Feb. 22 column: Soil care (plus vegetable crop list)
Every year, I write garden columns for The Spokesman-Review from February to October. I’m happy to report that my first column of the 2015 garden season, which is about soil care, has run in today’s edition of the paper. Here is a link to it: Time to dig deep. (or you can read my column lower in this post.)
In it, I talk about what I’ll be growing in this year’s vegetable garden, the newest structure in my garden and how it will be used through both the warm and cold months of the year, and the importance of building your soil every year for the best success at growing plants.
When is it safe to start working your soil?
Speaking of soil care, it is too early to start working with it because it’s still too damp. It’s best to wait until the soil has dried out a bit and is crumbly; working with it too early will damage the structure of the soil and it will be miserable to work with through the rest of the season. I learned this lesson the hard way many years ago and, let me tell you, it wasn’t pretty!
The easiest way to tell if it’s dry enough is to pick up a handful of soil. Squeeze it in your palm. If you’ve just made a small mud pie and/or your hand is wet, the soil is too damp. But if your hand isn’t wet and you are able to poke apart the ball of soil into crumbly bits, it is safe to start working with the soil.
Soil Care garden column:
by Susan Mulvihill
Gardening is such a delightful pursuit that gives us a peaceful connection to the environment around us. After a strange winter with many temperature extremes and spotty precipitation, it’s a pleasure to open the 2015 gardening season with today’s column.
While it’s still too wet to work with your soil, there is certainly plenty of planning and organizing to be done.
Starting a new growing season
Are you as excited about the new season as I am? Like you, I’ve been poring over the seed catalogs that have arrived almost daily for months. Take a look at the list of the vegetable crops I’ll be growing this year. While many are tried-and-true varieties that have performed beautifully in my garden, there are several new ones I couldn’t resist trying out.
When selecting varieties to grow in the Inland Northwest, remember that we have about 120 frost-free days in which to grow them. Our average last frost date is in mid-May and the first frosts of fall usually occur in mid- to late September.
When I choose tomato, melon, pumpkin and winter squash varieties, I look for those with the shortest number of days to maturity, which is listed on the seed packets.
Which plants have I started?
So far, I’ve started leek seeds indoors since they are slow to establish. I’ll start artichokes on Mar. 1, celery on Mar. 15, tomatoes and zinnias on Apr. 1, and peas in mid-April. On May 1, I’ll start basil, beans, corn, cucumbers, pumpkins and squash so they are ready for transplanting when the temperatures rise in the garden.
What’s new in my garden? Last October, my husband, Bill, and I built a small hoop house, which is a plastic-covered greenhouse. It fits over two raised beds and will have a dual purpose. First, I’ll take advantage of the warmer inside temperatures to grow tomatoes, cucumbers and melons earlier than usual. Second, I’ll replace those crops with cold-tolerant veggies — kale, arugula, spinach and corn salad — in the fall so I can grow them through the winter months.
This was my second winter of growing vegetables and I’ve learned that, as long as they get plenty of daylight, it really can be done in northern climates such as ours. This is a great way to produce fresh salad greens while the rest of the garden is waiting for spring to arrive. I’ll write more about this as the season progresses.
Which column topics can you look forward to this season?
How about a look at the newest varieties of vegetables and annual flowers? Also, profiles of local gardeners, how to conserve water in your garden, growing tomatoes in containers, previews of spectacular garden tours in the Inland Northwest, and everything you need to know about growing stunning daylilies and clematis.
But one topic deserves special attention: the importance of taking good care of our soil. Did you know the United Nations has declared 2015 as the International Year of Soils?
Soil is the very foundation of life. I recently learned from North Carolina State University professor of soil science David Lindbo that “there are more microbes in one teaspoon of soil than there are people on earth.” Those microbes play many vital roles so let’s nurture them.
It is vital that we replenish lost nutrients and rebuild the soil every year. This can be accomplished through the use of compost and mulches, along with appropriate watering of our gardens. So let’s get the 2015 garden season under way while keeping this goal in mind.
Susan Mulvihill’s 2015 vegetable garden:
Arugula – Sylvetta
Artichoke – Green Globe, Imperial Star
Basil – Lettuce Leaf, Aurelia
Bean, Bush – French Baby Filet
Bean, Pole – Italian Snap, Rich Purple Pod
Beet – Cylindra, Albino
Carrots – Tendersweet, Starica, King Midas Long, Mokum Hybrid
Celery – Tango
Cilantro – Bac Lieu
Corn – Luscious
Cucumber – Platinum, Parisian Gherkin
Kale – Tuscan Baby Leaf
Leek – King Richard
Lettuce – Ruby Glow, Outredgeous, Renee’s Baby Leaf
Melon – Arava, El Gordo, Napoli
Onion – Copra, Yellow Sweet Spanish
Parsnip – Andover
Pea – Green Arrow, Golden Sweet
Pepper – Sunset Mix
Potato – Viking Purple
Pumpkin – Casper, New England Pie
Spinach – Bordeaux
Squash, Summer – Romanesco zucchini, Trombetta Climbing
Squash, Winter – Sweet Meat, Lakota, Sweet Dumpling, Cream of the Crop Acorn, Blue Ballet Hubbard
Tomatillo – Toma Verde
Tomato – Italian Pompeii, Jetstar
Swiss Chard – Peppermint Stick