Square Foot Gardening High-Value Veggies
Page 10
Although considered a southern heat-loving crop, you can plant this vegetable in cooler northern gardens. The trick is to start from well-established seedlings, planted out as soon as the nights reach 60 degrees Fahrenheit or more on a regular basis. Grow your crop from seeds instead of mature seedlings and you’ll turn a net negative value into a positive value with a return on investment of over 1,000 percent.
However, transplanting okra is a delicate operation. Damage to the young taproot will kill the plant, so you have to handle the seedling as if it were made of glass. The plants require full sun and, although drought tolerant, they’ll do best with a steady supply of water—at least 1 inch per week.
Okra grows lovely yellow flowers, which then produce the edible pods. Pods must be regularly harvested before they overmature to ensure that the plant continues producing. Begin taking the pods when they reach about 4 inches long. Use pruning shears to cut each pod off the stem.
Okra features a natural defense system of tiny, bristly hairs. Some people experience an allergic reaction to these, and most gardeners will experience at least some irritation after brushing up against them. Always wear gloves and a long-sleeved shirt when working with okra plants.
Value Added:
• Although the return on investment is negligible if you’re starting from seedlings, you may want to plant okra anyway. The vegetable is a great disease fighter, credited with playing a role in preventing several forms of cancer and combating heart disease and high cholesterol.
NAME:
Okra, #52
YIELD/FOOT (LB.)
1.00
COST/LB.
$3.25
VALUE
$3.25
INPUT
$3.95
ROI
-$0.70
ROI%
-18%
ASPARAGUS
These plants cannot be harvested until they have grown for two or three years. Fortunately, you don’t have to wait that long because you can buy two- or three-year-old plant roots called “crowns,” which have been grown in nurseries. You usually still have to give them one year of growth in your garden before the first limited harvest. After that, full harvest ahead. Calculating the value of asparagus from your garden can be tricky business. However, you can start asparagus from seed, in which case the input number above would change to $0.27, and your return on investment would be 19%. In either case, you always want to plant male plants. Plant crowns in spring, after the soil has warmed. Keep your asparagus happy with lots of compost or composted manure, including sidedressing during the season.
But the most important point to keep in mind is that unlike the most of the other crops on this list, asparagus is perennial and will provide a crop for years after the first harvest—the plants can actually produce for more than a decade. You must ensure that the bed is properly tended because asparagus will suffer greatly if competing with even a few weeds. Although the square foot measure works the same whether you’re growing in rows or squares, you can crowd square sections of raised beds with up to four plants instead of the recommended one, greatly increasing your yield (and your ROI).
Choose varieties bred in New Jersey, such as ‘Jersey Giant’, for maximum productivity and disease resistance.
Value Added:
• Good practices will maximize your yield. Cut the largest shoots right at the surface of the soil as cleanly as possible, using a serrated knife and a slanting cut. Don’t let your asparagus spears get larger than 6 inches, or they will become tough.
NAME:
Asparagus, #53
YIELD/FOOT (LB.)
0.10
COST/LB.
$3.17
VALUE
$0.32
INPUT
$1.22
ROI
-$0.90
ROI%
-74%
SWISS CHARD
Swiss chard is pretty enough to grow in a decorative foliage border and hardy enough to straddle the divide between cool-weather and hot-weather crops. Although it’s not rugged enough to hold up to long-distance transport, it’s strong enough to grow deeper into summer than most other greens and will tolerate a light frost in fall. Add in the fact that it’s a powerhouse of nutrients as well, and you have a leafy green that’s attractive in more ways than one.
Plant mature seedlings in the garden about two weeks before your last spring frost date (or about ten weeks before the first frost date in fall). Ensure good air circulation because fungal diseases can be a problem. The plant needs well-drained soil, but a constant supply of water.
Slugs can be a problem because they love Swiss chard leaves every bit as much as humans do, but they are easily stymied with a beer-and-saucer trap or by sprinkling sawdust or coarse rock dust around the base of each plant.
As with most greens, you can start harvesting Swiss chard leaves once they reach about 6 inches tall. Younger leaves have a sweeter, richer flavor and will be noticeably more tender than mature leaves. Compost or discard older leaves that no longer have a sheen.
Value Added:
• If you’re lucky enough to live in a temperate zone that isn’t subjected to a hard freeze in winter, your Swiss chard may act like a perennial. When the plant bolts, cut the head off the root stalk and it will produce more leaves.
NAME:
Swiss Chard, #54
YIELD/FOOT (LB.)
6.00
COST/LB.
$1.95
VALUE
$11.70
INPUT
$13.32
ROI
-$1.62
ROI%
-12%
BELL PEPPER
Bell peppers are one of the core mainstays of produce aisles everywhere because the plant is so easy to grow and adapts well to greenhouse culture for year-round production. Green peppers are the less-mature versions of yellow and red, and are consequently not as sweet or flavorful. For a wonderful look in the garden and on the table, grow brilliantly colored varieties such as ‘Orange Blaze’ or the dark purple ‘Sweet Chocolate Belle’.
Color is also an indication of nutrients in the pepper. Red peppers are especially rich sources of disease-fighting carotenoid phytonutrients, while any color other than green is dense with vitamins A and C and beta carotene.
You’ll find that bell peppers are exceptionally well suited to container gardening. No matter where they are grown, you’ll make the most of your harvest by staking the plant.
You won’t need to worry much about pests or diseases, but protect plants from inclement weather by covering them if you experience a late spring cold spell. Use pruning shears to cut mature bell pepper stems; pulling the peppers off the plant can damage branches and lower productivity. If your peppers have just started to change color when you harvest them, keep them at room temperature for two to three days and they will continue to ripen.
Value Added:
• On a pure value basis, waiting a little longer to let bell pepper fruits mature makes sense because at retail, colored varieties are from 50 to 100 percent more expensive.
NAME:
Bell Pepper, #55
YIELD/FOOT (LB.)
2.00
COST/LB.
$1.50
VALUE
$3.00
INPUT
$4.90
ROI
-$1.90
ROI%
-39%
BRUSSELS SPROUTS
Belonging to the same family as cabbage and broccoli, Brussels sprouts prefer the same mist-cooled environment as those plants. Generally planted in fall, the plant may tolerate an early spring planting in cooler parts of the country. The plant takes so long to mature (generally around 80 days) that most gardeners choose to purchase and plant transplants because growing from seed is not feasible. You can, however, change the ROI picture for this crop if you start your own transplants inside and plant them out in the garden immediately after any danger of frost has passed. The
seeds for a single plant will reduce the input cost to less than two cents.
The plants are susceptible to a range of diseases, soil deficiencies, and pests, so it’s wise to pay close attention to the health of the plant by inspecting the leaves and stems every couple of days.
Harvest the plant from top to bottom, cutting off the sprouts when they are about 1 inch in diameter and still firm and tight. Some home gardeners remove the leaves of the plant to speed up the harvest.
Value Added:
• Get the most out of each Brussels sprouts plant by cleaning and cooking the leaves of the plant as you would collard greens or using the leaves in green smoothies. The leaves contain abundant nutrients.
• Don’t wash Brussels sprouts before storing; wait until you’re about to cook them to trim, clean, and wash them.
• Don’t panic if a frost hits your fall crop of Brussels sprouts; a frost can accentuate the sweetness in the sprouts.
NAME:
Brussels Sprouts, #56
YIELD/FOOT (LB.)
0.40
COST/LB.
$2.72
VALUE
$1.09
INPUT
$4.90
ROI
-$3.81
ROI%
-78%
POTATO (RUSSET, YELLOW, RED)
For such a basic sustenance crop, potatoes offer an incredibly diverse bounty. You can certainly choose to grow plain old Russets, but the possibilities go far beyond dull brown tubers. You’ll find potatoes in a rainbow of colors, from white to purple, and a range of shapes as well. ‘Midnight Moon’ is a stunning red potato that is actually deep purple, and ‘Adirondack Blue’ is deep blue through and through. ‘Masquerade’ is a mottled purple and white, and French fingerlings boast fun shapes it’s hard not to love.
A primary source of starch and fiber, potatoes can be prepared in any number of ways, from deep-frying to baking. Regardless of which variety you choose and how you want to prepare them, potatoes are an easy crop to grow. However, keep in mind that potatoes are a true cool-season crop; summer heat is a growing potato’s enemy.
Potatoes are their own seed source. Instead of planting seeds, plant your own seed sprouts. (Use only certified, disease-free seed potatoes.) Sprout them in a tray a week before planting. Then cut pieces, each including an eye, and plant them in a deep hole with the eye facing up. Cover with a healthy sprinkling of soil. The soil has to be at least 50 degrees Fahrenheit when you do this, or you risk infection of the seeds.
When sprouts appear, cover with soil and continue the process until the potatoes send up flower stalks and begin to flower. When the potatoes show signs of flowering, increase the amount of water, apply a thick layer of mulch, and let the flowers bloom.
Open flowers are the sign that the potatoes are ready to harvest. As soon as the flowers begin to die, loosen the soil around the potatoes and dig them up.
Value Added:
• Get a design bonus out of your potatoes by growing them in an ornamental border or flowerbed. The white flowers most potatoes send up are simply stunning.
• Avoid wasting your effort with supermarket potatoes. Many are treated with chemicals to inhibit sprouting and you can’t be sure these potatoes are disease-free.
• If you haven’t completely covered a sprouting potato, the potato will turn green. Discard green potatoes because the flavor will be off and the potato will actually be mildly toxic.
NAME:
Potato, Russet, #57
Potato, Yellow, #58
YIELD/FOOT (LB.)
4.00
2.00
COST/LB.
$0.90
$1.01
VALUE
$3.60
$2.02
INPUT
$7.98
$7.98
ROI
-$4.38
-$5.96
ROI%
-55%
-75%
NAME:
Potato, Red, #59
YIELD/FOOT (LB.)
2.00
COST/LB.
$0.88
VALUE
$1.76
INPUT
$7.98
ROI
-$6.22
ROI%
-78%
VEGGIES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
VEGGIE
RANK
PAGE
ASPARAGUS
53
87
ARTICHOKE
44
81
ARUGULA
15
60
BASIL
1
39
BEAN, BUSH
50
85
BEAN, POLE
51
85
BEET
43
80
BELL PEPPER
55
89
BROCCOLI
36
76
BRUSSELS SPROUTS
56
90
CABBAGE, GREEN
48
74
CABBAGE, NAPA
37
74
CABBAGE, RED
46
74
CABBAGE, SAVOY
35
74
CANTALOUPE
30
69
CARROT, HEIRLOOM
31
70
CARROT, HYBRID
39
70
CAULIFLOWER
45
82
CELERY
49
84
CHIVES
1
37
CILANTRO
1
43
COLLARD GREENS
33
72
CORN
34
73
CUCUMBER
16
61
DILL
1
41
EGGPLANT
29
68
FENNEL (BULB)
28
67
GARLIC
4
49
KALE
40
78
KOHLRABI
27
66
LEEK
7
51
LETTUCE, BUTTER
25
58
LETTUCE, GREEN/ RED LEAF
22
58
LETTUCE, MESCLUN
14
58
LETTUCE, ROMAINE
17
58
MINT
1
36
MUSTARD GREENS
11
54
OKRA
52
86
ONION, RED
20
55
ONION, WHITE
18
55
ONION, YELLOW
12
55
OREGANO
1
40
PARSLEY, CURLY
1
44
PARSLEY, FLAT-LEAF
1
44
PARSNIP
2
46
PEA, SUGAR SNAP
38
77
PEA, SNOW
41
77
POTATO, RED
59
91
POTATO, RUSSET
57
91
POTATO, YELLOW
58
91
PUMPKIN
13
57
RADICCHIO
26
65
RADISH
42
79
RADISH, DAIKON
32
71
ROSEMARY
1
/> 35
SAGE
1
42
SPINACH
9
53
SQUASH, WINTER
8
52
STRAWBERRY
23
63
SWEET POTATO
47
83
SWISS CHARD
54
88
TARRAGON, FRENCH
1
38
THYME
1
34
TOMATO, CHERRY
3
47
TOMATO, HEIRLOOM
5
47
TOMATO, HYBRID
10
47
TOMATO, ROMA
19