How many of you gave a sigh of relief as you finished putting away the Christmas decorations and put your home back in order? You had cleared up all of the clutter and had reorganized everything. As you sat down to rest, you saw all of the seed and plant catalogues that you had set aside for the time when you had a few spare moments! As you greedily look at all of the pictures and their descriptions, you are lost in your own world trying to decide which seeds you needed to order and what other seeds or plants you don’t really need, but would love to try. You also need to keep in mind your budget.

 

Some factors you may want to decide are:

 

1. What vegetables do you really use?

 

2. Which ones are the most expensive to buy?

 

3. Which ones do you have the space for and have had success growing?

 

4. Which ones do you want to start from seed and which ones do you want to start with

plants?

 

If you are starting from seed, do you have the time, space, and heating mats for the seeds that need bottom heat? Also, how about any children that would like to see how plants are started? While you have all the kids at home learning online, it might be interesting for them to take a break and actually try different experiments with seeds, depending on their age and interest.

 

Usually the most expensive are the newer hybrids that have more disease resistance or produce bigger or better quality produce. Maybe the plants are dwarf or climbing or more cold resistant. Some are better for canning as they ripen all at once. For the Columbia Basin, we try to grow at least some that have Curly Top resistance, such as Cherry, Paste, or ones developed by the WSU Extension & Research Services. The Curly Top virus is carried by leaf hoppers that re-inject the virus as they suck the juice out of the non-resistant plants.

 

Another approach is to cover young plants with Mylar cloth so that the leaf hoppers cannot get to them. Later when they start to bloom, they will need to be uncovered for short periods so bees can pollinate the blooms, or so the blooms can be hand pollinated. In addition, the covering is helpful with the greens and cabbage family, as well as when you are trying to grow everything organically. Often the plants are more robust and luxuriant when they are protected from not only insects, but the extremes in weather as well.

 

Next time I would like to discuss the importance of compost and soil preparation for success in growing the very best vegetables and flowers! Meanwhile, it is important to get your orders off as soon as possible as the seed companies are overwhelmed with late orders and may take much longer to get your order out. Now sit back and plan for the optimum production of your garden.