April 2020 Edible Garden Planner

Early April lettuce and spinach

Saturday, March 28, 2020

April showers bring May flowers, fruits, herbs and vegetables.  Now is the perfect time to get serious on getting your spring garden planted and sowed!  I have seeds and plants going indoors and outdoors.

Crops to plant in April

Early April is a perfect time to plant cold season crops like Brussels sprouts, fava beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, collards, kale, lettuce, mustard, onions, parsley, parsnips, peas, potatoes, radishes, shallots, spinach, strawberries, Swiss chard and turnips.  Outdoor transplant calendar

See this post for what to plant in April as well as links on how to grow each veggie.  What to plant in the April edible garden

I am planting sprouting broccoli this spring.  I did not plant it last year due to pest issues the year before.  I'll treat with BT, which is an organic treatment to keep the caterpillars from munching down the leaves.  Sprouting broccoli is one of my favorite edibles.  The leaves taste like broccoli and are sweet all through spring, summer and fall.  You also get little broccoli florets to eat on and off through the season.  It is also very cold tolerant and can survive winters here.  Sprouting broccoli- a year round fav

We can still get frosts in April so you want to hold off on planting warm season crops outdoors like tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and squash until May unless you cover them or bring them indoors if frost does visit your garden.  Extend the season with protection for plants

I transplanted lettuce and spinach plants outdoors.  I have already sown lettuce, spinach, kale, potatoes, radishes, beets and chervil seed in pots outdoors.  I started seeds indoors for Chinese cabbage, cilantro, Dragon's Tail radish for late spring, early summer harvests.  Overwintered celery, parsley, carrots, chives, onions, cultivated dandelion, sorrel, tarragon, sage, thyme, arugula, kale, leeks and corn salad are up and ready to eat.

To keep yourself in lettuce all season, do succession planting of new seeds or plants every 2-3 weeks.  Just plant the number you would normally eat in a 2-3 week period.  This will keep salads on the table continuously.  Want continuous harvests? Succession planting! 

If this is your first year in gardening, here are some pointers on what to choose what to grow and get your garden going What to plant for your first garden  Easy kitchen garden   If you don't have much space you can still grow a garden either in pots or in a garden spot as little as 6" by 6'. Veggies for small spaces

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

To get a jump on summer harvests, I started a variety of edibles indoors on the kitchen counter in both my Aerogarden and peat pods.  For the large seedlings like cucumber, squash, and watermelon, I start these in peat pods.  The rest I start in the Aerogarden.  I have had great success in the Aerogarden in germination rates.  It is really close to 100% across all types of seeds.  

Aerogarden on the right, peat pods on the left

The varieties started indoors: tomatoes, peppers, okra, chard, celery, rosemary, lavender, basil, garden chives, oregano, marjoram, thyme, fennel, chamomile, dill, stevia, sprouting broccoli, broccoli raab, asparagus, kale, rhubarb, Chinese cabbage, variegated cress, variegated plantain, borage, Alpine strawberries, eggplants, New Zealand spinach, morning glory, marigolds, Hummingbird vine, cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash, watermelons, cilantro, Flat of Italy onion, wild basil, tyron, eucalyptus, white sage, and corn salad.

Fertilize

When you plant, make sure to fertilize and add mycorrhizae in each planting hole. Mycorrhizae are beneficial microbes that help your plant roots absorb nutrients from the soil.  Once mycorrhizae is added in that spot, it will live on in the soil so it does not have to be reapplied next year in that spot.

I like to apply fertilizer, add a thick layer of compost and top with mulch before I begin planting.  Just mulch by itself breaks down and adds organic matter to the soil.  This year I was slow to get the soil sample done so we have already mulched to keep the weeds down.  Weed free, self fertilizing, till free garden beds

If you didn't do a soil test (you can use a kit from a garden store/big box store or have your local extensions office analyze it), use a balanced organic fertilizer like Espoma at the rate recommended.  You can make your own all natural, organic fertilizer, too, inexpensively.  Here is the link:  Make your own fertilizer, it's all natural and inexpensive  If you did not fertilize the entire garden bed before planting, be sure to add fertilizer to each planting hole per the directions on the package.  Crops will need that burst of energy for the quick growth that spring brings. 

If you want to have an in-depth soil analysis done to create a fertilizer specific to your soil, here is a blog on who to send your sample to and how to get a personal fertilizer recipe  The next step in garden production and your nutrition-soil minerals

If you are re-using pots from last year, here is a link to get your potting soil ready to nourish your new plants:  Re-energize your potting soil!  It is important to get your potting soil ready to support this season's growth and veggie production.  Be sure when you fertilize to mix it into the soil or apply before you put down a protective and organic layer of mulch.  This keeps the nitrogen from oxidizing and escaping into the air instead of staying in the ground to nourish your plant.  This year, I did all my pots.  I added 1 part compost to 2 parts potting soil, Azomite for minerals, and Espoma fertilizer.  My plants should have everything they need for a strong start to the growing season.

Composting is possible in small spaces or even indoors

Chives and lettuce in  mid-April garden

Frost date importance

The last frost date in our area is around April 15th.  This is important to know if you are planting seeds.   Frost date look up  The seed packet tells you when to plant in relation to your last frost date.  You will get the best results following the packet instructions.  Planting early is not always a good strategy as different seeds need different soil temperatures before they will germinate.  Plant too early and they can rot before they have a chance to sprout.  When to plant your veggies

Pots will warm up quicker, but will also chill down faster.  You can put your pots in a sheltered, sunny spot to get a jump on spring.  Putting your pots on the south side of the house will provide the maximum warmth.  I lover planting greens in a large self watering pot that I can keep on the patio, making it handy for picking a fresh salad for dinner, and to move to a cooler spot in the hot days of summer.  

When growing veggies in containers, they will require more watering and more liquid fertilizer than if they were in the ground.  In the summer, you may have to water some water lovers every day.  For more on growing in pots.  Decorative container gardening for edibles  
With the self-watering pots, your watering duties will be greatly reduced.

Lettuce, greens, and herbs do fabulous this month.  It is the time to indulge in daily salads. and smoothies.  Cool temperatures and lots of moisture produce the sweetest greens of the season.  

Everything you need to know about growing lettuce  Grow your own smoothie and juice garden

This year, you may have more time or just want to be sure you can get fresh veggies.  Here is a garden that meets that need, even if you only have a small space, like a flower bed.  Small space survival edible garden  

What we are harvesting and starting in the late March garden

Seeds sprouting

Sunday, March 22, 2020

Our spring has been seesawing in temperatures.  Daffocils, crocus, Bradford pear trees, forsythias, dandelions, and hyacinths are all blooming.  We have not had much sun this month so growth in the garden has been slow.  What is up and ready to eat are the greens, some herbs, and onions. 

Right now, the French and Blood veined sorrel up and ready to harvest, garlic chives are up, celery is going strong, onions are already bigger than green onion size, cress is a good size, lettuce and kale have leaves large enough to cut, there are overwintered baby carrots and dandelion greens.  The spinach that I bought as transplants have leaves to harvest.

Other herbs that are greening out-thyme, parsley, oregano, mint, tarragon.

I started seeds outdoors in pots over the last couple of weeks-spinach, chervil, lettuce, snow peas, Icicle radishes, Ruby Streaks mustard and Chiogga beets.  I started the lettuce and spinach in shallow pots that I can dig and move them to other spots after they have sprouted and are sturdy.  They are all cool weather lovers so will germinate in these chilly days.

I started seeds indoors as well.  Most are the summer crops that won't germinate in this cold weather.  I will also start indoors in my Aerogarden or in a peat pellet cool season crops that I am only growing one or two of.

Warm season crops seeded:

Alpine Strawberries-Mignonette and Regina

Cucumbers-Miniature White, Bush Champion, Spacemaster

Eggplant-Casper, Amadeo, Italian Pink Bicolor

Flowers-Marigolds to border the garden

Greens-Chinese cabbage Hilton, Variegated plantain, New Zealand spinach, Swiss Chard Verde De Taglio and Fordhook Giant

Herbs-rosemary, basil, lavender, oregano, marjoram, thyme, Florence and ZefaFino fennel, German chamomile, stevia, Wild Basil, White Sage, borage

Okra-Baby Bubba (dwarf)

Peppers-Tangerine Dream, chocolate red pepper from saved seed, Jalapeño, Long Thin Cayenne

Rhubarb-Victoria

Summer squash-Zucchini Bush, Early Prolific

Tomatoes (Dwarfs-Front Runner Hybrid, Roma, Bush Steak Hybrid, Patio Princess Hybrid, Little Napoli.  Full size-Cherokee Purple, big and small chocolate tomato from saved seed, Italian Heirloom Red Pear, Black Krim, Red Gezahnte, Chocolate Pear)

Watermelon-Bush Sugar Baby (dwarf)

Cool season crops seeded indoors:

Onions-Flat of Italy.  A red onion heirloom.

Cilantro-regular and SloBolt

Greens-Tyfon, Corn Salad, Tuscan Kale, Black Magic Kale, Dragon's Tail Radish, American Winter Variegated Cress

Asparagus-Mary Washington

Broccoli-Raab and Sprouting

Celery-Utah Improved

Chives-garden

Dill-Compatto

Small space survival edible garden

Egyptian walking onion in a pot

Saturday, March 21, 2020

Spring is here and so is the coronavirus pandemic.  This spring we were planning on doing an addition on our house which meant moving my current edible garden to a less ideal spot (more shade and soil has not been built up over years) that is much smaller than my normal garden.  Now, I need to utilize the new, smaller space to try to grow everything we need to eat.  This is my plan and the varieties I am growing.  This should meet all of our needs for spring, summer, fall and winter for produce.

If you are just starting out and have limited space, look for descriptions like “patio”, “compact”, “great for pots”, “container”, etc.  Burpee seeds also have a clay pot decal on all their seed packets that will do well in pots or small spaces.

Beets (55 days to harvest)-Any.  I plant these around my pepper plants in pots.  All about beautiful beets

Carrots (65 days to full size)-get the short ones like Atlas and Parisian to grow in pots.  I am not much of a carrot person so I am not planting any right now.  I do have volunteers coming up in the garden bed that I can pull when I need a carrot for cooking.  All you need to know about growing carrots

Celery (125 days to full size) surprisingly does very well in a pot by itself.  It loves water so I would keep it by itself.  I have had great luck with Utah Improved.  I did see a pink one I would like to try just for fun, Chinese Pink Celery.  Give celery a try, an easy to grow garden staple

Chard (60 days to full size) grows well in pots.  I am growing Verde De Taglio and Fordhook Giant as they are supposed to be hardy in my zone and keep their sweet taste in summer.  Chard comes in beautiful colors, too, so you can plant them in your flower bed as an ornamental that you get to snack on.  For year round steamed greens, grow chard!

Cucumber (55 days)-Miniature White, Bush Champion, Spacemaster are the ones I have started inside.  Rocky and Lemon are other options for pots.  How to grow cucumbers-in pots or in the garden

Eggplant (65-80 days from transplanting)-All I have tried in a pot grows well.  For flavor, I like Casper as it is more forgiving in our hot summers and does not get bitter in the dog days of summer.  Other small varieties include Fairy Tale, Gretel, Hansel, India Paint, and Thai Purple Blush hybrid.  Eggplant-add this native from India to your garden

A word about hybrids.  If you want to save seed, hybrids will not come back true to the “mother” plant.  You will want open pollinated or heirloom varieties for seed saving.  The strength of hybrids is that they have been bred to withstand different common diseases.  What do the terms GMO, natural, heirloom, organic, hybrid really mean?

Green beans (64 days to harvest)-I use pole beans and a trellis so they grow up.  If you don’t like removing the “string” that some green beans have, look for “stringless.”  We really like the flat Italian type of green bean.  I am growing Romano (Italian) and Blauhilde (French likely of German origin).  Produces right up until frost.  The great thing about beans is that they make nitrogen so they fertilize the soil.  I plant petunias in the same pot.  Be sure to treat the seed with inoculant to give the roots the support they need to grow well.  Growing beans

Greens (leaves can be picked when small)-I am growing Bonnie spinach, Red Sails lettuce, sorrel, cultivated dandelions, plantain, Verde De Taglio and Fordhook Giant chard, Tuscan, Dinosaur, and Black Magic kale, Sprouting broccoli, Broccoli Raab, Chinese cabbage Hilton to use as wraps,  variegated winter cress, New Zealand spinach, and arugula.  I am growing all my greens in pots.  Almost any green can be grown in pots and there are lots of options to choose from! Growing fabulous lettuce and greens 

I plant the ones that enjoy cool weather in the early spring and then switch to those that are heat tolerant in late spring.  My go-to favorites for summer hardiness are chard, sprouting broccoli, New Zealand spinach, Chinese cabbage, and Red Sails lettuce.  Growing summer salads

Herbs-Are great to have in the garden.  I have a mix of herbs I use to season everything, from eggs to sauces to meats to stews, you name it.  All made from herbs I grow in the garden.  Herbs are carefree, too, and can be grown anywhere there is good sun.  Make your own "Herbes de Provence"   I also grow cilantro (40-60 days to full size) in early spring and Slo Bolt cilantro in late spring for salsa.  It grows well in a pot or in the ground.  Basil is an herb that can be grown in the ground or a pot.  The bees love them.  I love the  fragrance and the pesto I make from it!  Basil basics-harvesting, preserving, growing basil

For sweetener, we have bees and I am growing Stevia.  A sweet alternative-grow your own

Okra (53 days)-I have started Baby Bubba okra which can be grown in a pot.  Regular okra can grow 8' tall.  This dwarf will reach less than 3'.  Growing and harvesting okra 

Onions and leeks (20-30 days for scallions)-I grow Egyptian walking onions in a pot because they are perennial.  You can use the bulb for cooking and the tops as chives, harvesting year round.  Egyptian walking onions  Chives and garlic chives are also great for small spaces or pots.  I grow my chives in the garden.  They do well there and don't take up much space.  Add chives to your garden  This spring, I am also growing red onions from seed, Flat of Italy.  I tuck leeks  in around other plants in the garden, but they can also be grown in a pot.  Onions-everything you need to know to grow 'em

Peas (72 days)-I grow short vine snow peas that I plant in pots.  I prefer these because you can eat the whole pod.  You just get a lot more food from a vine than ones grown just for the peas inside the pod.  I have already planted those around the edge in large pots that I will also plant peppers or eggplant.  The snow peas keep producing into early summer just as the peppers and eggplants are filling out.  Time to plant peas!

Peppers (70-75 days to harvest)-I have found that hot peppers do great in pots.  I plant one pepper type per pot.  Sweet peppers, like Bell, seem to do best in the ground.  I grow the smaller sweet peppers in pots.  They seem to produce more per plant than the large sweet peppers.  I am growing Tangerine Dream and a dark red pepper I have saved from seed for a few years.  Peppers are for every taste and garden

Potatoes (new potatoes in 70 days)-We are growing purple potatoes in the potato boxes my hubby made for me.  You can also grow them in grow bags you can get on-line.  Time to plant potatoes, even if you only have a pa...

Radishes (45 days to harvest)-Icicle radish is my favorite.  It is a long white radish without the heat of the typical radish.  Radishes are quick to sprout and grow.  I also like Rat's Tail radish which is grown for its up to 14" seed pod.  The seed pod does have the taste of radish, produces all summer, and is a great add to salads.  I sow radishes directly in pots in early spring.  Easy to grow crispy, peppery radishes

Summer squash (45 days to harvest)- I have started Bush Zucchini and Early Prolific Squash indoors.  Other options for summer squash that can be grown in pots are Lunar Eclipse/Sunburst, Piccolo, Small Wonder Spaghetti squash.  Everything you need to know to grow squash

Winter squash (80-100 days)-I am not growing any winter squash, but if you are a squash lover, try Acorn or butternut.  Plant where you are okay with them running on the ground or train them up a trellis.  You will get about 2 per vine.  

Tomatoes (65-80 days)-look for patio or container types.  Varieties like Balcony Patio Princess, Balcony, Tumbler, Lizzano, BushSteak, Tumbling Tom to name  a few.  Bush types are also great for small spaces-Early Girl Hybrid Bush, Big Boy Bush, Baxter’s Bush Cherry.  They will give you enough for fresh eating all summer.  You'll probably need about 2 for slicers and 2 for salads.  Compact tomatoes for small spaces and pots

We use a lot of tomatoes for both eating but also for freezing and sauce.  I will plant tomatoes in the garden and use the indeterminate which grow large.  I grow 3 kinds: a paste tomato, a slicer, and a small tomato for using in salads.  I like including a paste tomato when I freeze the extras.  They make a silky smooth soup and sauce.  Cherokee Purple is a prolific in our garden for slicers.  I like a small chocolate tomato or any pear tomato for salads.  My go-to for sauce is Italian Red Pear paste tomato.  Tomatoes 101, everything you need to know to grow great tomatoes  One change I am making in growing tomatoes this year is that I am going to use an organic fungal control.  Our summers are always humid and it stresses tomatoes.  I am going to use Serenade at transplant and repeat after it rains.  I'll alternate with a Copper fungicide.  Organic fungicides are a preventative so you have to use it even before you start seeing issues.

Watermelons (80 days)-started seeds for Bush Sugar Baby.  My granny always grew watermelons.  I am going to try this little one in our garden this summer.  It can be grown in a pot.  I'll have to see how the space works out if it will go in a pot or in the garden.

There are many other varieties out there for small spaces.  Vegetables you can grow in pots

   Be sure to prepare your potting soil and garden bed for optimal growing.  For my pots, I took out all the old potting soil out, mixed it with compost (leaf or garden compost), perlite, fertilizer and Azomite.  I add compost for refreshing organic matter, perlite to lighten the soil, and Azomite for a wide range of minerals.  You need to add fertilizer to the soil before you plant and then on-going through the growing season so your plants have all the nutrition they need to produce well.  Re-energize your potting soil!     If money is tight, you can make your own fertilizer on the cheap.  Make your own all natural, complete fertilizer

Preservation garden

Sunday, March 15, 2020

If you are interested in being more self-sufficient, to have nutritious food at the ready, reduce your food bill or just want to save the extras from the garden this year, there are simple ways to preserve many different crops from the garden: freezing Freezing the extras for winter, drying Dehydrate or sun dry your extra veggies, canning Easy, low tox canning of summer's bounty, and pickling.

I only do canning of high acid vegetables like tomatoes or pickling so only a large pot is needed.  If you decide to can low acid vegetables, then a high pressure canner is needed.  Sites & resources for canning

Crops that are easy to put away for year round eating:

Beets, Basil, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrots, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Garlic, Green Beans, Greens, Herbs, Onions, Peas and Snow Peas, Peppers, Tomatoes and Squash.

The easiest to start with are herbs.  Spices are very expensive in the store.  Herbs are carefree and produce alot that can be dried or frozen to use year round.  My 2 favorites are making pesto from basil (Basil basics-harvesting, preserving, growing basil) and using a variety of dried herbs to make “Herbes De Provence” (Make your own "Herbes de Provence") that I add to almost every dish!  Since most herbs are from the Mediterranean region, they thrive in mediocre soil and dry conditions.  Start a kitchen herb garden!

For spring and fall planting for a preservation garden: 

Beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, garlic, greens, cool season herbs like cilantro and parsley, onions, peas, potatoes and snow peas.

Beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, greens, and snow peas should be blanched and then frozen.  Blanching stops the degradation of the vegetable in the freezer, increasing the shelf life to months.  Blanching simply means putting into boiling water and then immediately into ice water or very cold water to stop the cooking of the vegetable.  For the bigger veggies, 3 minutes in boiling water is sufficient.  For greens, just a couple of minutes.  After blanching, remove the excess water.  I like to then put on a cookie sheet in the freezer in a single layer.  After freezing, I put in freezer bags.  This way your veggies will defrost quicker and you can remove only what you want to use for that meal.  If just put directly into the freezer bag, they will all freeze together in one big block.

You can also dry any vegetable, store in a sealed jar, and rehydrate when needed for cooking.  The trick is to make sure that they are dried enough that they will not mold.  If in doubt, your dried produce can be stored in the frig or freezer, taking up much less room than the whole vegetable.

I also like to grow sprouting broccoli as it can be harvested from for 8 months of the year.  Carrots and onions can be left in the ground over the winter and pulled when needed.  My favorite onion to grow is Egyptian walking onion.  It produces a small bulb that is just the right size for using for one meal.  It can be grown in a pot, too, and harvested year round.  Egyptian walking onions

Garlic is planted in the fall and harvested in mid summer.  There are 3 ways I preserve garlic.  One is to harden off and keep several garlic bulbs to use fresh.  The second is to separate the cloves and put into vinegar with peppers.  I store these jars in the refrigerator.  This preserves the garlic and adds a little kick.  The third is to dry some garlic cloves to make garlic powder.  Quick tip-make dried garlic into garlic powder

Preserving the garden's bounty

For summer planting of a preservation garden: 

Corn, cucumbers, eggplant, green beans, warm season herbs like basil and rosemary, peppers, squash.

I don't blanch my summer vegetables before freezing.  If you want to keep them in the freezer longer than 4-6 months, blanching is the best way to go.  For small peppers, I freeze them whole. Peppers a Plenty in September  Large peppers and all tomatoes, I slice and freeze.   As the tomato harvest heats up, any that we can't eat, I freeze.  Come fall when it cools off, I will take all of last year's frozen tomatoes and make into sauce.  A few tomato plants give us enough to freeze and make sauce for the coming year.  Preserving the tomato harvest 

  For peppers, I also make hot sauce Quick tip-make your own hot sauce and dry them to make chili powders.

For eggplant and squash, I like to freeze them whole.  When I am ready to eat them, I slice them while frozen and grill.  If you are going to use them in recipes, I would cut them into the size you want to use in your recipes, blanch and freeze.  This past summer, I made spaghetti and lasagna noodles them, blanched them and froze them in quart bags.  For the lasagna noodles, first lay them flat on a cookie sheet to freeze before putting into a freezer bag.  What to do with all that zucchini?!   

Green beans, I break into the size I will use in my recipes and freeze.  Cucumbers I make into pickles.  Make your own pickles without a store bought seasoning mix  For corn, the easiest way to store is just blanching the whole ear of corn.  After removing the silks, you can either freeze whole or slice off the cob and freeze the kernels.

All your summer vegetables can be dried as well.  Dehydrate or sun dry your extra veggies

Now you are ready to eat fresh and preserve the extras to get you through to next year's garden!

Kohlrabi-a less well known spring vegetable

Saturday, March 14, 2020

Kohlrabi is one of the oldest member of the cabbage family.  Its wild ancestor was originally found in Britain and Europe.  Kohlrabi was present in colonial America, but was used mainly for livestock.  The taste was much stronger in colonial times than today's varieties......  

Kohlrabi has fiber, carotenes, vitamins C, B6, folate, choline, phytochemicals, and minerals manganese, copper, calcium, potassium, iron, phosphorous and fiber.  kohlrabi nutrients

Both the leaves and root is edible and healthy.  The leaves can be eaten fresh or sautéed.  The bulb can be eaten raw, sautéed, or roasted.  Kohlrabi's bulb is a mild crunchy veggie.  Heirloom varieties with good taste are Purple Vienna and White Vienna.

Kohlrabi is sown at the same time as cabbages, when the crocus bloom in the spring and when phlox blooms in the fall.  You can also start indoors 5-7 weeks prior to your last frost date (first of March in a Zone 7 garden) and transplant outdoors 2-3 weeks prior to last frost date (end of March in a Zone 7).  Plant every 3 weeks to extend the harvest until the warm weather  begins and cold weather begins in the fall.

Kohlrabi should be planted 1’ apart from each other in well composted soil and kept adequately watered.  It is ready to harvest in 6 weeks and should be harvested when no bigger than 2” in diameter for sweetest flavor.

Kohlrabi must pass through a winter to flower if you are interested in saving the seed.   They must either be protected or dug up and stored in sand in a cool place over the winter.

Collards and kale in your garden

Potted kale, petunias and Egyptian walking onions

Saturday, March 7, 2020

Kale is not only beautiful, it is good for you!  Kale is chock full of antioxidants, beta carotene, lutein, vitamins C and K, and calcium.  It also contains compounds that are potent against cancer, sulforaphane and indole-3-carbinol.  kale nutritional info  Collards are a great source of vitamins A, C, K and folate.  collards nutrition

Kale was the first to be domesticated from the ancient cabbage family of plants.  The Celts were the first to cultivate these greens, causing the birth of kale, broccoli, cabbage, collards, cauliflower, brussels sprouts and kohlrabi.  Thomas Jefferson’s favorite kale was a variety similar to a Siberian kale.  He also grew a variety similar to today's Tuscan kale, also known as dinosaur or black kale; a very striking plant to have in the garden with its long, dark blue-green and bumpy leaves.

Collards are a uniquely American vegetable that has always been associated with the South and appeared in the late 1700’s.  

Most kale and collards are biennial, but there are still perennial varieties if you can find the seed.  Perennial varieties include tree collards, walking stick kale, western front kale, Dorbenton kale, and sea kale.  

Dwarf blue curled kale

If you want to save seed from the biennial, you have to allow the plant to go through one winter, allow to flower and dry on the plant.  Kales cross easily with other kales and collards so if you want true to type, grow only that kind in your garden.  Flowering kale have pretty yellow flowers and the bees love them!

There are many colors and textures of kales.  There are the “dinosaur” kales which have a blistered, black appearance, red kales, green kales, dwarf kales, green, red kales, and ornamental kales which are edible.  Some are more winter hardy than others.  Check seed packets for descriptors like "winter hardy" and "cold tolerant".  Those grown in the fall are sweetest if picked after a frost.  Fall garden planning and planting

Kale is generally a fall crop but can be cultivated in the spring.  Collards are typically planted in the spring in colder climes and can be planted in the fall in warm winter regions.  They can be started indoors or direct seeded in May (soil temp of 55-75 degrees F).  They prefer rich soil and should be kept moist until sprouted.  Sow seeds 1/4” deep and 4-6” apart, thin to 12”.  If planting rows, allow at least 18”.  I have also had great success raising them in a pot. 

Several varieties of kale come available as bedding plants in March.  Since we live in Kentucky, there are always collards as well.  Both can be planted into beds and pots in our Zone 7 garden now.

For fall, plant around Independence Day (July 4th).  The kales I planted last fall are still alive.  I had several different kinds planted in pots.  Kale is very cold hardy. 

You can harvest the outer leaves when they are 8-10” long for cooking or juicing.  You can also harvest the leaves when smaller for salads.  Store at 32 degrees and high humidity in the frig for the longest life.

One of the fun ways to prepare kale is to salt and dry in a dehydrator or low temp in the oven.  They can be eaten as you do chips, but are much healthier.  You can also eat the new leaves in salads or sauté or steam the larger leaves.  Dehydrate or sun dry your extra veggies

For any that I don't eat fresh, I blanche and freeze to add to a steamed veggie side dish or to soups.  You do need to blanche kale and other greens to maintain the tasted.  Freezing the extras for winter

Fruit for small spaces and pots

Kumquat fruiting

Sunday, March 1, 2020

There are many options for growing your own fruit in small spaces and pots with more coming on the market every year.  Who doesn't love fresh fruit?

We are growing apples, figs, goji berries, strawberries, kumquats, a hardy grapefruit type, an olive, raspberry and lemons.  The olive, kumquat, grapefruit and lemon trees are growing in the house during the winter and taken outside each spring.  The hardy grapefruit type will be planted outdoors when it's root system is more developed.  It's actually called a "Morton Citrange" and was bred to be hardy at Mackenzie Farms.  It has the taste of grapefruit.  I'll plant it in a sheltered area against a wall with southern exposure as this is the warmest spot in the garden.  From experience in growing citrus from seed, it can take a bit for them to produce so you have to have patience.  Be sure to give them the fertilizer they need in the winter.

Lemon tree on the left, fig in the center, kumquat on right

You have 3 options with apple trees.  You can grow columnar apple trees which do great in pots (this is the kind we have), you can purchase a dwarf apple tree that you can espalier against a wall, or you can put an apple tree in your landscape.  Apple trees require full sun and either a second apple tree or crabapple tree in the neighborhood to pollinate with to get fruit.  Apples are ready to harvest in summer, fall or winter, depending on the variety.  Our “Scarlet Sentinel” columnar apple tree ripens in late September.

A fig tree is cool looking and very easy to grow either in the landscape or in a pot.  We had ours in a pot for 5 years and recently put it in the ground.  We got great fruit from it throughout the summer.  In colder zones, they will die down to the ground during the winter and then grow from the roots.  To help protect them, be sure to mulch well in the fall.  "Chicago" fig is hardy to Zone 5 with good protection.

Ripe figs

If you decide to put your fig in a pot, this will lower the zone it can survive the winter in by at least one zone.  You can always bring the fig in for the winter, either into your home or a garage.  Figs can grow to a height of 25' in the ground in warmer zones, but stay more like 5' or so in a pot.

You can eat your figs fresh, dry them or make them into preserves.  Growing “exotic” figs

“Maypop” is a hardy passion flower vine that survives down to Zone 5.   It is a very hardy vine so either grow it in a pot or make sure it is blocked off from being able to expand into other areas.  They taste a lot like guavas and their flowers are beautiful.  A pretty option for a trellis.

I grew the goji berry vine from seed.  I bought red goji berry seed.  There is also a blue variety.  Goji berries are high in antioxidants and easy to grow.  They are self fertile so only one is needed to produce fruit.  They are a vining shrub that can grow 8-10 feet at maturity.  If you keep them in a pot, they will remain smaller.  They are hardy down to Zone 6.  

Strawberries are another easy to grow perennial fruit.  They prefer full sun and should be planted in the spring.  There are two types of strawberries, June bearing or Everbearing.  June bearing have one large harvest in early summer whereas the everbearing types produce berries from spring through fall.  They enjoy a rich soil so plant with lots of compost and bone meal.  If they begin to decline in production after 4 years, plant new plants in a different area of the garden.  I also love Alpine strawberries.  They produce small, but very flavorful berries throughout the summer.  They are compact plants and do not spread like traditional strawberry plants.

Back yard strawberries  

Strawberry

There are a couple of blueberries that are compact and acceptable for small landscapes, “Draper” and “Tophat.”  Draper is a bush that grows to 3-4 feet.  Tophat is a nice little bush that can easily be grown in a pot.  It grows to a mere 16-24” high.  Blueberries require an acidic soil, a pH of 4-4.5.  Blueberries are self pollinating, but you will get a lot more fruit if you plant two bushes.  You get fruit in the summer.  If you have more than you can eat fresh, you can easily freeze or dry.

Honeyberry is another fruiting bush and they bear in late spring/early summer, as early as two weeks prior to strawberries.  They are a blue oval type berry and is hardy in Zones 2-8.  The “Smokey Blue” reach 3-4 feet in height, making them a good candidate for a pot as well.  They are high in antioxidants and taste similar to blueberries.  Two are needed for pollination for fruiting.  No special soil type is needed, but prefer partial shade.

Another fruit for small spaces is kiwi and they are hardy for Zones 3-9.  These are vines that can grow to 10-20 feet.  You can use these over an harbor or on a fence.  A male and female are required.  They prefer a part sun location.  The foliage of the Artic Beauty is beautifully variegated with pink, white and green leaves.  These vines fruit in September.

For raspberry lovers, the “Shortcake” variety is a thornless dwarf that grows to a 2-3 foot mound.  I recently bought "Joan J" raspberry.  It grows slightly taller than "Shortcake" but also suitable for a pot.  These varieties can easily be grown in a pot and are self fertile so only one plant is needed to bear fruit.  It is hardy in Zones 4-8 and fruits in mid-summer to fall.  Both raspberries and blackberries prefer full sun.

“Doyle’s” thornless blackberry plant can be grown in a pot and can produces enormous harvests of fruit.  In the ground it can reach heights of 7 feet.  It will stay smaller in a pot.  It is hardy in Zones 3-10 and bears fruit in the spring to early summer.  Another option is the dwarf red blackberry which grows to 1.5 feet in height. 

A slow growing fruit tree that reaches a height of 12-15 feet is a native to North America is the pawpaw.  It tastes tropical with a banana/mango like flavor.  It is also high in protein, vitamins and minerals and hardy to Zone 5.  The fruits weigh around a pound each and are ready to pick in late summer/early fall.  Two plants are required for the tree to bear fruit.  Foraging for wild edibles

You can purchase bare root plants at many big box stores or on-line.  Be sure to look to see if the plant is sprouting.  This is a good sign.  Plant as soon as you get the plant home.  I like to first put them in a pot with good soil so I can be sure they get adequate moisture and not be standing in water in the garden.  Once it turns warm in late spring, I'll transplant to its permanent spot.  The plants you get at local nurseries and big box stores are ones that should do well in your area.  Be sure to research if buying on line.

Happy gardening!