Chapter 8: Vegetable Gardening

If you use herbicides for perennial weeds, be sure to use <this>

SHORT RESIDUAL LIFE herbicides (so it won't affect the crop)

this kind of training can be good for tomato plants, or runner beans. Tomatoes will need to be loosely tied, beans will climb without help. Seeds can be planted around <these> but with tomato transplants, <these> can be pounded in after plant gets higher and starts to need support.

STAKING

another kind of training good for peas and beans that is a bit more elaborate than a stake is

STRING TRELLIS

These veggies require lower sunlight, 3-4 hours a day

SWISS CHARD, LETTUCE, PARSLEY, ARUGULA, ASIAN GREENS

What is the difference between a high tunnel and a hoop house?

Sometimes terms are interchangeable but a high tunnel has a SINGLE LAYER OF POLY while a hoop house has a DOUBLE LAYER OF POLY (inflated with a fan, better insulation...more expensive)

this kind of training is used for a group of plants but should be built before planting

Teepee training

This is the method of removing excess seedlings that are spaced too close for best growth. It's done once (when plants are seedlings, to prevent over crowding) or twice (twice-over is done for crops grown for their leaves, chard, lettuce) for each crop and should be done as soon as leaves of neighboring plants touch until recommended spacing is achieved. The second of <this> takes place 2-4 weeks later

THINNING

<These> are good for indeterminate tomatoes and offers more support around the plant

TOMATO CAGES

Name some vegetables grown for their flowers, leaves, or stems

Artichoke (bud), Asparagus (stems), "Cole" crops -have four petals arranged in a cross, Cruciferae (now Brassicaceae) means "cross bearer", broccoli (head of flower before sprout), Brussels sprouts (leaves), cabbage, cauliflower, collards (leaves), kale (leaves), kohlrabi, Celery (stem), Endive (modified stem), Herbs (leaves and stems), Leek, Lettuce, Rhubarb, Spinach, Swiss chard (leaves)

Thee veggies require medium sunlight, 4-6 hours a day

BEETS, CARROTS, POTATOES, BROCCOLI, RADISHES, TURNIPS

Beets and brassicas are examples of ___________ grown as __________

BIENNIALS grown as ANNUALS. Their best vegetative growth is in their first year, the second year is for flowering and setting seed which most gardeners do not need them to do

Name some vegetable crops grown for underground parts (what we harvest)

Beets, Carrots, Celeriac, Garlic, Horseradish, Onions, Parsnips, Potatoes, Radish, Rutabaga, Salsify, Sweet Potato, Turnip

Who grows a third of the world's produce?

CALIFORNIA

When selecting crops, cultivars and seeds you should first rely on this resource

COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE (for us, Agrilife). They will suggest varieties and common garden problems for the area. Seed catalogs have merit but won't list drawbacks (examine dates on seed packets from store, might not be recommended cultivars for your area)

This is used to maintain fertility, suppress weeds, reduce erosion, keep soil surface cooler and slow evaporation

COVER CROPPING

Planting crops in different areas of the garden every year is called _______ and deters ________

CROP ROTATION deters the build up of disease organisms and insects associated with a particular crop. It's not essential but a GOOD practice that doesn't require much effort. Especially important for tomatoes, also brassicas

post-harvest handling considerations

CSA boxes (breathable cardboard but still wet proof/wax coated outside)

post harvest handling technique where an airtight chamber is maintained by removing air from the inside of the chamber using a vacuum pump. used for cooling food products having a high water content and large porosities, due to its efficacy in losing water from both within and outside the products; most widely used and economic technique for rapid cooling and storage of vegetables, fruits, flowers.

VACUUM COOLING

Garden grown vegetables save money but also taste better than those commercially grown, why?

Vegetable cultivars for commercial scale have certain characteristics (e.g. ship and store well -so less juicy, less tasty), they are picked not completely ripe (production line timing), quality deteriorates just after harvest (sugar turn to starch immediately after harvest in corn making it mealy, for example).

Harvest and post harvest handling

large machines that mechanically harvest into hoppers (carrots, leaf lettuce), or transport horizontal people who can pick as machine travels (berries, tomatoes, etc), much is still picked by hand,

row covers, high tunnels and hoop houses allow <this> and unlike permanent greenhouse structures, are typically grown in <this>

limiting of crop exposure to unfavorable conditions (weather and pests). typically grown in naturally occurring soils

other methods of cooling produce (low bulk items)

produce can be kept cool in refrigeration rooms or packed in ice in some cases

Climate controlled vegetable production involves these kind of structures with <these> benefits

semi-enclosed and fully climate controlled structures. Crop exposure to unfavorable conditions (e.g. weather, pests) is limited. Typically grown in naturally occurring soils (unlike permanent greenhouse structures)

tools used for hand harvesting

shears (individual leaves, tomatoes), harvest knife (whole heads), pitchfork (row carrots),

how thick should mulch be?

straw should be thicker than mulch, but generally 2"-3" of mulch is adequate (around new transplants, 1" thick).

Define frost free period

the average number of days from last spring frost until earliest fall frost (defines the period of growing warm-season crops)

when do you fertilize

usually an application during soil preparation or transplanting will be sufficient (slow release at base of plant after watering it in with some fertilizer). If sandy or infertile soils, or deficiency symptom is shown a midsummer application might be needed because it isn't being retained in the root zone. Nitrogen fertilizers (fish emulsion etc) should be used sparingly after--if at all--plants have finished their vegetative growth and reached mature size. After flowering and fruiting, the plants will want the phosphorus and potassium more.

Name some vining vegetables. Why train?

vining vegetables: peas, runner beans, indeterminate tomatoes, cucumbers. Train the vines to keep the fruits from getting dirty and lessen the chance for fruit rot with soil contact and it optimizes garden space.

post harvest-washing vegetables considerations....

washing stations under covered structure is best to keep them from drying out. wire screen is helpful for root veggies to spray off dirt. leafy greens need to be dunked and dried before bagging (washing machine to soak and spin), diluted solution for ensuring food safety when necessary. cool environment follows for storage.

List some tips for transplanting

-pick healthy sturdy plants, not root bound (if rootbound, cut root ball shallowly to speed establishment) -transplant on an overcast day, early evening to lessen shock -if using peat pot, break off pot rim to soil level -vegetable transplants should be slightly deeper (tomatoes should be set with stem much below the soil surface, they will form adventitious roots along the stem) -after transplanting, water with fertilizer

Review the 10 steps in vegetable production

1. Site selection 2. Site preparation 3. Variety selection 4. Planting 5. Management during crop growth & development 6. Harvest 7. Packaging and postharvest management 8. Record keeping 9. Maintenance/ repair of facilities & equipment 10. Continuing education

Define a food desert

A food desert is an area that has limited access to affordable and nutritious food, in contrast with an area with higher access to supermarkets or vegetable shops with fresh foods, which is called a food oasis.

This is the number of days from either seed or transplant to harvest.

DAYS TO MATURITY

This is a profitable way to extend the growing season. It involves delaying the planting of cool-season veggies so that they mature after the rest of the crops have been harvested (ex starting leaf lettuce and radish in late summer or early fall)

FALL VEGETABLE GARDENING

Hot caps (hoops and agribond, upside down milk jugs or cups, etc) serve what purpose?

FROST PROTECTION. Hot caps are domes placed over plants in early spring for frost protection and in providing a warmer environment. They still need an air source to prevent fungal diseases because of moisture. Dec through early March would be best time to use these for us.

Cool-season vegetables (peas, lettuce, carrots, broccol) are not restricted to what period?

FROST-FREE PERIOD, planting begins as soon as the ground is thawed and dry enough to be workable

Sun vs. Shade: Fruit-bearing veggies generally require ______________ to photosynthesize enough carbohydrate for flowering and fruiting, otherwise they may produce only ___________.

FULL SUN, FOLIAGE IN SHADE

<These> crops are used to improve soil BEFORE a garden is planted

GREEN MANURE CROPS are grown halfway to maturity (rule: turn it under at 8-10" or until its flowering) and then plowed under to decay.

<These> can be fully climate-controlled and often will grow hydroponics (plants raised in water-nutrient solution or soilless growing medium), will rely on artificial, supplemental lighting and tend to be highly mechanized and involve computerized heating, cooling, lighting and irrigation systems.

GREENHOUSES

You can sow seeds in blocks, rows or hills. Hills refers to....

GROUPING several plants together

the technique of slowly ripening of fruits and veggies after harvesting by immersing in ice or cold water to induce the hormones and sugars.

HYRDROCOOLING

Food Sovereignty

Having ownership over your food process. Very important, especially in developing countries

When a garden is grown in this method (rather than in rows) it can maximize yield from a minimum amount of space

INTENSIVE OR BLOCK GARDENING

simultaneously producing two or more crops in the same field (most advantageous when crops of different characteristics are planted). It breaks up that pest/disease pattern and adds biodiversity to the system making environment more resilient.

INTERCROPPING (ex lettuce between tomato vines to provide shade structure as well or hairy vetch between bell peppers or large scale version would be a perennial intercropping such as asparagus with tree crops)

<This method> is sowing fast-germinating seeds with slow-germinating seeds and is common with radishes and lettuces (used for row marking, they emerge in 3 days). They can be pulled as crop emerges if desired.

INTERPLANTING

Flowers and fruits need less of this and more of this.

Less Nitrogen, More Phosphorus. Excess Nitrogen will prevent some veggies from fruiting.

Most veggies are annual, biennial or perennial?

Most veggies are ANNUAL (peppers, squash, beans, etc)

Leaf vegetables need _________ rich fertilizer to encourage vegetative growth.

NITROGEN

Roots (carrots, turnips, radishes, beets, etc.) need less of this nutrient

NITROGEN

How do you prepare soil for a new garden? previous garden?

New garden - remove sod (might need to use weed killer to eliminate rhizomes). Previous garden- weed (annual weeds can be scraped with a hoe, perennial weeds should be dug out) and apply pre-planting fertilizer

This kind of vegetable production is the MOST common approach in the US and usually includes <this>

OPEN FIELD. Usually includes irrigation. The ability to control natural environment is obviously limited.

Utilizing cold tolerance of some root veggies--leafy greens, brassicas, herbs--by using the insulating effects of snow cover and the latent heat of the earth (cold frame structure) as well as mulch (compost, newspapers, leaves) is called this

OVERWINTERING

These veggies require high sunlight, 6-8 hours a day

PEPPERS, TOMATOES, WATERMELON, OKRA, EGGPLANT, STRAWBERRIES

Tomatoes are not frost tolerant so even though they are _________, they are often treated like _____________

PERENNIALS, ANNUALS

Asparagus and herbs are annuals, perennials or biennials?

PERENNIALS. Farmers like this because there is no cost of replanting.

If weeding is not done, it will slow crop growth. Name two manual control methods

PULLING (sometimes the only control method) and HOEING AND MULCHING

Benefits of plant-derived mulches, benefits of plastic/synthetic mulches

Plant derived mulches (compost, leaves, grass clippings) can decay in soil adding, plastic/synthetic mulches are useful in northern climates to retain heat in soil.

What is Texas's MOST lucrative food crop

WHEAT

review some thoughts on the importance of vegetable production

" let your medicine be your food and your food be your medicine"-Hippocrates (460-370 BCE), credited with founding the the practice of medicine Ancient recognition of the diet-health relationship is supported by large amount of modern scientific evidence "if all Americans decided to actually eat the five servings a day of fruits and vegetables that are recommended, they would discover that American agriculture isn't set up to meet that need." -Mark Bittman, New York Times, 2011 Successes or failures in vegetable production have had major impacts on society in term of health and migration Irish potato blight led to the death of 500,000 to 1.5 million people (25% of the population) Many Irish Americans can trace their ancestry to emigrants from the potato famine

Cool season veggies grow best at day time temps of _________. They will tolerate ____________. Warmer weather may cause __________ and lettuce becomes ____________

Cool season veggies grow best at day time temps of 50-65 DEGREES. They will tolerate LIGHT FROST (won't survive a deep freeze or multiple freezes in a row, though). Warmer weather may cause BOLTING and lettuce becomes BITTER.

Warm season vegetables thrive in these temperatures.

Warm season veggies thrive at daytime temps of 65-90 degrees and nighttime lows >55 degrees (mid March until end of June for us). If cooler, they grow slowly. Tomatoes will fail to develop fruit and peppers will only produce small fruit (hot peppers love full sun, bell peppers do better with a bit less).

When do you water seeds and what should you consider about wilting and watering.

Water as soon as seeds are planted. Don't assume that every time a plant wilts the garden needs watering-- diurnal wilting of large-leaved plants like squash and cucumbers; or disease. Check soil moisture.

Define mulch

a layer of plant-derived or synthetic material laid on the soil surface helps in reducing weeding by blocking sun to seed seeds and mulch conserves soil moisture. The mulch also keeps soil fungi off plant leaves.

sanitize your tools with ....

alcohol, bleach water (especially with pruning trees or with known diseased plants)