Tips for a thriving New England vegetable garden

The Boston area has finally reached a significant weather milestone, and I’m not talking about 95 degrees in May. But we have gone beyond Date of spring frostcalculated to measure the historical average of the last frost date. Gardeners can now move forward with confidence. In our vegetable garden in Framingham, onions, garlic, and potatoes planted last fall are growing well; Peas, turnips, chard and seeded carrots are also growing, unfazed by the cool nighttime temperatures of early May.

Few things taste better than home-grown produce and herbs eaten fresh. What can be planted now? A delicious assortment: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, watermelon, squash, okra, basil, tulsi, dill, cilantro and summer savory, to name a few. This week’s column will cover planting vegetables, herbs, tender annuals, herbs, flowers, mulching, pruning, and trellising. By following a few simple steps, you can enjoy fresh herbs and vegetables while avoiding common disease and pest problems.

Staking and trellis

The main purpose of providing structural support for your vegetables is to keep fruits (such as tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers) off the ground. This will greatly help reduce rot problems, and if done well, make it easier for you to harvest along the way. For plants with a sprawling habit, such as squash, watermelon and cucumbers, providing something to climb on keeps them off the paths. Some of our best butternut squash last year came from vines trained on our deer fence. Materials for effective support can be as simple as pegs and string or as complex as a pumpkin tunnel made of wire sheets. We love metal T-posts because they are durable and can be reused year after year, but bamboo or even wooden stakes are great too. Make sure the stakes are firmly planted in the ground, as they will need to support the weight of your vegetables during violent summer thunderstorms and heavy rains. For T-posts, a post pestle is a worthwhile investment.

Tomatoes

For tomatoes, I tend to avoid using tomato cages because they are thin and flimsy, and the cage supports are not anchored deep enough into the ground. Best to use our signature tomato palette. Start with well-secured T-posts, then stretch a section of chicken wire between them. I love how easy this system is to configure. You can create a single, double or triple panel system, depending on the size of tomatoes you want to grow. Leave a 12- to 16-inch gap between the soil and the bottom of the wire, then secure the wire mesh firmly to the posts. As the tomatoes grow, simply tie the main stem to the wire panel.

Important note for tomato growers: Tomatoes produce adventitious roots, which means the roots come out of the stem and not just underground. Although this may seem counterintuitive, we plant tomatoes deep to encourage adventitious root growth, which helps them anchor more securely in the soil. However, make sure that the foliage does not touch the soil to prevent foliar diseases from spreading through the soil.

pruning

How many gardeners have encountered a thicket of tomato leaves, obscuring the fruit and making it difficult to harvest? Pruning your plants is an essential technique to avoid leaf overload. Cutting or trimming side shoots results in better airflow around the plants, and fewer but higher quality fruits, especially for larger fruits such as slicing tomatoes and sweet peppers. For herbs like basil, pinching the top shoots helps create bushier plants with more leaves. Be sure to continue trimming any developing flower stems as the plants redirect sugars to the flowers and the foliage becomes less sweet and flavourful.

Coverage

Mulching your vegetable garden helps conserve soil moisture and reduces weed pressure. The best materials are crushed leaf mould, salted hay, or old spent hay. Butcher paper can also be very effective at smothering weeds; Simply weigh them down with soil and wet them well before planting them in. Avoid using fresh wood chips, fresh straw (due to weed seeds), or fresh manure. These materials will pull nutrients from the soil as they decompose and may lead to the emergence of weeds and pathogens. I recommend using organic fertilizers such as fish emulsion immediately after planting and again mid-season to ensure healthy, vibrant plants.

Pollinator plants

No matter the size of your vegetable garden, diverse plantings will attract and support a diverse community of organisms, including pollinators and beneficial insects, to help relieve pest pressure. We surround our plots with ribbons of native wildflowers, flowering grasses and delicate annual flowers. Not only does this liven up the garden with colour, it also attracts pollinators to the edges, encouraging them to explore deeper and directing them to our crops. A A recent study from the University of Kentucky She finds that native perennials, such as mountain mint and monarda, attract more than a dozen beneficial insect families. Flowering herbs such as calendula, chamomile, and borage support insect life while providing medicinal and culinary uses. Members of the carrot family such as currants, dill and fennel are excellent choices for attracting swallowtail butterflies and a host of small bees and wasp pollinators, including parasitic wasps, which help defend tomatoes from hornworms. You can use annual flowers such as phacelia or partridge peas as cover crops or companion plantings between crops. Since most gardens have fences, due to pressure from deer, rabbits or groundhogs, take advantage of these vertical walls with perennials such as climbing rose, old-fashioned jasmine or an annual vine such as cypress vine, whose bright red, tube-shaped flowers keep native hummingbirds coming back to your garden all summer long.

A little effort early in the season focusing on good support for your vegetables, combined with regular pruning, a good layer of mulch, and a plethora of herbs and flowers, will mean delicious food for your table and a thriving ecosystem in your garden.

Ulrich Lorimer is director of horticulture at the Native Plant Trust in Framingham. Send your gardening questions, along with your name/initials and hometown, to [email protected]g.