Dare we say, 'Frost free?'

We live in Southeast Missouri, close to Cape Girardeau, which is about two hours south of St. Louis. The official frost-free date tends to be around May 15 or so. We are near the end of April right now, so our local 10- day forecast can predict the weather and temps up until pretty much the end of May. The forecast looks like night temps are mid-40s on up, so weather is looking good until the end of May.

We got our potatoes planted a couple weeks ago. We planted Yukon Gold and Red Pontiac. If the potatoes are small, I plant the whole potato. Larger ones, we cut up making sure that there are two eyes per piece. Plant the potatoes so that the eyes are up. Once the potatoes get up about 6 or 8 inches, we will pull dirt onto the plants and leave about 2 or 3 inches left sticking out of the ground. We'll do this two or three times and then just let them grow.

I have most of my cold season crops planted such as cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, kohlrabi and Brussels spouts. These will take cold weather, so they should be safe. You can also plant kale, collards, Swiss chard, carrots, radishes and beets as well. Normally these are all planted as seeds directly into the garden. On the other hand, crops such as dill, Swiss chard, kale and collards are so fine when they come up we have started planting the seed in seed- starting trays and then transplanting when big enough. It sure works better for us. I started the kale, Swiss chard, collards and dill in a 72-cell flat. Most of the seed came up so we should have close to 72 plants of these vegetables and spices.

Beets should be planted as early as you can, so I'd get it planted as soon as you can. I have trouble getting the beets to come up where our ground tends to have a good healthy dose of clay. So I sprinkle just a little straw over the top of my newly planted beet seed. Put just enough straw down so that you can look through the straw and see the bare ground. I wet down the straw with my sprinkling can. The beets will come up through this straw but the straw helps keep the surface of the soil moist.

Many gardeners have already planted their sweet corn. I haven't yet but probably will in a few days. I'm going to plant a little Golden Bantam, which is open pollinated and it should come up even if the soil is a little cold. We are also going to plant some Ambrosia and Serendipity. Both of these are bicolor and super sweet. The soil has to be warmer for it to germinate and come up.

Tomatoes are sensitive to cold weather and frost, so if you plant your tomatoes be sure to cover them if the weather turns cold. I have a number of tomatoes planted in my high tunnels but, in a pinch, if the weather would turn cold, we can heat them and cover up the tomato plants with Agribon fabric. This fabric will protect down to 3 or 4 degrees below freezing.

I am going to plant a few cucumbers and zucchini in my outside garden. I figure I can put five-gallon buckets over a few plants and cover them with fabric as well. I will wait until the end of April before I plant the main bunch of zucchini and cucumbers and stuff like this.

I will also wait until after the first of May or the weather forecast is for warm nights to plant our eggplant, dill, head lettuce, peppers, etc. Okra is a heat-loving plant so wait till the soil is warm. My plans are to wait till the first or second week in May to plant mine. Okra comes up better if the seed is damp. Many wet down the seed the night before being planted. I like to plant the okra seed, and then, before covering the soil, sprinkle water down the row wetting the seed. After sprinking the seed with water, I then go ahead and cover the seed with soil.

A real key to growing a successful garden is not starting too big a garden. Start small and then increase the size as you learn how to garden. A big obstacle to a successful garden are the weeds and stubborn grasses, so learn how to use mulches and such. You will need to water your garden on a regular basis so keep this in mind as you plan out your garden. Most of all have fun!

Until next time.