A seasonal guide to garden vegetables

The list of goodies you can grow in your garden is almost endless. Whether you are growing tomatoes or cucumbers or squash, there are literally thousands of different varieties. There are some limiting factors that will determine how much you can plant and what you grow. An obvious limiting factor is the amount of ground you have. If you live on a small lot in town, you won't have much ground to use. If you live on an acre or more, you can plant a lot of garden, probably more than one can take care of. Other limiting factors are the amount of time you want to spend and the amount of work you are willing to do. The type of soil and the amount of sunlight are other factors.

Most of you will know this, but now for some basics. All the crops in your garden can be separated by what part of the summer they grow and produce the best. Early crops are known as "cold" crops. These will do better during the spring, when the ground and weather are cooler. Most of these same cold-season crops will then do well in the fall, when the weather cools down. So we have the cold-season crops in the spring and the fall-season crops for late summer. Those who live farther north, like in St. Louis and on north, will basically have one growing summer. Where we live in Missouri and farther south, we have two growing seasons, early summer and then late summer. The hardest part of the summer to grow in is midsummer, when the heat is just unbearable.

Cold crops are veggies such as cabbage, kohlrabi, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, peas, cauliflower, kale, collards, onions and the list goes on. Most of these need to be planted four to six weeks before the last frost. Here in Scott City, you can be planting these cold crops at least by the first of April. Most of these will stand a fair amount of frost. All of these, with the exception of peas, in my opinion, should be started indoors and then transplanted outside. Cabbage, kohlrabi, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, kale and collards all take approximately six to eight weeks from planting the seeds to ready to transplant outside. Onions take considerably longer. I started some in early January and they will be quite small come the first of April. My goal is to start my onion plants this October or November for spring planting in 2017. I'd start leeks about the same time as onions.

Plant your peas as soon as you can work the soil. Some plant peas in February or March if they can get into the garden. Other crops that can be planted before the last frost are beets, corn and potatoes. All three can be planted before the last frost, but frost can damage all three of them. You might want to time your planting and when they come up to coincide with the frost-free date. Carrots can be included in this group.

Early-summer crops are planted after the last frost, so here in Missouri, that would be about the end of April or first part of May. Watch the 10-day weather forecast. These plants will include tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, zucchini, watermelons, cantaloupe, beans and such. I start all of these, except beans, indoors and then transplant outside. Zucchini, watermelons and cantaloupe take about six weeks or so from planting the seed to be ready to transplant. Tomatoes and eggplant take eight or nine weeks. Peppers take the longest. Some peppers can take up to 10 to 12 weeks from planting the seed until they are ready to transplant. Plant beans after the danger of frost has passed.

Two summer crops that love the heat are sweet potatoes and okra. Sweet potatoes have to be started from small shoots or plants. Okra can be started indoors if you only want a dozen plants or so. Most start their okra right in the garden from seed. Many soak the okra seed before planting. I make the furrow, plant the seed and then wet the bottom of the furrow and the seed before covering it. I wouldn't start until the soil warms up, maybe as much as mid-May or so.

In Missouri, we can have a second garden in the fall. Crops we can grow are tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, most all the cold crops, turnips and pumpkins. Most of the cold crops need to be planted six to eight weeks before the final frost. Turnips need to be planted around Aug. 15. Pumpkins should be planted about the middle of July for you to have pumpkins for Halloween. Pumpkins need about 110 days or so to mature.

One other gardening period is winter. Some crops will last up into winter or until the temps get down in the teens and below. Turnips are one crop, for example. I pulled a turnip a couple weeks ago and really enjoyed it. It has been frozen several times. It wasn't as good as a fall turnip, but it definitely tasted good. Other crops are radishes, kale, onions and beets. If you have an old-fashioned cellar, these can be pulled, the tops left on and then stored in the cellar. Many will last up until spring.

I hope this helps. If you have questions, send me an email. I mark on a calendar when I need to be starting sets to transplant later, as well as when to plant my garden seeds and transplants.

Happy gardening!

Until next time.