Veggie Gardening 201
Taking your Home Garden to New Heights
Phil Hannay and Kathy Kubal
Trumpeter Swan Farm, Buffalo, MN
phil_hannay@kaphian.com
Advantages for Minnesota
Gardeners
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Decent Soils
Ample Moisture
Harsh Winter Reduces Pest Problems
Sunny Weather Reduces Mold Problems
Long Warm Summer Days Hasten Growth
Excessive Heat is Rare
Disadvantages for Minnesota
Gardeners
•Short
Growing
Season
Warm Germination
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In cold soil, peas take 3 weeks to germinate
In 80 degree soil, peas take 5 days
Use a warm table to germinate in trays
After germination, move into full sun
Later, place trays on ground for rooting
Radish, onion sets, radish, snap peas
Warm Germination: Our Practice
• 6 foot folding table with plastic sheet cover and
2 foot overhang to catch heat
• Oil filled radiator for heat underneath table
• Germination bed thermostat controls radiator set at 77 to 80 degrees
• Plastic sheet over trays to retain moisture and
heat
• Foot square 4” high slotted trays hold 3” soil
Row Covers - Prevent Frost
• Helps block radiated heat loss
• Slows down convection cooling
• Watch out for Clear and Calm - especially in
Spring when low humidity allows
temperature to drop quickly after sunset.
• Find the place on your land that frosts first monitor it
• I’ve seen frost when air temp was 42 degrees
Row Covers - Keep in Heat
• Plants don’t grow well below 50 degrees
• Chemical reaction speed doubles for every
18 degrees of increase
• So, with ample sun, plants grow twice as
fast at 86 degrees compared to 68 degrees
• Woven fabric is best (prevents overheating),
slitted plastic is okay as well
• Over 90 degrees, plants suffer
Row Covers: Our Practice
• Woven fabric like Agribon
• Anchor with rocks or sections of steel rebar
• Monitor weather service (www.noaa.gov)
watch dew point and wind speed - use
“Digital Weather Forecast” panel to see
predicted values every 3 hours
• In Spring - watch for surprise frosts
• In Fall - try to evade the first frost
Mini-Hoophouse
• Cover 2 raised beds with an aisle in
between - so 5-6’ wide, 5-6’ tall
• Wood frame with door on each end for
ventilation
• Plastic on spring and fall, off in summer
• Option to replace cover with screen material
during summer
• Small enough to use inexpensive materials
Mini-Hoophouse: Our Practice
• 1-1/4” PVC pipe hoops every 3’ inserted
into 1-1/2” PVC pipe bases
• Chain link top rail purlins - 10’ or 21’ length
• Electrical tape for hoop/purlin joints - good
UV resistance
• Dig out aisle to increase clearance, dirt goes
into raised beds (12” aisle side board)
Mini-Hoophouse: Our Practice
• Wiggle-wire and Channel to secure and
stretch plastic - easy to install and remove
plastic - much better than lath and nails
• Ordinary 6-mil plastic will last a year or
two before UV gets it - you can buy 6-mil
greenhouse plastic is more durable and UV
resistant that lasts 4 or more years
Mini-Raised Beds
• 2” wide raised beds made with two 8 foot
4” wide boards with 2” spacer boards
• Set on ground, fill with potting soil
• Set in transplants
• Warmer than underlying soil
• Easy to water (bed holds in the water like a
pot)
Mini-Raised Beds: Our Practice
• We use cheap 1/4” thick 4” wide wainscot
pine boards preserved with a sealer
• 2” wide cedar boards on ends completes
rectangle and spaces correctly, plus 1 in
middle
• Ideal for Jiffy-7 pellet based transplants
• Head Lettuce, Kale, Spinach, Broccoli
• Pull up beds and store after harvest
Grow Your Own Transplants
• Garden center plants sprayed with growth
inhibitors to keep plants short, and flower
inducers to flower early
• “Transplant Shock” is often just waiting for the
chemicals to wear off and overcome root bind
• Gain a week or two over garden center offerings,
plus have the varieties you want
• Even peas, corn and beans can be transplanted
Grow Your Own Transplants
• Avoid these Common Mistakes
– Don’t start too early- just need first true leaf or two
– Provide enough light - sunny window is not enough
– Wrong pot size - tomatoes, squash like a deep pot,
start with large pot, or re-pot as needed
– Don’t plant too early - tomatoes, peppers, squash
– Don’t put all your eggs in one basket - do two
plantings
– Harden, or plants will sunburn or get wind whipped
Transplants: Our Practice
• Jiffy-7 Pellets: head lettuce, spinach, kale,
broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts,
squash, melons
• 2x2x6 plant bands - tomatoes, squash,
melons, peppers
• 128 cell plug trays - corn, beans, peas
Transplants: Our Practice
• Germinate on heat table: 77-80 degrees
• As soon as they germinate, move to full sun
(greenhouse or outside)
• Cool sensitive plants like tomatoes and
peppers stay in greenhouse
• Harden greenhouse plants at least a week
before transplanting - moving outside for
increasing period of time each day
Transplants: Our Practice
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Post hole digger makes a nice deep hole
Fill hole with water, let soak in
A little 10-10-10 fertilizer in bottom of hole
Add a little epsom salt (magnesium) for
tomatoes and peppers
• Cover with some dirt, then add the transplant
• Make a foot wide circular rim around plant to
help hold water in subsequent watering
Succession Planting
• Rule 1: Resist the urge to plant everything
at once
• Rule 2: See Rule #1
• Goal - plant no more than 1/4 of your
garden each week: a little of everything
• Rip out and replace as productivity drops
and plants start to decline
Succession Planting: Example
• Green Beans
– One or two healthy plants can have enough beans
for a meal
– 3 meals a week = 6 well cared for plants
– after 2 weeks of producing, rip out and replace
• Planting Plan…
– plant 8 green beans seeds each week
– each week for 10 weeks (until July 31)
– Think: not so many, easy to weed and coddle
Succession Planting: Example
• Summer Squash
– Grows fast, produces a squash every day or two
– Two zucchini and two straight neck plants is plenty
– After 4 weeks plants decline, rip out and replace
• Planting Plan
– Start transplants 3 weeks before planting date
– Transplant 4 squash plants every 4 weeks
– Once in late May, then early July and early August
Succession Planting: Our Practice
• Plant Every Week: Peas (Apr-May), Beans
(May-July), Corn (May-June), Beets (Apr-June),
Turnips (Apr-Aug), Lettuce (Apr-Aug)
• Plant Every Two Weeks: Broccoli (Apr-July),
Basil (May-July), Dill (May-July), Cucumbers
(May-July)
• Plant Every Four Weeks: Summer Squash
(transplant May 15, July 1, Aug 1)
Cold Weather Holding
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Many plants hold produce well in cool air
Some hold well even thru freezes
Root crops can be held by mulching
Key is to grow enough produce in late
summer and early fall to have multiple weeks
of produce ready to hold when cool sets in
Cold Weather Holding: Our Practice
• Beans, Beets - for the last 3 weeks (plantings),
plant twice as many as earlier weeks
• Zucchini - last planting, 4 times as much, skip
straight neck squash (not as cold tolerant)
• Broccoli - last planting, twice as much
• Brussel Sprouts - we’ve eaten them in
December - picked frozen
• Lettuce and Spinach in a small hoop house good to 20 degrees
Increased Productivity: Raised Beds
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2-3 feet wide, 1-2 foot aisles
dig out dirt from aisles, add to beds
straw in aisles to make it easy on your knees
beds warm up and dry out quick in spring
side boards can anchor row cover frames
two week jump over flat ground
dry out more quickly, so watering is important
Increased Productivity: Mulch
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Suppresses weeds
Retains moisture
Keeps produce cleaner
Easy on the knees
Wait until mid-June when soil warmed up
and weed germination has slowed
Increased Productivity: Right Sizing
• Plant Less - room for more varieties - resist urge
to plant every seed in that seed packet
• Space More - fewer plants means less thinning,
more vigorous growth, more produce per plant
• Skip Low Producers - sweet corn takes a lot of
space for a little produce; cauliflower, cabbage
• Skip Sprawlers - winter squash takes lots of
room and ties it up ground all season long
Make Hay While The Sun Shines
• Start Earlier - Warm Germination, Row
Covers, Mini-Hoophouse, Mini-Raised
Beds, Start Your Own Transplants
• Increase Productivity - Succession Plant,
Raised Beds, Mulch, Right Size
• Harvest Longer - Row Covers, Cool
Weather Holding, Mulch Root Crops
Questions?
• Resources
– monarchmfg.com- slotted trays, plant bands
– Menards - 8 foot 4” wide 1/4 inch wainscoting,
pine, 5 to a pack; oil filled radiator
– Fleet Farm - Jiffy-7 pellets and trays
– johnnyseeds.com - Agribon row covers
– farmtek.com - wiggle wire, heat mat thermostat
– trumpeterswanfarm.com - questions