With spring coming around the corner, many gardeners are beginning to think about the season ahead.
For Bob Rusiewski, from the North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission, he has been planning for garden seasons for about 40 years.
Right now, his garden is roughly 10 feet wide and 20 feet long.
Rusiewski plants onion sets, spinach, sugar snap peas, zucchini, cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes.
If he wants vegetables such as corn, cabbage or green beans, he usually buys those from area roadside markets, as he feels they take up too much room in the limited space of his garden.
Since the weather has been crazy, he talked about how he handles his planting schedule.
He normally plants onion sets, spinach and snap peas within a couple days of April Fools Day, being that these vegetables can take frost and cold weather, especially the onions.
“Planting onion sets by April Fools Day will give you some nice green onion scallions by Memorial Day or a bit earlier depending on the spring,” said Rusiewski.
He planted onion sets on February 20, and planted them about 2 ½ inches deep, making them possibly ready to eat close to May 10.
In April, Rusiewski stated that onion sets can be planted about one inch deep.
Spinach, if planted on April 1, should be ready near Memorial Day, and be finished by the third or fourth week in June, as spinach plants do not like hot weather or bright sunshine because it can burn the leaves.
This is the same for sugar snap peas. When they have fully matured, Rusiewski pulls them out and then plants cucumbers and late tomato plants in that same space.
He tries to plant a few cherry tomato plants around May 20 for early cherry tomatoes, but warns that you have to look out for late frost and cover up the plants if frost is in the forecast.
He also plants a few hills of zucchini around May 20 as well, but this depends on the frost as it will likely kill them.
Rusiewski plants several rows of onion sets about 14 inches apart. Then, when the onions reach about 6 inches tall, he plants other rows along the middle of the rows that are growing. He does this to create a space saver.
He plants these rows about two weeks about so he is able to have fresh green onions from late May until around mid-July.
“I try to water all the vegetables with Miracle Grow about every ten days,” said Rusiewski. “I use 10-10-10 fertilizer and sprinkle it on the soil in December, when snow isn’t on the ground, and then hoe it in for the winter to dissolve into the soil. I add carrot shavings and other vegetable peelings to the soil to give it a bit of compost for organic material to break down in the winter months. It gives the soil some texture.”
He states that over the years, he has learned that some years are going to be good for vegetable growth, and some will not be.
In fact, he has learned many things. Late blight will wipe out one’s tomato plants in a weekend if it hits, and sometimes zucchini gets a fungus and the leaves curl up and you get very few zucchinis.
“I like gardening because it is fun and worthwhile, but also good exercise,” he said. “ I don’t like to weed, but that is part of what you have to do, and I don’t use a lot of bug spray, powder or chemicals.”
Rusiewski also gave an onion eating tip:
Pick around 10 (index finger thickness) onions, cut the tops off, cut a quarter inch X in the bottom of the bulb end, place in a jar and add about 2 inches of a favorite Italian salad dressing. Maybe even sprinkle in a little oregano and leave in the refrigerator overnight.
