It’s ‘tater planting time. And onions, edible pod and English peas, lettuces, and cabbage, all which grow and produce best this time of year and are harvested in plenty of time to set out tomatoes, peppers, squash, and basil.
I grow most of my veggies in large pots or a small raised bed, which warms early and is easy to monitor water, fertilizer, and cover if need during a sudden freeze.
Potatoes are funny, in that they produce new tubers on lower stems, not roots. Rather than plant entire little potatoes, I cut them into egg size pieces with an eye or two, let them dry a few days, and when they sprout, I bury them in about three inches of soil with a scant handful of fertilizer. I plant them in trash cans, stacked tires, or anything I can fill in as the plants grow.
Every time I see new leaves poking through the soil I cover them completely with more soil and/or mulch, a few inches at a time, so the emerging leaves completely buried until there is a foot or so of stuff above the original pieces, with stems in total darkness so new potatoes will form more readily. When the tops die down in late spring, I will dump it all out to harvest the potatoes.
Little onions are planted shallow, so as the bulbs enlarge, they will end up almost sitting on top of the ground – a secret to bigger bulbs. Because they are shallow rooted, I will give them just a dash of fertilizer every three or four weeks and harvest them when the tops die down.
My fav of all cool-weather veggies are lettuces, which are not just tasty and nutritious but also pretty as potted porch plants. I mix seed of several kinds together and sow them on top of soil in bowl-like pots or anything wide and shallow, water the seeds lightly every day until they sprout, then water more deeply but skip two or three days to encourage deeper roots. Within three or four weeks I end up with nice mixed salads of green, red, smooth, and curly leaves which can be snipped as needed and plants left to sprout again. I usually start new bowls two or three weeks later to keep a continuous harvest going until hot weather causes them to flower or taste bitter.
For transplants like cabbage and broccoli, I never buy the biggest plants, knowing that smaller, more tender plants will get established and grow more quickly, while the older ones tend to get stuck and may not mature. I keep them moist, not wet, and fertilize very lightly (half strength liquid fertilizer) every couple of weeks, and they grow steadily and mature before hot weather.
To get my pea seeds started quickly I roll them in a damp paper towel, and within two days they are sprouted, so I can plant them exactly where I want, spaced so they all have room to grow.
Knowing we have a long season ahead, and not being the type of gardener to be the first on the block, I don’t let balmy late winter days get my juices going too early for summer plants – I may start some seed soon, but wait to plant in April, when both soil and rains are warm for good, and the plants will actually outgrow those set out early.
It’s time to plant cool season veggies. A little weeding, mulching, watering, and covering with plastic sheets in cold snaps or insect netting, and my garden is too busy for summer stuff.
Felder Rushing is a Mississippi author, columnist, and host of the “Gestalt Gardener” on MPB Think Radio. Visit his blog at felderrushing.blog. Email gardening questions to rushingfelder@yahoo.com.
