The Backyard Homestead

by Carleen Madigan

  Onions prefer a well-worked soil with a pH of 6.0. The fall before planting, use compost, manure, or both on the area and till it in. Also incorporate a 5-10-10 fertilizer at a rate of 3 to 4 ounces per square yard.

  Onions can go outside as much as a month before the last frost date. Be sure to harden them off first. Plants should be set out at about the same level they were growing. Press sets into the soil so they are not more than 1 inch below the surface and 4 to 6 inches apart. You will need about 4 pounds of sets per 100 feet.

  For seeds, allow ½ ounce of seed for every 100 feet of row to be sown. Seeds should be placed at a rate of two per inch, in a row to be covered with 1 inch of soil. Use a greater depth for soil that may dry out quickly.

  Keeping Onions

  Stored onions can be decorative as well as useful if they are braided. When pulled in the fall, they should be dried in the garden for a few days. Drying cures them, and without this treatment, they cannot be stored for many months. The thick-stemmed ones must be used quickly; don’t store them.

  Braided onions will fall apart as the tops dry if the braid is not given some reinforcement. Cut three pieces of baler twine about 3 feet long and tie them together at one end. Then braid twine and onion tops together, until within 6 inches of the end of the twine. Wrap one piece of twine fast around the onion stems, then tie to the other two and hang in a dry, cool place. The onions can be clipped off with scissors as needed.

  There’s a practical advantage to braiding onions: A spoiled onion in a bag is a smelly nuisance, but it is a dried and hardly noticed part of a braid of onions.

  For maximumsized onions, pull the soil away from the upper two-thirds of the bulbs.

  Scallions, or bunching onions, don’t form bulbs. Plant them thickly in early spring. Thin them with a small rake when they come up, then let them grow.

  Keep onions weed-free. Water them regularly until their tops start to yellow, then withhold water and ease them partially out of the ground. Bend the tops away from the sun, so the bulbs get sunlight. For maximumsized onions, pull the soil away from the upper two-thirds of the bulbs. Take care when weeding around their shallow roots.

  When the tops are dry, lift the bulbs and leave them in the sun to dry, long enough so the dirt on them is dry. Prepare for storage by braiding the long tops or hanging them; or cut off the tops, leaving an inch of stem for each bulb. Curing takes several weeks. Keep onions in a shed or under cover where air circulates freely.

  Harvest scallions when they are pencil-thick, but leave some to grow. They will winter over and come back in spring.

  Parsnips

  Plant parsnips in early spring, at about the same time as peas and radishes. Like carrots, they require a deeply tilled, well-prepared soil, raked smooth of rocks and clods. They thrive in a soil rich in potassium and phosphorus, so work in a dusting of wood ashes (potash).

  Seeds germinate slowly (up to three weeks), even in the best garden conditions. Some gardeners soak them overnight or treat the seeds with boiling water before planting. You can start seeds indoors between moist paper towels. Presprouted seeds have a better chance of survival.

  Plant parsnips in conical holes. Drive a crowbar into the soil 2 feet deep and rotate it in a circle until the hole is 6 inches across. Fill the hole with sand, peat moss, and sifted soil, leaving a slight depression at the top of the hole. Place two or three sprouted seeds in the depression, then cover with ½ inch of sifted sphagnum moss and water. Space the holes 8 inches apart each way in a bed.

  For the sweetest parsnips, leave roots in the ground over the winter and harvest them the next spring.

  Keep beds evenly moist but not saturated. Thin to one strong plant when each plant has three or four leaves. Parsnips grow slowly, and mulching with straw is the best way to pamper them. If they receive inadequate moisture during the summer, they’ll be tough and likely to split and rot with the fall rains. During dry spells, water the bed deeply once a week.

  Peas

  For an extended pea season, plant early, midseason, and late varieties at the same time — as soon as the soil can be worked. These are cool-weather plants that can withstand many freezes.

  In warm climates, plant peas in wide rows, using a dwarf variety. Snow peas also do well in wide rows without fencing.

  Because peas are legumes, they don’t need much fertilizer — especially nitrogen. If you do fertilize, mix 5-10-10 fertilizer in the soil a day or two before planting. Treat the seeds with an inoculant unless they come pretreated, and sow them in 16-inch-wide rows. Tamp them down and cover them with soil, or simply rototill them in a few inches.

  Peas quickly screen out the sun from hitting weeds, so you never have to weed a good wide row of peas. The shade also keeps the soil moist and cool. Peas don’t need much staking. You can prop them with piles of hay or plant dwarf varieties that grow to only 15 to 18 inches. You can also stick twigs into the soil so peas can grow on them, or use chicken wire fencing stretched on metal fence posts.

  Harvest any time after pods form. You can pick shell peas as soon as the pod is full. Waiting until it begins to bulge is not necessary.

  Peppers

  Peppers — both hot and sweet — like sunny areas and soil that is warm, dry, fertile, and slightly acidic. Don’t plant them where you have used a lot of lime.

  Start pepper seeds indoors in a warm place. They need more heat than other crops to get going. Use fertilizer, but in small doses, and put compost or manure under them when you transplant them. Side-dress them with rich, organic fertilizer when they bloom.

  When they start to blossom, spray the leaves with a weak mix of warm water and Epsom salts — a form of magnesium. The leaves turn dark green, and you will soon have an abundance of peppers. Most peppers start out green, so for red peppers, wait until the peppers turn color.

  Hot Pepper Jelly

  Could there be a better appetizer than good crackers topped with cream cheese and a dollop of hot pepper jelly? The jelly is also a terrific accompaniment to meat or poultry. Use all green peppers or all red ones, so the jelly has a soft color.

  ¼ cup chopped jalapeños

  3/4 cup chopped sweet peppers

  6 cups sugar

  2½ cups cider vinegar

  2 3-ounce pouches liquid pectin

  A few drops red or green food coloring (optional)

  1. Run the jalapeños and sweet peppers in a blender or food processor until finely ground. Combine with sugar and vinegar in a large saucepan. Bring to a full boil over high heat, stirring constantly, then turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

  2. Strain, returning the liquid to the saucepan. Add about 2 tablespoons of the pepper mixture from the strainer. Return to a boil. Add pectin and the food coloring if you’re using it. Bring back to a boil one more time and boil for 1 minute. Ladle into freshly sterilized jelly jars with two-part canning lids, leaving 1/8 inch headroom, and seal. Process in boiling-water bath for 10 minutes.

  Yield: Makes about six 8-ounce jars

  Potatoes

  A good potato crop starts with good seed potatoes. Garden stores have certified disease-free seed potatoes. Old potatoes from your root cellar may have disease organisms without showing signs.

  When you buy seed potatoes, some will be small. Plant these whole. Cut bigger ones into two or three blocky pieces that have two or three buds, or “eyes.” Make these cuts one or two days before planting and leave them in a warm place so the cut pieces have time to heal over and dry out a little. You can douse cut pieces with sulfur immediately after cutting; it helps protect potatoes from rotting. Two ounces protects 10 pounds of potatoes. Put both the cut and the whole potatoes in a paper bag, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of sulfur, and shake the bag.

  Plant an early crop five or six weeks before last frost. A frost before the plants come up is no problem; the soil will insulate them. But if leaves have popped up and there’s a frost warning, cover them with soil. The leaves will grow back in a few days.

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sp; Plant your main crop of potatoes after the average last frost day. This planting can go into the root cellar just before the first fall frost.

  Potatoes prefer silt or sandy loam that has good drainage and is high in organic matter. Their preferred pH level is 6.0 to 6.5; a higher level may promote potato scab. Avoid using lime. Get a soil test to find out what you have. If your soil is deficient in phosphorus and potash, add rock phosphate and greensand or granite dust. Apply according to package directions.

  To plant potatoes, cut large ones into chunks with two or three eyes each. Allow cut edges to dry before planting.

  For bed planting, plant the potatoes under straw, hay, leaves, or other mulch to minimize weeding after sowing. Set up the bed in a rectangle about 6 feet wide and as long as you wish. If heavy rains are a problem in your area, slope the bed to enable drainage. Place potato chunks, cut-side down, 12 inches from the bed’s sides and ends and space them 12 inches apart in each direction. Press them firmly into the soil and top them with a thick layer of straw, hay, or shredded leaves. Weight down the mulch if there is a chance that it might blow away.

  For row planting, hoe or dig 12-inch-wide trenches to about 6 inches deep. The rows should be 2 to 3 feet apart. If needed, add 2 inches of compost and work it into the soil. Place potato chunks, cut-side down, 12 inches apart and 3 inches deep. As plants emerge, hoe the soil up to them, gradually filling the trench and building a row-long hill about 8 inches high. Mulch the mounds to keep soil moist and discourage weeds.

  Storing the Harvest

  When you store your vegetables for winter use, remember that some crops prefer to be kept dry, whereas others like it moist. Garlic does best when you keep it cool but dry. Winter squash and dried beans need warm, dry spots. Store the following vegetables in a cool, moist place:

  Beets, in damp sand

  Brussels sprouts, on stems, in damp sand

  Cabbage, wrapped in newspaper

  Carrots, in damp sand

  Celeriac, in damp sand

  Celery, planted in a bucket of damp soil

  Jerusalem artichokes, in damp sand

  Onions, in baskets or braided

  Potatoes, in baskets

  Rutabagas, in damp sand

  Turnips, in damp sand

  Harvest the potatoes in dry periods after the vines are dead and dry. Use a potato hook and work carefully to avoid puncturing the potatoes. Let them dry for 1 to 2 hours before you move them into dark storage. Keep them at 60 to 70°F (15 to 22 °C) if you’re using them within a month; 40°F (4°C) if you want to store them for months.

  Pumpkins

  Pumpkins are easier to grow than to classify. At least three different species are called pumpkins, and all can also correctly be called squash.

  Pumpkins dislike being transplanted, so it’s best to direct-sow them in hills one to two weeks before the last frost. Plant three seeds per hill, leaving about 4 feet between hills. Keep the area well weeded until the plants begin to vine.

  When your thumbnail doesn’t easily cut the skin, cut the vine a few inches from the fruit, leaving a good handle. The fruit must be cured, which allows the skin to harden. Field-curing is done by leaving the pumpkins in a bright, sunny dry spot in the garden for 7 to 10 days. Cover them if frost threatens. Store them indoors.

  Giant pumpkins require special coddling. Choose a variety such as ‘Dill’s Atlantic Giant’, a proven prizewinner. In the fall, select a sunny spot 30 feet in diameter and dig manure into the soil. In spring, prepare a hill 8 to 10 feet in diameter and plant four seeds in the center, watering well. When the seedlings have four to six true leaves, pinch off all but the best plant. Alternatively, you can start seeds indoors or in a cold frame and bring them outside when the soil warms up. Protect the large leaves and vines against wind, and water deeply once or twice a week.

  Radishes

  Radishes like cool weather, constant moisture, and uninterrupted growth. For a steady supply, make small weekly plantings in April and May, then again in August and September. For succession plantings, keep in mind that the longer the radish, the better it tolerates heat.

  Till the radish bed to a depth of 8 inches, mixing in organic matter. Make furrows with a yardstick, spacing them about 3 inches apart, and sow the seeds at a depth of ½ inch. Space the seeds about 1 inch apart; when 2 inches tall, thin to 3-inch spacing. Most radishes are ready to harvest in less than a month. If mulched with straw, the fall varieties can remain in the garden through the winter to be harvested as you need them.

  If mulched with straw, fall radish varieties can remain in the garden through the winter, to be harvested as you need them.

  Rhubarb

  Three or four root crowns will produce all the rhubarb you can eat.

  In the spring, dig planting holes several inches deep and 18 inches apart. Add compost or fertilizer and place a single piece of root in each hole, covering it with about 1 inch of soil. Do not harvest these plants the first year. Add a few side-dressings during the season, so they’ll grow lots of tops.

  The next season, harvest some stalks when they’re 8 to 10 inches tall. Gently pull out and up on the ones you want to tear away from the plant.

  Remove tall seedpods from rhubarb to prolong harvest

  Caution: Don’t eat the leaves, which are toxic. During the second year, plants may put out tall seedpods. Remove them so the roots will produce tasty stalks all season. The more stalks you harvest, the more the plants will produce. Divide them every four or five years in the fall or in spring before growth starts. Do this by driving a shovel into the middle of a plant and digging up half the root. Fill the hole with compost. This forces the plant to produce younger, better crowns.

  Rutabagas

  Plant rutabagas in mid-June or about 90 days before your planned harvest, which should occur shortly after the first frost. Sow the seeds about ¼ inch deep with 8-inch spacing. Provide plenty of moisture until the seedlings are growing strong, then mulch well and water deeply once a week.

  Harvest rutabagas after a few frosts.

  Harvest rutabagas after a few frosts but before the ground freezes. Cut the tops and store them like carrots in a root cellar or basement. Good roots will keep for up to six months if you store them just above freezing with 90 percent humidity.

  Spinach

  Spinach is a cool-weather plant and should be direct-sown about one month before the last spring frost; direct-sow fall crops about one month before the first autumn frost. Set the seeds about 2 inches apart (1 inch in fall) in shallow rows about 18 inches apart. Thin the seedlings to about 4 inches apart. Repeat sowings every 10 to 14 days to ensure a continual supply. Spinach responds well to fertilizers. Try regular applications of fish emulsion.

  Pick the outer leaves as needed or cut the entire plant. Harvest in the cool of the morning and store spinach in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it.

  Spinach is one of the earliest cool-weather crops and can also be planted in late summer for fall harvest.

  Squash loves plenty of heat and evenly moist soil.

  Squash

  The seeds of summer squash germinate best when soil temperatures are above 65°F (18°C). It grows best in raised beds warmed with black plastic mulch for a few weeks before planting. Direct-sow them one to two weeks after the last frost, planting the seeds about 4 inches apart and 1 inch deep in rows 3 to 4 feet apart. For winter squash, direct-sow pairs of seeds about 1 inch deep, spacing them every 18 inches. Keep them evenly moist, especially after the fruit has begun to set.

  Harvest most summer squash when the fruit is 3 to 5 inches long. Snip the vine with scissors and handle the fruit carefully to prevent bruising. Summer squash will keep for up to two weeks in the refrigerator.

  To harvest winter squash, wait until your thumbnail easily cuts the skin. Cut the vine a few inches from the fruit, then let the fruit cure for 7 to 10 days. Cover it if frost threatens. Stored winter squash can last all winter long.

  Sweet Potatoes
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  Ideally, sweet potatoes should have 130 to 150 frost-free days, with most of them up to 80 to 85°F (27 to 29°C) with moderate to high humidity. Plant them well after the last frost, when the soil is about 70°F (22°C).

  Purchase sweet potatoes from a market seven to eight weeks before the last spring frost. Cut them in half lengthwise and lay the pieces cut-side down in aluminum pie plates filled with moist peat moss. Put a shallow covering of the peat moss over the pieces and wrap the works in a plastic bag.

  Sweet potatoes need a long (four- to five-month) growing season.

  When the slips (tiny sprouts) appear, remove the plastic and put the plants in a sunny window. After the last frost date, pull each slip and plant it separately. It will grow into a full-sized sweet potato plant.

  Plant the slips in raised beds 5 to 6 inches deep and 12 to 15 inches apart. Fertilize them lightly with 5-10-10.

  Water young plants generously for the first few days, then infrequently. Just as the vines begin to run along the ground, side-dress once with fertilizer — 1 tablespoon of 5-10-10 per plant.

  Dig up the sweet potatoes on a dry day before cold weather. Dry them for 1 hour. To cure, place in a warm, dark, ventilated place for 10 to 14 days.

  Tomatoes

  Tomatoes don’t do well until the soil warms to 65°F (18°C) or more and nighttime temperatures get up into the 50s. They thrive in rich soil with a pH of about 6.5.

  To start plants indoors, begin six to seven weeks before the last spring frost. Harden them off before setting them out. Spacing in the garden depends on your method of growing. If you’re going to let them sprawl on the ground, each plant needs 4 square feet. For those that will be staked, 3 square feet is adequate. If your soil is wet, set each plant on a mound 4 to 6 inches high. If your soil is dry; create a depression for each plant. Water plants well an hour before transplanting.

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