The oyster mushroom gets its name from its cap which, some say, resembles an oyster. The stem of the oyster mushrooms is perhaps more distinct; it unfurls something like one of those old-time paper lady's fans. The oyster mushroom has...

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Warm Region Kitchen Garden Almanac for May

Is it spring?

If the weather has settled in your region, now is the time to direct sow warm-weather vegetable seeds. Once the last frost is past, vegetable starts can go into the garden as well.

Few seeds will germinate if the soil temperature is below 45ºF (7ºC) and warm-weather crops will not thrive until the night temperatures stay consistently above 50ºF (10ºC). Follow the high and low temperatures for several days if you are unsure if the time is right to begin sowing and planting out warm-season crops.

If you do get started and temperatures unexpectedly dip, use horticultural fleece or cloches to protect summer veggies from danger.

You can minimize transplant shock if you hold off putting melons and summer and winter squash seedlings in the garden until 10 day after the date of the last expected frost. Peppers and eggplants can be transplanted into the garden two to three weeks after the last frost.

Herb starts like dill, oregano, sweet marjoram, cilantro, rosemary, sage, and thyme can be transplanted into the garden this month. Make sure the weather is settled warm before you plant out basil and lemon grass.

Here is a kitchen garden guide for warm regions--growing zones 7-11-- for the month of May:

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Cool Region Kitchen Garden Almanac for May

The weather in cool northern regions can remain unsettled even in May. Remeber that both the soil and air temperatures are important when planting the kitchen garden. Few seeds will germinate if the soil temperature is below 45ºF (7ºC), and warm-weather crops are not going to thrive until the night temperatures consistently stay above 50ºF.

By the end of the month--or two to three weeks after your last frost, your kitchen garden will be able to welcome cucumbers, bush and pole beans, and tomatoes. In the meantime you can get these crops going in a greenhouse or coldframe or in the kitchen window. If you get the seedlings growing now, you'll enjoy an earlier harvest next summer.

Strawberries can be planted now. June-bearing-type strawberries are vigorous and spread runners rapidly and should be producing in June. Everbearing-type strawberries will fruit in June and again later in the fall. If you are looking for the easiest to grow, try Alpine strawberries.

Cool-weather crops such as peas should be ready for harvest later this month or in June before the weather warms. Keep you eye on cauliflower and Brussels sprouts to get them out of the garden at their peak and before they bolt in warm weather.

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Warm-Region Kitchen Garden Almanac for April

April is a month of quick transition in the the kitchen garden. The last frost will come this month in warm-winter regions. True spring has already arrived in most southern and costal gardens.

If the lilacs are in bloom in your area, the time has come to sow directly in the kitchen garden. Successive cool-weather crops can go in the garden now in many regions--the first sowing were last month, and by the end of April, in the warmest regions, you can transplant out tomatoes, eggplant, and other warm-weather crops.

The timing of planting is important in the kitchen garden. Frost and cool weather can harm warm-weather crops sown or transplanted out too soon. But cool-weather crops should thrive now. If you are looking to get the most out of your kitchen garden, successive plantings of crops is a way to extend the season. Plant leafy greens and root crops as early as possible and then replant every week to 10 days. Quick-maturing crops are best for successive planting: lettuce, radishes, spinach, chard, peas, beets, and carrots in cool weather, and later string beans and sweet corn.

Grow 80 vegetables: THE KITCHEN GARDEN GROWERS' GUIDE

Do not rush planting warm-weather crops in the garden: beans, cucumbers, eggplant, peppers, squash, and tomatoes. But getting these started indoors now for transplanting out at the end of the month or in the first week of May is a safe bet. Get growing!

Continue reading "Warm-Region Kitchen Garden Almanac for April" »

Cool-Region Kitchen Garden Almanac for April

April can be a fickle month: snow remains on the ground in many regions but spring is right around the corner.

Follow the lead of Mother Nature this month: When the crocus and narcissus bloom, the soil is growing warm enough to begin working in the kitchen garden. And if you want a sure sign that winter in your area is past, look for the first leafing out of the birch trees and the bloom of the lilacs.

Don't rush spring if you are in a region that is just seeing the last of the snow melt. It's too early--the soil is still frozen or cold and wet--to be in the kitchen garden. But changes will come quickly this month.

The danger of frost is likely to continue this month in all or part of the states in the Northeast, Rocky Mountains and Plains regions, and some parts of the Pacific Northwest,. These regions include planting zones 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Grow 80 vegetables: THE KITCHEN GARDEN GROWERS' GUIDE

Here is a kitchen garden guide for cold and cool regions for the month of April:

Soil preparation.

□ Prepare the soil for planting: cover your beds with black plastic for several sunny days, and then dig if the soil is not wet. Apply aged manure and compost as needed. You can also place cloches in position to warm up the soil. When the ground is workable, dig up root crops left in garden from last fall.

□ Turn compost pile when it thaws. Begin a new compost pile during the spring if you don't already have one. Use leftover leaves, grass, and non-fatty kitchen scraps.

□ Fork over the kitchen garden, dig in cover crops, remove weeds, rake soil to a fine tilth and spread compost if the soil is dry enough to cultivate. Prepare celery and potato trenches by adding a layer of well-rotted manure or garden compost to the trench area.

□ Remove winter mulch from around fruit trees, vines, and perennial vegetables that are when they flower or begin to sprout new growth.

Continue reading "Cool-Region Kitchen Garden Almanac for April" »

Kitchen Garden Almanac for March: Cool Regions

Spring weather will not arrive in most parts of the northern regions of the northern hemisphere--zones 3-6--for several weeks. But there is still much that can be accomplished in preparation for the new growing season.

Here is a checklist of things to do in the kitchen garden during March in the cold regions.

Planning and design.

□ Map where snow melts first in the garden and mark these spots for planting early crops.

Planting bed and soil preparation.

□ As soon as the soil is dry enough to work, clean up the garden and prepare the soil for planting cool-weather crops. First remove any winter debris or winter mulches, then take a soil sample and have it tested. You can renew most vegetable growing beds by simply adding well-rotted manure and compost. Few seeds will germinate in cold soil where the temperature is below 45ºF (7ºC). Use a soil thermometer to check how warm your soil is.

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Kitchen Garden Almanac for March: Warm Regions

Spring-like weather will arrive in most of the mild-winter regions of the northern hemisphere from zones 7 through 9 during the next few weeks. So now is the time to get growing in the kitchen garden.

As soon as the ground can be worked in your kitchen garden, prepare beds, borders, and vegetable areas. The danger of frost may continue in some areas, but as the weather warms get your garden ready and begin planting.

Here is a checklist of garden opportunities in warm regions during March:

Soil preparation.

□ Prepare beds and planting holes as soon as the ground can be worked. Also dig up root crops left in garden from last fall.

□ Remove winter mulch from around fruit trees, vines, and perennial vegetables that are flowering or have begun to sprout new growth.

□ Begin a new compost pile during the spring if you don't already have one. Use leftover leaves, grass, and non-fatty kitchen scraps.

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Seed Starting: February Vegetables

Starting seeds indoors will give you a head start on the growing season. Starting seed in the garden can be challenging--for the seed, that is: soil too cold or too wet are the chief obstacles to germination. For early cool-season crops try indoor seed starting this year; you can get started this month. Plants that are the easiest to start indoors from seed are broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, leeks, lettuce, onions, peppers, and tomatoes. Flowers that are easy to start from seed include alyssum, cosmos, marigolds, Shasta daisies, and zinnias.

Here is a list of the basic seed starting equipment you will need:

□ Containers: flats or individual containers at least 3 to 4 inches deep.

□ Seed-starting and potting mixes: peat moss, fine compost, perlite, and milled sphagnum moss will work for seed starting. Later you will need a potting mix: 1 part garden soil, 1 part perlite or builders' sand; 1 part fine compost.

□ Lights: adjustable up and down fluorescent lights will do to keep plants growing.

□ Capillary mats placed under containers will wick up moisture to the seeds and seedlings.

□ Half-strength fertilizer to get seedlings growing: fish or seaweed fertilizer or compost tea.

For several Harvest To Table articles on seed starting: click here.

For February seed starting suggestions starting with the warmest regions first, continue on to the next page:

Continue reading "Seed Starting: February Vegetables" »

Kitchen Garden Almanac for February

February is a busy month for the kitchen gardener. In many regions, indoor and outdoor sowing and planting is underway. Some gardeners already have seed in the ground. In the coldest regions, where there is a foot of snow on the ground, February is still the time to start making plans and preparing for spring. Here are some of the actions you take this month to get your garden growing:

Plan and design. Plan the spring and summer garden on paper. Sketch a base plan. Consider the location of house, garage, shed, fences, walls, and large trees that will cast shadows across the garden. Vegetables require at least 6 hours of sun each day to thrive. Locate your garden near a water source. If you've grown a vegetable garden before consider new crops this year and plan out succession plantings. Consult garden books for suggestions. If this is your first garden, monitor your planting area and map where the snow melts first, these will be good spots for planting early crops. Consider the light, water, and nutrient needs of each crop and crop family. Plant crops with similar needs or crops from the same families close together.

Consider your time and effort. If your time and space is limited, choose six varieties to grow this year. You'll get the most for your money and effort from tomatoes, snap beans, carrots, and greens such as lettuce and chard.

Succession and companion plantings. Succession planting (growing one crop after another during the growing season) takes advantage of every day in the growing season. Plan succession crops by plotting germination and harvest days for each crop and then plan which crop can follow the crop before given the length of the growing season, an example, warm-weather bush lima beans can follow cool-weather peas. Companion cropping matches a fast-growing small crop with a slow-maturing crop, an example, quick growing radishes planted between slow-maturing carrots, or shade tolerant peas planted beneath corn.

Record keeping. Set up your garden record keeping system now. Keep track of dates of varieties, sowing, transplanting, blooming dates, and notes about each crop. Planting and harvest dates can be used for planning succession crops. Make a garden map to keep track of just what was planted where; this map will be invaluable should your garden labels become misplaced or illegible. These records will help you plan your garden in following years.

Seed orders. Study on-line and mail-order catalogs and order seeds and plants for spring.

Continue reading "Kitchen Garden Almanac for February" »

Kitchen Garden Almanac for January

January is one of the best months to read vegetable gardening books and plan your spring and summer garden. In light of last year's experience, what changes will you make in the new season? Start jotting down your ideas and make sowing and planting maps.

In addition to new beds, January is the time to plan crop rotations and succession plantings for the upcoming season. Tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, and potatoes will benefit from a three- or four-year crop rotation. Rotating crops will keep many pests and diseases from getting started in your garden.

If you don't have the new seed catalogs, get them now or begin searching the internet for new vegetable varieties you'd like to grow this next spring. Apart from the old favorites which are usually easy to come by, order varieties--the ones you've never grown before--early. Many regional and hard-to-find seed growers have limited supplies.

If you have seeds on hand from past years, now is the time to test their viability. Most seeds will last 3 years if stored in a cool, dry location. To test seed viability place a few seeds on a wet paper towel for several days to see if they germinate.

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Kitchen Garden Almanac for December

Winter arrives on December 21. The shortest day of the year. There is never a shortage of things to do in the garden, even in winter. Here is this month's roundup of kitchen garden tasks. But first: How many meterological descriptions of snow are there? Consider these: Fluffy--lage light feathery flakes. Powder--dry cold powdery snow. Sticky--snow just beginning to melt. Wet--soggy, between sticky and slush. Breakable--a crust is "breakable" when it willnot hold the full weight of a mon on a single ski. Unbreakable icy: a hard ice-like crust formed by freezing of a watery surface after a heavy thaw. Wind crust--formed by the action of wind on powder snow. Granular--an old wet snow similar to wet rock salt. Corn--snow between true grandular and slush, typical when the temperature is above freezing. Did we miss any?

On to this month's almanac:

Harvest. Dig and harvest root crops stored in garden under mulch as needed. Root crops such as carrots, parsnips, and salsify that come out of the garden can be stored in a cool basement until you need them. If the ground does not freeze sunchokes, carrots, parsnips, rutabaga, turnips, and other root crops can spend winter underground.

• Brussels sprouts, cabbage, chard, collards, and kale harvested now will keep for weeks if stored in a cool basement or root cellar. To enjoy spinach, winter lettuces, and spring cabbage all winter, cover the plants with a plastic tunnel or cloche. Bend the leaves of cauliflower over the curds to protect them from frost damage.

Continue reading "Kitchen Garden Almanac for December" »

Kitchen Garden Almanac for October

Early October is the right time to begin thinking about the coming frost and cold weather. How will you extend the season if your summer crops are not yet ready for harvest?

Many warm-weather crops and all cool-weather crops can withstand the first or second or even third frost with a little protection. Extending the season in autumn is different than extending the season in spring. Plants now are near maturity and the polyethylene tunnel or bell jar cloche that would keep a spring seedling safe might be too low and too small at this time of the year.

But season extenders work the same in spring or fall; they raise the temperature under cover by several degrees allowing plants to carry on without weather-related setbacks. If you don't have a portable cold frame or plastic tunnel on hand, now is the time to fashion one or purchase one ready made.

Take a look first at the summer crops you would like to protect. Choose a tunnel or frame that is the right size to protect that crop. If you want to fashion and build your own, simply contruct a frame over which you can place the polyethylene plastic sheeding (4ml) or horticultural cloth. (Some commercial fabrics will protect crops down to 20ºF.) After the summer crops are in, you can easily use the same protection to keep autumn and winter crops going well into the middle and even late winter. (For more on growing autumn and winter vegetables click here.)

Here follows regional suggestion for things to do in the kitchen garden in October. These suggestions are divided into 4 major geographical regions: North and East and Midwest (growing zones 2 in the northern most regions to 6 along the coast), the South (zones 7 in the north to 10 in the far south), the Southwest and California (zones 7 in the coldest areas to zone 11 in the south), and the Northwest (zones 5 in the highest elevations to 8 along the coast.)

Continue reading "Kitchen Garden Almanac for October" »

Kitchen Garden Almanac for September

The weather will direct your efforts in the kitchen garden in September. Frost may strike even the mildest of regions before the end of the month.

Know the average first frost date for your area. This date will allow you to plan your garden activities and prepare for cold weather in advance. The average first frost date can vary from year to year but when the first frost comes your warm-weather crops will be done for the year unless you take steps to protect them and extend their season. Check with a nearby garden center, master gardener program, or your county agriculture commissioner's office to learn the average first frost date in your region.

From the date of the first frost, autumn and winter gardening will go under cover; use cloches, plastic tunnels, and cold frames to extend your growing season. If you live in a frost-free or nearly frost-free region, second spring will arrive later this month. In regions where the weather chills but never drops to freezing cool-weather crops can go back into the garden and your second spring will begin.

If you do not plan to keep the kitchen garden growing with cool-season crops during autumn and winter, consider planting the beds with a green-manure cover crop. Green manures or cover crops add organic matter to the soil; they are tilled or turned under after a while. Cover crops roots keep the soil loose, moist and aerated when vegetables are not in the garden. They also protect the soil from winter rains and erosion and add nutrients to the soil--thus green manure.

Green manure cover crops include annual rye or ryegrass, buckwheat and winter rye. Other excellent cover crops come from the legume family: clovers, vetches, and alfalfa. The roots of legumes add residual nitrogen to the soil which will benefit vegetables and herbs growing in the garden next season.

Continue reading "Kitchen Garden Almanac for September" »

Kitchen Garden Almanac for August

August is a month of endings and beginnings in the kitchen garden. Yes, there is still a month of vacation time before school starts, but in nature change is about. Summer will begin to fade in many gardens during August giving way to autumn and cool weather. In other regions, as the summer garden comes to a close, the "second spring" garden will come on, a garden that will benefit from continuing warm temperatures.

Vegetables are generally divided into warm season and cool season crops. Most warm season crops are harvested for their fruit: tomatoes, squash, peppers, eggplant, and melons for example. These crops require a lot of heat and long days to mature and become tasty.

Cool season crops prefer cooler temperatures. These are the leaf and root crops: beets, cabbage, carrots, lettuce, and spinach. Leaf and root crops benefit from cool weather; they use the shorter days to direct their energy into leaf and root formation and don't bother with flowering and seeding or fruiting.

Use the number of days in your garden's growing season to determine which crops will do best this time of year, as the days start to grow shorter and eventually cooler. Seeds that go into the ground now need time to germinate and grow. If the warm weather will be gone from your garden in 60 to 90 days, there may not be enough time for warm-weather crops to mature and bear a tasty harvest.

Check a frost map for your area or talk to the master gardener at your nearby cooperative extension or garden center; they can tell you about when to expect the first frost of autumn or winter.

When planning the autumn and winter garden, check the date of maturity on your seed packets against the average date of the first frost in your area. Add at least 2 weeks and up to 4 weeks to that number and count backwards from the average first frost date to arrive at your planting date for that crop. Plants grow a bit slower as summer fades into autumn and the sun's intensity decreases. So allow some grow time by adding a few weeks to the maturity date on your seed packets.

You may have plenty of time for more warm-weather crops in your region (after all there are only 1 or 2 days of frost each year in San Diego, for instance), or time may be very short (there are on average just 60 frost free days each year in Telluride, Colorado, with the average first frost date arriving about August 27).

Continue reading "Kitchen Garden Almanac for August" »

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