Melondy Phillips
Staff Writer
The hot days of summer are just around the corner, and gardening will be going great guns – but be careful of those late frosts.
I have heard several people talking about how they have lost most, if not all, of their crops this year due to “late frosts” in April. But are they really “late” in this area?
Two old gardening sayings around here are “wait until after Mother’s Day” or “wait until after May’s full moon.” Some old-timers have told me about how they have even experienced snow showers in June. I tend to listen to those who have been around long enough to have a mastery level of know-how, and I value their advice. So, until then, my tomatoes are staying in the greenhouse.
There are some vegetables that are considered cool weather crops and do well even through a frost. Granny always said that peas get sweeter when hit with a bit of frost. Carrots also seem to need some cold to really get that sweetness in them. Broccoli, beets, garlic, Brussel sprouts, asparagus, celery, lettuce, cauliflower, and many leafy greens, to name a few, are all cool weather friendly and do well this time of year. But as the temperatures rise, it’s a good practice to rotate these foods out for the heat-lovers.
With proper planning, cool weather vegetables can be grown throughout the summer. One method is by making a canopy out of heat loving vining plants. Indeterminate tomatoes, pole beans, or cucumbers grown on a vertical or arching supports will create a nice shade area under them to grow some cool weather crops, such as lettuce.
Some other heat loving vegetables are watermelon, cantaloupe, corn and peppers and many herbs.
Tomatoes, peppers, squash and beans are some of the most commonly grown home garden vegetables throughout the USA. While many people tend to grow tomato and pepper plants as annuals, they are actually perennials. As a tender perennial, they are quickly killed by frost. However, when protected, these plants can live for more than five years. Some people have reported their pepper plants living for as many as 15 years.
Gardens do not need to be large to produce an abundance of produce. Inter-planting different crops, or companion gardening, can greatly increase the harvest of even tiny garden spaces. Another technique is combining companion gardening with square-foot gardening. The following crops could all fit in just a single square foot of space: one tomato, two to six garlic, and one to four basils. The combinations are endless.
Adding vertical gardening into the above options will take growing space to another level. Growing pole beans on supports could supply a greater harvest in less space than bush beans. Bush beans grow quickly and start producing faster than pole beans but tend to have a shorter productive life. Meanwhile, pole beans take longer to start producing but won’t stop until the fall frost kills them. In short season climates, half runners may be a good middle ground. They “run” more than bush beans, so they can still be grown vertically but start producing earlier than the traditional pole beans. Try planting some broccoli, beets or Brussels sprouts in the partial shade of the supported bean vines and throw in a few carrot or catnip seeds.
Tomatoes, beans and peppers are staple items in many home gardens, but no garden should be without at least a few perennial veggies. You might add asparagus, rhubarb (nicknamed the poor man’s fruit), horseradish, globe and Jerusalem artichokes, potato onions, lovage (similar to celery), and a slew of different herbs add diversity and flavor with little fuss.
Asparagus needs about three years to develop strong enough to harvest but, with proper care, it can grow and provide food for 30 years and longer. The main care for this prolific plant is to keep the weeds out, feed it occasionally, and if the shoots start getting too thin, allow them to fern out instead of harvesting. When they go to fern, more food and energy can be carried to the roots for healthier plants.
Rhubarb is another perennial I like to have around, and it’s not just for eating. The stems are used more like a fruit than a vegetable. It can be made into jams and other desserts, but the leaves should not be eaten due to the high levels of oxalic acid. The leaves do have other uses. Rhubarb leaves contain high levels of potassium and other nutrients good for growing plants. They can add nutrients to a compost or be used as a mulch around other garden plants. Boiling the leaves and using the tea to feed the garden can give plants a vitamin boost. Spraying a strong rhubarb leaf tea on plants may even help fight some plant blights and is an effective insect repellant; edible parts sprayed with the tea should be thoroughly washed before consuming.
The tea made from rhubarb leaves can also be used to make a warm yellow natural dye.
For beekeepers, oxalic acid has been used effectively for treating mites in honeybee hives. Throwing a few leaves into the top of a hive supplies a natural source of low dose oxalic acid which can help fight varroa while not harming the honeybees.
Herbs add an endless variety and depth of flavor to almost any food, and they smell great! Once established, perennial herbs like rosemary, thyme, chives and oregano require almost no upkeep. Here, in zone 5, my chives, oregano and wormwood hibernated well through the winter and are now growing and spreading, without any effort on my part.
Because rosemary and thyme are a little more intolerant to cold, they are planted in the greenhouse and are doing very well.