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Are you ready to think spring?

Tri-CAP
March 7, 2016

Are you ready to think spring? Can you imagine the green just waiting below those last piles of snow? The seed catalogs are arriving in the mail, and for those of us with cabin fever, we relish the possibilities. What follows is for those of us with a small space, like a balcony or a deck – which we could turn into a vegetable garden. My brother-in-law, Brad Wedge, put this story together for you – to give you a vision of spring.
With the limited space of a balcony and wanting to grow vegetables think about choosing vegetables that are: best picked at prime ripeness (tomatoes), vegetables that are best used fresh (tomatoes); plants that are normally more expensive (tomatoes); nutritious for you (beans); that you can pick all summer long (pole beans); and vegetables that can grow in your location. East exposure offers only morning sun and shades the plants all afternoon, south exposure will have sun all day, and west exposure, the hardest location because they receive the sun only during the hottest time of the day. I would avoid vegetables that are root crops (potatoes, carrots, beets), they tend to like cool soil, which is really hard to achieve in above ground pots. Root crops also tend to be very inexpensive to buy.
My choice in order of vegetables: 1. Tomatoes (choose the indeterminate varieties so you can stake them vertically); 2. Herbs – they are best fresh and are easy to grow in pots; 3. Pole Beans – a vine with lots of nutrition and continuous picking throughout the summer; 4. Sugar Snap peas – choose the vine type, they are great fresh and very nutritious; 5. Lettuce – especially varieties that you can pick repeatedly; 6. Cucumbers – because they add so much to a salad, are best fresh, and can be used lots of ways; 7. Peppers – they are nutritious, and great used many ways. If you want to try fruits, the only one I would recommend is the day-neutral strawberries. They would have to be grown as an annual, but growing in vertical tubes they can produce heavily from mid-July to frost.
Your most critical choice is your soil mix. Choose a top quality mixture with good drainage, good water holding ability, holds the plant upright, is sterile, and light weight (to get it to the balcony). A good quality soil may cost more, but will produce so much more. Many articles will tell you to add large particles (stones, Styrofoam) at the bottom of the pot for drainage, but science has proven that this actually impedes drainage. It is always best to have the same soil mix from top to bottom, and the deeper the pot the better the drainage.
Consistent and sufficient watering is needed for success. It is hard to keep a constant supply of moisture for the plant and not fill all the air in the soil with water (which eliminates the oxygen that the roots need to live). A good soil mix that drains well will make all the difference (soil from the garden is very poor at drainage in a pot). Make sure to remove any trays under the pot (unless you have an air break between the pot and the tray) that will prevent full drainage. For best results consider using a drip irrigation system. Automatic control valves that run on batteries and small irrigation hose are very inexpensive and easy to install. You can set up a water tank, and fill it as needed and let the irrigation system do the daily work.
There are many containers to grow the vegetables in. To gain more space try window boxes (overhang inside or outside the balcony, or even straddle the railing), hanging pots or hanging rectangular boxes, vertical tubes, trellises, rain gutters etc. Just make sure that they all have sufficient drainage holes. Use all the space available including the area over the door and the walls. If your balcony has no overhead, build a framework so you can use this area for growing too (which can even provide shade for the balcony).
Energy tip for March: Don’t forget your pioneer heritage – grow what you can and can what you grow, and don’t forget the pickles! Being veggie self-reliant cuts down on trips to the grocery store and is healthy for your family. A fully stocked fridge costs less to run, so fill it up with your home-grown produce!
Text by Brad Wedge, Nurseryman
Introduction and energy tip, Stephen Bjorklund

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TRI-CAP CORPORATE OFFICE:
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Waite Park, MN 56387

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TRI-CAP TRANSPORTATION:
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Waite Park, MN 56387

320-251-1612
888-765-5597
Fax : 320-255-9518

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