Turnip

Tips And Hints For Growing Easy-Care Warm-Season Crops

Planting months: (Year-round)

Spacing: Thin plants to 7″ apart,in rows 14″ inches apart.

Special Tips: Rich humus-filled soil, rapid growth, no fresh manure. Needs plenty of light.

Harvesting: 50 to 70 days, pick when small, plant successive crops.

Recommended Varieties: Tokyo Cross, Purple Top White Globe, Shogo

Choose a site in full sun.

1. raised boxes or plant in ground.
2. For raised beds: Nail 1/8?–1/4?hardware cloth on bottom of each box to keep out gophers.
3. Fill boxes with good-quality topsoil.
4. Cover the ground surrounding the raised boxes with landscape cloth or newspaper, 10-sheets thick, and then cover cloth or paper with a 3? or 4? layer of mulch or pea gravel to provide clean footing and keep out weeds. (gravel is best.)
5. Control Invasive roots of old trees with stepping stones and thick Visquine, under tall boxes.
6. Use hand pulling or a hoe to rid existing boxes of weeds, if these have grown prior to planting.
7. Eradicate or control ground squirrels, gophers, rats and other pests.(If using poisons, wear gloves to handle and use tamper-proof containers. Some licensed pest control companies, specialize in animal pest control.)
8. Other methods for getting rid of animal pests include manual and battery operated traps, sound mechanisms, physical barriers, domestic cats
9. A new solution to animal pest problems: Nixalite of America, Inc. Garden Protector® electric fence. Battery operated. Easy to install.
10. Measure square-foot area of boxes, purchase adequate organic soil amendment to create a 4? thick layer on top of garden soil.
11. Spread soil amendment on to beds and use a spade to dig (or till) the organic amendment into the top 6? of garden soil.
12. In the same manner sprinkle organic fertilizer recommended for vegetables (Chicken manure, commercial brand, or make your own) onto the beds and use a spade or pronged tiller to incorporate the fertilizer into the top 6? of garden soil.
13. Arrange for water system (drip or hose).
14. Depending on the time of year, purchase seeds and plants of cool season or warm season crops and edible flowers. (Study the seasons of the year and the appropriate vegetables and flowers to grow in each season. Learn about the influence of day length and temperature.)
15. Build structures to support climbing plants.
16. Decide which vegetable are to be grown in each bed, draw a plot plan in order to rotate crops in future years.
17. Plants seeds and transplants in rows, with tall crops to the north and short crops to the south. (Learn about germination. Different seeds require different planting depth and temperature at which the can sprout. All need moisture; some need light in order to germinate.)
18. Water plants. Seeds must be watered daily until germinated, transplants daily at first, then 3 times a week until established, later weekly or more often depending on the specific plant and weather.
19. Harvest crops when young and tender, according to the rules of harvesting that apply to each vegetable.
20. Control pests by organic methods, such as BT for caterpillars, handpicking, crop rotation. Water deeply and well, plant resistant varieties, keep a clean garden.
21. When not growing vegetables, plant cover crops.
22. Choose a site for the compost heap.
23. NOTE:If you are growing vegetables year-round there will be some carry over of cool-season crops into warm weather, for example artichokes, which can be put in from transplants in March and harvested in June, or globe onions, which are planted from seeds in November and harvested in late May or June, and strawberries which are also planted in November and harvested throughout spring into early summer.

Step-By-Step Method For Growing Great Organic Vegetables By Pat Welsh Author Of : Pat Welsh’s Southern California Organic Gardening, Month By Month.

NOTE: If you are growing vegetables year-round there will be some carry over of cool-season crops into warm weather, for example artichokes, which can be put in from transplants in March and harvested in June, or globe onions, which are planted from seeds in November and harvested in late May or June, and strawberries which are also planted in November and harvested throughout spring into early summer.