Tom Carey: Ditching uncooperative plants

The gardener in me is always experimenting, exploring, examining. Having fun through the experience of discovering a new crop, method or taste is what keeps me motivated to return to the field, even in the heat of the summer or cold of winter. The farmer in me knows that unless my endeavors are profitable, there will not be a garden to return to next season. Productivity is a priority, relegating the untested to the sidelines. My alter egos, always in conflict, each have their triumphs with the understanding that the victor will acquiesce eventually. Let us concur that this year the farmer will prevail, and the successes of the past will be planted profligately.

What did last season’s trials reveal? The Brussels sprouts produced large plants with surprisingly tasty greens, but no discernable sprouts. The purple scallions were only minutely productive tallied against my tried-and-true green onion variety. Interplanting lettuce between established crops was merely a method to feed the cutworms. Growing large slicing tomatoes resulted in a guaranteed blemish on every fruit, whereas the cherry tomatoes gave us baskets filled with hand-to-mouth delectability. Hoping for naught that eggplant and peppers would produce a viable harvest in the short period between the precipitous end of summer and the chilly start of winter.

Setting aside these field garnishing non-successes, the plan is to focus on what I know grows well, and plant for even more results. The “Guardsman” variety green onions, started as transplants, will have a growing bed to themselves, not randomly interplanted throughout the garden between other crops. Collard greens are classic Southern fare, but my U-Pick guests prefer Dinosaur kale 10-to-1. The yellow wax beans are just as productive as the green snap or purple heirloom beans, but appear pale in comparison and always raise questions. And yes, the slow-bolt spring season Daikon radishes, although the seeds are three times as expensive, really are hesitant to go to seed, lasting until 4th of July.

This is not to say there will not be any tweaking of past victories. On my wife’s insistence, beets are required in rotation, but the best way to grow them is still elusive. Transplanting from the greenhouse as seedlings has not worked well enough, but direct sowing to the growing beds includes a space hogging germination phase. Spinach has never attained a practical significance. Swiss chard (similar in taste and nutrition) once ruled, albeit rampant caterpillar damage. Beet greens and Swiss chard are essentially the same plant species, so betwixt the two, hopefully our bellies will be filled.

Tom Carey is the owner of Sundew Gardens, a you-pick gardening business in Oviedo. Visit the Sundew Gardens Facebook page and email him at [email protected]