Late fall early winter gardening

A 1,000 square foot garden can grow a tremendous amount of produce
IF YOU DO IT RIGHT (how about 5,000# of tomatoes)! If left alone,
or done haphazardly, however, it will be a big disappointment, and
you'll grow weeds instead, so "changing your ways" is definitely
important.

You can always buy seeds from Burpee, Park, Harris, Gurney, or one
of the other seed companies on the internet.

Clay soil is NOT a problem if you will create slightly raised,
level, ridged beds as described in the Mittleider gardening books
and in the free e-book at www.growfood. com in the Learn section.
And be sure to use the recommended natural mineral nutrients as
instructed!

Lay out and stake your garden with 18" soil-beds, and aisles at
least 3' wide. Use 4 2" X 2" PAINTED stakes per soil-bed.
Depending on your dimensions you can have 11 - 20'-long beds with 3'-
wide aisles.

I would only plant 1/2 bed of cauliflower and 1/2 bed of broccoli,
for the following reason. Single-crop plants mature all at once.
This means that even with only 10' rows of each you will have 20
heads of cauliflower and 20 heads of brocolli all mature at
virtually the same time, and THEY'LL ALL NEED TO BE PICKED AT THE
SAME TIME. Otherwise they get bad, and they attract both bugs and
diseases.

Whenever you plant a single-crop vegetable, plant only what you can
use, give away, sell, or store in the 1-2 week ideal harvesting
window. If you want them all season you MUST do several small
plantings - spaced at 2-week intervals.

Be CERTAIN that your garden is totally weed free, including a 4-5'
periphery, at the time of planting. And use a 2-way hoe to quickly
and easily weed again about 10 days after planting, or as soon as
the weeds begin to show their faces. NEVER WAIT for the weeds to
grow bigger! They're most vulnerable when they are tiny, and they
are very easy to eliminate. You might have to do this two or three
times, but then you will have a healthy, weed-free garden all season
long. It will also reduce your problems with bugs and diseases!

Growing seedlings in a mixture of sawdust and sand in a 2 to 1
ratio, using plastic trays, is the best way to start the plants you
are describing, with the possible exception of the spinach. They
will grow faster and will be healthier than what you grow in the
ground from seed. The seedlings must have constant sunlight to
thrive, just as when they were in the garden. Growing seedlings is
very rewarding, and is a simple process, but you MUST follow the
steps accurately and consistently.

You can learn to become very competent at growing your own seedlings
by reading Chapter 22 of The Mittleider Gardening Course - available
in the Store section at www.growfood. com.

If you decide to grow from seeds in the ground, make sure your seed-
bed is soft and smooth. Scratch a SHALLOW furrow on both sides of
the bed near the ridges the full length of the bed (or as far as you
are planting that vegetable). For very small seeds mix seeds with
sand in a 1 to 100 ratio, and sprinkle carefully the length of the
row, as evenly as possible. Then cover the seeds WITH SAND rather
than the clay soil. Meanwhile, remember that only ONE OUNCE of small
seeds like tomato seeds includes TEN THOUSAND SEEDS, so don't plant
too many!

Which crops you should plant depends on the temperatures in your
growing area. Most places cannot grow warm-weather crops like
tomatoes, peppers, beans, melons, and squash in the winter months.
I suspect Mississippi is no exception. Wait to transplant those
into the garden until daytime temperatures are 65-70 and night-time
temperatures are 50 or above.

Cool-weather crops like cauliflower and brocolli, and even spinach,
beets, and the like, can be planted when it's colder, but don't
plant if you have frosts at night, and remember that even these
hardy plants need daytime temperatures above 50 degrees fahrenheit
to grow.

Using black plastic is generally NOT a good idea when planting
seeds. The open space needed for seeds to emerge and grow
successfully leaves room for weeds to grow as well. And weeds from
all around the opening will find it and choke out your tiny
vegetable seedlings as they emerge. Meanwhile, the plastic makes it
very difficult to weed thoroughly and successfully.

Black plastic can be used successfully when growing seedlings, but
it is not a cure-all, and I believe is less desireable than leaving
the ground bare and weeding properly.

Using soaker hoses for watering is much less than ideal for several
reasons: The holes are easily plugged; weeding around the hose is
difficult; the hose is easily cut when attempting to weed around it;
water quantity is uncertain and often inadequate.

The best and easiest watering method I know is the semi-automated
method taught in chapter 16 of the Mittleider Gardening Course.
This uses 3/4" Schedule 200 PVC pipe drilled with 3 #57 holes every
4" running down the center of the soil-bed, and lifted off the soil
about 2" by small 2 X 4" wooden blocks. Water is controlled by an
inexpensive ball valve placed at the head of each row, and the whole
garden is plumbed together for fast and accurate watering.

If you can't or don't want to automate your watering, simply wrap a
large rag around the end of your garden hose, then place the hose in
the soil-bed. If your beds are level the entire soil-bed will
quickly receive the needed 1" of water. And whichever method you
use, remember to water daily - especially in warm weather - unless
it rains.

Successful Gardening!

Jim Kennard