New to vegetable gardening? Or did you try your hands already on some greens, maybe in containers or among flowers? In any case, it is a lot of fun watching them sprout and grow. Here are some tips that might be useful:
Late March/early April is the time where impatient gardeners are sowing heat-loving veggies, like tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, and squash, indoors. The little seedlings that grow will be nurtured until the soil warms up and all threat of frost has passed, generally around the May long weekend.
However, once the soil outside has thawed enough to dig — which might be now, depending on where you live — there are cool-weather-loving crops that can be planted from seed right in the garden. These seeds are planted in the soil - they don't need that head start indoors. However, if frosty nights are predicted, just place a clear plastic container of the soil. I always collect them throughout the year in order to have them handy in Spring. Here are a few cool-weather crop suggestions for early veggies:
Peas
They are one of the earliest crops you can grow, and there are different types and varieties to try. If you are willing to sacrifice a few seeds, plant a few in a pot, so you can snip fresh pea shoots - they're pretty yummy in a salad or as a garnish. Sow in early to mid-spring in fertile soil that gets full sun. Also, give them a nice trellis to grow up and out.
Kale
Small-space gardeners should look for container varieties that will do well in pots. To grow this hardy green, plant seeds anytime during the spring or early summer in well-drained, lightweight soil. While it thrives in full sun, a kale plant will tolerate a bit of shade, as well. Cooler temperatures, or even a light frost, make small kale leaves taste sweeter - in spring or in late fall.
Beets
They boast a number of health benefits and are delicious steamed, but you can also grate them raw into a salad. Wait until the soil temperature is above 10ºC to sow. Each beet needs to be ten to fifteen centimeters apart, so thin accordingly, once they sprout. Don't let those thinned beet seedlings go to waste! Sprinkle them over hearty dishes or in salads.
Carrots
Carrots are easy to grow as long as they are planted in loose, sandy soil during the cooler periods of the growing season — spring and fall (carrots can tolerate frost). Depending on the variety and local growing conditions, carrots may take anywhere from two to four months to mature. Plant them in the spring and summer for a continuous harvest through fall! They are grown as a cool-season crop which means the seeds are sown when soil temperatures reach about 50 degrees F (ca. 20 Celsius) in early spring.
Thinning Your Seedlings
As painful as it may be to pull out fresh little seedlings that are eagerly pointing towards the sun, in most instances, thinning will benefit your crop. Root veggies, like beets and carrots, need space to grow. Use tweezers or small scissors to eliminate seedlings that might inhibit the growth of where you want your main plant to grow. Read the seed packet to see how far apart each veggie needs to be spaced.
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Garden Planting of Vegetables
Make sure there's enough light
Before you buy any seeds or place an order for garden supplies, start by calculating how much sunlight is available wherever you're hoping to place your plants. A good general rule of thumb is to go with leafier plants — things like kale, spinach, lettuce — in shadier spots because they don't need as much sunlight to grow and produce. How sunny or shady your garden or balcony space is should really guide your planting decisions. Any hot crops that you want to grow — peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, squashes, corn — need at least seven to eight hours of direct sun a day. Beans, lettuce, radishes, and onions are other beginner-friendly crops to consider for your first edible garden.
Protect Your Crops
Even if you think you have planted your crops at the right time, the weather could take a turn for the worse. There are a few accessories you can use to protect precious young plants and seedlings that have barely had a chance to grow big and strong and healthy. Cloches, for example, will protect tender young seedlings from harm.
Raised beds, which work well for condos and rooftop gardens as well (just put in a bottom), allow you to control or change the type and quality of the soil your plants will grow in more easily. Look up plants based on acidic soil, alkaline soil, or just regular potting mix. For example, if you're growing blueberries you may want to add coffee grounds or pine needles to the soil to make it more acidic.
If you want the best success for your plants, go with the blends of black soil, compost, and rotted manure (chicken, cow, sheep). Although slightly pricier, the blends incorporate amendments like composted manure or peat moss to offer more nutrients.
Your raised garden beds can be any size you want. As taller the bed is, the less you'll have to bend over to do work in it. And each bed can be as long as you want. As a rule of thumb, keep the width to about three feet wide. Use containers that offer sufficient depth and also drainage (that have one or more holes at the base). For larger-scale plants such as tomatoes, squashes, eggplants, and peppers, use a planter that's at least two feet deep, both for stability and to give the roots enough space.
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Read Your Seed Packages
Read the fine print on each seed package before you purchase! Make sure your garden or container will offer sufficient space for, and between, your vegetables — you might be able to fit in fewer mature plants than you think. Some plants can grow quite tall and will require trellises or other vertical supports.
Seed packages show how many days it takes that plant to grow. In an area where there are 90 days of summer, so anything that takes more than 95 days, the likelihood of being able to grow that plant before you get our first frost of the winter is probably not very high. In that case, you would need to start seeds indoors early enough or consider buying seedlings.
Companion Planting
Companion planting lists can be confusing, but most plants either love tomatoes or beans, but not both. If you're doing tomatoes, you're not planting any of the bean friends (like cabbages, eggplants, beets, broccoli, or cauliflower) close by. Instead, consider planting onions, garlic, peppers, basil, and herbs nearby. It also can be helpful to grow pollinator-friendly flowers near crops that need pollination (i.e. tomato, pepper, and eggplant), especially if you have a balcony or rooftop garden that might not normally attract bees and other pollinators. Marigolds are a really good option that you'll find just everywhere. They're very cheap, abundant, and easy to start from seed.
Water Judiciously
Plants need three to four inches of water per week. If you get two inches of rain. Keep in mind that container gardens tend to dry out a lot faster than regular ground gardens. That might mean watering at least once a day, or two times a day sometimes, whereas, in a regular garden, you might water every other day or every three days depending on rain. Balcony and rooftop gardens should also be watered more frequently. You get a lot more sun intensity on a rooftop or balcony, so you want to make sure that your vegetable garden has access to water every single day.
How to Get Rid of Critters
For both urban and rural gardens alike, critters such as raccoons, deer, and rabbits can be a threat. You can surround crops with other plants that the pests don't like. For example, if you plant onions around your tomatoes it stops the critters because they hate the smell of onions. Same with used coffee grounds and sliced garlic. Males can also pee onto the soil : ) It will deter these critters.
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Mix Vegetables With Flowers
Why? Soften the look of a vegetable garden and many flowers attract beneficial insects. Plant them in wherever there's space — such as alyssum, sunflowers, agastache, sedums, salvia, and nasturtium.
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