When you’re in quarantine you wear a mask simply to grocery shop, sometimes you ask yourself new questions, or consider new hobbies. Why not consider a home garden? It may at first seem like a big undertaking, but it can be as simple as putting a planter in your kitchen window.
Tomatoes
Planting time: Summer
Sun: Full sun
Watered: Regularly
Tips: Tomato plants can be staked or caged to produce higher quality results. Staking supports the plant and encourages bigger fruits and early ripening. Caging a tomato plant stabilizes it and creates fewer sun-ruined fruits thanks to the additional cover. If you don’t want to start from seeds, many nurseries sell various maturity levels of tomato plants. Purchase a sprouting stem or a foot-tall plant.
Strawberries
Planting time: Spring
Sun: Full sun
Watered: Lightly
Tips: Do not grow strawberries next to tomatoes. Strawberries don’t do well in saturated, wet soil. When planting, take extra care to never bend the roots horizontally. Dig your initial planting hole deep enough that the roots have space to be vertical. Since it’s already June, some nurseries may have more mature strawberry plants that you can plant directly into your garden.
Bell Peppers
Planting time: Late spring
Sun: Full sun
Watered: One inch of water per week
Tips: Many gardeners start growing pepper seeds indoors during the colder months and then transplant them after a strong root has grown. Directly planting seeds into your garden isn’t recommended in Ohio. Since it’s already June, some nurseries may have more mature bell pepper plants that you can plant directly into your garden.
Cucumbers
Planting time: Summer
Sun: Full sun
Watered: Consistently
Tips: Cucumbers are extremely susceptible to frost and cold damage, so don’t plant too early on. Because cucumbers require so much sun, it’s important to keep the plant watered. Use mulch to help hold misture in the soil.
Testing Temperature
Pickerington Community Garden Program Assistant Connie Smith just gets dirt. She insists that soil temperature is a good indication of how crops will grow in the season.
“Soil temperature plays an important role in seed germination,” Smith says. “Adequate soil temperatures for germination range widely for different crops.”
Smith encourages gardeners to take the temperature of their soil by, quite literally, sticking a thermometer in it. Of course, you can’t use any old thermometer. Purchase a soil thermometer from your local garden center. Smith says crops like spinach need an in-ground soil temperature of at least 38 degrees Fahrenheit while potatoes do best at 45 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Pickerington Community Garden is open until Oct. 31. If you’re interested in reserving a plot, mark your calendar for February 2021, when applications open. www.ci.pickerington.oh.us
Buckeye State Beets
Beets are one of the most popular crops to grow in Ohio and seed planting starts in early spring. If you missed the deadline, you might find some at the Pickerington Farmers’ Market, held every Thursday from 4-7 p.m. at 89 N. Center St. You’ll want this vegetable after reading the following recipe.
Basaltic Roasted Beets
Recipe from the kitchen of Joy Food and Sunshine.
Ingredients
- Fresh beets
- Olive oil
- Balsamic vinegar
- Honey
Directions
- Use vegetable peelers to remove skin from beets. This is a messy process, so use gloves. Chop after.
- Drizzled chopped and peeled beets with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Stir well to incorporate.
- Spread beets in an even layer on a baking sheet and roast them in the oven for 30 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Mix balsamic vinegar and honey to taste and drizzle over beets. Stir until evenly coated.
- Return the beets to the oven and roast for an additional 10 minutes.
Visit www.pickeringtonvillage.com/farmers-market for more information about the Farmers’ Market.
Mallory Arnold is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at marnold@cityscenemediagroup.com.
