Vegetables

My husband harvested the first of our spinach crop yesterday, and he says there's this much or more left to be harvested. He wants to do that this evening, because it is threatening to bolt in this heat. We had a yummy spinach salad, and gave away the rest of this bowlful to two neighbors. [...]

Friday the garden looked fine. Saturday we were gone, Sunday it rained. On Monday I asked my husband to dig up some new potatoes for our supper, and he discovered the garden was infected with Phytophthora infestans, commonly known as late blight. Ideal conditions for late blight are days in the 70sF (~20sC) and nights [...]

My husband would tell you that he had nothing to do with it. Someone else sowed the seeds; he just stuck the seedlings in the ground. God provided the rain. Yeah, but who was up there weeding? All that cool and rainy weather has been good for something: great lettuce!

Low of 44F this morning. Yes, this is July. No, not Siberia, or Alaska. Tomatoes prefer 55F-75F at night. Peppers will not set fruit if temperatures drop into the low 40sF. And eggplants? Pollen production is curtailed when temps fall below 55F. But we can eat peas in July!

Peas in July! Yes, we are harvesting the last of our peas this week. When you garden in a cold climate, you may grow the same vegetables as those in warmer areas, but you don't follow the same schedule. I thought I'd run through our pea time line to give you an idea of how [...]

DH sowed Fedco peas today: 8oz Lincoln and 8oz Progress#9. Soil still wet, so he made a raised bed first. It was wet because there is a natural seep there.

A reader contacted Cold Climate Gardening recently to ask: I live in area between Syracuse and Ithaca... near Cortland. I have tomato seeds--many different varieties. When should I start the seedlings to grow in peat pots inside the house? Is it too early? While I am at it...what else should I be starting? Thanks a [...]

Many gardening books for children take what I think of as the art project approach: here's what you need, this is what you do, isn't that cute?, now show it to Grandma. Very few books out there take children--or a child's interest in gardening--seriously. I prefer to regard children as apprentice gardeners, gradually acquiring more [...]

When the days grow shorter, when we've had several freezes (and even a dusting of snow), and when we finally concede it's time to drain the hose and close down the storm windows on the last remaining screens--that's when we begin to harvest the leeks. More northern gardeners should grow leeks. Leeks appreciate cool weather [...]