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page 2 Another consideration before you plant is whether or not you're sowing seed directly into the garden which can be done with summer squash, beans, lettuce, radishes, peas and other crops or will you be planting bulbs or transplants. Transplants are young vegetable plants that have been started ahead of the normal growing season. Often they are grown in a protective environment, whether it's a greenhouse or a warm, sunny window inside your home. The purpose of the transplant is to give the gardener a head start in the garden where the growing season is short. Instead of having to wait for the seed to germinate after planting you put a plant right in the garden and it'll be ready to grow allowing you to gain a several week advantage. Not all plants transplant well nor do all plants need that head start in the garden to grow successfully. Garden ready transplants can be found at the local garden centers for some of the vegetables like peppers and tomatoes but then you're limited to the variety available. Generally you'll find varieties in the nurseries and garden centers that are appropriate for the Tucson area. However, if you want more selection in what you grow, you'll have to purchase seed and either start the plants early in a protective environment, or sow directly in the garden.
I usually start tomato seeds in late December or early January and eggplant, peppers and summer squash in February because I have the luxury of a small, heated greenhouse. Then when the spring temperatures warm and my raised beds are prepared I can put the plants directly into the garden without having to worry about cutworms, birds and other critters decimating young seedlings as they poke their way through the ground. The head start means I will be harvesting my first tomato and squash ahead of the gardener that plants seeds when the soil warms. All of the above things need to be considered before you start your garden. What's most important is to grow the vegetables you and your family enjoy eating. If you don't like cucumbers, don't grow them. If you can only eat a few summer squash a summer, then don't grow more than a couple of plants. If you're a garlic fan and need fresh garlic for you cooking all year then be sure to plant enough to eat and to have enough extra bulbs to plant the following year. I started with three cloves of elephant garlic some years back and now I always have more than I can eat, along with plenty of cloves to plant the coming fall. Be Aware of the
Ides of March But "Beware the Ides of March". We could very well get another freeze. It's not too likely, but it could happen. If you happen to put all your tomato plants in the garden, along with your summer squash transplants, then you'd better do something to protect them if the local weather guys suddenly forecast a cold snap. I always grow extra plants just in case something bad happens to those already planted. If nothing does, I give the extra plants away. One fall big red ants came in the night and ate off every one of my lettuce seedlings I had growing in flats. I had to replant the seeds and had a later than usual crop of lettuce that year. Seasoned Tucson vegetable gardeners like to gamble. They look at the Ides of March as too late in the season to get those tomatoes in the ground. Gardeners who've weathered a few of our summers know that they have to try and get as many tomatoes and ears of corn before the real heat sets in. Those high ninety and hundred degree days can ruin some crop production and put stress on plants. Tomatoes don't set fruit, corn silks shrivel and die without getting pollinated and anything exposed most of the day to our sunshine is going to get leaf burn or sun scald. It happens. That's why some experienced gardeners use shade cloth or grow there plants where they'll get afternoon shade. I usually wait for March 15th, but that's because I have my tomato and squash plants in gallon containers that already have a head start. I'll begin planting my seeds in the garden, such as bush beans, near that date or after. Beginning vegetable gardeners can start with the 15th and see how it goes. Maybe the following year they can fudge the date a little in hopes of getting a few vegetables a few days sooner than the year before. These dates are nothing more than guidelines. Breath easy, you won't be arrested and banned from the world of vegetable gardening if you deviate from the norm.
Different Season, Different Crops continued on page 3 |
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