Growing and Eating Flowers, Stems, and Leaves

The part of the plant to eat for broccoli is the flower, for kohlrabi is the stem, and for brussels sprout is the leaf. I grow all of these in the hardiness zone five of the Midwest.

The first week of April is the best planting time for all three vegetables in my garden. I either purchase the seedlings or grow them from seeds inside. Also I have started the seeds outside around the first of May. When I start the seed in the garden I make a hole the same size as the container used for starting the seed inside and add the same starting medium. Also I use an insecticide dust on the plants after they come above the ground. This keeps insects and other animals away from the seedling as it develops into a 4 to 5 inch plant.

Broccoli can be eaten during first week of June, with the help of the weather. Broccoli can have a bad taste if the large stem is eaten or after the yellow flowers have started from the buds. The groups of buds is the part ate. Typically the first and largest grouping of the buds tastes the best. After the initial harvest the plants grow several smaller groups of buds which are also ate. Around the middle of July the smaller buds loss the original taste. So I remove the plant and put winter squash seeds in its place.

Kohlrabi is ready to eat from the first day of summer to the 4th of July. The ones in my garden taste best went they're about 1 and 1/2 inch in diameter. Any larger the stem will become hollow and crack inside. I peel off 1/4 inch of the outside to reach the better taste of the inside. After harvest I remove the cut stem and its roots to plant winter squash seed.

Brussels sprouts can appear to stop growing, during the warmer days of summer. But they should be left in the ground, because they start the growth again as the days get cooler. Brussels sprouts need one or two freezes to get their good taste. For the temperature to reach 25 degrees is better than falling just below freezing. For my growing area it might be necessary to wait until middle of October to get the good taste. When harvesting, I remove the bundles of Brussels Sprouts leaves themselves. By not cutting off the stem, new leaf bundles will grow until a hard freeze ends the season.

All three vegetables grown in my garden are rather small. My Kohlrabi grows too around 1 and 1/2 inches in diameter and my Brussels sprouts leaf bundles reach less than 1 inch in diameter. The first time I ever saw the larger ones pictured in catalogs, I was in the hardness zone 4 of Wisconsin. One Saturday morning, at a farmers market, I purchased 4 inch diameter Kohlrabi and 2 inch diameter Brussels sprouts. Vegetable care articles

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Asparagus, a Spring Favorite

Spring is here and with it rushes in the excitement of preparing new meals with the influx of freshly harvested vegatables. A favorite amongst these new veggies being asparagus. Elegant, delicious and full of nutrition, asparagus is ready to return to the dining table and dazzle friends and family.

One of the great qualities of asparagus is the many ways to prepare it. Asparagus can be grilled, steamed, roasted, blanched, cooked on the stove top, and even microwaved. With asparagus in season, recipes are readily available in many cookbooks and on most cooking website lists. As a low calorie vegatable, asparagus makes a great addittion to any spring plate. 

Combined with a pasta it becomes part of the main entree and adds wonderful color to the dish. Bacon included with asparagus will have even the pickiest of eaters devouring every last bite. Asparagus added to a salad makes for a refreshing lunch. Asparagus is here and now is the time to take advantage of this spring favorite.

 

Selection and Storage of Asparagu

Dark green and purple tips are essential to selecting great asparagus. The spears should be firm to the touch while being straight and not bent. The tips will also be closed tightly. The rest of the asparagus will be a bright green color. Any blemished or wilted asparagus should be avoided. When held in two hands the asparagus should easily be snapped in two when bent, seperating the spear from the stalk.

To store once back home, the ends can be trimmed and placed in a cup with just a little water in the bottom. Plastic can be wrapped over the top before placing the cup in the refridgerator. This method will help the asparagus keep for up to a couple of days. Next article is How to Plant and Grow Eggplant

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How to Plant and Grow Eggplant

If you can grow peppers, you can grow eggplants. That's how easy they are grow. If garden space permits, try growing a few of many different varieties of eggplants; small and oval, large and oblong, white, orange or green fruit color, or just stick with the delicious and versatile purplish-black variety most of us are familiar with. I always recommend that my clients try growing one plant in their garden, and then they'll be hooked on the ease and beauty of homegrown eggplants.

When to Plant
Eggplants love warm weather and produce their best in zones that offer them a long and warm growing season. If you're starting plants from seeds, start the seeds 6 weeks before the last predicted frost date and keep seedlings in a location that has a constant temperature of above 75 degrees.

If you are starting with plants, wait until the soil is warm and outdoor air temperature is above 75 degrees before planting in the garden.

Prepare Soil
Choose a sunny location where no 'nightshade' vegetables have been grown in past two years. Nightshade plants are eggplants, tomatoes, potatoes and peppers, and by moving their planting location each year you'll reduce the risk of certain types of pest infestation. Then take a soil sample to your local county extension office or garden supply center for a soil test. Eggplants need a pH level of between 5.5 and 6.5 to best production. Work in about 2 inches of compost into the soil along with a slow-release balanced fertilize.

How to Plant
Set plants out 18-24 inches apart in prepared soil. The tender young plants are highly susceptible to flea beetles and other garden pests and will need covered in some way to protect them until they reach about 12 inches tall. An easy covering method is to cut the bottoms off of plastic gallon milk jugs or 2 liter soda bottles and place one over each plant to create a mini greenhouse. Leave lids intact and unscrew for ventilation on hot days. Remove and discard covering when plants reach 12 inches.

Eggplants can also be grown in containers and placed up off the ground to protect them from being infested with flea beetles.

Harvest Time
Eggplants are ready to be harvested when they reach their recommended mature size and when flesh is soft enough to press thumb into, but firm enough for the flesh to bounce right back into shape. Under-ripe fruits are too hard to make a thumbprint and over-ripe fruits are too soft to bounce back into shape.

Use a sharp knife or hand-held pruning shears to cut the stem away from the main stalk, leaving the eggplant cap intact.
Next article: How to Plant a Vegetable Garden

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Six Easiest Vegetables to Grow for Beginning Gardeners

After a few years of squeezing a tomato plant here or trying to hide bean plants from the rabbits there, I finally made up my mind in 2013 to start a "real" vegetable garden - all vegetables, no flowers, fenced properly so that no rabbits could make a salad of it. Once I made that decision, the next question was what to plant. Here are a few of the vegetables I chose for my first vegetable garden, as well as some I'll be trying in my 2014 garden.

Tomatoes - If you have patience, you can start tomato plants from seeds in the early spring, but purchasing one or two plants in May (when someone else has done the hard work) will yield dozens of full-size tomatoes depending on the type. Cherry tomato plants will yield even more - I harvested over 400 from mine in 2013. Key to growing tomatoes: full sun (six to eight hours a day) and consistent watering.

Beans - Beans are easy to grow from seed by the direct sow method - plant them directly in your garden, water and watch them grow. Pole beans will require a trellis or some sort of support mechanism, while bush beans grow exactly that way - as a bush. If planned correctly, gardeners can get two bean harvests in a season, one in mid-summer and one in mid-fall.

Zucchini and other squash - Squash seeds can be started indoors before the planting season begins, but they also work well with the direct sow method, which is how I grew mine. Squash, particularly zucchini, is a prolific producer of fruit - make sure you know your neighbors well, because you'll probably be supplying them with extras from your garden.

Radishes - One of the easiest vegetables to grow, and another one you can get multiple harvests from. Radishes are a cool-season vegetable, meaning you can start them outside in the garden a little earlier than other vegetables. They are also a fast grower, with most varieties maturing in 20 to 30 days. Since they're cool season vegetables, you can sow another round of seeds in September and still have another crop before frost.

Lettuce - Lettuce is also a cool-season crop, so you'll get multiple harvests. For continuous harvests in spring, early summer and fall, sow seeds every two weeks. Depending on the type of lettuce you grow (leaf lettuce or head lettuce, for example), days to maturity can be short.

Cucumbers - Complete your salad with some east-to-grow cucumbers, which can be planted via the direct sow method. You'll again have to choose your type - vining types will need a trellis or room to sprawl, while bush types can be grown in more compact spaces. Your garden will produce cucumbers for many weeks, and you may once again be visiting your neighbors with extras.

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Different Types of Sunflowers

When you think of sunflowers, you probably picture a nice, vibrant yellow. Home Depot even has a paint color called "sunflower yellow." I know so because it graces my kitchen and bathroom walls. However, you can get sunflowers in other colors too. Here are the varieties I have planted before:

Strawberry Blonde Hybrid
I like that one because it is sort of a rose pink combination.The Burpee package says they'll grow up to six feet tall and take 70 to 75 days to bloom.

Autumn Beauty Mix

These are an assortment of red, brown and golden yellow in one packet. I've also planted a package called Spanish mix, but they seem to be the same colors as the Autumn Beauty Mix. The flowers are supposed to be eight inches across.

Vanilla Ice

The seeds are really small and took a couple of extra days to germinate when compared to the others, despite the Burpee package stating that germination takes place as early as seven days. These grow from four to six feet tall. As the name says, these have pale yellow to creamy white petals. According to the seed packet these are the whitest sunflowers you can get. Although, I've seen some online called Moon Shadow, which look lighter.

How do you get different colors? You can buy seeds for unusually colored sunflowers now in pretty much any garden section. Die-hard gardeners might also experiment with the natural hybridization process. Yes, sunflowers are one of the select flora that takes to hybridization. For the non-gardeners: If you plant different species of flowers next to each other, bees will carry pollen over (called cross-pollination) and if you grow sunflowers on a regular basis, you might come up with your own shades.

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Growing Corn in the Home Garden

Growing corn in the home garden isn't difficult, but it does require ample space. Not only does corn need room between rows for easy cultivation, it must be planted in multiple rows for adequate pollination. Typically, two to four ten foot rows in recommended.

Light: Corn prefers a sunny location with all day sun if possible, but can be planted in any area that receives at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight a day. Keep in mind that corn grown in restricted sunlight may produce smaller and fewer ears than corn grown in full day sun.

Soil: Corn prefers loose fertile soil. Amend the soil with a two to four inch layer of organic matter - such as compost or well-rotted manure before planting. Work the organic matter into the top six inches of the soil with a garden tiller. Apply 5-10-10 fertilizer according to the application rate on the container and work it into the soil well to avoid injury to seeds or young plants.

Preparation: Soak corn seeds in lukewarm water overnight to speed the germination process. Allow room in the container for the seeds to double in size as they absorb moisture from the water.

Planting: Plant corn seeds when all danger of frost has passed in your area and the soil has warmed to at least 50 degrees F. Corn planted in soil with a temperature between 50 and 55 degrees may take three weeks to germinate, whereas corn germinates in 70 degree soil in approximately a week to 10 days. For this reason, waiting an extra week or two for the soil to warm is generally advised.

Fertilizer: Side dress corn with 5-10-10 fertilizer when it is for to six inches tall. Sprinkle a light band of fertilizer down both sides of the row - spaced 4 inches from the base of the corn. Work it into the soil with a garden hoe, using care not to disturb the roots of your corn.

Watering: Water corn deeply once or twice a week or whenever the soil feels dry one inch below the surface.

Harvesting: Harvest corn when the ears are plump and firm. Typically, dark and shriveled "silk" indicates that the ear is ripe for picking. Use corn immediately after picking to retain the best flavor, as the sugar content decreases rapidly in corn once it is harvested.

Preserving: Blanch whole ears of corn in boiling water for two minutes and then plunge into ice water to cool thoroughly. Place in freezer bags and seal tightly. To use frozen corn, boil in water until the kernels are crisp tender.

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