Gardening beyond planting seeds

I'm not sure how many calls I've received asking about what to plant and when and how to plant. Many of these are first-time gardeners who have never grown a garden before, which is really neat. Gardening is a passel of fun, but at the same time a load of work. Some of the work is enjoyable, but some is just work.

If you are just now starting to garden and you have laid out your garden spot and even tilled it, I'd dig up about a quart of soil and take it down to Benton to the Extension office and have it tested. If you live up close to Cape Girardeau or Jackson, take it to the Extension office in Jackson. This will tell you what fertilizer to add and how much. Some plants are really picky as to the ph of the soil and the level of the nutrients in the soil. A soil test will cost less than $20, which is a real bargain.

Decide what you are going to grow. Normally a list will include tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, peppers, zucchini, corn, cabbage and so on. I'd skip corn. You can grow corn, but it takes a lot of space and for most you would be better off buying the corn at your favorite grocery store. Tomatoes are fairly easy to grow, but they require a cage as do peppers. Peppers are decently easy to grow but picky as to soil ph and nutrients. Cucumbers are really easy. If possible, have some kind of fence to allow the cucumbers to grow up. Green beans are pretty easy.

For most new gardeners, an overhead sprinkler is probably the easiest way to water and probably the least expensive right at the git-go. I like the sprinklers that go back and forth. They work pretty good and aren't hard on the plants. Some of the rainbird sprinklers are a little rough on the plants. I prefer drip irrigation, but it is fairly expensive getting into. The starter kit that I really like will cost about $200.

There are literally thousands of different tomato varieties. Thousands! If you aren't sure, ask a friend who knows how to garden. Old established kinds are Celebrity, Big Beef, Jet Star, Mortgage Lifter and Brandywine. When you select your plants pick plants that have a good substantial stem and not a wimpy stem. Pick plants that have a deep green, healthy look. I wouldn't pick plants that are super tall say over a foot tall. How many is up to you. Each plant should produce about 8 to 10 pounds of tomatoes as a minimum. Snip off a couple of the lower branches, but be sure to leave four or five or even six on the top of the stem. You can plant the plant about an inch over the root wad. I'd leave at least 24 inches or more between the tomato plants.

Cucumbers can be planted with small plants or from seed. The smaller the cucumber the closer you can plant them together. A plant that cranks out 3- or 4-inch stubby cucumbers can be as close together as 12 to 16 inches apart. A cucumber like a Straight 8 or Marketmore will need to be about 24 inches apart. I grow my cucumbers up a cattle panel that is 16 feet long and 52 inches tall. It's perfect for cucumbers. Some like to eat the short stubby cucs and some the big Straight 8s. Up to you. I like Tasty Jade, which is a long European cucumber.

Green beans are easy to grow. Jade is a really good bush bean as is Contender. We plant Fortex, which is a pole bean. The beans are about 10 to 12 inches long and no strings. Nada! Not a single one. Good taste as well. We again use a cattle panel. Plant the seeds about two inches apart and about 2 inches deep. Cover with maybe two inches of soil.

Zucchini can also be planted using plants, but most start theirs from seed planted directly in the garden. Zucchini can be a dark green color to a bright yellow. There are pale green ones and even round ones. I'd probably go with a dark green variety and a yellow one. Plant the seeds in a circle about the size of a paper plate and use maybe three or four seeds. When they come up, thin them to a single plant. Plant the circles about 3 feet apart. This will give them room to grow. Plant the seeds about 2 inches deep. Three or four hills should provide a normal family and their neighbors with plenty of zucchini.

Peppers are a must have for me. I really like sweet bell peppers but many, like hot peppers. We usually plant some of both. I'd buy the pepper plants at a nursery. You can buy them in a four pack or six pack or as singles. Kind of read on the label how they are described or sometimes they have a picture. I love the pictures. A couple hot plants like jalapeno will pump out a good amount of pepper. three or four bell peppers will supply most families.

From there on you can decide to grow corn or watermelons or muskmelon and on and on. The one drawback to planting a huge garden is eventually it will become full of weeds. Not a few weeds here and there, but a garden chock full of weeds. Short ones and tall ones, some are just weeds, but there are some that have pokers on them that like to impale you and are almost impossible to dig out. Most think they can outwork the weeds and use their tiller between the rows. Good idea, but it normally doesn't work.

The best way is to put down some kind of weed barrier and put mulch over it. We use a plastic mulch that is 3 feet wide. We also buy a roll of paper that can be found at most paint stores that is 3 feet wide and about 150 feet long. They run about $13 or $14, but if you can find them on sale, they are about $10. We cover them with sawdust or mulch or straw. Great weed barrier, but it is not water permeable. To use it with a sprinkler you will have to lower where you plant and slope the paper towards the row of goodies.

Don't be afraid to ask for help or advice. Don't get too carried away and plant too big a garden. Our neighbor has about a 20-x-40-foot garden, and he harvests a ton of produce off it. Don't plant your rows too close together. Later this summer you may need to mow between your rows. Spend your time in the garden on what you like the most. For me it's the tomatoes and cucumbers. Remember to use You Tube and DuckDuckGo. Last of all have fun.