Planning for the 2014 season: time and space

For many a beginning gardener, there is a significant disconnect between the food he or she wants to grow, and the plant that must be cultivated to grow it. 

Most of us did not grow up on farms, or around agriculture, or even with the luxury of backyard tomato plants. The connection between our produce and the plants that produce them has been severed. Try to conjure the image of an artichoke plant. Can you? What about asparagus? What about broccoli? Zucchini? Struggling with this sort of visualization is very par for the course for first-time gardeners, as most of us have exclusively interacted with trimmed, packaged versions of these crops in the produce section of the grocery store. 

Another challenge is the time required to germinate and raise a plant before its produce can be harvested. While an annual like zucchini takes a mere two months from planting to fruiting, asparagus is a minimum 3 year investment before a single spear can be savored. And when to plant them? Too early, they die of spring frost; too late, the harvest itself is lost to winter.

Planning around the size and time requirements of your crops is a major obstacle between you and a satisfying harvest. Fortunately, many generations of gardeners before you have encountered, tackled, and fine-tuned solutions to the spacial and temporal needs of every food crop under the sun, and resources abound online, in print, and around the garden. This blog post will review common fruit, vegetable, and herb planting guidelines, giving date ranges specific to southern Wisconsin. If you are located outside of this region, you can use other tools to determine good planting dates (here is an example I have used before).

Planning guidance after the jump.





Note: the crops marked with an asterisk (*) are best started indoors or bought as transplants, to be moved into the garden as juvenile plants instead of seeds. The Eagle Heights Community Gardens will host a cool weather transplant sale in April, where most of these can be found; the Dane County Farmer's market can also be trusted to supply a great variety and diversity of transplant-ready food crops.

Frost-tolerant: early spring, autumn

Vegetables

Root vegetables

                     Root vegetables, intuitively, encompass edible roots of a variety of plants. Root vegetables are commonly found in soups and stews, or raw in salads. This group ranges from sugary (carrots and beets) to spicy (radishes), and in general takes the form of a high-energy root enriched in vitamins and minerals. Several members feature edible leaves, including beets (think swiss chard) and turnips, delivering extra bang for your buck. The leaves and tops of the roots are often vulnerable to pests; it can be helpful to hill up extra soil around the root tops as the growing plants begin to emerge from the soil. You can also use row cover, a sort of white fabric landscaping cloth, to cover the plants without sacrificing (much) sunlight or watering.

• Carrots
• Space required per plant: 1"x 1"
• When to plant: April 15 - May 31
• Time to harvest: 70 days from seeding (or more)
• Comments: carrots are unexpectedly difficult to cultivate for a beginning gardener. Carrot germination rates are quite variable, and success is truly contingent upon knowing the crop. They must be planted very superficially - just barely cover them with sprinkled soil. Take care to be gentle with initial watering, as it is easy to displace the seeds. Once the carrot seeds have germinated, it is important to keep the plants very well-watered to avoid forking/bifurcation, as well as to prevent carrots from become woody and dry. I like to cover my carrot plantings with row cover to prevent the seeds blowing around in the wind, as well as to hide the tops from scavenging small animals. While carrots are a bit of a pain, a fresh carrot straight from the garden really is pretty rewarding. They come in all sorts of colors and shapes: perfectly spherical and bright orange (Paris Market), purple (Purple Dragon), and conventional (Danvers) are a few. They are also notoriously high in vitamin A.
• Beets
• Space required per plant: 3" x 3"
• When to plant: April 15 to August 15
• Time to harvest: 50-70 days from seeding
• Comments: beets are not strictly cold-weather crops, and can be sown continuously throughout the season. There are many interesting varieties of beets, from the standard blood-red, sugary sweet beet (Bull's Blood) to the elegant snow-white beet (Albino) and even striped beets (Chioggia). While few of us may have grown up eating beets, or at least being fond of them, I give you my personal promise that they are delicious roasted, chilled, and tossed in an orange vinaigrette with some chopped parsley. They are also high in folate (and admittedly sugar). You can even eat the leaves - beet greens can be prepared similar to swiss chard, a very close relative of the beet. 
• Turnips
• Space required per plant: 3" x 3"
• When to plant: April 15 to August 15
• Time to harvest: 45-100 days from seeding
• Comments: quintessential stew vegetable. If you didn't grow up eating these, you may be surprised by how sweet a cooked turnip can be. Turnips are also loaded with vitamins and minerals: vitamins A, C, K, as well as folate and calcium.
• Radishes
• Space required per plant: 1" x 1"
• When to plant: April 15 to August 15
• Time to harvest: 21-50 days from seeding
• Comments: thinly sliced radishes on top of a salad are a great way to greet the spring. With short germination-to-harvest times, these might be the earliest spring crops to grace your table. Radishes aren't the nutritional heavyweights that carrots, beets, and turnips are, but they are unique in the spicy crunch they impart to a meal.

Leafy greens

                    

                 Whether in a salad or cooked, leafy greens beckon us with associations with healthful eating and superfood status. They are the incontrovertible backbone of the iconic salad, whether the foundation be standard green lettuce, richly green spinach, or fun frisee. Spinach, in particular, appeals to me as it can easily be frozen after blanching, and consumed in large quantities if cooked. 

• Spinach
• Space required per plant: variable, depending on whether baby leaves (2" x 2") or full heads (3" x 3" or more) are desired
• When to plant: April 15 - May 31 (spring crop), August 1 - September 1 (fall crop) 
• Time to harvest: 30-60 days from seeding
• Comments: spinach will BOLT when the weather warms up in June, meaning the stress of the hot weather will drive the plant into reproductive mode, shooting up flowers and "going to seed." When leafy greens like spinach and lettuce go to seed, the leaves become tough and bitter. Some gardeners plant spinach and/or lettuce in successive plantings, ie every week or two, to provide a constant supply of young spinach leaves. And again, spinach can be stored in the freezer after blanching, to later be included in meals like spinach lasagne or saag paneer (a wondeful Indian dish of stewed spinach, embellished with paneer cheese - just try it). This is important to me as I never eat as many salads as I think I will, and I am happy to know that my oversized spinach harvests will never go to waste. Spinach is rich in many vitamins (A, C, K) and minerals (iron, magnesium, manganese). It should be noted that the iron in spinach is non-heme (vegetarian) iron, which is less bioavailable than the iron found in animal proteins such as red meat.
• Lettuces
• Space required per plant: same as spinach (see above)
• When to plant: April 15 - May 31 (spring crop), August 1 - September 1 (fall crop)
• Time to harvest: 30-60 days from seeding
• Comments: see "Spinach", above, for notes on bolting. Lettuces include several members of the Asteraceae family, including leaf, butterhead, Romaine/cos, and crisphead lettuces, as well as frisee (curly endive) and escarole. There are many diversely hued lettuces available to grow from seed, and if you enjoy salads I highly recommend checking out lettuce varieties on seed company websites. I will add two warnings about lettuce: you can't store it very long once it is cut, and some skill is required to thoroughly wash lettuce grown in an organic garden. These are both important given the sheer quantity of lettuce you can harvest from just a single 1 foot row. I prefer to grow a few lettuce plants right on my apartment patio, so that I can tear off a few leaves and rinse them directly before dinner. Lettuces are generally enriched in vitamins A and K, although you would have to eat a lot of lettuce to satisfy any nutritional requirements (it's mostly water).

Brassica

               Also referred to as the "cole" family, Brassicaceae includes the closely interrelated cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, mustard greens, kale, and even turnips (listed above under root vegetables). Despite associations with northwestern Europe, this family is thought to have originated in the Mediterranean. In a way, they are all variations on cabbage: curly cabbage (kale), blooming cabbage (broccoli and cauliflower; think about the leaves on a broccoli stalk), tiny cabbages arrayed across a broccoli stalk (Brussels sprouts). Regardless of origin, most of us conjure up the image of broccoli or Brussels sprouts at the expression "eat more green vegetables", and assume on some level that they are good for us. Brussels sprouts in particular have become fashionable over the last few years as people have re-discovered how easy it is to elevate this vegetable with roasting or pan-frying. Why anyone would steam them, I can't imagine. 

• Broccoli*
• Space required per plant: 12" x 12" (or more)
• When to plant: April 15 - August 1 
• Time to harvest: 60-70 days from transplant 
• Comments: To be honest, broccoli is a bit of a gamble. This is because a beginning gardener would like to recapitulate the appearance and yield of store-bought broccoli with their own cultivation. Broccoli bought at a store has a beautiful, full, even crown, unlike broccoli grown in an organic garden plot, which will likely have a smaller crown and a few side shoots. If you do decide to grow broccoli, be careful not to wait too long to harvest it, regardless of the size of the main shoot. In hot weather, the buds (for you and I, the food) of the plant will open up to reveal little yellow flowers, and go to seed. I repeat, this will happen likely well before your broccoli has reached your pie-in-the-sky expectation for crown size. If you decide to grow broccoli, harvest the main crown (main shoot) well before the weather warms. Other mini-crowns (side-shoots) will form off the main stalk of the plant. Also note that broccoli takes up a lot of room - at least a cubic foot - way more than the little transplant seems cut out for. So plan wisely. Broccoli is high in fiber, and vitamins C and K.
• Kale*
• Space required per plant: 12" x 12" (or more)
• When to plant: April 15 - May 15 
• Time to harvest: 60-70 days from transplant 
• Comments: A single kale plant will provide you with a few handfuls of kale per week through late spring, summer, and fall. I have planted and maintained six kale plants side by side, and been inundated with so much kale I couldn't believe it. Kale can (hypothetically) be over-wintered, and a few longtime gardeners at EHCG have very large kale plants come back year after year. Kale has a similar nutritional profile to broccoli.
• Brussels sprouts*
• Space required per plant: 12" x 12" (or more)
• When to plant: April 15 - May 15 
• Time to harvest: 80-120 days from transplant 
• Comments: Brussels sprouts require a serious space and time commitment. Unlike broccoli, which has run its course by mid-June, Brussels sprouts grow and mature from late spring into the first fall frost. You do get bang for your buck - each stalk can yield 50-100 sprouts, just in time for the rich, warm, heavy autumnal cuisine so appropriate for late October. If you do choose to grow Brussels sprouts, bear in mind that they will be a semi-permanent fixture in your plot all season, so no fall crops can be rotated into their soil come August. Brussels sprouts have a similar nutritional profile to broccoli.
• Cabbage*
• Space required per plant: 12" x 12" (or more)
• When to plant: April 15 (spring crop), July 1 (fall crop)
• Time to harvest: 65-70 days from transplant 
• Comments: Cabbage has a similar nutritional profile to broccoli.

Legumes

                   If there is a vegan or vegetarian in your life, chances are they make use of the abundant plant-based protein found in legumes. Members of the Fabaceae family include soybeans, fava beans, lentils, beans, peas, alfalfa, and peanuts. 

• Fava beans
• Space required per plant: 6" x 6" 
• When to plant: April 15 - May 15
• Time to harvest: 60-75 days from seeding
• Comments: Not a "bean" at all, fava beans are a vetch (related to soybeans). Unlike the beans of the New World (Phaseolus), Vicia faba is a cool-weather bean that is less robust in the summer. Fava beans grow on stalks that often need support to prevent from falling over. If you haven't grown fava beans before, I highly recommend it. As a vetch, this plant hosts bacteria that fix nitrogen, ie convert gaseous nitrogen in the air into a form that can be utilized by plants in the soil. Nitrogen fixation is good for the condition of your soil, and the plants that require this macronutrient. (If you've ever heard two gardeners discuss the 'N-P-K' of a fertilizer, the 'N' refers to nitrogen.) The fava beans themselves are delicious, and more importantly very difficult to find fresh at the grocery store. The Willy St. Coop on Williamson in Madison sells fava beans throughout a brief 1- or 2-week window every year at more than $10 a pound; why not grow your own for next to nothing? They are high in protein, the B vitamins, iron, magnesium, and potassium, and I doubly encourage you to try these if you practice a plant-based diet.
• Peas
• Space required per plant: 2" x 10" 
• When to plant: April 15 
• Time to harvest: 55-70 days from seeding
• Comments: I actually get these in the ground as soon as the soil can be worked; I find them very hardy. Like vetch, peas are nitrogen-fixing and benefit your garden just by being there. Peas are an iconic springtime vegetable, whether they be shelling/cooking peas, or sugar snap peas. Peas are the first entry on this list that MUST have a structural support, ie a trellis, netting, etc. As the plants grow, they send out tiny, fine tendrils that grasp tightly onto the structure, trailing upward and upward. Training plants, like peas, onto structures actually saves you considerable horizontal space in the garden, utilizing vertical space instead. Peas are rich in vitamin C and vitamin K.

Allium

                 Until a revision by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group in 1998, the allia (onions, garlic, leeks, shallots) were considered members of the lily family. Today, we consider allia members of the amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae), which strikes me as no less incongruous. Of course, I am not a plant phylogenist or botanist or really anything more than a recreational garden blogger. The allium species have moved with man throughout Asia, Africa, and eventually the New World (including Wisconsin), and are indispensable for almost every cuisine on this planet. Without onions, could there be pot roast? Matzoh ball soup? I don't think so. Although infrequently the star of the show, we eat some member of the allium species at almost every meal. One caveat to growing these in a small garden plot is the space-to-price trade-off. While it is simple to grow onions, garlic, shallots, and leeks, the first three are fairly inexpensive (even organic/local), and require a large garden space (several cubic feet) to grow. I find that leeks can be expensive, and I do benefit from growing them myself. 

• Onions*
• Space required per plant: 5" x 5" 
• When to plant: April 15 - May 10
• Time to harvest: 80-110 days from seeding (less if you use onion "sets")
• Comments: If you want to grow onions, it really is easier if you start from sets. These can be purchased online from a variety of suppliers. Onions contain some vitamin C, and a surprising amount of sugar. 
• Garlic and shallots
• Space required per plant: 3" x 6" 
• When to plant: November (better), April 
• Time to harvest: mid-July
• Comments: Garlic and shallots are ideally planted the fall before they are harvested. Individual cloves separated from a head of garlic, or shallot, are planted in rows several inches apart, still in their papery skins. If you are a new gardener, you can still plant garlic in the spring for a late summer harvest, but your bulbs won't be as large. Garlic packs some of the B vitamins, vitamin C, and manganese. Who knew?
• Leeks*
• Space required per plant: 5" x 5" 
• When to plant: April 15 - May 10
• Time to harvest: 80-110 days from seeding 
• Comments: Leeks can be grown either from direct sowing or from starts. They can keep growing into the fall, and pair well with potatoes for a very seasonal soup. They are nutritionally similar to onions.

Fruits

                     Although not a true fruit, rhubarb* is often sweetened and eaten as a "fruit" filling in pies, cakes, and pastries, often in combination with strawberry. There are well-established plots in the Gardens flaunting massive rhubarb plants. Despite its suitability to cultivation in the American Midwest, rhubarb originated in China, spreading to eastern Europe via the Silk Road, and eventually to Russia. Its leaves are poisonous. It is planted as a bare-root.

Frost-intolerant: summer

Vegetables

Nightshades

                    While the "nightshade" designation conjures up frightening associations with the deadly atropine-laden nightshade Belladonna, the Solanaceae probably contains some of your favorite vegetables (or really, fruits). There would be no salsa (verde or otherwise) in the world without this family, or ketchup, or paprika, or eggplant parmesan. Now that I have defended the nightshades, I will acknowledge that the presence of irritating, even deadly, alkaloids is preserved in the leaves of the below Solanaceae members. However, these poisonous compounds occur in such a small amount that effects on humans of handling or even eating the leaves are negligible. 

• Tomatoes*
• Space required per plant: 24" x 24" (romas) to 48" x 48" (cherry tomatoes)
• When to plant: May 20 - July 1 from transplant
• Time to harvest: 65-80 days
• Comments: Yield varies significantly from variety to variety. One cherry tomato plant will grow to be enormous and may leave you drowning in cherry tomatoes, while two or three roma plants may give an unsatisfactory yield. Last year, I had three cherry tomato plants, and was harvesting several pounds of cherry tomatoes every week. Never again. Also, invest some time in looking around at the different varieties of tomatoes available online or at the farmer's market. There are several varieties of black, white, orange, green, and purple tomatoes available in cherry, roma, or slicing tomato sizes. Almost any tomato you find will require staking or caging, so factor in the price and space of the support when making your plans. While the transplant you buy may seem modest and frail, with care and sunshine it will turn into a great green monster, burdened with pounds and pounds of fruit by late summer. I advise burying eggshells under the tomato plant's roots - this is meant to supplement calcium to the plant. Finally, if you grow tomatoes, do yourself a favor and pick a variety that you will be able to consume in its entirety. If you still end up with excess tomato wealth, tomatoes can luckily be frozen (cherry) or canned (roma). Tomatoes provide some vitamin C.
• Tomatillos*
• Space required per plant: 48" x 48"
• When to plant: May 20 - July 1 from transplant
• Time to harvest: 65-80 days
• Comments: Culture is very similar to tomatoes. Tomatillo plants can become very large with a substantial horizontal sprawl, and their effect dimensions are likely to exceed 48" x 48". You must have a minimum of two tomatillo plants to get any fruit. The fruits themselves look like little green tomatoes bundled up in brown paper husks (think chinese lanterns). These are best harvested when the fruits are small and brilliantly green, before maturity brings paler, yellower hues. 
• Eggplant*
• Space required per plant: 24" x 24" 
• When to plant: May 20 - July 1
• Time to harvest: 75-80 days from transplant
• Comments: There is an astounding variety of eggplants out there - all white (Casper) to striated golds/purple/reds (Listada de Gandia, Udumalapet), green Thai eggplants, standard black. If you choose to grow eggplants, beware that they are very fussy about the ambient temperature, and less cold-tolerant than even tomatoes. They are also very prone to pests while young, and are best covered up with row cover until they begin to flower. Eggplants are not really enriched in any vitamins or minerals, but are wonderful regardless in pastas and soups.
• Peppers, bell/sweet and hot*
• Space required per plant: 18" x 18" (hot) to 24" x 24" (bell/sweet)
• When to plant: May 20 - July 1
• Time to harvest: 65-80 days
• Comments: Hot pepper plants usually yield an abundant bounty of fruit - so much that you may run out of ideas of what to do with it. (I will have a post partway through summer about canning and preserving.) In contrast, bell/sweet pepper plants bear relatively few fruit for plant, and generally the larger the pepper, the longer the season. There is a great diversity of types of pepper - cayenne, serrano, Italian frying, ancho, varieties commonly used for drying and grinding in to paprika. I would recommend research pepper varieties a bit and branching out beyond what you can find in the grocery store. There are also ornamental varieties with miniature fruits of every hue. Peppers are a good natural source of vitamin C.

Curcurbitaceae

              Cucurbitaceae includes the cucurbita (squashes) as well as melons, cucumber, and loofah. While family members include culinary icons associated with the Old World (like zucchini and Italy), the cucurbita are new world plants. This family was domesticated almost 10000 years ago, before even corn and beans! The name "squash" comes from the ancient word askutasquash, from the Narragansett language spoken long ago in modern-day Rhode Island. So, when you eat squash, or related melons or cucumber, you are interacting with a very long tradition on this continent between humans and food crops.

• Squashes
• Summer squash*
• Space required per plant: 24" x 24"
• When to plant: May 20 - July 1
• Time to harvest: 45-85 days
• Comments: Zucchini is probably the most commonly grown summer squash, and there many other varieties to choose from. I like pattypan, or pattison, for its fun summery shape. Summer squash is good roasted in the oven with olive oil and herbs, or thrown right on the grill. Unlike its expansive relative winter squash, summer squash plants tend to be relatively compact, not much more than a foot in diameter. Summer squashes like zucchini are good sources of vitamin C.
• Winter squash*
• Space required per plant: 24" x 72" (or more)
• When to plant: May 20 - July 1
• Time to harvest: 70-120 days
• Comments: A fall harvest of butternut squash and a crop of fresh pumpkins around Halloween are examples of ultimate gardening pay-offs. While butternut squash, along with acorn squash, can be bought any time of year at a typical grocery store, nothing beats the taste or the rich color of home-grown, sun-ripened winter squash. Beware that any variety of winter squash sprawls immensely - prepare to dedicate several feet in every direction radial to where the plant is actually sown. The plant is vining, and can be trained up structures. If you are a first-time gardener and are avoiding plants with the potential to overwhelm, you may want to wait a year before tackling winter squash. These orange-fleshed fruits are generally high in vitamin A.
• Cucumber*
• Space required per plant: 12" x 48"
• When to plant: May 20 - July 1
• Time to harvest: 55-72 days
• Comments: Cucumbers are also vining plants, and are easier (in my experience) to train up structures than melons and squash as the fruit is lighter. If you choose to grow cucumbers and find yourself drowning in fruit, I advocate for late summer cucumber juice. There are varieties bred for fresh eating, and others for pickling, so choose accordingly. Cucumbers are not really enriched in any vitamin or mineral but are so low calorie, who cares.
• Luffa/loofah
• Space required per plant: 48" x 48"
• When to plant: May 20 - July 1
• Time to harvest: 70-120 days
• Comments: Loofah is an unusual plant to grow in a setting such as the community gardens. While some people may eat young loofahs, it is grown more commonly for the mature, hardened fruit. The loofahs sold at high-end body care shops are in fact dried mature loofah fruits. I have a friend who grew these two years ago, and was surprised by the size of the final plant - a behemonth vining mass that sprawled over a six foot tall trellis, looming large and covered in large yellow flowers. 

Corn*

                Corn needs no introduction - between corn subsidies, high fructose corn syrup, and the corn used to produce ethanol for cars, corn is ubiquitous in our world.

• Space required per plant: 8" x 8"
• When to plant: May 20 - June 1
• Time to harvest: 70-85 days
• Comments: What says summer better than corn on the cob? Many gardeners find corn fun, with its iconic shape and shockingly satisfying right-off-the-stalk taste (you can eat raw sweet corn, right in the field!). However, growing corn in a community garden is relatively unpopular for two reasons. The main reason you will hear touted by experienced gardeners is that it can be a pest attractant. I have heard evidence and arguments supporting and refuting this claim. The other reason is more practical - why dedicate garden space to something that is abundant and cheap at the grocery store or farmer's market in the summer, when you can use it to grow something more precious? Corn is also a standout as a heavy feeder, so do some research. This is a hot button issue, and you should be the judge. Corn is definitely high in sugar, whether you buy it or grow it.

Beans

                When I say "beans" I mean Phaseolus, the species encompassing everything from green snap beans to black and pinto beans. Unlike fava beans, Phaseolus are hot-weather beans from the New World, and were a member of the 3 Sisters combination of beans, corn, and squash. 

• Space required per plant: 6" x 12"
• When to plant: May 10 - July 15
• Time to harvest: 55-90 days (or longer for dried beans)
• Comments: Unlike corn, and like peas, beans actually deposit nitrogen into the soil, improving its condition. Many of us enjoy snap beans in the summer, and some people cultivate beautiful heirloom beans for drying, in a wealth of hues and shapes. Beans generally come in two "habits", bush (compact, low to the ground plants that don't need support) and pole (vining plants that must be trained up a trellis). I doubt you need convincing that beans are healthy, as they are a vegetarian source of protein and also generally high in fiber.

Fruit

             There are a few options for growing fruit as an annual in the midwest. If I were still in Texas, I could have grapevines and citrus trees no problem. Here, not so much. But the short, cool summer does provide an opportunity to examine outside-the-box alternatives, like ground cherries, which I now treasure dearly but otherwise wouldn't have looked into at all. There are perennial fruit options - blueberries, raspberries, strawberries - but these require more time and effort, and usually do not yield well the first year and require a large number of plants for a harvest.

• Ground cherries*
• Space required per plant: 24" x 24"
• When to plant: May 20 - June 20
• Time to harvest: 55-72 days
• Comments: Ground cherries are curious little paper-encased fruits related to tomatoes and tomatillos. The plant itself grows just like a miniature tomatillo plant, and the fruits are like mini, yellow, sweet tomatillos. My mother says they taste like vanilla and pineapple and I tend to agree. If you would like to harvest some fruit from your garden and want something fool-proof I advice that you try ground cherries - you will walk away with pounds of these tiny fruits (unless you somehow manage to kill the plant, which you won't because these are TOUGH plants). Ground cherries are a good source of vitamin C and most certainly sugar as well.
• Cucurbitaceae
• Watermelon*
• Space required per plant: 24" x 24"
• When to plant: May 20 - July 1
• Time to harvest: 70 days
• Comments: For many of us, watermelon IS the iconic summer fruit, juicy and refreshing and satisfying red (or yellow or orange, depending on variety). The prospect of home-grown watermelon is very appealing, but I must warn that growing watermelon is a challenge in our short seasons. Watermelon needs lots of heat, and even mini watermelon varieties may not enjoy enough warm days in the upper midwest to thrive. Watermelon is a good source of vitamins A and C (need I mention sugar? better than ice cream!).
• Cantaloupe*
• Space required per plant: 24" x 24"
• When to plant: May 20 - July 1
• Time to harvest: 70 days
• Comments: I find small cantaloupes easier to grow than watermelons in our summers. Last summer I successfully grew a SINGLE Minnesota Midget melon, and it was the most rewarding treat of the summer. If you want to grow cantaloupes, opt for small varieties optimized for short, cool summers (like Minnesota Midget). Good source of fiber, potassium, vitamins A and C (and sugar).

Herbs

               If you like to cook, and thus far in your life have stuck to the little plastic or glass bottles of dried herbs, please do yourself a favor and try growing some basil. Or some cilantro. Or anything. While buying fresh basil for simple meals at home may be cost-prohibitive, growing it is another story. 

• Basil*
• Space required per plant: 6" x 6"
• When to plant: May 20 - June 1
• Time to harvest: 30 days 
• Comments: Basil is a true joy of the summer garden. Technically a mint, basil is much less hardy than its well-known cousins peppermint and lemon balm, and won't do well with even a little bit of frost. However, if you are patient, plant it in warm conditions, and nurture it for a few weeks, you will be rewarded with fresh, fragrant basil you don't have to pay an arm and a leg for. I like to grow large amounts of basil to make pesto. I always tell myself that I will freeze some of it but I eat it too quickly to actually store any. While I have grown green genovese basil in the past, I am broadening my horizons this year to include Thai basil and a purple variant of Italian basil. Basil doesn't have much nutritional value, but its culinary value is beyond measure.
• Rosemary*
• Space required per plant: 6" x 6"
• When to plant: May 20 - June 1
• Time to harvest: 30 days
• Comments:  A friend of mine from Atlanta, GA told me once that her family has large rosemary plantings around the house that weather the winter and just grow season by season. Well, not a likely scenario up in Madison, WI. Rosemary, although a woody perennial, grows as an annual up here thanks to our unfortunate winters. Transplant, and wait until the plant gets about 8" tall before harvesting. Harvest conservatively - the plant is delicate and you don't need that much anyway.
• Cilantro
• Space required per plant: 6" x 6"
• When to plant: April 20 - May 1
• Time to harvest: 50 days
• Comments: Unlike rosemary and basil, cilantro does better in slightly cooler weather. Come summer, your cilantro will bolt, ie put out flowers and seeds and unpleasant-tasting leaves. When cilantro is young, pre-bolt, it has the capacity to grace bowls of pho, lamb stew, be kneaded into naan, folded into burritos, top almost anything really. Evidence about the birth (cultivation?) place of cilantro is mixed, attributed to ancient Israel or Egypt. The herb has somehow made its way into almost every cuisine I love - a testament to its universal culinary compatibility. Also unlike rosemary and basil, cilantro is a good source of vitamin A (who knew?). 

Happy planning! We are only weeks away from being able to sow seeds into the ground up in the Great White North, and before you know it you'll be transplanting tomatoes and peppers into warm soil.