Tag Archive | Bt

Seedlings For Your Garden: 12 Tips

2022

Updated 5/21/2024

seedlings, zucchini

Starting Seedlings For Your Garden

Busy spring! This lengthy article focuses on starting and caring for seedlings and getting them established in the garden. If I’m not working on the seedlings, I’m working in the gardens, creating new beds and expanding those started last fall and winter. Winter weather was delightfully mild to allow planting right through the cold season. The weeds and I have come to an understanding, and in the next article, I’ll tell you how in “Patches for Pollinators”.

Foremost on the agenda has been starting plants to sell at our local Elkin Farmers’ Market. It’s been a challenge this year, keeping plants in good condition with high heat, heavy humidity, and frequent rainstorms. If I had a climate-controlled greenhouse, there might have been fewer losses. But, for the most part, my company, Wellspring Gardens, is producing more seedlings than I can sell at the market.

Some of that overproduction is destined for the vegetable gardens. It will yield small harvests of produce to sell at the market in addition to what’s needed in the kitchen. This is new territory for me, adding produce to the plants offered at the farmers’ market.

I might even consider canning, which I’ve never done…but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. That would be helpful, though, considering the rapidly rising prices at the grocery store. For that reason alone—the impact of rampant inflation on our wallets—it’s wise to learn how to grow at least a few vegetables.

The sun’s path across the sky, Charlotte NC.

Watching how the sun tracks across the sky from month to month reveals good spots for the sun worshipers and areas where leafy greens should thrive in partial sun. This is my first summer in this house. The massive oak trees create shifting shade patterns that cause me to periodically rethink the plans.

So, let’s begin!

12 Tips For Starting Seeds

1. Start with clean materials for seedlings.

Sweet pepper ‘Glow’, started in 9-cell packs.

This calls for packaged seedling mix or fine-grained potting soil. Don’t use “dirt” from the garden, with its pathogens, insects, weed seeds, and worms that disrupt soil structure around tiny roots. In addition to the unknowns lurking in garden soil, its high clay content causes drainage issues in containers.

Potting soil that has a lot of coarse materials, such as pine fines (bits of pine bark), can be improved by sifting the soil. I use a clean plastic pot with small holes in the bottom. Fill the pot partway with the soil, and shake it vigorously up and down over the containers. Do the same thing when covering seeds.

Soil used previously for potted plants is not a good medium for your seedlings. It’s often depleted of nutrients, might contain pathogens, and the organic matter has partially decomposed. If it’s only one season old, it’s probably safe for transplanting potted annuals, when mixed with fresh potting soil, or incorporated into the backfill for that new sourwood tree. Or simply throw it under the shrubs or into the compost pile (never in the trash!).

Because seedlings are susceptible to soil-borne diseases, play it safe and start with pasteurized bagged seedling mix or potting soil. This, however, doesn’t guarantee a successful outcome, as many disease spores are air-borne. But we can increase the odds of success by using clean materials.

When reusing cell packs, pots, and flats for seeding, wash them in a 10% bleach solution, and rinse well before proceeding. Don’t smoke around plants, and wash hands thoroughly before working with them. Tobacco and other plants in the nightshade family (Solanaceae, including tomato, pepper, eggplant, and potato) can fall prey to the same disease organisms. Spores can transfer from tobacco products to your hands to the plants.

Pasteurizing Potting Soil

For bagged soil that’s questionable, you can pasteurize it in the oven. Don’t heat soil that contains timed release fertilizers. Use an oven-safe covered pot or baking dish, wet the soil, and heat the oven to 200°F. When the soil registers 140° on a meat thermometer, lower the oven temperature and maintain soil at that temperature for 30 minutes. This kills most pathogens. Wait for it to dry somewhat and to cool thoroughly before using. Various websites recommend different temperature levels from 140° to 300°. At the high end, however, beneficial microbes are killed off as well.

Let it cool down outdoors. Considering the pervasive “earthy” odor coming from hot soil, you might prefer buying a new bag of seedling mix or accept a small risk with the open bag in the garage.

Another method of pasteurizing (not sterilizing) soil is to place a heat-resistant container of soil in a black plastic bag. Place the bag in a sunny place outdoors on a warm day, and let the sun do the work for you. This is called solarization, and can raise the temperature inside the bag to 140-160°F. To prevent damage to the beneficial microbes, take the temperature, and maintain it at 140° for 30 minutes, opening the bag a bit to prevent overheating.

Most bagged potting soils and seedling mixes already have been heat-treated to eliminate pests. Close the bag securely and store in a cool dark place. The last and only time I pasteurized soil was nearly 50 years ago because that’s what the experts recommended.

2. Grow disease resistant varieties…

While fungicide and bactericide formulations—both organic and conventional—are available, I’d rather grow disease resistant varieties and not rely on spraying. Keep in mind that resistance is not 100% effective, particularly when plants are exposed to stressful weather or cultural conditions.

Certain varieties are more flavorful than others, but all well-grown fruits and vegetables from your own garden taste better than those purchased from grocery stores. Picked when vine-ripened perfect, anything coming from the garden will be superior to what’s found elsewhere except, perhaps, at farmers’ markets and farm stands. Freshly picked produce also has the highest nutrient content.

Digging in the garden is great exercise; proceed slowly at first. Working outside in nature feels good, and self-sufficiency is never amiss. A few steps from the back door gathering a green onion, spinach, dinosaur kale, and a little ripe sweet pepper for the veggie omelet is more rewarding than I can describe. You’ll see!

Those are just a few of the many benefits of growing our own vegetables. Using disease resistant varieties, if available, makes the job so much easier. Many new gardeners gave up after having suffered the disappointment of losing an entire crop to early blight or bacterial leaf spot. And we also have to deal with deer, rabbits, and insects!

Although this article concentrates primarily on edibles, flowering plants also have their own set of disease organisms. Again, look for resistant varieties, grow them in conditions that don’t favor infection, and look for remedies at the garden center.

…Especially Tomato Seedlings

Disease beginning on ‘Rutgers’ tomato.

Tomatoes and peppers, two of the most popular crops for home vegetable gardens, are vulnerable to many diseases. They’re caused by fungal, bacterial, or viral pathogens. In some areas, nematodes also can be a problem. Usually, we can harvest some fruits before disease claims them, but resistant plants last longer in the garden. Plants infected with viruses should be removed and destroyed. For fungal and bacterial pathogens, products at garden centers will help. Always read the labels.

Tomato diseases include Alternaria stem canker, early blight, late blight (Phytophthora; very few varieties are resistant to this one), Fusarium wilt, grey leaf spot, leaf mold, tobacco mosaic virus, tomato mosaic virus, tomato spotted wilt virus, and Verticillium wilt. Catalog listings use initials to indicate disease resistance. For tomatoes, AS, EB, LB, F, GLS, LM, TMV, ToMV, TSWV, and V, respectively, represent those diseases.

Tomatoes are weedy plants and normally produce good crops, despite many organisms that target them. Peppers are susceptible to several races of bacterial leaf spot, and basil to basil downy mildew. Some zinnias are plagued by powdery mildew. Weather conditions, such as high humidity and frequent rain, exacerbate these disease problems.

Most hybrid (or “F1”) tomatoes have some resistance to one or more pathogens, but not to all of them. ‘Big Beef Plus’ is resistant to a wide variety of diseases. ‘Damsel’ and ‘Defiant PhR’ are resistant to late blight. Hybrid seeds carry a higher price than open pollinated varieties due to the cost of research that developed them and the extra steps needed to produce hybrid seeds each year.

It’s so hot out there!

If you live in a hot climate, look for tomato varieties that have been bred to produce better at high temperatures. The pollen in tomatoes and peppers, and others, can die at high temperatures. While these plants are comfortable at 65-80°F, pollen dies above 88°, 90°, or 92°, depending on the cultivar. No pollination = no fruits! A reference to “heat” or to the “south” in the plant’s variety name indicates its higher tolerance for heat.

Researchers are investigating thermo-tolerant genetics in wild tomato species (Solanum pimpinellifolium) and incorporating them in tomato breeding programs.

One trick to preserve viable pollen is lightly shading the plant in the hot afternoon hours. Attach shade fabric—a black woven mesh—to a support over and on the west side of the tomato or pepper plants. This provides a decrease of up to several degrees in hot climates or temporarily during a heat wave. In the photo, above, mesh bags from the grocery store protect fruits from squirrels and sun scald, and lightly shade new flowers and their pollen from high heat.

The young ‘Estiva’ tomato plants (“estiva” refers to summer), a hybrid bred for heat tolerance and great taste, lost most of their diseased bottom leaves in heavy rains, but those little fruits are still growing! I’ll plant them out this weekend, after the temperatures drop well below the 108° heat index value we have now. Recent weather has been in the record-breaking mid- to high 90’s F, with high humidity. Not my favorite conditions to dig in the garden…so I don’t. I was not bred for heat tolerance!

***Update***: ‘Estiva’ tomatoes endured this hot summer and produced fruits past the first fall frosts. I covered them on chilly nights to ripen the last of the fruits. These were among the last tomatoes to succumb to the cold, in mid-November. Autumn 2022

A Few More Tomato Tips

Your best defense against tomato disease, in addition to growing disease resistant varieties, includes these tips:

Stake them. Tall indeterminate types need a 6-8′ tall stake, taller for some.
Space them farther apart, at least 3½-4′.
Thin the vines to 3 or 4 main stems by removing excess suckers.
Remove leaves on the bottom 12″ of the plants after they’ve become established.
Locate them where a breeze blows through the garden. These first 5 tips address increasing air circulation around and through the tomato plants.
Give them lots of direct sun—a minimum of 7 or 8 hours. The more sun they receive, the shorter the window of opportunity for pathogens to germinate on damp leaf surfaces.
Mulch the soil under the plants to prevent disease spores lying dormant in the soil from splashing onto and infecting the foliage. More on Page 4.
Water in the morning to early afternoon so all foliage is dry going into the night. Try to keep the foliage dry at all times and avoid handling wet foliage.
Water established plants heavily (1½”/week) when needed, but avoid giving little sips every day. Young seedlings need more frequent watering until their root systems expand.
Clip off leaves that show early symptoms (yellowing, spotting), and dip your pruners in alcohol when moving from plant to plant.
Don’t smoke near the garden, and wash hands thoroughly before working with plants.
Rotate your crops. Don’t plant a member of the Solanaceae family where any members have grown in the past 3-4 years. There’s more about crop rotation on Page 4.

All plants grown with good soil preparation, good air circulation, proper watering techniques, adequate sun, and appropriate fertilization are less stressed. Less stress equates to lower infection rates.

Growing Heirloom Seedlings

: These “black” heirloom tomatoes are higher in beneficial pigments called anthocyanins, which are powerful antioxidants. ‘Cherokee Purple’ (above) originated near the NC/TN border, and had been grown by the Cherokee for generations before seeds became widely available in the early 1990’s. ‘Black Prince’ (left), is a high-yielding variety, shown before fruits darkened.

Heirloom tomatoes are always in demand because of their exceptionally good flavor. Heirlooms are open pollinated, which means gardeners can save seeds from fully ripened fruits each year for the next season’s garden. Because they’re not F1 hybrids but have been breeding true, for the most part, for many decades, heirlooms retain their traits from one generation to the next.

These varieties, however, don’t have much built-in disease resistance. Nevertheless, I’m growing a few heirlooms, and spacing them 4′ apart for improved air circulation. We’ll see what happens.

Commercially grown tomatoes must be able to survive long distance transportation and handling without damage. They’re picked early, when green or first showing color. Varieties of these tomatoes have skins that normally are tougher.

Heirloom tomatoes have more desirable thinner skins and, therefore, travel poorly. So, you won’t see them in grocery stores unless those stores buy from local farms. Heirloom tomatoes from the grocery store might cost $5.00/lb. or more! So, yes, it is worth growing a couple of heirloom tomato plants in our gardens.

A few prolonged and heavy rainy periods this spring almost wiped out certain tomato varieties, namely ‘Carmello’, ‘Brandywine’, and ‘German Johnson’. I still have a few that show less damage than others. ‘Black Krim’ and ‘Cherokee Purple’ are doing fairly well, although they are heirlooms. Most of the remaining plants will be set in the garden. There’s usually a breeze blowing through the property, and by spacing them appropriately, I should get plenty of fruits.

Basil Downy Mildew

First symptom of BDM: yellow blotches between the main veins.

Although this dreaded disease targets only basil, it hasn’t appeared yet this year. But I’m prepared.

Last year, I grew ‘Rutgers Obsession DMR’ (DMR = Downy Mildew Resistant), an acceptable substitute for our beloved ‘Genovese’ and other susceptible sweet basils. Last year’s ‘Obsession’ did not develop any basil downy mildew (BDM)—not one speck—although wet and humid weather presented a worthy challenge. Other basil varieties in the ground or in pots succumbed to the disease within a week of infection…even young seedlings.

This year, I’m growing ‘Rutgers Obsession DMR’ and also ‘Rutgers Devotion DMR’ outside all summer. In addition, I’m seeding the old favorites, including ‘Genovese’, ‘Italian Large Leaf’, Thai basil ‘Siam Queen’, ‘Marseillais Dwarf’, and ‘Tuscany’, a lettuce-leaf basil. A few non-resistant basil plants will come indoors at night when warranted, as described below. But I’ll stop seeding susceptible varieties, except for a few pots, and concentrate on the resistant ones for the farmers’ market if the disease appears in the neighborhood.

Several other BDM resistant varieties can be purchased as seeds or as started plants.

Avoid High Humidity

Healthy sweet basil, in a pot.

If you want to grow your favorite basil varieties that are not resistant to BDM, there is a way to prevent a total loss.

BDM spores move up from the south on the breeze or on infected plants shipped into the area. The spores don’t overwinter in cold climates. If spores land on a susceptible variety, they need a relative humidity above 80-85% for a couple of hours in order to germinate.

Even during pleasant weather, the relative humidity can reach 90% or higher in the 2-3 hours around dawn. That’s when the temperature is usually the coolest and, therefore, the relative humidity is the highest.

When plants show early symptoms of BDM, remove the affected leaves. Take potted basil plants indoors for the night, every night. Indoor conditions never reach those high humidity levels, so you can still grow your preferred basil varieties successfully with a little effort. Remember to place the plants back outdoors after the sun has been up for a couple of hours.

Follow this regimen during rainy weather, although the plants might need to spend a day or two inside. Find the brightest spot to keep them during their temporary stay indoors. If possible, provide some artificial light. Unless it’s wilting, avoid watering basil indoors. Less sunlight means the plant won’t be photosynthesizing optimally or using much water, and wet soil can initiate root rot.

Headings

Page 1: 1. Start with clean materials for seedlings. (Pasteurizing Potting Soil), 2. Grow disease resistant varieties… (…Especially Tomato Seedlings, It’s so hot out there!, A Few More Tomato Tips, Growing Heirloom Seedlings, Basil Downy Mildew, Avoid High Humidity)

Page 2: 3. Timing is important for seedlings. (The Fall Growing Season, Keeping Records, The Cooperative Extension Service, Starting Seedlings Outdoors, Don’t Start Seedlings Too Early, Cool Season Crops, Extending the Growing Season, Seedlings Transplanted Into Bigger Pots, Bunching Onions, The Brassicas, Brassicas In My Garden, Lettuce), 4. Is the temperature suitable for seedlings? (Miniature Incandescent Lights For Warmth, Water Temperature)

Page 3: 5. Start seedlings in small batches. (My Simple Infrastructure), 6. Seedlings need strong light. (Growing Seedlings Under Shop Lights), 7. Cull the weaklings and anomalies. 8. Prevent damping-off disease from killing your seedlings. (Actinovate), 9. Seedlings and plants need fertilizer. (The Elements, Read the Label)

Page 4: 10. Prepare the soil for your transplants. (Start With Good Drainage, Air Pore Space, Gypsum and Lime, Add Nutrient-Rich Amendments, Bury It), 11. Try succession planting for maximum yield. (Crop Rotation, Mulch), 12. Stop the pests before they ruin your garden. (Slugs and Snails, Larvae of Moths and Butterflies, Spider Mites and Thrips, Deer and Rabbits), Concluding

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Grow a Potted Tomato: A Step-By-Step Guide

Apr8

How To Grow a Potted Tomato

Young tomato plants.

This year’s plan is to grow two potted tomato plants on the deck, inside the fence and away from deer. But less than a week ago, it snowed! For the near future, we’ll be having temperatures in the 70’s F, and in the 50’s at night. It’s time!

Judging by the numbers of people shopping at the garden centers, I’m not the only optimist out there. Always check your local forecast to see if it’s safe to plant tender edibles. Our friends in the North are still shoveling snow. Sorry, guys. Here are today’s purchases, and the step-by-step guide on page 2.

Tomatoes

Warm temperatures turn thoughts to tomato plants, so off to the garden center I went. Since we rarely buy tomatoes from the grocery store in the winter, we’ve been looking forward to this moment.

In one of the pots, I’ll include a young flat-leaf parsley and a sweet basil I bought at the grocery store a few weeks ago. The two herbs will be planted on the south side of the heirloom ‘Rutgers’ tomato, so they won’t be shaded. I’ll remove tomato leaves that interfere with the herbs. In case raccoons and squirrels set their sights on a lovely ripe fruit, bird netting wrapped around the fruiting plants will deter them.

Unfortunately, direct sunlight is decreasing in the vegetable garden, next to the house, as the trees to the south grow larger. Even so, the new ‘Sun Gold’ cherry tomato will go into the garden; if any tomato will produce a crop, ‘Sun Gold’ will. Besides, it did well enough last year. It produces loads of bright orange super sweet tomatoes, great for salads and snacking. Bet you can’t eat just one!

Basil

‘Tuscany’ basil.

The garden center also had ‘Tuscany’ basil, a light green lettuce-leaf type, with huge puckered leaves. It is wonderfully sweet and lightly spicy, with a hint of fresh anise flavor. ‘Genovese’ and lettuce-leaf basil are among my favorites for Tomato-Basil Salad.

And I added to the cart a pot of ‘Siam Queen’ Thai basil, for the baked salmon. Basil needs warmer temperatures, so they’ll stay in pots for a while, and come inside at night. Potted basil will come indoors even in summer, during rainy or humid weather. That’s when Basil downy mildew becomes a problem.

Curly parsley, a rogue seedling with last year’s flat-leaf parsley, and arugula survived the winter and still look good enough to hold onto for a while. The enclosed deck is a warmer microclimate, where winter temperatures are always higher than on the other side of the fence.

Although there’s some potting soil around, I’ll need more to fill those large pots and a few others. So, I bought the largest bag of soil the garden center carries. There’s enough packaged fertilizer left over from last year.

Caterpillars, Anyone?

I always keep a supply of Bt for battling the caterpillar invasions. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is an organic alternative to substances I’d rather not consume, yet many people still consider it a “chemical”. It is not. Bt is a naturally occurring bacterium. An occasional spraying with Bt on the cole crops (kale, broccoli, cabbage, etc.) and on parsley and dill will save them from utter destruction!

The tobacco hornworm on a tomato leaf.

Sometimes, 1 or 2 tobacco hornworms attack our tomato plants. They look very similar to the tomato hornworm, which has V-shaped markings instead of the tobacco hornworm’s slashes (photo, above). They’re difficult to see because they blend so well with the foliage.

Left undisturbed, these larvae will develop into a type of hawk moth. But this very hungry caterpillar, as it grows, consumes large quantities of leaves, and leaves behind…well, you know what it leaves behind.

This nature nerd, as a young student, kept a tiny caterpillar indoors, and supplied daily rations of tomato leaves. Well, it grew enormous and wandered off to a secluded spot to pupate. My greatest fear was that my mother would find it. I finally found it, and donated it to a teacher’s Wardian case.

Spraying with Bt kills these hidden caterpillars if you can’t find them. It is more effective, however, when used on young caterpillars. But, if they have little things on their skin that look like grains of rice (photo, above), just pluck off the caterpillars and place them in the shrubs. A small female parasitic wasp laid eggs on or in the caterpillar, and the wasp larvae fed on and will soon kill the caterpillars. The “rice” grains are pupating wasps. And some little animal might appreciate a morsel such as this.

Big Pots

I bought two 7′ tall stakes and two 20″ diameter lime green pots, at first considered somewhat disagreeable, but now perfectly acceptable. This shade of green blends in with the greens and browns on the deck. When summer heat is a problem, light colors reflect some of the hot sun bearing down on the pots. This helps moderate soil temperature, which rises in a dark pot. Conversely, in the winter, black pots absorb warmth, keeping hardy herbs and cool season greens happy.

Discounted prices on vegetable transplants accomplished their intended effect: I bought more than I had planned. So, now there are 2 sweet peppers to plant, one a “green-to-red-when-ripe” bell, and the other a ‘Lunchbox’ orange.

Peppers

‘Lunchbox’ sweet peppers.

‘Lunchbox’ peppers are small and colorful (red, orange, or yellow—a separate color on each plant). I add them to omelets, salads, stir-fries, shrimp and vegetables with rice, and pizza.

They add great color accents as well as a higher vitamin C content than green peppers. In fact, one medium-large ripe lunchbox pepper has 100% of the RDA for Vitamin C.

It takes almost 3 weeks longer for a pepper to mature from the green stage to the colorful one. Normally, I would have waited a week or two for the pepper plants, but they were on sale…and it has been quite mild…

(“Weather Alert: severe thunderstorm watch, possible large hail, winds gusting to 60 miles per hour”. Time to move some things around outside.)

One More Tomato

The heirloom ‘Black Prince’ tomato is not as susceptible to cracking as some of the other black tomatoes. And the fruits are smaller. This one substitutes for the ‘Black Krim’ I was looking for.

If ‘Black Prince’ doesn’t do well enough, I’ll pull it out and plant something else. That’s one of the many advantages of living where the growing season is long. (***Update***: The ‘Black Prince’ has grown taller than the 7′ stake, and it is loaded with medium-sized fruits! I’ve already picked more than 20 richly flavored “black” tomatoes. Photo at end of Page 2. June 25, 2019)

And Zucchini

Zucchini with fruits.

The fourth of the four-for-$10 deal is a zucchini called ‘Black Beauty’. The seedlings have barely grown beyond the seed leaf stage, and they, with the basil, come indoors at night.

A 50-pound bag of aged cow manure rounded out the purchase.

I’ll plant the zucchini into a nursery pot, and later into the garden. But for now, the garden is still packed with cool season vegetables and greens.

Headings

Page 1: How To Grow a Potted Tomato, Tomatoes, Basil, Caterpillars, Anyone?, Big Pots (Peppers, One More Tomato, And Zucchini)

Page 2: A Step-By-Step Guide To Planting a Potted Tomato, Maintaining Your Potted Tomato, Temperature, Watering a Potted Tomato, Fertilizing a Potted Tomato, (How Often?, Blossom End Rot), Limiting the Suckers On Your Potted Tomato

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Pages: 1 2

More Quick Tips for Today’s Garden

Apr1

More Quick Tips For Today’s Garden

Here are several more quick tips for the gardens in early spring. Several links have been provided, where you’ll find more details.

1. Fertilize Violas and Pansies

It’s no wonder these cold-hardy little biennials are seen all around town. They’re planted in median strips, at neighborhood entrances, around shopping centers, and in our gardens.

They live through the winter, delighting all of us with their colorful, cheerful appearance. Cold is what they like; in late spring or early summer, they will fail in the heat. This year, we had a very mild winter in zone 7b Charlotte, so they looked beautiful all season.

A wire basket with hardy violas and ‘Cool Wave’ pansies.

Quick tips: As long as they’re in active growth, fertilize every 6 or 8 weeks, even in the winter! Use fertilizer that has a higher percentage of phosphorus, the middle number on a package. A ratio of 1-2-1 or 1-3-1 will work. Those three numbers represent the percentages of nitrogen, phosphorus (phosphate), and potassium (potash) in the product. They are always listed in that order: N-P-K.

Keep in mind that violas and pansies need acidic soil. You can mix peat moss into the bed in preparation for planting, also incorporating pine fines (soil conditioner) to improve drainage. Or use a product (Soil Acidifier) that will lower the pH, if your soil tests on the high side. Soil that has been limed might be too alkaline for violas, which prefer a pH level around 5.5 to 6.0.

If you have a spare hour or so, deadhead (pinch off) the old faded flowers. Whether or not that actually helps promote bloom, it certainly will improve the appearance of the plants, especially for pansies.

2. Harvest Greens

Collards, with flower bud.

Recently I cleaned the vegetable garden. I harvested most, but not all, of the greens that have been producing since last fall.

Later today or tomorrow, I will wash and sauté the greens down to “wilt”. Then they will be divided into portions and frozen in plastic zip lock bags. The next time I make soup from scratch (or from a can), a rice dish with rotisserie chicken, lasagna, or buy a store-bought pizza, one or two of those bags of greens will be added to the dish. That’s an easy way to add greens to a meal, and increase the nutritional content.

The two large clumps of collards will make a fabulous Collards Soup. For that, I use a large stockpot, which makes about a gallon of soup. I also freeze some of it in plastic containers for later use.

Chinese cabbage ‘Tokyo Bekana’.

In addition to the collards, I harvested mustard greens and dinosaur and ‘Red Russian’ kales. The light green Chinese cabbage ‘Tokyo Bekana’ will be added to the next salad. Swiss chard ‘Bright Lights’ remains in the garden, and should last until autumn if it’s partially shaded.

The vegetable garden next to the house is becoming increasingly shaded. The trees on the berm to the south have grown larger and wider over the past 5 years. At this point I’m seriously considering growing a couple of tomato plants in containers on the enclosed deck, safe from the deer.

The sweet pepper plant did well enough in the garden, so it will go there again this year. But most of that garden will contain a variety of greens, green onions, leeks, and probably a cucumber. It’s still the perfect place for fall and winter greens because it’s a warm microclimate, being right next to the house. And at that time, the trees are leafless, so there’s more sun.

The Beneficials

Quick tips: Several of the brassicas are in flower, so I left a few of them in the garden for the honey bees and the tiny braconid wasps. During late winter and early spring, few food sources are available for these beneficial insects, so I like to help when I can. And you can add some flowers to a salad or as a garnish.

3. Plant More Cool Season Greens and Vegetables

Dinosaur kale in bloom.

Broccoli ‘Happy Rich’ is ready! So I made a trip to the garden center a few days ago to pick up a few pots of this delicious miniature broccoli. Ordering seeds is just not feasible right now; I’d have lost 4 or 5 weeks of growing time, so I went for the quick fix: transplants!

Broccoli ‘Imperial’ is one of the varieties recommended for growing in the spring and late summer. This crop will be able to tolerate the warmth of the late spring season, when it will be harvested. I love broccoli. So many vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients…and protein too.

Carrot, radish, and beet seeds can be planted now, even before frost has retreated north. Pea seeds could have gone into the ground weeks ago, but the ones I planted in the fall made it through the winter, and are now flowering and making pea pods (photo, below).

As space opens up in the garden, I’ll sow seeds of mesclun, tatsoi, leeks, and maybe ‘Scarlet Frills’ mustard for its beautiful and fairly spicy foliage, adding some spark to salads!

Fast growing edible-podded peas on a trellis.

Check with your local agricultural extension service for a chart describing what can be planted when. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to get a soil test, to remove doubt about the pH or which nutrients need to be added.

Lettuce

Pots of ‘Salanova’ lettuce ready for the garden.

A few pots and market packs of lettuce purchased over the past week will supplement the patch of lettuce seedlings that survived the winter in the garden. Smaller plants will continue to grow after the mature heads have been harvested.

A red butterhead lettuce called ‘Skyphos’ is reliable even in warm temperatures, up to a point. It retains very good flavor when others turn bitter in the heat.

When trying to extend the lettuce harvest, look for varieties that tolerate high temperatures. Varieties listed for planting at this time include ‘Nancy’ (green butterhead), ‘Vulcan’ (red leaf), ‘Sparx’ (Romaine), ‘Muir’ and ‘Magenta’ (summer crisp), and ‘Skyphos’, of course, one of the favorites I’ve grown for years. The heirloom ‘Black Seeded Simpson’, a loose-leaf lettuce, and ‘Outredgeous’ Romaine are more options for a spring garden.

healthy greens--AllStar Gourmet lettuce mix

Johnny’s Selected Seeds’ Allstar Gourmet lettuce mix.

Quick tips: ‘Red Sails’ lettuce is too pretty to pass up, and it can grow well into spring. Leafy vegetables with deep green color and red pigments, the anthocyanins, have more antioxidants. These nutrients help us fight many illnesses, including cancer and inflammation. So, I always prefer richly colored varieties.

More Quick Tips: How To Grow Lettuce

Lettuce seed germinates readily at a soil temperature in the 60’s F. It will take longer, but seeds will even germinate at 45°. They won’t, however, do anything above 75° or so.

Lettuce appreciates very rich, moist soil. Fertilize every couple of weeks with high nitrogen fish emulsion, earthworm castings, or compost if the soil temperature has increased. And provide ground limestone for calcium and to raise the pH, which prevents tip burn. If a soil test indicates proper pH for greens, add gypsum instead, which also provides calcium but doesn’t change the pH. It’s best to deal with pH months ahead of planting crops.

Organic products rely on soil microbes to break them down and to make their nutrients available to plant roots. But, in winter, microbes are dormant, so I use a synthetic soluble fertilizer.

As the weather warms up, give lettuce morning sun, which is less harsh than hot afternoon sun. You can plant a quick crop between young tomato plants, in partial shade.

Watch out for slugs; scatter granules of organic Sluggo outside the lettuce bed, to draw them away from their intended meal. Slugs can transmit a form of meningitis when ingested, so… And aphids can be a problem, too, but you can just wash them away.

4. Pick the Parsley

Italian (flat-leaf) parsley.

This versatile herb gives fresh flavor to meat, fish, and poultry dishes, sauces, soups, potatoes, eggs, salads, sandwiches, garlic bread, mayonnaise, and herb butter.

The addition of vitamin- and mineral-rich parsley enhances just abut anything you cook. But add it late in the cooking process, in the last few minutes, as you would most leafy herbs. Cooked for a long time, the flavors will evaporate away.

Concerned about your breath? Chew on a couple of leaves; the chlorophyll will freshen it.

There are two main groups of parsley:

flat-leaf, plain, or Italian (‘Giant of Italy’, a new improved sweeter ‘Peione’, and smaller ‘Titan’)
curled leaf parsley (‘Favorit’, ‘Double moss curled’, ‘Paramount’), famous as a garnish and pretty as a garden edging, but also edible.

Decades ago, as a kid, I remember seeing my grandmother in her Englewood, New Jersey, kitchen, holding a huge bunch of flat-leaf parsley inside her arm. Nanny was the real thing—Sicilian-born and a great cook—so for those looking for real parsley flavor, go for the flat-leaf.

When I was growing up, my mother (Nanny’s daughter) always used curly parsley. Several years ago, I asked her why she used the curled and not the flat-leaf. She said the Italian parsley always tasted funny, so she preferred the curled. Do you know which other herb looks like flat-leaf parsley? That’s right…she must have bought cilantro! Neither of us likes this herb at all! So, if you’ve been reluctant to buy or grow flat-leaf parsley, see if its resemblance to cilantro might be the root of that problem.

Here’s good news: it’s easy to grow!

Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) is a biennial member of the Apiaceae family, a cousin of dill, cilantro, carrot, and fennel. Set young transplants into the garden in early spring, through the summer, and in the fall. Fertilize every few weeks with a high nitrogen product, such as fish emulsion. Parsley also is adaptable to growing in potted herb gardens.

In areas with moderately cold winters, it will tolerate freezing temperatures. The foliage will stay in better condition if it receives some protection from a warmer microclimate, such as next to a south-facing wall. Or grow it in a cold frame in colder climates.

Flat leaf parsley, going to flower.

Quick tips: Plant parsley in rich soil. Amended with compost or aged manure to a depth of 12″ or more, parsley will develop a large root system when grown in the ground. ‘Gigante’ (or ‘Giant of Italy’) grows into a massive mound of dark green leaves, 2′ tall and wider than that. In spring, the stems begin to grow tall, preparing for its blooming phase (photo, right).

This is parsley’s natural cycle of growth as a biennial. It’s seeded in one year, grows, overwinters once, and then flowers the next spring or early summer. Sometimes parsley goes to flower the first year if it was seeded very early.

Harvest the plant before it goes to flower, or when you notice that the stems are growing tall (photo, right). If you wait much longer than that, the sweet flavor will become strong or bitter. Cut the stem at soil level, and remove any yellow or pale green leaves.

Cut parsley stems will stay fresh for a few days in a glass of water on the counter or in the refrigerator.

Prepare the rest this way:

Wash the parsley thoroughly in cool running water. Shake off as much water as you can, or put it through a salad spinner.
Have a couple of 1- or 2-cup plastic containers handy.
Remove thick stems. Cut and reserve the leaflets, and keep them intact.
Transfer leaflets to the plastic containers, packing them in tightly.
Freeze the containers.
The next time you need some parsley for soup or tomato sauce or roasted vegetables, simply flake off the quantity you need. Chop them before adding to cooking.
Simple! Although it doesn’t look like fresh parsley (it looks wilted), the flavor is better than the dried option. And it takes up less space than chopped parsley frozen in ice cubes.

Who’s eating all the parsley?

Deer and Rabbits

Does this sound familiar? The parsley is growing beautifully, it has great color, and it’s providing lots of clippings for the kitchen. All of a sudden, the leaves disappeared…overnight! Well, we’re not the only ones who are fond of parsley. Deer and rabbits like it, too. They can do a lot of damage in one sitting.

Quick tips: You can’t use chemical deer repellents, but you can construct a frame around the parsley plants. If you have a big old lamp shade with “ribs”, remove the fabric and replace it with bird (deer) netting. The bigger the shade, the better. Anchor it to the ground so it can’t be kicked over. Or fabricate something yourself from hardware cloth or chicken wire. Make sure young rabbits won’t be able to squeeze through the openings. The goal is to physically exclude animals from reaching the parsley, cilantro, and dill.

Black Swallowtail Butterfly Caterpillars

black swallowtail butterfly egg on parsley

Yellow egg, left of center, on parsley flower bud.

If the parsley looks smaller than it did last week, look for little caterpillars feeding on the leaves. The female black swallowtail lays tiny yellow eggs on plants in the Apiaceae family (parsley, cilantro, fennel, dill). She deposits them primarily on the bottoms of the leaves. They’re hard to spot, but once you’ve learned to recognize them, you can simply rub them off.

Quick tips: Look for young caterpillars a few days or a week later, in case you missed a few of the eggs. The young brown and white larvae look like bird droppings, appearing less appealing to predators. An organic approach is to spray with Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), a naturally occurring bacterium. Bt causes caterpillars of moths and butterflies to stop feeding, and they’ll die a day or two later.

**But I like butterflies!**

Black swallowtail larva on fennel.

Quick tips: Now, if you would rather keep the butterflies, as I do, simply transfer caterpillars from the parsley to a bronze fennel plant. Bronze fennel is a large growing and pretty perennial herb, and a food source for this insect. The fennel is edible for us as well, in salads or to garnish fish.

As the larvae grow, they turn into large black and green striped caterpillars (photo, right). These parsley worms, as they’re sometimes called, will consume more and more of the foliage. Not a problem for the vigorous bronze fennel, but a smaller parsley plant can disappear in a flash.

5. Weed!

Dandelions, chickweed, and hairy bittercress top the list of winter weeds around here. In untended fields, the bright yellow flowers of wintercress cover acres of ground, not unattractive at all!

Your local garden center can help with products that prevent weed seeds from germinating or that will kill weeds after they sprout. Don’t use them, though, near the edibles. Bring fresh samples with you. Diligent weeding and mulch are recommended.

Dandelion

: Tiny umbrellas (pappi, plural; pappus, singular) carry away the seeds in the slightest breeze.

Derived from the French “dent de lion”, dandelion refers to the toothed (dent) edges of the leaves. Bright yellow flowers dot the landscape from late winter on. If they are not killed or removed, each of those flowers will develop into a cluster of seeds. This method of seed dispersal, by the wind, is called anemochory.

Quick tips: This weed develops a taproot sometimes more than a foot deep. Leaving part of the taproot behind after “pulling” the weed will result in a new dandelion regrowing from the root. Either remove the entire root (there’s a tool for that), spot treat with a non-selective herbicide, or use a broadleaf weed killer. Always read the labels. Keep weed killers away from herbs and vegetables.

The dandelion in our lawns (Taraxacum officinale) looks similar to edible “dandelion greens”, in the species Cichorium intybus, a type of chicory.

Chickweed

Common chickweed, with small white daisy flowers.

Chickweed grows close to the ground, spreading about 1 1/2′ wide. Thick mats of this weed will hide among the lawn grasses, winter greens, and last year’s fallen leaves. Their seeds germinate in cool seasons, and the plants grow fast, lodging against walls and other objects that trap winter warmth.

If you pull the top, the roots have such a strong hold on the soil that the stem will stretch and break off. In a couple of weeks, you’ll have the pleasure of pulling it again. Grasp firmly under the crown of the plant, just below where the stem meets the soil, and make sure you get the roots.

Two species that often grow here in North Carolina are common chickweed and the more hairy mouse-ear chickweed.

Quick tips: Don’t wait as long as I did for this garden chore. Next winter, there will be an even bigger crop of chickweed. That’s not such a bad thing, though, because tender young greens are edible. Like many greens, common chickweed (Stellaria media) is very high in vitamins and minerals. One website claims it is fairly high in oxalic acid; for those with certain health conditions, check with your doctor. Add it to salads, soups, sandwiches, and stir-fries.

Hairy Bittercress

bitter cress. Quick tip: remove weeds before they seed about.

Hairy bittercress.

This species of cress (Cardamine hirsuta) is a short but abundant winter annual that grows a small rosette of edible bitter foliage, topped by a cluster of white flowers. It is related to broccoli and cabbage, in the Brassicaceae family. Disturbed seedpods open explosively, dispersing seeds in every direction. Ballochory is the name of this method of seed dispersal.

The “ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” axiom certainly holds true with weeds. Many times more weeds will grow in the next season if they are allowed to go to seed.

Not all of them will germinate, though. Seeds can remain viable for decades, patiently waiting underground for that moment when the soil is disturbed. Exposing the seed to favorable conditions, such as light, water, and the right temperature, is all they need to germinate.

6. Take a Moment to Just Enjoy Spring

There will always be more quick tips for the garden, but they can wait. Take the kids or the dog or yourself outside, listen to the sounds of nature, and just enjoy being!

Japanese maple, new leaves. Quick tip: enjoy spring!

New leaves on Japanese maple.

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Starting Seeds for Cool Season Greens

Feb24

Starting Seeds for Cool Season Greens

The coldest part of winter has passed for most of us, and it’s time to start seeds for cool season greens. Late winter transitioning to spring is my favorite time of the year. That’s when I start seeds for early harvests. This article covers details for growing some of the early greens, particularly spinach and the brassicas. On Page 3 is a recipe for a veggie omelet, an easy way to get more greens into the diet.

If the garden were bare, I would have started seeds a few weeks ago. But the greens in the vegetable garden continue to offer harvests. Unfortunately, the “list of wants” from the seed catalog is far more extensive than the garden’s square footage can accommodate! It’s time for the last harvest of collards for soup; that’ll open up some space.

While we’re harvesting established cool season greens, I’ll start several new crops indoors. These plants will be plugged into the garden as space opens up. But the seedlings will not be kept in their little pots very long; this stresses the plants and causes them to bolt, or to flower prematurely. (Photo, above: dinosaur kale germinated at night; it will green up in the sunlight.)

The First of the Cool Season Greens: Spinach

Young spinach ‘Monstrueux de Viroflay’.

I would have sown spinach directly into the garden by now, but we’ve had a long run of chilly rain. The soil is so wet that it’s doubtful any seedlings would even be tempted to germinate. At this time of the year, pay close attention to the weather forecasts. Conditions could deviate considerably from the averages.

It’s not good to dig in soil this wet anyway. That would drive out air spaces and ruin the tilth of the soil by compacting it.

As temperatures begin to moderate, slugs come out in force and will decimate any seedlings that dare to grow in this weather. Rain: good for slugs. Sluggo: bad for slugs! Organic Sluggo pellets attract and kill slugs and snails. This version of the product contains materials (iron phosphate) that add nutrients to the soil. Check the label, though; Sluggo has other products with added ingredients. The organic option is safe to use around the edibles.

Spinach From Seed Is Easy!

Spinach germinates readily, from 50°F up to the mid 70’s (soil temperature), as soon as the ground can be worked in late winter or early spring. For better chances of success, choose varieties that are disease resistant and slow-bolting. In well-prepared soil, spinach is one of the easiest crops to seed directly into the garden.

Prepare the bed by incorporating 2″ to 3″ of compost and/or aged manure into the top 5″ of soil. Spinach prefers soil pH near neutral, from 6.5 to 7.3. A soil test will indicate how much lime, if any, should be added to raise the pH.

For baby leaf harvest, sow the seeds thickly in a patch, about 1″ apart. For full-size leaves, space the seeds a few inches apart, with rows 8-10″ apart. Crowding the seeds too closely or poor soil will result in a disappointing crop.

‘Monstrueux de Viroflay’

There’s a wonderful variety called ‘Monstrueux de Viroflay’ (photos, above and below), a French heirloom dating to 1866. It grows very large for spinach, up to 20″ tall with 10″ leaves, and should be spaced several inches apart.

Viroflay, or Monster, as it is often called, is lower in oxalic acid, or oxalates, than other spinach varieties. It might be acceptable for people with health concerns that prohibit spinach consumption. Check with your doctor.

Keep the soil moist and add organic fertilizers, such as fish emulsion, Sea-Plus, or earthworm castings, every 2 weeks. In cold soil, however, liquid synthetic fertilizers high in nitrogen work better than the organics. Microbes in the soil break down organic material and make those nutrients available to plant roots. But microbes are dormant in cold soil, so they can’t perform this vital service. They’ll become more active as the soil warms up in late winter or early spring.

‘Monstrueux de Viroflay’ spinach seedlings.

Spinach Bowl

Another option is to sow seeds directly into a 14″ wide, 6″ deep bowl filled with fresh potting soil (photo, above). The pot has drainage holes. Portability allows me to bring the pot indoors on especially cold nights while the cool season greens are beginning to germinate. And moisture levels can be carefully monitored.

Since the sappy crooked pine tree that shaded the deck from afternoon sun has been cut down, conditions on the fenced-in deck are more favorable to growing vegetables in containers.

Fill the pot with potting soil to within an inch of the rim. Simply scatter seeds on the surface, a couple of inches apart for smaller varieties and a few inches apart for Viroflay. Cover with another 1/3″ to 1/2″ of soil. Water…and wait… Spinach’s two seed leaves, the cotyledons, are easily differentiated from other seedlings by their long narrow shape. Thin as necessary; you can eat the culls.

Don’t neglect fertilizing potted greens. Rain and irrigation quickly wash nitrogen out of the soil.

Harvesting Spinach

Spinach.

Harvesting the crowns begins within 4 or 5 weeks, depending on weather and soil fertility. Pick individual leaves at any age, allowing the central growing tip to continue producing new leaves. Or cut the entire plant at the soil line before flower buds begin to grow.

By sowing new crops of spinach every week or two, you’ll have continuous harvests of spinach, as long as the weather favors growth.

Spinach quickly bolts, or goes to flower, at temperatures above 75°. Dry or nutrient-poor soil stresses the plants. And spinach will flower prematurely if the plants are stressed by growing too close together.

Harvest the entire plant if you notice flower buds forming. Cutting off the flowers will not stimulate spinach to grow a new bunch of leaves. Instead, start more seeds.

Use spinach steamed as a side dish, or in sauces, soups, smoothies, salads, pasta dishes, or an omelet.

And Then the Brassicas

These microgreens are mostly brassicas.

The Brassicaceae family is a huge group of edibles. It includes arugula, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, kale, komatsuna, mizuna, mustard greens, pac choi, radish, tatsoi, turnip, and others.

All members have similarly notched seed leaves, or cotyledons. Those are the first two heart-shaped leaves to emerge from the seeds (photo, above). Because the seed leaves are already formed inside the seed, the little plant can begin photosynthesizing—and feeding itself—immediately upon germination. True leaves, which develop after the seed leaves, are also similar for most of the cruciferous vegetables. That’s why it’s important to label your pots so you can distinguish “this” seedling from “this other similar looking” seedling.

Include On the Label:

the name of the crop (dinosaur kale)
the name of the cultivar (‘Black Magic’)
the date of sowing (brassicas germinate in less than a week if sown indoors)

Store leftover seeds in their original packets, and make sure the cultivar name is included on the label. Store in a cool, dry place, such as the refrigerator. Most seeds of cool season greens are viable for 2 years or so. If not already indicated, mark the year of purchase on the packet.

It’s helpful to keep a record of the varieties you’ve tried and liked or disliked. Include how you started the seeds (in 4″ pots or cell-packs, under lights, directly in the garden), the dates you seeded and transplanted, and the weather conditions. Include notes on what was successful and what wasn’t, and possible explanations. Did the seeds germinate and then keel over and die (damping-off disease)? Did critters eat your cool season greens as soon as they started growing? Should the seeds have been started earlier? Or later?

There are successes and failures in every gardener’s life. Being able to pinpoint the reasons for a disappointing crop will enable you to be more watchful or to try a different approach next time. Check with your local cooperative extension office, through state land-grant colleges and universities, for advice. Failure is a learning experience, not a reason to stop trying!

Damping-Off

Damping-off disease can appear soon after germination. Sometimes, diseased seedlings don’t even appear above the soil, looking as though the seeds didn’t sprout at all. The small seedling develops a narrowed brown spot on the stem. Then the top of the plant falls over, and the seedling dies. This is caused by several species of fungus, whose spores are in the air, in the soil, in the water, or on the seeds themselves.

Damping-off often accompanies:

poor air circulation
high humidity
crowding
low light
low temperatures
reusing old soil
and overwatering

Space the seeds farther apart, run a small fan nearby, water in the morning, and increase the temperature and light levels if they’re low.

The first time I used the organic biological fungicide called Actinovate, life became a bit sweeter. It is costly, but a much safer option than chemical fungicides. And, with the number of seedlings I grow each year, a wise investment. Make up a small amount of the solution when needed and apply from a spray bottle or a small watering can when sowing the seeds and as soon as the seeds germinate. Always exercise caution when using sprays, and read the labels.

Caterpillars on Cool Season Greens

When the weather warms up in mid- or late spring, you’ll notice butterflies and moths flying around your cool season greens. How nice, you might think. But those lovely insects are on a mission, and that mission is to find suitable plants on which to lay their eggs.

: Cross-striped cabbageworm, becoming more common here, on mustard greens. Expect several generations per season. Look for clusters of white woolly eggs.

: Broccoli leaves eaten by caterpillars.

Most of the brassicas are targeted by the female:

Cabbage Moth (or Diamondback Moth)
Cabbage Looper
the velvety green Imported Cabbageworm (also called the Small White Butterfly or Cabbage White Butterfly—white with black markings). Look for them lined up on the leaf’s midrib.
Cross-striped Cabbageworm (fine black stripes across the back, yellow stripe on the sides).
A few other species target particular brassicas or are limited geographically.

Here in my North Carolina garden, the 1¼” long Imported Cabbageworm has been the most commonly seen caterpillar on the brassicas. It is well-camouflaged in the green foliage. But for the past couple of years, populations of the Cross-striped Cabbageworm have been increasing. They’re especially pesky when lodged among the broccoli florets. Sometimes I don’t see them until I begin cutting the broccoli (just remove them). Inspecting the produce and spraying Bt regularly takes care of that.

Eggs hatch in a few days to a week, and immediately get to work chewing little holes and then bigger holes in your broccoli, kale, and other brassicas.

Harlequin bugs on cabbage

Another insect feeding on brassicas is the black and orange harlequin bug (photo, above). I squish them when I see them, although they’ll see you approaching them and will try to hide. They cause whitish blotches and distortions in the foliage.

Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt)

As soon as you notice the white moths and butterflies flitting near the brassicas, it’s time to get the sprayer bottle ready. The imported cabbageworm is the larval stage of a butterfly and the one you’ll see in the daytime. The other caterpillars are moth larvae and are active at dusk or at night.

Mix up a solution of Bt, Bacillus thuringiensis, available from the garden center. Dipel and Thuricide are brand names for Bt. It doesn’t take long for these voracious little caterpillars to inflict considerable damage to your plants, so don’t delay.

Spray both the upper and lower surfaces of the foliage, occasionally agitating the solution. Begin spraying a few days after first seeing the moths, or certainly when you see holes appearing. Set the sprayer nozzle to a very fine spray; larger drops of water will bead off the waxy foliage. One or two drops of dish soap in the sprayer will help the solution stick to the foliage if you can’t get a fine spray.

It washes off in the rain, but any Bt clinging on the reverse (bottom leaf surface) might be enough for the current batch of caterpillars. Spray the brassicas every 5 to 10 days, as long as the insects are active.

How Does Bt Work?

Bt is a naturally occurring bacterium that disrupts the caterpillar’s digestive system when ingested. The insects stop feeding immediately and die within a day or two. Spray as soon as you notice them because young caterpillars are more susceptible to Bt than older caterpillars.

Bt effectively rids the garden of moth and butterfly larvae, including swallowtails that eat parsley. Although they won’t bother your broccoli, black swallowtail larvae feed on parsley and its relatives in the Apiaceae family, including dill, cilantro, and bronze fennel.

The tradeoff? Fewer moths and butterflies, but more undamaged produce. I enjoy watching the black swallowtail butterflies, though, so I plant the large perennial bronze fennel for the caterpillars picked off the parsley and dill. Bt targets larvae of moths and butterflies, and nothing else.

After picking the crops, I sometimes let the caterpillars feast on the remains. Those caterpillars might feed another brood of baby birds or green anoles at that time of year. Once cold autumn weather has settled into the area, these caterpillars will no longer be around to bother the fall crop. Autumn is another delightful time to garden.

Bt is perfectly safe to use on edibles. Use up the diluted solution within a few days. Store Bt in a cool location out of the sun. Buy a small fresh bottle every couple of years, as this is a live organism, not a chemical.

Headings

Page 1: Starting Seeds for Cool Season Greens, The First of the Cool Season Greens: Spinach (Spinach from Seed Is Easy!, ‘Monstrueux de Viroflay’, Spinach Bowl, Harvesting Spinach), And Then the Brassicas (Include On the Label, Damping-Off, Caterpillars on Cool Season Greens, Bacillus Thuringiensis [Bt], How Does Bt Work?)

Page 2: Broccoli (Improve the Soil for Cool Season Greens, Harvesting and Side Shoots, When the Brassicas Bloom), Mini Broccoli (Early Sprouting Broccoli and ‘Spring Raab’, Broccoli ‘Happy Rich’, Who’s My Favorite?, Gai Lan and ‘De Cicco’, Sowing Seeds, Late Sprouting Broccoli)

Page 3: Dinosaur Kale, Hardening Off Cool Season Greens (Gradual Changes), Growing Plants Under Lights (More Tips Using Artificial Light), Getting More Cool Season Greens Into Your Diet, A Veggie Omelet Recipe Using Cool Season Greens

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Pages: 1 2 3

Time To Think About Fall Greens and Vegetables

Jul29

Updated 11/16/2024

Ready To Grow Fall Greens and Vegetables?

It’s hard to believe it’s already time to start seeds for fall greens and vegetables. I’ve been putting it off because of the hot weather we’ve been having. But, unless I want to buy transplants, seeds will have to be started soon. You folks up north probably have sown seeds for the broccoli and cauliflower by now, and certainly the Brussels Sprouts.

Here in North Carolina, fall seems a long time away, but in order for us to harvest those fall greens, we need to start sowing seeds now. Remember to locate your fall/winter garden where it will receive adequate sunlight. And, of course, I’ll sow successive crops through the rest of summer and early fall, as space permits.

Because we have a long growing season in the Carolinas, we can squeeze in another crop of summer vegetables. Zucchini, summer squash, cucumber, and beans can be sown again. But with the encroaching canopy of the trees on the berm, south of the garden, I’ll be planting only cool-season vegetables for late summer and autumn harvests. The ‘Diva’ cucumber is loaded with fruits. And I will wait patiently for every last fruit to ripen on the tomatoes and peppers.

(***Update***: A few days ago, a large and dangerously crooked pine tree was taken down, and now there’s more afternoon sun for the tomatoes and peppers. More sun also gives us opportunities to grow containerized vegetables and fall greens inside the fence, protected from deer. August 2018)

If They Can’t Take the Heat

Spinach.

Temperatures are still too high to sow lettuce and spinach outdoors, so I’ll wait another week or two. It’s still in the 90’s! They can be started indoors, in air-conditioned space, if needed.

Check the temperature of the soil before sowing seeds in the garden. Direct sun beating down on the dark soil surface can raise the temperature too high and dry it out very quickly. Look for one of those “Easy Tunnels”, or fabricate something yourself, to partially shade the soil and the tender young seedlings. You can purchase knitted shade fabric, made from black polyethylene, from mail order suppliers. In the southern states, 30-50% shading should work during the late summer months. This could lower the temperature by 10° or 15°F. Keep the soil surface moist to ensure good germination and to cool it down.

The best germination occurs between 55° and 70°F for lettuce and spinach. I usually put transplants into the garden instead of sowing seeds directly because hungry slugs, snails, and cutworms find tiny seedlings very tender and delicious.

Organic Sluggo will bait the mollusks (slugs and snails) to their deaths, and Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), sprayed on the seedlings, will kill cutworms. Slug baits made with iron phosphate, such as organic Sluggo, are far less harmful to pets and to people than products containing metaldehyde, so be sure to read the labels.

One way to gather up a whole lot of slugs is to place a board, maybe 1′ x 2′, over damp soil. Go out and check the underside early the next morning, old knife in hand, and cut them quickly in half or squish them any way you choose…but, don’t use salt in the garden!

Choosing Varieties of Fall Greens

Sowing seeds for fall greens and vegetables, which prefer cool weather, can be tricky in July’s heat. Look online or through seed catalogs for lettuce, spinach, broccoli, and other crops that are described as being heat tolerant varieties. Yes, all lettuce and broccoli varieties prefer cool temperatures, but some will take warmer or colder weather than others as they form heads. If you’re buying transplants, ask the grower.

Either way, plan to provide some sort of device that will lower the temperature during these last hot weeks of summer. For later harvests, I’ll sow seeds that grow cool and mature in cold weather, and they will not need the shade fabric. Plants grow better with more hours of direct sun as the temperatures cool down.

Check with your local agricultural extension office for recommendations or for a planting calendar.

Planting Young Transplants

Soil

Rich, dark soil with lighter brown clumps of clay, before incorporating.

Starting a vegetable garden with soil that has not been conditioned could result in a mediocre or poor harvest. Fall greens grow faster and larger in well-prepared soil.

Garden soil for these crops needs additional organic matter (compost, composted cow manure), drainage material (pine fines, coarse sand), and sometimes lime. A soil test will indicate the need for lime.

Our fall greens are being planted in soil that has been worked for 6 years, so it’s in very good condition. I will, however, continue to add compost, fertilizer, or manure to the garden with all new plants.

When digging soil, bring some of the lower-level clay up to the surface, and turn under the richer topsoil 4″ to 6″ deep (a few inches deeper for tomatoes, in spring). Over time, the clay soil on the surface will improve as mulch decomposes or when compost is added as a top dressing. Here you can see clumps of light brown clay that were brought to the surface of the soil (photo, above) before they were broken up.

Roots

Growers use pots and market packs of various sizes, including small 9-cell packs, 4-cell packs, 2″ peat pots and 4″ plastic pots. A smaller root ball needs more careful monitoring while the plant becomes established.

: Broccoli roots before…

: …and after.

An important step before planting is to rough up the outside of the root ball (photos, above). This slightly injures the inner root layer called the pericycle, stimulating the plant to quickly send out new lateral roots into the soil. Be careful not to so severely damage the root system that the plant can’t supply water to the leaves on a hot, sunny day. Do this for every plant that is about to be repotted or planted into the garden.

A root ball that’s tightly packed with roots can be shallowly scored down the sides in a few places. Use a knife, a rock, or even a twig. Or use a cultivator to pry out some of the roots.

To Bury or Not To Bury?

Broccoli ‘Arcadia’ from 4-cell-pack.

Most young vegetable transplants can be placed an inch deeper into the soil, or up to the bottom leaves. If the plant is more mature and has developed a somewhat woody or tough stem, plant it at the same level it was growing in the pot. But always, if possible, choose younger transplants.

Older plants can be stressed by being potbound or underfertilized, and might go to flower or head up prematurely, yielding undersized harvests. Young plants require more time to grow, but they will give you the largest heads of lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage. If in doubt, plant the top of the root ball level with the soil surface.

Firm the soil around the roots and stem using medium pressure. Humidity between the soil particles encourages the stem to grow fine roots without interference from tightly packed soil. Watering the plant helps the soil settle in around the root system and charges the soil with much-needed moisture.

Broccoli ‘Arcadia’ in winter.

These are same broccoli ‘Arcadia’ plants photographed in late December (photo, above). Trees on the berm cast too much shade until leaves dropped off, delaying harvest. When the garden gets more sun, heads should form in mid to late winter.

Fertilizer for Fall Greens

Planting fall greens and vegetables into late September, I mix a handful of granular organic vegetable fertilizer into the planting area. These crops grow beautifully with adequate nitrogen, so I will soon use higher nitrogen fish emulsion. Another application of fish emulsion will be made every 2-3 weeks through November, or every 2 weeks for potted greens.

Mustard seedlings in the garden.

Microbes in the soil break down organic compounds and make nutrients available to the roots. But, as the weather cools significantly, microbial activity slows down. I’ll use synthetic soluble fertilizers a few times in winter to keep the plants growing.

Greens and vegetables can grow all winter here, with some protection during very cold weather. This is worth the effort, since I can pick beautifully fresh kale and spinach for the Sunday omelet, or a big bunch of collards for collards soup.

Mustard greens ‘Florida Broadleaf’ was sown in late September, and germinated a few days later. The thinned seedlings will be used in soup, salad, or an omelet. Spinach sprouted about a week later.

Arugula

: Arugula flowers.

: Arugula ‘Astro’ seedlings.

Love, love arugula! A forkful of salad greens that has a piece of arugula in it…mmm… The variety I prefer is ‘Astro’. It’s not as hot as the wild types, and it tolerates warmer temperatures. Arugula self-sows if it likes where it’s growing. Just let it flower and set seed. The papery seed capsules release the seeds, which germinate within 2 weeks, during favorable weather, near the mother plant.

It grows well in morning sun, during warm weather, and in moist, rich soil. Those who are more adventurous than I might enjoy growing the hotter ‘Wasabi’. Arugula doesn’t look like a member of the family Brassicaceae, but it, too, is in that famous family.

You might have seen the term “cruciferous” being used when describing members of the Brassicaceae family (formerly Cruciferae). It refers to the flowers of these plants, which have 4 petals arranged in the shape of a crucifix. The terms brassica, cole crops, and crucifer (or cruciferous) refer to the same plants.

Broccoli

One of the most nutrient-rich foods, broccoli is a must in my garden. Nutrients include protein, Vitamins A, several B’s, C, K, minerals, fiber, and their famous phytonutrients. To say that we eat broccoli in one form or another every 2 or 3 days is not an exaggeration. Just ask Mother.

Broccoli crowns.

Heat and cold tolerance ranges from poor to excellent, depending on the cultivar. In this zone 7b area, ‘Imperial’ can be sown in July or planted as transplants from July through August; Johnny’s Selected Seeds’ catalog rates it “excellent” in heat tolerance for broccoli. Normally, broccoli grows best in cool weather, but you can extend the harvest by choosing 2 or 3 varieties that are suited to the weather at different times of the year.

The variety that will see us through the winter is cold-hardy ‘Arcadia’, which grows a large number of side shoots once the main head has been harvested. For that reason, don’t cut off too many leaves when you do harvest broccoli, because each of those leaves could be topped by another side shoot.

By the way, tender broccoli leaves are edible as well. Add them to soup, a smoothie, pasta, or a stir-fry. After the harvest is done, I keep the plants in the garden to flower. Bumble bees and other early risers are fond of this bounty, and the flowers are quite pretty!

Bumble bee visiting broccoli flowers in early spring.

Miniature Broccoli ‘Happy Rich’

Broccoli ‘Happy Rich’.

I’ve grown ‘Happy Rich’ for many years. This plant grows a small head at the end of a stem, harvested ideally before the white flowers open. Each of those little green beads is a flower bud, and even if the buds start opening when the stems are picked, they’re still going to the kitchen.

The head will never get to the same size as regular broccoli, but the flavor is superb. Once the little heads have been cut off with 6″ to 10″ of the stem, the plant will branch out and grow more little heads. The stem, the leaves, and the head are edible—steamed, stir-fried, or added to soup or a pasta dish.

Two plants have been growing in the garden since the spring, and they don’t look very happy. It’s been a hot summer in Charlotte, so I didn’t expect them to survive this long.

***Update***: In autumn, 2021, I moved to a larger property in the Piedmont, with lots of gardening potential. In the photo, below, ‘Happy Rich’ produced harvests for over 9 months in 2022. An Arctic Blast just before Christmas, when the temperature dropped 50 degrees to the low single digits, put an end to this planting. This area is in USDA zone 7b, so average temperatures allow growth all through the winter for many types of greens…usually. 11/16/2024

Miniature broccoli ‘Happy Rich’ in spring.

Bt

: Cabbage worms on broccoli.

: Adult form of imported cabbage worm.

The imported white cabbage butterflies visit frequently—more frequently, alas, than I do with the bottle of Bt.

Bt is an abbreviation for Bacillus thuringiensis, a naturally-occurring bacterium that kills caterpillars of moths and butterflies, and nothing else. Before you groan “no chemicals”, Bt is used by organic growers and it’s been around for decades. Perfectly safe, even for pollinators, and not a chemical. It easily rinses off produce. You can find both organic and conventionally prepared products.

All brassica crops are targeted by a few kinds of moths and one species of butterfly, which lay eggs on the leaves. The eggs soon hatch into voraciously hungry and well-camouflaged caterpillars. After consuming some of the Bt, they stop feeding and die shortly thereafter. Young caterpillars are more easily controlled than older caterpillars. Thuricide and Dipel are two brand-name products with Bt as the active ingredient.

Cross-striped cabbageworm, becoming more common here, on mustard greens. Expect several generations per season. Look for clusters of white woolly eggs.

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Page 1: Ready To Grow Fall Greens and Vegetables?, If They Can’t Take the Heat (Choosing Varieties of Fall Greens), Planting Young Transplants (Soil, Roots, To Bury Or Not To Bury?, Fertilizer for Fall Greens), Arugula, Broccoli, and Miniature Broccoli ‘Happy Rich’ (Bt)

Page 2: Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Collards, Kale, Lettuce, Nutritional Considerations of Fall Greens (The Sulforaphanes, Where’s the Beef?), and Only the Beginning

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Pollinators: What’s All the Buzz About?

Jun2

What’s All the Buzz About Pollinators?

Trips to the garden center and articles about landscaping and edible gardening. Radio garden programs and school field trips. What do they have in common?

The subject of Pollinators will come up!

And for good reason: we rely on pollinators for more than a third of our entire food supply! Without the bees, butterflies, bats, and hummingbirds, we would not be able to feed our growing populations. Apple, peach, and nut trees, tomatoes and peppers. Zucchini, cucumbers, berry bushes, and farm animal feed. These are just a few crops that depend on these little critters. Trees, grasses, shrubs, and wildflowers also rely on pollinators for procreation.

Pollinators are attracted to the flowers’ sweet nectar, for carbohydrates, and to pollen for proteins and lipids. Insects and other pollinators gather nectar and pollen from the flowers they visit. During this beneficial arrangement, called mutualism, they unintentionally transfer pollen grains from one flower to the next.

The Fruits of Pollination

Pollen (the male component) deposited onto a receptive stigma (female) in a flower belonging to the same species initiates the fruiting process. The half set of haploid chromosomes in ovules and sperm are recombined during fertilization. (This is not the kind of fertilization that involves nutrients). This restores the full diploid chromosome count. The ovary (fruit) grows and toughens, protecting the seeds until the fruits are harvested or the seeds dispersed.

Fruits, though, aren’t limited to the recognizable apples, peaches, and pears on a grocery store shelf. Botanically, a fruit is any seed- or spore-bearing structure in flowering plants and other organisms. This includes wheat, a kernel of corn, a plump blueberry, a sweet cherry, or an heirloom tomato. Even fungi, including mushrooms, have “fruiting bodies”.

Animals attracted to these nutritious fruits aid in seed dispersal, although in many cases, the seeds themselves are consumed and digested.

And there are some anomalies in Mother Nature’s kingdom that permit us to call strawberries “fruits” or “berries”, although they are neither! The luscious little strawberry is the swollen receptacle, the part that connects the flower to the stem. The actual fruits, or achenes, are those little brown things on the outside. And there’s a seed inside each achene.

No pollination means no fruit in up to 80% of our edible crops!

Honey Bees

A honeycomb.

Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are not native to the Americas. They originated in Africa and migrated to Indonesia, Europe, and Asia. The early colonists brought them here, where they proliferated throughout the frontier, preceding the settlers’ expansion into new territory. Before this species was imported, thousands of other types of insects and animals pollinated flowers. And they still do!

As the nation’s population grew, more crops entered cultivation. Agriculture became even more dependent upon these easily domesticated pollinators.

Almonds.

California’s almond harvest relies entirely on bee activity for nut production. In fact, beekeepers ship 75% of the country’s “beehives for hire” to flowering almond orchards to ensure a good crop.

Of the many thousands of bee species found worldwide, the honey bee is the only one that makes honey. Forager bees returning to the hive with nectar give this bounty to the processor bees. Processors pass the nectar among themselves, helping to lower the water content. Then they deposit the liquid into cells and fan it with their wings to concentrate the honey. After that, they cap the cells with wax to seal the compartment.

Forager bees mix their saliva with the pollen they collected, which the processors place in the cells. Once they’re capped, the mixture begins fermenting, resulting in a substance called bee bread. Both types of cells, with pollen and nectar, also contain enzymes from the bees. Nurse bees feed this bee bread to all larvae, and the colony can access it for sustenance during winter. Enriched bee bread, called royal jelly, is reserved for queen larvae. Not all the honey is harvested by beekeepers; most is kept in the hives.

Why All the Fuss About Pollinators?

A syndrome known as Colony Collapse Disorder has raised the alarm to protect the honey bees. It is not precisely known what prevents most of the bees from returning to the hives. However, it is known that the queen, the larvae, and the honey have been abandoned. Without help from the drones and worker bees, the colony fails.

This is not a new phenomenon, though. Farmers a hundred years ago reported losing up to 90% of their bees to this “disappearing disease”.

CCD was named around 2006, when sudden losses affected increasingly larger proportions of total hive counts. By then, some honey bee operations had lost 50 to 90% of their hives. For the next 8 years, farmers reported hive losses averaging 33% per year.

Current Research

Research has pointed to several possible explanations, although combinations of factors are probably in play. In 2013, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency joined forces to monitor CCD.

Various avenues of research are being pursued involving mites, fungi, loss of habitat, and lack of genetic diversity. Additional issues include chemical contamination of food sources and agricultural pesticides, notably the controversial neonicotinoids and fungicides. The Varroa mite and phorid flies are being researched for diseases that they could be vectoring into the hives.

Another question centers on pollen’s nutritional content from our crops, which might be weakening immunity.

In 2006, the honey bee’s genetic code was sequenced, opening up molecular approaches to treating CCD. Continuing research projects, through surveys, samples, and mitigation techniques overseen by the USDA, are getting closer to solutions. Unfortunately, there are no definitive answers for now.

Courses of action currently being followed include using antibiotics, fumigants, and genetic stock showing immunity to disease.

Honey bee on aster.

So, What Can We Do About It?

To Spray Or Not to Spray

We can manage our properties in ways that are less harmful to the bees’ health. First, consider whether or not we really need to spray every insect that shows up in our landscape. No, of course we don’t!

Maybe you’ve been using a certain product for the last 30 years because it has delivered a 100% kill rate. Overkill? Okay, then, now might be a good time to reassess the need for it. By the way, most municipal recycling stations take old or unwanted containers of chemicals. Please don’t throw them in the trash or pour them down the drain or in the yard!

Make some changes today that help restore ecological health and predator/prey balance to your landscape.

If there are only a few pests damaging your plants, hand-pick them. Cutting them in half or squashing them is more humane than salting them or dropping them in a bucket of soapy water. Never use salt in the garden. A strong spray of water from the hose will wash away most of the aphids.

It’s unrealistic to be entirely free of insect life. And no one wants to live in that world.

Try Using These

In my gardens, I rarely use anything stronger than horticultural oil, organic Sluggo, or Bt. All of them are available in garden centers. See if you can tolerate less than perfect foliage or fruit in return for a cleaner environment. As I grow older, imperfection becomes increasingly acceptable.

Investigate some of the organic options, which are gaining favor throughout the gardening world. The products I mentioned are available from some manufacturers that have been licensed to print the “OMRI” logo (Organic Materials Review Institute) on their labels. Some companies choose not to pay the licensing fee, but their products are “just as organic” as the OMRI products.

Most importantly, don’t spray plants when pollinators are actively visiting them. The products mentioned above do not harm honey bees if used according to label instructions. Follow them carefully, paying special attention to dilution rates and time of application.

Bt

Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) is a naturally occurring bacterium that paralyzes the digestive system of moth and butterfly larvae by changing the pH in their gut. After ingesting some of the Bt, the caterpillar stops feeding and dies a day or two later. It is more effective on younger caterpillars.

Dinosaur kale with caterpillar holes.

I use it on the brassicas (broccoli, kale, etc.) to prevent utter devastation by caterpillars. Not using it at all means more than just a few holes in the leaves. The leaves disappear!

It works on gypsy moths, canker worms, cabbage worms, cutworms, squash vine borers, tent caterpillars, and the “very hungry caterpillar” known as the tobacco hornworm, among others.

The tomato hornworm looks similar to the tobacco hornworm (photo, below), except it has V-shaped lines and a black “horn” instead of a red one. But, again, if you see entire tomato stems denuded of their leaves, look for that hornworm first before filling the sprayer. There might be only one or two on a large plant. (Tip: if you see their poop pellets, look above them.)

Different strains of Bt also control fungus gnats, potato beetles, mosquitoes, and nematodes.

Tobacco hornworm with parasitic wasp pupae.

Braconid Wasps

This species of Braconid wasp, Cotesia congregata, will kill or severely weaken the tobacco hornworm (photo, above). First, a female wasp lays eggs on or in the caterpillar. After hatching, the wasp larvae feed on the caterpillar’s internal tissues, and then pupate in the white cocoons.

Although it looks menacing, there’s really no need to spray this one. Simply remove the weakened caterpillar to the shrubs. The adult wasps will emerge, and then a bird or a lizard might finish off the caterpillar. The adult form of the hornworm is a type of hawk moth.

Headings

Page 1: What’s All the Buzz About Pollinators? (The Fruits of Pollination), Honey Bees (Why All the Fuss About Pollinators?, Current Research), and So, What Can We Do About It? (To Spray Or Not To Spray, Try Using These, Bt, Braconid Wasps)

Page 2: Planting for Pollinators (For Bees, For Butterflies and Moths, For Hummingbirds), Pollinators In the Landscape (Plant Selection, Host Plants and Nectar Plants, The Importance of Native Plants for Pollinators, Water and Minerals, Shelter), Attracting Pollinators to Your Garden, and National Pollinator Week

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