Garden Wisdom Blog — transplant

Many plants benefit from a head start by sowing indoors during late winter and early spring. For a few crops, notably peppers and tomatoes, this indoor start is an absolute requirement if growing from seed. These tender, tropical plants will be killed outright by frost, and will show immediate signs of distress if exposed to cold spring weather. So the gardener’s strategy is to make an educated guess about when it will be warm enough to transplant them outdoors, and work backwards from that date according to which crop is involved. Tomatoes, peppers, and many perennial flowers require a good...

Some types of crops take an awfully long time to mature. To harvest leeks in the summer, the seeds have to be started indoors way back in late winter — leeks just take that long to grow. With preparation and planning, home gardeners can grow excellent leeks for summer use. There are some crops that take even longer to mature. Gardeners in relatively mild climates can take advantage of the long winter months with a kind of gardening called overwintering. This involves the same degree of planning for summer leeks. These crops are planted in the summer and fall and...

The plant above is spinach, and it’s getting ready to bolt. As we approach the summer solstice, the spring garden is transformed into something quite different. Various plants begin to behave in new ways. Growth really kicks in for vine-forming plants, while other leafy greens suddenly go to seed. The term “bolting” is not immediately intuitive, especially to new gardeners. But it’s a term that must be understood to maximize success in the garden. All plants have the genetic prerogative to make seeds, but they employ different strategies, and react differently to changes in the seasons. A large number of...

Last summer I planted a few rows of fall and winter harvest leeks in our demonstration beds at Kirkland House here in Ladner. We chose the varieties described as “winter harvest” since they are bred to stand up to frost, but included Alto Varna, which is known mostly as a fast growing summer harvest leek. All these leeks were sown last July, and transplanted into five inch holes in early September. While they are intended for harvest between November and February, they lasted in very good form until late April. While we did harvest a few leeks over winter, the...

The theme of this Twenty-one Days of Green campaign is to encourage everyone to Commit to Grow just one item that might otherwise be purchased at a grocery store. We love using chives as a place to start. To produce a little container of chives is incredibly simple, but this simple act resonates in surprising ways. It’s an act that we, as consumers, can take to reduce our carbon footprints. Leading up to Earth Day, that seems like a wise choice. There is much about chives to love. They are perennial, so they’ll grow back after each harvest and continue...