Like labradoodles (a cross between a Labrador retriever and a poodle), plants that have been deliberately cross-bred are expensive to buy. And when you buy a cross-bred cauliflower you are probably only buying the seed or potential for a better plant. This is a good thing, though, because you know exactly what you will get with hybrid seed and exactly how the seed will perform in your garden. Cauliflower varieties have known and grown
Timing/Planning: remember some plants are cool season crops (radish, spinach, leaf lettuce, mustard greens, peas and everything in cabbage family) while other are warm season (Tomatoes, corn, potatoes, cucumber, squash, beans). Cool season crops can start going into the ground shortly both as direct seed and as transplants. I often start peas by early April and Spinach in the fall so it can come back as early as March. Transplant your peas but start others directly in the cold soil. See what works best in your microclimate.
Are you wishing for pretty and tasty strawberries in your garden? If so, you need bugs and wind and maybe a little luck. Improperly pollinated strawberries have crooked or only half-formed berries. In other words the kind of berries you don’t see at the store are the ones you will grow if you don’t get a little help….
Want to start a vegetable garden but short on money or soil? Gather up your organic materials and start a Hugelkultur today. Donna Balzer and her students Ben and Lisa show us how it is done!
Day neutral or ever-bearing types of strawberries start blooming soon and will bear fruit right away this year – in June. And they will keep right on blooming all summer into fall. I was even surprised by the few berries I picked last November. Day Neutrals bear fruit for a long time but the heaviest crop is still in late June with fewer berries after that.
When you start tomatoes from seed they get their second set of leaves in about three weeks. This is the perfect time to transplant seedlings.
