Back from New Zealand. Everything did fine while I was gone. The tomatoes are growing like weeds behind the frost cloth. I will leave it on for another couple of weeks. Broccoli did not get picked and seeded out. I needed to pull it anyhow to plant beans. I ran out of Derby seed and finished with Maxibel. I planned to pull the mustard greens but cut them back to the stalk instead and planted Butterfruit Bi-Color corn around them. I can probably get one more picking before the corn is up. Also planted some Sweet G-90 corn in another area. I used to grow it exclusively, but have experimented with some other varieties recently. I have not had very good luck with the supersweet varieties and I really like to more corny types better anyhow. Also planted 2 gator pepper plant which I started from seed at the same time as the tomatoes.
New Zealanders are avid gardeners and we found a strong emphasis on fresh, locally grown produce. In fact, we saw hardly any imported produce, except bananas and the like. I was surprised to see fields of what turned out to be what they called turnips (actually rutabagas or swedes as they are called in the UK) and Swiss chard (which they call silver beets). They use these crops for winter grazing. The sheep eat the tops and the cattle are then turned in to eat the turnip roots. Sweet potatoes (called kumara) are on every menu.
I’m really looking forward to your next update. I’m new to the area and a little confused over what I should have planted in March. I know I need to tweak some things and I’m finding that I didn’t raise my 24′ x 20′ bed quite enough.
We have a row of silver queen corn that seems to be doing well and the spring strawberries seem to be doing okay. The watermelon hill is growing some small sprouts but I haven’t thinned anything yet. My tomatoes are disappointing (Big Beef, Roma) but they are just slow growing… no need to panic yet. Lettuce was a non starter in March and we pulled it up… next year it will go in much earlier.
I think my biggest question is how to plan for a decent yield out of about 3′ x 20′ allocated to beans. Should I just go with some bush beans and alternate planting two rows? Its mostly just fun for my wife and kids to watch, but we would like to make a side dish or two out of it. I’m hoping to stretch the watermelon vines through the beans and corn….. okay, I admit it, we want to plant everything in this small space! Your website gives me hope that I can work some variety into this project.
Thanks!
Comment by blazergrn — April 2, 2008 @ 10:56 am
The 3X20 area will make a lot of beans. I plant spring beans around March 1, but they will do ok even into April. For a small garden I suggest area planting with equally spaced plants rather than rows as such. About 6″ spacing would be right for beans. I like Derby best, but a number of varieties work ok.
Your idea on planting watermelons is good. You can just wind the vines through the other plants. Of course, they will need to get sun. For a small garden starting one crop while the other is still producing is a good way to sequence things.
February is about the latest for lettuce. I would choose different varieties of tomatoes next time, but they will probably be ok.
In general, everthing that is not frost tolerant should be planted around March 1 (although you might have to protect it against late frosts). For a few spring/summer plants should wait until April; these would be okra, Southern peas and eggplant.
Comment by Robert — April 8, 2008 @ 12:17 pm