March 2019 Edible Garden Planner

Daffodils in bloom in the edible garden

Sunday, February 24, 2019

Feels like spring is getting close!  The hyacinths and daylilies are sprouting with daffodil flower buds showing their heads.  Now is the time to test your soil, get your garden beds ready for planting, and finish the plan for your spring garden.  

Soil Preparation

You can take a soil sample to our local county co-op extension office to have it tested or buy a do it yourself kit at any big box store or local nursery.  You can do a more extensive soil test by sending your soil sample off.  Here is a link to my blog on soil nutrition:  The next step in garden production and your nutrit...  There is a great analysis web site that will provide a specialized fertilizer designed just for your garden deficiencies that you can make yourself.  Well fed plants grow better and are more nutritious for you, too.  A win-win.

If you don’t want to go to the trouble of testing, a sure way to enrich your soil is to use a balanced organic fertilizer and compost.  I add organic material every spring with a layer of compost and hardwood mulch in the garden beds, building the soil’s fertility and its ability to hold water.

A local CSA farmer and organic gardener told me a few years ago that it is important to not let your fertilizer just lay on top of the ground as many of the nutrients will be lost, especially nitrogen.  This spring, we will put down an organic fertilizer by Espoma, a layer of homemade compost with any additional horse manure compost needed and top with mulch.  You can make your own balanced fertilizer, too, which is pretty inexpensive  Make your own all natural, complete fertilizer

If this is your first time gardening, here is a how to get started.  It is super easy to buy plants and put in pots or in your already established flower beds.  Easy kitchen garden

Ideas of what to plant in March:

There are already plants available at the big box stores in our area.  This is a good place to look for what will grow well in your area.  The types that are already out are cabbage, spinach, lettuce, onion sets, potato sets.  Wait until the soil has dried out somewhat if you are getting the amount of rain we are this year before planting potatoes.  

I'm not planting any crops from the cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower this year to reduce the pest problems I have been seeing with these crops in my garden.  I'll pick them up at the farmers market.  I say that every year, but I have a hard time resisting sprouting broccoli.  It gives small broccoli florets and broccoli tasting leaves for salads spring, summer and fall.  Sprouting broccoli- a year round fav

The greens I will plant in our mini greenhouse to keep them warmer that helps encourage growth so we get fresh salads as soon as possible.  I just love spring salads!

Mid March garden

Green Oakleaf Lettuce-ready to harvest in 45 days  Everything you need to know about growing lettuce

Wild Garden Kales-ready to harvest in 30 days Grow one of the super greens this year-kale

Mesclun Valentine Lettuce mix (red tinted lettuce and greens)-ready to harvest in 30-55 days

Marvel of Four Seasons Butterhead Lettuce (I love the sweet taste of butterheads)-ready to harvest in 55 days Everything you need to know about growing lettuce
Red Sails Lettuce (a ruffled red and green, stays sweet even after bolting)-ready to harvest in 45 days

Space Hybrid Spinach-ready to harvest in 38 days  Grow spinach-a super nutritious, easy green

Gourmet Blend Lettuce (Prizeleaf, Royal Oak Leaf, Salad Bowl, Ashley)-ready to harvest in 45 days

Sugar snap peas-ready to harvest in 70 days Time to plant peas!

All kinds of broccoli or cauliflower-ready to harvest in 50-80 days (leaves are great in salads) Broccoli and cauliflower growing tips

Cabbage-ready to harvest in 68 days.  Cabbage is nutritious and easy to grow

Carrots-ready to harvest in 50-75 days  Grow crunchy, colorful carrots practically year round

Parsley-70 days to harvest  

Potatoes-ready to begin harvest in 70 days  Time to plant potatoes, even if you only have a patio

The above can be companion planted with radishes, beets, chives, garlic, and onions.  Since they are shallow rooted, they grow well with root crops.  Get the most from your space-plant intensively!

When I plant in pots, I plant with a handful of worm compost and water in with fish emulsion.  Germination should take anywhere from 4-15 days., depending on how warm the soil is.  I am sure I will be out there looking for little green shoots daily.  Decorative container gardening for edibles

Important tip-if planting seeds in a mulched bed, be sure to cover the seed with only soil; seedlings are too weak to push through mulch.  Weed free, self fertilizing, till free garden beds 

Potato box

Zone 6/7 Spring Garden Roadmap

Planting your seedlings outdoors:

Now (or as soon as the soil can be worked)-fruit trees and vines, nut trees, asparagus, garlic, peas

End March-cabbage, leeks, lettuce, okra, onions, mustards, spinach

Beginning of April-lettuce, lemon balm, parsley

Mid-April-broccoli, cauliflower, thyme

End April-sage

First of May-basil, chives, cucumbers, tomatoes

Mid-May-cantaloupe, eggplant, marigolds, pepper

Starting your seeds outdoors:

Now (or as soon as the soil can be worked): peas, spinach, lettuce

Mid-March: arugula, bok choy, cabbage, carrot, collards, leeks, lettuce, mache, onion. rhubarb, cultivated dandelions, spinach

End March:  fava beans, beets, broccoli, carrot, Chinese cabbage, cress, kale, kohlrabi, leek, mizuna, parsley, parsnip, early potatoes, turnip

One watch out is planting seeds too soon.  Seeds have to have a certain soil temperature to sprout.  Plant too soon and the seed will rot and not sprout.  Here are some soil temp guidelines.  Temps to plant seeds outdoors

Starting your seeds indoors for summer planting:

Now-chives, leeks, lemon balm, onions, parsley, sage, thyme, lettuce, cress, mustard, chard, spinach

Mid-March-basil, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, okra, marigolds, eggplant

End of March-cantaloupe, cucumber, lettuce, peppers, tomatoes

January is indoor seed starting time! Here is a seed starting calendar........

Indoor seed starting tips

These dates are just guidelines.  You can start your seedlings later and plant your transplants later as well.  Be sure to read the seed packet for what you are starting.  They make all kinds of varieties that are cold hardy and can be planted sooner than what I outlined above.  If you get a cold snap, there are things you can do to protect your early crops.  Extend the season with protection for plants

The big box stores and local nurseries are good sources of plants too.  If you are just getting started, purchasing from a local nursery or farmers market will get you started with varieties that do well in your area.

Happy gardening!

Spring edible garden

Early spring lettuce

Sunday, February 17, 2019

Spring is just around the corner.  Daffodils, hyacinths, and crocus are sticking their green heads up, ready to put on a dazzling spring display.  Garlic, overwintering onions, kale, lettuce, and carrots are putting on new leaves.  Perennial veggies like sorrel and dandelions are showing their greenery.  Spring is a time that cool loving veggies shine with lush growth and sweet taste.

 Crops fall into 2 categories-cold season crops and warm season crops.  Cold season crops are those that prefer when temperatures are cool.  When warm temperatures hit (80’s), the warm weather signals there time in the garden is done.  Cold crops “bolt” when it gets hot, which is simply sending up a flower stalk to make seeds and continue the cycle of life.  It is that bolting time of year.....

Now is a great time to start seeds for cold season crops indoors or outdoors.  It is optimal if starting seeds outdoors to provide some type of cover to help warm the temperature of the soil and give the seeds a jump start.  Otherwise, they take longer to sprout.  Planting under cover also protects them from hungry birds.  Indoor Seed Starting Calendar  Outdoor seed starting tips  Outdoor seed sowing seed starting times

I use mini greenhouses I purchased on Amazon that I can put my pots under.  I can remove when the weather gets more predictable.  It also gives me the flexibility to move the pots later on to cooler spots to extend the production of cool weather loving veggies.  

Extend the season with protection for plants

I over-plant and over-seed my pots outdoors.  I thin the extra plants by carefully removing them and placing them either in another pot or in the garden bed when they need to be thinned or when the conditions are right to transplant into the garden. 

Big box stores and some nurseries are getting their seeds and bedding plants in now.  They may have plants out that may not be able to survive outdoors without some protection.  Read the label on the plant or look up on-line to see how many weeks before the last frost the variety can be planted without cover safely.

Here is a listing of cool loving crops that shine in the spring garden.

Cold crops and growing tips

Arugula, Corn salad, Sorrel Growing fabulous lettuce and greens

Chard  For year round steamed greens, grow chard!

Beets  All about beautiful beets

Broccoli and Cauliflower Broccoli and cauliflower growing tips

Brussels Sprouts, same family as broccoli and cauliflower  

Cabbage Cabbage is nutritious and easy to grow

Carrots  All you need to know about growing carrots

Celery  Give celery a try, an easy to grow garden staple

Cultivated Dandelions  Grow Cultivated Dandelions

Fava beans  Grow a European favorite-the fava or broad bean

Fennel

Garlic Time to plant garlic! With growing tips......

Kale  Grow one of the super greens this year-kale

Leeks and onions  Everything to know about growing onions

Lettuce Everything you need to know about growing lettuce

Mustard and Mustard Greens, same conditions as lettuce and greens 

Peas  Time to plant peas!

Potatoes  Time to plant potatoes, even if you only have a patio

Radishes Easy to grow crispy, peppery radishes 

Spinach  Grow spinach-a super nutritious, easy green

Turnips  All about turnips

Most Mediterranean herbs are perennials and can be planted in the spring garden.  You can plant oregano, thyme, lavender, sorrel, winter savory, chives, tarragon and sage once and have them year after year.  This is how I started edible gardening.  They are care free and super easy.  Plus, spices are expensive in the store so you get a huge return on investment.  Start a kitchen herb garden!

Herbs for Spring Planting

Chives  Add chives to your garden

Cilantro  

Dill

Lavender All about lovely lavender

Lemon balm

Marjoram

Mint

Oregano

Parsley

Sage 

Savory

Tarragon

Thyme

Herbs that are frost sensitive are cumin, lemon balm, rosemary, stevia, turmeric, bay laurel and basil.  Wait until frost and freeze risk is over before planting outdoors.

Don't be afraid to interplant your veggies with your flowers.  Flowers not only look great, but they also attract pollinators, increasing your yields, and insects that take care of the dreaded veggie eating insects.  Many flowers are actually edible!  It is a win-win all the way around.  Flowers that are edible

For my spring herb garden, most herbs are already established.  For herbs, I will need to replant cilantro and dill.  

The veggies that overwintered are: sorrel, celery, parsley, lettuce, sprouting broccoli, carrots, Egyptian walking onions, garlic, arugula, chard, cultivated dandelions, kale, and lettuce.  I'll add spinach, peas, cabbage, and more lettuce for my spring veggie garden.

February 2019 Edible Garden Planner

Overwintering kale

Sunday, February 10, 2019

Green things start popping up in the garden in February.  The first up are the perennial edibles and ornamentals like cultivated dandelions, sorrel, arugula, chives, crocus, daffodils, and hyacinths.  Daffodil greenery broke through late last month.  Overwintering carrots, onions, kale, and corn salad are early greenery in the garden.  

February is the month to get the garden ready for the spring planting frenzy.

You can get a jump on the garden by starting seeds indoors.  It is easy and a budget friendly option that allows you to grow many varieties not available at your neighborhood nursery or big box store.  Besides, it is nice to have green things growing again!

10-12 weeks prior (end Jan/beginning of Feb in our Zone 7 garden)

Artichokes

Broccoli

Cabbage

Celery

Endive 

Escarole

Kale

Mache

8-10 weeks prior (mid-February in our Zone 7 garden)

Chamomile

Chives

Eggplant

Lavender

Leeks

Lovage

Parsley

Peppers

Rosemary

Tomatoes

Thyme

For a full seed starting calendar, Indoor Seed Starting Calendar

What are the tricks to successful seed starting?  The most surefire I have found with a gadget is the Aerogarden with the seed starting tray.  I have almost 100% germination rate with it.

Aerogarden with seedlings sprouting

When starting in conventional peat/coir pots, the key is using sterile seed starting mix, pots and containers.  You can make your own seed starting mix with peat moss or coir (renewable), compost, and vermiculite.  Just be sure to heat the compost to at least 150 degrees to kill any pathogens before using to start seeds.

Place the seeds in the starter mix in the pots and wet thoroughly from the bottom (watering from the top can dislodge seeds).  After fully saturated, they are ready to put in a catch pan.  Make sure any catch pan that you use has been thoroughly washed in a bleach solution so all pathogens are killed.  The one I just bought has a water reservoir in the bottom of it that wicks the moisture up under the seedlings.

I put my seed starts in a plastic tray with a clear plastic lid in a sunny window that I have had for years that you can buy at any big box store.  Keep moist, but not wet, and with the clear cover on until seedling emerges.  Once seedling emerges, remove the clear lid.

Indoor seed starting tips

Ideal soil temperatures for starting your seeds

Make your own peat pots

Make sure you label your seedlings as soon as you plant them; you may think you will remember 2 months from now what was where, but likely not.  I keep a piece of paper under the seed starter that has captured for each cell what is planted in the cell.  I have also just gone ahead and put the plant marker in the coir pot with the name on it.  

Now is also a great time to start keeping a journal.  Start tracking what you planted when so you can review next year what worked well to repeat and what didn’t work so well to tweak.  Keep a garden diary

Your seedling’s first leaves are not “true” leaves; think of them as baby teeth.  The second sets of leaves are their true leaves.  They are ready to be hardened off when they have their first set of true leaves.  Seedlings must be hardened and not just thrown outside.  You take them out a little at a time, gradually increasing their exposure to sun and cold, only during the daytime.  I try and plant when there is a warm spell forecasted to minimize the shock.

There are great selections of herbs and veggies at nurseries and big box stores nowadays so you have great options just waiting until spring is officially here and picking up what looks good at your nearby store in a couple of months.  This is also a great back up if your first seed starting adventure goes a little awry...........

Overwintering carrots

Before you start planting, it is a good idea to do a soil test to see what nutrients your garden needs.  You can buy a kit for testing, take a soil sample to your local extension office or send off a sample for a more rigorous soil analysis.   The next step in garden production and your nutrit...  If you don't want to go to the trouble of a soil test, add a well balanced, organic fertilizer, cover with compost, and top with mulch.  

If you are putting in new garden beds, here are some tips  Put in a new garden bed the easy way-really  

I like gardening in our flower beds and in pots.  I fertilize, add a layer of compost before mulching.  This keeps the nutrition where the plants can get to it easier.  Weed free, self fertilizing, till free garden beds

Asparagus, fruit trees and bushes, garlic, grapes, shallots, spinach and peas seeds can be planted in the garden as soon as the soil can be worked.  Outdoor seed sowing seed starting times  If gardening in mulched flower beds, I put a small slit in the mulch and then sow the seeds and cover with potting soil.  Most seedlings are not quite strong enough to break through the mulch.

I am still trying to decide what to plant in the garden this year.  I did capture at the end of the gardening season what I wanted to plant.  Reflecting back on 2018, planning for 2019   I've gotten some new seeds so will modify the plan adding the new varieties that catch my eye.  Here is what I definitely have in my garden every year:  herbs, chives, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, squash, green beans, snap peas and lots of flowers!  

Garden planning

For different garden ideas, here are a few to choose from:  Heirloom Sicilian kitchen garden, Small space French kitchen garden, Start a kitchen herb garden!  Children's edible garden

For first time or busy gardeners, Easy kitchen garden 

Hang on, Spring is almost here!

Children's edible garden

How about a pizza garden?

Saturday, February 2, 2019

A proven way to get the young ones interested in eating their veggies is for them to grow them!  Have them grow the veggies for one of their favorite foods like pizza.  Engage them in choosing their favorite pizza ingredients and grow a garden with those in them. 

It is amazing how many children will swear they don’t like a vegetable until it is in their backyard!  Have them help you plant the seeds, monitor the seedlings, water, and harvest.  You will likely catch them picking green tomatoes to sample because they are so excited about eating what they have helped grow.

You can even throw a few other healthy ingredients in the mix as everything tastes better when you grow it yourself, like spinach, sprouting broccoli and peas.

So, what are some ideas for pizza ingredients?  

*Tomatoes-any you can’t eat, you can easily freeze for winter pizzas Compact tomatoes for small spaces and pots

*Basil, oregano, chives, garlic for seasoning  Start a kitchen herb garden!

*Onions-you can grow Egyptian walking onions in a pot and they are perennials to boot  Egyptian walking onions

*Spinach, kale, arugula, sprouting broccoli and peas for spring and fall pizza toppings (also easy to freeze for later)  Growing fabulous lettuce and greens  How to grow broccoli and cauliflower  Time to plant peas!

*Green peppers, eggplant, zucchini for summer pizzas (maybe some hot peppers for the adults) 

Peppers are for every taste and garden   Eggplant-add this native from India to your garden 

Growing zucchini and summer squash 

All of these are easy to grow in a small space and the basic ingredients in an Italian garden.  

Grow a Sicilian/Italian kitchen garden in as little as 6' x 6'

For those that are real adventuresome, you can get mushroom kits to grow mushrooms indoors.

If you are just starting your garden adventure, try these tips.  Easy kitchen garden

You can tell them stories of where the heirloom they are planting came from.  Share the history of Victory Gardens in past war efforts.  How we can actually grow our own food just in yards across the U.S. if we wanted or needed to.

Little ones bring such wonder and joy in the garden.  They will check out every bee and butterfly, every worm and centipede.  And will want to taste everything they helped to plant and water!  It is a wonderful learning experience for the child to see where food comes actually from and helps the adult re-see the world through a child's eyes.