Your Know Your a Garden Addict When...

You don't remember ordering it by mail and you can't remember what it is.

Green Radish: Gary Pilarchik

What Do Beet Seeds Look Like? And A Trick Question

Beet Seeds: Gary Pilarchik

Beet seeds don't look like the picture because what you actually looking are pods. Those little wrinkled things hold beet seeds but they aren't the seeds. The seeds are inside. You are actually planting a pod of multiple seeds. When you plant the pods you will get several plants per pod. Beets are one vegetable that you do have to thin.

How many beet seeds are pictured in my hand below?

How Many Beet Seeds Are In My Hand?: Gary Pilarchik

You might want to say 8 but you would be wrong. It is true you would plant 8 'things' but you are planting 8 pods. There might be 10 to 20 beet seeds in those pods combined or more. You have to thin beets by plucking plants. It is very hard to divide them because the seeds grow so close together. The roots tangle nicely.

Radishes Already? Almost But Nah!

Here are some radishes that I planted last September. Radishes over-winter I see but they were woody. Yes, I tried one. Two actually. These radishes were probably headed toward quick seeding. They do look good but I will have to wait 20 more days for the others to mature. They are up and pictured below.

Over-Wintered Radish Greens: Gary Pilarchik

200 Day Old Over-Wintered Radishes: Gary Pilarchik

I cleaned out the above bed and I found radishes that have to be at least 200 days old. This bed was cleared for carrots, celery and beets. The blog entry is coming soon.

Here is how the newly planted radishes and kohlrabi are doing... soon to be thinned.

Cool Weather Radishes and Kohlrabi: Gary Pilarchik

Something New Something Old From The Blog: Try Kohlrabi

This was originally blogged in the Summer of 2009. Ive been growing Kohlrabi ever since then. Try it today. It really tastes like I described.

Kohlrabi is also know as a German turnip. Kohl means cabbage in German. It has a taste like the centers of green cabbage and the stem of broccoli. The vegetable has a long root but the part you eat grows above ground. The vegetable itself can grow quite large. It taste great raw. I grew it last year. It also has leaves also has green leaves that can be picked for an addition to salads.

Plant them about 4 inches apart. If you want to try something new and delicious. Kohlrabi is it.

Planting Peas Perfectly?: The Pains of Pea Pleasing Planting Problems!

I have been reading about peas and was laughing at the variance in recommendations for planting seeds. I might as well say plant your peas in the ground and leave it at that. There were some points that everyone agreed upon and they were:

• Peas like cool weather
• Peas need sun
• Peas need to be planted in the ground (or a container)
• Peas like to climb
• Peas don't like to be soggy

I've been recommending planting peas at a 1- 2 inch depth. I know that it works because I eat peas every year. But I did read some people plant peas to a depth of 4 inches and then mound dirt around them as they grow upwards. The spacing of the seeds also varied greatly. Spacing suggestions  for the seeds were from 1 inch to 6 inches apart and some people said 1 seed per hole, while others recommended 2 seeds per hole.

Seed spacing should take into account your ability to water and fertilize the plants. If you can manage nutrients and water well, you can typically get more plants in a space. Another factor that comes into play is whether or not you plant in a raised bed with double turned earth (fluffy soil to 2 feet) or plant in a bed that has the earth more compacted. I can see how we (gardeners) can over complicate Nature.

Seeds want to grow. In this case, I think gardeners want to tweak the process much like a home chef will add or subtract a seasoning from a tried and true recipe.  It really doesn't do much for the dish but gives the cook satisifaction. Not that there is anyting wrong with that, I do it. My concern is for the new gardener. It is easy to get overwhelmed with how to plant peas (in this case) rather than just plant them. Vegetables want to grow.

So... I decided to make a video this week that will address all the above pains of pea pleasing planting  problems.

I found this works just FYI:

• Plant your peas 1-2 inches deep
• Plant your peas 2 inches apart but not more than 4 inches apart in the ground
• 4 to 8 peas will grow in a 5 gallon container but more peas means more liquid fertilizer
• If you put 2 seed per hole, thin one or leave it there.
• Peas need something to grow on

The kicker is that if you plant your seeds close together, your plants might not be as  tall or produce as much as a pea plant that has 6 inches of space between plants. But since you have more plants in the same space otherwise, you end up with more peas. The variance between the number of pods picked is higher for having more plants in a space versus spacing the plants out at 6 inches. You decide.