   Your Summer Garden: Part I - April 4, 2001 Jeff Schalau, County Director, Agent, Agriculture & Natural Resources Arizona Cooperative Extension, Yavapai County Spring is here and it's time to get the summer vegetable garden going. The ideal garden soil is deep, friable, well-drained, and is rich in organic matter. If you live on an upland, rocky site, then you will need to dig deep and remove rocks. Then add as much organic matter as you can possibly find. Add compost if you have it. If not, add leaves, alfalfa hay, some grass clippings (without weed seeds), and/or manure (also without weed seeds). When using this method, add nitrogen fertilizer if you use a high percentage of dead leaves or other materials that are high in carbon. If you incorporated these materials now, they will break down quickly when in contact with the soil. Irrigate to soil, wait a week or two, then turn the soil to more evenly distribute the organic matter. In our area, April is a good month to plant beans (bush, pole, and limas), beets, broccoli, cauliflower, chard, carrots, leaf lettuce, onions (green), parsley, peppers, radishes, rhubarb, spinach, and turnips. It is marginal for beans and peppers, but those that gamble will plant them this month. Other summer crops such as tomatoes, squash, melons, potatoes, corn etc. should be planted later. Next, I will attempt to highlight some of these crops and provide some tips for success. Beans should be planted after danger of frost is past and they need fairly warm soil temperatures to germinate. Plan accordingly. Yield can also be increased if the seeds are inoculated with nitrogen-fixing bacteria before planting. Beans don't have high nitrogen requirements like some other crops. Pole beans tend to produce better than bush beans, but need support and climb best when they have vertical support. They will not climb on wire or string that is horizontally oriented. Beets are grown for greens and the root and are somewhat frost hardy. They will need to be thinned, as the seed is actually a fruit containing more than one seed. A band of phosphorus fertilizer under the row will ensure an adequate supply of this nutrient. Beets are a fairly easy crop to grow for beginners. Broccoli and cauliflower are very similar but require different degrees of attention. Heat tolerant varieties of broccoli are Green Comet, Cruiser, and Green Goliath. Harvest the central head first, and then allow side heads to develop. Cauliflower is more difficult to grow, more sensitive to cold, and require blanching (tying of leaves over the head) to retain the whiteness. Chard is a beet that was selected for leaf production. It is easy to grow. Try the new multicolored rainbow variety. Harvest outer leaves first, and the plants will continue producing. Carrots are slow to germinate. You may try planting a few radish seeds in each row of carrots. The radishes will highlight where the row is and keep the soil from crusting over. Thin as needed during growing season. There are many great carrot varieties/shapes. You just need patience for carrots. Leaf lettuce can be grown in summer. It does have a tendency to bolt in hot weather. Some newer hot weather varieties are available. These are: Oak Leaf (green), Red Sails and Red Fire (red varieties). Planting at 10 to 14 day intervals will give you a steady crop during the hot weather. Green onions can be thinned from between those planted for bulbs or simply grown for fresh use. This is an easy crop, but also one that requires some patience. Harvest anytime after they are six inches tall. Next week, I will finish this topic and cover parsley, peppers, radishes, rhubarb, spinach, and turnips. The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension has publications and information on vegetables and gardening. If you have other gardening questions, call the Master Gardener line in the Cottonwood office at 646-9113 or E-mail us at mgardener@kachina.net and be sure to include your address and phone number. Find past Backyard Gardener columns at the web site: http://ag.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/. |