I was asked to rerun this popular post on vegetable varieities from 2015. So by popular demand….
One major step towards success in a community or school garden is to start with varieties that are proven in Georgia. As you may have experienced, some varieties of vegetables that work well in a large farm setting don’t always do well in a school or community garden setting.
Tomatoes growing at the Reconnecting Our Roots Garden in Cobb County
Happily we have recommendations from Robert Westerfield and UGA’s Research and Education Garden specifically for smaller, intensive gardens. These varieties should be easy to find in big box retailers as well as feed and seed stores:
Tomatoes – Salad or Cherry: Juliet, Maskotka, Cherry Falls, Tumbling Tom
Tomatoes – Determinate: Celebrity, Rutgers Select, Amelia, Bush Beefsteak, Super Bush Hybrid, Roma
Tomatoes – Indeterminate: Beefmaster Hybrid, Delicious, Princess Hybrid, Big Beef
Peppers: Big Bertha, Cubanelle, Giant Marconi, Banana Sweet,
Jalapeno
Eggplant: Patio Baby Hybrid, Black Beauty, Ichiban
This is Georgia Ag Awareness Week, a week that has been set aside to celebrate Georgia’s agricultural industry. There are events planned across the state to connect farmers with schools, to support local food banks, and to celebrate eating local.
As community and school gardeners we are all well aware of how hard it is sometimes to grow our own food. It can seem like disease, pests, and weather are all against us. But, we know that if we fail we can rely on the grocery store to fill our dinner plates. And, we all want to eat as local as we possibly can. Thank you Georgia farmers!
We are all a small part of Georgia Ag by raising our own food, growing food for Farmers Markets, and/or supplying food for your local food banks. Take a moment to celebrate what you do! It is important.
If you want to really get involved in the celebration this week, take a look at recipes featuring Georgia products. Several of the crops won’t be in season yet, but you should be able to find something delicious for your dinner table. What are you growing in your garden that you are harvesting now? The warm winter means I have delicious greens at my house and I will be hosting a Georgia Grown dinner during the week.
Goods and services related to Georgia’s agriculture and natural resources affect each of the state’s communities every day. Agriculture is Georgia’s largest industry, with $74.9 billion of direct and indirect economic impact annually. More than 411,000 Georgia jobs are involved directly in commodity or food- and fiber-related industries.
UGA Extension faculty and staff play a key role in the success of this industry by sharing university-based research for Georgians to use on the farm and at home. Recommendations in areas including soil fertility, pest management, plant and crop varieties, water quality, and herd health and management focus on maximizing production and profits while minimizing environmental impacts. Make sure you are connected with your local UGA Cooperative Extension office!
Happy Georgia Ag Awareness Week! #GAAgWeek #agdawg
If you haven’t grown radishes in your garden, you should. They are the underappreciated cool-season vegetable and perfect for raised beds in the community or school garden. What radishes have going for them:
They mature quickly, sometimes as short as 28 days!
They are nutritious – full of vitamin C, vitamin K and B6
They are easy to grow
Radishes also come in many shapes and sizes. The variety “Watermelon” is large, think soft ball size, but the traditional “Cherry Bell” is smaller. “Icicle” is long and white, almost like a small carrot. Visit your local feed-and-seed stores to see what varieties they have available or order from one the seed catalog companies.
Planting
The seeds are small but easy to plant in a prepared bed with plenty of drainage:
After the seeds are spread, cover with 1/4 -1/2 inch of soil and tamp down the soil using a light touch. This ensures good seed to soil contact.
Finally, cover with mulch to keep the soil temperature and moisture levels even. Water in and keep the soil slightly moist until the seeds germinate. Thin using scissors, not pulling up seedlings.
Start looking at your radish recipes because your crop will come in quickly!
One of the most frequent questions I hear is “how do I get grant money for my garden?” The answer is not simple. But, here are a few hints to help you be ready when the perfect grant application comes your way:
Keep Records
Does your garden donate produce to a food bank? If so, do you keep records of how much food is donated?
Do you host community events? What about story time for students in the summer? How many students attend?
These events could matter with certain grants. So, keep records of dates and numbers of attendees. This task be a great job for a garden manager or designated volunteer.
Take Photos
Many grant applications open in the winter months when your garden is probably not looking its best. Take photos of your garden during the spring and summer months. Many grantors want to see your space and pictures may be required for the grant application.
This photo of story time in the Healthy Life Community Garden in Griffin is a great example of a photo to keep in your garden archives.
Think Local
When looking for grant monies, think local first. Your local hardware or landscape store may be willing to donate materials without a grant application. Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts are often looking for projects for their Eagle Scout and Gold Awards. Boy Scouts especially enjoy building projects like benches and garden beds.
Also, your local high school’s National Honor Society and Beta Club may require their members to do community service. They may be able to assist with a few of your garden chores.
Find Out About Large Company Grants
Large companies like Walmart and Home Depot have grant programs. Walmart’s Community Grant Program is an annual program. Home Depot’s Community Impact Grant application process is open now.
Keep In Touch with Your Local UGA Extension Office
UGA Extension agents would be contacted if there was a garden grant specifically for your county. By keeping in touch with your Extension office, you would be informed about any of these opportunites.
The calendar says the beginning of March. Usually this means Georgia is just coming out of cold temperatures but we are still cool. We have had snow in years past the first of March. Not this year; this year it seems we haven’t really had a winter. Tree pollen counts in Atlanta are already registering in the “high” range. The birds are chirping and the insects are flying. How does a gardener plant in this weather?
Soil Temperature is the Key
Remember that soil temperature is the key for seed germination and root growth. Checking www.georgiaweather.net this week the soil temperatures at a 4 inch depth across the state are:
Blue Ridge
45.6 F
Alpharetta
43.8 F
Pine Mountain
52.1 F
Valdosta
60.4 F
Cool-Season Vegetable Planting Time is NOW
Alabama Cooperative Extension has created a very useful chart listing the soil temperature conditions for vegetable seed germination. Consulting this chart we see that it is time, and it has been for awhile, to put in your cool-season plants in most of Georgia: lettuce, spinach, carrots, cabbage, radish. Even though you might be able to plant these seeds wearing your shorts and a tank top, it is still cool-season planting time. Don’t wait any longer.
Carrots at the Gwinnett Tech Food Garden
There have been reports of lettuce and spinach already bolting because of our warm afternoons. Don’t let that tempt you to purchase the tomatoes already for sale. It is not time yet!
Lettuce in the Trustees Garden, Savannah
Hold off on your peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, and other warm-season crops until later. It is too cold to plant tomato plants in central to north Georgia! If tomatoes are planted in ground that is too cool for growth, the plants may not die but they will not grow just waiting until things underground warm up.
Good Gardening News!
The good news is Georgia has had a nice amount of rain over the last couple of months so the soil should be in great shape for planting. The long-term weather outlook seems just about perfect for cool-season vegetables. For those of you (myself included) who did not plant this past fall because of drought conditions, you can plant with confidence now.
Being a gardener is never, ever dull. Each year brings its own challenges. I wish you all a wonderful Spring harvest!
Since we have had ample rainfall and moderate temperatures in Georgia, it is the perfect time to think about cool-season food gardening. We are fortunate enough to have Paul Pugliese of UGA Extension give us some tips! Paul writes….
Late January and early February are great times to plant cool-season vegetables. Many gardeners gave up on planting a fall vegetable garden last year due to the exceptional drought conditions. However, the great thing about living in Georgia is that we have a second window of opportunity in late winter to plant a number of cool-season vegetables.
Lettuce in the Trustees Garden, Savannah, Georgia
Cool-season vegetables include beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, collards, kale, lettuce, mustard greens, onions, English peas, Irish potatoes, radishes, spinach, Swiss chard and turnips. You can even start planting asparagus roots, asparagus is a perennial plant that takes two years to mature and start producing harvestable spears.
Most cool-season vegetables, if planted around the first week of February, will be ready to harvest around early April or May, depending on the variety. By the time you harvest these cool-season vegetables, you can turn the garden over for planting your summer vegetables at the ideal time.
Cool-season vegetables are generally very fast growing and are easily planted by direct seeding into the soil. There is no reason to purchase or grow transplants this time of year, since the soil moisture and weather conditions are ideal for seed germination. Transplants are more often used in fall planting, since it’s usually too hot and too dry in late summer or early fall for cool-season vegetables to grow from seed.
Most cool-season vegetables are medium to heavy feeders, which means they will require around 20 to 30 pounds of 10-10-10 fertilizer per 1,000 square feet of garden space. Ideally, this fertilizer should be divided into two or three applications (i.e., 10 pounds of fertilizer at planting and at four- to six-week intervals). Because most cool-season vegetables grow close to the ground and have direct contact with the soil, avoid using fertilizer sources such as animal manure that could increase the chance of contamination by foodborne pathogens.
It’s also a good idea to do a soil test to determine your soil pH and how much lime you need to apply, if any, to adjust the soil pH. (For more information about submitting samples to the University of Georgia for soil testing, call your local UGA Cooperative Extension office.)
A pH of 6.0 to 6.5 is recommended for all vegetables except Irish potatoes, which require a pH of 5.0 to 6.0. If you decide to grow Irish potatoes, dedicate a separate garden space solely to them due to their unique pH requirement.
As with all vegetables, try to select a garden site that receives at least eight to 10 hours of sunlight a day. Select a location that is conveniently located near your home and a water supply. The soil should have a good texture and be well drained. Most of the leafy greens and some of the cole crops – those in the Brassica family – can also be grown in containers due to their smaller size.
Adding a mulch of wheat straw, leaves, compost or pine straw will help conserve soil moisture, control weeds and reduce cultivation. Apply enough mulch to have 2 to 4 inches after settling. Newspaper can also be used as a mulch. Place newspapers two to three layers thick around plants. Apply 3 inches of straw or compost on top of the newspaper. Avoid using hay bales for mulch, since most hay fields are sprayed with herbicides for weed control that could carry over into your garden and kill your plants.
For more information on seeding rates, recommended varieties and row spacing, check out UGA Extension publications “Vegetable Gardening in Georgia” and “Home Gardening” online at extension.uga.edu/publications. More detailed information on home gardening potatoes, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, Swiss chard, Brussels sprouts and rutabagas can also be found on the publications website.
Paul Pugliese is the ANR agent for Bartow County Cooperative Extension. He has extensive experience in vegetable gardening as he grows all types of vegetables on his farm in Cartersville, Georgia.
In the middle of soil health month this Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) video is worth a watch. Dr. Kris Nochols explains the importance of a healthy balance of soil microorganisms. The photos of the microbes are fantastic. You will never refer to your “soil” as “dirt” again. Enjoy!
Next in our series of posts on soil health, we want to explore soil pH and its importance to garden food crops. This involves remembering some of your high school chemistry so grab your cup of coffee to get the brain waves working.
pH is the measure of hydrogen ion activity
Soil acidity is a chemical factor that can affect food crop growth. Soil pH, the measure of hydrogen ion activity in a solution, is important for soil nutrient availability.
Think back to high school chemistry and that daunting Periodic Table. The element hydrogen (H) is located in the upper right hand corner and is carries a +1. That +1 means it can easily interact with elements with a -1 or a -2. Remember water is H2O. Two hydrogen +1s and one oxygen -2. Sound familiar?
The daunting periodic table
The pH scale is graduated from 0 to 14. The midpoint (7) separates acid from alkaline. Any number below 7 is acidic—the lower the number, the more acidic. The lower the number the increased H +1 activity.
A soil pH above 7 denotes alkaline soil conditions. The higher the number the increased OH -1 activity. The pH scale is logarithmic; a soil with a pH of 5.0 is 10 times more acidic that one with a pH of 6.0 and 100 times more than a pH of 7.0.
pH affects nutrient availability
This activity of H+1 and OH-1 can bind up nutrients that plants need by bonding with other soil ions. This is a very simplistic explanation and true soil chemistry is much more complicated. But, I think this gives you an idea of how pH is can be very important to plant growth. For example, at a soil pH of 5.0 much of the nitrogen fertilizer you add to the soil won’t be available to be absorbed by your plants!
Nutrient availability and pH. The wider the band the greater the availability. (USDA)
Correcting soil pH
A soil pH that is too low or too high can decrease the amount of nutrients absorbed by plant roots. Lime can be used to increase the soil pH, while sulfur can be used to decrease it. An accurate measure of soil pH is needed before corrections should be made.
Soil pH also influences other reactions in soil, such as microbial activity. Most food crops grow best in soils with a very slightly acidic pH, close to a neutral pH of 7. Most soils in Georgia, however, are too acidic, and lime is often needed to maintain ideal growth conditions.
Experienced gardeners realize that the success of their gardens starts with healthy soil. But, what does healthy soil really look like? Here is a snapshot:
Healthy soil is full of organisms
Soil is not inert; it is full of living organisms that are important in the soil ecosystem. Viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, and earthworms are all essential in healthy soil. Most of these organisms cannot be seen with the naked eye. A virus is only 0.03 to 0.02 micrometers in width while a much larger earthworm can be an indication of soil health. To compare the size of soil organisms visit Cells Alive. Researching these soil residents would be a fun thing to do in the cold days of winter.
Healthy garden soil has a pH of 6 to 7
pH is the measure of hydrogen ion concentration. In the soil it is a part of complex chemical interactions. Simply put, soil nutrients are not available for the plant roots to absorb at high and low pHs. Have your soil tested regularly to determine your soil pH and get advice on how to correct it if needed.
Soil with compost
Compost is important
Organic matter assists desired soil chemistry, improves soil texture, can add nutrition to the soil, and can aid in the increasing the microorganisms. Making your own compost can be a very rewarding way to use garden scraps. This could be a great goal for 2017.
Soil chemistry and the soil ecosystem are complicated and intricate topics. Check with your local UGA Cooperative Extension office to see what soil workshops are being offered this winter. During the first part of 2017 we are going to do several in-depth posts about healthy soil on this blog. We hope you will be a part of the discussion.
As 2016 winds to a close and we start planning for our 2017 gardens, I want to thank you for being part of this gardening adventure. Your comments and feedback are very much appreciated and I love seeing photos of your gardens. I am very excited about what is in store for 2017!
Happy New Year,
Becky Griffin
UGA Extension’s Community and School Garden Coordinator
