• ARTICHOKE. I feel like a hypocrite: In No Guff Vegetable Gardeningboth Donna and I said we don’t find artichokes worth growing in the garden because they are space hogs that yield inconsistently in our climate. So why did I grow them this year? I grew them for the beautiful silvery foliage, and figured any harvest would be a bonus. We’ll, we’ll be eating artichoke from the garden for the third time tonight, so I’m glad I bothered with them.TIP: Artichokes are programmed to flower in their second year (and it’s the flower we eat), but they won’t overwinter here in Toronto. So…we have to trick them. This year I put my seedlings in the beer fridge for a week before planting them in the garden, and it was enough to make them think winter had come and gone, and that they could flower.

  

• FENNEL. I’ve never been much of a fan of fennel, but I saw such a fine looking patch of fennel Cookstown Greens last summer that I felt inspired to grow it again.TIP: If you’re not crazy about the anise flavour, cooking makes it milder. I poached some fennel in verjus last week (with a dab of butter) and it was great.

  

• SUMMER SQUASH. I stuffed a large patty pan summer squash with breadcrumbs and roasted it, then served it to my kids, calling it roasted space ship. They turned up their noses. New for me this year is Trombetta, which has green trumpet like fruit.TIP: Don’t forget that the flowers are edible too.

Tasks for August and September

SOW SEEDS FOR FALL AND WINTER CROPS

My cold frames are in place in the veggie patch now. I put them in the space left empty when I harvested onions and garlic.

In the next short while I will sow mustard, chard, and spinach seeds in the cold frames to give me greens in late fall and winter.

FUNNY COLD FRAME STORY…
When I investigated the strange sound coming from around the house, I found my kitten, jumping up and down on the clear plastic poly that covers the cold frame. It seems he was amused by the sound it made. Alas, the tops of my cold frames are now perforated with kitty-claw holes…

MORE ON COLD FRAMES
In No Guff Vegetable Gardening, we explain how cold frames help extend the season. Here’s what we say:

A cold frame is nothing more than a simple mini-greenhouse heated by the sun. In its simplest form, it can be an old window set atop sides made from boards (or even straw bales).

Cold frames serve three purposes for the vegetable gardener:

• Provide a warm spot to grow seedling transplants while it is still too cold outside.
• Protect early in-ground crops of greens such as lettuce, arugula, and spinach while the ground outside is still frozen.
• Shelter fall crops of greens.

Ideally, the cold frame faces south, with the back wall slightly higher than the front, so that the window is on a slope to catch more sunlight.

Because it is heated by the sun, it cools down when the sun sets, though it doesn’t become as cool as the surrounding garden. That’s because a cold frame also traps some of the heat given off by the ground. Covering it with a blanket or tarp on very cold nights will keep it slightly warmer.

On warm, sunny days a cold frame can actually become too hot, so it is important to prop open the window to let out some of the heat (or invest in automatic vents). Visit www.GardenCoachesChat.com for a simple cold frame plan.

Excerpt from Homegrown in Toronto, Steven Biggs’ newsletter about growing veg and fruit in the home garden. Biggs is a Toronto horticulturist and author of No Guff Vegetable Gardening, a seriously fun book that helps new gardeners dig in—and gives experienced gardeners delicious tips.

Follow Steven Biggs on facebook for ideas about gardening, food, and farming.

What’s Up Now

CARROTS. I’ve harvested most of the radishes from my carrot patch, and am now starting to harvest baby carrots.

TIP: Plant fast-growing radish seeds with your carrot seeds for two reasons: first, they are a marker crop, which germinates much more quickly than carrots so that you remember you have seeds in the ground; and second, when you harvest the radishes, you loosen the soil in your carrot patch.

CHIVES. My chives are nearly done blooming.

Don’t forget that chive blossoms are edible, and make a great garnish.

TIP: Unless you want baby chive plants coming up everywhere, cut off blooms when they look faded…before seed forms.

SWISS CHARD. I have a couple of sowings of Swiss chard underway, a patch of a green variety along with a patch of a multicoloured mix.

TIP: Look at the picture and you’ll see more than one Swiss chard seedling. Swiss chard “seeds” each contain a number of seeds, and will often send up a few seedlings. Many people thin these clusters of seedlings to one plant to minimize crowding…although I never seem to get around to it!

Tasks for June and July  

MANAGE YOUR WEEDS

Now that all the crops are in the ground I spend a good part of my time in the garden weeding.

When you take the time to remove weeds from newly seeded areas, you’ll find that once a crop is up, it will often outcompete weeds. A dense stand of beans or carrots, for example, will smother most aspiring weeds.

In No Guff Vegetable Gardening, I tell readers why it’s important to keep weeds from going to seed in the garden (or putting weeds with seed heads in the compost pile!).

Here’s what I say:

• I try to keep weeds from going to seed but am not a perfectionist when it comes to weeds. If you look you’ll find them in my garden. I’m not embarrassed.
• But….and this is an important but…if weeds have formed seeds, don’t put them in your compost. Have a separate heap for such weeds—or put them out with municipal yard waste collection. When I moved to my current home, I used the compost that the previous owner left. BIG MISTAKE. I have never had so many weeds in a garden before. The reason? There were weeds that had formed seed added to that compost.

Excerpt from Homegrown in Toronto, Steven Biggs’ newsletter about growing veg and fruit in the home garden.

Biggs is a Toronto horticulturist and author of No Guff Vegetable Gardening, a seriously fun book that helps new gardeners dig in—and gives experienced gardeners delicious tips.

Follow Steven Biggs on facebook for ideas about gardening, food, and farming.

What’s Up Now

• ASPARAGUS. I’m not harvesting much of my asparagus this year. That’s because I only put the plants in the garden last year. But I did steal a spear of a purple variety. If you’re a regular reader, you know I’m a sucker for unusually coloured veggies.

  TIP: Don’t pick asparagus the year of transplanting—or the year afterwards. The reason is that you want this perennial crop to become well established.

  

• POTATOES. I’m trying something new this year: potatoes placed atop the garden, then covered with a thick layer of partially composted leaves. Here’s the reason: My garden is close to a black walnut tree…and potatoes and their kin hate “juglone,” which is given off by black walnut trees. So my logic is that by placing them on top of the ground (not buried) then covering them with the leaves, there will be less exposure to the juglone.

  TIP: Read my article about juglone here: http://www.gardencoacheschat.com/more-black-walnut-juglone/.

  

• SORREL. The sorrel is up and we’ve been adding it to salad for the refreshing lemony flavour.

  TIP: The wild species that I grow tries hard to go to seed in the summer—so spends less energy producing new leaves. The large-leaf variety I got last year does not seem to do this. This is a case where splurging on a cultivated variety of a wild plant is worthwhile.

  Tasks for May

  HARDEN OFF TRANSPLANTS

  Even though bright, sunny days are rare this year, don’t forget to harden off seedlings. I’ve scalded more than my fair share of tomato seedlings in the past by being impatient and skipping this step.

  In No Guff Vegetable Gardening, we tell readers that it’s important to harden off tender seedlings before planting them in the garden. Here’s what we say:

  Tough Love: Hardening Off
  When it’s almost time for your young plants to strike out on their own in the garden, it’s time for tough love. And in gardening lingo, tough love is called “hardening off.”

  The indoor world of constant temperatures and fluorescent lights is no preparation for the real world outdoors. The goal of hardening off is to accustom your teenage plants to outdoor stresses such as wind, direct sunlight, drying soils, and temperature variations.

  Here are some hardening-off measures:

  • Withhold moisture. Water less but don’t let plants wilt.

  • Place outside in the shade for a couple days.
  • Gradually place in sunlight, increasing the duration each day.

  Gradually expose plants to wind, rain, and sun. If there is a risk of overnight frost, bring them indoors.

  Transplant outside on a grey, rainy day, when the seedlings are less likely to dry out. Otherwise, plant late in the day to give the seedlings the benefit of cooler evening temperatures.

  Excerpt from Homegrown in Toronto, Steven Biggs’ e-zine about growing veg and fruit in the home garden. Biggs is a Toronto horticulturist and author of No Guff Vegetable Gardening, a seriously fun book that helps new gardeners dig in—and gives experienced gardeners delicious tips. It has been on the Calgary Herald bestseller list for 6 weeks.

  
  
  ]]> http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/2011/05/18/may-in-the-vegetable-garden/feed/ 0 communityorchard Purple asparagus. xxx. No Guff Vegetable Gardening http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/2011/04/04/april-in-the-garden/ http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/2011/04/04/april-in-the-garden/#comments Mon, 04 Apr 2011 11:58:39 +0000 communityorchard http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/?p=206 ]]> What’s Up Now
  
  
  • LEEKS. My leek seedlings are looking good. I love the way onion and leek seedlings are capped with the black remnants of the seed coat. I’ll stick these leek seedlings in the garden some time in mid April.

    TIP: If your onion or leek seedlings become very gangly, you can give them a haircut to keep them from getting too long…trim them to about four inches high.

    

  • LEMONS. There is one lonely lemon fruit growing on one of my lemon trees, but the blooms have started. The blooms are the main reason I grow lemon trees. One lonely bloom is enough to make the room smell heavenly.

    TIP: I’ve had best luck overwintering plants in a spot that is cooler than room temperature. The reason is that cool temperatures mean that insect pests—spider mites, aphids, and scale—don’t get out of hand.

    

  • TOMATOES. I’ve pared back the number of tomato varieties I’m growing this year. I have my favourites—Franco and a winter keeper variety—along with a variety resistant to late blight, and an early, bushy variety for containers.

    The new variety that I’m eager to try is called Nips: it was given to me by Dan at Cottage Gardener (www.cottagegardener.com), who said a client gave it to him after being given the variety by a nun at an Ursuline convent in Saskatchewan, who had originally received the seeds from a family that immigrated from the Dakotas

    TIP: Bright light and temperatures cooler than room temperature are the trick if you want to grow tomato transplants that aren’t too gangly.

  • GROUND CHERRIES AND CAPE GOOSEBERRIES. I’ve seeded five different types of physalis, the family that includes cape gooseberries and ground cherries. If you don’t know them, these are the small orange-yellow fruits in a papery husk. The most common ground cherry I’ve seen in seed catalogues is Aunt Molly’s. It’s OK, but I like the larger fruited members of the family, which takes longer to mature.

    I ordered Cape Gooseberry from Linda Crago at Tree and Twig Heirloom Vegetable Farm (www.treeandtwig.com) and explained that I forgot to save seeds for a large fruited variety that I used to have. She said it was likely Cape Gooseberry—and that many people confuse Cape Gooseberry with the smaller fruited and lower growing ground cherry.

    

  • SPINACH. I have young spinach plants that I overwintered in cold frames. They should take off now with the arrival of warmer weather. I also have spinach growing inside that I’ll eat in the meantime (pictured).

    TIP: You can sow spinach seeds directly in the garden now.

    Tasks for April

    GROWING SEEDS INDOORS

    Indoors, once seeds have germinated, bright light and cool temperature are two key ingredients for raising compact seedlings.

    • COOL TEMPERATURES: Indoors, cool temperatures can be a challenge. I have my grow lights in the basement, in a room where I can shut off the heat duct and keep temperatures cool.
      
    • BRIGHT LIGHT: I have a very basic light setup with two fluorescent tubes. To give seedlings the most light possible, I raise them up close to the lights using boxes and crates, which I remove as the plants become taller (see picture).

    Excerpt from Homegrown in Toronto, Steven Biggs’ e-zine about growing veg and fruit in the home garden. Biggs is a Toronto horticulturist and author of No Guff Vegetable Gardening, a seriously fun book that helps new gardeners dig in—and gives experienced gardeners delicious tips.

    
    
    ]]> http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/2011/04/04/april-in-the-garden/feed/ 0 communityorchard Leek seedlings with the black spec of seed coat at the top. A lone lemon blossom is enough to fill a room with a sweet perfume. xxx. xxx. xxx. No Guff Vegetable Gardening http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/2010/08/27/start-composting/ http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/2010/08/27/start-composting/#comments Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:12:51 +0000 communityorchard http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/?p=196 ]]> August 27 – WHAT NOW?

    What you can do in the garden now:

    Compost.

    The good news is that composting is not really a lot of extra work.

    Here’s why I say that: if you’re not composting, when fall comes you’ll likely clear out your garden and put the dead plants to the curb for yard waste collection (and…you might even use those large paper bags that cost money!)

    Why not just compost the stuff instead?

    The good news about composting is that you have lots of options. Here are some ideas:

    • Ultra Simple Method: Pile the stuff in a corner and put some earth on top; or

    • Fairly Simple Method: Drive 4 stakes into the ground in a square pattern, 1-2 metres apart, then wrap chicken wire or mesh around them; or
    • Slightly More Work Method: Make a wooden frame, covering 3 sides with chicken wire or mesh, and having removable slats at the front; or
    • Not Much Work but a bit of Money Method: Buy a composter.

    In my composting system, I use a couple of the above methods.

    For garden waste and leaves, I use a wooden-framed composter that I made.

    For kitchen scraps, which might smell nice to vermin, I use a plastic, city-supplied composter that is less accessible to vermin.

    Here’s a picture of the wooden-framed composter I use, which has removable slats at the front so I can easily dig it out when it’s ready.

    BIGGS’ TIMELY TIP

    Do less digging…

    Most books recommend turning your compost heap regularly.

    That seems like a lot of work to me.

    Instead, I use a broom handle to poke holes to the bottom of the heap. It accomplishes the same thing as turning—which is to aerate the pile, which helps it break down more quickly.

    Looking for more information on vegetable gardening? I offer hands-on workshops. Click here for details..

    Steven Biggs is a Toronto horticulturist, journalist, and life-long vegetable gardener who has reclaiming underused backyards for gardens wherever he’s stayed. Learn about growing edibles and sign up for his free e-zine, Homegrown in Toronto, at www.The-Locavores-Garden.com.

    Need an edible-gardening coach or a hands-on workshop? Click here to contact Steven.

    
    
    ]]> http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/2010/08/27/start-composting/feed/ 0 communityorchard http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/2010/07/14/plant-more-crops/ http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/2010/07/14/plant-more-crops/#comments Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:55:53 +0000 communityorchard http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/?p=186 ]]> JULY 14 – WHAT NOW?

    What you can do in the garden now:

    Plant more.

    Crops such as tomatoes and peppers occupy the same spot in the garden from planting through to frost.

    But that’s not the case with all crops.

    This morning I yanked out a patch of arugula that had finished the leafy stage and was starting to bolt (send up a flower stalk in preparation for flowering.)

    Soon the garlic will be ready to harvest, freeing up more space for me to replant.

    What you can seed now:

    What can you plant to occupy newly freed up space? Here are some crops on my own to-plant list over the next couple of weeks:

    • beets
    • spinach and lettuce (in a shadier spot)
    • wax beans

    Next steps:
    In the June 6 blog, we talked about thinning seedlings.

    I am still thinning.

    Thinning is an ongoing process for me.

    When the carrot plants were very small, thinning didn’t yield any worthwhile baby carrots. But not the plants are now large enough that I’m getting some very nice baby carrots. I keep thinning, strategically pulling plants to give optimum spacing to those remaining.

    BIGGS’ TIMELY TIP

    

    Overwhelmed by summer squash?

    I do it every year….

    I plant more than one summer squash plant.

    In the spring it makes sense, as I want green zucchinis—and yellow ones too. And I want some of the scalloped shaped and crook neck summer squash.

    But as they all come into production, there’s way too much for one family to eat.

    Luckily, you can stop those summer squash flowers in their tracks, before they produce any more summer squash!

    That’s because the blossoms are edible. Simply batter and fry them. And if you like, you can stuff them with a wedge of cheese before battering.

    Looking for more information on vegetable gardening? I offer hands-on workshops. Click here for details..

    Steven Biggs is a Toronto horticulturist, journalist, and life-long vegetable gardener who has reclaiming underused backyards for gardens wherever he’s stayed. Learn about growing edibles and sign up for his free e-zine, Homegrown in Toronto, at www.The-Locavores-Garden.com.

    Need an edible-gardening coach or a hands-on workshop? Click here to contact Steven.

    
    
    ]]> http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/2010/07/14/plant-more-crops/feed/ 0 communityorchard http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/2010/06/06/time-to-thin/ http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/2010/06/06/time-to-thin/#comments Sun, 06 Jun 2010 17:14:00 +0000 communityorchard http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/?p=182 ]]> JUNE 6 – WHAT NOW?

    What you can do in the garden now:

    Start thinning.

    With warm weather and lots of rain, the garden is growing well—and when the garden is growing well, that often means it’s time to thin. Thinning simply means yanking out young seedlings when there are too many in too small a space.

    DON’T SKIP THIS STEP. We thin for the same reason we remove weeds: to minimize competition. A weed growing next to a vegetable can severely stunt the growth of the vegetable by competing for water and light. The same thing happens when our veggie plants are too close together.

    What you can seed now:

    You might be thinking, “Steve, it’s June and anything can be planted outdoors now, get rid of this section.”

    You’re right, anything can be planted out now. but I’m keeping this section because I want to drive home one point: The vegetable garden isn’t a one-shot deal—planted all at once, and then left for the year.

    Plan to plant THROUGHOUT spring and summer. And fall too.

    • We plant vacant spots we’ve forgotten.
    • We replant where the squirrels dug up our seedlings.
    • We replant when we make space by harvesting.

    For more information on seeds, see the February 2, 2010 blog.

    For more information on sowing seeds outdoors, see the April 21, 2010 blog.

    For more information on outdoor seeding and transplanting, see the May 8 and May 21, 2010 blogs.

    Next steps:
    In the May 21 blog, we talked about planting seeds in the garden.

    Keep planting if you have space. In my case, the squirrels tore out and chewed up 43 out of the 50 strawberry plants I put in. The ground that was to have been strawberry patch will be redeployed and seeded with something else.

    BIGGS’ TIMELY TIP

    Eat what you thin.

    Don’t think of thinning as work—think of it as an early harvest.

    I spend a fair bit of time thinning—more than some gardeners—because I often plant by hand-scattering seed.

    It’s a quick and easy seeding method…but I usually end up planting more seed than required (especially if my kids help!)

    But extra seedlings are a good thing. In the picture to the right you’ll see a thick stand of beet and radish seedlings—two crops that I interplant, because the radishes are done before the beets.

    Yesterday I removed the radishes to make more space for the beets. So we’re eating radishes tonight. Next I’ll thin out those densely planted beet plants, and we’ll have beet greens. Then the remaining beet plants will be spaced far enough apart to encourage the growth of nice, plump beet roots.

    Looking for more information on vegetable gardening? I offer hands-on workshops. Click here for details..

    Steven Biggs is a Toronto horticulturist, journalist, and life-long vegetable gardener who has reclaiming underused backyards for gardens wherever he’s stayed. Learn about growing edibles and sign up for his free e-zine, Homegrown in Toronto, at www.The-Locavores-Garden.com.

    Need an edible-gardening coach or a hands-on workshop? Click here to contact Steven.

    
    
    ]]> http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/2010/06/06/time-to-thin/feed/ 0 communityorchard seedlings to be thinned http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/2010/05/21/more-about-planting-outdoors/ http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/2010/05/21/more-about-planting-outdoors/#comments Fri, 21 May 2010 12:59:59 +0000 communityorchard http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/?p=174 ]]> MAY 21 – WHAT NOW?

    What you can do in the garden now:

    The Victoria Day weekend is nearly here. It is a traditional benchmark for gardeners, marking a safe time to plant out heat-loving, cold-sensitive crops in the garden.

    Here’s the list of favourites to seed directly in the garden that I have given in the last couple of blog posts. You can still plant these if you haven’t already.

    • arugula, beets, beans, broad beans, carrots, lettuce, parsley, peas, radish, spinach, and Swiss chard.

    Now is the time to put cucumber seeds in the garden too.

    Have seeds that aren’t on my favourites list? They’re probably safe to put in the garden now too.

    What you can transplant outdoors now:
    Pretty much everything. It won’t hurt to hold back peppers, melons, and eggplants (which all despise cold) if the forecast is for cool weather…but I don’t think that’s the case. Mine are going in this weekend because I have a busy couple of weeks ahead, and there won’t be time to plant later.

    Just remember to harden off seedlings before transplanting.

    That means getting them used to hot, cold, sun, and wind. Start them outdoors in a shaded area for a couple of days, then give them a day or two in the sun.

    It’s best to transplant on an overcast day, where the stress of being in the full sun is removed.

    For more information on seeds, see the February 2, 2010 blog.

    For more information on sowing seeds outdoors, see the April 21, 2010 blog.

    For more information on outdoor seeding and transplanting, see the May 8, 2010 blog.

    Next steps:
    In the May 8 blog, we talked about planting “cheater” bean seeds in the garden.

    Plant more beans now, so you get a staggered crop.

    Don’t forget to stagger the planting of other crops such as peas.

    BIGGS’ TIMELY TIP

    Foil Cutworms.

    There are dastardly bugs called cutworms, which appear at night after you’ve transplanted your seedlings into the garden. They chew through the stems of your transplants at ground level, felling them as a lumberjack would fall a tree.

    At that point it’s game over for you transplant.

    The simple solution is to put a collar around your transplant.

    I use strips of newspaper to collar my tomato transplants. The newspaper decomposes naturally.

    I find collaring is too much of a bother for all crops, so only the peppers and tomatoes get that treatment in my garden.

    Looking for more information on vegetable gardening? I’m run hands-on workshops. Click here for details..

    Steven Biggs is a Toronto horticulturist, journalist, and life-long vegetable gardener who has reclaiming underused backyards for gardens wherever he’s stayed. Learn about growing edibles and sign up for his free e-zine, Homegrown in Toronto, at www.The-Locavores-Garden.com.

    Need an edible-gardening coach or a hands-on workshop? Click here to contact Steven.

    
    
    ]]> http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/2010/05/21/more-about-planting-outdoors/feed/ 0 communityorchard Foil cutworms with a newspaper collar. http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/2010/05/09/what-to-plant-and-transplant-outdoors-now/ http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/2010/05/09/what-to-plant-and-transplant-outdoors-now/#comments Sun, 09 May 2010 11:46:47 +0000 communityorchard http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/?p=163 ]]> MAY 9 – WHAT NOW?

    What you can do in the garden now:

    There are lots of crops that you can sow directly in the garden now.

    Here’s the list of favourites I gave in the last blog. You can still plant these if you haven’t already.

    • arugula, beets, broad beans, carrots, lettuce, parsley, peas, radish, spinach, and Swiss chard.

    AND HERE’S AN ADDITION: Beans (wax and pole). Books will tell you it’s too early now…and technically it is. A frost would kill emerging bean seedlings. But if you seed beans now and there’s no frost, your crop will be ahead of one planted after the last frost date. It’s worth the risk, because the worst case scenario (plants killed by frost) simply means you reseed.

    What you can transplant outdoors now:
    If you’ve been nurturing small veggie plants indoors (or if you’ve bought some), there are some you can plant now—but some you shouldn’t. That temperature of 2°C we had last night would send some heat-loving plants into shock.

    • HERE ARE SOME YOU CAN TRANSPLANT (if they’ve been hardened off): broccoli, cabbage, leek, onion.

    • DON’T YET TRANSPLANT THESE: cucumber, eggplant, melon, pepper, squash, tomato.

    For more information on seeds, see the February 2, 2010 blog.

    For more information on planting seeds indoors, see the February 9, March 14 and March 30 blogs.

    For more information on sowing seeds outdoors, see the April 21, 2010 blog.

    NEXT STEPS:
    In the April 21 blog, we talked about what you can seed directly in the garden.

    You might have seedlings up by now. If you’re new to minding seedlings, don’t worry. Follow this approach:

    

    WATCH for the seedlings to appear.
    WATER if the soil becomes dry as germinating seeds shouldn’t dry out.
    WEED if you see something you think doesn’t belong with your seedlings.

    The other thing to do is THIN, because overcrowded plants produce less.

    That’s not to say planting seeds thickly is bad. I purposely plant too thickly so I can thin, then eat what I’ve thinned.

    Lettuce is too thick? Good, I can have a salad of baby lettuce. Beets too thick? Good, I’ll add beet greens to the salad. You get the idea…

    BIGGS’ TIMELY TIP

    Harden Off Transplants.

    When you have pots of seedlings you’ve either grown or purchased and a sunny spring day arrives, the temptation is to plant them right away.

    BUT WAIT! There’s an important step first. It’s called hardening off the plants.

    This simply means getting the plants used to bright sunlight (brighter than an indoor light tray or shaded garden centre), cool nights, and wind.

    Put your plants in a shady spot for a couple days. Increase their exposure to the elements over a few days till they’re used to being outside, in an exposed condition.

    WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DON’T HARDEN OFF YOUR PLANTS? I can speak from experience: One year I cheated, telling myself the couple of days I’d given my tomatoes outside was enough. It became beautifully sunny after I transplanted…and those poor little plants fried. The leaves became yellow and dried in the sun. (some recovered, but were slowed down by the shock)

    Looking for more information on vegetable gardening? I’m running a hands-on transplanting and seeding workshop on Sunday May 16. Click here for details..

    Steven Biggs is a Toronto horticulturist, journalist, and life-long vegetable gardener who has reclaiming underused backyards for gardens wherever he’s stayed. Learn about growing edibles and sign up for his free e-zine, Homegrown in Toronto, at www.The-Locavores-Garden.com.

    Need an edible-gardening coach or a hands-on workshop? Click here to contact Steven.

    
    
    ]]> http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/2010/05/09/what-to-plant-and-transplant-outdoors-now/feed/ 0 communityorchard thin out a couple of these lettuce plants to add to the salad, leaving more space for the others. http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/2010/04/21/what-seeds-to-plant-outdoors-now/ http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/2010/04/21/what-seeds-to-plant-outdoors-now/#comments Wed, 21 Apr 2010 17:39:54 +0000 communityorchard http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/?p=156 ]]> APRIL 21 – WHAT NOW?

    What you can plant in the garden now:

    There are lots of crops that you can sow directly in the garden now.

    Here’s a partial list:

    • arugula, beets, broad beans, carrots, lettuce, parsley, peas, radish, spinach, and Swiss chard.

    What you can seed indoors now:

    We’ve passed the optimal window for starting tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and celery seeds indoors. These crops need a lot of time to mature, which is why we start them early.

    If you’re looking for crops to start indoors now, try cucumbers, melons, squash, and summer squash.

    For more information on seeds, see the February 2, 2010 blog.

    For more information on planting seeds indoors, see the February 9, March 14 and March 30 blogs.

    Next steps:

    In the March 30 blog, we talked about thinning and transplanting seedlings that are growing indoors.

    Tomatoes, eggplants, peppers and other heat lovers won’t be transplanted into the garden until mid May—nearly a month.

    So when their indoor quarters become cramped, we transplant them to bigger pots.

    I don’t have space to grow all my peppers and tomatoes in large pots. Some will remain in cell packs until they are transplanted into the garden. But I do put some of the larger plants into their own pots—usually 3” or 4” pots.

    That extra growing room can really give them a boost and result in larger, more robust transplants for the garden.

    BIGGS’ TIMELY TIP

    Forget precision.

    Many people think about market gardens with ramrod straight rows of veggies when they think of making a veggie garden. FORGET IT.

    It’s neither practical nor necessary in an urban setting.

    For example, why bother with a straight row of beets? Instead, broadcast seed within a square block (gardening in blocks means less space wasted on pathways). And you plant far more densely than recommended on the seed packet.

    The advantage of the dense seeding is that as the young beets grow, you pluck some out to use the greens in the salad. Use the same concept with carrots, lettuce, spinach…and many other crops.

    Looking for more information on vegetable gardening? I’m running a transplanting and seeding workshop on Sunday May 16. Click here for details..

    Steven Biggs is a Toronto horticulturist, journalist, and life-long vegetable gardener who has reclaiming underused backyards for gardens wherever he’s stayed. Learn about growing edibles and sign up for his free e-zine, Homegrown in Toronto, at www.The-Locavores-Garden.com.

    Need an edible-gardening coach or a hands-on workshop? Click here to contact Steven.

    
    
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