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| Asparagus tip just emerging |
I mentioned last week that the students in my homestead-style gardening class had lots interesting questions and comments. As promised, here's the second installment of class FAQ's about spring gardening.
It’s a temptation to buy veggie starts as soon as they show up at the garden center or local nursery and put them in the ground as soon as possible. Keep in mind that retailers often keep their starts in a protected area that’s usually warmer than the conditions in your garden.
As a result, your newly planted babies can have difficulties thriving
in their new home. The lesson is, when your area is experiencing a very chilly, wet spring, try not to be in too big a hurry to plant!
Here at our house, it's showery and 45 degrees. So I'm in no rush to get more sensitive crops in the ground! Happily, crops like asparagus will grow even in cool weather--just more slowly than warmer years.
More on asparagus, specifically newly planted asparagus crowns: one student was concerned
that none of her asparagus had broken ground yet. We planted 10
asparagus crowns last spring, and I noted that the stalks were much slower to
show up than the established asparagus.
This second year, the tips of our new crowns didn’t appear until about
10 days after the established crowns showed up. However, the location of the
new bed is probably slightly cooler—a little bit further away from the gravel
paths that likely bring a bit more heat to nearby garden areas. Which could
account for the slower start.
I also suggested that she watch for slugs: we had 4 or 5 new crowns
that died the first season, because slugs were eating the tiny stalk heads as
soon as they emerged.
Strawberries: It’s a bit late to plant new strawberry crowns—in early
spring is more optimal. If you want to have a steady strawberry crop, you might
consider planting a bed every year or two. I’ve found that new crowns do better
in a fresh bed—not one where you’ve already been growing the berries.
The first summer of the new crowns, remove the flowers as they appear. This way, the plant
can put more energy into root growth, rather than fruit production.
Also, keep in mind strawberry plants will bear high quality fruit for
only about 3-5 years. They are susceptible to viruses that will deplete the
plant over time—after several years, the foliage becomes sparse, and the
berries shrink. At our place, our strawberries bear for only 3 years, tops.
Garlic: I’ve found it’s super easy to grow. I plant the cloves (what’s called seed garlic) in November, top dress with lots of leaves and compost, and the tops will emerge in mid-March the following spring.
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| Garlic in May--it likes lots of mulch! |
In early summer, hardneck garlic will send up seed heads, called “scapes,”
which can be harvested and eaten. If you don’t eat the scapes, cut them out
anyway. They are taking energy away from the garlic heads below ground.
Keep in mind there’s a wait for the heads to fully develop before harvesting.
Keep an eye on your garlic early to mid-summer as the lower leaves begin to die
back. When 5 leaves are pretty much
withered, your crop is probably ready to pick—at our place, that’s the 3rd
week in July.
Onions: You can plant sets, starts or seeds. I am not experienced with
growing onions from seed, so I can’t speak to that. But if onion seeds take as
long to sprout and get established as tomatoes, I’m guessing you’d need to
start your onion seeds indoors, in late winter.
Years ago, John and I began growing onions from “sets.” Sets are small onions that
are slightly larger than pearl onions, and are a little more resilient than
starts. But a number of years ago, when I started buying my veggie starts
locally, I found sets harder to source.
So I began buying onion starts—they’re slender little stalks with very
little root mass, so they need cool, very damp soil to survive. Mulch them
well, to keep the soil as moist as possible.
I used to plant my onion starts in May, when I sowed my other root
crops. But despite deep mulching, these little starts really struggled in the
warmer, drier soil of mid-spring. I would end up losing about ¼ of my crop. I changed my
planting time to early-mid April, and have had much better success.
Permanent Plantings:
If you’re bringing new perennials, shrubs and trees into your garden,
consider waiting to buy them until early fall. Given the extra watering new
plants require, it’s harder to establish them in summertime. Plus, if you’re a
city dweller, water can be expensive!
We lost 2 new elderberry shrubs that John planted just weeks before our
region’s record-breaking heat wave. If waiting until fall to plant doesn't work, the next best option is early spring.
Rocks! If you’re digging garden beds for the first time, depending on your soil, you may also be forced to harvest an unwanted crop: rocks!
One couple in class was frustrated with the quantities of rocks they
had to pull from their new planting beds. They already had piles and piles of
rocks, and asked, “What do we do with them all?”
Our acreage is located in an area with very rocky, gravelly soil, so I
totally sympathize. When we dug our new garden, we too unearthed vast numbers
of rocks. I am lucky to have wild areas nearby: I tossed many wheelbarrow loads
down the steep slope bordering our yard; I also piled many behind a huge log (a
souvenir of the clear-cut) just outside our fence.
And true confessions: While digging new ground our first year, I also piled a single
layer of rocks on the south side of our yard, because I didn’t have the energy
to cart them off—and they are still there!
I suggested to the couple that if they had room in their yard, they could construct a dry stream bed as kind of landscape feature. Another possible remedy: if nothing else, you can leave the piles for wildlife habitat!
This was the silver lining behind the unsightly pile of rocks I created years ago. Good
garden friends--like toads and salamanders that eat bugs--will enjoy the heat. Garter
snakes will also live under the rocks and eat mice and voles that would otherwise devour your crops!
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