Too often people figure out where they are going to garden, buy and plant seeds and, are greatly disappointed in the results. After planting seeds the two main things that individual gardeners can do is to water and fertilize the seeds. If seeds are just slightly watered and have a little bit of nitrogen fertilizer to start them to grow, then all should be well unless planting instructions were not followed.
Of course even with proper watering and fertilizing many gardens end up looking like the grim reaper of the plant world had just taken up residence in the garden. It is obvious that if after following the watering and fertilizing agenda the your garden plants were low or even non-producers then, a new approach to gardening might be what saves your business.
It would be good if I could write an article on how to plant string beans or how and when to plant peas if there was but one variety of string bean and one variety of pea. However, today there are a myriad of plant types for any particular type of edible fruit/vegetable. Each plant variety may grow only in certain types of soils with certain levels of sunlight and within certain parameters of temperature variation.
Potatoes are certainly a crop that I have found to be somewhat sensitive to the soil type. For instance, in Northern Michigan there is a great deal of sand and I have grown potatoes like whites, reds and yellow in almost pure sand. On the other hand, I have grown russets in pure sand however; the tubers do not grow to be very large whereas the colored varieties can get really big. Likewise, I have found that heavy clay soil tends to grow large russets however; my red potatoes in particular are more prone to disease in such soils because heavy soils tend to keep the tubers much wetter.
Peas are one plant that in general prefers cooler weather and does not do well n full summer sun. However, there are so many varieties of peas that you can pretty much grow them from early spring until fall as long as you plant the proper varieties to get you through the growing season. Again, reading the seed packets or going to a web site like the one put up by Burpee is the way you need to do research to keep you in peas throughout the growing season.
Overall, planting a variety of the same plant in various places in your garden at various times of the growing season will keep you in your favorite veggies for several weeks and depending on the time table of frost for the season, you might get your favorite veggies for months. Vegetables like lettuce, summer squash, peas, string beans etc. come in various varieties that can help keep your garden producing however; you need to at least read the seed packages you find in your garden store so that you can pick the proper varieties to satisfy your taste for veggies.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Monday, May 14, 2012
EARLY ON TOP CROPS; ASPARGUS AND RHUBARB
Two early, easy to grow crops are rhubarb and asparagus. Once planted, these plants take care of themselves as evidenced by the large number of wild asparagus and rhubarb plants gr owning all over Michigan. These plants start growing as soon as the snow comes off in the spring and can be harvested all summer and fall if watered, harvested and, weeded correctly.
Asparagus is a plant you can buy in any of the many garden centers in your area. The only trick to planting asparagus is to dig a really deep, wide hole that will allow you to stretch out the roots. It will take a couple of years before you will see real production in your asparagus patch but, if you planted the asparagus in a relatively Sunny area and you water it a lot, you will enjoy its tender shoots all summer long but, once established, don't let it go to seed. Most garden centers carry Asparagus starter plants in the Spring. In Northern Michigan, I recommend that you start out with the plants and not the seeds. The winters here are harsh and you need to have a strong root system established the first year for the plants to thrive and produce in the future. There are many recipes for asparagus but, I love it raw or slightly steamed with cheese melted over it.
Now we will talk about my favorite edible plant, rhubarb (or pie plant). In my neck of the country (Northern Michigan) rhubarb/strawberry pie is as important as pumpkin pie on the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas. No one has a successful holiday party here without the wonderful sour taste of rhubarb on the menu. Make sure you never eat the leaves, only the stalks. The leaves are poisionous.
Rhubarb is one of the easiest perennials to grow in the North. You can grow it in Northern Michigan and many tell me they grow it in Alaska. It has lots of nutrients and vitamins.
There are several types of rhubarb, as there are most plants. The most important thing to know when starting out rhubarb is to leave at least three feet between your plants in order to get the thickest stalks. Another thing to remember is to split your rhubarb plants every 3-5 years. If you don't split your plants you might end up with very thin, unattractive stalks of rhubarb.
Although you can grow rhubarb almost anywhere which almost any type of soil, it is best to keep the weeds and grass cleaned out around the plants base and to add a Little bit of peat or other organic soil around the base of your rhubarb plants every year. This will increase the yield of your rhubarb plant and perhaps, make the stalks less tart.
Rhubarb is easy to store for the Winter months. I cut up my raw rhubarb stalks, after I clean them, and then just stuff them into quart sized bags and then stick them in the deep freeze. As to recipes, you can do anything to rhubarb that you can to any other fruit like apples, plums etc. The only thing is you have to sweeten to taste (add more sweetener for rhubarb). Apple crisp can be rhubarb crisp. Pine apple upside down cake can be rhubarb upside down cake etc. The point is, a true gardener can find ways to make an easy to grow simple plant, useful in their cooking.
Asparagus is a plant you can buy in any of the many garden centers in your area. The only trick to planting asparagus is to dig a really deep, wide hole that will allow you to stretch out the roots. It will take a couple of years before you will see real production in your asparagus patch but, if you planted the asparagus in a relatively Sunny area and you water it a lot, you will enjoy its tender shoots all summer long but, once established, don't let it go to seed. Most garden centers carry Asparagus starter plants in the Spring. In Northern Michigan, I recommend that you start out with the plants and not the seeds. The winters here are harsh and you need to have a strong root system established the first year for the plants to thrive and produce in the future. There are many recipes for asparagus but, I love it raw or slightly steamed with cheese melted over it.
Now we will talk about my favorite edible plant, rhubarb (or pie plant). In my neck of the country (Northern Michigan) rhubarb/strawberry pie is as important as pumpkin pie on the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas. No one has a successful holiday party here without the wonderful sour taste of rhubarb on the menu. Make sure you never eat the leaves, only the stalks. The leaves are poisionous.
Rhubarb is one of the easiest perennials to grow in the North. You can grow it in Northern Michigan and many tell me they grow it in Alaska. It has lots of nutrients and vitamins.
There are several types of rhubarb, as there are most plants. The most important thing to know when starting out rhubarb is to leave at least three feet between your plants in order to get the thickest stalks. Another thing to remember is to split your rhubarb plants every 3-5 years. If you don't split your plants you might end up with very thin, unattractive stalks of rhubarb.
Although you can grow rhubarb almost anywhere which almost any type of soil, it is best to keep the weeds and grass cleaned out around the plants base and to add a Little bit of peat or other organic soil around the base of your rhubarb plants every year. This will increase the yield of your rhubarb plant and perhaps, make the stalks less tart.
Rhubarb is easy to store for the Winter months. I cut up my raw rhubarb stalks, after I clean them, and then just stuff them into quart sized bags and then stick them in the deep freeze. As to recipes, you can do anything to rhubarb that you can to any other fruit like apples, plums etc. The only thing is you have to sweeten to taste (add more sweetener for rhubarb). Apple crisp can be rhubarb crisp. Pine apple upside down cake can be rhubarb upside down cake etc. The point is, a true gardener can find ways to make an easy to grow simple plant, useful in their cooking.
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