Veggies!

It's Time to Plant Your Vegetable Garden

Song lyrics come to mind, "It's Now or Never", "This is it...make no mistake of it, the waiting is over..." Yes, in this odd-ball weather year, our veggie garden moment is here. Of course, there are many who've been at it for months, but the moment I'm talking about is that moment that says: Listen up! We finally have some warm weather and it's time to get your vegetable garden planted! Now! Come June it will heat up fast and those transplants can't get established when it's too hot! (Fact: cell division necessary for the roots to grow doesn't happen when it's too hot.)

What to grow? Any of the warm season crops, corn, tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, cucumbers, beans, melons, pumpkins, eggplant, okra (as if).  Check out your nursery for transplants, and don't forget to look at the seed rack ... many of the warm season veg seeds germinate quickly. Put a bean in the ground, 5 days later it's sprouting. Same for melons, squash and corn.

This year I'm trialing an EarthBox with duplicate veggies in the ground and the box. We'll see how it goes. I'll also have some container appropriate veggies in pots. I have a nice amount of space for my own little mini-farm, but want to see what can be grown in smaller urban spaces, like apartment balconies and courtyard gardens. I'm looking forward to growing this chard, the seed pack says, "thrives in any climate, grows spring thru fall." Pretty good odds on this one.

There's a free e-book, Abundant Harvest, Your Guide to the Home Vegetable Garden, you can download from the website, Growing a Greener World. Easy to read and covers all the basics!

Happy Gardening!

Whether you need garden design, coaching, seasonal maintenance or planting, Geno's Garden can help! Call me at (916) 764-5243, or email hansonja@aol.com.