Hope you all had a fantastic Easter weekend. We are now beginning the busy season of starting seeds, transplanting perennials and all the tasks needed for a successful gardening season.
I have started many little seeds and the hardy ones are in the greenhouse which gets plenty of heat during the day but just above freezing at night. Some of the beds are ready and as usual I still have lots of things to do that should have been looked after last fall but this is another story. Last week we shredded 17 bags of leaves, which I had kept over winter as a windbreak for the greenhouse. I am using this for mulch this year and for the paths in the garden. It feels like when you walk in the forest.
I have all my peas started and I like to transplant them. This way I know right away what space I need and the other reason is that the quails eat everything coming up. With the transplants, it is easier for me to protect them. This year I put in 598 tomato seeds with 25 varieties, but some of them are very old seeds and I am hoping that they don’t all come up.
According to the weather map, Vernon is listed as a zone 6. To be on the safe side I always go as if I was in a zone 5 and this is a schedule from the internet site of what you can plant and when you can plant it for a zone 5. There are some cool weather crops that can be planted in the spring, just as soon as it is warm enough to get outside and work the ground. These crops include arugula, beets, carrots, mache, mustard, onions from sets, parsnips, peas, potatoes, radishes, salsify, spinach and turnips.
In addition to these vegetables that are sown outdoors in the spring, some vegetables are best started indoors in the spring. Starting the vegetable seeds indoors extends the growing season, by allowing these warm weather crops to grow to large plants before transplanting them outside. When the weather warms enough that it is safe for these plants they are then taken to the vegetable garden and planted. They will be ready to harvest sooner by starting them indoors first. These crops include broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, egg plant, endive, leek, lettuce, melon, pepper, and tomato.
This will give you enough of a choice to start your garden now. Because of my greenhouse I can take a few more risks. This is why I have some peas ready to transplant this week, potatoes that are already very tall and a few squashes that are ready to bloom. This happens when I run a test trial for my seeds and I cannot throw them away once they have germinated so they have to be planted and start to grow.
The tulips I planted in pots in December are growing very well and some of them are in blooms. I will put the pots in the ground to the rim and when the leaves are starting to turn yellow I will remove the pots and replace them with other blooming plants. This is the time to see where all the bulbs are planted and mark the spots so that later on, when they have faded and disappeared we do not dig right in and destroy them as I have done before.
Okanagan & Roses Garden Club meets Monday at 7:30 p.m. in the Schubert Centre. For more information: 250-558-4556.
Jocelyne Sewell is an organic gardening enthusiast and member of the Okanagan Gardens & Roses Club. Her column appears every other Wednesday.
