In the Vegetable Garden: Summer Planting and Status Updates

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A homemade planting board makes spacing plants a breeze

This past Sunday, I visited my local flea market in Cedar Lake, Indiana.  I've been going to this market for more than thirty years.  Prior to being a flea market, it was a chicken ranch - the sheds now hold treasures rather than hens.  In the warm months, the vendors set up outside as well.  My mission that day was to get some seasonal flowers for outdoor pots and some pepper plants.  In early April, I started some seeds indoors, you can read more about that here.  Knowing my luck starting seeds inside, and having them be robust plants by the end of May, I decided not to start my green peppers from seed, but rather get them from the vendor that sells them at the flea market - 24 pepper plants for $5.50, and the plants were much larger than the hot peppers that I did start from seed, as seen in the photo below - so unusual plants, I'll start from seeds indoors (as well as easy to start plants such as cucumbers and squash), but common plants such as green peppers, I'd rather buy.

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The little pepper plants in the foreground were started indoors six weeks ago. The larger plants, behind them were purchased for less than a quarter a piece. Both methods, have their advantages.

The pepper plants were spaced a foot apart in rows 18 inches apart using a homemade planting board.
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The "bare" area in the foreground has the tiny pepper plants and a row of potatoes just showing some green

Growing Peanuts in the North, Don't Cha Know The vendor doesn't sell anything too unusual, so my indoor starts also included some winter and summer squash, cucumbers, parsley, and ... Spanish peanuts.   In northern Illinois short growing season, I thought that I might have a better chance of getting a crop of peanuts if I started the seeds indoors, a month ahead of setting them out in the garden.  Of all places, I purchased my peanut seeds from Farm & Fleet, in their candy and nut aisle.  A pound of raw peanuts was $2.00.  I set aside about a dozen seeds, wrapped them in a moist paper towel, rolled the towel up an placed it in an unsealed plastic bag - the seeds tend to get funky (as I found out) if they don't get some air - they actually ferment, which is death to the peanut.  After a week or so on my kitchen counter top, the seeds had sent out a tap root and were ready to be planted in to pots to grow on until the weather was warm enough to plant them in the garden.  The rest of the peanuts from the store were made into sweet and salty beer nuts.
Peanut seeds

The raw peanuts were pre-sprouted in moist paper towel, then planted into pots, a week later

sprouted peanuts

Approximately a week after being wrapped in moist toweling, little radical roots appeared

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The peanut plants, on the right side of the flat of plants, a month after sprouting indoors, and now ready to plant out in the garden

The peanuts had a good root system, which was encouraging since this is the first time I have tried to grow peanuts in my vegetable garden - more out of curiosity than for any more sensible reason.
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Peanuts are not know to transplant well, but with a short northern growing season, I felt my odds of getting a crop before frost were increased by starting the seeds indoors, a month before setting them out in the garden.

My vegetable garden space is limited, and I felt a bit foolish taking up this valuable real estate with a novelty crop, but I've been wanting to try growing peanuts for almost twenty years now, so this is the year.
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The peanut plants were given about one square foot of soil a piece - a bit more might be be better - but we'll see how this method works out

...And a Few Updates The carrot and beet seeds planted in early April took their time coming up, about three weeks, but are now in need of thinning to about 2 to 3 inches apart.  I may wait a bit longer to do this task, as beet greens are good in salads, along with mini carrots, so maybe on the first of June, these plants will get thinned out and put into a salad bowl.

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Beets in the foreground with carrots behind.  The hops vine in creeping in from the right.

Cucumbers and zucchini plants were planted between the rows of beets and carrots this week.  Hopefully, the beets and carrots will have been harvested before the cucumbers and zucchini get too big.  A trellis will be installed for the cucumbers to climb up on.
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a zucchini seedling planted indoors about 10 days ago, and now ready to go into the garden soil

The lettuce, seen below, was planted at the same time as the beet and carrot seed in the next bed over - about six weeks ago - it should be ready for a first picking very soon.  Four Broccoli plants, that I purchased from a family owned garden center, are doing well and even have little heads already.  Last year I purchased my broccoli plants from a big box store, because they looked so nice - they died, one by one, shortly after I planted them in the garden - club root? I'm not sure, but no more Scottish grown plants for me.

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Lettuce seeds were planted the sixth of April - about six weeks ago.  The onion-like shallots growing in the rear of the bed were planed last fall, and will be harvested in late summer, when the tops die down.  Dill is also coming up from seed dropped last year - swallowtail butterfly larvae eat the leaves of dill, so I let it grow where it is not a problem.

The seven varieties of potatoes that I planted are also growing well and were in need of their first (last?) hilling up.  All this means, in my case, is that some composted wood chips were thrown on top of the plants so that the tubers are protected from the sun (which turns them green and inedible) and allows more roots to form along the potato stems which, hopefully, will lead to more potatoes in late summer/fall.  Last year, I used straw, instead of composted wood chips and had the worst potato crop ever, while slugs and pill bugs had a feast on the tubers that did form.  Sorry Ruth Stout, your method did not work for me.
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The potato tubers were planted in shallow holes four inches deep, now that the tubers are growing, soil needs to be tossed on top of the new growth, which ultimately will push though this new layer soil/composted wood chips.  This process, call "hilling" helps to increase the potato yield.

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The new growth will push up through the new layer of compost laid on top of the potato bed

The other potato bed was given the same treatment as the first: 9685 9732The garlic is looking great.  I give my garlic two seasons to grow before harvesting, the garlic shown in the photo below will be pulled in August, when the tops go dormant.  In September, a new bed of garlic will be planted from cloves of this year's crop.
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The hardneck garlic is looking robust in its second season of growth

The garlic planted last September is nowhere near as large - this being only its first season, it will be harvested in August of next year, after its second season of growth - the garlic heads will be much larger at the end of the second season - in a pinch, garlic can be harvested for kitchen use at any time the ground isn't frozen solid.  For garlic that is to be stored dry, it needs to be harvested as soon as the leaves turn yellow in late summer, otherwise, it will sprout new leaves soon after.

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Garlic at the beginning of its first season, after being planted last fall

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Potato Planting Time

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8512 After being stored in a windowless room in my basement all winter, the potatoes were brought out in to the sunlight to be planted.   I grow seven kinds of potatoes: Kennebec, Yukon Gold, Red Norland, Russian Fingerling, Adirondack Red, Adirondack Blue, and Viking Purple. 

·        Kennebec, Late season, good winter keeper, large to very large tubers, tan skin, white flesh, developed in Maine in the 1940's, released to the public in 1948. Good boiled, mashed, or baked.

 ·        Yukon Gold, Early to Mid-season, good winter keeper, medium tubers, tan skin, bright yellow flesh, developed in the 1960's in Ontario, Canada, release to public in 1980.  Good for boiling or baking, as well as frying.

·       Red Norland, Early season, poor winter keeper, medium tubers, red skin, cream colored flesh, developed in North Dakota in the 1950's, good boiling potato and often harvested mid-summer as a "new potato."

·       Russian Fingerling (aka. Russian Banana), Mid to Late-season, fair winter keeper, elongated small tubers, tan skin, yellow flesh, developed in the Baltics, good boiling potato, roasted, or pan fried.

·       Adirondack Red, Early to Mid-season, poor winter keeper, small/medium tubers, red skin, pink flesh, high in anti-oxidants, Developed at Cornell University in New York State, released to the public in 2004, good roasted, mashed, pan fried.

·       Adirondack Blue, Mid-season, poor winter keeper, small/medium tubers, purple skin, deep purple flesh, high in antioxidants, Developed at Cornell University in New York State, released to the public in 2003, good mashed. roasted, or boiled.

·      Viking Purple, Mid to Late-season, good winter keeper, large tubers, purple/rose skin with pure white flesh, good baked, mashed, or fried.

  Traditionally, many folks used Good Friday to mark the day for potato planting, and since Easter always falls on the Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox, that day is also a "planting by the stars" tradition.  In any event, potatoes are very cold hardy, and as long as the soil can be worked, and temperatures are on the rise, potatoes can be planted.  Last year, I tried the straw method, a la Ruth Stout.  Ruth Stout was an East Coast gardener who wrote a few books about her "no-work" gardening methods.  Ruth would lay her seed potatoes on the ground, then throw straw on top of them - no digging, no work.  When I tried that method, all I managed to harvest was a bunch of slug eaten tubers, most not fit to eat.  I was also encouraged to try the straw method when I read about it in my old Farmer's Encyclopedia from the late 1800's - the excerpt is shown below: 8555a 8553 This year I've gone back to a more traditional method.  Many books talk about digging a trench and pushing the soil to one side, then as the potatoes grow, push the soil back around the plants, and hilling the soil up around the plants - which the old farmer's encyclopedia advised against - who to believe?  The trench method may work fine, if you have the room - these same books want the gardener to space the seed potatoes 18 inches apart, in rows 36 inches apart, my garden is not that big.  I simply dug down about six inches, put down a potato tuber, then slightly covered the potato.  When it starts growing, I'll push the rest of the soil back over the tuber.   Other than mulching with some straw to shield any potatoes forming near the soil surface from the sun, and turning green (green=solanine=toxin=inedible potato.)
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The tubers are spaced about a foot apart

I laid out my potatoes with approximately a one foot spacing, once I determined that my layout would work, I dug my hole and placed in a seed potato (seed potato = an untreated and disease-free tuber, used to grow a potato plant - super market spuds are treated to retard growth, an may not grow, if planted.)
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One tuber is placed in the bottom of each hole then lightly covered with soil

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The potato bed after planting

Vegetable Seed Update A week ago vegetable seeds were planted, both inside and out, you can read about that here.  Of the carrots, lettuce, and beet seeds that were planted outside, so far, only the lettuce is making an appearance.  Meanwhile, inside, the tomato, pepper, ground cherry, parsley, and broccoli seeds are all up in just a weeks time. Bottom heat certainly helps. 8335 The tomato and broccoli seedlings were thinned to a spacing of about an inch and a half, or so.  Scissors were used to clip off the unwanted seedlings rather than pulling, since pulling out the unwanted plants may disturb the roots of the other plants.
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Thinning by clipping

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The bottom row of tomatoes has just been thinned, the upper two rows are next

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The appearance after thinning. The plastic wrap still covered the unsprouted parsley - the cover was removed today, as they have now come up.

  Over the next few weeks as daytime temps get into the 60's and 70's the flats of vegetable seedlings will start to spend some of their time outside - at first in a wind and sun protected area and for less than an hour, then each day the time will be extended and more exposure to the sun will be possible as the plants "harden off."

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In the Vegetable Garden: Early April Seeding

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  8118 It's April in the Chicago area, and it's time to stop dreaming about getting outside and scratching around in the vegetable garden and start doing some planting!  While there are plenty of vegetables that can be sown directly into the cool spring soil, I generally have a somewhat limited pallet and they include carrots, beets, lettuce, sometimes kale, spinach, and other greens.  I'll also plant onion sets, if I think to buy some, but usually rely on my shallots to carry me through - and those were planted last fall.  Also in the next few days, I'll get my potatoes planted.  It's starting to get busy around here. 8235 As a kid growing up in the 1970's, one of the shows I'd watch religiously was Jim Crockett's Victory Garden on PBS Public Television, running from 1975 until 2007.  Jim had a no-nonsense approach to his garden instruction - he knew what he was about and he told it like it was .. clearly and enjoyably.  It was like having a grandfather in the garden, showing you what to do and what to look out for.  The show had many hosts after his death in 1979, but the show was never as good as when Jim was there.  Thankfully, Jim wrote "Crockett's Victory Garden", published in 1977.  The book is invaluable to anyone wanting to grow vegetables in their backyard.  Each chapter in the book outlines the garden activities for a particular month ..if it's April, it's time to get the potatoes in the ground, plant carrots, plant out that apple tree, etc.  I still remember buying my copy in the bookstore more than 35 years ago. 8233 In the book, Jim included instructions on how to make a planting board.  This year, I finally decided to make one for myself, and it's pretty useful - surprise!  My planting beds are 46 inches wide, so I made mine to fit, rather than the specified 48" - I shorted my spacing of notches to 5.75" from the 6" in the book to account for this shorter length.  I used the planting board the same day it was made a few days ago, when I planted lettuce, carrot, and beet seeds in my vegetable garden.  To make my planting board, I used some wood that I had pulled from a trash bin and had lying around the basement, a 1x4 piece of lumber is what is needed:
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This piece of scrap wood, destined for the landfill, came in handy

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The board was cut to length and marked every six inches where the notches would be cut out

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The finished product, ready to go into service for many years. I only question is: "Why did I wait so long to make one?"

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The edge of the board was cut at an angle, allowing it to be used to make furrows for planting seeds

8113 The raised beds of my garden allow the soil to drain well and warm up sooner in the spring, than if I didn't have raised beds - the poorly drained soil in this part of my yard necessitated the raised beds, so they are not just a luxury.  Last fall, I prepared one of the raised beds for planting out garlic cloves.  The middle of the bed was left vacant for early spring planting of other crops. 8120The soil was raked smooth, then the planting board was used to make shallow 1/2 inch deep furrows, spaced about ten inches apart, for the seeds.
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Pinching a crease in the seed packet allows for more control when shaking out the seeds.

The process went quickly and the angled edge of the planting board worked well in making the furrows consistent.  Trying to avoid too much thinning in a few weeks, the seeds were spaced about 1.5 inches apart.  From each seed packet, I was able to plant four, 4ft rows.  The cost of each seed packet was five cents - yes a nickel each, thanks to a sale at The Home Depot of 20 packs of seed for a dollar.  After the seeds were planted, a steel garden rake was used to tamp the soil down and then the plot was watered and will be watered every day, until the seeds come up, and as necessary after that.

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Tamping the soil down around the seeds help them to make good contact with soil moisture - if the soil is allowed to dry out before the seeds spout - they may never appear.

Indoor Seeding 8128A few vegetables need warm soil (and a long season) to sprout and ultimately produce fruit.  If planted outside in April, the seeds would sulk until soil temperatures reached the 70° F mark, by then, it would be too late to get a harvest from the plants.  For that reason, I start my tomatoes and peppers indoors with bottom heat.  I also planted some parsley, ground cherry, and broccoli this year, since I had room for these as well. 8127For bottom heat, I use a 14" by 36" rubber heat mat made by Bird-x of Chicago.  The mat keeps the soil at about 70° F, perfect for starting seeds.  Once the seeds have sprouted, I'll unplug the heat mat.  The heat mat is set on rigid foam insulation so that more of the heat goes into the soil, rather than into the room. 8136I used a commercial potting mix specifically for vegetables and outdoor flowers to fill my flats primarily because it's weed and disease free - very important when starting tender seedlings.  A mix of compost, peat moss, and perlite could be used as well, if it is pasteurized at 180° for about a half an hour in an oven or outdoor grill.
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A pencil makes for a handy tool when creating furrows in the seed flats.

I used a wooden seed flat, because the heat transfer is better, the soil stays moister longer, I can get more plants in small area, and I find it quicker to plant than plastic cell flats.  But since I earlier started some Spanish peanuts in a plastic tray, I also planted some tomatoes seeds in the unused portion as well. 8134 Everything is labeled as to species and date of planting, These labels follow the plants later in the season as they get planted out in the garden.  After watering everything thoroughly, plastic wrap is laid on top of the soil to retain moisture in the soil until the seeds sprout.  Once the seeds come up, the plastic wrap is removed, and the seedlings are watered as needed. 
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The moist soil is covered with plastic wrap until the seeds sprout, when it is then removed.

In the past, I have tried to grow seedlings under artificial lighting (florescent tubes), without much success.  No matter how close the lights are to the plants or how long I leave them on (using a timer), the plants always got spindly and mostly fell over and died.  This year, the east facing window will have to do, and as it gets warmer outside, I will slowly begin to set out the trays where they can get more light.

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