The Weekly Update for April 19, 2006

Can’t wait?
If you can’t wait for your garden to be up and growing, get some pansies and violas. You can plant these hardy little flowers right now and watch them flourish in the cooler night temperatures and unpredictable weather we often experience in early spring.
Pansies and violas are from the same family. Wondering which came first? The viola gave birth to the pansy. As breeding techniques became even more sophisticated, growers were able to develop pansies with bigger blooms in a huge range of colors and color combinations.
Pansies will tolerate temperature into the 20°° without damage. (Lower temperatures may affect the flower buds, but the plant will survive.) Plant them in a spot where they'll get morning sun and afternoon shade, space about 4 inches apart. If you want an instantly"full" look you can plant them closer together. Apply starter plant food to help establish the root system and keep the plants moist but not soggy. Fertilize with Bachman’s Mighty Bloom every two weeks and don't be afraid to cut them back if the pansies grow too tall.

Get the vegetable garden started

What are you waiting for? If your soil has thawed and dried so its workable, it's time to put cool season vegetables in the ground. Peas, lettuce, beets, Swiss chard, and radishes can all be started outdoors as soon as the ground is ready.

Radishes
If you love radishes, plant new seeds every two weeks to insure a constant supply. You should plant radish seeds about ½” deep and space them about an inch apart. Small radish plants will start to grow on the roots. When the roots are ½” to ¾” inches in diameter, pull off every other plant. This will permit the remaining plants to develop full-size roots. Remember that radishes need plenty of water in order to mature quickly. When the weather turns warm, radishes grow tall and go to flower. Don’t pull all the stalks. Let the flower spikes mature and form seeds. If you let the seeds fall to the ground, you'll find radish plants sprouting in the cool days of fall.

Beets
The old saying goes “ You can’t beat beets.” That's because they are a very healthy vegetable bursting with antioxidants. Beets can be seeded in early spring as soon as the ground can be prepared. Plant the seeds about ½ inch deep, and cover them with garden vermiculite to keep moisture close to the seed. Vermiculite is a better choice than soil because it doesn’t crust over. It allows the beet seedling to pop out of the ground. Plant a new row of beet seeds every 2 to 3 weeks for a constant supply. You can harvest the greens at any time and use them just like spinach.

Peas
There is nothing that says spring like fresh peas from the garden. Plant peas as early as possible in the cool soil of spring. The seeds will mature in about 60 days. If early spring has passed, plant the pea seeds 4” to 5” deep. This will keep the pea plants' root system cool and extend their growing season. Keep peas moist and plant them in rich soil for best results.

SPECIAL TIP: This fall you can dig a trench in your garden that runs east and west. Mound the soil from the trench along the trench's north side. When the weather warms next spring, the mound of soil by the trench will thaw first. As soon as it does, plant the pea seeds in the bottom of the trench and cover them with the soil.

Lettuce
Lettuce is the basic start to any salad. Today there are so many wonderful varieties to grow, in lots of different textures and colors. Sow lettuce seeds early in the spring, but first add plenty of compost to the lettuce patch. Lettuce prefers moist (not wet) soil. Give the plants space and harvest often. The secret to good lettuce is fast growth, so a side dressing of more compost is beneficial when the seedlings have started to form small leafy clumps. Start a new batch of lettuce about every two week. A spring wanes plant heat tolerant varieties that are known as crisp head lettuces.

Swiss chard
Swiss chard can play multiple roles in the garden. The leaves can be eaten like spinach, the stems enjoyed like asparagus and the plant is pretty enough to be used in flower arrangements. Swiss Chard is easy to grow because it can survive the heat of summer and the frosty nights of fall. Sow Swiss chard seeds in early spring at a depth of ½ inch. Cover the seeds with garden vermiculite, which will keep them moist but allow them to push through to the sun. You can thin plants to 6” or leave them as clumps for a spot of color. If you can find it, buy Bright Lights Swiss chard. It's an award winning variety, and its multicolored stems and leaves make quite a statement in the garden.