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Best New Herbs and Vegetables for 2022

Each year, I look forward to writing this article because it’s fun to research and write. Vegetable gardening is popular, and with popularity comes variety and loads of new enticing introductions each year. 2022 is no exception. New prettier, tastier, more disease-resistant vegetable pickings are many, and with inflation on the rise, I hope more people will give home growing a try. Inexpensive fresh food is a huge draw! Successful home growers quickly learn the value of less costly, better-tasting food harvested from their own gardens.

New 2022 Vegetable Introductions

Lots of the plants on this list, I plan to grow myself. Each new introduction was chosen for its advertised flavor, vigor, production, and appeal. Disease resistance is another plus.

Beans and Peas

‘Sweet Gem’ is an exceptional new snap pea from High Mowing Organic Seeds. (Image thanks to High Mowing Organic Seeds)

Starting with cool-season crops, there are a couple of select peas to try. High Mowing Organic Seeds is offering the crisp, new snow pea ‘Blizzard‘ (58 days to harvest). It performed very well in their trials, bearing lots of slender, crisp, sweet snow peas on 30-36 inch vines. Snap peas are my favorite, so I will be trying another new pea they are offering, ‘Sweet Gem’ (63 days) snap pea. Its copious, juicy, crisp, sweet peas are produced on strong 45-52 inch vines, which are disease resistant.

Warm-season bush beans can be grown in 4-week intervals throughout the summer, and I like the space-saving plants. Slender, crisp filet beans are so delicious when freshly harvested, and bright yellow ‘Bamako‘ filet bean (54 days) from Johnny’s Select Seeds is stringless, crisp, and plants become loaded with golden beans in the summer months. The upright bush bean is also very disease-resistant. Green bean lovers should consider the new Red Tail snap bush bean, which bears straight, crisp, glossy, 5-6 inch green beans with excellent flavor.  Add it to your list.

Sweet Corn

The new ‘Wild Violet’ sweet corn looks more like an ornamental. Wow! (Image thanks to Burpee)

Two new corn varieties stood out to me on the page. The early corn ‘Solstice’ (68 days), offer by Johnnys, is a tasty bicolor with yellow and gold kernels that mature in just a little over two months after sprouting. Blight resistance and reliable productivity are two more reasons to grow it. The unusually beautiful ‘Wild Violet‘ sweet corn is a Burpee offering with blue-grey and white kernels that darken after cooking. Even though it looks like decorative corn, it is sweet, juicy, and flavorful–a must-grow variety for adventurous gardeners.

Greens, Cabbages, and Roots

‘Expect’ cabbage is dense and perfectly formed. (Image thanks to High Mowing Organic Seeds)
The large, sweet Chinese cabbage ‘Miss Hong‘ (55 days) from Johnny’s Select Seeds has dark-red, crinkled leaves that are noted for their crunchy, yet tender, texture. Those who love traditional cabbage should grow the perfectly round and dense ‘Expect‘ (100 days). It is disease-resistant, heat-tolerant, and flavorful. Another cool new brassica is ‘Rainbow Candy Crush‘ kale from Jung Seed Company. It looks like the prettiest frilliest purple-pink ornamental kale but it is wonderfully flavorful. Plant it in the fall, and harvest it after frost to boost its sweetness.
Salad lovers have many new greens to grow. Butter lettuce is a personal favorite, and the disease-resistant ‘Milagro’ butterhead lettuce produces large, beautiful heads in just 54 days. Plant this with the two reliable, curly, cut-and-come-again lettuces purple EZFLOR and green EZPARK, and you will have fresh salad all spring. The EZ lettuces are long-bearing, bolt-resistant, and disease-resistant.

Unique carrots are always fun to grow, and ‘Yellow Moon‘ is an all-season Nantes x Imperator type carrot that’s crisp, long, and pale yellow. I am sold.

Squash, Melons, and Cucumbers

 

The sweet, red, seedless watermelon ‘Century Star’ has speckled fruits and leaves. It’s a 2022 regional AAS Winner (Michigan). (Image thanks to AAS Winners)

Parks Seed is selling, Butterbaby butternut squash (100-105 days), which has 4-6 inch, sweet squashes that are as cute as pie. The short-vined plants allow home gardeners with less space to grow them. Those with more space need to try Burpee’s ‘Butterkin’ squash (105 days), which is a pumpkin and butternut squash hybrid with a pumpkin-like look and butternut skin. Its bright orange flesh is noted as being delectably sweet and smooth.

Cucumber and pickle picklers must try ‘Mini-Me’ (45 days), a seedless snack cucumber that’s prolific, just 2-3 inches, and very crisp and sweet. Grow these little Beit-alpha-type seedless cucumbers through summer. The larger beit-alpha cucumber, Merlin (50-55 days), from Burpee Seeds, is equally seedless, sweet, and bears well.

‘Hara Madhu’ is a super sweet melon for hot, dry areas. (Image thanks to Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds)

Century Star (80 days) seedless watermelon is a 2022 AAS Regional Winner for a reason. It yielded lots of sweet, seedless, 10 lb melons in Michigan where summers are cool. The fruits and leaves are beautifully dotted with yellow spots as well. Another unique melon I could not resist is the Indian ‘Hara Madhu’ (90 days), which is noted for its exceptional tolerance to hot, dry conditions as well as its honeyed taste. It’s a great choice for those living where summers are hot.

One productive new zucchini from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds that stood out is ‘Long White of Palermo‘ (45-55 days). The heirloom Mediterranean variety bears buttery zucchinis with a pleasing nutty flavor on bushy plants just right for smaller gardens. The totally unique avocado squash ‘Zapallito Del Tronco‘ (50 days) from Baker Creek also piqued my interest. It is an Argentinian heirloom that looks like a winter squash but eats like summer squash and has buttery soft flesh.

Tomatoes and Peppers

For fantastic peppers try ‘Mocha Swirl’. (Image thanks to Burpee)

Burpee is selling the colorful ‘Mocha Swirl‘ (50-70 days) snacking pepper exclusively, and it is one of the prettiest peppers I’ve ever seen. Its tasty elongated fruits are swirled with shades of red, orange, purple, yellow, and green when mature. Plant it alongside the compact (18″) ‘Purple Beauty‘ bell pepper (75 days), from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed, which has sweet, thick-walled, blocky fruits that mature to almost black. Both will look beautiful on a crudité tray alongside Johnny’s reliable, bright orange ‘Flavorburst’ pepper (67-87 days), which is noted for its high sugar content.

The colorful slicing tomato ‘Alice’s Dream’ has tropical, sweet fruits. (Image thanks to Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds)

2022 has so many tomato introductions! My final picks were chosen for beauty, trial ratings, disease resistance, and taste (most of all). The bicolored green and red Captain Lucky (75 days, indeterminate) slicing tomato is a new one from Johnny’s with excellent flavor that challenges the best heirloom tomatoes. The yellow, green, pink, and red interior is described as psychedelic. Two more big on beauty and flavor from Baker Creek are ‘Alice’s Dream‘ (80 days, indeterminate) beefsteak and ‘Black Strawberry’ cherry tomato (60 days, indeterminate). ‘Alice’s Dream’ has an orange-yellow exterior striped with purple and a deep orange-yellow interior described as tasting sweet and tropical. The super sweet ‘Black Strawberry’ tomatoes are orange-red caste with a mottled overlay of purple-black and produced in easy-to-harvest trusses. Finally, Burpee’s Bodacious big slicing tomato (80-85 days, indeterminate) deserves attention. The large, red, tasty tomatoes are aromatic and produced on vines that really resist blight. Each can produce 40-50 fruits in a season.

Cool New Herbs

‘Purple Ball’ basil is delicious, beautiful, and compact. (Image thanks to Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds)

Baker Creek takes the cake when it comes to amazing new herbs for the garden. ‘Orangelo’ thyme (Thymus fragrantissimus ‘Orangelo’, Zones 5-8) looks extra inviting with its promise of true citrus flavor. I have to make space for a couple in my rock garden. There is no want for new and interesting basils. Small-space gardeners will love the deepest-purple, ball-shaped ‘Purple Ball, which reaches just under 12 inches. Its sweet, fragrant, darkest purple leaves will look great in salads and pasta. Baker Creek’s ‘Evivi Ntor’ African basil, originally grown and obtained from the Ewe tribe in Ghana, is described as having a sharp, peppery, citrusy flavor. It is also remarkably heat-tolerant. Another basil for flavor and summer heat is Everleaf Thai Towers. The upright plants are slow to bolt, reach 2-3 feet, and have true Thai basil flavor.

Now’s the time to purchase seeds for these vegetables, if you are inclined to grow your own from seed (click here to learn how). Vegetable gardening is hot, so hot that seeds are selling out at record speed, so now is the time to buy them. You may also want to pick up a bag of OMRI Listed Black Gold Seedling Mix while you are at it. (Click here for my top ten vegetable gardening tips.)

Can Potatoes Survive in the Ground Through Winter?

“Can potatoes survive in the ground if they are not harvested when the above-ground foliage is removed? If yes, how long will they last?” Question from Ed or Coats, North Carolina

Answer: It’s an interesting question. The answer is yes and no. Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) are perennial plants and some cultivated potatoes can be quite hardy. The ability of cultivated forms to survive winter cold depends on the variety (there are over 4,000 known types), but most will not withstand hard freezes. And, you would not want to eat the tubers from plants touched by frost. They quickly become sickeningly sweet and inedible.

Another point is that potatoes are notoriously susceptible to soil-borne diseases, and need to be rotated yearly for the best production. Proper cultivation from seed potatoes to harvest takes work. Potato rows must be hilled and amended with organic matter (Black Gold Garden Compost Blend is a great choice of amendment) to keep the soil light and fertile for superior potato development. Fresh seed potatoes planted in newly plowed hills will grow best and yield tubers by early, mid, or late summer, depending on the variety. At harvest time, all the tubers should be removed from the soil to eliminate any potentially diseased potatoes.  Legumes or a green manure crop should follow the rotation cycle.

With that said, those living further South, like you, can potentially grow potatoes as perennial crops for a limited period of time. Because it’s not done or recommended in practice, I cannot say how long they would survive and yield for you. Yukon Gold is a common, hardier variety (USDA Hardiness Zones 3-9) that may be worth experimenting with if you want to give it a try. Let us know how it works out for you.

Happy gardening,

Jessie Keith

Black Gold Horticulturist

How Do I Organically Feed My Vegetable Garden Soil for Fall?

How Do I Organically Feed My Vegetable Garden Soil for Fall?

“I’m getting ready to prep my raised beds for the fall crop.  What is best to amend the soil with since I do not use chemical fertilizers?” Question from Randal of Chiply, Florida.

Answer: There are lots of things that you can do to feed your soil for fall and winter crops. Here are some of easy options.

Feed Your Soil

Your garden is as good as its soil. For success, liberally feed it with organic matter, such as Black Gold Earthworm Castings, Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss, and Garden Compost Blend, especially if your soil is rich in clay or sandy. Add at least 3 inches of the amendment to the soil surface, and till it to a depth of at least 8 inches. Tilling in amendments will increase water-holding capacity and aeration for better root growth. Use the amendment application formula below to determine the amount you will need.

Amendment Application Formula

([area to cover] ft2 x [depth in inches desired] x 0.0031 = ___ yd3).

Example: If you wanted to cover a 20 square foot area with 2 inches of compost, the result would be: 20 ft2 x 2 inches of compost x 0.0031 = 2.48 yd3.

(Click here for a full overview of how to prep a new vegetable garden from start to finish.)

Choose the Right Organic Fertilizer

Vegetables perform better with regular fertilization, especially heavy feeders like tomatoes. In fact, most veggies will deplete the soil of nutrients over time, so replenishment is necessary. There are many organic vegetable fertilizers on the market. Alfalfa, blood, bone, feather, fish, kelp, and shrimp meals are all common natural components of non-chemical fertilizers. Earthworm castings are also a good source of nitrogen and beneficial microbes. Adding mycorrhizae to the soil is also useful because it helps plants take up water and nutrients better. Black Gold Natural & Organic Ultra Coir is another of our organic-rich amendments that also contains our proprietary blend of endomycorrhizae. We recommend that you research top-rated organic fertilizers to find the best for your needs.

Rotate Your Crops with Legumes

Vegetables, especially tomatoes, should be rotated on a three-year cycle–tomato one year and other vegetables the next two years. Legumes, like beans and peas, are excellent rotation crops because they naturally fortify soils with nitrogen. For more rotation tips, I encourage you to read Spring to Fall Vegetable Rotation: Planting for Non-stop Garden Produce. It will provide all of the information you need to effectively rotate your crops, whether container- or garden-grown.

I hope that all of this information helps! We have many more articles about gardening in Florida, click here to view them.

Happy fall vegetable gardening,

Jessie Keith

Black Gold Horticulturist

10 Essential Tips For New Vegetable Gardeners

The new vegetable gardener will succeed if given the right information from the beginning.

With decades of vegetable gardening experience under my belt, it’s easy to take the years of knowledge for granted. It’s like riding a bike. I garden on cruise control and react or learn quickly when faced with a new challenge. In turn, years of teaching new gardeners have kept me in touch with the challenges they face. Sound, step-by-step advice is invaluable–potentially averting years of mistakes and poor yields. Getting the big picture of a new garden venture from the start will set the wheelbarrow rolling in the right direction. The new vegetable gardener will be quickly rewarded if modest goals are established from the beginning and time is set aside for the project.

Tips for the New Vegetable Gardener

Here are my top ten tips for helping new vegetable gardeners succeed in the first year from the ground up. (Note: If you plan to grow vegetables in containers, click here to read an article about successful vegetable container gardening, click here to learn how to grow spring vegetable containers, and click here to learn how to grow tomatoes in pots.)

Planning your garden on paper will help you visualize and plan for the project.
  1. Plan Ahead: Determine your garden’s location, size, and crops before you break ground. Vegetable gardens require full sun (8-hours or more per day) and soil that drains well. Gardening is a commitment that often takes more time and labor than anticipated. If you have never gardened before, plan small in the first year to keep it enjoyable and manageable. It will help you succeed from the start and determine how to grow your garden in future years. (Click here for a good article about planning a garden, and click here for an article about rotating crops through the season.)
  2. Sod removal takes work but is worth the effort.

    Start Clean: Remove all of the turf from your soon-to-be garden bed. That means manually skimming off the sod with a sharp spade or using an automated sod cutter, which can be rented. I recommend the latter if you have planned a large garden. The bed should be small enough for you to reach into from all sides or large enough to add a walkway for easy access. Square or rectangular beds are easiest to mow around and manage.

  3. Enrich your soil from the beginning!

    Don’t Skimp on Soil: Your garden is as good as its soil. When siting it, choose a well-drained spot. If low ground is a problem in your yard, opt for a raised bed (Click here to learn more about preparing a raised bed garden, and click here for a raised bed plan). For garden success in year one, liberally feed your soil with organic matter, such as Black Gold Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss, Garden Soil, and Garden Compost Blend, especially if your soil is rich in clay or sandy. Add at least 3 inches of the amendment to the soil surface, and till it to a depth of at least 8 inches. Use the amendment application formula below to determine the amount you will need.

    Amendment Application Formula

    ([area to cover] ft2 x [depth in inches desired] x 0.0031 = ___ yd3).

    Example: If you wanted to cover a 20 square foot area with 2 inches of compost, the result would be: 20 ft2 x 2 inches of compost x 0.0031 = 2.48 yd3.

    (Click here for a full overview of how to prep a new vegetable garden from start to finish.)

  4. Berming planting areas and covering with compost and straw will save weeding time and boost crops.

    Raise and Cover: Tilling and adding lots of fresh organic material will loosen and lift your soil to enhance drainage and aeration for better root growth. To take it one step further, I always rake or hoe soil up into berms to maximize drainage and keep beds light for better root growth. Berming is especially helpful for root crops, like carrots, potatoes, and beets, and deep-rooted plants, like tomatoes. Finally, I add mulches appropriate for vegetable gardens, like seed-free straw, compost, mushroom soil, grass clippings, or leaf mulch, to keep weeds down. I generally put straw along walkways I’ve established in my garden and compost on the planting areas. Avoid bark mulch of any kind in vegetable gardens because it binds nitrogen, which is detrimental to heavy-feeding vegetables.

  5. A little fertilizer will go a long way.

    Fertilize: Good fertilizer formulated for vegetable growing is essential for bumper crops. Any all-purpose granular or slow-release vegetable fertilizer will do, though I recommend feeding tomatoes with a food specially formulated for their needs. Tomatoes are very heavy feeders that require a wide variety of nutrients to perform their best. Follow the product instructions to keep them well fed.

    Look for the AAS logo! (Image thanks to All America Selections Winners)
  6. Choose Good Varieties: Don’t pick just any old tomato, pepper, or bean for your garden. Do your research and pick the best when it comes to yields, performance, and flavor. If you are not certain, always select award-winning plants, such as All America Selections Winners. These tend to be as full-proof as you can get. It is also wise to choose disease-resistant varieties, so keep a lookout for these as well. (Click on the links to discover our favorite sauce tomatoes, lettuce, green beans, mini vegetables, carrots, and fast-growing vegetables.)
  7. Lettuce is an easy spring vegetable that needs cool weather.

    Know Planting Times: It is essential to know when you can plant a vegetable, what temperature it likes best, and how long it will take to produce. Vegetables are broken down into cool-season and warm-season types, though some will grow well from spring to fall. Cool-season vegetables, like cabbage, lettuce, peas, and radishes, grow best in cool spring or fall weather, while warm-season crops, such as corn, okra, peppers, tomatoes, and squash, need the heat of summer to yield. Some grow very quickly, and others take months to produce. For example, radishes can be ready to harvest in as little as 20 days, but some pumpkins can take 120 days to produce fruit. So, knowing a crop’s days to harvest is important. Finally, you need to know your last frost date (click here for yours) to determine when it is safe to plant tender vegetables and fruits outdoors.

  8. Some pumpkin plants can grow to 20′ across!

    Know Plant Needs and Sizes: Identify each plant’s height and width to determine its garden footprint. You also need to know if supports, like tomato cages or bean and cucumber trellises, will be needed. One important tip for tomato growers is that bush (determinate) tomatoes only reach 1-3 feet and need small cages or stakes, but vining (indeterminate) tomatoes can reach 6-8-feet high and wide, so tall, strong cages are required. Follow spacing guidelines to give your vegetable the space they need to blossom.

    When ripe, tomatoes are fully colored and give slightly when pressed.
  9. Know When to Harvest: When is it ripe? Tomatoes and peppers will be fully colored when ready to pick. Beans should be plump and reach the advertised length. Zucchini and summer squash are best harvested small but firm. And, you will know when beets, carrots, and radishes are ready to harvest when their bulbous tops become visible along the soil surface. If you are not sure when to harvest a crop, ask us through our free horticultural advice service, Ask a Garden Expert.
  10. Removing weeds as you see them will keep them from taking over.

    Keep It Clean: Weed, weed, and weed some more. Even when you mulch your beds, they will arise. Weeds compete with vegetables for resources and can quickly overwhelm a garden if ignored. They may also harbor diseases and attract pests. Pull or hoe weeds as you see them. Even if you weed every few days or even every week, you will have few to no weed problems, which will give you more time to focus on plant care and harvest. Investing in good weeding tools makes the task lighter. I am never without my weeding knife (Hori Hori), strong hoe (Prohoes are the best), and Korean hand plow (Ho-Mi).

Reach out to friends, family, books, and online references when you have gardening questions. There’s always more to learn and new plants to discover. And, if you can’t find an answer, ask us a gardening question for free at Ask a Garden Expert. You can also search the hundreds of questions we have already answered. It’s our goal to help gardeners succeed.

Five Steps to Creating a No-Till Vegetable Garden

The author’s no-till garden in early spring after compost and straw have been applied. (Image by Jessie Keith)

To till or not to till? Why ask this question? Tilling does good things for the soil. It increases needed aeration and porosity, allows the easy incorporation of organic amendments, and it makes all the little green weeds at the top of the soil go away. But it also has its disadvantages. Tilling draws dormant weed seeds from the soil’s subterranean seed bank to the surface, which can mean more weeds. It encourages soil erosion and disrupts all manner of beneficial creatures and microbes underground, which support healthy soils and plant roots. In time, the no-till approach can save time, money, and greatly reduce weeds. These are the reasons it is trending.

Soil Quality Determines the No-Till Approach

If you have good garden soil, starting a no-till garden is simple. Those with poorer soils need to do a bit more work.

There is more than one way to establish a no-till garden. And one’s approach is often related to soil quality and topography. Those with good garden soil can opt to simply clear weeds from the ground, add thick compost and fast-to-degrade mulches for vegetable gardening (straw, leaf mulch, etc.), fertilize, and start planting. Others with poorer clay (or sandy) soils, like me, need to feed the soil for the beforehand. It’s ironic, but my successful no-till garden needed to start with, well, tilling, in addition to double digging, and amendment. Lifting or berming the soil is also important, especially if your garden’s topography is low.

Creating a No-Till Garden

Ample soil amendments and mulches will enrich your no-till garden and keep it weed-free.

For me, creating a good no-till garden started with a big investment. I dug deep, enriched my beds to the hilt, and lifted and bermed my planting areas. For excellent no-till bed longevity, I started by lifting and aerating the soil as deeply as possible.

Materials

  • Tiller
  • Amendments, such as peat, compost, and castings (add at least a 1:4 ratio of amendments to ground-soil)
  • Hard rake and shovel
  • Straw
  • Mycorrhizae
  • Fertilizer
  • Tarp
  • Wheelbarrow (for moving mulches and amendments)
Till in amendments to at least a 1:4 ratio of amendments to ground-soil until well-combined, and airy.

Here are the five steps that I took to establish my no-till garden.

  1. Till deeply: Creating good garden soil is all about adding air pockets, loft, and good fertility to encourage drainage and deep rooting. If you have heavy soil, you cannot accomplish this without initial tilling and amendment with lots of organic matter. Till on a day when the soil has enough moisture to sink a shovel into but is also a bit dry. I recommend double or triple tilling the new garden area to break up the soil as much as possible.
  2. Double dig: Extra deep digging is time-intensive and should be reserved for areas where you plan to plant deep-rooting vegetables, such as carrots, parsnips, and other root crops. Move the lofty tilled topsoil onto a tarp beside the bed and dig another few inches deeper and break up the soil further. (Click here to read more about double digging.)
  3. Amend all of your backfill: Amendments rich in organic matter and microbes are essential for the longterm health of your garden. Shovel lots of organic matter, like Black Gold compost, earthworm castings, peat moss, and even composted manure and mushroom soil, into your backfill, and till it in. I also recommend adding a granular vegetable fertilizer and an endomycorrhizal inoculant, which can be purchased in powder form. Beneficial mycorrhizal fungi help plants grow better by allowing them to more efficiently access water and nutrients.
  4. Define pathways, fill, and berm: If you have a large or relatively large garden space, it’s nice to establish paths for easy garden access and harvest. Most gardeners choose a row or block design. I always like my pathways to stand a bit lower than my beds, so I berm up fill in the bed areas using a hard rake. This gives beds an even deeper pad of lofty soil and ensures that they will not be walked upon.
  5. Cover: As a final step, I cover my walkways with black & white newspaper or non-waxed corrugated cardboard and cover the paper with a thick layer of seed-free grass clippings, straw, or even leaf mulch or pine straw. You can even plant nitrogen-fixing clover in the walkways. Then I add a thick layer of compost to the beds to detur weeds, and fresh straw to the pathways to stop weeds and keep them from getting muddy after rain.

Each year, I clean up and refresh the walkways, and add fresh compost as a mulch in lieu of tilling. Invest in your no-till garden like this in the beginning, and you will be wowed by the results.

Raising Beds to New Heights

Other garden types, such as raised beds, do not require tilling either.

There are other no-till options for vegetable gardening, but I prefer the freedom of a large garden bed with tidy straw walkways. Traditional raised beds, hugelkultur, strawbale gardening, even container gardening don’t require tilling. Here are articles about each gardening type, if you want to learn more.

Raised Beds: Respecting the Law of Return

Hugelkultur Layered Vegetable Gardens

Do You Have Tips for Straw Bale Gardening?

Succeed with Container Vegetable Gardening

Invest in your no-till garden from the beginning, and it will reward you in the future. Support it with fresh mulch, feed it well, and watch your harvests explode!

Double dig areas for root vegetables, and add a layer of protective compost over beds each year.

Can I Plant a Vegetable Garden In Partial Shade?

“Please tell me if a slightly shaded location is suitable for a veg garden. It is partially shaded for most of the day. There’s a creek running behind my yard’s fence where the bed will be. And please guide me to the best articles for starting a garden in my area. Should I soak this hard soil and mix it with (something?)or just put(something?)on the surface. How large to feed one or 2 vegetarians and juicing people?” Question from Jane from Camp Verde, Arizona

Answer: A few vegetables will tolerate partial shade but most will not. Partial-shade tolerant veggies include greens, such as lettuce, arugula, kale, and some herbs, such as lemon balm and sweet woodruff.

In general, you need a bare minimum of 6 hours of strong direct sunlight when growing most other vegetables, especially tomatoes, peppers, squash, corn and others that need lots of sun to produce. More sun is always better. Clearing away some of your larger tree branches might help.

Raise Your Gardens

As far as planting near a lowland creek bed, you probably have to worry about seasonal flooding. If this is ever a problem, consider planting in high raised beds. Trough gardens are also a good option.

Or, you can tackle both your sun and possible flooding problem and grow vegetables in large containers that can be moved into more sunny, upland spots in your yard.

Both raised garden types will prove to be useful for growing deep rooting vegetables. (Click here to learn more about successful vegetable container gardening.)

Feed Your Soil

Almost all vegetables require rich, fertile soil to grow to their fullest. I always recommend mixing native soil with Black Gold Amendments when preparing the soil for raised beds. I also recommend adding irrigation when vegetable gardening out West. Plan to water heavily.

Gardening For Two

Two 4-foot x 6-foot beds should be a good start for just two people. Here are four articles I recommend you read before starting your new raised beds.

How Should I Prepare My Raised Bed? 

High Desert Vegetable Gardening

The Dos and Don’ts of Hand Watering

What Are the Best Raised Bed Plants for High Desert Gardens?

Contact Your Local Extension Agent

For further information about vegetable gardening in your area contact The University of Arizona’s Cooperative Extension service. They are there to help gardeners like you grow better.

Happy gardening!

Jessie Keith

Black Gold Horticulturist

A Vertical Vegetable Garden in the City

Salem, Oregon gardener Harry Olson has taken vertical gardening to new heights, (literally).  Harry’s home is on a small city lot and because of space constraints and shade issues from neighboring trees, Harry has, out of necessity, created a vertical garden.  This has challenged him to creatively experiment and find innovative ways to maintain a productive edible garden.  Many of his methods could easily be modified for gardeners with even less space (a sunny balcony, deck or patio).

Start with Good Soil

Harry starts with good soil, one of the most essential components for any garden. Quality soil is critical for good production, especially where space and light are limited. For edible gardening in small spaces, Black Gold Natural & Organic Potting Mix is great for container growing and Black Gold Garden Compost Blend is a super amendment for in-ground gardening. Both products are OMRI Listed for organic gardening and will naturally boost productivity and yields.

Grow Vegetables Creatively

Tomatoes

A well-trained triple-grafted tomato is a big space saver!

Grafted tomatoes are a favorite of Harry’s because in one container it is possible to have three different varieties.  He uses a ‘triple graft’, and one that Harry successfully grew last year was a combination of ‘Sweetheart’ (red, heart-shaped, salad type), ‘Blush’ (golden-orange grape type), and ‘Virginia Sweet’ (red-gold beefsteak type) tomatoes.  Harry often extends an invitation to different garden clubs and societies to visit his garden, and he told me that this triple-grafted tomato was the most photographed plant in his garden.

Vining Vegetables

Harry’s metal-framed cucumber and squash trellis is space-saving and strong.

Cucumbers and squash can easily be grown vertically with good support.  These substantial vines climb by tendrils, so it is necessary to provide a strong trellis of metal or wood with a wire or string lattice for the tendrils climb.  Harry’s simple, compact structure was constructed from a single metal frame with a lattice of strong, taught strings. To further maximize space, he planted the base of the trellis with rosemary, basil, and other sun-loving herbs.

Vines can also be container-grown, if the container is large enough. Harry chose to grow is cantaloupe vertically in a large container fitted with a  trellis. To support the heavy fruit and save the vine from breakage, he used pantyhose trusses to hold the fruit. What a good solution!

Pantyhose trusses proved the best way to support trellised cantaloupe.

Harry also relies on pole beans, another easily grown vining crop, that are light and easy to trellis. These summer producers thrive in the heat and start to decline by fall.  For a fall crop, he plants vining peas in late summer.  They are easy to grow from seed, thrive in the cooler fall weather and often continue producing, even after the first light frost.

Vining nasturiums add color and edible flowers to Harry’s plot.

Vining edible flowers also have a place in Harry’s city plot. With adequate support, his vining nasturtiums will often reach six feet.  An advantage with nasturtiums is that they do not require full sun as compared to the other plants mentioned here.  Nasturtiums provide beautiful flowers and all parts of the plant can be eaten.  The leaves and stems will give salad a little ‘spice’ and the flowers make a beautiful edible garnish.

Fruit Trees

Columnar apple trees are easily grown in pots and can be placed along a sunny fence.

Even dwarf fruit trees can be grown in containers.  Harry chose columnar apples planted along his fence. These are a good choice because in the last few years columnar apples have become readily available in garden centers.  These trees have been developed to set fruit without having another tree for cross pollination, and the columnar structure produces short branches close to the single trunk to maximize space, airflow, and sun exposure.  Imagine having your own homegrown apples on your deck or patio!

Growing a vertical garden is probably much easier than one might imagine.  Even with the limited space of a balcony, deck or patio, it is possible to have fresh produce throughout the summer with some plants continuing to produce into the fall.  Do some experimenting and you might be pleasantly surprised with the results.