The spring garden are starting to grow! You can remove your row cover now that the days are warmer. Keep it close by though – you should put it back on the garden if temperatures dip below 4 degrees at night.There are some key maintenance task and harvesting techniques that will help keep your garden healthy and happy.
If you radishes are not up yet, they should be coming up soon. Thin radishes to 16 in square foot with 2 inches between each radish seedling. Radishes should not be clumped together in like in the photo below. Watch my video on thinning and transplanting radishes here to help with you with this process. Radishes are ready to harvest around 25 days after planting. To check if they are ready, investigate the size of the root with your finger.
Beet and carrots take longer to germinate but they will be coming up soon. Make sure to thin your carrots and beets. This means enough space around each plant for it to grow well. Carrots need 2 inches (5cm), beets need 3 inches (7cm). Choose the best seedling and remove the rest. It is possible to transplant if they are still small. Just make sure to do it quickly and carefully. For more details check out my video here.
Soon you can look forward to harvesting your leafy greens. Once your leafy greens are big enough to your taste, you should start harvesting the outer leaves. Simply step outside with your salad bowl and pick a couple of leaves from each plant for a continual harvest.
Now that the sun is finally out and the days are warming up, it is really important to water, water, water. The most common reason vegetable gardens in a sunny location underperform is a lack of water. When you water make sure to water deeply – at least 20 min for a 10’x3′ garden. If regular watering is an issue I suggest getting a simple irrigation system set up. It can be as easy as a weeping-hose or sprinkler on a timer. Set the timer for a good hour from 4:00 – 5:00am so that you don’t loose water to evaporation in the hot sun.