Victory garden 2.0 primer
If you’ve been looking for the perfect time to finally plant a few edibles in your home garden, patio or balcony, spring of 2020 fits the bill — you’ve got the time, you are at home to give the garden a little TLC, and you could use a project to boost your morale.
Victory gardens harken back to the First and Second World Wars, when it was essential to grow vegetables and fruit locally because food was scarce. Victory gardens empowered the population by having them pitch in for a cause, plus, they had fresh, healthy produce for their tables.
Today, we are fighting a worldwide war against COVID-19 and the idea of growing a victory garden is just as empowering as it was in the past.
New to growing edibles? It is important to understand a few terms you will need when selecting seeds or plants for your project. Here in Niagara, our growing zone is 6B and our last frost date is May 21 to 30. This information is listed on either plant labels or packets of seeds. Point your browser to planthardiness.gc.ca to view a plant hardiness zone map for Canada.
The following tips are all from James H. Burdett’s “Victory Garden Manual,” published in 1943. Burdett was the founder of the National Garden Bureau in 1920. As the NGB celebrates its 100th anniversary, his advice and tips are still extremely useful. Cool season vegetables typically have shorter crop times and thus produce edibles earlier. So, consider starting your garden by direct-sowing lettuce, radishes, peas, etc. if the temperatures are still cool in your area. Some seeds are very tiny so take care to avoid planting too many. That is wasteful and will result in more work as you’ll need to thin your plantings later as they grow and crowd each other out. Follow the recommended sowing dates on the seed package.
For best results, it is recommended that vegetables be planted a specific distance apart and to a certain depth for optimal produce productions. Look for this information on seed packets, in catalogues, on websites and on tags. Also, find the recommendation if the plants should be planted in rows (tomatoes and peppers) or in mounds (squash and cucumbers).
For transplants, follow recommended planting dates based on your last frost date.
Rushing your planting could mean that a late frost will kill your baby transplants or that the transplants will simply sit in too-cool soil until it warms up. Handle transplants gently, don’t compress the soil and, in most cases, plant to the same depth as it was in the original container.
One exception is tomatoes and peppers: they can be planted deeper which is helpful if the transplants are tall and leggy at planting time. Bury peppers a bit deeper than the root ball to encourage additional root growth that will make them sturdier.
It is recommended to bury tomatoes so that a full two-thirds of the plant is underground. Tomatoes have the ability to sprout additional roots along the buried stem which is great to keep the plant upright and to survive the hot summer days. Using trellises and other supports for vining crops (vertical gardening) allows you to grow more vegetables in a smaller space since they
will grow up, not out. This is particularly helpful when planting in containers — fit the planter with a tomato cage or fashion a teepee out of twigs or bamboo poles. Don’t plant too close together. Overcrowding is one of the most common mistakes gardeners make. Overcrowding results in less airflow which then leads to disease. It can also result in smaller sized plants and smaller and less produce since these plants can’t get enough nutrients. Remember, sometimes more isn’t better when it comes to planting too many plants in a small area. Tradition says vegetables should be planted in rows from north to south. This is so that one row won’t shade out the other. Even if not planting in rows, keep this in mind for raised beds and containers so that shorter plants are situated to the south and larger plants are to the north of those plants. Fertilizer is a vital component in most gardens. You can incorporate a slow-release fertilizer into the soil at the beginning of the season and/or apply periodically throughout the growing season. Many prepared soil mixes (used for container gardens) already include a slow-release fertilizer which makes this much easier! You can also work compost or wellaged manure into the garden before planting to improve the soil. Watering is of course very important in your garden.
The success of your time and effort will depend on proper watering. To mulch or not to mulch?
This is a personal choice but using mulch around your vegetable plants has many benefits like keeping weeds at bay, and helping to retain valuable moisture.
What about containers? If you don’t have garden space, or if your sunniest spot for tomatoes is on the patio (like me), plant your edibles in containers. The planters don’t have to be fancy, but choose the largest container you have available. I use large plastic nursery bins (repurposed) and fill them with good quality potting soil.
Theresa Forte is an award winning garden columnist, photographer and speaker. You can reach her by calling 905-351-7540 or by email at fortegardens@gmail.com.