Cornell Cooperative Extension April 2020 of Jefferson County Growing a Modern VICTORY GARDEN Everyone is looking for ways they can help during the current COVID-19 outbreak. Planting a garden can be one way for your family to get healthy, fresh vegetables, save money, potentially help others through food donations, get exercise, and relieve stress. Consider these historic facts on Victory Gardens: • World War I: In 1917 home gardeners mobilized and the first Victory Gardens were planted. In 1918, more than 5.2 million gardens were INSIDE THIS GUIDE cultivated. Page 2. No Room for a Garden? Never Fear, Container Gardens are • World War II: In 1944, an estimated 20 million Victory Gardens Here! produced 8 million tons of food. This was 40% of all the fruits and Page 4. Traditional Vegetable Gardens, i.e. Gardening in the vegetables consumed in the U.S. Earth The current COVID-19 situation Page 5. Cool and Warm Season has sparked renewed interest in Vegetables- AKA, When Can I plant? food gardening. Many people are considering vegetable Page 8. Vegetable Transplants gardens as a way to increase Page 9. Everybody Loves Tomatoes! personal food security. This Page 11. Backyard Fruit Production- spring will see first time Some Things to Consider gardens, expansion of current Page 13. Fruits and Nuts You Can Grow in Northern New York gardens, and the re-start of long Page 14. Water, Weeds and Woes dormant food gardens. Page 15. Resources For those current and past Attachment: Cornell Recommended gardeners I don’t expect this information will tell you more than you Vegetable Varieties for New already know, although you may pick up some new tips. For beginning York State, 2020 gardeners, this is the packet for you — a quick reference guide to answer immediate questions! It will guide you in learning a life-long skill. st Think of your new endeavor as a Victory Garden for the 21 Century! NO ROOM FOR A GARDEN? TRY CONTAINERS! If you don’t have a yard or space for a traditional and herbs. Larger containers can accommodate garden, container gardens can be very tomatoes and summer squash. And speaking of productive. All you need is a porch, balcony, tomatoes, the best option for container stoop, sidewalk or outside area that gets at least production of tomatoes is to buy patio tomatoes. 8 hours of sun per day. South or west facing These stocky plants are bred to stay small and are locations will offer the most sun. Container highly productive. Patio tomatoes are very gardens are low maintenance since weeding is popular- most garden centers sell them as minimal. You can also move them throughout transplants. Refer to the chart at the end of this the day to get the maximum amount of sun. article to determine how many plants can be grown in a five-gallon bucket, when to plant, and CONTAINERS growing tips. Anything can be used as a container. Just make WATER sure there are holes in the bottom so water drains freely. If water sits in the bottom it will Since they are above the ground, containers are cause root rots that will kill the plants. Five- subject to drying out from wind and sun. You gallon buckets work great- just drill 5 to 6 holes may need to water them every day. When in the bottom. Optimum size for any container is watering try not to get the leaves wet- water at 10 inches in diameter or greater and at least 8 the soil level for best results. Apply water until inches deep. The container should be light in you see the water begin to drain from the bottom color. Dark colors will absorb the sun and may of the container, and then stop. That way you ‘cook’ the roots. can be sure the plants are getting adequate irrigation. SOIL Fill your containers with bagged potting or garden soil. If you have access to topsoil, that RECYCLE! IDEAS FOR will work too, although it may make the CONTAINERS container very heavy. You can also lay bags of garden soil flat and cut slits for the seeds or Plastic dish tubs plants. Make sure to punch some holes in the Kiddie pools bottom first. Buckets and pails Baskets WHAT TO PLANT Pallets Burlap bags Just about any vegetable (within reason) can be Cracked wheelbarrows planted in a container. Obviously larger plants Rusted kitchen pots 2 will need to be planted in larger containers. Smaller containers are great for planting greens WHAT FITS IN A FIVE-GALLON BUCKET? QUANTITY DIRECT SEED IN A 5 VEGETABLE OR PLANTING TIME TIPS GALLON TRANSPLANT BUCKET Surround the tomato plant Tomato 1 transplant Late May with a ring of lettuce for an instant salad Frying peppers and hot Pepper 3 transplant Late May peppers are the most productive Harvest the beans frequently Beans (green, 6 Direct seed Mid-May to maintain maximum yellow) production Mid-April to Beets many Direct seed Space seeds 4 inches apart early May Scatter the seeds and cover Mid-April to Carrots many Direct seed with ¼” of soil. Thin to 2” early May apart A trellis can be used to train Cucumber 3 Direct seed Late may the plants to grow upwards Eggplants are very cold Late May to Eggplant 3 transplant sensitive. If the weather is early June cool wait until early June Mid-April to Can be trained to a trellis for Peas 12 Direct seed early May easier harvest Scatter lettuce seeds on top Spinach/Lettu Mid-April to many Direct seed of the soil then pat them ce early May down- do not bury, they Early to mid- Can be harvested early for Swiss Chard 6 Direct seed May ‘baby’ greens Mid-April to Can be harvested early for Kale 6 Direct seed early May ‘baby’ greens Squash are very cold Mid-May for Zucchini/Yello sensitive. If the weather is Direct seed seeds; Late May w summer 1 cool wait until early June or transplant to early June for squash before setting out transplants transplants Plant a container with 3 or 4 Direct seed of your favorite herbs. Basil Herbs several Mid to late May or transplant is very cold sensitive, don’t plant until after June 1 3 WHERE DO I GET ORGANIC MATTER? QUICK TIPS FOR A TRADITIONAL VEGETABLE GARDEN (I.E. GARDENING IN THE EARTH) If you haven’t already started a • Start Small! A garden size of 10’ • Ideally you should remove any compost pile in your backyard, by 10’ or 20’ by 20’ (for a family of sod from the garden area. This now is the time to start. You can compost kitchen scraps, lawn four) is a good area to start with. can be done using a flat shovel and trimmings, leaves, and other Having too much garden can be cutting the sod off the top of the organic matter. It’s not hard — overwhelming. A 20’ by 20’ garden soil. You can also spray the area and it keeps these things out of will produce enough vegetables for with a glyphosate herbicide the landfill. fresh eating with some extra for (according to directions on the processing. label) to kill all the vegetation. You Information on starting a can also cover the area with a tarp compost pile can be found on our • Locate the garden in a well- to kill the grass, although this website. Go to http:// drained, flat area that gets at usually requires several months. ccejefferson.org/gardening/ The sod can be worked into the compost-resources least 8 hours of sun per day. Southern and western exposures soil, but this may lead to a offer the most sunlight. You will temporary nitrogen deficiency as also need access to water via a hose the material decays. or spigot. Vegetable gardens are most productive when they receive • Add 4 inches of organic matter adequate irrigation. on top of the soil. Organic matter WHAT VARIETIES is well-composted cow or horse SHOULD I GROW? • Allow the soil to dry out before manure, compost, peat moss, or you begin prepping the garden. any combination thereof. You can Every year, Cornell publishes a Working wet soil leads to also add a slow release, granular list of selected varieties that are compaction and destroys the soil fertilizer at this time according to recommended for New York structure (not to mention that it label directions. Products like State home gardeners. This list makes a mess!). To test if the soil is Osmocote are readily available at of varieties is printed at the end of this guide. dry enough to work, squeeze a garden centers and big box stores. handful of soil. If water runs out, the soil is too wet. If the soil holds • Turn the soil. Double dig with a together in a clump, it is too wet. If shovel or till to incorporate the the handful of soil breaks apart organic matter and any fertilizer. easily or crumbles, it is dry enough. If the soil is too wet, just wait a • Let the area settle for a few days couple of days. Light breezes and and then you can begin planting! sun will help in the drying process. 4 COOL AND WARM SEASON VEGETABLES: WHEN CAN YOU PLANT? The vegetable crops we grow in the North Country are placed in two categories: cool season crops and warm season crops. In general, with cool season crops, the seeds are planted directly in the ground in the spring. Cool season vegetable seeds germinate at low temperatures and the plants are not damaged by light frosts.