A Word About Growing Cucumbers

Cucumbers are a great vegetable for your garden.  They are versatile and they are early!

I consider cucumbers to be important to my garden, not because they are splashy like tomatoes, but because they are among the earliest vegetables to be ready in the garden.  They may not get all the press, but when you are going out to look at your garden every day, taking pleasure in every inch of growth,  there is a special thrill when you see the first fruit.  Cucumbers can easily be that first fruit!  The packet of seeds I have says "58 Days to Maturity," but I think you will not have to wait quite that long.

I think it is best to grow cucumbers from seed.  You will see plants for sale at your local garden center, but they generally give only one choice as to variety and that variety will be simply called "Burpless.'  Blah.  Don't do it.  Meander over to the seed racks and take a look at the choices.

I'm going to recommend that you purchase seeds of any variety that has the word "pickle" or "pickling" in the name or in the description underneath.  Why?  Pickling cucumbers are thin-skinned and crispy, perfect for slicing and eating.  These are the ones that have little bumps on them.
They will be crunchy when sliced and eaten with salt and pepper.  They are great for marinating in vinegar or for using in a yogurt salad.  And they make great pickles!
Burpless cucumbers are no good at all for pickles.  They make mushy pickles.  I learned about this the hard way, as most lessons are learned.  Early in my gardening life, I tried my hand at pickles.  They were mushy.  There was no internet then, so I called my county agent.  She mentioned an ingredient in the pickling solution, but I didn't learn the real reason until several years later when I read an Organic Gardening article about it.  AHA!  The culprit!!  No more burpless cukes for me!

Unless you are growing a "bush" variety, in your small garden you need to help those vines grow up.  Tomato cages are good for this (but not for tomatoes).

Pick them when they are relatively small.  You don't want to let them get fat and sort of yellow.  They get very seedy then.   If you miss one, go ahead and pick it and compost it if it's too big.

Which Tomato Should I Grow?

You know how those tomatoes in the seed catalogs sound so tempting and wonderful? Guess what? They will not all grow well in your area. Here in the Southeast, I do not even entertain the thoughts of growing something that mentions Siberia or the Dakotas.  Here, you need something that will stand up to heat and humidity. How do you know which ones those are? 
**Don't try to grow from seed unless you are starting them in February.  At this point, go buy plants.

• Ask other experienced gardeners what kinds they grow.Pay attention to what local garden centers carry. The nurseries that they buy from generally try to grow varieties that are proven in your area.

• If you have a local arboretum or botanical garden, they may have a spring plant sale to help raise money. Find out when it is and GO! You will meet gardeners who are experts in their area. Ask questions. You will learn a lot and you will meet some really nice people who love to share what they know.  

• Read the label.  Look for words like "disease resistant" and "stands up to heat."  If it has some letters at the end like V or VFT, etc, those stand for every disease it's resistant to.  V is verticillium wilt.  F is fusarium.  T is tobacco mosaic virus. N stands for nematodes.  You would think that the more letters it has, the better, but an old standby is Big Boy (the first hybrid tomato).  It has no letters, and I think it's usually pretty dependable. 

Hedge your bets. Don't get just one variety, even if it was your best grower last year. Conditions may be different this year and I try to spread out the risk!

Stop living in a rut!  Trying at least a couple of different varieties will make you feel like you are stepping outside of your box. It will make you feel adventurous in a  safe sort of way! Besides, this is the only way to experiment and find out which varieties are best for you.

Choosing Varieties for Taste

Slicing tomatoes - What do you want your tomatoes to taste like? This is a very individual thing! How can you tell before you grow it? Read the label or the description in the catalog.Some people-me included, like a tomato with a lot of "zing." If that describes you, then you want a tomato with a lot of acid. If it says “real tomato taste” or uses the word “tartness,” then I choose that one! If on the other hand, yoyou do not like a lot of acid in a tomato then you want a “mild” tomato. If it uses the word “mild” or “low-acid,” then that's what you will get. Also, I have found that most yellow or pink tomatoes are milder in flavor, but that is not always the case. Read the label. 

Paste tomatoes are usually also low in acid. They are called “paste” tomatoes because they have a low water content and so are good for making sauces and for roasting. Roma is a very popular variety of paste tomato and is widely available. My personal favorite is Viva Italia.   (Since I like a lot of tartness, when I roast paste tomatoes I add a bit of lemon juice or wine vinegar to the pan.)

Cherry tomatoes are usually pretty dependable and seem to be more resistant to diseases than some slicers.  Although it's hard to make a tomato sandwich with cherry tomatoes, it CAN be done, and I have done it!  
My advice to most people is to grow at least one or two plants of cherry tomatoes in addition to whatever else you grow. 

My number one recommendation is a variety called Sungold.  In the last couple of years I have started seeing it available commercially.  The ones this year are labeled "Yellow Cherry" with the variety name "Sungold" underneath.  I will be planting 3 of these.  They will live till frost and are very prolific!  You will never be short of tomatoes with Sungold in your garden!

Finally, make sure you label your tomatoes in the bed, otherwise when you find a variety that you love the taste of or the one that is “the last survivor on the island,” you will have no idea which one it is!

  

How To Choose Sweet Peppers for Your Garden

The first thing to know is that sweet peppers are only sweet if you let them get ripe.  They're just like an apple or other fruit in that respect.  Green peppers are fine, but when you stir fry or sauté a fully ripe pepper, you will see that sugar start to caramelize in the pan!

Sweet peppers all start out green, then ripen to red or orange or yellow, depending on the variety.  I have noticed in recent years that some of the growers have started labeling the pepper plants they sell as "Green Bell" and then right next to it will be the exact same pepper labeled "Red Bell."  They are the same plant.! They are just tricking you without educating you!  

How will those peppers turn red (or orange or yellow)?  You just let them stay on the plant longer.  It takes a good while longer to get ripe.  That's why those ripe peppers are so expensive in the store.  It costs that farmer a lot of time and resources to grow those peppers longer, and letting them stay on longer decreases the total production of the plant.

Types of Sweet Peppers

In sweet peppers, there are bells and non-bells.  The non-bells can be cherry shaped or shaped like banana peppers.  In bells, I like to choose a mixture of ripe colors.  I also choose some sweet long peppers.  I will use the long ones while still green and then also let some get ripe.  They are usually thinner and I like to use then for pizzas and for pickling to be used for sandwiches and different types of salads.  Try some different varieties of each type to see what grows best in your area and in your garden.  In our area you will see banana peppers, both sweet and hot, for sale.  Although they don't sound as exotic as some, they sure grow well down south, and so they have become a staple in my garden.

While you're looking, pay attention to the "Days to Maturity."  I like to pick some that mature faster because I'm ready to eat!  Note that the days to maturity are not how long they will take to ripen.  You  will have to tack on 2 -3 weeks for that.

All peppers freeze beautifully.  They don't have to be blanched to stop the enzyme process like you would green beans or other vegetables.  All you have to do is cut them up and freeze them.    I would really spread them out in the bag and lay it out flat in the freezer to start with so they don't freeze in a clump.  You can just keep adding to that same bag.  Then you can just break of what you need for a dish next winter.

Now you are fully armed to go out and buy the peppers you really want.  Enjoy them, y'all!!

It's Easy! or Not Your Grandpa's Garden

Note:  This was written when I lived in Tennessee.  I moved to Texas last fall and today I am going to go out and work on making a new little garden spot at my new-to-me house.  I will be using this method.  I wish I could have done it in the fall, but I didn't.  I will be using cardboard, newspapers, and leaves.  Hay is very expensive here, so until I can find a source of used bedding, I won't be using that.  Go get your garden ready, y'all!

When you think of gardening, do you think of a big half-acre garden with rows marked off with string to make them straight? Do you think of hot summer afternoons of hoeing weeds? There IS a better way! You can do this, and you can make it easy. Stick with me and I can help. The most work in my garden comes at planting time and when I prepare beds as I prepare for the next season.


Think about that long-ago garden with rows. People walked on over half the garden. Walking on the soil compacts it, and is a bad thing for the soil and for the plants on each side. What if you took 3 rows and slid them together? Now you have a wide row about 3-4 feet wide. You can walk around it and never walk in your planting soil.

This is not fancy, y'all, but I can grow a
 lot of good food here!

Keep in mind that unless you have a reason, you don't need to make raised beds. You just need wide rows with dedicated walking spaces between them. Think about the size of a lunchroom table. That's a good size for a wide row. You can make it 8 or 10 or 12 feet long; whatever you like. You don't want to make it too long because that makes it harder to get to the other side. You can fairly easily dig that size bed up with a shovel. And if you have another “shovel operator” to help you, it's even easier! You don't need a tiller or a tractor. You can DO this!  (If you have access to a tiller, you can certainly this first year go ahead and till this area, then cover with hay, etc.) As best you can, pull out the grass, shaking the soil off as you go.

The beginnings of a new bed.  

If you are like me and don't even want to dig, you can start in the fall and lay down  a layer of cardboard first, then newspapers or shredded paper and then either hay, grass-clippings, or leaves that you have run over with the lawn mower.  Let the worms work it all winter, and by spring you'll be ready to go.  I, however, did not do that last fall on the new spot I am making, and so here it is March and I'm just making that new bed.  I will not dig it up because there are
too many rocks here and besides, it sounds like too much work.  So I'm making my bed and will wait a few weeks and punch throught the layers and plant some things there.  I'll keep adding hay all summer and by next year it will be even better. I won't plant my precious tomatoes or peppers there, but I'll plant something.  It is not a big deal.  

What if you don't have shreded paper?  Just use whatever you have.  If it will rot, then it's probably good.  Do you have donkeys next door like I do?  Then you can add some shovels of donkey manure.  (Don't use dog or cat poo. You don't want their parasites---which could become YOUR parasites.) 

There is a layer of cardboard, then a layer of shredded paper,  Last is a layer
of hay.

That bed will eventually be higher than the surrounding soil because it will get “fluffy” from all the organic matter you're going to add and from the earthworms working the soil for you.  If you have a NEED to make a raised-bed then whatever you do, don't use old cross ties or landscape timbers. The cross ties have creosote which is carcinogenic,;the landscape timbers are treated. All this bad stuff will leach into the soil where you are growing food to eat. Don't do it. In this part of the country, cedar is the best choice.  


Cover the soil with grass-clippings (that have not been sprayed with herbicide) or hay or chopped-up leaves or shredded or torn paper (only black and white newspaper, not colored ads). Pile it up thick. This deep mulch will serve a few purposes. It will keep weeds from growing, which equals no hoeing! It will hold moisture in, and it will rot and enrich your soil. The earthworms will eat it from the bottom side and will speed up this process. Earthworms will “till” your soil when you give them organic matter to eat, and you will actually be able to dig in it with your hand!


(Just so it doesn't get left out--Do NOT spray with pesticides. It is bad for you and your family, and it is totally unnecessary. Most pests can be hand-picked.)

What Should I Plant???

All the vegetables I'm going to talk about are warm-weather plants.  That means they need to be planted after the danger of frost has passed.  Where I live in southern middle Tennessee that could be after April 15^th and sometimes a bit later.  (Update:  I now live in Texas, and I am still figuring out the last frost date.  So far it looks like about the third week in March.)  Also, this is a “quicky.”  I'm not going to go into great detail about each vegetable in this article.  I just want you to get off to a good start.  

First, think about what you like to eat.  What tastes best homegrown or is expensive to buy?  Tomatoes is usually the number one answer.  They only taste good homegrown.  So grow some tomato plants.  Buy plants to put in your garden.  Don't try to grow these from seed unless you can start in February and until you get more experience.   (Which Tomato Should I Grow?)

Next, think about getting a lot of bang for your buck.  These are things that give you a lot of food.  Here's what I do.  

I grow zucchini because I can get lots of food from them.  Pick them small so you don't have 2 foot long ones that have big ol' seeds in the middle that have to be scooped out and so that you are not overrun with them.  

Butternut squash, spaghetti squash, pumpkins and other “winter” squash are very expensive in the store.  (Note: they are called “winter” squashes because they are good for storing through the winter in a slightly cool place.  They all have a thick rind.  Don't try to store them in the fridge.  They just won't last as long.)  They have to grow a long time until they are ripe, and they have long vines, so keep those things in mind when planning your garden.  There are some bush varieties available.  Grow these from seed. 

I grow peppers.  I am most passionate about peppers.  That is for another day.  For right now, you need to know that peppers, both sweet and hot are easy to grow and don't have problems with pests or diseases.  You might occasionally find a tomato hornworm, but they are easily hand-picked and fed to the birds.  Do you want those sweet red peppers?  Then let the green ones stay on the plant long enough to get ripe.  Regular bell peppers ripen to red.  If you buy yellow or orange varieties, they will start out green too and will ripen to red, yellow, or orange.  I'll write more about that later, but that's enough to get you started.  Don't try to grow these from seed unless you start in January or February.  Buy plants. 

Cucumbers are a good choice for quick results.  The seeds are a nice size for kids to help plant and you'll have yields fairly quickly.  I like to let them run up on something so they don't take up so much room.   If you want to make pickles, then you need to buy seeds for "pickling" cucumbers.  The others will be soft when they are pickled. You'll know they are good for pickling because it will have "pickling" in the name.  Picklers are good for slicing AND pickling.  This is what I buy.

In the south, we like okra.  Nothing bothers okra.  To grow okra, soak the seeds overnight and plant when the soil is warmed up.  Give each plant plenty of room.  I would say to give each plant a square of about 2-3 feet.  I like Clemson Spineless because they don't get tough as quickly, but I am growing Lousiana Green Velvet this year at the recommendation of a friend.  

I would suggest that you don't try to grow corn in your small garden.  Yes, I know you like corn.  I do too.  But here's what you need to know about corn.  It is wind-pollinated.  You have to plant several short rows so they can pollinate each other.  Here's the quick botany lesson.  All those tassels are the male part and have all the pollen.  Those silks are the female parts and a pollen grain has to make it to the end of each silk to make each individual kernel of corn.  You just have to have more room to grow corn.