Garden Favorites

These garden favorites provide the basic information needed to select, grow, and harvest all your favorite vegetables.

In addition to the detailed information I present, I will also give a few pointers to follow if you want a bountiful garden favorites harvest.

One of the most important is to leave plenty of space between your plants.

Vegetables need enough room so they can get their share of sunlight, water, and nutrients.

It is better to raise one good head of cabbage than two runty, undernourished ones.

One more point to remember is that many diseases and pests attack every member of a plant family, not just one specific species.

Therefore, you shouldn’t plant members of the same family in the same spot in your garden two years in a row.

Garden Favorites: Three Major Groups

    1. eggplant, tomatoes, and peppers

    2. cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, rutabagas, radishes, turnips, kohlrabi, and mustard

    3. gourds, melons, cucumbers, cantaloupe, and squash.

Make a note of the following when using the garden favorites guide::.

    *...Days to harvest means the length of time between when a plant is set out in the garden and when it is set to be harvested.

    *...It does not take account of the number of days a plant grows indoors after being started as a seedling.

    *...Planting depth is an estimated guide. If you have reservation, it is best to error on the low side.

    *...A handy rule of thumb is to plant your seed three times as deep as its dimension.

    *...Planting in hills, means planting seed in small, usually groups of 4 to 8 seeds. (Years ago, a hill meant a low mound of rich soil which I still use today.

Garden Favorites are alphabetically listed:

Asparagus is a garden favorites hardy perennial. It yields edible spears in the spring time and early summer.

An asparagus bed, if well managed, will be productive for 20 years or more.

Asparagus needs a period of cold for dormancy and resting, therefore, it does poorly in areas that are warm the year round. You can start Asparagus from seed, but the common practice is to set out year old roots in early spring or in late fall.

If your family likes Asparagus plant about 10 to 15 plants for each member. Plant the roots in trenches 4-5 ft. apart. Make sure each trench is about 18 in. wide and about 12 in. deep. Mix manure with your soil or use compost, or fertilizer, then cover the bottom of the trench with 4-6 inches of good soil and rake the ground level. Place the asparagus roots in this soil 18 in. apart. Cover your Asparagus with soil up to the top of the trench and if there is any additional soil it can be mounded over the top. An old method is to hardly cover the roots and fill in the trench slowly as the shoots grow. Mulch is suggested for keeping the asparagus bed free of weeds because the roots are shallow. Deep cultivation can injure the roots. Don’t harvest during the first spring. But next year, harvest nimbly for approximately two weeks. You can harvest liberally until the spears become spindly,. This is a sign that the roots are becoming fatigued. The harvest usually will last six to eight weeks. Spears are prepared to be picked when they are tight, smooth, and about 6-8 in. tall. When they begin to open up they are to old. Harvest the spears by cutting or breaking the spears at ground level. You can freeze or can any extra spears that your family won’t eat right away.

Beans are a temperate climate garden favorites crop of tropical derivation. Lima beans and snap beans are the most popular kinds in American gardens. Both are available in pole varieties or in low growing bush varieties. Limas are particularly sensitive to cold and they need a longer, warmer growing season than the snap beans do. Lima beans must be planted when all danger of frost is past. Most gardeners get a leap start on the season by planting lima beans indoors two to three weeks prior to the last frost date. For bush limas, plant seeds 1 inch deep and 2 inch apart in rows 2 feet. apart. Thin afterward to 8 inch between plants. For your pole varieties set poles 3 feet apart in rows 4 feet apart. Plant approximately six seeds per pole and then thin to three or four seedlings. Approximately 5 to 6 feet. of bush limas for each person is plenty. Provide plenty of water in hot weather. Harvest your beans when the seeds begin to plump out in pods. Pick often to keep plants producing. Usually it takes 70 to 90 days till harvest. To use limas as dried beans, let them mature and dry on the plants. You can also freeze or can Lima beans.

Snap beans are a excessive yielding crop that is outstanding for freezing and canning. Sow your seeds when soil is warm following last frost date. Most gardeners risk by planting an early plot about a week earlier than the last expected frost.

Plant bush varieties 1/2 - 1 inch deep. 2 inches apart, and thin to 4 inches apart. For your pole varieties, set poles 3 feet apart in rows 3 to 4 feet apart. Plant six seed for each pole and thin them later to the four strongest seedlings. You will need 5 to 6 feet of bush beans or 3 to 6 feet of pole beans for each person. Harvest your beans when they are young and tender. To get continuous yield, plant a short strip every week to 10 days. You can also select a variety that keeps bearing till frost. Wax beans are yellow instead of green and are a kind of snap bean and need the same culture. It usually takes 50 to 60 dayds till for bush varieties, 60 to 65 days for pole varieties.

Beets Beets are ,with no trouble, grown and is a gardens favorites. They are a twofold purpose crop, together roots and greens can be eaten. Beets are pretty frost resilient and can be planted in spring as soon as the soil is prepared to work. Beets do well in the majority of soil types except those that are highly acidic. Pant 1/2 inch deep, 1 inch apart in rows 18 inches apart. Allow 3 to 5 feet of row for each person in the average family.

Thin your Beets to 2 to 3 inches apart. To raise a fall crop, plant in late June or early July. Harvest your Beets when roots are 1 to 3 inches in diameter. To check, pull up one or two to see if they are ready. If you allow your Beets to grow larger, they become woody and tough. It take 50 to 70 days till harvest. The vitamin full greens can be cooked and eaten like spinach. In the warmer part of the nation beets are frequently sown in early fall intended for a winter crop

More Garden Favorites to come include:

Broccoli Cabbage Carrots Cauliflower Celery Collards Corn Cowpeas Cucumbers Eggplant Kale Kohlrabi Lettuce Mustard Okra Onions Parsnips Peas Peppers Potatoes Pumpkin Radishes Rhubarb Spinach Squash Sweet Potatoes Swish Chard Tomatoes Turnips and Rutabagas Watermelon

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