Awesome Alliums: Tips for Onions, Garlic, Leeks

May 9, 2023 Jordan Charbonneau Leave a comment

Alliums are tasty, versatile crops, including leeks, bulb onions, shallots, perennial onions, bunching onions, ramps, and garlic, that are key ingredients in a wide range of cuisines and recipes. While they aren’t difficult to grow, getting good production can be tricky. Here are a few good tips for onions, garlic, and leeks.

Choose the Correct Variety for Your Area

Alliums can be a bit fickle about where they grow. Onions require certain lengths of daylight to bulb up properly, garlic needs specific temperatures, and leeks can require a long growing period. Choosing a Variety appropriate to your area is the only way you’ll have success.

Bulb Onions

We carry long-day (LD) and short-day (SD) type onions at SESE. You may also see intermediate-day or day-neutral onions available at other places.

Long-day types begin to form bulbs when the day length is between 14 and 16 hours. Plant long-day type onions in the spring from Virginia northward. Note that not all long-day types can bulb up as far South as Virginia, but ours can.

Short-day types begin to form bulbs when the day length is between 10 and 12 hours. Short-day types can be spring or fall-planted in Virginia and fall-planted in the South. If started in a greenhouse or in the fall and kept refrigerated as sets, short-day onions can be grown in small bulbs in the North.

Intermediate-day or day-neutral onions are ideal for gardeners that live right on the edge, usually in zones 5 and 6. They aren’t daylight dependent and will produce well in almost any area.

Looking at day length isn’t necessary for bunching or perennial onions.

Garlic

At SESE, we carry four types of garlic; hardneck, softneck, Asiatic & turban, and elephant garlic.

Hardneck or rocambole garlic is better adapted to cooler climates and performs best from Virginia northward. It has become more popular recently because it produces flower stalks or scapes that can be cut and eaten before the garlic is ready to harvest. Hardneck garlic varieties have a diverse range of flavors.

On the other hand, softneck garlic does best in warmer climates and is more domesticated than hardneck garlic. It doesn’t produce scapes. However, the lack of scapes makes it easy to braid softneck garlic. It also stores incredibly well and typically has higher yields.

Asiatic and Asiatic Turban garlic are tentatively identified as an artichoke subtype. Unlike most artichoke types, the stems are hardneck; however, in warm climates, they may revert to softneck.

Though elephant garlic isn’t true garlic, it is cultivated in the same way. It has a milder flavor than other garlic, making it perfect for raw use. It’s also excellent steamed with other vegetables.

Leeks

Leeks aren’t divided into specific categories like onions and garlic. They’re very similar to growing onions and, in some ways, are a bit easier. However, you want to consider each variety’s days to maturity, your climate or growing zone, and when you want to plant them. Leeks may vary widely in days to maturity from the 130 of American Flag (Broad London) Leeks to the 75 days of King Richard Leeks.

Water Management

Alliums don’t like soggy feet but produce better when kept consistently watered. Especially for large bulb onion varieties, regularly watering or using a drip irrigation system on a timer can significantly improve your yields.

Weed Pressure

Alliums do not tolerate weed pressure well. Onions, leeks, garlic, and other alliums can easily be overwhelmed by heavy weed growth and fail to produce well. We recommend spacing allium rows so you can easily weed between them with a stirrup hoe, wheel hoe, or similar tool while the weeds are still small.

Mulch

We recommend using a good layer of mulch for all allium crops as it helps with the above issues. Mulch will help keep the soil cool and moist and suppress weeds. If you have a wet season, you may want to pull the mulch back a week or two before harvesting garlic and onions to allow the bulbs and soil to dry a bit for harvest.

Invest in a Sturdy Garden Fork

It can be tempting to pull alliums from the soil by their tops without digging them. While this may work perfectly fine if you have nice fluffy soil, loosening the soil with a garden fork can be helpful for other gardeners. Trying to pull alliums without the help of a fork can break the stems, cause damage, and may lead to a shorter storage period.

Alliums are valuable crops in the garden and kitchen but can be tricky to grow. Follow these tips for onions, leeks, and garlic for a productive year.

Garden Advice

Top 10 Tips for Growing Heirloom Vegetables

May 2, 2023 Jordan Charbonneau Leave a comment

Heirloom vegetables are favorite crops for many gardeners and farmers. We value them for their flavor, stories, diversity, and beauty. While some heirlooms can be tricky, many heirloom vegetables are as easy to grow as their hybrid counterparts. Many gardeners get started with hybrids because that’s what’s often available at local hardware stores and garden centers, but that doesn’t mean those beginners can’t grow heirlooms. Here are a few tips to ensure you have success growing heirloom vegetables.

So What is an Heirloom Vegetable?

There’s no official definition of an heirloom. Heirlooms are just open-pollinated varieties that farmers and gardeners have saved for generations. At Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, we consider heirlooms to be open-pollinated varieties bred before 1940. Read more about why we grow heirloom seeds.

1. Select Varieties Carefully

You may find heirloom vegetables that are particularly well-suited to your gardening conditions. Growers carefully selected heirloom varieties over generations for specific traits. Sometimes these were traits like appearance and flavor, but often, these included good adaptation to local climatic conditions, disease resistance, drought tolerance, and other handy characteristics.

2. Be Vigilant About Disease

No crop is resistant to all diseases, and heirloom vegetables are no different. Careful crop rotation, soil management, and cover cropping can help prevent a myriad of diseases. You should also practice good garden hygiene, removing diseased plant material and sterilizing tools that may have come into contact with diseased plants or soil.

3. Water Consistently

Avoiding over or under-watering can significantly improve your yields. Overwatering can lead to tomato splitting issues, increased fungal diseases, and poor-quality produce. Underwatering can lead to poor germination, failure to thrive, increased disease pressure, and other problems. Learn how to water correctly and consistently. Use a timer and drip tape if necessary.

4. Get Your Soil Tested

What seeds you bought doesn’t matter if your soil isn’t healthy. The best way to build good soil is to understand what you’re starting with. Getting your soil tested is quite affordable and well worth the effort.

Tomato trellis of string weaving at Twin Oaks Community Farm

5. Prune and Trellis Heirloom Vegetables

Especially in the hot and humid midsummer months in the south, good circulation is vital in helping prevent fungal disease, so prune and trellis your plants as needed. Trellises may also be necessary to avoid lodging on plants with heavy crops like larger pepper varieties. Crops you can trellis include tomatoes, peppers, winter squash, cucumbers, peas, pole beans, and more.

6. Space and Thin Generously

It can be tempting to cram more than is advised into your garden, but it may not be worth it! Follow spacing recommendations for larger plants like watermelons and tomatoes and thin smaller crops like carrots and beets as needed. A few appropriately spaced plants will be healthier and produce more than many tightly-packed unhealthy ones.

7. Use Mulch Around Heirloom Vegetables

We recommend mulching around any heirloom vegetable crop as soon as possible. Mulch helps prevent soil splash during watering or heavy rain, conserves moisture, surpasses weeds, adds organic matter, and helps regulate soil temperatures.

8. Harvest When You’re Ready to Eat

While it’s not always possible, many heirloom vegetables especially tender crops like lettuce and sugary crops like sweet corn, are tastiest when prepared quickly after being harvested. If possible, try to eat, cook, or preserve produce soon after harvesting.

9. Get Transplants Off to a Good Start

If you’re starting heirloom vegetables like peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, and onions indoors, it’s essential to do it properly and ensure you grow healthy, productive transplants. Provide supplemental light, adequate water and drainage, proper temperatures, and pot them up as needed.

10. Save Seed

Saving seeds from your heirloom vegetables can help adapt a variety to your local conditions over time. You’re also helping to preserve a variety with future generations, saving a little money, and developing a new skill. Beans like those pictured above are a great crop to start with! Check out this post to learn to save bean seeds.

Growing heirloom vegetables is well worth the effort. They add incredible diversity, flavor, and beauty to your garden. If you’re growing heirlooms this year, follow these tips to help you succeed.

Garden Advice

How Much Water Does My Vegetable Garden Need?

April 18, 2023 Jordan Charbonneau Leave a comment

Good water management is one of the keys to good production. Over and under-watering can both be detrimental to your vegetable plants, and the symptoms may be surprising. For example, blossom end rot in tomatoes and peppers may actually be a symptom of too much or too little moisture. These plants will struggle to take up enough calcium under these conditions. So how much do you need to water your vegetable garden? This post will cover general guidelines and specific situations for ensuring your crops get what they need.

General Watering Guidelines

Generally speaking, most gardens require an average of 1 to 2 inches of water per week. This amount can come from rain or watering. Placing a few containers throughout your garden with 1 inch marked on them can help you see how much water your garden is getting while it’s raining or you’re running a sprinkler.

That said, you should always check your soil before making assumptions. In cool or very humid climates, you may need less water. You may need more in arid climates, hot periods, or with certain water-hungry crops. A tip for hot weather is that most gardens will need an extra 1/2 inch of water for every 10 degrees above 60°F.

When Should I Water?

You should aim to break up that 1 to 2 inches per week into at least three sessions throughout the week, depending on weather conditions. For best results, water in the early morning or evening when it’s cooler and less water will evaporate.

How to Tell If My Soil Is Moist Enough?

When checking your soil, dig down a couple of inches. The soil may be dry on top and very wet below. Mulch can help prevent the surface of the soil from drying and crusting. The opposite can be true after watering; just because the surface is wet doesn’t mean you’ve watered enough to soak into the bed.

Hand Test

You can grab a handful of soil (not just from the surface) and do a quick check. Squeeze the handful of soil and then open your hand. If the soil falls apart, it’s probably still too dry. If it mostly clumps together, you have enough moisture. If water dripped from your hand while you squeezed, you probably overwatered.

Moisture Meters

They’re not necessary for home gardeners, but if you need help with watering or want to get a bit more scientific about your approach, you can try a moisture meter. Many now provide moisture levels on a scale of 1 to 10, helping you quickly determine when to drag out the sprinkler.

Germinating Seeds

Seeds require consistent moisture to germinate properly. I recommend checking on your soil daily while seeds are germinating, depending on weather conditions. Remember that seeds planted deeply, like peas and beans, may dry out less quickly than tiny seeds, like carrots and lettuce planted close to the surface.

For some small seeds, use the board or cardboard trick to keep the soil moist. Using this method, you cover the bed with boards or cardboard to retain moisture. Carefully watch the bed and remove the cardboard when the seedlings sprout.

Check Plant Guidelines

If you have a water scarcity, focus your watering where it matters most. Some plants like tomatoes, peppers, watermelons, eggplants, and squash need a lot of water to produce well. On the other hand, crops like dent corn, amaranth, mustard greens, pole beans, and okra are generally fairly drought-tolerant once established.

You should also stop watering before harvesting some crops. For example, dent corn and dry beans don’t need water as they finish drying. You should also stop watering onions and garlic a week or two before harvesting.

How to Conserve Water

Folks living in arid areas or those with high water bills may find consistent watering to be more of a challenge. Mulching is one of the best ways to help hold moisture in the soil, and you can often find mulch material for free. Use glass clippings, straw, old leaves, or shredded paper around plants.

You can also start trying to catch and hold water on your property. Rain barrels make excellent additions to garden sheds or even gutters on your home. Some places may also allow you to use gray water from sinks, showers, and washers, but you’ll need to be very careful about the products you put down the drain. You can also take a permaculture approach and add swales to your property. Swales are essentially large ditches that catch rainwater uphill of your garden, slowly releasing it into the beds rather than letting it run quickly over the property.

Proper water management can help you have a more productive garden and save money and energy. Follow these guidelines to keep your soil moist, grow healthy plants, and conserve water in your vegetable garden.