The first on my list of annual food plants to be tucked into the soils of your garden would be, by common sense, those of the root crops.
Their storage ability has kept thousands from starvation all through the long, cold winter months. I’m talking potatoes, beets, carrots, parsnip and, last but not least, the common, everyday turnip, often sophisticatedly listed in the seed catalogues as rutabagas.
Added to that list, because of their storing ability, although not noted officially as a root crop, would be brussels sprouts, cabbage and those of the onion family, which includes garlic and leeks. Because of their light frost tolerance, they are one of the earliest that can be set out in the spring and harvested quite late in the fall. But I would suggest with onions you forget about seed and plant what is known as sets. They can be purchased in little net bags at most garden outlets. They come in red, yellow, and white, in both cooking, Spanish, sweet and whatever.
Try them all; they are fun to grow. I plant them thick and then thin them by pulling every second one to be used when quite young as scallions. Scallion is just the fancy word for green onions. It also rhymes with Italian and stallion, but whether there is any truth or connection to that fickle fable, I have no idea.
I also grow Egyptian onions. They cluster but do not form a bulb, and they stay in the ground all winter and are the first to be harvested in early spring. They are one of the queer quirks of nature; instead of growing seeds, they form clusters of tiny onions on tall stems. It is those that you separate and plant in the early fall and harvest the following spring. But if you leave them grow till the second spring, you’ll have ten times the number and three times the size. Hmmm, crispy-crunchy, lightly salted, they’re good.
The next on my list is what I loosely refer to as vine crops. Though many are grown on the ground, like cucumber or pumpkin, or as bush, I prefer to save space by growing the climbing varieties on a trellis or pole. It also keeps them from getting dirty by rain splash and are a darn sight more convenient when it comes picking time.
Tomatoes are always my priority, for they can be easily started earlier on the windowsill and planted out immediately after the last frost. They come in red, yellow and white, in varieties of several sizes. When growing them staked, it is necessary to tie them up and carefully remove, from the main stem, what is known as side shoots. They seem to grow on every second alternate leaf node. The only thing that tastes better than a fresh-picked, ripe, dew-covered, salt-sprinkled tomato is one that is stolen from your neighbour’s garden.
Beans are catalogue-listed in unlimited bush type, but I, being a little on the lazy side and space-conscious, stick to the pole varieties – yellow, green and scarlet runners. I once planted one at the base of a telephone wire on the side of our house, and my Little Lady snapped a picture of me high up on a 20 foot extension ladder, picking handfuls of crisp yellow beans. They will also grow along horizontal support, but they prefer the up and the airy. Cucumbers, too, are fast-growing, bee-pollinated vines that seem more interesting and easier to find when grown up and over an arbour support.
You will note that I have not yet mentioned corn. It is one of my favourites, comes in many varieties, including popcorn and ornamental, is not difficult to grow, but is not adaptable to a small garden. The reason being is twofold. Firstly, it is wind-pollinated and being such so must be grown in quite a large patch, not in single rows. Secondly, raccoons love it. If you live urban or suburban where guns are banned, traps discouraged and dogs remain leashed, you have more chances of growing corn in the hub of hell than you have here on this earth.
You can try it if you wish, but you can expect complete demolition by a family of raccoons about three days prior to optimal picking time. Farm gate purchase is best here.
Just watch out for that moon howling, coon-chasing dog. You will be assured by the easy going vendor that it will not bite, but as a word of caution, some creatures of the canine variety have been known to swallow things whole.
Take care, ‘cause we care.
barrie@barriehopkins.ca
519-843-4544