Released March 20, 2008
LAWRENCE, Kan. - For the experienced and novice alike, cool-season vegetable gardening can be a low-key approach to getting just-picked flavor on the dinner table.
"Spring vegetables use little garden space. You can plant them in containers on the patio or in bare spaces where you plan to put annual flowers," said Jennifer Smith, horticulturist with Kansas State University Research and Extension.
Unless they plan to replant for a fall crop, too, gardeners are likely to be through with the year´s cool-season vegetable harvests by the end of May, Smith added. That will limit their work to the cool days of spring. Plus, they should have few, if any, problems with insect pests.
"Some gardeners start planting in mid-March. In most years, though, planting by the first week of April gives many cool-season vegetables enough time to produce in Kansas before summer weather shuts them down," she said. "Since many of the crops can withstand temperatures in the 20s, they´ll be safe even if we get more wintry weather."
Among Smith´s favorites for her own garden are:
- Onions - grow from plants or sets, 1.5-inches deep, spaced 4 inches apart for large onions.
- Radishes - plant from seed according to package directions, then thin to the sturdiest sprouts.
- Cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower - easiest to grow from transplants, but they´ll need to be outside for a few days in a sheltered location, to "harden off" before going into the cool outdoor soil.
- Lettuce and spinach - start from tiny seeds and thin to allow distance between plants later. They´ll soon reach harvest size and replace any leaves you take, so you´ll have fresh salads until summer.
- The greens (mustard or collard greens, endive, Swiss chard) - grow much like spinach.
"It´s getting a little late to start potatoes or peas for this year, but you can still do it if you hurry," Smith said. "By mid to late April when the soil temperature is a little warmer, you also can start planting turnips, beets, carrots and parsnips - all of which are fairly easy to grow from seed if you just follow packet instructions."
-30-
http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/news/
Contact: Mary Lou Peter-Blecha, mlpeter@ksu.edu
