Garden time --Again-- :)

Here we are looking at the end of February.  Today is gray and cold.  The weather forecaster is calling for SNOW.  Supposed to be lots of snow, but they sometimes often miss their mark.  This means we could have a deluge of snow, or we could have just a light dusting.

So, as we contemplate the weather, just when should we start thinking of gardens?  Most gardeners don't really ever stop thinking of gardens.  We are constantly analyzing what we have, what we WILL have, or what we should have...

I keep a journal, and although it is never quite a complete as I would like to have kept it, it is very helpful in my next year's garden.  As I stated earlier in my garden posts, I have a list of the type of vegetables, herbs, and even a few fruits that I like to grow.  When purusing a garden catalog, remember, they are supposed to look perfect in the pictures!  Most garden catalogs begin at the beginning of the alphabet in their listings.  It has nothing to do with anything, except alphabet...smile.

"Asparagus" for example is the one of the first in the listings.  Asparagus is a perennial, and you plant roots.  I say that, but yes, you can grow them from seeds, it just takes much, much longer.  However, if you are not in a hurry either way works.  Eventually the plants end up in 'beds', hopefully with a walkway in between rows.  The male plants make large uniform spears. Note--I have covered asparagus somewhat in another post...

Beans are listed next, and there are many varieties of beans.  There are green beans and dried beans, yellow wax beans, bush beans, and pole beans.  The green beans are used fresh, or canned in jars for winter consumption.  Dried beans are soup beans.  Yellow wax beans are similar to green beans, and the term 'bush', or 'pole' is just the growing habit of the plant.  A bush bean plant will only grow to about 36" tall, whereas a pole bean needs a fence or a support to grow up.  Some pole bean plants grow close to ten foot high.  You should make a trellis for them.  

Our favorite bush bean is 'Provider' it really is a good decent bean.  We will usually get two good pickings from my double row.  A 100 foot row usually gave us enough green beans for some fresh eating, and approximately 50 quarts of canned beans.  Also note, I figured I wanted at least 50 quarts.  There are 52 weeks in a year and that gave us enough for approximately two quarts a week winter use.  We had a large family and/or enough guests that it often took two quarts per meal.

Note here: when I plant beans I use a 'marker'.  --I believe in one of the other posts (I will check it out later.) I may have had a picture of my 'marker'.--  It is two electric fence posts with a length of --in our case--baler twine so many feet long tying them together.  We usually try for 100 foot rows, so our twine is in something that will give us that measure.  So, I push one of the fence posts into the ground, stretch the twine out tight and push the other post into the ground.  I want the twine/string tight so it doesn't have room for play, or it will 'sag' out in the middle.  I use this to steady my hoe as I run the hoe along the twine making a trench approximately three inches deep.  I then move one end of the marker careful not to disturb the trench.  When planting beans --for example-- I kinda sow them in the trench so many inches between each seed (approximately 2" between seeds I believe the directions say).  Then beside that row I just made I measure one of my shoe lengths, push a post in where the toe of my shoe comes (that's going to be between 8 and 9 inches), take the other post down to the other end of the last row, measure one of my feet measures and push the post in.  I make another row and sow the seeds in it same as the first row.  *When the snow does disappear, I will have my photographer du jour take pictures of this process in order to make it more clear. 

That is my 'double row'.  It is a little more hand tilling when they first come up, but they canopy and keep most of the weeds out from between the rows.   I do many of my vegetables this way.

I enjoy 'playing' with my beans.  I have a mix of bush, and pole beans.  The pole beans usually have more 'character' because they are older varieties.  Some of my favorite pole beans are: Scarlet Runner, Purple Podded Pole, Painted Lady, Mayflower, Cherokee Trail of Tears.  The beautiful colored flowers on fences have brought comments through the years from neighbors and passersby.  I also use these to tell stories, for example "Mayflower" supposedly came over on the 'Mayflower' with the early settlers.  The Cherokee Trail of Tears goes back to Andrew Jackson moving the Cherokees from their homes in Georgia in the bitter weather to the reservation. Purple podded pole reminds me of the time my daughter chose to plant 'purple' beans, and so forth...

The beauty of the flowers, and wonderful flavors of these different beans make them well worth the effort to grow them.  They can also be grown up a fence in an out of the way area, or make a tipi for them to grow up as a conversation piece.

The ground needs to be warmed up for beans to sprout.  If planted too early they will (at least mine would) just lay in the ground until the right time to sprout and grow.  In our area I wouldn't plant beans until (depending on the weather) about mid-April.  If you are in a more southern area probably the first of April, maybe a little earlier, again depending on the weather.

Beets are the next listing, and I would plant beets earlier than beans.  Indeed the directions for beets say: plant as soon as soil can be worked.  I stay mostly with the old varieties of beets.  Detroit Red or Ruby Queen.  This last year I tried a new variety.  I was reading about beet greens being edible, and low-and-behold as I glanced through the garden catalog pictures the variety, "Kestrel" had the most beautiful vibrant green leaves against the red of the beet itself, those beet greens waved at me.  And one of those little voices said, 'that one there!'.  I was rewarded with my choice.  The beet greens were excellent.  If you like spinach this just may be a variety to take its place.  They are much easier to grow as well.

Another tip...if it has the word 'gourmet' about a variety I steer away from it.  I have tried several things that had that word in the title.  If that was gourmet, I've decided someone has a different idea of gourmet than I do...smile.

Our beets, turnips, kohlrabi all did well in spite of our horrible drought last summer.  Mostly they did well because they were planted early in the spring when there was still enough moisture for them not only to germinate, but to grow.  My double rows are also designed to help with weed control, and the canopy helps preserve moisture as well.

With the next post I plan to share more on the 'early' garden, or early spring plantings and what they would be.  For the scripture I would like to leave with you:

Ecclesiastes 5:9  Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field.