Close to gardening time

When we get into the New Year ,I begin receiving gosh knows how many garden catalogs, so my mind begins to dream gardening. So as I thumb through the catalogs I begin making a list, which leads to orders, several orders. How about you -- do you have your seeds? I'm thinking that it might be a good idea to shop early this year while there are still seeds to be found. I've already ordered quite a few of my seeds. If you can talk to a gardening friend and order together it would save you some money. Most gardening supply houses will ship free if the total order is above a certain amount.

First decision is to decide what you are going to plant. We had good luck planting carrots last summer, so they are on our list. The carrots we grew last summer were fairly short blocky ones and were called Red Core Chantenay and Scarlet Nantes. Both are kind of blocky carrots that will grow in heavy soil. Peppers as well with both bell peppers and hot peppers up to about jalapeno pepper heat. Our bell peppers are from seed I saved the last couple years so they are open pollinated and are yellow and orange and red. In addition to the bell peppers we will grow some spice peppers. We usually grow some Alma Paprika and some poblano peppers. In addition we are growing several spice peppers that are low heat.

Cucumbers for sure, both pickling and fresh-eating kinds. There is a big difference between pickling cucumbers and fresh-eating ones. Pickling cucumbers are shorter, say 3 to 6 inches long, and are not burpless. We like a long-slicing cucumber with most being 8 inches long up to 16 inches or so. Two pickling cucumbers are Boston Pickling and Parisian Pickling. Three slicing cucumbers are Sweet Success, China Jade and Suyo Long.

We will plant potatoes again this year, but we'll make plans to water them. Our potatoes bottomed up last year with the dry weather. Potatoes will be Yukon Gold and Red Pontiac. The Yukons are a yellowish color, while the red Pontiac's are red. Both good potatoes. Both keep fairly well if stored around 50 degrees. Green beans, of course. We grow Jade bush beans and Fortex pole beans. Both are stringless and excellent beans.

Bodacious and Peaches and Cream are what we usually plant in regards to sweet corn. Both are good and sweet. Most of the time they are around 7 feet tall, and we have had decent luck with them staying upright.

Do some research and find when your average last frost date is. Ours in SE Missouri is April 20 or so. Back up eight or nine weeks, and that's the date to start your tomato seeds. It takes 10 to 12 weeks for peppers. Two to three weeks before the frost date is a good time to plant potatoes. Six to eight weeks before the frost date to plant carrots or peas. Both will stand a light frost. Corn and okra needs warm weather so I'd wait till a couple weeks after the frost date for sweet corn and okra.

We like to start our zucchini in containers and wait till they are about to bloom before we transplant. This gives them a head start on the bugs. Then keep replanting every couple weeks. The bugs will kill off a plant in two to four weeks unless you spray.

A good way to plant seed veggies is to plant a few early (around the frost date.) like a couple hills of cucumbers. Then wait until the soil warms say early May and then plant the rest. If you are using walls of water you can plant your tomato or pepper plants up to six weeks before the average frost date. Walls of water work!

The first tomato I start in the spring is Stupice, and those Stupice tomato plants will be the first ones I transplant. And if all goes as planned, I'll be picking my first tomatoes off them in May. I've tried and eaten a lot of different tomatoes but none as good and dependable as Stupice.