Time to start planting this summer’s veggies
As we continue our discussion of cool-season crops, let’s look at peas, lettuce and potatoes. Each can be started as soon as the soil is dry enough to be worked.
Peas are great fun to grow. Your first decision hinges on whether you want to grow a shelling variety, snap pea or edible-pod variety. Most require some type of support – netting, wire or a trellis – but there are a few bush varieties that support each other as they grow. Check the seed packet to determine what height they will reach.
Peas don’t like hot temperatures so must be started early. In the past, I’ve planted the seeds directly into the garden but if the weather is damp and chilly, they can rot. Now I start my seeds indoors and have much better luck with germination. Once the seedlings are four inches tall, I transplant them into the garden about two inches apart.
Whether you start them indoors or outdoors, a floating row cover can provide some frost protection for the first week or two. Once the plants become well established, they will start blooming and producing like there’s no tomorrow. Be sure to harvest them daily during peak season because the more you pick, the more they will put out.
Reliable varieties of shelling peas include Tall Telephone, Mr. Big and Lincoln. Snap pea varieties include Sugar Snap and Cascadia and two edible-pod favorites are Oregon Giant and Oregon Sugar Pod II.
The most difficult aspect of growing lettuce is trying to choose from so many different varieties like Romaine, leaf lettuce, heading lettuce and special mixes. I like to grow blocks of several different types to keep our salads interesting.
When planting, I sprinkle the seeds onto a prepared bed, then cover them with peat moss to make it easy for them to sprout. Seedlings should be thinned to about six inches apart. Your plants will produce longer if you harvest individual leaves rather than a whole plant at a time. Since birds might think you planted a salad bar for them, be prepared to cover the bed to protect the plants.
Potatoes are available in a lot of varieties now, too. Use certified seed potatoes because store-bought potatoes are treated with a chemical to prevent the “eyes” from sprouting. Seed potatoes can be handled in two ways. Cut large ones into chunks that contain at least two eyes and let them cure in a shady area for several hours before planting to reduce the risk of rotting. If you buy small seed potatoes, plant them whole and avoid the rotting issue altogether. Plant them six inches deep in rows 12 inches apart.
Potatoes are susceptible to Colorado potato beetles. Watch for the striped adults on the plants, orange larvae munching on the leaves or orange eggs on the leaf undersides. Besides hand-picking, the best control is Bt ‘San Diego,’ a strain of bacteria that is harmless to humans but lethal to the beetle’s larvae.
Potatoes can be harvested as new potatoes once the plants start blooming. Harvest full-sized potatoes when the plants die back in the fall. Reliable varieties include Yukon Gold, Red Norland and Netted Gem, but many gourmet varieties are offered at garden centers and in mail-order catalogs.