A primer on basic gardening, part four

When planning your vegetable garden, you can quickly be overwhelmed by the choices of cultivars available. The tendency most people have is to plant too much. After all, the seed catalog makes it all sound so good!

So the first point to consider is how much to plant. Be realistic. Plan for how much produce you actually need. If you plan to preserve your harvest, you will obviously need to plant more. But don’t get carried away. The more you plant, the more you will have to weed later.

Remember what kind of machinery you have available. Larger plots will require more mechanization. If you just have hand tools, that’s fine, but you should start out on a small scale.

When planning exactly what to grow, it’s easy. Grow what you like! If you don’t like Brussels Sprouts, don’t plant them. If sweet corn is your favorite, then you may want to plan for more.

When you are ready to order seeds, it’s best to grow cultivars that do well in your area. University of Missouri Extension has a guide sheet (mentioned below) that will help you in this area. You download it from our web site, or request one from your local Extension center.

Cultivars may be chosen on numerous traits, including disease resistance, purpose, flavor, color, and many more. Most of this will be based on your preference.

Cultivars may be hybrid or non-hybrid, sometimes called open-pollinated. This again is your preference. Hybrid seeds are noted for higher uniformity, and sometimes may yield more. Open-pollinated seeds are the ones you want if you intend to save seed for next year’s crop.

Heirloom cultivars are one popular category of open-pollinated types. These plants are older cultivars, and many gardeners believe that they have superior flavor. They may not yield as much as the newer hybrids, and may not ship well, which is why they have fallen out of favor with commercial growers. However, home gardeners aren’t usually concerned with yields and shipping, so they often opt to grow them for their superior flavor.

Some vegetables are traditionally grown from seeds planted directly in the garden, while others are usually grown as transplants. Transplants do offer a quicker start, and therefore a quicker harvest. If you are depending on buying transplants, this will usually limit your choice of cultivar. You can start your own transplants, if you have a suitable place to grow them indoors. Be sure to use potting soil, not garden soil, when you grow transplants.

When planting your seeds or transplants, be sure you plant them at the right time. We typically divide vegetables into cool season and warm season crops. The warm season crops, such as tomatoes and squash, do not tolerate frost, so you will want to wait to plant them until the danger of frost is past. They can be planted before that time, but you may have to protect them if cold weather returns.

Cool season vegetables can tolerate various levels of cold weather, and some may even tolerate a little frost. That’s where our Vegetable Planting Calendar comes in handy. Just call your local University of Missouri Extension office and ask for a free copy.