If you are headed out to the farm market this weekend, here’s this week’s update on the fresh vegetables and fruits your growers are likely to have on hand: First-of-season: Apricots, cucumbers, snow peas, shelling peas, yellow waxed beans, green beans, melons, squash, red onions, sweet yellow onions, garlic, radishes summer squash and zucchini. Peak-of-season:
Your growing season is the number of frost-free days where you live. Growing seasons vary from one region to the next and sometimes from one part of town to the next. Frost dates There are two important dates that you must consider before selecting your crops and deciding when to plant: (1) you must know
Vegetable crops and other plants need light, water, air, nutrients, and the proper temperature to grow. Light for photosynthesis Plants use light to make food (carbohydrates—sugars and starches) in their leaves. This process is called photosynthesis; it is the transformation of light energy into chemical energy. Here’s how photosynthesis works: the green pigment in plant
Vegetable garden success—growing healthy plants and reaping a good yield—is closely tied to the health of your vegetable garden’s soil. Here are a few tips to build healthy vegetable garden soil. #1 Establish permanent narrow planting beds and permanent walkways so you never walk on or step into planting beds. Small, permanent beds are ideal
What makes good garden soil? Here are some key ingredients: Air and water in the soil Half the volume of soil is air and water which fill the spaces or pores between crumbs of soil. Plant roots and soil microorganisms breathe in oxygen from the soil air. Plant roots absorb minerals dissolved in soil water.
Compost is one of the best soil additives for a vegetable garden. It is also one of the least expensive. Composting turns garden and kitchen waste materials into a rich, organic amendment. The main components of compost are lawn clippings, vegetable refuse, straw, leaves, and animal manure. When making compost, it is often necessary to
There is an alternative to turning the soil with a tiller or spade. The no-dig or light-dig garden preparation method calls for spreading soil amendments across planting beds and allowing rain, wind, and soil organisms to naturally carry the amendments and their nutrients down into the soil. Using the no-dig method, an inch or two
The most useful measure of the vegetable garden growing season is soil and air temperature averages. Warming soil temperatures activate root growth and the uptake of moisture and nutrients. Soil temperature is very closely affected by the air temperature. As days lengthen in spring and the air temperature warms toward summer, the soil temperature follows.
Turnips are grown in warm-winter regions in spring, fall, and winter. They are grown in cold-winter regions in spring and autumn. Plant turnips in spring as soon as the soil is workable. Good turnip quality depends on quick growth. Plant turnips in humus-rich, well-drained soil. The soil need not be prepared deeply, but the surface
Garden wisdom: “Don’t try to grow a 5 dollar plant in a 50 cent hole. For the best results, grow a 50 cent plant in a 5 dollar hole.” Growing vegetables starts with the soil. Soil is a mix of fine rock particles, water, air, organic matter, microorganisms, and other animals including worms. Soil is
