PlanterTomato Vegetable Gardening

Free Seed Starting Calculator

In this posting, I provide a free, down-loadable Excel spreadsheet that will automatically calculate the date to plant seeds for 45 vegetable types.  All you need to do is enter one bit of information and the spreadsheet does the rest of the work.

We are now getting into seed starting season.  Over the course of the next few postings, I'll share information with you to help you get your garden going.  In this first posting, I'm providing a free resource to my readers that will make determining when to begin planting seeds a snap.

Here's all you need to do:

1. Download the Excel spreadsheet attached to this posting -  Download PlanterTomato Seed Starting Calculator v2
2. In the yellow box, enter the last frost date for your area. The last frost date is the last date that your area is likely to get hit by frost based on historical weather data.  If you don't know your last frost date, you can find it at VictorySeeds.com/Frost.  Click on your state and find a nearby city.  Choose the Spring or Last Frost date and use this in the calculator.
3. Enter this date into the yellow box on the Seed Calculator spreadsheet and it then calculates the planting dates for 45 varieties of vegetables.

The first two columns that are shaded blue show the date that you would start your seeds indoors and the date that you would then transplant the seedlings into your garden.

The third column that is shaded green shows the direct sowing date, or the date that you would plant a seed outdoors in your garden.

Most seeds can be either started indoor and transplanted or directly sown into the garden, so you'll see dates listed for both these options. However, there are some exceptions.  For example, carrots and radishes are almost always sown directly into the garden, so I don't show dates for indoor seed starting.  Likewise, Brussels Spouts are almost always transplanted because their seeds are hard to germinate outdoors, so I don't show a direct sow date for that vegetable.

In my next posting, I'll cover your equipment options for seed starting.

Sample Calculator for a last frost date of 3/1:

Companion Planting Guide

Companion planting is a practice whereby certain vegetables, herbs and flowers are planted in close proximity to each other because one of the plants is believed to have a beneficial effect on the other, or in some cases a mutually beneficial effect.

A few weeks ago, a reader of this blog contacted me requesting information about companion planting.  I don't have first hand experience with companion planting but did a little research to help this reader. 

Before you run off to re-plan your garden around companion planting principles, I need to tell you that I couldn't find any scientific evidence that companion planting works.  I'm not saying it doesn't work, just that I couldn't find any experiments where companion planting was proven in a rigorously tested scientific experiment. However, there are many gardeners who swear by it and the companion planting pairings based on attracting beneficial insects and soil enhancement seem reasonable to me.

For those interested in in the subject,  I'm posting a link to a very complete companion plant list created by Ute Bohnsack.  Unfortunately, this chart doesn't specify the specific effect of one plant upon the other.  However, here are some of the general reasons plants are said to benefit their companions:

• Pest Deterrence -  certain plants can release chemicals from their roots or flowers that are said to repel insects and thereby provide protection to neighboring crops.  For example, marigolds, mint, chrysanthemums and rue are said to do this and are often planted between crop rows to provide protection against pests such as nematodes, Japanese beetles and other nasties.
• Beneficial Insects - certain plants may attract beneficial insects that will either pollinate food crops or prey upon harmful insects that would eat the food crop.  For example, planting bee balm to attract pollinating bees or corn flower to attract lady bugs.  Companion planting advocates also try to develop habitats that allow toads, snakes and other insect predators to flourish.
  
• Soil Enhancement - for example, using nitrogen fixing legumes to enhance the soil that will benefit a subsequent crop.
• Spacial Interactions - tall, sun-loving plants are grown adjacent to shorter varieties that have partial sun, or lower heat requirements.  Likewise, certain plants can be used as a wind-break to protect more delicate plants.  Famously, corn and beans can be grown together with the beans using the corn stalks as natural trellises.

If you've tried companion planting, let me know if you think it works by posting a comment.

Photo: reverse side of the 2009 native American $1 coin issued by the U.S. Mint.  The scens shows companion planting of the "three sisters" - corn, beans and squash.

Hardiness Zones Systems & Plant Selection

In this posting, I cover three systems for determining which plants to grow in your area.

In order to help gardeners determine the right plants for their area, a number of organizations have developed systems that specify the types of plants that can be grown in a given geography.   Here are the most important three systems used in the United States.

USDA Hardiness Zones

The oldest, and most widely adopted system, was created by the United States Department of Agriculture in conjunction with the U.S. National Arboretum in 1960. The USDA Hardiness zone map divides the U.S. into 11 zones based on the average minimum temperature.  This is a reasonable methodology because each plant specie has a temperature threshold below which it can't survive. 

However, the USDA system is not without problems.  The most notable of these is that it groups geographies together that may have the same average minimal temperature, but whose high temperature in Summer can be dramatically different. For example, Coastal Oregon and South Texas are both zone 9 according to the USDA Zone Hardiness map because the minimum average temperature for both regions is in the range of 20-30 degree Fahrenheit.  But these two areas differ dramatically in terms of Summer high temperatures (average high temperatures in Corvallis are around 80 degrees Fahrenheit while they are 95 degrees in San Antonio)

In general, the USDA Map is most accurate for the Eastern half of the US and least accurate for the West.  If you want to know your hardiness zone, here's a link to a web site that will tell you the zone based on your postal zip code.

American Horticultural Society (AHS) Heat Zone Map

This system groups like geographies based on the average high temperatures.  It is most accurate for Southern states such as Florida and Texas but suffers from the same problems as the USDA but in reverse. 

The AHS is trying to establish a system that combines their Heat Map and the USDA methodology to provide a system that specifies which plants will grow in a given geography based on both their cold and heat tolerance.  I like this idea, but I have rarely seen anyone using the AHS system so I'm not sure it will ever be adopted.  If you would like to determine your AHS zone, check out the organizations zip code AHS zone locator.

Sunset Magazine System

Sunset is a lifestyle magazine dedicated to gardening, travel, food and decorating in the Western United States.  Not surprisingly, Sunset and its readership are keenly aware the shortcomings of the USDA Hardiness Zone system for western gardeners.  In response, the magazine developed it's own system for dividing up the country....

"A plant's performance is governed by the total climate: length of growing season, timing and amount of rainfall, winter lows, summer highs, wind, and humidity. Sunset's climate zone maps take all these factors into account"

While not as widely used by the plant industry as the USDA system, Sunset provides a very good on-line tool that will help you both determine your zone and find plants that do well in that zone.

The Best System But Still Far From Perfect

In my opinion, Sunset Magazines method and on-line tool make it the strongest of the available zone classification systems.  In the future, I will try to list both the USDA zone and Sunset zone when I publish information about a given plant on this web site. 

That said, I think I should point out that there's still plenty of room for improvement.  Specifically, Sunset's on-line tool provides data on whole species of plants.  The systems will tell you if roses or tomatoes will grow in your area but, as any gardener knows, there's a wide range of tolerances within each of these species.  For example, certain rose varieties might survive in a moderate climate like Northern California, but only thrive in a places where there are really cold Winters.  Temperate climate gardeners would therefore be better off selecting a variety of rose that does well in warmer climates.  This level of detail is not really contained in Sunset's on-line tool.

I'm optimistic that future gardeners will have access to very detailed information about plant varieties that grow well in their area.  The internet opens the way for gardeners to easily contribute information to that can be broadly shared by everyone.  All that's required is an on-line tool to enter this information and a database to store and retrieve it. I'm positive someone will create such a tool;  it's just a matter of time.

Ten Interesting New Vegetable Varieties for 2012

In December and January, the seed catalogs start showing up in my mailbox.  In this posting, I highlight some new varieties that caught my eye as I thumbed through the pages of these various catalogs.  Some are new varieties, some are just new to me, and some are just plain wacky.  Here are ten varieties that might interest you:

• Wasabi Arugula - this variety offered by Renee's Garden Seeds is supposed to have a spicy flavor profile that is similar to wasabi paste that is used to make sushi.  I love hot hit of wasabi and am excited to try this in my garden this year.  In the spirit of fair disclosure I want to let you know that Renee's sent me a sample packet of this variety at no charge.
  

• Amsterdam Seasoning Celery - When I first saw this, I thought it must be an herb that has a flavor that is similar to celery, but when I checked the taxonomic name, it's clear this is a true celery (Apium Graveolens).  What makes this variety unique is that it has a growth habit that is similar to parsley.  There are no thick stems - you eat the leaves and these are reported to have an intense celery flavor.  You can find this variety offered by Renee's Garden Seeds.

• Patio Star Zucchini - half the size of a standard squash plant, this variety was bred specifically to be grown in a container.  If you have a container garden, this compact plant may be the way to add zucchini without having the plants take over the whole patio.  The plant produces full sized zucchini in 50 days and is offered by Territorial Seed Company.
  
  
  
• Rutgers CS Space Select - OK, this one was just so weird I had to mention it.  As part of an experiment during the 1980's, NASA put tomato seeds into space and exposed them to cosmic radiation for 6 years.  I assume NASA tested these upon return to the Earth to determine what impact an extended space flight would have on their germination and growth.  Obviously not much, because the 12 million seeds that had been placed into orbit were subsequently distributed to schools for children to grow in the US and 30 foreign countries.  These seeds offered by Territorial Seed Company are the direct descendants of that experiment.  This tomato is a red slicing variety (2 inch diameter) that is open pollinated and matures in 75 days. Territorial does not specify this, but I believe this is a determinate tomato.  

• Jetsetter VFFNTA Hybrid Tomato - If you're plagued by diseases that kill your tomato plants this short-season hybrid may provide a solution that allows you to grow tomatoes at home.  This is a quick maturing (64 days), red, slicing tomato, but what makes it unique is that it is its outstanding disease resistance -- verticillium wilt, 2 strains of fusarium wilt, nematodes, tobacco mosaic virus and alternaria.  That pretty much covers it.  You can purchase seeds for this indeterminate variety from Tomato Growers Supply Company.

• Princess Larette Potato - A french potato that Burpee claims has a mildly nutty flavor that is similar to chestnuts, hazelnuts and almonds.  Burpee's description of this variety bears a very strong resemblance to a French variety that made a sensation in the US a number of years ago when served by chef super stars Charlie Trotter and Thomas Keller.  That potato was called "La Ratte" and I believe that Burpee is selling the same potato under a name that is more appealing to U.S. consumers. 

• Indigo Rose Tomato - Reddish purple tomatoes, often called "black" tomatoes, have been the rage for the past several years.  I've grown a number of these including Black Krim, Paul Robeson, and Black Cherry and can attest to their excellence.  Indigo Rose is a new introduction that is being sold by both High Mowing Organic Seeds and Johnny's Selected Seeds.  This new variety makes other black tomatoes look pale by comparison.  It really is amazingly black.  The tomato produces 2 inch fruits on indeterminate plants in about 80 days.

• Chinese Green Luobo Radish - Over the past few years, I've seen an unusual variety of radish showing up in farmers markets and also in seed catalogs.  This root vegetable is sold under a variety of names including Watermelon Radish, Chinese Red Meat, Shinrimei, and Rose Heart.  These large, round, radishes are white on the outside with a green top and when you cut into them the center is red.  I grew these several years ago and like them primarily for the beautiful presentation they make on a salad plate.  As I looked through the Baker Creek catalog, I found a similar variety that I find even more visually appealing -- the Chinese Green Luobo.  This cylindrically-shaped heirloom radish is white on the outside with a green top section.  When you cut into the radish, the center is emerald green.

• Black Elephant Tomato - On the other end of the spectrum is perhaps the ugliest tomato I've ever seen.  This Russian heirloom is misshapen, cracked and is brownish-purple in color.  However, it is reported to be quite tasty.  This indeterminate tomato matures in 80 days.  Only Baker Creek could bring this tomato to the US market!

• Lina Sisco's Bird Egg Bean - This is an heirloom bean variety that was brought to Missouri in the 1880's.  It was passed down to Lina Sisco, a founding member of the Seed Saver's Exchange, who donated it to the group in 1975.  This  large, tan shelling bean with maroon markings is now in the Seed Savers Exchange catalog.  Planted in Spring, it will provide heirloom beans in about 85 days. 

If you've seen a new variety that you think is appealing, please post a comment about it so that other readers of this blog can check it out.

Best Vegetable Seed Companies

Traditionally, seed companies mail their new catalogs out in December and January.  This is the time of year that I do my garden plan and place orders for any seed I need for the Spring and Summer. Over the course of the next several posts, I'll let you know what I believe is new or interesting in the 2012 seed catalogs and also share my 2012 garden plan with you. 

To get things rolling, I'm providing a list of twenty of my favorite seed companies from whom I've purchased over the years.  While certainly not an exhaustive list, these are companies that are dependable suppliers and you may want to check them out as you plan your garden.  They are listed below in alphabetical order with links to the company's web site.

• Baker Creek Seed - one of my favorite seed companies because of their incredibly large selection of heirloom open pollinated seeds.  Beware: Baker Creek publishes a glossy catalog full of such gorgeous photographs that you'll want to order more varieties than you have room to plant.
• Botanical Interest - A good selection of high quality seeds.  Botanical Interest is also unique in that each seed packet provides a wealth of information including: growing and harvesting information, pests/diseases, recipes and more.  Botanical Interest seeds can be purchased over the internet and also at select garden stores.
• Bountiful Gardens - Bountiful Gardens is a garden seed and tool supplier that sells organic, open pollinated seeds.  The company is a non-profit, dedicated to supporting a style of sustainable agricultural practice called bio-intensive farming.  Vegetable seeds, plants and tools can also be purchased locally from their sister store Common Ground if you live in the Palo Alto, CA area, and you can learn more about bio-intensive farming at the company's educational website GrowBiointensive.
  
• Burpee - Burpee provides one-stop garden shopping by selling a full line of vegetables, fruits, herbs, and garden tools.  Most of the seeds you'll find here are hybrids, but Burpee is also selling an increasing variety of heirlooms as consumer interest increases in this area. 
• Cook's Garden - Cook's Garden provides a curated seed shopping experience for customers with a high interest in cooking; the company selects a mix of hybrid and heirloom, European and American  varieties they believe are superior in the kitchen. 
• Fedco - This cooperative sells vegetable varieties that are particularly well adapted to the climate in the North East. Their catalog is a B&W PDF download.   The company is solid, but be aware that the shopping experience is poor by today's standards.
• Ferry-Morse - One of the oldest, and I believe the largest, seed providers in the United States.  Ferry-Morse seeds (sold under the FM and Lilly Miller brand names) are widely distributed through garden centers and retailers including Tractor Supply, Wal-Mart, HomeDepot, Lowes, Farm&Fleet and others.  The company sells a broad selection of vegetables but a fairly limited number of varieties within each vegetable type.  Fortunately, they seem to have a good selection of heirlooms, although they are not generally called out as such.
• Four Winds Growers - FourWinds provides a huge range of dwarf citrus trees from the common navel orange to the exotic - Buddha's hand, Yuzu, and Etrog etc.  Potted trees can be found at select nurseries around the United States or can be purchased directly from their on-line store as bare-root trees.
• High Mowing Seed - A nice selection of hybrid and heirloom seeds from this small company in Vermont.  All seeds are organically grown on the company's own farm.
• Italian Seed & Tool - As it's name implies, this company started out as one that specialized in Italian varieties but now carries a wider selection.  If you are looking for a specialty Italian variety of lettuce, fennel, squash etc., this is a good place to look. 
• J.L. Hudson - Like Baker Creek, J.L. Hudson is both a seed company and an evangelist for open pollinated seeds and biodiversity.  The company sells a wide range of heirloom veggies.  Unfortunately, as with Fedco, the shopping experience is not easy.  The "on-line catalog" is simply a list of veggies without photos.  Ordering is by snail mail, email/PayPal. 
• Johnny's Selected Seed- Johnny's is one of my favorite seed companies.  They have a very wide selection of hybrid and open pollinated vegetables, fruit and herbs, tools and supplies.  Their catalog is well illustrated with photos and contains lots of growing information for gardeners.  If you only want to shop with one supplier, Johnny's is the way to go.
• Kitagawa Seed Company- This firm specializes in Asian vegetables and vegetable varieties from Japan, China, Thailand etc.  If you are looking for a special Japanese pickling cucumber, hot Thai pepper, or adzuki beans have a look at Kitagawa.
• Raintree Nursery - Raintree sells a range of heirloom and hybrid fruit and nut trees, berries, and other plants.  The company's selection includes the commonplace (apple trees, strawberries etc.) as well as some very exotic items (Wasabi, thimble-berries, tea plants, jujubes, paw paws etc).  They also sell a good selection of table and wine grapes and ornamental trees.  Raintree sells its fruit trees on a variety of root stocks allowing you to choose a dwarf, semi-dwarf, or full size tree according to your needs.
  
• Renee's Garden Seeds - This company sells a good assortment of vegetable, herbs, and flower seeds that are choosen by the owner, Renee Shepherd.  Ms. Shepherd is notable for being one of the first seed providers to sell fine culinary varieties that had been sourced from around the world.  As with Cook's Garden, Shepherd Seeds are a curated seed experience as all varieties sold need to get Renee's stamp of approval.  Renee's Seeds can be purchased on-line and in select garden centers.
  
• Sandhill Preservation - Sandhill Preservation is seed company run by a husband and wife team that are dedicated to saving heirloom seeds.  They have a wide selection and is one of the places you might want to check if you are looking for a particular variety. Similar to J.L. Hudson and Fedco, the on-line catalog is just text with no photos.  Sandhill also sells heritage poultry if that interests you.
• Seed Savers Exchange - Dedicated to preserving heirlooms and fostering biodiversity, this is both a seed company and a non-profit organization.  Anyone can purchase seeds from the on-line catalog but members get a 10% discount as well as a quarterly magazine published by the organization.  Your membership also supports the organizations efforts to find and preserve heirloom varieties. 
• Sustainable Seed - Like many of the recommended companies on this list, Sustainable Seed sells heirloom open pollinated seeds.  The company has a good selection of vegetables but is distinguished by the fact that it is the only merchant I'm aware of that sells a large selection of heirloom cereal crops for home gardeners such as oats, rye, wheat, barley, corn, spelt, etc. etc.  I'm currently overwintering a rare variety of wheat that is supposed to make heavenly pasta flour.  The seeds for this wheat were purchased from Sustainable Seed.
• Territorial Seed - Territorial seed sells heirloom and hybrid vegetables and specializes in varieties that are good producers in the Pacific Northwest.
• Trees of Antiquity- A very complete selection of heirloom fruit trees on semi-dwarf root stock including apples, apricots, plums, peaches, pomegranates and quince.  If you are looking for a heritage English Apple or the amazingly delicious Baby Crawford peach, Trees of Antiquity will have it.

Best Vegetables for Beginner Gardeners - The Top Ten

Beginner vegetable gardeners always ask what they should be growing.  In this posting, I provide guidance on the best choices for beginners.

Naturally, there is no perfect list because the "right" vegetables to grow depends on individual taste preference and the climate where the garden is located.  That notwithstanding, I believe it is possible to come up with a list that will work for most people.  My selections are based on the following criteria:

• Popular - I've focused my list on vegetables that I know are widely enjoyed and can be eaten in quantities that make it worth the effort to grow them.  This meant excluding some veggies that have otherwise desirable characteristics.  For example, radishes are very easy to grow and mature in under 25 days.  They are often recommended for new gardeners, but in all honesty, I think they are a poor selection.  Most people eat radishes in sparing quantities and they are not particularly good for families since most kids find them too bitter.
• Hardy- I've selected vegetables that can successfully be grown by most gardeners.  These are veggies that are temperature and water tolerant and relatively resistant to diseases and pests. They provide easy "wins" for new gardeners and for those that really don't want to spend lots of time in the garden.  
• Worth the Effort -  I've tried to select vegetables where the homegrown version is worth the extra effort versus purchasing them at a farmers market or supermarket.  Let me be clear... almost everything you grow in your garden will be better than store-bought because it will be fresher. However, there's a very big difference between a homegrown tomato and a store-bought one, and the same can't really be said of vegetables like celery or onions.  Likewise, there are some varieties of vegetables that are just not sold in the supermarket -- you're only choice is to grow them for yourself.  In all cases, I've tried to choose particularly interesting varieties within a class of vegetable to maximize the value of growing it at home.
• Quick - I've tried to selected vegetables that mature relatively quickly.  For example, Winter Squash are not on the list because they generally take over 100 days to mature. Again, the idea is to give new gardeners quick results.
• Low Maintenance and space requirements - I've tried to select veggies or varieties that don't require pruning and staking so they are low maintenance.   When possible, I've chosen varieties that also can be grown in containers.
• Heirlooms/Hybrids - Heirloom vegetables are the rage these days, but they are often lower yielding, and less pest/disease resistant than hybrids.  For certain vegetables, hybrids are probably better choices for new gardeners.  My list of recommendations specifies whether the variety is a hybrid or an heirloom.  If you're heart is set on growing only heirlooms, just check the seed catalogs and substitute a variety that's more to your liking for any of the hybrids on the list.

Top Ten Vegetables for New Gardeners (In ranked order):

1. Salad Greens- Lettuces and other salad greens are easy-to-grow, quick maturing and can be planted throughout the Spring, Summer and Fall.  They also provide some of the highest yields per square foot of anything you can grow in your garden.  Most folks like salads and home grown lettuce is high value add versus store-purchased because salad greens are highly perishable. (Store-purchased lettuce, even that sold in nitrogen-flushed bags, loses its nutritional value quickly.)  The easiest way to get a diverse selection of greens is to purchase a mesculin mix.  Companies like Burpee and Johnny's sell various blends of greens with different flavor profiles.  If you want to select individual lettuce varieties consider the following Spring and Fall varieties: Forellenschluss, an heirloom Austrian variety that is particularly cold tolerant, Brune D'hiver a French heirloom that also does well in cool weather.  During the heat of summer, lettuces generally do poorly, so switch to heat tolerant varieties such as Jericho, a hybrid Romaine-style lettuce and Buttercrunch a hybrid butter-head-style lettuce.  Lettuces require full sun.  If you only have partial sun, consider growing Miners Lettuce instead of traditional salad greens.  Miners Lettuce comes from the Pacific Northwest and is crunchy and mild.  It is a favorite in our family with both adults and kids.
   
   
   
2. Tomatoes - Tomatoes are probably the vegetable that are hardest to grow on this list.  I'm ranking them second because they are universally loved and offer the the highest returns on the gardeners effort versus of any vegetable that can be grown.  Determinate tomatoes require the least staking so they are the only ones on this list.  My recommendations include: Stupice a small, red, fast-producing heirloom tomato, Sungold, an orange, hybrid cherry tomato, Rutgers, a small dark red heirloom tomato that good both as a fresh tomato or for canning, and Grushovka an heirloom plum-shaped pink tomato that has excellent flavor. These varieties can be grown in 5 gallon containers and seeds are readily available at garden stores and on the Internet.  Determinate tomatoes produce a crop of tomatoes that ripen all at the same time.  To ensure a continuous harvest, plant every three to four weeks from April through June.  Tomatoes require a minimum of 6 hours direct sunlight.  Plant only if you have a place in your garden that gets full sun.
   
   
   Cucumbers - I like cucumbers for fresh eating and because they are the easiest of all vegetables to preserve (pickles).  My favorite fresh eating cuke is an heirloom variety called Beit Alpha.  The skin on this variety is so thin you don't need to peel it plus it's burp-less and has a good shelf life.  For pickling cucumbers, I like an heirloom German variety called Delikatesse.  Both these cucumbers need to be trellised.  If you don't want the bother of staking, try Picklebush, a hybrid pickling cucumber from Burpee or Bush Slicer a hybrid from Renee's Seeds.         
      
   

1. Potatoes - potatoes are so universally popular, versatile and easy to grow, that I think they should be in everyone's garden.  While shelf life can vary dramatically depending on the variety, most potatoes will easily keep for several months which means that they can be put away for enjoyment at a later date.  Potatoes are a cool season crop that can be grown prior to before other favorites like tomatoes or peppers and potatoes grow very well in pots.  An excellent all purpose potato for frying, mashing and baking is Maris Piper.  This variety from England is the potato that is traditionally used to make fish & chips.  It is not common in the U.S., but it can be purchased mail order from Ronniger Farms.  If you are a baked potato lover, try Russet or Russet Burbank.        
   
   
2. Carrots - Carrots can be planted from early Spring through mid-July and then again in the late summer for a Fall harvest.  I'm particularly fond of an heirloom variety called Red Core Chantenay.  This variety has a fine flavor and grows a root that's 5 to 7 inches in length.  Carrots can also be grown in pots if you choose a stubby, round variety like Atlas or Parisian.  Both of these smaller carrots are heirlooms.      
   
   
   
3. Peppers - Choose hot, sweet or a mix of the two.  Hot peppers are all fairly easy to grow so the choice of variety is really driven more by how hot you want your peppers.  For a mild hot pepper consider Ancho or Poblano.  For a medium hot pepper, I like Serrano peppers and for a burn your mouth off experience go for Habanero. For sweet peppers, I like Costa Rican Sweet, a hybrid variety from Burpee.  Peppers like rich, well drained soil and need warm days and nights to do well.  If you grow hot peppers, these can easily be dried in the sun, your oven or a food dehydrator.     
   
   
   
4. Broccoli - A cool season crop for planting in the Spring or Fall, broccoli is one of America's favorite vegetables.  It occupies a position that's fairly low on my list primarily because it to subject to a wide variety of pests such as caterpillars, grasshoppers, aphids, cabbage root maggot, and slugs.  The best way to control for pests is to place hoops with protective netting over them.  Otherwise, you need to consider some kind of pesticide.  Safer Products makes a variety of pesticides that are low impact on the environment.  If you decide you want to give broccoli a try, a good heirloom variety is Di Cicco. This variety produces a 4 inch main head and a large number of side shoots that will grow more intensely once the main head is harvested.  There are many varieties of hybrid broccoli and the best approach may be to buy them as plants from your local garden center as these will be appropriate for your area.  Alternatively, Belstar is a very adaptable hybrid variety.  You can find seeds for it at Johnny's Selected Seeds or Territorial Seed.   
   
   
5. Fresh Herbs - Fresh herbs really improve the flavor of food and are much less expensive to grow than to purchase from the grocery store.  Herbs are easy to grow and lend themselves well to pots and flower boxes.  The most important consideration when planting herbs in pots is to group herbs with similar sunlight requirements so that you can place your pot in an appropriate location. Full sun herbs include: Anise, Basil, Calendula, Catnip, Cilantro, Dill, Fennel, Lavender, Oregano, Rosemary, Sage, Savory, Tarragon, and Thyme.  Partial sun herbs include: Chamomile, Chervil, Chives, Garlic, Lemon Balm, Marjoram, Mint, and Parsley.     
   
   
6. Summer Squash - Summer squash are can be both prolific and sweet.  The biggest challenge  growing summer squash is that most varieties are susceptible to disease, particularly Powdery Mildew and Mosaic Virus.  Golden Glory from Johnny's Selected seed is a disease resistant yellow squash but needs to be trellised.  If the above mentioned diseases are not a serious problem in your area (ask at your local garden center) choose a more compact variety that doesn't require staking such as Sunburst, a yellow patty-pan, or Raven a compact green zucchini.     
   
7. Green Beans - green beans are also very good producers.  To keep the workload to a minimum, I recommend growing bush varieties since these do not need to be trellised.  Burpee Tenderpod is a good choice as is Blue Lake Bush an heirloom variety.    
   

The Big One That Didn't Make the List and Why

1. Sweet Corn - I don't know a single person that doesn't love fresh sweet corn.  In fact, I would say it's ranks just behind tomatoes in popularity and for reason; when good, it is superbly delicious.  Unfortunately, a number of factors make it a poor crop for beginner gardeners.  The sad truth is that corn has a relatively low yield per square foot compared to other items that can be grown in the garden, so it's a bad investment if the gardener has limited space.  Additionally, corn must be grown in a minimum quantity in order to ensure proper pollination.  Generally speaking, a gardener needs to devote at least 16 square feet of of garden space to corn to ensure that the ears have fully formed kernels.  The problem is that all this corn will reach maturity at exactly the same time.  And corn deteriorates rapidly from superbly sweet to tasteless as sugars within the kernels convert quickly to starch once the ears have reached maturity.  To preserve corn's sweetness, home gardeners need to harvest the corn that can't be eaten by the family in a few days, shuck it, remove the kernels from the cobb, and then blanche and freeze them for future consumption. That's a lot of work. Couple this with the fact that good sweetcorn can now be found at most farmers markets and even the grocery store, and ratio of work required to produce it relative to what can be purchased isn't that great.  Sweet corn is a true delight, but I only recommend growing it to gardeners with some experience under their belts.     
   
   

Top Ten Vegetables for Fall & Winter Harvests

You can grow and harvest plenty of fresh veggies during the Fall and Winter. Even in coldest parts of the country (zone 4) its possible to grow lots during the "off season" if you provide additional protection such as a double insulated cold frame, tunnel or greenhouse.

Since growing rates are slower in the Winter, it's best to start seeds in the late Summer or early Fall.  However, you can even germinate seeds during the Winter as long as you can protect them and keep the soil temperatures above 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Below are my top choices for Fall and Winter Vegetables.

1. Mache - This is a mild green that has been grown for years in Europe. While many winter greens can be very bitter tasting (Arugula, Chicory, radicchio etc.) mache and several other choices on my list are mild flavored.  This make them excellent choices for those that don't like bitter greens and families with kids.  Pronounced Mah-shh, this is one of my favorite winter greens.  At maturity, mache grows to about 2 inches high in a small, tight rosette.  If you check your seed catalogs you'll find that this vegetable also goes by the names Vit, Corn Salad, and Lambs Lettuce.  Direct sow 1 inch apart and thin to every 2 inches in row 18 inches apart.  Matures in 50 days.  Harvest the entire plant.  Hardy to 8 degrees Fahrenheit. Mache likes full sun.
   
2. Miner's Lettuce - A native of the forests of the Pacific Northwest, this low growing green is mild tasting and full of vitamin C.  It was eaten by miners who travelled west during the gold rush but you don't need to prospect for gold to enjoy this mild tasting green.  This vegetable also goes by the name Claytonia.  Like Mache it is a low growing green that produces quantities of leaves that are shaped like a "spade" from a deck of cards.  Direct sow and thin to 5 inches apart in rows about 1 foot apart.  Matures in 40 days.  You can eat the stems and the leaves, but I prefer just the leaves.  I don't know hardiness information for this plant but it's range includes Alaska so it probably is very tolerant.  Miners lettuce likes partial shade.
   
3. Erba Stella - Also known as Minutina, and Buckshorn Plantain, it is an extra crunchy, mild tasting green that has become one of my favorites.  Direct sow and thin to every 8 inches.  Erba Stella produces long thin leaves that are shaped like a stag's horn. The plant matures in 50 days. Hardy to 15 degrees Fahrenheit.  Erba Stella likes full sun.
   
4. Kale - Kale is a nutritional powerhouse.  If you could grow only one veggie, kale would be the one I would recommend.  While kale is fairly mild in flavor, it is not really a salad veggie and should be cooked by either sauteing or by boiling in a soup.  My favorite varieties are Toscano (also called either Lacinato or Dinosaur kale) and Dwarf Blue Kale.  The latter variety is particularly winter hardy and is a good choice for gardeners in the far north of the U.S.  Direct sow every 6 inches and thin to 1 plant every 12 inches when the plants are 4 inches high.  Separate rows by 12 to 18 inches.  Unlike the prior mentioned veggies, kale will grow to tall so it should be in a tunnel or greenhouse, rather than a cold frame.  Kale matures in about 65 days. Hardy to 8 degrees Fahrenheit. Kale likes full sun to partial shade.
   
5. Broccoli - Broccoli needs to be planted 12-14 weeks before your first frost in order to mature, so check the date for your town before sowing any seeds.  In mild climates it can be grown all year. Start seed in trays and transplant when the plants are 4-6 weeks old. Plant 8 inches apart in rows 18 inches apart.  Broccoli matures in 50-90 days depending on the variety.  Di Ciccio and Waltham 29 are heirloom varieties that are worth considering. Hardy to 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Broccoli likes full sun to partial shade.
   
6. Swiss Chard - A cold tolerant vegetable for soups and other dishes.  Chard leaves are deep green, but the ribs and veins of different varieties come in a rainbow of colors including red, white, pink, and yellow. You can buy several varieties or buy "Bright Lights" from Burpee or other suppliers that mix several varieties in one seed pack.  Chard adds some really lovely color to your dinner table during the dark days of winter.  Direct sow every 4 inches and thin to every 10 inches when the plants are three inches high.  Swiss chard matures in about 60 days.  I like "Bright Lights" and Joy Larkom's Midnight varieties.  As with kale, swiss chard grows to 20 inches so its for greenhouses and tunnels. Hardy to 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Plant in full sun to partial shade.
   
   
7. Spinach - Spinach comes in lots of varieties so choose one that works well for your area - ask friends or your local garden center. However, Winter Bloomsdale and Giant Winter are particularly cold tolerant and great choices for northern gardeners.  To plant spinach, direct sow and thin to every 6 inches in rows 18 to 24 inches apart.  Spinach matures in 50 days. Hardy to 8 degrees Fahrenheit.  Plant spinach in full sun. 
   
   
8. Carrots - carrots are used in so many dishes that it would be a shame not to have them in your winter garden. I like Chantenay and Purple Dragon varieties but there are many different shapes and sizes to choose from.  Danvers is a classic winter carrot choice that is particularly good in heavy, clay soils. Royal Chantenay and Atlas are small and good for either raised beds or containers.    Direct sow carrots and thin to 1 to 1 1/2 inches in rows 6 inches apart.  Carrots mature in 70-80 days and can be left in the ground till you want to harvest them. Hardy to 15 degrees Fahrenheit. Plant in full sun.
   
9. Beets- Beets are a good choice for those living in mild climates where beets can be planted in the late Summer and early Fall (when the air temperature is 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit) In the Southern U.S., beets can be grown all Winter long. Direct sow seeds and thin to every 4 inches in rows 1 foot apart.  Some good choices include Chioggia, Cylindra and Detroit.  For a change of pace, try Crapaudine beets, a variety that dates back to the middle ages.  This variety produces small, gnarled roots that are shaped like carrots.  The flavor is very intense.  For those interested in knowing more about this variety check out my previous posting. Hardy to 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Grow in full sun to partial shade.
   
10. Arugula - Also called Rocket, this is my wife's favorite green.  It has a sharp, peppery flavor that is an acquired taste for most.  Direct sow and thin to every 8 inches in rows 12-18 inches apart.  Arugula can be harvested young and it will re-grow.  Matures in 20 days for "baby" arugula and 40 days for full sized plants. Hardy to 15 degrees Fahrenheit. Grow in full sun to partial shade.
    

While these didn't make my top 10 list, here are some other veggies that you may want to consider for your fall and winter garden:

• Brussels sprouts- My favorite is Roodnerf but there are many different varieties that have been developed to match the needs of specific locations.  Most of these are hybrids. Hardy to 0 degrees Fahrenheit.
  
• Cabbage - Savoy cabbage is an excellent variety for cooking, but if you want to make sauerkraut, go with a variety like Krautman or Danish Ballhead. Hardy to 5 degrees Fahrenheit.
  
• Tatsoi - a mild tasting Asian green.
  
• Mizuna - an Asian mustard green.  Varieties vary but can be very strongly flavored and spicy. Hardy to 15 degrees Fahrenheit.
  
• Chicory - Don't let the primary variety name fool you, "Sugar Loaf" chicory is not sweet.  It's a bitter green.
  
• Radicchio - A lovely red bitter green that can be a nice addition to salad.  Hardy to 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
  
• Salsify - This is a little known root vegetable that actually tastes like oysters.  I grew it last year and have a small amount in the garden again this year.  Salsify is planted in the Spring and harvested in the Fall and Winter.
  
• Endive - A very cold hardy bitter green. Hardy to 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
  
• Escarole - Another cold hardy bitter that's a little less bitter than some of the other greens on the list. Hardy to 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
  
• Radish - My favorites are Saxa and French Breakfast.  If you like radishes they are a nice addition to the garden because they grow so quickly.  Radishes mature in just 3-4 weeks.
  
• Scallions - a member of the onion family with small bulbs.  You can eat the bulb and the leaves.
  
• Sorrel - Sorrel's flavor is hard to explain.  It tastes somewhat lemony to me.  Sorrel can be used for soups and sauces.
  

Getting Ready for Spring: Top Ten Gardening Tasks For Your To Do List

Do you want to be fully prepared to begin your spring vegetable and fruit garden?  Here's you check list for a successful start to the 2011 gardening season:

1. Learn from History - consider what was successful last year and what was not and adjust accordingly.  For example, if you just can't seem to get Moon & Stars watermelon to work, consider a variety with a shorter growing season or consider substituting a different type of melon or vegetable.  If you planted tomatoes in too shady and area, consider where in your garden they might do better etc.
   
2. Plan Your Garden - This is my favorite "task" on the list.  Each year I keep some varieties and trade-out others for new ones.  Look at the amount of space you have and the length of your growing season.  If you're clever you can plant several crops in the same space over time.  For example, radishes can be planted very early in the season and harvested in under 30 days.  You can then plant another crop in the same place.  The same is true of potatoes which can be followed by corn which is a warm weather crop.
3. Order Your Seeds - If you saved seeds from last year, you already have what you need on hand.  But if you are not a seed saver or want to try a new variety, make a list and then place your order.
   
4. Test Your Soil - you can do this yourself or send a soil sample to a professional testing service.  Either way, good soil is the key to success in the garden.
   
5. Plan/Build New Infrastructure - Consider what needs to be repaired and replaced.  Consider what you would like to add to your garden.  If you are thinking about adding a raised bed, you may want to lay black mulching fabric over the area where you will put your bed to kill turf and weeds.  You'll also need to buy lumber and hardware for the project.  If you would like to add bees or chickens to your "farm," you should do the research on what equipment is needed and when you need to add these to your garden.  If there are bee keeping or poultry raising classes in your area, consider enrolling in these.
   
6.  Buy or Build a Composter - Grass clippings, leaves, kitchen scraps all can be composted to enrich your soil.  You can buy a composter from a garden store or easily build your own.
7. Clean Terracotta Pots - If you didn't do this in the Fall, you should do this before planting in the spring.  Use a ten to one mixture of water to bleach to sterilize the pots, then wash thoroughly and let dry.
8. Prune Fruit Trees - fruit trees should be pruned while they are still dormant.
9. Tools - Clean and sharpen any tools that need TLC.
10. Order Magazines/Books/Videos - There are many books and magazines available to help you with your garden.  In some cases, they are very specialized and can be a great resource if you are trying to do something for the first time. 
    

2011 Full Garden List

In my last posting, I described the varieties that I plan to add to my garden in 2011.  In this posting, I provide the full 2011 list, includes those varieties that will be in my fall/winter 2011 greenhouse.

[Note: new items are shown in green]

Tomatoes:

Brandywine Liam's, Risentraube, Japanese Trifele, Snowberry, Black Krim, Paul Robeson, Green Zebra, Orange Icicle, Bonnie's Best, Wapsipinicons Peach, Cotoluto Fiorentino, Arkansas Traveler, Stupice, Defiant.

Root Vegetables:

French Breakfast Radish, Saxa Radish, Watermelon Radish, Chioggia Beet, Crapaudine Beet, Flats of Eqypt Beet, Chantenay Carrot, Kral Russian Parsnip, Hollow Crown Parsnip

Cucumbers:

Solly Beiler, Fin De Meaune, Beit Alpha

Peas/Beans:

Super Sugar Snap Pea, Burpee's Tenderpod, Etna Bush Bean

Grains:

Hulless Oats, Hulless Barley, Longfellow Flint Corn, Silverchoice Sweet Corn

Potatoes:

German Butterball, Maris Piper, Yellow Finn, All Blue

Squash:

Boston Marrow, Cornell's Bush Delicata, Galeux D'Eysines, Metro PMR,  Zucchino Rampicante

Greens:

Red Russian Kale, Siberian Kale, Bloomsdale Spinach, Mache, Extra Dwarf Pak Choi, Joy Larkum's Chard, Bright Lights Chard, Little Gem Lettuce, Forellenschluss Lettuce, Brune D'hiver lettuce, Mignonette Bronze Lettuce, Jericho Lettuce, Buttercrunch Lettuce, Miner's Lettuce, Watercress, Chicory, Upland Cress, Kyoto Mizuno

Other Fruits & Veggies:

Sorrento Raab, Roodnerf Brussels Sprouts, Savoy Cabbage, Serrano Chili pepper, Shishito Pepper, Costa Rican Sweet Pepper, Japanese Pickling Eggplant, Liege Giant Leek, Mommoth Island Salsify, Charentais Melon, Chandler Blueberry, Tulameen Raspberry, Alpine Strawberry

Garlic:

Purple Glazer, Inchellium Red

To order tomato and other seeds, try these suppliers: Baker Creek, Johnny's Selected Seeds, Territorial Seed, Burpee, Tomato Growers Supply, Seeds of Change.

 

2011 Garden Plan: What's "Out" & What's "In"

Happy New Year to all.

Each year, the seed catalogs begin rolling into the mailbox in December.  I use the holiday period to begin planning my garden and generally start ordering in January.  In this posting, I'll let you know what changes I'm making to my garden plan for 2011.

A Mix Shift:

In the past, I've concentrated most of my gardening efforts on vegetables.  These efforts have resulted in an annual surplus that I've canned or frozen.  Since I have the luxury of gardening in a greenhouse in the winter, I have the opportunity to reduce my summer vegetable production and shift the space to something else.

In 2011, I'm going to do just that;  as an experiment, I'm going to try some small-scale grain farming and also devote more space to growing potatoes.  Here's what new in the mix shift:

 More Grains and Potatoes:

• Overwintered Hulless Oats - I planted a small amount of hulless oats in the Fall.  These should provide a harvest in June. 

• Hulless Barley - Barley is a very fast maturing grain.  I love it in soups and will plant a small amount in mid-March with the hope of a harvest at the end of May.
• Flint Corn - Everyone loves sweet corn and I'll be planting plenty of that in 2011. But for the first time, I will also try growing a flint corn variety called Longfellow.  This is an heirloom variety that goes back to colonial times.  Planted at the end of May, I hope to have a small harvest of corn which can be ground to make fresh tortillas in September.
• Potatoes - I had good luck with Irish potatoes in 2010, but my first attempt to grow sweet potatoes was a disaster.  Last year was unusually cold and my sweet potatoes also got hammered by a cold snap that resulted in a small and sad harvest.  While we may not have quite the same cold summer in 2011, I think our cool Northern California nights will never be ideal for sweet potatoes.  I may try these again in the future, but for 2011, I'm going to turn over the space to several varieties of Irish potatoes including:
  
  • Maris Piper - the traditional potato for fish and chips but also makes great mashed or baked potatoes.
  • Yellow Finn - a buttery flavored main season potato.
  • All Blue -  a deep blue colored potato.  I think the kids will love them!
  
  
  
  • German Butterball - a storage potato that is a Rodale Gardening favorite

Fewer Squash:

Last year, I tried many new varieties.  All were good but they produced more squash than the family could really use.  In 2011, I'll grow both fewer varieties and less plants.

• Whats Out:
  • Black Futsu - This is a good squash with a meatier texture than others.  I found it to be only a moderate producer.
  • Blue Hubbard - a total loss for me in 2010 due to the weather and powdery mildew.
  • Scallop Sunny Delight - I like this variety that normally produces large quantities of yellow patty pan squash, but I find it to be very subject to powdery mildew and I would rather substitute Zucchino Rampicante as my summer squash variety.
  • Waltham Butternut - produces delicious, sweet squash but I'm going to try a hybrid variety called Metro PMR as a replacement due to powdery mildew problems.
•   The keepers......
  • Boston Marrow - a lovely squash for roasting or for "pumpkin" pie.  Sadly an easy casualty to powdery mildew.  I'll grow just one of these in 2011.  If it survives, one will be more than enough; last year I harvested a 28 pound monster squash from one plant.
  • Glaeuax D'eysines - a delicate squash with an almost cantaloupe-like perfume.  Not a high producer, but worth having in the garden.  Also susceptible to powdery mildew
  • Zuchinno Rampicante - My favorite new vegetable of 2010.  This squash produces in abundance and can be used as both a summer and winter squash. If I could only grow one variety, it would be this one.
  • Metro PMR - This is a hybrid butternut variety that is resistant to powdery mildew. Powdery mildew was a major problem for me in 2010 and so I'm going to give this hybrid a shot in 2011 to increase my yield.  This is my back up in case the above more sensitive varieties take a hit.
  • Cornell's Bush Delicata - a nice small sized squash that's also resistant to powdery mildew.

More Tomato Varieties But Fewer Plants of Each:

Many of my neighbors last year got relatively few tomatoes due to an unseasonably cool summer.  I fared better because of my greenhouse but had trouble with blossom end rot and cracking - both of which are caused by temperature stress to the tomato plants.  I'm keeping most of the varieties I planted last year so I can better evaluate which ones I want to keep on my list for the long-term. 

Here's what's "out" in 2011:

• Oregon Spring is a tomato variety that was bred to handle cooler temperatures and produced tomatoes in a short amount of time.  This variety did as promised, but I was really not impressed by the flavor.  In my opinion, they are not much better than what can be purchased at the super market.
• Cherokee Purple - This is a good variety that I would grow again, but my tomato choices in 2010 were so skewed to "black" tomatoes like Japanese Trifele and Paul Robeson that I'm dropping one black tomato variety and adding some other colors for variety.  I'm also going to grow fewer of each plant in favor of adding more varieties.
• Black Cherry - gone for the reason mentioned above, but a good producer that I would recommend if you want a cherry style tomato.

 The repeats for 2011 include:

• Brandywine - I'm going to try the Liam's strain of this variety since it is said to be a heavier producer.
• Tomato Riesentraube - tons of delicious cherry tomatoes.
• Japanese Trifele - a huge producer of delicious black tomatoes.
• Snowberry - one of my favorites of last year, this variety produces yellow/white cherry tomatoes with a nice balance of sweet and acid.
• Paul Robeson -  great flavor and good production make this one to keep.  I did find it was very susceptible to cracking.
• Black Krim - a delicious black tomato. 

New tomatoes for 2011:

• Stupice - an early heirloom variety that is my replacement for Oregon Spring.
• Green Zebra - these take 100-110 days to mature but are well regarded by many gardeners and so I'm going to give them a try.

• Arkansas Traveler- A red heirloom that's over 100 years old.  Known to be good in hot weather.
  
• Wapsipinicons Peach - A yellow heirloom from Iowa.
  
• Cosoluto Fiorentino- A Tuscan heirloom tomato that is less well ribbed than Cosoluto Genovese and is reputed to have both high acid and high sugar content.
  
• Bonnie's Best - a canning type tomato.
• Defiant - a very hardy and resistant hybrid from Johnny's Selected Seed that I'm planting as an insurance policy against another year of bad weather.  I'm sure this will not be a stellar tomato, I'm hoping for "good enough."
• Orange Icicle - an heirloom variety from Russia that is new this year from Baker Creek.

Cucumbers:

Last year, I grew three varieties of cucumbers - Beit Alpha, an all purpose cuke, Delikatesse a large pickling variety and Hmong Red, a huge orange specialty cucumber that I grew for fun.   Only Beit Alpha will be a repeat for me in 2011. I found this thin skinned, middle eastern cucumber to be a total pleasure; Beit Alpha produces large quantities of sweet cucumbers that have so thin a skin that they don't need to be peeled. 

Out:

• Hmong Red - this is a very unusual variety that produces a very large, sour tasting, orange/red cucumbers.  Last year, I posted about a lovely summer cooler that I made with this variety.  But it is not a slicing or a pickling cucumber that will work well in more traditional recipes.  This is something that I might add back into the mix in the future, but it's not going to be a staple in my garden.  Out for 2011.
• Delikatesse - This German heirloom did well for me in 2010 but I want try some other varieties.

New Cucumbers for 2011:

• Solly Beiler - a cucumber variety from the 1930, this little cuke was developed by Amish preacher Solly Beiler.  These are generally harvested small and made into pickles.
• Fin De Meaux- an heirloom French cucumber that is used to make cornichon, those adorable little pickles that get served with pate.  

 Other Casualties in 2011:

• Watermelon - The cool summer made growing watermelon a challenge but I did get a few pretty mediocre melons.  No one liked these melons and they ended up in the compost bin.  Given the space requirements, I'd rather turn the real estate over to my grain trials.
• White Icicle Radish - OK but I like Saxa and French Breakfast better.
• Purslane - Not interesting enough in my opinion.

In a future posting, I'll provide a full list of the varieties in my 2011 garden.

My Fall & Winter 2010 Garden

A few weeks ago, I posted a list of vegetables that can be harvested during the fall and winter or overwintered for harvesting in the spring.  In this post, I provide a list of the vegetable varieties I'll be growing this season.

I love winter gardening.  The amount of labor required is lower than in the summer and there is something nice about having fresh produce even when the weather is cold and daylight at its shortest.

As I've mentioned, I'm a big believer in variety and so I grow small quantities of a large number of vegetables.  Below is a list of my fall/winter 2010 lineup accompanied by photos of  some of the young plants.

• Arugula
• Beans (Tenderpod)
• Beets (Crapudine & Flats of Eqypt)
• Broccoli Raab (Sorrento)
• Brussels Spouts (Roodnerf)
• Cabbage (Savoy)
• Carrots (Danvers & Purple Dragon)
• Chard (Bright Lights & Joy Larkum)
• Chickory (Sugarloaf)
• Fava Beans
• Garlic (Incelium Red, Purple Glazer)
  
• Kale (Dwarf Blue, Red Russian, Lacinato & Nero Di Toscana)
• Lettuce (Winter Wunder)
• Lima Bean (Henderson's Baby)
• Mache
• Miner's Lettuce
• Oats (Hulless) This is an experiment to see if it will overwinter
• Onions (Red, Cipollini)
• Pac Choi (Ching-Chiang)
• Parsnip (Kral & Dugi Bijeli)
• Radicchio (Rossa di Treviso Precoce)
• Raddish (Watermelon, Saxa & French Breakfast)
• Salsify (Mammoth Sandwich Island)
• Scallions
• Spinach (Bloomsdale)
• Upland Cress

 

Drip Irrigation Made Easy

Installing an automatic drip irrigation system can reduce the your daily garden maintenance.  Learn the basics of drip irrigation in this posting.

This year, I installed a drip irrigation system in my garden.  I was interested in setting up the system to reduce the amount of time I spend in the garden each day.  In addition, the automatic timer use to control the drip irrigation system gave me the option to set the watering time after sunset when my plants would have plenty of time to absorb the water before the hot daytime sun evaporates it.

After using drip irrigation for one season, I can't believe I lived without it.  The system was easy to install and once completed, I didn't have to think twice about watering.

Consider the following.... If it takes you 20 minutes to water your garden each day, over the course of the summer growing season (May-August), you'll spend 40 hours watering your garden.  If memory serves me, it took me just 4 hours to install the drip irrigation, so I more than made up for the time invested in setting up the system in the first year.

Low volume drip irrigation systems like the one I used are intended for home gardeners and can be purchased at home and garden centers and hardware stores.  You can buy a pre-packaged kit, or buy individual components and assemble your own system.  

These home drip systems are nice because they are extremely flexible.  You can use them to water containers, traditional beds, raised beds and hanging baskets.  You just need to select the right components for each of these planting areas.

The Basic Components of Drip Irrigation:

Water Connection: This is where you connect your drip irrigation system to your main water source  -- either an outdoor faucet or an underground sprinkler system.   I think most people will want to attach the drip irrigation to a standard faucet, so I'll describe the parts you'll need for this type of connection:

• An automatic timer to turn the water on and off.  These connect directly to your hose and are operated using batteries.
  

• An adapter to connect your hose (generally 3/4 of an inch diameter) to the main line of the drip system (generally 1/2 inch diameter) 

And three components to control the strength and flow of the water including:

• An anti-syphon which prevents water from the irrigation system from flowing backward and contaminating the domestic water supply

• A filter to prevent sand or silt from entering and clogging your drip irrigation system,

• A pressure regulator to reduce the pressure from your faucet to the main line of the drip irrigation system.  (Drip irrigation systems use low water pressures.  If you connect your system directly to the water supply without reducing the pressure, you'll blow-out the drip irrigation tubing and watering devices.

Tubing:  Plastic tubing is used to convey water from the faucet connection equipment mentioned above to your garden.  You use 1/2 inch tubing to create the main line from the faucet to the garden and also for major branches of your system.  There are a variety of components like "T" and elbow fittings to help create the main arteries of the water supply. 

You then use 1/4 inch plastic tubing to connect from the main water arteries to  various devices that emit water into your garden.  The connection between 1/2 and 1/4 inch tubing is made by punching a small hole into the 1/2 inch tube using a special hole punch sold with drip irrigation equipment.  You then push a barbed connector in the hole in the 1/2 tubing and insert the other end of the connector into to 1/4 inch tube.  

Water Emitters: these are the components that are used to deliver the water to your plants.  There are many different types of emitter.  Most drip irrigation suppliers provide a manual that will help you choose the right type of emitter for any particular application.  However, here's a basic outline of the major types of emitters that you can purchase:

• Drippers - These devices are best for individual upright plants.  For example, a dripper is good device to water a tomato plant because it can be positioned at the base of the plant where it will deliver water to the plants roots.  They are also great for watering any plants in a container.  Drippers are sold with different flow rates, generally 1/2 gallon to 2 gallons per hour.  Choose a dripper that makes sense for the water requirements of the individual plants you are watering.
• Sprinklers - Good for closely spaced low growing plants.  These too come in various flow rates.
• Drip Tubing - Drip tube is best for long rows of evenly spaced plants like lettuce, beans etc.  Available in 1/2 and 1/4 inch diameter sizes, these plastic tubes drip water from holes drilled in the tube at regular intervals.  I was able to buy drip tubes with holes spaced every 4 inches and every 8 inches.  You can also buy soaker hose drip tube which drips along the entire length of the tube.

Drip Irrigation Layout

The nice thing about drip irrigation is it's flexibility.  You can mix and match emitter types running from the same main line and branch systems.  For example, in my garden, I run one main line along the length of the garden.  In one part of my garden, I have drippers connected to the main line to water tomatoes.  In another section of the garden, beans, radishes, corn etc are watered using drip tubing.

 

By the way, you keep all this tubing in place by pinning it down with metal stakes. These stakes are sold along with the other drip irrigation equipment.

A Flexible System:

I rotate crops from season to season and from year to year.  What makes this type of drip irrigation so attractive is that it can be easily modified to each seasons garden plan.   Just pick up the metal stakes and move the emitters or drip tube into a different configuration. 

If you need to do so, you can easily add additional emitters and drip tubing by punching additional holes in the main line and running the appropriate connections. 

Likewise, if you want to remove a section of tubing, just detach it and the barbed connector and seal the resulting hole in the main line using a plastic plug sold for this purpose.  It's that easy.

Free Vegetable Garden Tracking Template For Apple Bento Users

If you use Apple's Bento database program, here's a free template that you can use to track your vegetable and fruit garden.

If you want to improve your garden each year, you need a way to keep track of what you did and the results you received.  To make this easier, I created a vegetable tracking template for Apple Bento (database software) which allows me to do the following:

• Record when I planted (Date sown, date transplanted)
  
• Record what vegetable types and varieties I planted
• Record how it was planted (traditional bed, raised bed, clay pot, hydroponic etc.)
  
• Record where in my garden I planted them (aids in creating your rotation schedule)
• Automatically calculate the anticipated harvest date based on the variety's estimated days to maturity.
• Automatically calculate the actual days to maturity based on your first harvest date.
• Record the yield in ounces, pounds and automatically calculate the pounds per plant
• Record ratings of the variety on taste, appearance etc. using a 5 star rating system
• Provide a space for comments on disease/pests etc.
• Provide a space to keep a photo of the variety

I'm providing this template to my readers for free.  If you currently use Bento, this is a no brainer; just download the attached zip file and import the template into Bento. 

If you own a Mac but don't currently own Bento, you'll need to buy Bento first in order to use the template.  Bento version 3 is available from the Apple Store for $49.

To use the template, download the below Zip file:

Download Vegetable Garden Tracker from PlanterTomato.com.bentoTemplate

 

If you don't own Bento, you can create a similar tracking system using an Excel spreadsheet, but it will not be as convenient or easy to use.  I'm attaching an Excel spreadsheet that has the column headings for the data I am tracking in Bento which will help you create your own tracking system if you choose to do so.  The file is below:

Download Vegetable Garden Tracker Column Headers

Free Vegetable Planting Calendar For Container Gardeners

A handy planting calendar from the folks at Burgon & Ball and the Royal Horticultural Society (UK).

Burgon & Ball of Sheffield, England makes beautifully crafted gardening tools.  I've posted about their products before as potential gift items for Mother's and Father's Day. 

Well the nice folks at B&B have teamed up with the Royal Horticultural Society to create a handy vegetable planning guide and calendar for container gardeners.  The calendar lists when to plant and harvest a variety of vegetables (and a few fruits) with the objective of giving gardeners the 5 vegetable servings a day that is recommended by nutritionists.  And the calendar and planning guide are specifically designed for vegetables that grow well in containers.

One thing is worth mentioning..... The calendar is designed for gardeners living in England, so you may need to adjust the timing to suit your location.  Most of England is located in hardiness zone 8 (Last and first frost dates of March 15 and November 15 respectively).  If you live in Zone 8 in the US, you don't need to make any such adjustments.  If you live in a different hardiness zone, I would recommend shifting the calendar a few weeks based on the first and last frost dates in your area. 

You can find your hardiness zone at the National Arboretum web site and your first and last frost dates at About.com.

The planting guide and calendar is attached below as a PDF file:

Download 5-A-Day-Garden-Planner

Free Garden Planning Software

Free Vegetable Garden Planning Software - Easy and You Can't Beat the Price!

If you want to plan your garden more easily, there are a number of software applications on the market to help you create your design.  Several are traditional programs that you buy and load onto your computer and there are even a few where you pay a annual subscription fee ($20/year) and use online design tools to create your garden plan.

How Garden Planning Software Works

All of these programs follow the same basic procedure -- you create the layout of your garden by entering in it's dimensions, and then choose from a menu of vegetables which you drag and drop onto the layout.  The program automatically calculates the area needed for the vegetable you've selected.

Some of the more sophisticated features within theses programs include:

• Ability to create irregularly sized garden plots.
• Capability to add garden features such as a pond, bench, wall or trellis.
  
• Provision of log books which allows you to record the quantity of each veggie that you've harvested
• Automatic alerts to let you know when it's time to weed etc. 
  
• Detailed planting and care information on the veggies you've put into your garden design.

While I appreciate these extra features, they are more than many of us really need.  I personally believe that most of the value in these programs is derived from the drag and drop layout and the ease at which you can make changes to your garden design.

A Simple & Free Program

If all you want is the basic layout feature, there's some good news. 

Gardener's Supply, a gardening retailer with an online web site, let's gardeners use a program called "Kitchen Garden Planner" for free.  The program is very easy to use and when your done, you can print out your design out or e-mail it to yourself.  The software places your garden design on a 1 foot x 1 foot grid and notes how many of each vegetable can be planted in each square.

In addition to the garden plan, you will automatically be given planting instructions for any veggie you add to your plan. (see below photos which show a 4 foot by 12 foot garden plan and planting information for two of the veggies selected in the plan)

Kitchen Garden Planner Limitations

However, there are a few limitations to using Kitchen Garden Planner that you should be aware of:

• No irregularly shaped garden designs - squares and rectangles only.
• The maximum dimensions you can set for your plan are 4 feet x 12 feet.  If your garden is bigger than that, the work-around is to plan several smaller gardens using the online tool.
• The program saves your last garden design, but if you need to do several designs as mentioned above, you can only keep the last one.  If you need to cobble together several smaller plans, your should e-mail each plan to yourself so you have a record of it.
• The list of veggies you can choose from is also pretty basic.  You'll find tomatoes, carrots, beets, corn, cabbage etc. but not more exotic veggies like chard, artichokes, asparagus, or salsify.
  
• There's no provision for companion planting.
  

The Gardener's Supply online tool is very basic but it's easy to use and the price is right.  In my book, it's a winner.  Have a look and see if it works for you.  The website address is www.Gardeners.com.

If you decide to give it a try, post a comment and let me know if you like the software.

Grocery Gardening: An Interview With Jean Ann Van Krevelan

An Interview with book author and blogger Jean Ann Van Krevelan on growing and preserving vegetables.

The Interview was recorded on Saturday, March 27, 2010 at the San Francisco Flower and Garden show where Jean Ann Van Krevelan was a featured speaker. 

PlanterTomato (PT): I'm here at the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show with Jean Ann Van Krevelan.  Jean Ann is a gardening expert and author of several books including "Growing Food: A Guide For Beginners" and her recent book, "Grocery Gardening: Planting, Preparing, and Preserving Fresh Food."  She also writes and produces several blogs whose content is nationally syndicated on web sites such as the Chicago Sun Times, USAToday and the Wall Street Journal.  Jean Ann, thanks for speaking with us today at PlanterTomato.

Jean Ann Van Krevelan (JAVK):  Glad to be here.

PT:  Why don't we begin by learning how you personally became involved in vegetable gardening?

JAVK:  I became involved in gardening in general about ten or eleven years ago when my grandmother passed away and I had to take care of her home and prepare it for sale.  She was a great gardener and I needed to care for the yard. 

Through this, I really developed a love for digging and planting and watching things grow.  But gardening became meaningful to me in a number of ways and the depth and symbolism of it is what is important to me.  I think this is true of most things in life; if you make a certain recipe because it's something your mother always made, it's got deeper meaning.

In the last 3 or 4 years I've planting full vegetable gardens.  For many years prior to that, I had inter-planted some vegetables into my flower borders, but I found increased meaning and purpose in growing vegetables because doing so made the food I cooked taste better. I wanted to take the food I made back to the source.

PT: So the vegetables you grew came out of the recipes you were using.

JAVK: Yes and it's absolutely the case that certain fruits and vegetables just taste better when you grow them yourself.  There's no magic to this, it's just that the varieties you grow at home are ones that have not had the taste bred out of them. 

For example, raspberries are very fragile and don't travel well.  The ones you buy at the store have been hybridized to stick together long enough to be sold.  Mine fall apart, but they taste fantastic.  But remember all I need them to do is to get from the raspberry canes to my back door.  Eating my raspberries is like eating a totally different fruit.

PT:  I completely agree.  Of course many people get involved in gardening but don't go on to write a book.  How did that transition occur for you?  

JAVK:  I followed a logical progression.  First I wanted to just grow vegetables so they would taste better.  So I started growing my own vegetables.  Then I improved on he recipes and decided I wanted to share these recipes with others so that they could do the same thing.

My entree into garden writing was blogging.  I knew that eventually I would want to write a book but I didn't know were to begin so I decided to just start writing and publishing it myself.  I did that for about six months and then I decided to write my first book which I self published.

The first book was inspired by what I had published in my blog but by then I had a second blog called Portland Foodie which is where I published my recipes. 

PT:  Lots of gardening and cookbooks have been published, what makes your new book, "Grocery Gardening" different than other books you would find on book store shelves?  

JAVK: "Grocery Gardening" is my second book.  I combined all the recipes and gardening information in this one book.  This book tells you exactly what to do from the time you put seeds into the ground till you put it on your plate. 

When we put this book together, we wanted it to be a fresh food book; the conversation is about growing some of your own vegetables, but it you don't grow it, we offer advice on how to make sure it's fresh when you buy it, and also on how to store food so you can have it in the winter.

PT:  So if I understand your correctly, your encouraging people to grow as much as they can at home, and if they can't grow it at home, then you give them advice on how to choose the best and freshest produce at the grocery store.

JAVK:  Actually, I don't say grow all you can grow.  I tell my readers to try to grow something and see how that goes.  If that goes well, then add some more things. 

In the book, we talk about all sorts of ways to buy produce.  Yes, in the grocery store, but also farmers markets, CSA's, co-ops, many different places.  Sometimes we forget that we don't always have to go to the grocery store to purchase food.

PT: Let's say I purchase your book, become inspired and decide to become a first time gardener.  What advice would you give me about the types of vegetables to grow?

JAVK: The first thing I would tell you to do is to sit down and plan out your garden.  Sketch out your garden, list the vegetables you want to grow, think about it, and then cut back the list by two-thirds.

Also, plant things that are going to be an easy win -- lettuce, radishes, beets, even tomatoes can be easy to grow depending on where you live.  Beans are also a good choice because they're hard to kill.  Plant things that are going to give you some immediate "warm and fuzzies". 

Nobody likes drudgery.  If you start with too much, that's too hard, then next year you wont' be growing at all.

PT:  Let's say I've followed this advice for a couple of years and now I'm a more seasoned gardener, what advice would you give me now?

JAVK:  (laughing) Plan your garden and then cut it back by two-thirds!  Every year I look at seed catalogs and I want to order lots of seeds.  But by the time August rolls around, I'm pretty tired from all the weeding, planting, and it's hot and difficult to garden.  My recommendation is to always under plant.  Your going to plant more than you need.

PT:  I hate to say it, but I'm as guilty of over-planting as anyone.  My eyes are always bigger than the amount of space I have to grow things.

Although, for me personally, I don't get too bothered if something I plant doesn't work out.  For me, I see the advantage of growing lots of things is that, if any one thing fails, it doesn't really matter very much because there's something else that can be harvested.  But I understand your point

JAVK: And keep in mind that when you harvest that food, it's not going to look like the picture you saw in the seed catalog.  Those glossy photos that have been retouched, just like super model pictures have been retouched.  When you pull some lettuce out of the ground and it has a few holes in it and it's a little dirty, that's exactly how it's supposed to look.

You shouldn't get into gardening with the expectation that everything is going to look perfect, you need to understand that that is not what is really happens.

It's not that you shouldn't grow multiple types of vegetables or multiple varieties, just don't get so overwhelmed by the process that you stop gardening.

PT:  A fair point.  Is there a vegetable that you think is overlooked or under-appreciated by most gardeners?

JAVK:  Yes, there is.  My favorite vegetable of all time is kale.  What is not to love about kale? Yet, so many gardeners have no experience with kale.  It is one of the easiest veggies to grow.  You can plant it in late winter and you can plant it again in late summer for a fall harvest. Two crops and all it needs is water and a little compost and it's going to grow.

And is beautiful.  There are so many architectural forms of kale like dinosaur kale, Italian kale and other forms of kale.  You can eat it when it first comes up in a salad or, when it gets older, you can cook it and add it to all kinds or recipes.  

It's one of the greens that's full of nutrition but has no bitter taste, so it's easy to eat.

PT:  Well on this one, you're preaching to the choir.  Kale is one of my family's favorite vegetables.  Our kids love it in a recipe called White Bean Kale Soup.  It's a very simple soup to make.

The other thing I like about kale, is that it is so winter hardy that you can grow it throughout the year, especially here in Northern California.  However, you can also grow it in the winter in much colder climates.  

JAVK: Yes, definitely.  

PT:  You mentioned earlier that your book also covers preserving food. Well there are lots of methods like freezing, and caning and lacto-fermenting. What advice do you give readers about the ways they can preserve food.

JAVK:  The book focuses on canning, freezing, dehydrating, and creating root cellars for storage. If you've never done any preserving before, freezing is pretty easy.  About as easy as dehydrating.

But there are a couple of things you need to know when you freezing food.  Most vegetables need to be blanched, shocked in cold water, and then dried before freezing.  It will be even better if you have a vacuum sealer that will take the air out of the freezer bag.  You can store frozen vegetable like this for years and it will be as fresh as when you put it into the bag.

With dehydrating, you want to make sure that you purchase a dehydrator with multiple temperature settings so you can control the heat and also one that has multiple trays so you can expand as needed.

I personally don't use my oven to dehydrate.  A dehydrator uses far less energy and doesn't heat up my house.

PT:  OK, I'm convinced I need to get your book.  Where can I buy it?

JAVK:  You can get my book at Lowes, Home Depot, Barnes & Noble, Borders, you can order it from Amazon.com.  It's pretty easy to find.  And it's also easy to read.

I have three other co-authors who partnered with me on the book and it was our determination that it was going to be approachable.  We wanted it to be simple, easy-to-read, and easy-to-use.

PT:  Well thank you very much.  This has been fun and very interesting.

JAVK:  Thank you as well.  

You can find additional organic gardening and information at Jean Ann's web site, From Gardener To Farmer.

PlanterTomato shares Jean Ann's appriciation for Kale.  For more information about this under-rated veggie, check out my prior postings "From Russia with Love" and "Chard Versus Kale Challenge."

Growing More Vegetables and Fruit In Less Space: An Interview with John Jeavons

On March 12, 2010, The Palo Alto Library hosted a lecture by sustainable farming expert, John Jeavons.  After the lecture, John was kind enough to speak with me about ways to grow more food in our backyard gardens. 

Special thanks to the Palo Alto Library for bringing programs like this to the community.

Planter Tomato (PT): Today, we're here in Palo Alto, California with John Jeavons.  John is an agricultural researcher, lecturer, and author of several books on gardening including How To Grow More Vegetables, Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains and Other Crops Than You Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine.  Thank you for joining us at Planter Tomato.

John Jeavons (JJ): Thank you for having me.

PT: John, the title of your book is quite a mouthful to say, but more importantly it makes a bold claim about how much food you can grow in a small garden.  Can you tell us why your method of gardening is so successful and so productive?

JJ: The reason Biointensive Mini Farming is so productive is because it depends on the biological life forces that are in the soil.  For almost a century, the world has been going in the opposite direction which does not rely on these forces.  But if you go back 5,000 years to Ethiopia, 4,000 to China, 2,000 to Greece or 1,000 to the Maya, they all worked with the soil in a living way. 

When you do this, you get yields that are two to six times that obtained commercially today with a fraction of the water, purchased nutrients and organic fertilizers, and energy.

PT: Tell us more about the underlying principles that make Biointensive farming productive?

JJ: There are eight elements to BIointensive farming:

1. Deep Soil Preparation -- to get good soil structure you need to till the soil to a depth of 24 inches. The goal is to get air into the soil so that microbes can use this air to feed your plants.  The more air, the more microbes, which will then grow more plants that produce more food.
2. Use of Compost -- compost drought-proofs the soil and provides food for microbes which are important to your plants.  Compost holds six times its weight in water, so you end up using three to eight times less water than other practices.  The microbes I mentioned a moment ago live off the compost and produce nitrogen for your plants for free.  They also develop antibiotics around the root systems so the plants don't get sick.
3. Close Plant Spacing -- If you have done deep soil preparation and built up microbes through composting, you can plant approximately four times as many plants in a given area.  Close plant spacing also shades the ground and preserves moisture.  Additionally, close plant spacing creates a canopy over the ground which captures carbon dioxide that's breathed out by the microbes.  The plants can then use this carbon dioxide and their yields go up.
4. Companion Planting -- Green beans and strawberries grow better when they are grown in small sections next to each other than when they are grown separately.  You can inter-plant beans and corn and get 20% more yield. These are just a few examples.
5. Plant Compost Crops -- These are crops like amaranth and corn in the summer and wheat and oats in the winter. These crops produce a large amount of edible calories in the seeds, but they also provide a tremendous amount of compost materials which you can use to maintain sustainable fertility.
   
6. Plant Root Crops -- I recommend planting about 30% of your garden with root crops such as potatoes, leeks and garlic.  These plants produce up to twenty times the amount of calories per unit of area, per unit of time, than other crops.  You then dedicate 60% of your garden area to compost crops and 10% of your area to vegetables, particularly salad vegetables since these provide vitamins and minerals that aren't in the other crops.
7. Use Open Pollinated Seeds -- Using open pollinated varieties means you can save your own seeds.  These acclimatize themselves to your soil so they grow better and experience fewer disease and pest problems.
8. It's A Holistic System -- You can't just put plants close together and not have deep soil structure etc. and expect to get good results, you need to put all of the elements of Biointensive mini farming into practice to be effective.

PT: If I am a suburban gardener with a 10' x 10' plot, and let's say I'm living in a moderate climate like Northern California (Zone 9), what sort of plant varieties would you recommend that I grow?

JJ: Well what's amazing about this 100 square foot area that you mentioned is that you'll be able to grow half the vegetable and soft fruits for one person for one year and that's assuming only intermediate level yields.  The most popular vegetables and soft fruits are sweet corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, watermelon, peppers, there's virtually nothing that you can't grow there.

In zone 9, the limiting factor is really how many hours of sunlight you have for your garden site.  If you have only 4 hours of sunlight, you may be able to grow lettuces and brassicas, (kale, cabbage, broccoli etc) but it will really depend on your soil and skill. If you have 7 hours of sunlight, you will be able to grow cool and warm weather crops. If you have 11 hours of direct sunlight, you'll be able to grow, cool, warm and hot weather crops.

PT: What if I'm in a colder climate such as zone 5? Could I use the same principles and have a bountiful harvest?

JJ: Absolutely, we have people living in Canada and Alaska using Biointensive farming successfully.  But if you're living in a place like Maine with a 3 month growing season, in order to be fully effective, you'll need to double the size of your garden.  So the 100 square foot garden you mentioned before, needs to be 200 square square feet because you need to grow your compost crops in one 100 square foot area in order to maintain your sustainable soil fertility, and in the other 100 square foot area you'll grow the other crops you plan to eat that season.  Then the next year you rotate the plots.  Fundamentally, you can grow all of the same types of vegetables as in warmer climates, but you need to use more area to do it. 

The good news is that if you're only gardening for 3 months, you get a 9 month vacation but you need more growing area.  Whereas in Palo Alto [zone 9] you'll have a 6 to 9 month growing season and you get a 3 month vacation, but you need less area.  However, the amount of work  you need to do to maintain both gardens is the same.

If you're in a area with a 5 month growing season with cold nights like I do in Wilits, California, I use double walled miniature greenhouses and by using these we triple  our yield of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash and melons.  So you need some sort of season extender under these growing conditions.

If you have a 6 month growing season with warm nights, you can grow the same things that I mentioned when you asked about zone 9.

One last thing I want to mention, in the bibliography of my book, there is a listing for a book on high altitude farming which outlines techniques that will help gardeners in cold climates.   

PT: Many readers of this blog live in apartments where they may only have a small balcony and room for just a few containers. If they wanted to grow some of their own food, what could they do?

JJ: It's really pretty exciting what you can do in these small spaces.  One book that I would recommend is The Apartment Farmer, The Hassle Free Way To Grow Vegetables Indoors, On Balconies, Patios and Roofs, and Small Yards by Duane Newcomb.  There's also a book called Bountiful Container by Rose Marie Nichols McGee and Maggie Stuckey which has many good ideas in it and some beautiful color photos.

By the way there are special seed varieties for many vegetables that are specifically designed for pots that container gardeners can use.  There's even a sweet corn that grows to only eight inches high.  The spectrum of possibilities is endless.

PT: What advice would you give me as a first time Biointensive farmer?

JJ: Start small.  Create one bed and get it right and then expand.  I think most of us want to immediately plant as big an area as possible.  However, the yields will be less good. If you put all your tender loving care into a 100 square feet it almost bound to do well. Then expand over time to whatever amount of space your property and time will allow.

PT:  If I want to learn more about Biointensive farming, where can I go for information?

JJ: You can start at our international mail order and seed company that has all of our publications.  It's called BountifulGardens.org, a non-profit business. 

For more about the method, you can also go to GrowBiointensive.org where you'll find all sorts of information and examples of successful gardens that use biointensive methods. 

If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can go to CommonGroundInPaloAlto.org, our non-profit organic gardening store and educational center with hundreds of seed varieties and high quality tools.  Almost every Saturday, there are classed on urban homesteading and sustainable ways of living.

PT: John, this has been really terrific.  Thank you for sharing this information with PlanterTomato readers.

JJ: My pleasure.

For more information on John Jeavons and to learn about his Biointensive workshops, see John's personal information site www.johnjeavons.info

60 Vegetable & Fruit Varieties for 2010

Heinz ketchup proudly trumpets its "57 Varieties."  I've got 'em beat by 3 this year.

In this post, I will list the 60 fruits and vegetable varieties that made my list for the 2010 growing season. 

All of these vegetables will be grown in raised beds, traditional soil containers/pots, or Autopot hydroponic pots. (placed outside with no additional lights)

So Many Veggies, So Little Space  

I think that many readers will be surprised by the large number of varieties given my limited suburban garden space.  The explanation is twofold:

1. I grow during all four seasons and rotate crops in my containers.  The varieties selected below cover multiple plantings.
2. In most cases, I grow only one or two pots of any given variety.  For example, this year, I am planting 8 varieties of tomatoes but will grow only 2 plants of each one.

At first glance, this may appear a bit extravagant since it means that I'm buying lots of seed packets and using very few of the seeds. (Seed packets are generally about  $3.00 each)

However, this practice is still much less expensive than buying tomatoes at the store. The average tomato plant yield 10-20 pounds of tomatoes, so 2 tomato plants grown with a $3.00 packet of seeds will yield 20-40 pounds of fruit ($.15-$30 per pound).  Yes, I know I'm not including other costs, but you get the idea.  It's pretty cheap to grow your own and the cost of the seeds don't really amount to much. 

And then there's the real benefit -- you get to eat varieties you can't purchase at a store or even at a farmers market and they will be at their absolute peak of freshness.

Benefits of Many Varieties:

If you have a small garden, I encourage you to consider maximizing variety for the following reasons:

• Eating the same thing week after week can be boring, even if you really like a particular variety.  Mixing it up, makes things more interesting.
• No matter how good a gardener you are, sometimes things just don't work out.  Planting lots of vegetable types and varieties hedges you against failure in any given crop.  If the cucumbers didn't work out this year, no big deal, at least you have a variety of lettuces to make salads interesting.
• Eating lots of different things is healthier for you.
  

As the season progresses, I'll provide product information and recommendations on specific varieties. 

If you have grown any of these varieties, feel free to post a comment to this blog about your experience (How did they taste?  Where they easy to grow? What was the yield like? etc.)

The 2010 List

Tomatoes:

• Brandywine
• Tomato Riesentraube
• Japanese Trifele
• Snowberry
• Black Krim
• Paul Robeson
• Cherokee Purple
• Oregon Spring

Greens:

• Bloomsdale spinach
• Arugula
• Dwarf Blue kale
• Siberian Red kale
• Mache/corn salad/vit
• Shanghai Green Choy (pak choi)
• Extra dwarf pak choi
• Ching-Chiang pak choi
• Joy Larkom's Midnight chard
• Bright Lights chard
• De Morges Braun lettuce
• Mignonette Bronze lettuce
• Brune D'hiver lettuce
• Forellenschluss lettuce
• Little Gem lettuce
• Miner's Lettuce
• Flame lettuce
• Watercress
• Chicory
• Upland cress
• Kyoto mizuna
• Purslane

Root Vegetables:

• French breakfast radish
• Watermelon radish
• White Icicle radish
• Saxa radish
• Chioggia beet
• Crapaudine beet
• Chantenay carrot
• Kral russian parsnip

Peas & Beans:

• Super Sugar snap pea
• Burpee's Tenderpod bean
• Etna bush beans

Squash

• Boston Marrow
• Cornell's Bush Delicata
• Galeux d'Eysines
• Blue hubbard
• Waltham butternut
• Black Futsu
• Zucchino Rampicante
• Scallop Sunny Delight

Cucumbers

• Delikatesse
• Beit Alpha
• Hmong Red

Others:

• Silver Choice sweet corn
• Sorrento Raab
• Roodnerf brussel sprouts
• Savoy cabbage
• Liege Giant leek
• Serrano chili pepper
• Costa Rican sweet pepper
• Shishito pepper
• Mammoth Island salsify
• Thai White eggplant
• Japanese pickling eggplant
• Ping Tung eggplant

Fruit

• Charentais melon
• Ali Baba watermelon
• Hardy kiwi
• Chandler blueberry
• Tulameen raspberry
• Alpine strawberry

How to Plan Your 2010 Vegetable Garden

Today’s topic is on choosing vegetable varieties for a year-round harvest.  If you live in Zone 9, this may be particularly helpful because you can use or modify may plan. (see attached)  Gardeners in other areas can modify this plan based on your local growing conditions and interests. Please note, that I have a greenhouse to help provide shelter but I don’t use heaters or lights for winter gardening.  My garden plan is designed to maximize dietary variety by including lots of different types of vegetables, allow for over-wintering or storage of some vegetables to add variety in the lean winter months, and optimize plant selection so that they are grown at the right season for each type of veggie.  Most of you are familiar with summer vegetables, so I won’t dwell on them.  Please consider the following as good candidates for winter growth or storage: kale, chard, arugula, radish, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, peas, winter squash, carrots, beets, parsnips, and here are some you may not be as familiar with: upland cress (tastes like watercress), salsify (tastes a little like oysters – really!), pak choi or bok choi, mache.  The attached plan shows when I plant each vegetable and when they are ready for harvest. When one crop is finished, I replant the same space with the next crop so that I maximize my space.  I grow in containers in the greenhouse, in raised beds and in pots outside the greenhouse.  Green boxes on the plan show the month sowed, orange shows months where you can begin to expect some harvest, and red is peak harvest period. (PDF attached at bottom of this post)

Download PlanterTomato.com 2010 Garden Plan