Carrots

Berlicummer Organic ($3.50) – 75 days, excellent keeper and juicer, organic, one of the best late, open – pollinated varieties; growing up to 10” in length with blunt ends.  Coreless, orange color with exceptional flavor. 

Carrots are an indispensable vegetable in the garden.  Carrots are easy to grow and provide vegetables from late spring to early winter.  Use raw, cooked or juiced.  Carrots are an excellent source of beta carotene and Vitamin A.

(Tip) Carrots: Can be sown from early spring to mid summer.  Seed directly into deeply worked soil for optimum root growth.  Soil – Deeply tilled fertile sandy loam with good organic matter content.  PH 6-7, do not apply manure in the year of sowing as it causes carrots to become hairy.  Carrots like moderate amounts of nitrogen and higher amounts of phosphate.  Keep even soil moisture for high grade carrots.  Carrots prefer overhead watering.  Lightly misting their foliage, instead of drip irrigation.  Adequate moisture is essential for good root formation, texture and flavor.  Germination 6-15 days at 60F, keep soil moist until growth is seen.  Spacing – seed depth 1cm – ¼ - ½ “ Spacing – 1cm – ½ “.  Thin out to 3-5cm -1-1/2 – 2” for proper root development.  Closer spacing will result in smaller, shorter carrots.  Pests – Carrot rust fly control: plant carrots early to mid summer to miss its cycle; wireworm control – use a 3 year rotation and do not use soil that had grass on it the year before.  Storage – Dig up carrots after the first hard frost before the ground freezes.  Place in a cool, dark location or in a fridge to keep fresh until late winter.  In areas where snow fall is heavy, carrots can be covered with straw and dug up throughout the winter.

Celery

Galatina ($3.50)SOLD OUT – 70 days, unusual chicory type from Italy.  This chicory forms voluminous heads with long, indented leaves, dark green with pronounced white ribs.  At the base of the heads short, wide cusps grow giving it shape similar to a pine cone.  When the leaves are cut off, young shoots from the inside are often cut and used like asparagus, this is an Italian specialty known as puntarelle.

Golden Self Blanching ($3.50) – 90 day heirloom variety from Europe.  Stalks are heavy, easily blanched.  Stalk and heart are tender and crisp.  Light yellow in color.

Celery originated in European and Mediterranean marshes where it was first used as a flavoring for foods.  It is now a main salad crop grown world wide.  Leaf types are widely used in European and Asian cultures for flavoring in soups and salads.

(Tip) Celery: Start indoors in March, 10-12 weeks before the last frost.  Transplant into large packs to keep plants from becoming root bound.  Do not set out or allow temperature to dip below 50F as this will cause the plant to bolt.  Soil- Celery needs a loamy or mucky soil with high amounts of organic matter.  Apply liberal amounts of nitrogen.  Keep moisture constant to reduce chances of bitterness.  Germination- 10-21 days at 85F daytime, 65F at night.  Cover seed lightly and keep moist until growth is seen.  Alternating warm days and cool nights will increase germination.  Spacing- plant in blocks 6-8” apart, 12” width.  This will make watering easier.  Pests- Tarnished plant bug – stings celery and stunts it.  Control with ambush, totenone or pyrethrum.  Celery is a demanding plant to keep it from going bitter keep soil rich and moist.

Corn

Golden Bantam ($3.50) – 78 days, open pollinated.  The time tested 8 – rowed variety with real corn taste.  Large, golden kernels on good sized cobs.  Heritage variety.  Plant height 5-6ft.  Don’t grow next to hybrid, may cross pollinate.

Bloody Butcher Corn ($3.50) – 120  days, Bloody Butcher is an old dent-type corn has been grown since at least 1845. The stalks reach ten to twelve feet tall with two to six ears of corn per stalk. The kernels are striped red or dark red on pink to red cobs. An occasional white ear may appear.  Can be used for rosting or frying when young but generally used for flour or corn meal.  Good flavored.

Sweet corn has become more popular over the last 15 years due to improved varieties that mature earlier and stay sweet longer.  Most varieties out there are hybrids because of the intense breeding done on sweet corn.

(Tip) Corn: Sow outdoors in late spring when soil is warm, usually 2-4 weeks after field corn is planted.  Cool weather and excessive moisture will cause poor seed emergence.  Soil – corn can be grown in a wide range of soil types PH 6-6.8.  Fertility – Corn thrives on liberal amounts of Nitrogen.  Apply part before planting and again when corn is about 2ft high.  For proper ear placement and fill out, corn requires adequate moisture.  Germination – 5-7 days at 70F, cool soil will decrease germination.  Sow 6-10 cm / 2-4” apart and 1 cm / ½ “ deep in rows, 75cm – 30” apart.  Thin out to 20cm/8”.  Main pests are ear worms and corn maggots.  Control earworms with BT applied to husks at time of pollination and 1 week after.  Corn maggots can be controlled by seed treatment.  Untreated sweet corn seed is more susceptible to temperature change and insect damage.  In our area, rusts are the main disease problem in late summer.  Use tolerant varieties if growing in late summer.  For proper pollination plant the same variety in blocks of 4 rows or more.

Cucumber

Telegraphed Improved ($3.50) - 57 days, long, dark green, smooth, mostly seedless fruits.  Crisp, fresh 15-17” long fruits with high yields.  More economical for outdoor culture.  Best grown on a trellis system.  Needs to have pollination to produce fruit.

Standard American Slicers SOLD OUT ($3.50)

Straight Flight ($3.50) - 68 days, popular light green cucumber.  Produces 6-8” long by 2.5 – 3” wide fruits.  Widely adapted and used for salads and pickling purposes.

Eggplant

Rosa Bianca Organic ($3.50) – 80 days Midseason, open – pollinated, Italian heirloom.  3-4 inch by 5 inch, 2 – 4 pound white fruit with lavender streaks and a creamy, pudding-like flesh.  Fruit is narrow at the top, widening with indentations almost in folds like fabric.  Organically grown seed.

Native to India, the eggplant has been cultivated for 1500 years in Asia.  It is known as Aubergine or Brinjal in many countries, it adapted the Eggplant name from early American settlers because early varieties resembled goose eggs.  It is a member of the Solanium family close relation to peppers, Potatoes and tomatoes.  Eggplants come in many different shapes and colors, relative to the ethnic groups.  Eggplants are a source of folic acid. 

(Tip) Eggplant: Eggplant is a warm season plant similar to Tomatoes.  Start indoors in April – May or 8 weeks before planting in the garden.  Transplant outdoors after danger of frost is gone and night time temperatures are above 50F.  You can see requirements of Tomatoes for more cultural information.  Harvest before becoming fully mature for longer storage.