(Continued from Part. 1. This concludes the article.)
Onions
1. Onions can be started anytime between February 25 and April 27. I grow my Walla Walla onions from seed not from sets that have been started by another grower. You can begin harvesting these about 125 days after starting the seeds.
2. Using the small containers, start by filling each with 90% starting material then soak each one. Next, put 50 to 60 seeds in each pot, then cover 1/8″ with potting soil, then very slowly add enough water to soak the last 1/8″, trying hard to avoid the seeds from floating in the mixture. Keep the material damp while the plants emerge in a warm room under grow lights.
3. If the onions were started February 25, they should be ready to move to the greenhouse the middle of March where there will be sufficient light and warmth for them to continue maturing in their original pot. While in the greenhouse, you will need to trim their tops to keep them around 4 to 5 inches short. Don’t rush to plant outside. You want the ground to be in the high 60s with some low 70 degree days. For my location, that would mean outside planting would take place about June 1st after hardening off for 3 or 4 days.
4. It’s now time to transplant the onions to an area of the garden that has been tilled and leveled. Carefully separate each tiny plant from the 50 or 60 crammed into the little containers. Each plant should be planted about 6″ apart. 100 plants will fit an area 5′ by 6′. Keep the ground moist during the growing time. Growth has been slow until now, however, in just 60 days you will be eating your own onions.
Peas
1. Snap peas are a favorite of our customers, so I grow lots of them. Most folks start peas by planting them directly in the ground. I find that starting the seed in planting material and putting them in the greenhouse for transplanting later works best. My first seeds are started April 1st followed by my second planting April 24th. Harvesting will occur in our area about 2 & 1/2 months from the time the seeds are started.
2. Using the small containers, start by filling each with 70% starting material then soak each one. Next, put 4 to 5 seeds in each pot, then cover 1″ with potting soil, then slowly add enough water to soak the last 1″, trying hard to avoid the seeds from floating in the mixture. Keep the material damp while the plants emerge in the greenhouse.
3. Plants will be ready to transplant outside about 20 to 25 days after starting the seeds. The ground will be chilly, but peas actually prefer cooler weather. Be sure to harden off the plants a few days before putting them in there permanent outside location.
4. When it’s time to transplant the peas, be sure it’s in an area of the garden that has been turned over and leveled. Each plant should be in a row about 1″ to 2″ apart with the row being separated by at least 2′. 100 plants will fit an area 5′ by 7′ when using 2 rows. Keep the ground moist during the growing time. In less than 2 months, peas will be ready to harvest. Plan for the harvest to last for about one month.
Potatoes
1. I grow Yukon Gold spuds since they are favorites of our customers. The downside of Yukon’s tubers is that they seldom produce more than 5lbs per seed compared to other more common spuds that can produce up to 10lbs per seed. Before planting, I like to bring my seed potatoes into the warm house to get them to start sprouting. Leave the new sprouts on when planting; the plants will grow faster and larger. If you begin planting about March 30th you will be harvesting them the first of July. After digging up the spuds and leveling the ground, a second crop of beans or Cole crops are usually planted in the same ground.
2. In a raised bed 5′ wide and 60′ long, about 100 potatoes in two rows will fit nicely. A hole of 10″ in diameter, 6″ deep is dug in untilled soil with the dirt moved to the middle of the two rows. One whole potato is placed in each hole and covered with 2″ of dirt mixed with the compost that was added the previous Fall. Each potato is covered with a gallon of water and left to sprout. Plant each spud about 1.2′ apart.
3. The potatoes will need water as they emerge from the dirt. When the plant leaves are about 8″s out of the ground, cover them half way with dirt that was placed in the middle of the bed. Continue this process until all plants are covered and a large narrow trench now shows between the two rows.
4. Like all vegetable gardens, the gardener needs to be in good physical condition to handle the tasks, especially if you are using only a shovel and rake. No job is more demanding then digging spuds. To avoid cutting into the tubers with your shovel, use a bull dozer approach by pushing the digger under the plant and lifting the dirt and the spuds with one large swoop.
String Beans
1. Beans do well when the outside temperatures are in the high 60s. Consequently, they are not to be started in the greenhouse, or in the house under lights, until May 18th. After transplanting outside the bush beans will be ready for there first picking about August 5th and will need a second and third picking over the next 10 to 12 days. To keep the beans coming on through the latter part of September requires several continual starting dates. Except for tomatoes, string beans are my customers favorite.
2. I always start beans in potting soil containers instead of direct planting outside because they perform much stronger after transplanting. Using the small containers, start by filling each with 70% starting material then soak each one. Next, put 5 seeds in each starter pot, then cover 1″ with potting soil, then slowly add enough water to soak the last 1″, trying hard to avoid the seeds from floating in the mixture. Keep the material damp while the plants emerge in the greenhouse.
3. By May 28th, the plants should be ready to be hardened off. Set them outside in direct sunlight a few hours for 3 or 4 days.
4. By June 1st, it’s time to transplant the beans. Be sure it’s in an area of the garden that has been turned over and leveled. Each plant should be in a row about 4″ apart with the row being separated by at least 3′. 40 plants will fit an area 5′ by 7′ when using 2 rows. Keep the ground moist during the growing time. In about 1 month, beans will be ready to pick. Plan for the harvest to last for about 2 weeks.
Tomatoes
1. Everyone’s favorite, but so hard to grow in my zone. Tomatoes like high 70 and 80 degree temperature. The only way to reach this temperature is to grow them outside under tents. I use an 8′ by 16′ sheet of Tufflite IV material to cover over a 5′ wide bed by 4′ high in the middle and 8′ long. The frame for the tent consists of an 8′, 2/6″ on top, tide to two 4/4″ by 6′ long posts that are put 2′ in the ground. The Tufflite slides over the top of the 2/6″ and is anchored on both sides of the beds by an 8′ long 2/4″ which clamps the plastic to an 8′ long 1/4″ board. Finally, each end of the tent is enclosed with a half inch of plywood. The temperature inside these beds will be 20% higher then the outside reading.
2. Tomatoes started from seed take about 2 & 1/2 months of growth before they are ready to transplant outside. The tented areas will not reach the proper starting temperature until early May. Therefore the seeds need to be started about February 25th. Using the small containers, start by filling each with 90% starting material then soak each one. Next, put 10 seeds in each pot, then cover 1/8″ with potting soil, then slowly add enough water to soak the last 1/8″, trying hard to avoid the seeds from floating in the mixture. Keep the material damp while the plants emerge in house under grow lights.
3. About mid March, each plant should be ready to be transplanted in there separate 3.5″ square pot to continue their growth in the house under lights. By mid April, the plants are ready to move to the greenhouse and are again transplanted in a larger 6 & 1/4″ wide by 7″ deep round black plastic container. By May 4th, the plants will be about 2′ tall, strong, and ready to hardened off.
4. Before the plants can be put in the dirt, the soil must be prepared. In each 8′ long tented bed, dig 3 holes on each side of the bed about 2.5′ apart. Each hole should be 10″ wide and 1′ deep. After placing each plant in the hole, pour 1 gallon of water in each. Next, pack the dirt (mixed with compost that was placed on top of the garden last year with the dirt) around each plant. It is good to cover not just the roots with dirt, but the plant will become stronger if 1/3 of the bottom leaves are covered too. Keep the ground moist during the growing time. By June 20th, red ripe tomatoes will appear. Plan for the harvest to last until October 1st.
Zucchinis
1. Start this seed in the greenhouse, or in the house under lights, May 18 and be ready to harvest in mid July. Each plant can produce one squash per day until about October 1st.
2. Using the small containers, start by filling each with 70% starting material then soak each one. Next, put 2 to 3 seeds in each pot, then cover 1″ with potting soil, then slowly add enough water to soak the 1″ of seed cover, trying hard to avoid the seeds from floating in the mixture. Keep the material damp while the plants emerge in the greenhouse.
3. By June 1st, transplant each individual plant in the 3.5″ square pot. Keep them in the greenhouse until ready to hardening them off on about June 8th.
4. In early June, it should be warm enough to plant in the soil outside. In a 5′ by 4′ wide area, build a level bed with 3″ high sides, and place 2 plants, at opposite ends, in each one. Flood each enclosed mound with an inch of water’. Keep the ground moist during the growing time.
Two chores you will need to tend during the growing season that I haven’t mentioned yet are weeding and cultivating. If you get after the weeds three times during the year, you will have them under control. Your first weeding should be mid March or just before planting, whichever date occurs first. The next weeding should be just as the plants are still in the baby stage but are healthy and well seeded in the outside garden. The final weeding can be accomplished when you are cultivating (hoeing) around each plant to break up the crust that tends to shut off oxygen and water from getting into the roots.
I encourage you to try some of the methods outlined above. It took me 50 years to get here but every season I learn many new things that cause me to improve on my past. Good luck on your vegetable garden this season. Please share your knowledge with other gardeners since there is so much that we can learn from each other.