Farmers Weekly Review

We all know “those” people, heck, we may be them. Are you the one gardener in your neighborhood trying to do anything you can to make sure you have the first ripe tomato on the block?
I see you! Well, why not expand that concept to the first fresh vegetables of spring? I wonder why we don’t hear someone bragging about having the first spinach, radish or sugar snap pea on the block, but they should.
The magic of early spring vegetables is the cool weather. The cool provides some of the sweetest, most tender crops right out of the gate. Why? Because when grown in cool conditions, the vegetables have higher sugars; in warm they are more starchy and less flavorful.
So why not give it a try? You don’t even have to go to the garden to get going. After the heavy February rains, it would be nearly impossible to dig into the garden right now anyway.
Think early spring growing in containers. Just to usher in the new year, I always plant a hanging basket of lettuce and spinach on New Year’s Day. I usually have seed left over from last year, but if you don’t, I saw the seed displays going up in most stores as they were taking down the Christmas leftovers.
Remember the two golden rules of container gardening: a pot (or any container) with a hole in the bottom, and use potting mix (not potting soil). To make planting less dusty, I like to pre-moisten the potting mix the night before I plan to start. It helps to hydrate the mix, and you will also avoid having all your newly planted seed migrate away to the edges of the container when watering them for the first time.
The reason I like a hanging basket for this New Year’s project is I can get it right up in the south or west windows where the most sun of those short winter days can get those seedlings growing. All the greens — lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, kale and all of the Asian greens are actually tolerant of part shade because we are eating the leaves of the plants, not the fruit of the flower. Flowers need sunshine.
You can start any greens inside year-round. But what about outside? I have already pushed the nature envelope by starting some sugar snap peas, spinach, and carrots outside already. All are in containers. Remember the trick of containers — the soil in them warms up faster. And, in general, you can move a container around. For this early start, I recommend putting the containers in the sunniest spot available, right up against the house for added protection.
For these outside early starters, I use the ever-so-chic, 3-gallon bucket. Why 3 gallons? That is what the donut store gets their delicious donut fillings in. These are an ideal container. First because they are food safe. I don’t want you recycling a bucket that window washer fluid came in. Second they are cheap, either free or a dollar each. That makes them perfect.
The toughest part is making the drainage holes in these thick, durable buckets. I like to use a drill to make some quarter-sized holes on the bottom of the bucket and around the edges on the sides. But you can use any container. Just remember, planting this early might still involve some snow and ice, and you want the containers to be able to drain. Just like our soil in the ground, we want moisture, but not drowning roots or rotting seed.
Seeds should be planted as deep as they are thick as a rule. Remember the seed packet has all the information you need to know. Lettuce seed is so tiny and thin, you only need to sprinkle seed on the surface of the pot; gently brush your hand over the soil until they disappear just below the soil surface.
For root vegetables, like carrots radishes and beets, the biggest mistake is planting them too thickly. The good thing for lettuce and beets, you can just eat the thinnings. To avoid sowing these root crops too thickly, pour a dime-sized amount seed into your hand, and then mix it with twice that volume of potting mix, then sow. This trick helps to distribute the seed evenly.
Now sugar snap peas, one of my very favorite “firsts” when it comes to vegetables. This is where those useless, flimsy 39-cent tomato cages come in handy. Remember, peas are climbers and need something to cling to — enter the inverted cheap tomato cage. Turn the tomato cage upside down so it now looks like the frame of a Christmas tree. Then bury it about an inch deep into the top of your pot. Then plant your pea seeds one inch deep around the edge of cage. When the peas start to come up and twine, they will grow right up the cage. This also makes for easy harvest.
If we are forecast for some really low temps, keep an old sheet nearby to drape over your early plantings for the night. Because you know how Mother Nature likes to spin that thermostat like a wheel at a carnival.
Soon you will be able to have the sweetest, freshest vegetables to grace the spring dinner table.