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| You can do it! |
I work in a garden centre and spent much of this last weekend reassuring customers that it was possible to grow vegetables from seed. In this climate. This 'late' in the spring.
We're blessed with a temperate zone 6 here, although it's been a cool spring so far. Fear not, in vegetable gardening terms, that's not necessarily a bad thing. While you certainly need to buy some plants already started, there is lots to be gained from growing some plants from seed and the time to start them is now.
Yanking a plant out of a pot and jamming it into the ground is not unlike performing surgery on it. Sure, the plant recovers, but it takes time. Some plants get in a real snit about this treatment and may die out of sheer spite. Most importantly, a cell pack of beans, for example, can cost as much as $1.50. That's $ 0.38 per plant! These will be the most expensive beans you will ever eat. For $1.50 I can buy an entire packet of seeds.
So before you blow all your money on cell packs, I recommend buying these babies from seed and planting them directly in the ground:
Beans: these come in vine and bush varieties. Bush varieties are very prolific and can even be grown in a pot!
Beets: they take a while to germinate (as many as 21 days), so be patient. I pick these when they're on the small side.
Carrots: Again, slow germinaters and they will need to be thinned as each 'seed' is actually a seed packet itself. There's some gorgeous rainbow varieties available, too!
Corn: How about pop corn? It can be frustrating to see the squirrels get to the fruit before you do. Measures must be taken.
Cucumber: These things are like magic. The are climbers, and what they climb will want to be sturdy. Last year I made a teepee out of bamboo stakes and the cucumbers created a cozy green shelter.
Lettuce: Spoiled for choice, here. Lettuce likes it a bit cooler, so I try to provide shade for it in the hottest part of the day in the heat of the summer by planting it north of taller plants like corn or sunflowers or beans.
Peas: Honestly, depending on the weather, it might be getting a bit late for peas. They like it cool and I planted mine in March as soon as the soil thawed out. It's been so cool, however, that they've germinated but done nothing else. A warm day or two and they'll be growing strong. Pick peas often, so more flowers (and more peas) will be produced. They're a vine, and will want something to climb.
Radish: An easy, early crop. I plant radishes as soon as the soil can be worked. Once they're eaten, I put in beets or beans. I seldom plant radishes after the middle of June.
Spinach: Another early crop, spinach likes it cool. Heat tends to make it bolt (flower suddenly and unexpectedly). I plant this until mid-June, and then plant again mid- to late- August to take advantage of the Fall weather.
Squash/Pumpkin: This includes both summer squash (e.g. zucchini) and winter squash (e.g. pumpkin, acorn squash, butternut squash). It is possible to find varieties, especially of zucchini, that do not require too much space. However, it is important with squash to plant your seeds successively (two hills one week, two hills 10-14 days later, two more hills 10-14 days after that). Not only do you extend the harvest season, you also stand a chance of defeating the intrepid squash vine borer moth, which lays its eggs inside your squash vine and then toddles off. It's babes, however, when they hatch, EAT THE INSIDE OF THE VINE, and the plant dies. As the moth only lays for about a week every year, succession planting means that even if one planting succumbs, the others will survive. As Doctor Who says: "Everybody lives!"
Turnips: Eww, gross, right? Wrong. Fresh young turnips are easy to grow, and delicious mashed and mixed with butter and maple syrup. Turnip Puff, anyone?
Other things to try: Collards, Bok Choy, Swiss Chard, Onions (from sets), Garlic (from sets) and flowers such as poppies, zinnias, candytuft, alyssum, sunflowers and marigolds.
