Vegetable Garden School
I can feel the grip of "Old Man Winter" loosening!!!
The last two Sundays thanks to the help from Johnny's Selected Seeds from Albion, Maine has brought us a sign of hope, the light at the end of the tunnel and the fact that spring is just 28 days away. We will once again be starting seeds on our window sill in the near future, see the information in the next two stories for details.
Johnny's Selected Seeds are unique as the company is owned by it workers, and employees, something you do not see very often today as most seed houses are owned by large corporations and the customer becomes number two. All the seeds sold from their catalog are not GMO Genetically Modified, they are Hybrids, and you get better quality plants that way working with Mother Nature not the body builder type of plant filled with who knows what in them.
Johnny's selected their present location in Albion, Maine because of the soil, the climate, the four seasons, and the weather. If it will grow in Maine it will grow in most states and they also grow seeds for southern states with that milder climate. No seed is sold to their customers unless it has been grown in their trial gardens for 2 to 3 years depending on the plant variety and if it will stand up to Maine unique growing conditions with positive results every year in the trial gardens.
No two years are alike so keep notes and you will see how 3 years ago we had average snow fall, a nice spring, but wet and hot dry summer, and a big problem with tomato blight that affected most of our gardens, remember how the tomato plant just dried up and fell apart. Two years ago very little snow, an early spring and a great summer but summer came fast and the temperatures soared to the high 90's in June. Now Last year a normal winter, an average spring, and a cooler summer making it easier on the gardener and their plants. But what will Mother Nature bring us this year after the winter weather we have had with days and days of very cold weather and record snow fall all across the country, even in the pan handle of Florida and Georgia. Come on SPRING we are due for a good one after what Old Man Winter has given us. Remember just 28 days until spring arrives and we should greet it with Champaign in the garden.
Last Sunday we talked to Steve Belllevia who heads up the trial gardens at Johnny's Selected Seeds and he gave us great information on the trial gardens and how important they are for their customers. Steve loves green beans and has been looking across the country for a better bean for both bush and pole types. Many of the varieties found in the big box stores and supermarkets are good but many of them have been around for a long time. Steve wanted more production, better looking foliage and of course taste, and found it in.
For the pole bean his favorite is called Fortex and it produces a green bean that will mature 7 to 10 inches long. Steve went away for a week's vacation and came home to some over grown green beans but to his surprise they were still tender and sweet not stringy and filled with hard bean seeds like past years. The beans continued to produce for a good 4 to 5 weeks, and that is 2 weeks longer than the average pole bean. Steve plants 3 crops a year so he has fresh beans right up to frost. His favorite bush bean is called Easy Pick and it gets its name from the way you pick it, just twist the bean and it comes right of the plant without damaging the younger growing beans on the plant. Easy Pick will produce for 3 to 4 weeks so if you like fresh picked green beans plant 3 crops in May, June and July for fresh picked beans during July, August, and September.
I told Steve that I also loved fresh picked beans and the supermarkets have come a long way but the flavor is not the same as beans from the garden. To my surprise Steve told me that supermarket green beans are straighter than the green beans grown in the garden and they half to, because of shipping from the fields down south for us northerners who has a garden covered with snow at this time of the year. Because of hybridizing straight beans were developed so the beans got to you without a blemish on them. We lost some flavor and picked up a bit of fiber but through hybrids the task was accomplished to bring fresh green beans during the snowy day of winter to all of us in the north. No GMO just hybrids!!!
Now for Peppers Steve wants us to try a variety called Carmen and he tell of plants filled with 6 inch Peppers and ready earlier than the average bell pepper in your garden, even in Northern New England and New York State. I suggested planting with landscape fabric or black plastic and he agreed it will help to speed up early ripening. You can also use straw to cover the ground to hold in the heat from the day and control weed growth at the same time, never HAY as it is full of weed seeds and yes it is for horses not the garden.
Now if you have the BUG and want to plant something on your window sill right now, Steve suggested that you plant some salad greens in a window box and when spring arrives it will be ready for picking. All of the leaf types will do well from arugula to spinach when planted by seed and grown indoors. So order early and let's get planting. Call Johnny's Selected Seeds at 207 861 3900 or on line at www.johnnyseeds.com and place your order today for your garden, that's right your garden. Ask for their free catalog as it is filled with great information about growing each vegetable and if the weather turns on you again run outside and show the snow that Johnny's catalog is here and I'M not scared of you any longer as spring is just 28 day away and counting.
Now tune in this Sunday at 8:00 am for the next bit of advice from their gardening experts. You can also listen in on my website if there is no radio station near you that carries the garden program. Go to www.paulparent.com thank you!!!
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