first week of January. The names make you drool: Park, Burpee, Gurney, Veseys, Michigan Bulb, Vermont Bean, Johnny’s, Henry Field’s, Seed Savers, and Wood Prairie. Flowers and vegetable seed catalogs are the stuff of a gardener’s dream.
We are not even half-way into January, but already folks are asking the question, “Is it spring yet?” Although spring is fairly far into the future, at least as far as the winter weather is concerned, it is time to think about a garden. This article is mainly concerned with organic gardening, but much of the information can be applied to other types of gardens.
Getting Started
With a little work you can have fresh vegetables from March until mid-December. You can do that here in northeast Tennessee even without a greenhouse. Just a small space, as small as four by nine feet, can provide a bounty of fresh vegetables. Here is an easy schedule: early gardens in March, depending on the winter snows; summer gardens no earlier than mid-May; late gardens mid-July to early August.
Do you have permanent beds or do you till the entire garden space every year? There is usually a little less work with the permanent beds, but some people rework their garden space every spring. One great information source is Mother Earth News. There is a great website (http://www.motherearthnews.com).
You should also consider how you need to condition your soil so you have an abundant harvest.
Turning the entire garden space requires either a pitchfork or a tiller. You can either rent or buy a tiller. Although a tiller is great if your space isn’t too large, doing it by hand in the small garden is neither difficult nor time consuming. The main point is to loosen the soil so the roots of your plants have room for growing, getting enough air, and absorbing nutrients and water.
Testing your soil is a good idea, to know what enhancements your garden will need. Kits can be found at a reasonable price in any of the local gardening stores. You want to consider putting down a shallow layer of seasoned manure or organic fertilizer. Gently rake or turn the soil. Then you want to layout rows or beds.
Planting
It is time to consider what you want to plant. Early and late gardens can support cool weather plants like greens, cabbage, turnips, beets, radishes, lettuce, some beans, broccoli, and many others. The summer garden may include tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, beans, squash, melons, and the list goes on.
Do you want plants that grow up on some type of support or not? Do you want a container garden? Unless you are growing a patio or determinate (limited height) tomato, you will need to support the plant as it grows, as tomatoes are a vine. How about beans? Bush or runners? Bush beans are less likely to get disease or fungus and produce faster. Running beans produce more and take less space. The same is true of cucumbers. Many vegetables need some support, even if the garden books don’t say so. Support choices are only limited by your imagination. How about branches, stakes, netting, cages? If you have limited space, consider plants that grow up, not out. You would be surprised at what you can grow in a container if you have limited space: tomatoes, broccoli, or eggplant.
Next, using the information on planting each vegetable, sow your seeds or plant your seedlings. Make sure you water as you plant, whether it’s seeds or plants.
One valuable tip is to water lightly but thoroughly for three days to give seeds or plants a chance to become established. Put out seedlings at twilight to help prevent plant sunburn. You can use a row/plant cover to protect tender seedlings from overexposure to the sun and bugs or even frost.
There are so many fabulous annuals and vegetables available that it can be hard to decide which to plant. You will need to decide to start seeds or buy plants. If you are a long time gardener, try growing something new. How about cheddar cauliflower, Swiss chard, white beets, or kohlrabi? Have you ever grown heirloom or non-hybrid vegetables like Country Gentleman corn or Black Krim tomatoes?
Starting seeds is fun but takes a little more time and patience. The time to start seeds is normally 4-6 weeks before you plant them outdoors (http://www.gardenguides.com/3021-starting-seeds-indoors.html).
Seed packets give the time you need before planting outside. When you start seeds, it is best to use a commercial grade starting medium and clean trays or pots. If you are going to put out seedlings, you will need to harden them off first. That means exposing them to short then longer periods of sunlight. If you don’t do this, you will lose more plants to sunburn. Some vegetables that do well started indoors are tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage, onions, and peppers.
Some seeds do better just planted in the ground. Turnips, corn, beans, greens, wildflowers, and others don’t do well started in flats then transplanted outside. The seeds are planted directly in the garden.
Care and Maintenance
If you are regular with care, it doesn’t take much time or effort to keep those pesky weeds from crowding out your plants and stealing nutrients. Also, consider mulch to keep the soil moist, cool, and almost weed free. The weeds that do come up will be easily removed if you mulch.
Some good types of mulch are decomposed leaves, broken down hardwood or pine, and straw (not hay). The main concern is to look at two things. First you want mulch with no seed in it. Remember weeds. Second you need to know if the plants need acid or non-acid, also called sweet mulch. For example, tomatoes need acid mulch like pine while cucumbers need sweet mulch like straw.
Don’t forget the flowers. They add beauty and help the garden. Flowers attract good insects and repel the bad ones. Some add nutrients to the soil. Some, like nasturtiums, are even good to eat.
You will probably need to fertilize a couple of times during the growing season. About mid-season put down a side layer of organic fertilizer. As the plant begins to produce, do this again. Just as you need food to flourish, so do plants.
Most gardens need an inch of water per week. When the temperatures are really high, the garden might need more. That is another reason to mulch. The mulch keeps the water from evaporating, meaning you don’t have to. But if it is a very wet season, keep the mulch shallow. Too much water can be as bad as not enough. Soil that is too wet prevents oxygen and fertilizer from getting to the plant roots.
Added Information
On a note of caution, be sure you are buying good and safe plants. The massive late tomato blight which occurred all over the US a few years ago was a result of contaminated seedlings from a greenhouse operation in Alabama http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/nyregion/18tomatoes.html).
There are local growers in our area who start their plants from seed and are careful to ensure you are buying healthy, disease and fungus free, as well as reasonably priced plants.
My website has several videos for people interested in gardening: (http://www.cosmicbreezes.com/start_a_garden.htm).
For seed catalogs, you can always ask a gardener friend to borrow their catalog or click on any of the links given below to order a free catalog. Visit an online provider for lots of information about the right plant for this area and great growing advice.
* http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/
* http://freeseedcatalogs.com/
Get started, get going, get growing. It’s that time again.
© 2011, Katherine B. Hegemann
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