Disappointed on Cape Cod,
Leanne DeCosta

Answer:
Leanne,
I’ve been unable in an online search to find specific information about
the length of time before asaparagus shoots emerge. The first link
below says that asparagus won’t grow until the soil temp stays at 50
degrees or above.
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1603.html

http://agbiopubs.sdstate.edu/articles/ExEx6009.pdf

Anyone else have better info?

I have grown asparagus in a previous location. The big thing, as you
probably know, is patience. It usually takes a couple of seasons for
edible shoots to grow.

-Mike Nikitas

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Turning the Soil

Here’s where you can get some exercise, if you sit at a desk all week. And you can renew a New England Memorial Day weekend tradition: planting your vegetable garden!
OK after my last post you’ve either built and filled a new raised bed, or, if you’ve got an existing bed, you’ve pulled any spring weeds. You’ve also removed any pine needles and other debris from the winter.
Now it’s time to turn the soil. I use a standard four tined spading fork. I just saw them at Lowe’s for $24.98. Starting in one corner of the garden, turn the soil down to a depth of 8-10 inches. I only loosen the soil as much as necessary. Break up any big chunks. You’ll undoubtedly find a good crop of New England potatoes — rocks pushed up by frost over the winter. Remove them. Small stones are OK, and inevitable in most New England soil.

Organic Fertilizers, Limes

Fertilizer
There are all sorts of ways you can go. If you’re a beginner, you can take a soil sample to your county extension service for analysis. It’s inexpensive but it takes a couple of weeks for results. It really needs to be done earlier than now. Or you can ask at your local garden store about the general characteristics of local soil, and about fertilizer. Where I live, the soil is acidic due to the prevalence of pine trees. This is very common in New England. So every year, I put lime on my garden, according to the package directions. You can use granular or pelletized lime. I’ve used both. I spread it right out of the bag.

Spreading Fertilizer

I generally use Plant Tone or another organic fertilizer, again according to the directions. This year I found an an old clay pot base, poured some fertilizer in, and just shook the thing, spread it around as evenly as I could. Back to our theme: this is not rocket science. Just do your best in spreading it evenly. If it’s windy, spread the stuff downwind, and warn those in the vicinity to get out of the way first. Use a rake, fork or shovel to work this into the top 4–8 inches of soil. Just work it to the depth your plants will be.

The Fun Part: Planting!
Young kids especially enjoy this. When my children were younger, I always gave them a few seeds or a tomato plant to put in the ground. With a garden this small, I didn’t draw a chart or make a plan beforehand. A quick sketch IS best, if you’re new to gardening. But I knew what I wanted to plant and just went for it. This year I am planting five tomato plants, all purchased at the Lake Street Garden Center in Salem, NH. I have been shopping there for years. Every spring they feature about two dozen varieties of tomatoes, including some hard to find heirlooms. Plus they have many, many other vegetables, flowering plants, supplies and more. This isn’t a paid ad for them. I just like the place! This year I got Russian Krims. I’ve grown them before. They are a purplish black when mature, and are out of this world. I also got “New Hampshire Sure Crop,” which are specially bred (bio-engineered?) to flourish in the climate and soil of NH. We’ll see how they do. I also got an early variety, a new Roma variety, and a grape tomato. Can you tell I love tomatoes? I bought individual plants, which are a little more expensive but I find them worth the extra cost. Six packs are fine, too, especially if you will be putting in a large number of plants.

Planting Tomatoes

Tomatoes are simple to plant. The most important thing is to plant them far enough apart — at least three feet away from other plants, four feet if you have the space. (photo of yardstick) I also chose as a location the “back” edge of my garden. For most of the day, the sun will be hitting the “front.” This way the tomatoes, the biggest plants later in the season, won’t be shadowing the smaller plants in front. Then I just dug a hole with my hand, removed the tomato plant from its temporary pot, stuck it in the soil, and filled around it so the plant is upright and stable. Again, not rocket science.

Planting cuke seeds in hill

THE CUKES
I then planted two hills of cucumbers near the front. Planting cukes in hills is a common technique. Each hill is a small, flattened, circular mound of soil you make with your hands. About 12–16 inches in diameter. In one hill, I planted a regular sized (about 8 inches) variety. In the other hill, smaller pickling cukes. I used seeds. You can start these from plants as well, but I never have. Don’t ask my why. I’m not sure. I’ve always had good luck with plenty of early (and late) cucumbers. I just stick the seeds in about a quarter inch to half an inch, all around the hill. About 15 seeds or more per hill. I will later thin to about 3 or 4 plants per hill.

In the middle of my garden, I planted a three foot row of collard greens, and a parallel row of swiss chard, also three feet long. I planted seeds, barely covering them with soil. There’s always planting info on the package.

Seeds

And in the front of the greens, a small patch of oregano from seeds, and one Thai hot pepper plant. Oregano is a perennial, and I’m not sure how well it’s going to do. I’ve never planted it before so this is an experiment. The seeds were tiny. We’ll see. More on using all of these vegetables in cooking in later posts.

Whew. Planting’s all done. Last thing? Water it. Make sure not to water too long or too hard, so as not to wash away any of your carefully planted seeds. And water every day for the first week or so. You can do by hand or with a gentle sprinkler. Common sense. It’s not rocket science!

All done for now!

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend!

Still to come — fencing, weeding, mulching.

Over the next few months, I’ll take you through the process of planting, caring for, and harvesting a small backyard garden. l planted mine last weekend (May 17th). Details ahead, as we say on the news. And before we go further, please know I’m not a certified garden pro of any sort. I’m a backyard gardener who learned on my own, mostly from trial and error, reading, and talking to other gardeners. I’ve been growing vegetable gardens for 30 years, in California, Colorado, Indiana and New Hampshire, from 20′ X 40′ plots complete with pumpkin and watermelon patches, to my present 8′ X 8′ raised bed. I garden because I enjoy it, and because I like eating! To me, there’s nothing like a simple salad made with fresh tomato, cucumber, basil or oregano, a splash of olive oil, and dashes of sea salt and cracked pepper. Maybe a few chunks of feta or asiago cheese thrown in. I eat these salads for about six weeks straight during August and September!

CHOOSING A LOCATION
But let’s start at ground level, literally. If this is your first garden, location is paramount. The most important factor is sunlight. Tomatoes and most other vegetables need at least 6 hours of direct sun and preferably much more. Southern facing gardens are best. Watch your desired garden location for a day or two, tracking the movement of the sunlight. Does it get enough sun?

The location should also be as level as possible for optimal drainage. But it can be off a little. My raised bed was impossible to make level, because it sits on a slight slope. I just made it as level as I could, and it works great.

THE FRAME

Older frame filled with soil (L), new unfilled frame (R)

As far as the actual garden goes, I use a raised bed I made a few years ago. My wife Amy is adding a second frame this year. But I’ve also built much larger gardens by just removing the sod, digging up the soil underneath, and adding as much sifted loam and mulch as necessary for the proper depth. My raised bed is 8′ X 8′ X 10″, a little smaller than the standard 10′ X 10′ X 12″. I used 10″ wide planks for the sides, rather than the standard 12″, because I dug down a few inches below the ground level, giving the garden enough total depth. I have found a foot of soil is plenty. The frame was attached using three inch deck screws. You can also drive a piece of rebar outside the frame, one on each side, in the middle, to keep the sides from bowing out. I didn’t do this because I partially buried the sides beneath ground level, and this was enough to keep them from bowing. If your frame sits entirely above ground, or if the sides are longer, you should consider a piece of rebar for each side.

KILN DRIED OR PRESSURE TREATED WOOD?
I chose regular kiln dried wood for the sides, not pressure treated. Pressure treated will last longer but it contains preservatives, sometimes arsenic, which may leach into the soil. As I mentioned to one reader of this blog, I’ve never seen a study which has tracked the leaching of chemicals from PT wood into soil. But I’ve never met anyone who thinks it’s worth the risk of using it. Kiln dried wood has to be replaced sooner, but so what? It’s less less expensive anyway. I don’t paint or stain the wood.

I filled my space with purchased, sifted loam and mulched leaves. Half loam, half mulched leaves. The leaves had been mulching for about a year and were the consistency of loose soil. I add a few wheelbarrow loads of this mulch every year before planting, to invigorate the existing soil. If you have no mulch, you can get away with all loam as long as it’s not too thick and muddy.

PREPARING THE SOIL
I made my raised bed a couple of years ago, so my first step this year was to rake any debris from the garden surface, such as accumulated pine needles from the winter. Pine needles add unnecessary acid to the soil. Then I pulled as many weeds, root and all, as I could. Wear gloves for as much of this as possible. The weeds and debris go into a wheelbarrow and are dumped in the woods behind my house. If you live in the city, you may have to bag and throw out your debris with the rest of your household trash…
Still to come…. Turning the soil, fertilizing, and planting the garden!

Thanks for your help …
Rick

Answer:
Hi Rick: I recommend using regular kiln dried.  Avoid the pressure treated.  PT would last longer but as you probably know it is treated with a host of preservatives, including arsenic.  Though I’ve never seen a study tracking leaching of these substances into soil in a raised bed, I’ve never talked to anyone who think it’s worth the risk. Good luck with the raised bed!
-Mike Nikitas

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