We’re getting to the end of winter now. Soon spring will be here and we can start complaining about the hot weather again. February is the last ‘winter’ month. After this, ‘warm’ will be more common and more consistent. It’s not that we haven’t had warm during the winter months, but it was neither consistent nor common. I, for one, am looking forward to the warm.
Starting now until mid-February you can plant broccoli, Chinese cabbage, carrots and cauliflower, after mid-month, plant snap beans and sweet corn. All month long you can plant beets, Swiss chard, mustard greens, Irish potatoes, radishes and turnips out in the open garden, but eggplant, pepper and tomato seeds need protection. Plant these indoors, in the greenhouse or in the cold frame. (If you need a review of cold frames, refer to Between the Rows for February 2015 on the Master Gardener website.) It’s still too cold to plant these warm-weather-lovers outdoors. They need warmth, so if you want transplants when the weather gets warm, plant those seeds in a protected area now and baby them until it’s time to set them out.
Let’s review the reasons to grow your own transplants: 1. More variety: you can never get the variety of commercial transplants that you can find in seeds; 2. Control: you know what you put into the transplants, no pesticides, herbicides, synthetic fertilizers, if you don’t want them; and, 3. You have the transplants you want when you want them. No waiting for the growers to get them to the nursery.
Speaking about variety, you know that eating a colorful diet is healthier for you, right? Well, you can start eating that colorful diet by choosing more colorful varieties when choosing seeds. Take cauliflower, for example, white is good. It’s loaded with nutrients – just look what you get in a one cup serving!
Starting now until mid-February you can plant broccoli, Chinese cabbage, carrots and cauliflower, after mid-month, plant snap beans and sweet corn. All month long you can plant beets, Swiss chard, mustard greens, Irish potatoes, radishes and turnips out in the open garden, but eggplant, pepper and tomato seeds need protection. Plant these indoors, in the greenhouse or in the cold frame. (If you need a review of cold frames, refer to Between the Rows for February 2015 on the Master Gardener website.) It’s still too cold to plant these warm-weather-lovers outdoors. They need warmth, so if you want transplants when the weather gets warm, plant those seeds in a protected area now and baby them until it’s time to set them out.
Let’s review the reasons to grow your own transplants: 1. More variety: you can never get the variety of commercial transplants that you can find in seeds; 2. Control: you know what you put into the transplants, no pesticides, herbicides, synthetic fertilizers, if you don’t want them; and, 3. You have the transplants you want when you want them. No waiting for the growers to get them to the nursery.
Speaking about variety, you know that eating a colorful diet is healthier for you, right? Well, you can start eating that colorful diet by choosing more colorful varieties when choosing seeds. Take cauliflower, for example, white is good. It’s loaded with nutrients – just look what you get in a one cup serving!
That’s a pretty potent nutrition package, especially considering it also provides 10% of daily fiber and does it in only 25 calories with a low glycemic index. That means it doesn’t cause your blood sugar to shoot up.
When you eat purple cauliflower, however, you get all of the benefits of white cauliflower plus a number of extra goodies. One of those extras is anthocyanins. Anthocyanins are the reason it’s purple and not only does it make the flower bud pretty, they can help to lower your risk of Type 2 diabetes, prevent heart disease and eye problems, improve brain function, and help to control your weight. Anthocyanins are also antimicrobial and eliminate many types of environmental pollutants. It’s also a super antioxidant that can work for up to three days reducing free radicals, unlike most antioxidants that work once and are then broken down.
Another super health benefit found in purple cauliflower is glucoraphanins. These are the compounds in cruciferous vegetables, like broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and kale that provide their anti-cancer benefit. The glucoraphanin is broken down into a compound called sulforaphane that is absorbed in the intestine then modified in the liver to actually produce the anticancer compound, which causes the cancer cell to self-destruct without harming healthy cells. How’s that for super-duper high powered nutrition? One note, though, to gain maximum benefit you should eat your purple cauliflower raw.That’s just one example of better nutrition through choosing colors. So when you’re choosing your seed varieties, choose color whenever you can.
The Ag Center recommends the following varieties of bush beans: Blue Lake 274, Bronco, Contender, powdery mildew resistant (PM), Derby, an All American Selection (AAS), Festina, Lynx, Magnum, Provider, downy mildew resistant (DM, PM), Roma II, Royal Burgundy (think anthocyanins again), Strike and Valentino. For pole beans the recommendations are: Blue Lake, Kentucky blue (AAS), Kentucky Wonder 191, McCaslin, Rattlesnake (striped) and Yardlong Asparagus Bean (one of my absolute favorites; it’s never failed me). For the various types of sweet corn, the recommendations are: of the Sweet varieties, try Gold Queen, Merit, Seneca Horizon (bicolor, BC), or Silver Queen; of the Supersweet varieties, try Golden Queen and Honey ‘N Pearl (AAS, BC); of the Sugar Enhanced (SE) varieties, try Ambrosia, Avalon, Bodacious, Delectable, Honey Select (AAS), Incredible, Lancelot (BC), Miracle, Precious Gem (BC) or White Out.
Don’t forget to fertilize. For snap beans, add 2 to 3 pounds of 8-24-24 or 2 to 5 pounds of 8-8-8 per 100 feet of row before planting. For beets, carrots, radishes, turnips, rutabagas and kohlrabi, add 6 to 7 pounds of 8-8-8 or 4 to 5 pounds of 8-24-24 before planting, then side dress 3 to 4 weeks after planting. For cabbage, collards, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower, add 5 to 6 pounds of 8-8-8 or 3 to 4 pounds of 8-24-24 before planting, then side dress 3 to 4 weeks after planting, then again in another 2 to 3 weeks.
That’s about it for February. Talk with you again next month. Until then, Happy Gardening!!
When you eat purple cauliflower, however, you get all of the benefits of white cauliflower plus a number of extra goodies. One of those extras is anthocyanins. Anthocyanins are the reason it’s purple and not only does it make the flower bud pretty, they can help to lower your risk of Type 2 diabetes, prevent heart disease and eye problems, improve brain function, and help to control your weight. Anthocyanins are also antimicrobial and eliminate many types of environmental pollutants. It’s also a super antioxidant that can work for up to three days reducing free radicals, unlike most antioxidants that work once and are then broken down.
Another super health benefit found in purple cauliflower is glucoraphanins. These are the compounds in cruciferous vegetables, like broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and kale that provide their anti-cancer benefit. The glucoraphanin is broken down into a compound called sulforaphane that is absorbed in the intestine then modified in the liver to actually produce the anticancer compound, which causes the cancer cell to self-destruct without harming healthy cells. How’s that for super-duper high powered nutrition? One note, though, to gain maximum benefit you should eat your purple cauliflower raw.That’s just one example of better nutrition through choosing colors. So when you’re choosing your seed varieties, choose color whenever you can.
The Ag Center recommends the following varieties of bush beans: Blue Lake 274, Bronco, Contender, powdery mildew resistant (PM), Derby, an All American Selection (AAS), Festina, Lynx, Magnum, Provider, downy mildew resistant (DM, PM), Roma II, Royal Burgundy (think anthocyanins again), Strike and Valentino. For pole beans the recommendations are: Blue Lake, Kentucky blue (AAS), Kentucky Wonder 191, McCaslin, Rattlesnake (striped) and Yardlong Asparagus Bean (one of my absolute favorites; it’s never failed me). For the various types of sweet corn, the recommendations are: of the Sweet varieties, try Gold Queen, Merit, Seneca Horizon (bicolor, BC), or Silver Queen; of the Supersweet varieties, try Golden Queen and Honey ‘N Pearl (AAS, BC); of the Sugar Enhanced (SE) varieties, try Ambrosia, Avalon, Bodacious, Delectable, Honey Select (AAS), Incredible, Lancelot (BC), Miracle, Precious Gem (BC) or White Out.
Don’t forget to fertilize. For snap beans, add 2 to 3 pounds of 8-24-24 or 2 to 5 pounds of 8-8-8 per 100 feet of row before planting. For beets, carrots, radishes, turnips, rutabagas and kohlrabi, add 6 to 7 pounds of 8-8-8 or 4 to 5 pounds of 8-24-24 before planting, then side dress 3 to 4 weeks after planting. For cabbage, collards, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower, add 5 to 6 pounds of 8-8-8 or 3 to 4 pounds of 8-24-24 before planting, then side dress 3 to 4 weeks after planting, then again in another 2 to 3 weeks.
That’s about it for February. Talk with you again next month. Until then, Happy Gardening!!
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