What to Plant Next?
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Daniel
Location: British Columbia, Southwestern Posts: 32
Posted: Jun-07-2009 at 4:16pm So far this year on the 1000 sq. feet that I garden once weekly, on Sunday, I've planted lettuce, broccoli, pole beans, carrots, bush beans, arugula, more lettuce, and a few onions which are poorly - I'm not sure if they're germinating at all.
I have about 100 square feet left to plant and I need some ideas. I was a little bit late off the start line for planting this season, so my lettuce and broccoli are a little behind where they should be, but I'm wondering what are good considerations for planting in early June? Any recommendations for things I ought to try? Should I work with transplants now that it's June? For that 100 or so sq. feet that I left should I simply put in a buckwheat cover crop and before I plant some winter crops such as kale or Brussels sprouts?
I have some quinoa, kamut, black bean, Swiss chard, buckwheat etc. seed left from the summer of '06, some of which I have planted, but for now I'm wanting to avoid planting grains and dry beans simply because it's necessary to plant such a large area to get a decent harvest. When I have more land I might experiment further with those.
I'm also not fertilizing anything other than compost this year, mainly because I can't afford any fertilizer. The land has been fallow for two to three years, so although I know administering some Complete Organic Fertilizer and trace minerals is probably needed, I'm going to put that off until later this year or next year. In the meantime, I expect to get average production, so am looking for some crops that aren't overly demanding.
gary
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor Posts: 834
Posted: Jun-09-2009 at 4:41am
Daniel,
Why not just field sow kale and Brussels sprouts now. I'd use 18" spacing squares for the kale and 24" for the sprouts. I use 4-foot wide beds so the 18" kale spacing is done in repeating triangles like:
X X
X
X X
X
Using the kale for the full 100 sq. ft. will give you harvests beginning in August and lasting until you eat the flower sprouts next spring.
My favorite variety is Winterbor for its all year use. Maybe that is because my favorite winter use is in my family's German version of corned beef and cabbage; pork shoulder, sausage, potatoes, and kale. It also makes a great bed to steam a frozen salmon or cod fillet on during the winter. Just add some lemon juice and Dijon to the pan juice for a sauce.
The only real winter damage I've ever had with it was last December's heavy & wet snowfall, 24" at our sharecrop site, which broke the stems of all the larger leaves so I had some extra kale meals for a couple of weeks.
Need I mention kale's nutritional value:
"Nutrition Facts and Analysis for Kale"
"This food is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Protein, Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Thiamin, Riboflavin, Folate, Iron and Magnesium, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Calcium, Potassium, Copper and Manganese."
Maybe I should sow a second 100 sq. ft. bed at the sharecrop?
Gary
Joy C
Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro
Posted: Jun-12-2009 at 1:06pm
Check Territorial Seed catalog, as they have several different cole crops, carrots, beets, designed for late planting and wintering over Late planting of leek will last until March or so.
Gardening for the Homebrewer: Grow and Process Plants for Making Beer, Wine, Gruit, Cider, Perry, and More
By co-authors Debbie Teashon (Rainy Side Gardeners) and Wendy Tweton