Growing Vegetables Part I

Now that spring has finally arrived, it is time to start growing vegetables! However, be careful not to plant too early. Many of these must be planted well after all danger of frost has passed.

Gardening Tip

Consult your seed packets and time zone planting guides or almanacs for the optimum planting times in your zone.

Growing Vegetables in Spring Plant List

• Asparagus

• Beans: Snap beans, Pole beans, Lima beans

• Sweet Corn

• Cucumber

• Eggplant

• Melon

• Okra

• Peas

• Pepper

• Pumpkin

• Sweet potato

• Summer squash

• Winter squash

• Tomato

Planting asparagus

Establishing an asparagus bed takes time and patience to reap your rewards. But these perennials will return for 10-20 years once established, so view it as a wise investment. Asparagus is rich in B vitamins, vitamin C, calcium, and iron, and it tastes great steamed and buttered.

Seeds take a year to produce usable crowns, so it is best to buy one-year old, established crowns from your local garden supply. Dig 6-8 inch trenches one foot wide. Every 1 ½ foot, add a shovelful of compost to make a hill or mound. Onto this hill, place your crowns. Spread out the roots. Point the side of the crown with the buds upwards. Cover with soil and compost. Later on when they have grown, gradually fill in the trenches.

Gardening Tip

Water at least weekly and don’t cover foliage with soil as it grows. Don’t plan on harvesting the first year. Allow foliage to grow, and then cut it back in the fall after it turns brown. You can harvest lightly the second year. Your third year of an established bed, you can harvest all you please from then on. Year after year, it returns to delight and satisfy!

Planting beans

Bush beans are easy to plant and need no support. Therefore, they require the least work. Pole beans are easy to plant but need support as they are climbers. Both are easy to harvest. Plant both in the spring well after all danger of frost is past. Pole beans have a longer growing season and are more tolerant of summer heat (which means they’ll yield more.)

Both bush and pole bean seeds should be planted about one inch deep. Plant bush bean seeds at least two inches apart in rows at least one-two feet apart. Plant four-six pole bean seeds in hills, ideally 30 inches apart, with 30 inches between your rows. Cover with an inch of soil; lightly tamp down and mist with water.

Best gardening idea: Use the right gardening tool

If you’re on a budget, you can cut your own bean poles out of the woods or make your own homemade teepees out of saplings or bamboo. Alternatively, purchase trellises or teepees from your local garden center. Install your support system at the same time you plant your seeds to avoid disturbing the roots later on. Water in the mornings, with at least one inch weekly.

Your bean plants will continue to form new flowers and produce more beans if you always remove the pods before the seeds mature. Bush beans mature in 50 to 60 days; pole beans in 60 to 90 days.

Gardening Tip

Please reference Preparing A Garden Plot for information on preparing your soil prior to planting and growing vegetables. See Gardening Tips for proven ways to increase yields.

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