Vegetable Gardening (76 page)

Prepare the soil as you would for onions, forming raised beds and adding composted manures (see Chapter 6 for details on onions). Garlic needs well-drained soil — if the crop fails, it's usually due to the cloves rotting in wet, cool soil. Fertilize the beds as you would for onions.

Plant individual cloves a few inches deep and 3 to 4 inches apart about 4 to 6 weeks before the ground freezes for fall planting or as soon as the ground can be worked for spring planting. For fall planting in cold-winter areas, wait for a few hard freezes and then mulch the beds with a 2- to 4-inch-thick layer of hay or straw to protect the cloves over winter. As the cloves start growing in spring, remove the mulch. Once the soil warms, apply a side-dressing of a soluble high-nitrogen fertilizer, such as blood meal or fish emulsion (see Chapter 15 for more on side-dressing). In spring- or fall-sown beds, keep the patch well weeded and watered; you may want to mulch in between plants for weed control and moisture retention. Harvest starts when most of the leaves have yellowed, but before the cloves begin to separate from each other in the bulb.

After harvest, let the bulbs
cure
(toughen their skins) in a warm, dry, airy place for a few weeks. Then braid (just like you do hair) the softneck varieties or remove the tops of the hardneck bulbs, and store them in a cool, slightly damp basement for use as needed. The bulbs last longest in a slightly damp area, but you can store them in a cool, dry place — they just don't stay hard as long.

Garlic flavor is enhanced in storage; cloves often taste best after stored for a few months.

Globe artichokes

You don't have to live in California (the artichoke capital of the world) to grow globe artichokes, which are a thistle relative. Globe artichokes are beautiful, bushy perennial plants that produce baseball-sized, edible flower buds. I love eating them steamed and dipped in melted butter. They're a gourmet treat.

Globe artichokes are only hardy in warm climates, but you now can grow varieties that mature in one growing season (annuals), allowing northern gardeners a chance to grow and enjoy fresh "chokes" from the garden. Most varieties mature about 90 days from transplanting. ‘Green Globe Improved' is a standard, widely adapted variety. ‘Imperial Star' has been bred for annual production and is good for northern growers. ‘Violetto' features violet-colored buds.

To plant globe artichokes, amend the soil with a 2-inch-thick layer of compost. Start transplants indoors from seed 6 to 8 weeks before setting outdoors. In mild-winter areas, set out transplants in fall to grow through winter and mature next spring. Everywhere else transplant seedlings in spring. In cold areas, the transplants need 10 days of temperatures between 32 degrees and 50 degrees to induce flower buds to form. Space plants in mild areas 6 to 8 feet apart. In cold areas, space them closer, at 2 to 3 feet apart. Keep the soil consistently moist, but not soggy.

Fertilize with an organic product such as 5-5-5 after harvest in mild areas. In cold areas, fertilize when planting in spring. Always keep plants well watered and mulched.

Harvest the buds with a sharp knife before they open. Plants grown as perennials will yield two crops (spring and fall) and up to 20 buds per plant. Annual plants yield 6 to 8 buds from midsummer to fall. Cut back perennial plant stalks to the ground in fall after harvest.

Gourds

Certain vegetables, such as gourds, are grown not for eating — because they taste like cardboard — but for crafts, decorations, and fun. Gourds are great to grow with kids because of all the fanciful creations they can make after the gourds are dried.

Gourds come in two general types:

Small-fruited gourds (
Cucurbita pepo
):
These come in a variety of shapes — egg, pear, apple, turban — mature in 96 days, and are used for decorating and crafts. Unlike large-fruited gourds, you don't have to follow special drying instructions; you can use small-fruited gourds right after harvest.

Large-fruited gourds:
These gourds are not only decorative but functional as well. Some examples of functional gourds are the birdhouse gourd (
Lagenaria siceraria
), dipper gourd (
Lagenaria siceraria
), and luffa gourd (
Luffa aegyptiaca
). In some countries these gourds are used for making musical instruments! Large-fruited gourds require longer growing seasons (140 to 150 days) than the small-fruited gourds, and you must follow special drying instructions before you can use them.

Most gourds are ornamental, but some can be eaten when young and have unique flavors. Asian gourds grow like cucumbers (see Chapter 8) and feature strong flavors that are often used in Indian, Chinese, and Southeast Asian soups and stews. Some types to try in your garden include the bitter gourd and calabash gourd.

Grow gourds as you would winter squash (see Chapter 8). The seeds have particularly thick skins, so nicking them with a file helps water penetrate them and hastens germination. Because gourds love to vine, consider growing them on a trellis or at the edge of your garden to roam the lawn. If you're growing large-fruited gourds in a cold-winter climate, start the plants indoors 4 weeks before the last frost date to get a jump on the season.

Wait until the fruit skins are hard and the stems are brown (but before a frost) to harvest. Large-fruited gourds can survive a light frost, but small-fruited ones can't. When harvesting, cut the vines, leaving 1 inch of stem on the fruit, and clean the skin.

Small-fruited gourds can be used as decorations immediately after harvest, but large-fruited gourds need to dry in a warm, dry, airy room for a few weeks. When you can shake the gourds and hear the seeds rattling around inside, they're ready to carve, paint, and decorate. If you want to accelerate the drying process, try drilling a hole in the bottom of the large-fruited gourd.

Horseradish

Of the few commonly grown perennial vegetables, horseradish is probably the easiest to grow. These roots are hardy in northern climates, last for years in your garden, and actually can become a nuisance as they spread over time. The spicy-sweet flavor of horseradish is a favorite condiment. It can be grated and combined with vinegar to make a condiment sauce, which can be stored for months in the refrigerator. A good variety to try is ‘Bohemian'. It's hardy and produces high-quality roots a year after planting.

Choose a location for planting that has partial to full sun, and then amend the soil with compost, digging the soil deeply since these roots grow best in loose soil. Plant horseradish roots 3 inches deep and 12 inches apart in spring after danger of frost has passed.

In spring, fertilize the plants with compost and mulch with hay or straw to keep the soil weed free and moist. Then in the fall, dig up roots taking the largest (6- to 12-inches long) for eating and replanting smaller roots to grow new plants. Roots taste sweetest if harvested after a few frosts, but they may take two seasons to grow large enough to eat. The dark green leaves make an attractive ornamental. Mulch the plants after harvest for winter protection in cold areas.

Kale

If there's one vegetable to grow for purely the health benefits alone, kale (
Brassica oleracea
) is it. Kale offers the highest amount of protein, calcium, iron, vitamin A, and antioxidants (cancer-fighting compounds) of any cultivated vegetable. Luckily, it tastes good too! Lightly steamed or added to soups and casseroles, kale adds a crunch and a mild cabbage flavor to dishes.

Like its cousin, collards (which I describe earlier in this chapter), kale is technically a non-heading cabbage. It's grown like collards, matures in 50 to 60 days, but has smaller and more fringed leaves. Some new varieties with red and purple leaf coloration are now available. Just imagine: a vegetable that tastes good, is good for you, and looks good in the garden, too! Here are a few popular varieties:

Some standard curly-leafed varieties are ‘Siberian', ‘Winterbor Hybrid', and ‘Starbor Hybrid'.