Kale, Carrots, and Chard

My attempts last year at gardening were less than successful. A housemate nutured some kale and chard plants that I wanted until they were seedlings and we planted them outside. I watered and weeded them, but the chard died and the kale never grew. Like some sort of Peter Pan plant, these little green things didn't grow up. In fact, contrary to everything I understood about biology, the tiny kale plants never grew or died but just stayed same size they were when we transplanted it. Eventually, as the weather got colder, I transplanted them again and brought the kale inside. I would have thought they were plastic or some other type of artificial plants, but they did orient themselves to the sun whenever I turned them. Finally, I harvested the little things and ate them as part of a salad.

This year I am resolving to learn everything about the three plants I want to grow. I am limiting it to three, figuring that I need to really learn how to grow just three plants, and grow them well, before expanding my repetoire. So this year I am concentrating on meeting the needs of kale, carrots, and chard.

Because it would be useful for me to have this information stored this way, and because, who knows, someone may want to raise kale or carrots or chard or all three, I'm going to write down what I have learned so far about each vegetable. (All three are, as it turns out, frost hardy biennials.)

Kale: a member of the Cabbage/Brassica family. A heavy feeder. Likes 'fertile, fine-textured soil'--pH 6.5-7.0; develops best in 'deeply prepared, loamy soil'. Prepare soil with manure, compost, mulch. Prefers cool weather and doesn't like hot weather--taste improves with frost. Can do multiple plantings (planting season around Boston: March 20-April 10 & July 1st thru August 1st). It can follow any other vegetable except another Brassica. You can keep harvesting it by pulling off just the outer leaves.

Carrots: a member of the Parsley family. Wants full sun but can stand partial shade. A light feeder. Likes light soil, a 'sandy loam free from lumps and stones'. One source claims carrots need pH 5.5-7.0; another suggests a pH>6.5; develops best in 'loose friable deeply dug soil free from stones and dirt clods'. (Stones, etc, cause mishapen carrots but one source suggests that halfsized carrots can be grown in rocky soil.) Don't start indoors--carrots don't transplant well. (Although another book suggests that they can be sprouted like any sprout--see my post of 2/26/10 on 'Sprouts!'--and then sprinkle sprouts over bed and cover.) Seed to harvest in 10 weeks. Planting season in Boston: April 1st-July 20th. Seeds can be sown every 3 weeks from early spring until two and a half months before the first frost. Water frequently and keep ground moist at all times--especially in hot weather. Need constant moisture until almost fully mature, then slow up so they don't split. They like phosphate and potassium but not too much nitrogen. Final harvest mid to late autumn.

Chard: a member of the Goosefoot family (related to beets). Does best in full sun, but can grow in partial shade. A light feeder. Does well with almost any soil but likes lots of humus. Again, one source says it needs a pH>6.5 while another says it will grow in pH 6.0 to 7.5 (not that they are that different). Apparently chard is a very deep rooted plant so it's useful where the subsoil requires aeration. Can be started indoors; keep soil warm (70F) until sprouted. Move to full sun as soon as first shoots appear. Seed to harvest in 8 weeks. Planting season in Boston: April 1st-July 20th. Will produce greens through the summer and into winter (but cover with a deep layer of straw or mulch). Three different books give three different advice on harvesting: 1) Carefully cut off outer leaves at stem by plant base with sharp knife when leaves are 6-9 inches tall; small, inner leaves will continue to grow. 2) Pull leaves off the plant, cutting causes bleeding; take just a few leaves from the outside of the plant, leaving remainder to grow. 3) Harvest by cutting to an inch above the ground and fertilize after harvesting; they will quickly regrow. The majority of the sources suggest pulling off the outer leaves so that's probably what I'll do.

I should report at some point later on how the plants actually do. Maybe if I do better growing kale, chard, and carrots this year, I will try raising a few more vegetables next year.

There is a church near me that has a corner flower garden with a plaque that reads: "We come from the earth, we return to the earth, and in between we garden." It's a good reminder.

Sources:
Mel Bartholomew, Square Foot Gardening
James Crockett, Crockett's Victory Garden
Geoff Hamilton, DK Pocket Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening
Organic Gardening Magazine,Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening
Dick Raymond, Garden Way's Joy of Gardening

Quote of the Day: "My philosophy is that a garden should be in production for as long as possible, from early spring into the winter. This means working all year long, preparing the soil in the fall, ordering the seeds and planning the garden in the winter, getting the seedlings started in January, and planting and harvesting all through the growing season." - Jim Crockett