The Prairie Gardener’s Go-To for Vegetables

Table of Contents

• Introduction 7
• Cultivation Practices 12
• What are the benefits of crop rotation in the vegetable garden? How should I go about doing it? 15
• What is succession planting? How does it work? 19
• What types of mulch should I use in the vegetable garden? How much should I apply? 21
• What is a floating row cover? How do I use it properly? 23
• When should vegetable seedlings be thinned? How do I go about doing it? 25
• Weather and Environmental Disorders 30
• How do I prevent transplant shock? 31
• Some of my vegetables are going to seed early in the season, before I have a chance to harvest them. Why are they doing this? 34
• Some of my vegetable plants have scabby, ribbed striations or blisters on the leaves—what is this caused by and how can I prevent it? 35
• My tomato (or strawberry) fruits are deformed—what could this be from? 36
• What can I do to fix my vegetable garden after a hailstorm has shredded it? Is there anything I can do to prevent the damage in the first place? 38
• Frost! It’s the bane of the garden in late spring and early autumn. What can I do to protect my plants when the forecast is dipping uncomfortably? 39
• Does frost enhance or sweeten the flavour of some fruits and vegetables? Which ones? How much frost can they take? 42
• What does herbicide damage commonly look like in tomatoes and other plants? What can I do to help my plants recover? 43
• Garlic, Onions, and Leeks 48
• When is the best time to plant garlic? What are some tips and tricks for best results? 49
• When do I harvest scapes from hardneck garlic? 50
• Should I plant garlic and potatoes purchased from the grocery store? 51
• Onion sets versus onion seeds: What are the pros and cons of growing each? 52
• The seed catalogue lists long-day, day-neutral, and short-day onions—what types are best for prairie gardeners to grow? 55
• Is it worth it to grow leeks on the prairies? How can I grow some that are larger than the size of my index finger? 56
• When is it time to harvest garlic, onions, and shallots? 58
• Brassicas 60
• Why did my broccoli or cauliflower plants fail to produce heads? 61
• What causes cabbage heads to split? What about kohlrabi? 63
• How do I keep my radishes from getting woody and tasteless? 64
• What is the key to successfully growing decent sized Brussels sprouts? Mine are way too small. 65
• Carrots, Celery, Beets, and Lettuce 68
• What causes “sunburning” in carrots? How can I prevent this? 69
• I’m having really spotty carrot germination. What can I do to prevent this next year? 70
• My carrots are puny or—even worse—forked or crooked! What can I do to prevent this? 72
• Is there anything I can do so that my celery plants produce larger bunches? 73
• My beets are tiny and I’ve been growing them all season. How can I fix this issue for next year? 75
• What causes heading lettuce to fail to produce heads? 77
• Peas, Beans, and Corn 80
• Pea pod problems: They’re empty, dry, or completely absent. Why is this happening? 81
• My bean plants didn’t produce well this year. What can I do to get more beans? 83
• What causes sweet corn to produce just a few ears? I was hoping for a better harvest. 86
• I am looking at the seed catalogue and there are so many categories of sweet corn. What are the differences between them? 87
• Tomatoes and Peppers 90
• What causes tomato flowers to prematurely drop off? 92
• What is the difference between indeterminate and determinate tomatoes? 94
• Do you have to prune the side shoots from tomatoes? If so, when and how do you do it? 95
• Should I top my tomato plants to get better yields? 96
• My tomatoes are mushy and rotting at the blossom end. What causes this? 97
• Does changing the pH of my soil make my tomatoes taste sweeter? 99
• What causes bleached, dry areas on the developing fruit of peppers? What can I do to prevent this? 100
• What does it mean when a chili pepper shows “corks”? 101
• Will sweet (bell) peppers continue to ripen and change colour after picking? 102
• Potatoes 104
• Does a potato plant have to flower to produce potatoes? 105
• My potato plants are producing weird things that look like little green tomatoes. What are they and should I do something about them? 107
• What does it mean to “chit” potatoes? How and why do you do it? 108
• Hilling potatoes—is it necessary? If so, how is it done? 109
• What is the difference between determinate and indeterminate potatoes? How does selecting one type over another influence yield? 111
• Squash, Pumpkins, and Cucumbers 114
• Can I grow cucumbers, summer and winter squash, and pumpkins vertically? 115
• My cucumbers and squash had a lot of flowers this growing season, but they didn’t produce very much fruit (or any at all!). Some of the fruit fell off the vines before they reached full size. What is going on here? 117
• How can I keep pumpkins (or other large squash) from rotting on the ground while they grow and ripen? 119
• Seriously bitter cucumbers: How can I prevent this? 120
• Harvesting and Storage 124
• What is the best way to harvest leafy greens, such as lettuce and spinach, so that the crop lasts longer? 125
• I have to harvest my winter squash before it is ripe on the vine. How can I ripen it indoors? What about my green tomatoes? 127
• How do I cure onions and garlic for storage? 130
• Acknowledgements 132
• Notes 133
• Sources 137
• Index 144
• About the Authors 151
• About the Series 161