Planting Some Vegetables

April 10, 2009

Whew! I don’t know where the week has gone – it’s been so busy. I meant to get this up a couple days ago.

Last Monday was beautiful here in Western Oregon – sun and about 67 degrees. My daughter kept saying “Doesn’t it feel like a summer day?” and I kept answering , “No, it feels like spring.” In her mind it’s either winter or summer, hot or cold, but I like the “in between” seasons of spring and fall. The sun wasn’t too hot, things are budding…it just kinda makes my heart rejoice a little.

And want to get in the dirt.

I didn’t grow up learning how to garden and plant and have kinda had to learn through books and a lot of trial and error. So I thought I’d just show you what works best for me (and of course is easiest!).

This is a small bed we added on the end of a larger bed when I realized I needed more room. I had already weeded (about 10 minutes for this little one) and added a layer of compost/chicken manure we had delivered from a local company.

These are onion sets. I simply take a trowel, make a set of furrows spaced where I need (in this case, about 6″ apart) and lay the sets in all at once like pictured so I can see where they are and the spacing before I cover them with dirt. I used to do one at a time, make a hole, put one in, cover it up, then not know where they were in relation to the next ones I wanted…live and learn.

You can see that I’ve put them too close together – if I left them like that, they wouldn’t have enough room to grow big. But I had too many sets and didn’t want to waste them, so I am starting them closer together and will thin every other as they grow. I like to do this for two reasons: we can eat the thinnings as green onions, and if some don’t sprout, I won’t have a huge space empty.

I used to only grow onions from seed and then set out the seedlings. I read that this was the best way to get a variety and have more control, etc., etc. But I would have such failure – for some reason only about half of my seedlings would make it and I’d only get enough onions for the season, but not enough to store.

Last year was the first year I tried sets. The red ones mostly went to seed (which can happen – another reason they say to use only seedlings), but the white storage onions all grew beautifully and I had enough to store. They lasted until about mid-March and I really enjoyed have onions from my garden through the winter.

So now I grow sets AND onions from seed (go here to see how I start my seeds). I use the seedlings to grow the sweet onions we will use for the season and the sets to grow the storage ones.

As you can see here, my technique is the same in our larger beds, making furrows and dropping in all the seeds so I can see the spacing. Only these are different vegetables, but I still wait to cover all with dirt until I’m done so I can change things if I need to.

With raised beds, I like to plant intensely – the roots go down deep so I can really fit more in and it helps not have a lot of empty space where weeds would like to grow.

This will give you an idea of how I plant one of our beds – it’s about 4′ x 12′ and again has been weeded and had a layer of compost/manure added. I set a couple of posts in the middle with chicken wire between them to serve as a trellis for the snap peas I plant at the base. I set this in the middle of the bed so I can plant on each side.

The beds run north-south to minimize shading when the plants get tall, so I can plant on either side without worrying about too much shade. I’ve put a row of lettuce and beets on either side of the peas and two rows of carrots next to the edges of the bed. This takes up half the bed.

The other half of the bed I’ve edged with the rest of the onion sets, leaving the center open for the peppers I will add in about a month. If I had been on the ball, I could’ve gotten some fast growing spinach or mesclun started a few weeks ago in this area to use it while it’s waiting for the peppers.

Maybe next year…

Now we’re back to rain and 40 degrees. I did get one of my large beds ready for potatoes and will get them planted when the weather isn’t sopping.

I love, love, love the easy way I’ve found to plant and harvest potatoes…stay tuned!

Jami

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Comments

Anonymous says:

April 10, 2009 at 9:59 pm

Jami,

I’m loving your blog, and clinging to every gardening word! I live in the same “area”. We are just starting to build a house on 5 acres and I can’t wait to get my garden in! But…I have no idea what I’m doing. My MIL is a great gardener, but not a great teacher. I’ll be saving all of your posts so next year I’ll learn from all of your wisdom

Lee Ann

Jami @ An Oregon Cottage says:

April 12, 2009 at 3:33 pm

Lee Ann-
I am so glad for you and am happy you are finding the garden posts useful. I try to think what I wish I had known, ’cause I didn’t know what I was doing either.

I hope you’ll let me know how it goes when you are able to get started and feel free to email with questions – I’d be happy to answer as best I can!

Garden Girl says:

April 13, 2009 at 8:37 pm

Love all the gardening posts even though I came to view your menu (from orgjunkie’s MPM). It is so good to see other gardener’s set-ups. I’m jealous of your large space to utilize! My garden is much smaller at 20 x 12 and is in ground. May God bless your 09 gardening season!