Veggies!

FOR THE RECORD

Fruits

Squash

Tomatoes,

Peas

Beans

Bell Peppers

Corn

Cucumber

Watermelon

Vegetables

Onions

Potatoes, carrots

Beets

Spinach

Collards Sweet Potatoes spinach

Radishes

Friends

Basil, Sunflowers, Marigolds, Cilantro, Parsley

  

A fruit is the fleshy body surrounding the seeds of a plant. It’s actually a ripened plant ovary. A vegetable is the other fleshy or leafy material of a plant, like a leaf or root. You can grow them all in your garden and we call most of them vegetables. You might have some other plant-friends in your garden like culinary herbs or spices, or flowers which are edible or provide some other purpose like repelling certain unwanted insects. Or inviting certain wanted insects.

Winter Vegetable Gardening

Now through March you can plant winter vegetables and plant seeds indoors in small containers to get summer vegetables started.

Winter vegetables, or ‘cold-season’ vegetables prefer cool temperatures, and will not survive into the heat of summer in middle Tennessee. Plant now: collards, kale, turnips, radishes, onions, potatoes, broccoli.

This past 3 weeks I have planted onion sets, beets, and spinach. I may plant some greens (collards and kale) if I have time and space.

Planting much later and it will get too warm for your winter greens and broccoli, which may bolt before they are ready to eat.

Now is the time to be planning your summer vegetable garden, which should be planted after April 15 or May 1.

Summer, or ‘warm-season’ vegetables are not tolerant of freezing temperatures and must be seeded or (‘starts’ set out in the garden) after the last hard frost. Make a plan for these summer vegetables: Tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, corn, squashes and melons, beans and peas, annual herbs such as parsley and basil.

Fertilize at planting time with an all purpose organic fertilizer, or fertilize every couple of weeks with an organic liguid fertilizer like fish emulsion or  compost tea.