Start Your Own “Salad” Garden…Easily

Start Your Own “Salad” Garden…Easily

By Jim McLain

Over the last several years, vegetable gardens have been popping up like dandelions in backyards across America. One reason for the renaissance of vegetable gardening has been the recession.

But there is also another reason: a desire for fresh produce that has been grown without chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

Not so long ago, organic farmers and gardeners were thought to be sort of, well, wacko. But organic gardening — gardening without chemicals  — has now gained mainstream acceptance.

If you are considering starting your first vegetable garden this year, whether you decide to jump on the organic gardening bandwagon or not, heed these two words of advice: start small.

Unfortunately, many first-time gardeners are overly enthusiastic and plant a garden that is far too large. By the time the heat of summer rolls around, many of these gardens have become jungles of abandoned weeds.

Ease into vegetable gardening by limiting your first to just one small 8-by-4-foot raised bed that will grow a surprising amount of produce.

Here’s how to start: purchase three 1-by-6 inch pieces of rot-resistant cedar lumber that are 8 feet in length. Cut one of them into two 4-footers. Nail them to the ends of the two remaining eight-foot boards. Voila! You now have the beginnings of a small 32-square-foot garden.

Select a site that receives at least six hours of sunlight a day. Dig out the turf if it is to be located where there is now lawn. Settle in your frame, then fill your raised bed with soil to within two inches of the top. You may be able to “borrow” soil from your flowerbeds, or you can buy garden or potting soil by the bag at garden centers. Add some garden compost or composted steer manure to enrich the soil.

For your first garden, consider limiting it to a “salad” garden — one that will provide ingredients for tossed salads throughout the gardening season. Begin your garden in the latter part of April or early May. Plant some of these cool season vegetables: radishes, lettuce, mesclun, chard, spinach and Walla Walla sweet onions. Two weeks later, plant carrots.

Run your rows across the width of the bed. Rows can be as close as four inches apart for your lettuce and other greens. They won’t need to be thinned because you will be harvesting them while they are still small.

Using the cut-and-come-again method, harvest just enough for one salad at a time. Use scissors to snip leaves about an inch above the ground. Your plants will then regrow and give you a second and possibly a third cutting before they begin to bolt and set seed.

When your cool season vegetables have passed their prime, replace them with warm season salad vegetables, including tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers.

Buy tomato transplants of varieties that have “bush” in their name, such as “Bush Early Girl.” They will take up less space. Even so, you will need to use a tomato cage to support and confine them. Two plants will likely produce all the tomatoes you need. On the other hand, you should have room for at least three or four sweet pepper plants, which should also be bought as transplants.

For cucumbers, construct a simple, space-saving trellis at the end of your bed for them to climb. You will need to tie the vines to the trellis when they first begin to run, starting them on their upward journey. Seed your cucumbers in the garden or start transplants indoors.

Keep your garden producing by successive planting — replacing each crop that has finished producing with a new planting of the same or different kind of vegetable. This can be continued right into July or even later for some vegetables, including carrots.

Nothing succeeds like success. By keeping your first vegetable garden small, you will expend minimum time and effort, but you will reap the benefits of a successful first garden. In following years, you may decide to expand your gardening by adding an additional raised bed to include a variety of other vegetables you didn’t have room for this year.

 

WSU Extension Master Gardener Program is an organization of trained volunteers dedicated to horticulture and community service. Questions about gardening, landscaping, or this program can be directed toward the Master Gardener Clinic at 509-574-1600, or visit the WSU Extension office at 104 N. First St. in Yakima. New volunteers are welcome.

 

Enjoy an Indoor Garden This Winter

Enjoy an Indoor Garden This Winter

By Marge Greenwood

When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.  ~Chinese Proverb

Rich red roses in a flush of bloom; russet and yellow striped petals bursting amid lush green chrysanthemum leaves; pendulous succulents dripping with fat buds and blooms — winter hothouses bring us these out-of-season beauties to delight our eyes and brighten our homes during the holiday months of winter.

Lovely to give and receive, the charms of flowering plants can linger on after all the decorations are put away and the cut flowers are faded and gone.  Some can even be transitioned outside in spring.

Miniature roses and chrysanthemums are beautiful and easy to grow.  Both need bright light, but the flowers will last longer if they are not in direct sunlight while blooming.  Tolerant of some temperature variation, they prefer 60 to 70 degrees, a spot away from heat vents or cold air returns, evenly distributed moisture and good drainage.  Spray with water occasionally or set a saucer filled with gravel and water under the pot to provide humidity.  After blooms fade, don’t expect new growth right away – a resting period is normal after heavy bloom.  If your plant doesn’t appear to be maintaining health, it may need a larger pot.

When all danger of frost is past, roses and mums can be hardened off and planted outdoors in a sunny spot with well-drained, fertile soil.

Most poinsettias end up in the garbage or compost after the holidays.  Admittedly they are a little difficult to care for, and coaxing them to re-bloom takes dedication and vigilance.  But for those up to the challenge the results can be stunningly rewarding.

Ideally, poinsettias prefer 60 to 70 degrees with about six hours of indirect light a day.  Extremes and fluctuation in temperature will cause leaf drop, so when bringing your new poinsettia home, protect it from the cold and position it away from cold windows and warm or cold drafts.  Only water when the soil is dry and remove decorative foil for good drainage.  Never let it sit in standing water.

When leaves drop, usually by early spring, prune back to eight inches, repot and continue to water and fertilize.  After new growth appears and while nighttime temperatures are above 55 degrees, pots can be put outside.  Continue fertilizing and pruning to keep plants healthy and compact. Stop pruning in August.

Now comes the fun!  Beginning in October cover plants each night for fourteen hours of uninterrupted dark (black plastic works great) – then uncover and expose to bright light for six-to-eight hours a day, keeping temps between 60 and 70 degrees. Follow this regime for eight to ten weeks for brilliantly colored bracts by the holidays.  Tip: don’t fertilize your plant while in bloom.   With proper care, you will enjoy your poinsettia for years.

Christmas cactus is an interesting and different plant.   Its arching, dangling growth habit offers interesting visual lines punctuated by tropical-looking flowers.

Preferring cool but not freezing temps, these cacti dislike drafts such as those near a vent or an outside door.  Allow the top inch of soil to dry between thorough waterings.   Do not over water!  As with most tropical plants, however, they do like humidity and respond well to a gravel and water-filled saucer under the pot.  After blooming, place in a cool room and give limited water for a 30-day rest.  A few leaves may drop during this process.

To encourage blooms, cover plants for 12 hours of uninterrupted darkness each night starting in October.  Alternatively, cool temperatures of 50 to 55 degrees will also trigger budding.  This can sometimes be accomplished by setting the plant near a cold window pane.  As buds form on the side near the window, turn plant a quarter turn to expose another side.  The first buds will begin blooming and continue around the plant as you continue to turn it – thus extending bloom time.

Plants can be repotted in early spring – one tip though, they do seem to flower best when kept pot-bound.  This tropical specimen cannot be planted outside, although pots can be placed outside in sheltered areas during stable, warm weather.

The pleasures of flowering plants in winter are worthy of their maintenance, which itself is part of the sustaining gift for those of us with a gardener’s heart.

Master Gardeners

Holiday Ideas for the Gardener

The weather outside is chilly, the garden tools are all put away, the garden is sleeping, but the gardener is busy getting ready for the holidays.

The bustle of preparations for seasonal entertaining and gift giving can have special meaning for the gardener who has been preparing since spring (or even last fall) for favorite foods, decorations and gifts for the holidays. Read more