Growing Your Own Vegetables: An Encyclopedia of Country Living Guide (4 page)

GROWING SEASON

Broadly determined by the number of days between the last killing frost in the spring and the first killing frost in the fall, your garden’s growing season will be further influenced by its topography and exposure. These are important dates for planning when to plant. Most knowledgeable nurseries or a local extension agent will be able to give you estimated dates for the average spring and fall frost dates for your area. Refer to your personal garden records for specific data about your garden.

STARTING TRANSPLANTS

Growing your own transplants allows you to increase the size of your harvest and/or lengthen your growing season and opens up a wide world of varieties not necessarily available at your local nursery. Start your plants about 2 to 2½ months before you plan to set them out. Because most seeds require much warmer soil to germinate than they need to grow, sow your seeds in the house or a heated greenhouse, where you can give them ideal conditions in their tender early stages. Transplants don’t need much space; you can grow them on a sunny windowsill. To make room for more plants, build shelves across the window, being careful to remove anything underneath that could be harmed by dripping water.

Fill your containers to the top with a sterile seed starting mix, tamping the dampened soil lightly. Water newly planted seeds often enough to keep the soil continually moist to encourage rapid germination. Peat pots, available at most nurseries, are a favorite seeding container because the entire plant, pot and all, can be placed in the garden to minimize transplant shock. However, plants in peat pots dry out fast; when setting them into the garden, you should tear off the part of the rim that’s above ground to prevent it from acting as a wick, causing the plant to lose water. Look around and be resourceful; any container that will hold soil can be used to start transplants, provided you poke holes in the bottom for drainage.
Note: Be sure to label each container with the variety of plant in it.

Water the seedlings every other day, or whenever they look dry, by thoroughly misting the surface of the soil with a spray bottle. The gentle spray is easier on young plants, and several light waterings are better than a gush of water, which can dislodge new roots. Some people prefer to place seedlings on a tray and water from below.

CARE AND FEEDING OF THE GARDEN

W
ell-prepared, fertile soil is vitally important for good plant growth. Growing naturally disease- and pest-resistant plants starts with building a soil that is alive and as healthy as possible.

SOIL COMPOSITION

“Soil” is a mixture of mineral particles of various sizes, organic material, water, and air. You can do an easy test to determine your soil type by rubbing some garden dirt between your fingers. Soils that are sandy feel gritty, and you can easily see the individual grains. Sandy soils contain many air spaces, are easy to dig, drain well, and warm up quickly in the spring; however, they may be quick to dry out. Crops grown in sandy soils require extra watering, which can leach valuable nutrients.

Heavy clay soils contain few air spaces and tend to pack together tightly; individual particles are too small to be seen, and the texture is sticky and slick. Clay soils tend to be fairly fertile but are hard to till, especially when damp. Although good at retaining moisture, clay soils with poor drainage can lead to waterlogged conditions and plant death.

SOIL PH ANALYSIS

The abbreviation
pH
refers to hydrogen-ion activity and is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of your soil. The pH scale runs from 1 to 14, with a reading of 7 being neutral, neither an alkaline nor acid soil; numbers higher than 7 signify an alkaline soil, numbers lower than 7 signify an acid soil. Most vegetables do well in slightly acid to neutral soil because microorganisms that convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form that plants can use thrive best at 6.3 to 6.8. This pH range is also best for soil bacteria that decompose mulch and compost into humus. In this pH range, all the essential soil minerals that plants depend on for nutrients are maximally available. A simple soil test purchased at your local nursery will easily and accurately give you a soil pH reading.

LEAD CONTAMINATION

Lead is a toxic heavy metal. Consumption of even a little of it can cause severe and permanent damage, especially in young children. Lead is invisible, but if it is present in the soil it will find its way into every plant that grows there, including parts you harvest for food. Garden soil situated along a heavily trafficked street will have a higher lead content. The most dangerous soil is that within 100 feet of a street, and levels can be five times the normal rate near stop signs and places where cars are forced to idle.

The other common source of lead contamination in garden soil is from lead-based paint, a common component of exterior house paints until the Environmental Protection Agency banned its use in the 1950s. If you have a wooden house built before that time, you can assume that its adjacent soil—out to about 10 feet—has some lead contamination.

To test the lead level in your soil, inquire at a local EPA office, county extension service, or toxics lab and seek professional help to deal with the problem.

COMPOST AND MANURES

Manure, compost, and any other organic material adds humus to sandy soils, which acts like a sponge to hold water and nutrients within your plant’s root zone. Conversely, organic material will loosen a clay soil that drains poorly by introducing fibrous matter that allows air to penetrate the heavy mass. Every gardener’s dream is a good
loam
—a moisture-retentive soil that is well drained and contains plenty of organic material.

A deeply dug, well-amended fertile soil will support heavier planting and produce a greater yield of larger vegetables. Any soil, especially garden soil, is in a process of constant change. Each season a great deal of organic material is used up or carried away in the harvest and a constant replenishing is necessary to maintain good soil health. Regular applications of compost and manure go a long way to rebuild soil that has been gardened intensively.

Compost

Anything that was once alive makes good compost: leaves, coffee grounds, grass clippings, sawdust, kitchen food scraps. Avoid meat, fat, cooking oils, and grease, as they are slow to decompose and their odor will attract rodents. To
compost
simply means to hurry up the natural decomposition process so you can get the organic material into the garden quickly. Home-grown, organic, and free of toxic chemicals, compost has been called “black gold”—well worth digging for!

HOW TO BUILD A COMPOST PILE

There are many different styles of commercial compost bins available on the market, but it can be as simple as a 3-foot-by-3-foot bottomless box with wood or wire fencing sides. Build your pile with leaves, kitchen debris, sawdust, and the like, layered with manure, garden soil, and small twigs. Dampen the pile with the hose to thoroughly moisten all the ingredients and wait. The beneficial microbes present in the soil and/or manure will begin to break down the other material. You can hasten the process by periodically turning the whole mixture with a pitchfork to introduce oxygen to the pile, which will further fuel the decomposition process. Adding weeds, vegetable trimmings, and other garden debris to the compost pile throughout the growing season is an effective and efficient practice that will return your garden’s goodness—to the garden.

Manure

This is organic material that has already been processed by the digestive tract of an animal. Nitrogen rich—not to mention pungent—fresh manure must be further composted or aged before it can be spread around existing plants or you will risk “burning” them. Manure gathered from a barn, pen, or rabbit cage can be either spread and allowed to age in the garden or composted in a pile as already described. If you have animals you would be wise not to overlook this free source of garden nutrients. Believe it or not, manure is perishable. Too much direct rainfall will leach the nitrogen content out of the manure and potentially contribute to groundwater contamination. Allowing it to dry out will lock up its goodness, making its value unavailable to plants. Fortunately for gardeners without the space or inclination toward animal husbandry, well-aged bagged manure can be purchased at most nurseries and immediately worked into the garden soil.
Note: Cat and dog manure should not be used in the garden because it may carry disease.

Green manure

By cultivating a crop of quick-growing plants, you can produce a generous amount of organic material that you then plow back into the garden, where it enriches the soil as it decomposes. Rye grass, buckwheat, alfalfa, clover, and vetch are popular green manure crops. Organic farmers will routinely put a field in green manure to bolster the soil after producing a heavy-feeding crop like corn or broccoli. Home gardeners typically plant green manure crops in the cool weather on either side of the growing season. Check with local gardening experts who can advise you on the best green manure choice for your area.

EARTHWORMS

These valuable tenants in your garden’s soil subsist on decaying organic matter. Aristotle referred to them as the “intestines of the world.” Their constant tunneling loosens soil texture, and their digestive process results in the excretion of
castings
, a mixture of organic and inorganic material rich in humus, water-soluble, and an almost perfect plant fertilizer. This valuable process may be harnessed with the creation of a simple worm bin. Properly bedded, stocked with red wigglers, and fed a measured but steady diet of kitchen waste, the worm bin will become a veritable eating machine, turning garbage into rich plant food. In a mild climate, you can place your bin outdoors out of direct sun. Where temperatures are more extreme, both hot and cold, locate your bin out of the weather in a heated basement or garage. Clever commercial models are available that will fit on a covered porch, a spare closet, even right under the kitchen sink!