Sowing Seeds for Good Health
By Jamie Sloan, Account Manager
It’s that time of year again in the mid-Willamette Valley to start thinking and planning for your edible garden crops. Yay! There are a few factors to consider when getting started: garden location, soil, sunlight and crop choices.
It is best to place a garden in a space that will be convenient to plant, care for, and harvest. You will also need to protect the garden site from invading insects or animals. When considering a location the first thing to do is select for sunlight. An open, south-facing, gradual slope is best, but at least look for a shade-free place. All vegetables need a minimum of six hours of sunshine. Less will cause the plants to be weak and spindly no matter how much care you give them.
Place your garden where it will be easy to care for, near the kitchen is always nice! If your space is limited, container gardening is recommended. Growing tomatoes and peppers is fairly easy this way. Carrots, radishes, parsley, herbs and lettuce are also easy to grow in containers.
Next, get to know your soil. An indication of the general fertility of your garden soil is its natural vegetation. The healthier the weeds or grass growing on the site, the better the soil will be for vegetables. Light tilling or no-till gardening are recommended to maintain the integrity of soil structure. Also, avoid tilling when soil is wet, or the soil will become compacted and cloddy.
Select viable seeds from a trustworthy source. I recommended using organic and heirloom seeds for home garden edibles. Timing is another important factor to consider and it can be critical when sowing seeds indoors. The safe rule-of-thumb for outdoor planting/ transplanting is using the date of Mother’s Day as your outdoor planting date. This year May 11, 2014 is the checkered flag date to begin planting outdoors. There are many charts available on-line and also using the OSU Master Gardeners Ext. site is highly recommended for learning specific crop sow dates. Knowing your USDA Zone is also crucial to seed sowing and planting. The Salem region is USDA Zone 8a, Portland is 8b.
Sowing indoors requires a little knowledge for a successful harvest. Produce like the brassicas: broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower and kohlrabi all require a month to six weeks indoors under lights before they go outside, which is safe about a month before final frost (5/11/14).
Tomatoes, peppers and eggplants each need six to eight weeks under lights before transplanting, when all frost danger is past. The big-seeded sorts like pumpkins, squash, melons and cucumbers, which only need a couple of weeks indoors or direct sow around your frost date. Inside, these can be started in mid-May or so.
Some direct sow crops you may consider because they’re so easy include: salad greens (lettuce, arugula and such), peas (as soon as the soil can be worked), and spinach (either late fall for an extra-early crop, or very early spring), chard, broccoli, beets and other root crops, kales and collards, dill, and beans. Basil and parsley are two other crop staples: parsley with the early stuff, basil with the later.
The options are limitless and so, too, is the assistance and guidance available for planting an edible garden. There is inexplicable joy knowing what you are eating, where and how it was grown. That joy is bundled with the extra satisfaction of reaping what you sow for good health, by your own hands. Happy Gardening!