Early Season Vegetables

By A. J. Bailey, Master Gardener Do thoughts of fresh salads sitting cool and crisp on the table this spring tempt you? You can plant any number of vegetables early in the season to broaden the variety that your family will enjoy, while also saving money at the market. Known as cool season crops, this group of vegetables makes steady growth at temperatures of 50 to 60 degrees. They are planted in March and April and will do quite well if the soil is loosened through proper preparation. Clay soils benefit from organic matter so spade compost or sheep and peat into your soil and mix thoroughly. If spring rains fail you, keep the soil moderately moist for best results. Constant moisture is especially crucial to germinate seeds, establish young seedlings and keep green leafy vegetables from turning bitter. You'll be eating peas in May from any of the growing number of snow or shell peas that you plant now. Support them with a trellis or plant in companion rows that will support each other. For beautiful salads try Swiss chard (a spinach substitute), kale or the bright red-veined rhubarb chard. All can be planted now. For variety, plant mustard greens, parsley, spinach or the more challenging celery. Beets for greens or roots can be planted early but soak the seeds overnight to hasten germination. In our area, leaf lettuces are the most common salad greens grown. Countless varieties are available that can be harvested any time during growth up to maturity at about six weeks. Plant rows of different varieties at intervals to ensure a continuous supply. Spinach planted now as a border for the garden will mature before summer heat eliminates it. In late summer you can plant it again for a fall crop. Freshly harvested chives, leeks and green onions add zip to cooking. Start from seed or sets (small plants) available at garden centers. The race for the first vegetable to reach harvestable size is nearly always won by radishes. Try not only the familiar round red types but also the long white varieties. Vary serving them as a garnish and sliced raw with sautéing in butter or stir frying with other vegetables. Ditto for the snow peas mentioned earlier. More exotic vegetables such as Italian radicchio and Japanese mizuna will really wow your guests and add mealtime variety not easily obtained from your market. All these cool season vegetables are easier to grow in Colorado's changeable weather than their warm season counterparts. What are you waiting for? Plant now!

N is for Nitrogen

Plants and the human body have a lot in common. Among other characteristics, both need basic nutrients to keep them going. Plants need three major and ten minor nutrients for healthy growth. Nitrogen Nitrogen (N) is essential for growing strong vegetables. Nitrate is the form most readily absorbed by plants and most desirable as a fertilizer. Leafy vegetables, such as spinach, cabbage, kale and lettuce, especially benefit from fertilizers with a high nitrogen content. Nitrogen-deficient plants display leaves that yellow from their tips toward the stem. Excessive nitrogen creates weak spindly growth, resulting in few flowers and fruits. Nitrogen can be lost in the soil by the leaching action of irrigation and rainfall. Legumes, such as clover, "fix" nitrogen into the soil, making them excellent additions to any garden. Phosphorus Phosphorus is important to early root growth, cell division and respiration. It's also necessary for fruit production. Phosphorus doesn't dissolve and move through the soil. The root tips absorb whatever phosphorus that is available, so it must be placed as near to the roots as possible to be accessible to the plant. Tuber and root crops, such as potatoes and carrots, benefit from phosphorus applications. Watch for stunted growth, dead older leaves or red or purple leaves and stems. These symptoms may suggest a need for more phosphorus. Potassium Potassium affects photosynthesis, fruit formation and winter hardiness. Place potash near the roots in the form of humus to improve the general well-being of plants deficient in potassium. Watch for yellowed leaves or susceptibility to disease that may indicate the need for potassium nutrients such as muriate or sulfate of potash. Calcium, Magnesium and Sulfur Of the minor nutrients needed by our gardens, calcium magnesium and sulfur generally are sufficient in our area soils. These are important in the growth and manufacture of chlorophyll. Many of the other minor nutrients found in fertilizers actually act as catalysts for the plant to utilize or break down other food available to it. Fertilizer Formulations Fertilizer comes in many formulations. The three numbers on all fertilizer containers stand for nitrogen-phosphorus-potash. Apply fertilizer 2 to 3 inches from the plant when applying at planting time. Failure to fruit and injury may result from too much fertilizer. Exercise caution when applying dry fertilizer granules. They are worked into the soil surface and dissolved with water, but they can easily burn the plant if used improperly. Liquid fertilizer may be preferable because nutrients are made available to the plant immediately. Simple fertilizer, such as 0-46-0, contains only one of the three major nutrients. Complete fertilizers, such as 15-30-15, for example, contain portions of all three major nutrients. You also will find special purpose fertilizers available, such as rose or tomato food. And, you might want to try some of the many sticks, stakes and tablet forms of fertilizer on the market. These are compressed fertilizers that dissolve slowly as you water and yield nutrients gradually. If you want a more natural approach, try organic fertilizers, such as bone or blood meal, manure or cottonseed meal. These are derived from the remains or by-products of once-living organisms. Whatever method you choose, keep in mind that vegetables generally are fast-feeders. You will find tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage and celery to be among the heaviest while eggplant, horseradish and herb salsify are among the lightest. Many of our most popular garden vegetables, such as carrots, beets, garlic, onions, squash, peppers and potatoes, are medium feeders and will fall somewhere in between the two. Read the product directions carefully and pay close attention to the results of the products you try. Keep a record of uses and results. Contact your local Cooperative Extension office for more information.

Safe Pest Management

Gardeners Want Safe Pest Management By A.J. Bailey, Master Gardener Concern for the environment has touched almost everyone. While gardeners always have been among the more environmentally conscious groups, most are thinking even more seriously about alternative means to control insects and other pests. Now, instead of automatically spraying when an insect is spotted, most gardeners stop to ask if the pest is causing enough damage to warrant control. Some insects cause cosmetic injury only, leaving the plant's health intact. In this case, some gardeners are deciding they can live with the injury. The cone-like structures formed on Colorado blue spruce by the Cooley spruce gall adelgid is one such example. Whether the introduction of pesticides into the environment is worth the time and the possibility of killing non-target insects also is of concern. Few chemicals are selective enough to only kill the problem pest. That leaves gardeners to weigh the benefits of spraying against the possible destruction of beneficial insects and other possible environmental impacts. Perceptive gardeners consider the plant's age when it is attacked. Cabbage can tolerate a heavier infestation of cabbageworms and tomatoes can handle an onslaught of flea beetles when these plants begin to mature. An attack during earlier stages of development can severely injure or kill plants. Although manufacturers have responded to the need for "safe" insect control, gardeners shouldn't assume a natural insecticide is completely safe. Some potent poisons occur in nature, and any insecticide must have some degree of toxicity to kill insects. Rotenone, for example, derived from the root of a tropical plant, is widely marketed as a natural or organic insecticide. It actually is more toxic than diazinon (a commonly used man-made insecticide that has been removed from sale nationwide because of its potential to harm children and wildlife). This does not mean that rotenone shouldn't be used, only that it be used with the same caution as any pesticide. Other insect-control strategies include hand-picking, the use of barriers such as floating row covers, and the use of sticky or baited traps. These can be used by themselves or in combination with other control techniques, including the most basic one, which is growing a healthy plant that resists pest attack. As gardeners learn more about insects they begin to reject the "only good bug is a dead bug" mentality. It is a complicated world when it comes to pests and beneficial insects. To learn more about the "good guys", contact your local Colorado State University Cooperative Extension. Ask for the fact sheet "Beneficial Insects in the Yard and Garden."